繭紫掖模偃疇濠

1. TRACING THE ORIGINS OF CHONDOGYO

The Founding Consciousness of Great Master Su-un

   Great Master Su-un, the founder of Donghak ('Eastern Learning,'from which Chondogyo is derived) was born Choe Je-u on the twenty eighth day of the tenth month in the thirty-sixth year before Podeok(鱣适) (1824), near today's Gyeongju City in the village of Gajeong, Hyeongok Township. His father Choe Ok, a poor classical scholar of some literary fame, lived in the south Gyeongsang region. The maiden name of his mother, a re-married widow, was Han. Owing to a number of factors, including the poverty of the household and the social opprobrium in which he, the son of a remarried woman, was held, Great Master Su-un experienced an unhappy childhood. Early in life, armed with ambitions of delivering the world from its unhappy chaotic condition, he wandered throughout the country in search of life's mani-fold teachings. I call this period of the young Great Master life his Search for the Way. In Chondogyo, the Great Master's activities at this time are referred to as the ircular Tour of the Eight Roads?(Juyupallo, 騍賵齰笭).

   On this 'tour' the Great Master encountered many of the world's religions and philosophies but came to the ultimate realization that none represented a genuine teaching capable of rescuing the world from its disordered state. One day, despondent and despairing, the Great Master had a mystical experience. It was a spring day. The Great Master was in Ulsan in the neighborhood of his wife＊s parents＊ home. With the weight of the world on his shoulders, he had sought respite from his anxiety at a pavilion in Yeoshibawitgol valley not far from Ulsan when he was confronted by an otherworldly being who presented him with the Book from Heaven. (cheonseo, 蘢裛).
   The text of this book is unavailable to us today, but it is thought to have contained, among other things, the command to pray to Heaven. In other words, the Way that leads to the salvation of the world is not found outside the self but from within the self in direct prayerful communion with Heaven. After this encounter, the Great Master discontinued his walking pilgrimages in search of spiritual teachings. Instead, his spiritual quest assumed the form of prayer to Heaven. In Chondogyo these events are called the eulmyo cheonseo(錟棩蘢裛), referring to the year (1855) in which Great Master Su-un received the Book from Heaven.
   Following these events, the Great Master continued his religious training in such places as Naeweonam, a Buddhist temple on Mt. Cheonseong in the Yangsang region of South Kyeongsang Province, and at Jeogmyeolgul. Finally, in the vicinity of his birthplace near Gyeongju in Hyeongok township at Mt. Gumi＊s Yongdam pavilion, he experienced a defining religious moment during which he received The Great Cosmic Way(Mugeuk daedo, 渼郈豇堀). Furthermore, during this defining religious moment the Great Master received from God (Hanulnim) a talisman (yeongbu, 覤搰) that he was told would rescue humanity from its afflictions, together with an incantation (jumun, 騉湞) which he was instructed to teach the people.
   This event took place on the fifth day of the fourth month of Podeok, Chondogyo's founding year, in the Chinese sexagenary year of Gyeongsin, April 5th, 1860. Thus in Chondogyo this day is remembered as The Day of Heaven (Cheonilginyeomil, 蘢擨挹珝擨), in observance of Chondogyo's founding. Existing religions mark their beginnings from the birth date of the founder. Chondogyo differs from most religions in this respect by dating its beginnings from the moment the founder received the Heavenly Way.
