• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.16
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• pp.1-23
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• 2003

The Jeungsan(1871-1909)'s revelation is the important meaning. Jeungsan hands down the two revelation for solution of Chosun postscript problem and presentation of Utopia. One time Suwun(1824~1864) is handed down and afterwords Jeongsan(1895-1958) after Jeungsan's Hwachon at 1917. Two revelations accomplish the day of the Jeungsan in public but the character is the countenance. The Jeungsan's revelation to Suwun solves present generation problems, the Jeungsan revelation to Jeongsan is continuously to do the day of the Jeungsan even after Hwachon. The Jeungsan stepped on the failure of the Donghak and on the upper lifestyle with the Cham-Donghag it opened the different side. The Cham-Donghag is concerned about the future Chosun to be the first-class country and Chosun Haewon is related with Danju Haewon. Danju Haewon is to be a fifty years religous study of Jeongsan. The Jeungsan's Gangse is to accomplish the Sungsajaein and it actualizes the appearance of Dotonggunja. Jeongsan is trying to do the religious activity about Sungsajaein and Dotonggunja as the Daedumok. The Jeungsan starts from revelation to the Suwun, to accomplish thought of the Cham-Donghag after Hwachon. The Jeungsan continuously has handed revelation led from religion activity, let Jeongsan do fifty years religious study. In the long run, it completes the fact that it accomplishes the outer space and the Chosun society of new setup, and a sacred religious work has been arranged the advocate of the Cham-Donghag through the Jeongsan by Woodang(1917-1996)'s Daesoonjinrihoe(1969).

• Journal of Daesoon Thought and the Religions of East Asia
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.33-56
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• 2023

Although English-language academic materials on Kang Jeungsan (강증산/姜甑山 1871-1909) are steadily increasing, the same cannot be said of Jo Jeongsan (조정산/道主 趙鼎山 1895-1958) who remains under-researched as figure of profound significance to the Korean new religion Daesoon Jinrihoe (대순진리회/大巡眞理會). Furthermore, in materials produced by Daesoon Jinrihoe that are later translated into English, the connections that exist between Kang Jeungsan and Jo Jeongsan are often reduced to a few representative examples, when, in fact, many additional examples could be provided for a more comprehensive understanding. Comprehending the basis for the first succession in the three-figure orthodox religious lineage of Daesoon Jinrihoe is crucial to task of properly differentiating Daesoon Jinrihoe from seemingly similar Korean new religions that enshrine Kang Jeungsan as their Supreme God. The research presented in this article, "A Study on the Relationship between Kang Jeungsan and Jo Jeongsan Described in Chapter Two of Progress of the Order," will provide readers with a thorough overview of the basis for Jo Jeongsan's successorship in the orthodox religious lineage of Daesoon Jinrihoe, through an in-depth exploration of Chapter Two of Progress of the Order from Daesoon Jinrihoe's main scripture, The Canonical Scripture. Furthermore, this article will include special explanatory notes to ensure that it can be easily read even by non-specialists.

• Journal of Daesoon Thought and the Religions of East Asia
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.17-37
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• 2021

Scholars of new religious movements have emphasized the role of "second founders," such as Judge J.F. Rutherford for the Jehovah's Witnesses, Brigham Young for the Mormons, or Deguchi Onisaburo for Oomoto. They systematize and structure movements often created by the "first founders" with a minimal organization only. The paper argues that the model for the sequence first founder/second founder described by these scholars is the relationship between Jesus and Paul of Tarsus at the origins of Christianity. It proposes a comparison between Jesus of Nazareth and Kang Jeungsan, who established the tradition leading to present-day Daesoon Jinrihoe. It then summarizes the biography of Jo Jeongsan, recognized by Daesoon Jinrihoe as its "second founder" within the same tradition, and discusses the analogies between his connection to the "first founder," Kang Jeungsan, and the connection Paul of Tarsus established with Jesus Christ. The paper considers recent scholarship about Paul, often described as the "New Perspective on Pauline Scholarship." Paul never personally met Jesus Christ, except after the latter's death through a spiritual revelation, just as Jo Jeongsan never met Kang Jeungsan, except after his death, when he manifested himself to him in spirit. Nonetheless, Paul was able to decisively shape the largest branch among the followers of Jesus Christ, just as Jo Jeongsan originated the lineage leading to Daesoon Jinrihoe, currently the largest religious order among those recognizing Kang Jeungsan as the incarnated Supreme God.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.38
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• pp.47-82
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• 2021

