• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.28
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• pp.37-72
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• 2017

The purpose of this article is to study the prospect of implementing a public common practice of ethics based on the 'Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth.' The 'Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth' demonstrated the prospect of a public common practice of ethics through the shared public action that would connect and mediate both the public domain and the private domain. In addition, the 'Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth' of Gucheon Sangje (九天上帝) provided us with a complete transformation, meaning the opening of a new era, transforming heaven and earth from their state in the Prior World to their optimized state in the Later World. This culminates in a new manifestation of a peaceful world revealed a prosperity and the prospect of common happiness and common order for the public. In addition, the 'Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth' has a public value as a religious culture that responds to social change and social needs. The 'Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth' revealed the prospect of a public common practice of ethics, placed importance on creating a new foundation, and restoring phenomena back to its original order. The 'Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth' presented various multi-faceted, multi-layered outlets of soteriology while exploring solutions to public issues and revealing human dignity. Through the new construction of Heaven and Earth, Gucheon Sangje had intervened in projects for human relief. The public ethical indicators of 'the actor' here are in line with those of the 'Non-action Tao' of Laozi. As the cosmos enters into the new epoch, humans have living together with the previous cosmic principle. Now we can expect the Prior World to open into a different era as humans embrace a cosmic life of 'Non-action Tao.' The active conjunction of the virtues of yin and yang is an idea of horizontal communication related to reordering of the universe. The harmonious union of divine beings and human beings suggests the way of enabling vertical communication. The resolution of grievances for the mutual beneficence of life is an ethics of peace that aims at achieving coexistence and prosperity. The private realization of Tao and the completion of the Tao in the world suggest the prospect of a common practice of ethics as means of implementing human dignity.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.32
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• pp.175-199
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• 2019

This paper aims to define Kang Jeungsan's Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth through the Hegelian concept of 'labor (arbeit),' which is the fundamental medium in which humans substantialize their own absoluteness in an existentialist context. The Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth performed by Jeungsan enabled Heaven, Earth, and Humanity to communicate with each other through the harmony of Sangsaeng (Mutual Beneficence). As Hegel found the possibility of freedom and emancipation of human subjects through labor and Jeungsan exercised His will to free and emancipate human beings, comparative thinkers are led to recognize a relationship between His Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth and the Hegelian concept of labor. The key point of this paper centers around articulating the meaning of the precise situation wherein labor occurs for the Supreme Being. Labor is a concept that occurs for real-live humans. Human beings can be said to exist between the ideological world and the natural world, or between Heaven and Earth, and this dichotomy creates a specific product given the interplay of infinitude and finitude that it entails. In other words, labor is not a passive deployment but is instead a subjective development. From the point wherein this labor occurs for the Supreme Being, a paradigm shift towards unity begins throughout the universe. The occurrence of God's labor happens at a time of great transformation. These occurrences of God's labor form the communication among Heaven, Earth and Humanity and form a qualitative equality. In other words, the fact that God is far from the world of ideology and has come into the world of finitude means that God conveys His absoluteness to the world of finitude. Therefore, the work of God on Earth builds the world of Heaven on Earth. This can also be seen as the Sangsaeng of Heaven, Earth and Humanity.

• Journal of Daesoon Thought and the Religions of East Asia
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.127-151
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• 2021

The core tenets of Daesoon Jinrihoe in Jeungsanism are encapsulated in the teachings of Eumyang-hapdeok (陰陽合德, Virtuous Concordance of Yin and Yang), Shinin-johwa (神人調化, Harmonious Union between Divine Beings and Human Beings), Haewon-sangsaeng (解寃相生, Resolution of Grievances for Mutual Beneficence) and Dotongjingyeong (道通眞境, Perfected Unification with Dao). Among them, the first three teachings eventually turn towards the prophetic thought of Dotong-jingyeong, which is the process of man becoming a divine figure. While these principles are considered crucial advice for overcoming an unstable life, there are many curious questions that help for better comprehension. What is the reality of Jin-gyeong (眞境) for their followers? How can one reach the ultimate stage under this belief system? Is this ideological concept different from similar perspectives of other major religions? How is this concept related to the idea of Jisang-cheonguk (地上天國, earthly paradise)? This paper analyses these issues of Jin-gyeong from the historical and social narratives of Haengnok (行錄, Acts), Gongsa (公事, Reordering Works), Gyoun (敎運, Progress of the Order), Gyobeop (敎法, Dharma), Gwonji (權智, Authority and Foreknowledge) and Yesi (豫示, Prophetic Elucidations) in The canonical scripture of Jeon-gyeong and also from the ontological approaches of East Asian faiths in order to identify alternative notions of Daesoon cosmology. The paper, based on the sayings of Kang Jeungsan, particularly his philosophy of the Later World, argues the insight that the Jin-gyeong world can be interpreted as created through the Cheonji-gongsa (天地公事, Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth) project in terms of Gaebyeok (開闢, Great Opening) and the earthly paradise as open only for those who achieve the condition of Sin-ingan (新人間, literally means 'new humans' but symbolizing 'being a human-god') by the personal cultivation of Dotong (道通, the unity with Dao).