   After receiving the Way, the Great Master spent nearly one year in disciplined preparation and training. Then, in the sixth month of the second year of Podeok (1861) he emerged for the first time to face the world and spread virtue and goodness among the people. Since anyone could serve God, be they members of the highest social class (yangban, 欳絯) or members of the lowest social classes, the new teaching of sicheonju(蒮蘢颸), by which every member of humanity is considered fundamentally equal, was very well received by those who had hopes of realizing a new social order in their lives. Yongdam pavilion in Gyeongju, where the Great Master was staying, was for many days in succession besieged by people coming to request admission into the Way. Because of this kind of proselytizing work and the interest shown by so many people, the Great Master aroused the suspicions of Confucian scholar-officials in the Gyeongsang province area and was pressured by government authorities. Therefore, in the eleventh month of the second year of Podeok he finally departed Yongdam to seek refuge in the small temple of Eunjeogam within the walls of Gyoryongsanseong near Namweon in Jeolla Province, where he spent the winter. There in Eunjeogam temple the Great Master composed the principal sacred texts of Donghak, such as Nonhagmun(眙鱹湞, A Discussion of Learning), Gweon-hakga (矧鱹夆, Songs to Encourage Learning), and Dosusa (堀摷硻, On Cultivating the Way).
   After spending the winter there he returned to Yongdam. But official repression continued, and on the tenth day of the twelfth month in the fourth year of Podeok (1863) he was arrested by Jeong Un-gu, special emissary sent by the Royal Court of Joseon, and his entourage. After serving time in Daegu jail, on the 10th day of the third month in the fifth year of Podeok (1864) he was formally charged by the legal authorities in Gyeongsang Province and sentenced to death by beheading. In order to remain true to the Way, the Great Master obediently submitted to being tied and bound. Then, so that he might follow the command of Heaven, he mounted the execution platform unassisted and died a martyr for his faith.
   The Great Master was simultaneously critical of the collapsing traditional social and political order of the Joseon dynasty, as well as the modern order of the West and its encroachment in East Asia. To meet these new challenges he preached a new system of belief that he called Eastern Learning (娵鱹, Donghak). The Eastern Learning proposed by the Great Master represents one facet in the historical record of Korea＊s self-determined modernization, for he sought to comprehensively overcome the challenges presented by the collapsing internal social and political order and the external encroachment and oppression of foreign powers, and to erect a new social and political order.
   However, the timing of Donghak＊s beginnings dictated that it would have to tread a path of extraordinary suffering and hardship, for the medieval dynastic order of Joseon was in a state of upheaval, made worse by the encroachment of the West. In this way, owing to late Joseon society＊s antiquated and anachronistic order and the oppression of the militarily powerful West, countless Donghak disciples were martyred, to the extent that the movement faced the prospect of complete and utter destruction. Thus Joseon society was unable to accept the principle of self-determined modernization so fervently held by Donghak＊s founder and his followers. The traditional East Asian world and social order fell into ever deeper disarray until it was faced with its own destruction, and Korea had to pay the painful price of a long dispossession by Western powers.
   The era of crisis and upheaval has continued for more than a century, and even in the present day it manifests itself in very much the same way. From the nineteenth century on, the two great world ideologies of socialism and capitalism worked towards achieving a new modernity. Socialism, however, has crumbled while capitalism has realized its own limits, and it is today＊s reality that no irrefutable plan or direction exists that the world can clearly pursue and by which it can prosper. It follows, therefore, that many sensible thinkers in both the East and West are calling for a new and different solution to the unhappy condition in which we presently find ourselves, and ongoing and devoted efforts to this end are apparent for all to see. And yet one hundred and forty years ago the Great Master, with both great foresight and foreboding, predicted this sense of crisis and despair and proposed Donghak as a solution to these problems.
   First the Great Master regarded human history from a cosmological perspective, dividing it into the world before the post-cosmic creation(seoncheon, 鉬蘢) and the post-cosmic creation (hucheon, 涖蘢). Viewed from the perspective of a rotating, cyclic history of the cosmos, he argued that humankind now stood at the very end of the world before the post-cosmic creation period. It follows, therefore, that humanity has fallen into a state of upheaval and degradation that is symptomatic of this time. He clearly states that this is a necessary precondition for the coming of the post-cosmic creation which will usher in a new epoch in human history. The Great Master regarded the disorder and confusion of mid-nineteenth century Joseon society as evidence that it had entered the final stages of the world before the post-cosmic creation. But the Great Master, far from regarding these symptoms as limited to the Joseon dynasty, declared that all humanity shared in experiencing this condition. Therefore, so that humanity might pass through the world before the post-cosmic creation and independently prepare to enter the new post-cosmic creation, he strongly emphasized the need for people of this world to first throw off the decadent every man for himself (gakjawishim, 岍簏縎裶) mentality so prevalent in society and to create anew with the heart and mind of God. The twenty-first century in which we live today is, by any interpretation, a time when the every man for himself mentality identified by the Great Master afflicts society to an unprecedented degree. It follows, then, that socially, ideologically, and spiritually, today＊s society is experiencing upheaval to the extent that, more than ever before, the times demand the new post-cosmic creation indicated by the Great Master. Viewed from such a perspective, the Great Master＊s teaching is not merely relevant to a time in our historic past but is unquestionably a teaching that all of us living today must urgently and attentively heed above all others.