At the age of 15, Song Gyu, the second patriarch of Won Buddhism, met Jeungsan-gyo members and was substantially influenced by them. Jeongsan cultivated himself for three months in Mount Gaya based on their recommendations. He instructed his family members to practice reciting the Tae-eul Mantra. Henceforth, Jeongsan was said to attain supernatural power when he was around 18 years old, and he pursued the traces left by Jeungsan in Jeolla Province. Once there, he asked Jeungsan's younger sister to move to his hometown, Seongju, Gyeongsang Province, and he served her with his utmost sincerity. He went back to the birthplace of Jeungsan and received a Daoist book from Jeungsan's daughter titled, Essentials for an Upright Mind (正心要訣). Jeongsan practiced holy works for 10 months at Daewon-sa Temple in Mount Moak where Jeungsan was said to have attained unification with the Dao. After he had met Jeungsan-gyo members at the temple, he was able to stay in her house where he ended up meeting So Taesan. Before their meeting, it is obvious that Jeongsan was a member of Jeungsan-gyo. Afterward, Jeongsan entered into Won Buddhism and used the passage, 'saving lives by curing the world (濟生醫世).' He recited the writing of Jeungsan, which had been given to his disciples, as if it had been a mantra. In addition, he mentioned Jeungsan's poems or the Chinese poems that he had quoted many times. Jeongsan also interpreted passages from The Hyunmu Scripture (玄武經) written by Jeungsan in a unique manner. Jeongsan answered his disciples in his own way when they asked questions on the teachings of Jeungsan. He recognized Jeungsan as one of the Three Primes, who presided over the Great Opening.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.44
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• pp.1-52
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• 2023

Incantations are reflected in the fundamentals of the Daesoon faith system and are, thus, key to its understanding. Jeungsan, the yeonwon (fountainhead, 淵源) of the Daesoon faith, created new incantations or transformed existing ones that had been used in old religious traditions such as Buddhism and Daoism. However, there has been no in-depth academic research on Jeungsan's incantations until now. This study aims to academically clarify the incantatory archetypes of Jeungsan's incantations based on documents published until the 1970s. Jeungsan's incantations are then compared to those of Mugeuk-do (Limitless Dao) in the 1920s and Taegeuk-do (Great-Ultimate Dao) in the 1950s. Jeongsan's transformed incantations are analyzed through this process. Jeongsan reflected the faith system in Jeungsan's incantations during the period of Mugeuk-do. He transformed the incantations to achieve his goal and realize his wishes by arranging terms that referred to himself before the optative words of the incantations. Jeongsan made several changes to the incantations in the 1950s. First, the majority of incantations used in Mugeuk-do were discarded. This meant making partial changes to the faith system by reflecting awareness because the corresponding incantations were no longer necessary as the Degree Number calibrated by Jeungsan had been realized. Second, Jeongsan organized the incantations in use and institutionalized their instructions. This reflected the essential doctrinal system of the Daesoon faith, namely the completion of the true dharma by Jeongsan. Considering this doctrine, that is, the Fifty Year Holy Work (五十年工夫), the true dharma can be presumed to have been realized before the death of Jeongsan. Accordingly, the institutionalizing and organizing of the incantations were indispensable until the mid-to-late 1950s. Jeongsan, the founder of the Daesoon order, posited himself as the successor of religious orthodox lineage and as the figure who would complete the true dharma by realizing the Degree Number calibrated by Jeungsan. Therefore, Jeongsan interpreted Jeungsan's incantations to be a rough sketch of the Daesoon faith system that had been drawn for him in advance by Jeungsan. Accordingly, Jeongsan transformed Jeungsan's incantations and used them to realize the Degree Number, which Jeungsan had planned. Simultaneously, Jeongsan declared that he would fulfill the Degree Number and establish the true dharma by changing those incantations.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.35
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• pp.39-71
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• 2020

