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Donghak (東學, lit. “Eastern Learning”) was a religious/philosophical movement in Korea founded in the early1860s by Choe Je-u. (called Su-un by his followers). It included an eclectic combination of Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist beliefs. Pxxiv  It offered to immediate solutions to personal difficulties through chanting of incantations and the taking of elixirs to restore vitality and attain enlightenment. It was open to the highest and lowest strata of society and considered all people to be equal. As such it was the antithesis of neo-Confucian orthodoxy, which is highly hierarchical. It also was opposed to seohak (西學, "Western learning"), i.e., Catholicism; even though Su-un believed the God with whom he communed (Sangje in literary Chinese or Hanullim in vernacular Korean), and the Catholic deity were the same. However, he contended that Catholicism failed to understand God, Pxii,  and emphasized personal and community practices that would attain benefits in this life rather than in a heavenly afterlife.P66, This was accomplished through a personal refining process, a return to the "Way of Heaven".Yao 2000 p123-124,   While Su-un strongly argued that there was no association between the two faiths, Donghak was caught up in a purge of Catholicism and he was executed in 1864. It was subsequently reimagined which allowed it to survive after Su-un’s death and to adapt to changing political and social circumstances. In 1994 it was associated with a rebellion referred to as the Donghak Rebellion, although a minority of the rebels were Donghak adherents. During the period when Korea was a Japanese protectorate it evolved into modern-style bureaucratic religions known as Sijeongyo and Cheondogyo. Sijeongyo was receptive to Japanese modernization and it became the religious arm of Ilchinhoe, a political organization with a similar agenda. Young 2017 P86,. It even advocated for the merger of Korea and Japan. Young P94. Nevertheless, Ilchinhoe was essentially expunged by the Japanese after its annexation of Korea. The remnants of Sinjeongyo barely persist as a small more traditional sect. On the other hand, Cheondogyo (Cheondoism), was more successful. It continues to have about 100,000 active members in South Korea; and it is a political party in North Korea in coalition with North Korea’s Workers’ Party. Young 2017 P134-135

弓弓乙乙

Historical context
The nineteen century was a turbulent period in Korean history. Many of the disturbances in that period had a philosophical/religious component. The Joseon (or Yi) dynasty was beset by a number of uprisings. In 1812, they began with the Hong Gyeong-nae Rebellion in the North East, in Joseon Pyeongan province, and another in 1813 on Jeju island off the south coast of the Korean peninsula. These were caused by a number of factors that included (among others) economic stress, high effective taxes and corrupt officials. Pratt 1999 p378,. The Hong Gyeong-nae leader of the rebellion known by his name was inspired by the secret writing of the jeonggamnok, which foretold the fall of the Joseon dynasty and its replacement by a new utopian dynasty. Jorgensen 2018, p 169-172, However this intent to replace the ruling dynasty was not typical of subsequent rebellions which were more related to economic issues and which sought justification in Neo-Confucian ideology, as noted below.

In 1862, which was a particularly tumultuous year, there were over 70 uprisings in villages across the kingdom. The targets of these uprisings were corrupt officials in individual districts, not the central government or magistrates appointed by the king, who was highly respected. Loss of life was typically low on both sides. One exception was the revolt in Jeju in 1862. In that case 600 people, mostly Catholics, were killed by the rebels. Bae 2017 p235,

The uprising in Jinju, in Joseon Gyeongsang Province, (analyzed in detail by Sun Joo Kim), although relatively large was more typical in the way it unfolded. Among conditions leading to the uprising were: a high concentration of land in the hands of a few yangban families, movement of new yangban to the area which led to tension among yangban groups, increasing effective tax rates (interest on loans from the district government), self-dealing by district tax officials and a new poorly run system to collect tax as money rather than grain. When legal appeals failed to attain tax remedies, meetings were held, and it was decided to punish offending officials. Participants included yangban (the elite) and commoners including woodcutters. The most notorious corrupt officials were killed, and their bodies burned. The targets of violence were carefully selected. Following these actions, the uprising lasted only a few more days. The government response was to fire inept officials who were deemed responsible for allowing the abuses by the local officials and to execute three of the rebel ringleaders. An attempt was made to reform tax collection to make it more acceptable, but those efforts were apparently ineffective. Kim 2007 full article,

A respected yangban who had participated in another of the uprisings in 1862 in Danseon (Tansŏng), northwest of Jinju, justified the uprising in Confucian terms by writing: “The people are Heaven. Can Heaven be deceived and overturned?” Others in the rural elite were convinced that their actions – both legal and violent – were legitimate under Neo-Confucian ideology. Kim 2007 p1018, Other revolts (e.g. the Donghak Revolt in 1894 and the March First uprisings in 1919) that included participation by Donghak/Cheondogyo adherents are discussed below.