   Thus in Chondogyo the Great Master who, in the last days of the world before the post-cosmic creation revealed a new teaching that foretells the coming of the post-cosmic creation, is regarded as the founder of Chondogyo.

Master Haeweol and the Era of the Hidden Way (Eundoshidae, 錈堀蒢衴)

Master Haeweol's original name was Choe Gyeong-sang. Later, however, in order to emphasize his teaching use your life in accordance with the times(yongsiyonghwal, 樾蒢樾擥) [that is to say, a living ?ay?is one which is effectively used and is applied to life in accordance with the times], he changed his given name to Si-hyeong (literally meaning progressive, good times).
Master Haeweol was born into a very low and poor social class. The years occupying the early to mid-nineteenth century represent a time when Joseon? political, social, and economic equilibrium had been greatly weakened, largely owing to the practice at court of appointing officials based on considerations of clan affiliation rather than merit. As a result the hearts and minds of the people grew more angry and desperate by the day, and the country? fortunes were in gradual decline. The Master was born to his father Ch?e Jong-su and mother of the Weol-seong Bae clan on the twenty-first day of the third month in the thirty-third year before Podeok (1827) in the small ha-mlet of Hwangori to the east of Gyeongju. His father was a poor farm laborer. Considering the time and circumstances in which he lived, he appears to have been a typical member of the impoverished classes. It is therefore quite natural to conclude that Master Haeweol, by virtue of his having been born into such a household, was also classified as a member of this low and poverty stricken socio-economic class.
Losing both parents at an early age, Master Haeweol earned his living as indentured farm hand, paper mill employee, slash-and-burn farmer, and so on. Then, in the second year after Podeok (1861), upon hearing the rumor that at Yongdam pavilion near Gyeongju a Master Su-un had discovered a new Way that would save the world, he went to see the Great Master, whereupon he became a follower of Donghak. This new convert to Eastern Learning worked during the day, while by night he assumed with great eagerness the study and training in the Master? teachings, until at last he arrived at the profound stage of achievement wherein he could hear the voice of God (cheoneo, 蘢槧). On the fourteenth day of the eight month in the fourth year of Podeok (1863) the Great Master, seeing Master Haeweol? attentiveness and devotion, finally initiated him into the Great Way(Daedo, 豇堀). In this way Master Haeweol succeeded the Great Master to become the second founding leader of Donghak. However, a special emissary from the Joseon court arrested the Great Master and took him to Daegu jail where he was eventually executed by beheading. As the government search for his disciple Master Haeweol intensified, he fled deep into the mountains of the Taebaek and Sobaek ranges which run through the provinces of Gangweon, Gyeongsang, and Chungcheong.