Ever since gaining liberation in 1945, Korean society has constantly recalled memories of Japan's invasion and Korea's anti-Japanese movements for an independent state (AMIS). In the process, a small number of new religious groups were also identified as main subjects within AMIS. However, the logic necessary to connect these religious groups with AMIS was still weak. In order to solve this situation academically, the purpose of this article is to illuminate the activities of Mugeukdo (無極道) and Jo Jeongsan (趙鼎山) through the lens of AMIS and to reflect on the issues that will arise when linking the religion with AMIS. Regarding this purpose, this article analyzed the internal and external data collected by Daesoon Jinrihoe (大巡眞理會) about Jo Jeongsan and Mugeukdo's activities linked to AMIS. Later, this paper presents several tasks for future research on this subject matter. Specifically, according to Chapter II, the AMIS of Jo Jeongsan and Mugeukdo were generally centered on resistance at the family level, Jo Jeongsan's order to participate in the March 1st Movement, and Mugeukdo's industrial activities. In Chapter III, I reviewed the contents of Chapter II using Daesoon Jinrihoe's external materials. According to the results of the review, future research is required to discover and cross-check materials related to the AMIS of Jo Jeongsan and Mugeukdo believers. Likewise, further research is needed to highlight the theory of the enthronement of emperor (天子登極說) and the Great Opening of the later world (後天開闢) in terms of AMIS. These efforts can make contributions that increase the credibility of Daesoon Jinrihoe's internal data on the AMIS of Jo Jeongsan and Mugeukdo and expand the periphery of AMIS as it relates to certain religious groups. Subsequently, in Chapter IV, I present three items for reflecting upon the connection between certain religious groups and AMIS. The first is that criteria for establishing the category of AMIS is necessary to determine whether religious activities can be included. Second, reductionist approaches make it difficult to explain the reasons why some of the people who participated in AMIS did so while forming 'new religious movements,' and why these groups have maintained their religious identity even after liberation was achieved in 1945. Third, it is necessary to distinguish between the primary and the secondary dimensions to elaborate on the connection between these religions and AMIS. This means that researchers should be expected to look at whether the activities in question are based on a religious worldview and whether the goal of the activities is the realization of AMIS or the implementation of some aspect of that religious worldview. In the future, considering the mechanisms that make AMIS memorable in Korea, religious groups and religious studies should take greater interest in discovering and accumulating data that facilitates research on these topics. At the same time, effort should be made to find the basis for AMIS within religious worldviews. It can also be made possible through specific interest in further elaboration on the various AMIS-related activities of Jo Jeongsan and Mugeukdo.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.47
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• pp.203-239
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• 2023

Jo Jeongsan's religious activity undertaken to benefit society can be organized into two categories. First, attention can be paid to Jo Jeongsan's religious activity of establishing religious order by enshrining Kang Jeungsan as the God of Ninth Heaven and making the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth the basic idea inspiring the social activity of his order. This was completed through the 50 years of propagation work carried out by Jo Joengsan in accordance with Kang Jeungsa's purpose of saving the world and its inhabitants. Second, his practice of social work in the field of people's lives based on the idea of the Dao can also be observed. This religious activity of Jo Jeongsan which began in 1909 was the sacred manifestation of his will to realize Kang Jeungsan's purpose of saving the world and people, and it was also a practice of spreading virtue throughout the world. In addition, Park Wudang carried out Sihak and Sibeop Gongbu (two varieties of holy work) for the cultivation of Dao trainees, and those methods came from the systematic cultivation practice established by Jo Jeongsan. Regarding this, we can refer to Kang Jeungsan's saying, "As the Dao shall dwell in the 12,000 peaks of Geumgang Mountain, the same number of sages who were enlightened to the Dao will be born into the world." The perfected state of human maturity or the emergence of people who are enlightened to the Dao would be the completion of the idea of saving the world and its inhabitants. Therefore, the holy works of Sihak and Sibeop that are now being carried out can be seen as the continuance of the pursuit of saving the world and humankind, as it was continually upheld by Park Wudang's predecessors, Jo Jeongsan and Kang Jeungsan.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.30
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• pp.235-270
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• 2018

The term, Degree Number, was religiously re-interpreted by Jeungsan (甑山) Kang Il-Sun (姜一淳, 1871~1909) and used by him to imply 'the principle of ruling the world.' It was especially the case that his usage of Degree Number referred to the new law that will rule during the Later World, and the significance of this was promoted during Jeungsan's Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth. And Jeongsan (鼎山) Jo Cheol-Je (趙哲濟, 1895~1958), who received a revelation from Jeungsan, established new religious movements including Mugeuk-do and Taegeuk-do and gave a broader meaning to the term Degree Number which he adopted from Jeungsan. He endowed it with the additional meaning of 'all the religious activities performed to achieve an ideal world.' In the history of Korean religions, Degree Number was newly interpreted by the religiously-gifted Jeungsan, who appeared at the end of the Joseon Dynasty. The lineage of religious thought related to Degree Numbers was constantly transmitted through Mugeuk-do and Taegeuk-do both of which were founded by Jeongsan Jo Cheol-Je. Later, Park Han-Gyeong (朴漢慶, 1917~1996) succeeded this lineage when he established Daesoon Jinrihoe in 1969. Religious thought related to Degree Numbers came from Jeungsan's self-realization that he was 'Sangje (the Supreme God).' The thought was also formed by his religious declaration wherein he changed the Degree Number of mutual contention in the Former World to that of mutual beneficence in the Later World. What Jeungsan emphasized was the fluidity of Degree Numbers. Just like human beings are never able to escape from the bonds of their destiny, in Jeungsan's thought, forced or ordained cosmic orders do not exist. In the outworn world of the past, which has been defined as the Former World, the Degree Number was recognized as the ordained law and norm, but as the Later World was coming, Jeungsan recalibrated the Degree Number and defined it anew through his own authority and power as the Supreme God. Jeongsan recalibrated many Degree Numbers throughout his life. The number of Degree Numbers which Jeungsan recalibrated is relatively fewer than that of Jeongsan, who inherited the thought of Jeungsan, and then went on to categorize almost every major religious activity he performed a Degree Number. In this context, Jeungsan's 'Degree Number' became expanded and broadened in terms of its scope.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.26
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• pp.215-253
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• 2016