Foreign threats were also a concern to the Joseon government. Western powers had defeated the Ming dynasty in China in the opium wars before 1850. British and French ships had also entered Korean waters. In 1866, following a wave of persecutions of Catholics in Korea in which French missionaries were executed, the French briefly invaded Ganghwa Island, near Inchon, to demand retribution. In 1866, an American merchant ship, the General Sherman, appeared off the coast of Pyeongan and sailed into the Taedong River, which led to armed confrontations. In the end, the ship was captured and burned; and the crew was killed. In 1871, Ganghwa Island was captured again; this time by Americans who demanded reparation for the General Sherman incident. Kallander p10, Kim 2012 p281-283, Shin map page 104 chronology page 110,. There was also a bizarre incident in 1968 in which Ernst Oppert, a German adventurer, together with a French priest, tried to force Joseon to open itself to trade and Christian missionary work by stealing the body of an important Korean official’s father and holding it for ransom. Kim 2012 p283, Rausch 2019 p1 The attempt failed but reinforced Korean suspicions about the west. Western religion was seen as a precursor to European subjugation and colonization. Kallander p10,

The government was thus concerned with ideological threats from Catholicism and extended this concern to Confucian “heterodoxy” involving western influence. Catholicism was introduced into Korea by Koreans who learned of it in China and who established congregations back in Korea, without sanctions from Catholic officials. It was further spread by French Missionaries who arrived after 1836. Catholicism was viewed as detrimental to Neo- Confucianism, the state ideology, because it banned ancestral rights and because belief in the Catholic God was considered to usurp the role of the King. An exemplary memorial to the throne written in 1795 stated that heretical religions were worse than floods and droughts. A purge of Catholicism was conducted from 1801 to 1871. Kallander p16-23, Subsequent treaties with England and France that were agreed to under duress, gave Catholic missionaries protection and the ban on Korean Catholicism was lifted and by 1990, the French had built a cathedral in Seoul. Kallander p92,

In addition to threats from the west, Korea was caught in a power struggle between China and Japan. China, which had been the dominant power in east Asia for centuries, suffered humiliating defeats in the Opium Wars against Britain (1839–1842, 1856–1860) and the later Sino-French War (1884–1885) which emboldened Japan. After it had been forced to open to the west in 1854 by the United States; Japan had embarked on a modernization policy known as the Meiji Reformation. Its growing power allowed it to contest China’s dominance in Korea. Japan forced Korea to open three ports to trade and China then encouraged Korea to open trade with western countries. China and Japan both had supporters in the Korean government. A coup by the pro-Japanese faction in 1884 was subsequently reversed by the Chinese military. The standoff led to the Tianjin Convention in 1885, which committed both Japan and China to withdraw troops, and to notify the other of any future military deployments to the peninsula. Greve&Levy 2017 p160-161,

The 19th century also saw increasing polarization between orthodox Neo-Confucian scholars and reformist scholars who attempted to make Confucianism more relevant in the lives of common people. They developed a branch of Confucianism known as Silhak (practical learning) which focused on practical matters in the daily lives of people rather than abstract “Empty Learning”. One of the most illustrious of the Silhak proponents was Jeong Yakyong (Chŏng Yagyong, known by his pen name, Dasan or Tasan). Dasan wrote advice on a wide range of practical issues such as government administration, pulleys and cranes, land redistribution, and smallpox immunization. Baker p63. However, he was also concerned with morality and ethics which he approached from a realistic perspective. His thesis was that humans have two competing instincts: a desire for pleasure and a desire to be a good person. However, an abstract wish to be good would be insufficient unless there was an all seeing God who judges our actions. Thus, Dasan came to the conclusion that a personal God exists, not from a need for a creator (as argued by Christian philosophers) but from a moral and ethical need, in other words, from a practical concern. Baker 2010 p61-63, This concept was a challenge to Confucian orthodoxy which treated God or Heaven as an impersonal force; and it was intolerable to orthodox authorities. He was accused of promoting Catholic teaching (for similarities concerning concepts of God) and he was exiled for nearly 19 years. Yao 2000 p123, While the Silhak movement failed to take root, it was followed by Donghak which had the goal of improving the lives of oppressed and marginalized people, under the guidance of God/Heaven, conceived as paradoxically personal and impersonal. Chung 2007 p17&55,