Here in the deep recesses of the Taebaek and Sobaek Mountains Master Haeweol passed thirty-six years in hiding, avoiding government searches by moving among some fifty different locations. But Master Haeweol was not just biding his time in hiding. He reassembled scattered Donghak followers, established church assemblies, and helped widen church membership. He also devoted himself to the Way as taught by his mentor, the Great Master, and rose to become a most worthy leader of Donghak. In Chondogyo, this period of his life is called the period of spreading the Way while in hiding, more succinctly expressed with the Chinese character phrase eundosidae(錈堀蒢衴). In the thirteenth year of Podeok (1872) the still-hiding Master Haeweol came out from the deep mountains to join Yi Pil-je in the provincial town of Yeongyang, Yong-hwadong, where they unfurled the Campaign to Exonerate the Church Founder in an effort to clear the Great Master?s name. The effort failed, however, and once again he fled into the Daebaek Range to continue his life in hiding. Despite living in the remote mountains Master Haeweol was never lax, even for a moment, in pursuing his spiritual discipline, while at the same time leading on his followers by urging them to study and train in the proper way. Furthermore, from the twenty-first to the twenty-second year of Pode-ok(1880~1881) he collected and compiled the assorted religious writings of his mentor the Great Master and had them printed in two separate volumes entitled Donggyeongdaejeon(娵枔豇闀, Donghak Scripture) and Yongdamyusa(樻蚆賱硻, Songs of Yongdam), respectively.
Even under the terrible conditions of government repression and search, Master Haeweol? labors brought together many tens of thousands of followers until ultimately Donghak church assemblies had spread throughout the country. Later, in order to more systematically consolidate and thereby strengthen the organization, Master Haeweol restored the administrative system(jeob, 懟) but later replaced it with the administrative system(p?, 靇) by which he laid a foundation for effective administration and management of the Church and its members nationwide. It is precisely through such systematic organization that Master Haeweol launched successive campaigns to clear the Church Founder? name in such places as Gongju, Samnye, Gwanghwamun, and Poeun. These campaigns represent the first large-scale demonstrations of collective public will even seen in Korea. The enormous organization of Donghak church assemblies that had remained largely hidden until this time were now revealed to be a huge congregation of people supported by a very large and effective governing body.
This exoneration campaign later evolved into an anti-Foreign Powers movement bearing the slogan repel the West, repel Japan in reaction to the military pressures exerted by Japan and the West on Korea at the time. This developed even further into the Gabo Donghak Revolution of 1894~95. Thus Master Haeweol, in the 35th year of Podeok, led the Gabo Donghak Revolution in protest of Joseon government corruption. This quickly grew into a resistance struggle against foreign invasion and occupation, in which Japan was the principal target. However, Master Haeweol? forces met defeat at the hands of Japan and its superior modern weaponry. After returning for a time to life as a fugitive he was captured by pursuing government troops in the 39th year of Podeok(1898). As with the Great Master before him, he suffered martyrdom by execution.
In a time of great adversity Master Haeweol, through unflinching devotion and unremitting effort, thoroughly practiced the Way in his own life, revived a religious group that was experiencing great crisis, and guided it towards becoming the firmly established Chondogyo Church. Here, surely, was a man of action who put into practice the principles in which he believed.

Revered Teacher Euiam and the Era of the Transparent Way (Hyeondosidae, 𠮏堀蒢衴)

Revered Teacher Euiam was born Son Byeong-hui in the second year of Podeok(1861) in Chungcheong Province. Revered Teacher Euiam had enjoyed a robust and carefree youth that left him open-minded and receptive to the world. When he heard of the Way and its tremendously ambitious religious objective, namely of supporting the nation and comforting the people(boguganmin, 嗝玿颭硠) and of building a new society, indeed, a nation of God on earth, he became a member in the twenty-third year of Podeok (1884). After joining Donghak, Revered Teacher Euiam quickly put his everyday affairs in order and entered into a period of profound training that included reading and reciting The Incantation of Twenty-One Letters(Jumun 21 ja, 騉湞 21礄) thirty thousand times a day. In addition to reading the incantation in this way he would, in his spare time, turn his efforts to the fashioning of straw sandals, of which he made two pair every four our five days. Six times a month he would go to the five-day periodic market in Cheongju to sell these sandals. He is thought to have lived in this manner for roughly three years. Basing his disciplinary training on the Incantation of Twenty-One Letters, he conducted his life with remarkable consistency indeed.