In 2007, according to the records, I made an on-the-spot survey of the place where Doju Cho Jeongsan and his family might have lived in exile in Manchuria and released a paper in which I decided that the site could be the Shuidongchun (village) of Luotongshanzhen in Liuhexian, Jilin Province. Thereafter, sponsored by the Doju Cho Jeongsan's Memorial Project from 2008 to 2013, many times, I carried out the field investigations and researches on Liuhexian, including the visits of the institutions which have the historical documents, in order to find the data related to the participation of him and his family in the anti-Japanese movement. I was, hence, able to reconfirm that the village had been the place of their exile, based on my collected data and the oral reports which the local historians and ethnic Korean elders had provided. In this study, using the historical documents and maps and the oral materials, I made an attempt to prove the historical truth thoroughly once again. First, the existing sources of Doju Cho and his family's settling in Manchuria from March 1909 to 1917, were carefully analyzed which were described in The Jin-gyeong. In doing so, the misspelling of the names and the spatio-temporal errors of the people's activities were corrected. Next, I researched on another town, Shuitungou of Liuhexian in Fengtian Province (in West Gando of Manchuria), which it is known that Doju and his family stayed in, and the Laogushan (mountain), which it is believed that Doju cultivated himself in. Finally, through the attempt, I reached the conclusion that Doju and his family had settled at Shuidongchun (once called Shuidonggou or Shuitongchun) of Luotongshanzhen (once called Datonggou) in Liuhexian, Jilin Province. In the Liuhexian-related documents and maps published in the eras of Republican China and Manchuria, the place name called Shuitungou was not found. However, I discovered a map in the era of Republican China on which Shuitongchun was recorded as Shuidonggou. In addition, considering the administration system of Republic China, tun(屯) and gou(溝) could not be used together in the place names. Accordingly, Shuitungou was more likely misspelled as Korean people in those days mispronounced Shuidonggou. Furthermore, people in China has habitually called the Dagushan(大孤山), located in the north of Gushanzizhen of Liuhexian, as the Laogushan(老孤山). This means that the Korean people who lived in the area then perhaps recorded the mountain as the Nogosan(老姑山), the mountain of the old goddess, according to Korean enunciation, because they had the custom of worshipping the mountain goddess. I tried my best to find the historical documents regarding Doju and his family's anti-Japanese activities to prove the location of exile in which they settled in northeastern China (Manchuria). However, I was not able to reach the initial goal completely due to the shortage of objective evidences, only to leave tasks to be solved. I hope that this study can give a little help to researchers who are interested in this matter.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.34
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• pp.141-169
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• 2020

This study focuses on the interpretation and transformation of "The Great Learning" within the Korean new religion, Daesoon Jinrihoe. Joseon Dynasty Korea was a member of the Chinese Character Cultural Sphere in East Asia. The examination and recruitment system of the Yuan Dynasty influenced the Joseon Dynasty for a long historical period. Zhu Xi's (朱熹) version of The Four Books were accepted and applied in imperial examinations during the Joseon Dynasty. The 18th century Confucian thinker, Jeong Yak-Yong (丁若鏞), overturned and rebuilt his own system for studying and interpreting The Four Books (四書學). Zhu Xi and Jeong Yak-Yong's systems of thought influenced Confucianism knowledge in that era. The historical figure deified as the Supreme God by Daesoon Jinrihoe, Kang Jeungsan (姜甑山), was trained in the study of The Four Books within that cultural and philosophical context, and this is especially evident in his interpretation and transmission of "The Great Learning." Kang Jeungsan regarding The Great Learning as deeply important. That text combined Confucian discourse on Principle, Mind, and Practice. In his interpretation, The Great Learning was also a medical and religious book that had holy and mysterious powers. In Mugeuk-do and Taegeuk-do (direct predecessors to Daesoon Jinrihoe), Jo Jeongsan interpreted the concept of Sincerity and Regularizing the Mind and incorporated them into doctrine as 'Sincerity, Respectfulness, and Faithfulness' and 'Guarding against Self-deception.' Park Wudang practiced and spread those doctrines to Korea, and Daesoon Jinrihoe devotees continue to follow those doctrines in present times.