Description
According to Kiyul Chung, Donghak can be defined as a “minjung-centered, liberation oriented and socially-transformative religious movement”, K Chung P17, where minjung refers to the marginalized people of Korea. K Chung P70 Kallander defined it as “a religion, a philosophy, and a socio-political phenomenon that attracted Koreans across class, age, gender, and geographical boundaries”. Kallander Pxiv It was founded by Choe Je-u during the period from 1860, when he had his first revelation, to his death in 1864. During this period, he laid out its foundational principles and practice in documents composed in classical Chinese and in vernacular Korean. The name Donghak translates to “eastern learning”, not indicating eastern Asia as a whole, but to Korea itself because Korea was known at the time as the Eastern Nation. Kallander Pix, It combined elements of Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism and Shamanism and even some concepts of God similar to Catholicism. Although the leaders of Donghak sought to distinguish it from western learning (Catholicism), they shared two features which distinguished them from the religious/philosophical thought and practice at the time. First, they were essentially monotheistic, although some scholars make a distinction that Catholicism is directed to one God; while Donghak is directed to a unitary God/Heaven in which God and Heaven are intimately combined. Chung 2007 p56, In any event, they differed from polytheistic religious concepts in Daoism and Shamanism. Orthodox Neo-Confucians in power at the time of its founding viewed Catholicism and Donghak as threats. If there are many gods, no single god had the power to challenge the existing Confucian order. However, a believer in an omniscient God or God/Heaven might put His demands above those of a human King. Believers would also be expected to shun other gods and thus hold themselves apart from those with less dogmatic beliefs and thereby disrupting the harmony of the kingdom. Second, Catholicism and Donghak practiced group rituals which were beyond the control of the government, furthermore they demanded the right to practice those rituals. In other words, they engendered a concept of religious freedom which was new to Korea.Baker 2006 p257&265-266,.

Donghak was modernized and renamed Cheondo-gyo in 1905.Young 2005 P50. As such, it was deemed the major pioneer of new religious movements in Korea, Earhart P 19  It has also been described as the oldest of Korea’s “new” religions and Korea’s first syncretic religion.Beirne P4,, Weems 1968 P92 Grayson P199,  With respect to ideology and ritual, Carl Young, a Donghak scholar, observed that the “genius of Donghak and Cheondo-gyo was “their ability to survive, adapt, and stay in-tune with the changing national situation and aspirations of a large segment of the Korean people in a world undergoing radical transformation”. Young 2014 xxiii,

Su-un
Donghak was founded in from 1860-1864 by Choe Je-u (referred to hereafter Su-un, the name used by his followers). Beirne 2019, p5,'''

The name by which Su-un is most frequently referred is the one which he chose for himself prior to his revelation on Mt Gumi, namely Che-u (‘saviour of the ignorant’). As mentioned in the introduction, his followers gave him the name Su-un (‘Watercloud’), evocative perhaps of an ability to bring sustenance and relief across human boundaries. Beirne, Paul. Su-un and His World of Symbols (p. 5). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition. Page number same as book.

Haewol
Choe Sihyeong (referred to hereafter as Haewol, his honorary name) was the second leader of Donghak. Kallander 2013 p100,

Jeon Bongjun (General Nokdu)
Jeon Bongjun (referred to hereafter as General Nokdu, a name used by his followers) was the supreme leader of the Donghak Rebellion in 1894. Lew 2013 p153-154,

Son Byong-hi and Yi Yong-gu
Son Byong-hi, initially assisted by Yi Yong-gu, was the third patriarch of Donghak. Both men took refuge in Japan following the Donghak Rebellion. Yi returned to Korea first and assumed the leadership of Donghak in Korean. After Son returned, he again took over and a rift developed between them leading to the formation of two branches of Donghak NEED REF

Status and Influence after Korean liberation
This section will discuss the current status of Sijeongyo and Cheondogyo influence of Donghak on Catholic and environmentalism in Korea.

While Donghak is lionized in tourist literature and in government sponsored publications, its relevance as a religion in Korea today appears minimal. Many Koreans have never heard of Cheondogyo which constitutes less than 1% of religious affiliations in Korea today. Its members have been described as mostly over 50 years old and primarily descendants of previous Cheondogyo followers. It is gaining few new converts and most of those seemed to have joined with nationalistic motivations. It has become more a symbol of various ideologies than a religion and appropriation of Donghak history by political and social movements may have contributed to its decline. Bell 2004 p123-148, On the other hand, the Donghak worldview has been held up as a model for a type of spiritualism that promotes environmental sustainability (nature centered rather than human centered); Baek 2013 p11,37,101 & 243; and one that could provide a new value system for a more humane global community. Hong 2015 p103-134.

OLD TEXT FROM ORIGINAL ARTICLE Joseon, which patronized Neo-Confucianism as the state ideology, saw an increasing polarization between orthodox Confucian scholars and efforts by other Confucian scholars to revive social ethics and reform society. The increasing presence and pressure from the West created a greater sense of urgency among reformers, and thus Choe Je-u first penned his treatise, Comprehensive Book of Eastern Learning, or Dongkyeong Daejoen (동경대전, 東經大全). This treatise marked the first use of the term "Eastern Learning" and called for a rejection of God (in the Christian sense), and other aspects of Christian theology.

