ancient sobriquet for Silla and Snow Goose Pass (Gongnyeong) being the ancestral home of Wang Geon, and by association the Goryeo Dynasty. However, this anecdote first appeared in the 12th century Samguk Sagi, long after Choe had died and some modern scholars concur that Choe, a native and ardent supporter of Silla, never penned it but that it was attributed to him by a young Goryeo dynasty to buttress its legitimacy and win over the support of young Silla scholars to its enterprise. The date of Choe's death is unknown, though he was still living as late as 924, the date of one of his surviving stele engravings. One fantastic account relates that Choe's straw slippers were discovered at the edge of the forest on Mt. Gaya (Gayasan), the location of Haeinsa, and that Choe had become a Daoist immortal and ascended into the heavens. More grounded historical theories posit that he committed suicide, but this is ultimately conjecture. Later views Several streams emerged from Choe in the long centuries following his death. On the one hand, as Korea became increasingly Confucianized in the late Goryeo and most especially the Joseon dynasty period, Choe became one of the most lauded members of Korea's pantheon of Confucianists, with pride of place in the nation's Confucian temple. King Hyeonjong (r. 1009-1031), recognizing Choe's Confucian accomplishments, granted him the posthumous title of Marquis of Bright Culture (문창후, 文昌侯). In the early 13th century his portrait was placed in the national Confucian shrine to become an object of veneration thence forward. On the other hand, as time passed Choe also came to be revered as a poet, due in great part to the relatively large number of his poems that have survived, all written in Chinese. Around Choe also grew up a rich body of folklore, attributing to him fantastic deeds and supernatural powers. In the late 19th century, as Korean intellectuals began to reexamine their intellectual and historical roots in the face of increasing national weakness and foreign encroachment, there arose a rising critique of Korea's historical deference to China. The most articulate voice of such nationalist sentiment was the journalist, historian, and philosopher Shin Chaeho (1880–1936). Shin condemned Choe Chiwon as one of the most glaring examples of Korean intellectual subservience to China, a pattern of sequacious behavior on the part of Korea's intellectual class (according to Shin) that over the long