After this period Revered Teacher Euiam became Master Haeweol? disciple, and in such places as Gaseobsa Temple in Gongju, Sajaam Temple in Igsan, and Yongmunsa Temple in Pungcheon, he entered a life of devoted study. Such extraordinary religious training proved to be a fundamental driving force behind Revered Teacher Euiam? many accomplishments in later days.
During the Donghak Revolution Revered Teacher Euiam served in the leading role of supreme commander of the Donghak army. Afterwards, in attendance to Master Haeweol, he remained on the move, staying in such places as Weonju and Yeoju to avoid government capture. On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month in the 39th year of Podeok (1898), while in his thirty-eighth year, he received from Master Haeweol the mantle of leadership of the Way to become the third head of Chondogyo.
Having inherited leadership of the Church, Revered Teacher Euiam restored order to the religious organization. He also embarked on a world tour in order to appraise political and social trends on a larger, more global scale. During his travels he sojourned for some time in Japan, where he discussed national issues with a number of compatriots living in exile there. He also produced a manual to serve as a guide for church members. Along the way Revered Teacher Euiam became acutely aware of the need for trained individuals of talent, and so, as part of his tireless church renovation efforts he selected young people of talent from among the congregation and sent them abroad for study in Japan.
In the forty-fifth year of Podeok (1904) sensing the imminent commencement of the Russo-Japanese War, he directed compatriots living in Korea to form the Progressive Society (Jinbohoe, 蟼剺𨗴) and to rally the morale of church members. He also helped in launching a new cultural and reformist movement designed to reverse the declining fortunes of the nation and to create a new society. As part of this new campaign he called for members of the society nationwide to cut their hair short and to wear simple, modest clothing.
Later, on the first day of the twelfth month in the 46th year of Podeok (1905), it was proclaimed to the world that the name of Donghak had been changed to Chondogyo. This therefore marks the date when Donghak cast off the era of the shadows (eundosidae, 錈堀蒢衴) and greeted the age of openness and transparency (hyeondosidae, 𠮏堀蒢衴). In the first month of the 47th year of Podeok (1906), Revered Teacher Euiam returned to Korea where he took steps to modernize the church organization by establishing Chondogyo headquarters in Seoul and by setting up parishes in each district throughout the country. He also expelled Yi Yong-gu and sixty others for leaving the Progressive Society to join the Japanese sponsored Advancement Society (Iljinhoe, 擩蟼𨗴) where they had engaged in collaborationist activities.
However, in 1910 Korea experienced the hellish national humiliation of being annexed by Japan. Amidst the sorrow of losing his country Revered Teacher Euiam had leaders of the church from throughout the country come by turns to Bonghwanggak in Seoul? Uidong where they were instructed for forty-nine days in his teaching of isinhwanseong (鴗蜰搸僛, transform flesh and blood through temperament). This he did in order to ensure a unified faith and uniformity of structure in Chondogyo. Such discipline, namely solidarity of spiritual will and improved organizational strength, later proved to be a vital motivational and driving force during the March First Independence Movement of 1919. In effect Revered Teacher Euiam had already devoted ten years of his life in preparation for the March First Independence Movement.
On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month in the 59th year of Podeok (1918), in order to be spiritually prepared for the March First Independence Movement, he ordered all Chondogyo members nationwide to unite in special prayer for a period of forty-nine days. In the following year, on the first day of the third month in the 60th year of Podeok (1919) he led the nationwide March First demonstrations with participants repeating the slogan Long live independence!
As a leader of the March First Independence Movement he was arrested. While in prison he became ill and was eventually released from custody on sick bail. His illness worsened, however, and in the sixty-third year of Podeok (1922) in his Sangchunweon(菙臝禤) home he returned to his origins (hwanweon, 𤂌磢). Just as Great Master Su-un and Master Haeweol before him, Revered Teacher Euiam devoted his life and soul on behalf of the oppressed Korean masses and the Korean nation, and suffered a solemn martyrdom at the hands of injustice. He was sixty-two.