Choe was alarmed by the intrusion of Christianity (천주교, Cheonjugyo; Catholicism), and the Anglo-French occupation of Beijing. He believed that the best way to counter foreign influence in Korea was to introduce democracy, establish human rights and create a paradise on Earth independent of foreign interference.

In 1892 the small groups of the Donghak movement were united into a single Peasant Guerrilla Army or Donghak Peasants' Army. The peasants worked in the fields during the day, but during the night, they armed themselves and raided government offices and killed rich landlords, traders, and foreigners. They confiscated their victims' properties for redistribution.

Choe Je-u was executed as a criminal by the government. The movement was continued by Choe Si-Hyeong (1829–1898), who systematized its doctrine. He too was executed.

In 1898, following the execution of Choe Si-Hyeong, the leader of Donghak, Son Byong-Hi, sought political asylum in Japan. After the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, he returned to Korea and established the Chinbohoe ("progressive society"), a new cultural and reformist movement designed to reverse the declining fortunes of the nation and to create a new society. Through Donghak he conducted a nationwide movement that aimed at social improvement through the renovation of old customs and ways of life. Hundreds of thousands of members of Donghak cut their long hair short and initiated the wearing of simple, modest clothing. Non-violent demonstrations for social improvement organized by members of Donghak took place throughout 1904.

Under the third patriarch of the Donghak movement, Son Byeong-hui, the movement became a religion called Cheondogyo, or Cheondoism, which is followed today in both North and South Korea.

Choe Je-u's treatise argued a return to the Confucian understanding of Heaven, with emphasis on self-cultivation and improving one's nature. As Choe wrote, the Way of Heaven was within one's own mind, and so by improving one's nature, one also attained the Way of Heaven.

Writings of Su-un in English
The following list indicates sources of English language translations of the writing of the patriarchs in English.

KY – Kim and Yoon 2007 Kl – Kallander 2013 Mn – Moon 2017 (many brief excerpts – search for Romanized name) Br – Beirne 2019

Great Collection of Eastern Scriptures (Donggyeong Daejeon): Reflections of the Dragon Pool (Yongdam Yusa):
 * On Propagating Virtue (Podeok-mun) KY:3-6, Kl:157-158, Mn, Br:25, 65
 * Discussion of Learning (Nonhak-mun) KY:7-13, Kl:159-162, Mn, Br:39, 56-58, 126
 * On Cultivating Virtue (Sudeok-mun) KY:14-20, Kl:163-166, Mn, Br:140, 146
 * The Common and the Hidden Truth (Bulyeon Giyeon) KY:21-23, Kl:166
 * A Supplication (Chuck-mun) KY:25, Kl:167
 * Sacred Incantation (Jumun) KY:26-27, Kl:168, Mn, Br:63, 116-118
 * Verse of the Vernal Equinox (Ipchun-si) KY:28, Kl:168, Br:32
 * An Occasional Poem or  Quatrain (Jeol-gu)  KY:29, Kl:169, Mn
 * Song of Victory or  Poem of Exorcism (Gang-si) KY:30, Kl:169
 * Counsel or  An Exhortation (Jwa-jam) KY:31, Kl:169
 * Verses on Harmonious Dialogue or  Poem of Repose  (Hwagyeol-si) KY:32-35, Kl:169-170
 * Do Not Hurry the Way (Tando Yusim Keup) KY:36-37,53, Kl:170, Mn
 * Poetry and Prose (Si-mun) Kl:171
 * Secret (Gyeol) KY:38, Kl:171
 * Sudden Inspiration 1 or  Random Verses (Ueum 1) KY:39, Kl:172, Mn
 * Sudden Inspiration or  Random Poem (Ueum 2) KY:52, Kl:176
 * Eight Verses - Initial and Additional (Palcheol) KY:42-45, Kl:173-174
 * Petition or  Writing on a Theme (Je-seo) KY:46, Kl:174
 * Evening Reflection or  Songs in the Dark (Yeong-so) KY:47, Kl:174
 * The Way of the Brush Stroke  or  The Way of Writting (Pilbeop) KY:50, Kl:175, Br:91-92
 * Lofty Flowing Sentiment (Yugo-eum) KY:51, Kl:175-176, Mn
 * Song of Instruction (Gyohun-ga) Kl:177-182, Mn, Br:32&33
 * Song of Comfort (Ansim-ga) Kl:182-186, Mn, Br:37-38
 * Songs of the Dragon Pool (Yongdam-ga) Kl:186-188
 * Dialogue between the Old and the Young in a Dream (Mongjung Noso Mundap-ga) Br:21, 79-81
 * Song of Cultivating the Way (Dosu-sa) Br:89
 * Song Encouraging the Study of Truth (Gwonhak-ga) Mn
 * Song of Morality (Dodeok-ga) not found
 * Parable of Success (Heungbi-ga) not found
 * Song of the Sword (Geom-Gyeol) Br:108