Venerable Teacher Chunam and the Cultural Movement Era

Venerable Teacher Chunam's birth name is Pak In-ho. He was born on the first day of the second month in the fifth year before Podeok (1856) in the village of Makdongni, Jangchon Township, Deogsan District, Chungnam Province. At the age of twenty-nine the simple and amicable Venerable Teacher Chunam became a follower of Donghak in the twenty-fourth year of Podeok. For the first ten years after joining he never once removed or changed his clothes and completely abstained from such things as fish, meat, alcohol, and tobacco while going about his daily regimen of strict and devoted training. One anecdote tells of how, fearful of falling into a deep sleep, he used a sickle for a pillow. After taking a brief nap with his head resting on this farm implement he awoke to resume his recitation of the Incantation of Twenty-One Letters. Under the guidance and direction of Master Haeweol he entered Gaseobsa Tem-ple in Gongju for his 49 day training and other studies, and developed into an important Dong-hak leader. At the time of the Donghak Revolution he served as overall commander of Donghak forces in the Chung-cheong Province area under the title Virtuous Supreme Superintendent (De-ogeuijeobju, 适錩懟颸).
Later, in the forty-second year of Podeok (1901), upon being named a Respected Leader of the Way (Gyeongdoju, 杶堀颸), he served in such capacities as Elder of the Church, advisor to Central Church Headquarters, Church chief financial officer, and as teacher of Chondogyo theology. On the tenth day of the twelfth month in the 48th year of Podeok (1907) he was appointed Vice Head of the Way, and little more than a month afterwards, on the eighteenth day of the first month in the 49th year of Podeok (1908), he was chosen to succeed in the line of Church leadership and so became the fourth head of Chondogyo, under the new title Great Leader of the Way (Daedoju, 豇堀颸).
Upon assuming his duties as Great Leader of the Way he reshuffled the leadership structure of Church Headquarters and spared no effort in working to increase church membership. However, in the fifty-first year of Podeok (1910), having been annexed by Japan, Korea suffered the pain and humiliation of occupation by Japanese imperial forces. In order to overcome such suffering Venerable Teacher Chunam, despite the oppressively prying eyes of the suspicious Japanese authorities, acted in accordance with Revered Teacher Euiam?s wishes in devoting his main efforts to publishing and education.
It was the construction of what was at the time a state of the art printing facility annexed to Church headquarters that provided Chondogyo with the necessary foundation to become a leading player in the Cultural Movement. Furthermore, it stood at the forefront in education for the Korean people by taking over and running Boseong School and Dongdeog Girl?s School, as well as constructing and managing roughly 800 religious indoctrination centers and thereby contributing to society?s national adult education campaign. unam chose not to serve as a representative of the Korean people during the March First Independence Movement. Nevertheless he was one of a group of forty-eight people arrested by the Japanese police and taken to jail. When, in the sixty-third year of Podeok (1922), Revered Teacher Euiam passed away, Chunam relegated the disposition of all future internal church matters to committee discussion, and for this he is remembered as a highly spiritual leader.
In the 63d year of Podeok (1938), with Japan?s invasion and occupation of Manchuria and the growing severity of its militarist government, he called the regional church leaders together and ordered a special prayer for the destruction and ruin of imperial Japan. This was quite appropriately called the Muin (氰寲, sexagenary cycle year) prayer for the destruction of Japan (Muinmyeolwaegido, 氰寲愔魶挶啋).
Venerable Teacher Chunam never submitted to the harsh oppression of Japanese rule and continued to direct the Chondogyo Church until, on the third day of the fourth month in the 81st year of Podeok (1940), he passed away. He was 86.
After the Venerable Teacher Chunam?s passing, leadership of the Church was determined through elections in accordance with the establishment of a church congress. The leader of Chondogyo, someone with spiritual qualities who is also a capable administrator, was elected to office every three years. Today members of this congress continue to manage and move Chondogyo forward by assembling every three years to elect a new church head and other leaders, and to attend to any other church matters.