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.30
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• pp.95-130
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• 2018

In religious studies, soteriology is a belief system that aims to compensate and solve the existential suffering of human beings through a doctrinal system of healing, liberation, and salvation as advocated by various religions. The purpose of this study is to understand the soteriology of Dasesoon Jinrihoe, a Korean new religion, and to understand its characteristics. The soteriology of Daesoon Jinrihoe is closely related to the theory of The Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth. The Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth is a doctrinal system in which the Supreme God, Jeungsan, was incarnated into a human body to rescue the world and creation and to achieve this, he had performed various religious works. In addition, the soteriology of Daesoon Jinrihoe is linked to the theory of orthodox lineage spanning Jeungsan to Jeongsan and lastly to Udang. The work of salvation performed by Jeungsan is settled by Jeongsan who systematized it into methods of practice. This soteriology has distinctive differences separating it from traditional religious traditions. First, it shows the characteristic of offering salvation through a supreme, personal God. Second, Jeungsan is seen as having changed the cosmic law and provided the basis for the world and creation to be saved. Finally, it proposes a theory that saving the world and creation is to be achieved through the principle of the Resolution of Grievances.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.37
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• pp.191-227
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• 2021

In this study, values of truth and good are expressed in the form of beauty, and truth and good are analyzed from an aesthetic point of view. This enables an assessment of how truth is expressed and presented as an "aesthetic" in Daesoon Thought. Therefore, an approach to faith in Daesoon Jinrihoe (大巡眞理會) can be presented via traditional aesthetics or theological aesthetics that reflect on sense experience, feelings, and beauty. The concept of beauty in Daesoon Thought which focuses on The Canonical Scripture appears in keywords used in Daesoon Thought such as divine nature (神性), the pattern of Dao (道理), the singularly-focused mind (一心), and relationships (關係). Therein, one can find sublimation, symmetry, moderation, and harmony. The aesthetic features of Daesoon Thought, when considered as an aesthetic system can formulate thinking regarding the aesthetics of 'Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth' (天地公事), the aesthetics of Mutual Beneficence (相生), and the aesthetics of healing. The Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth contain a record of the Supreme God visiting the world as a human being. The realization that the human figure, Kang Jeungsan (1871-1909), is the Supreme God, Sangje (上帝), is the shocking aesthetic motif and theological starting point of the Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth. Mutual Beneficence can be seen aesthetically as indicating the sociality of mutual relations, and there is an aesthetic structure of Mutual Beneficence in the harmony and unification of those relations. Healing can be said to contain the sacred sublimation of Sangje, and moderation is a form of beauty that makes humans move toward Quieting the mind and Quieting the body (安心·安身), the Dharma of Presiding over Cures (醫統), and the ultimate value of healing, which is the end point of the Cultivation (修道) wherein one realizes that the ideals of humankind and the aesthetics of healing bestow the spiritual pleasures of a beautiful and valuable life. The aesthetic characteristics of Daesoon Thought demonstrate an aesthetic attitude that leads to healing through Sangje's Holy Works and the practice of Mutual Beneficence (相生) which were performed when He stayed with us to vastly save all beings throughout the Three Realms that teetered on the brink of extinction. It is not uncommon to see a beautiful woman and remark she is like a goddess (女神) or female immortal (仙女). Likewise, beautiful music is often praised as "the sound of heaven." That which fills us with joy is spoken of as "divine beings (神明)" of God. God is a symbol of beauty, and the world of God can be said to be the archetype of beauty. Experience of beauty guides our souls to God. The aesthetic experience of Daesoon Thought is a religious experience that culminates in emotional, intellectual, and spiritual joy, and it is an aesthetic experience that recognizes transcendent beauty.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.35
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• pp.217-253
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• 2020

This study analyzes the principles of the 'Earthly Paradise' (仙境, the realm of immortals), 'Virtuous Concordance of Yin and Yang' (陰陽合德), and the 'Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth' (天地公事) while combining them with Joseon art. Therefore, this study aims to discover the context wherein the concept of Taiji in 'Daesoon Truth,' deeply penetrates into Joseon art. Doing so reveals how 'Daesoon Thought' is embedded in the lives and customs of the Korean people. In addition, this study follows a review of the sentiments and intellectual traditions of the Korean people based on 'Daesoon Thought' and creative works. Moreover, 'Daesoon Thought' brings all of this to the forefront in academics and art at the cosmological level. The purpose of this research is to vividly reveal the core of 'Daesoon Thought' as a visual image. Through this, the combination of 'Daesoon Thought' and Joseon art will secure both data and reality at the same time. As part of this, this study deals with the world of 'Daesoon Thought' as a cosmological Taiji principle. This concept is revealed in Joseon art, which is analyzed and examined from the viewpoint of art philosophy. First, as a way to make use of 'Daesoon Thought,' 'Daesoon Truth' was developed and directly applied to Joseon art. In this way, reflections on Korean life within 'Daesoon Thought' can be revealed. In this regard, the selection of Joseon art used in this study highlights creative works that have been deeply ingrained into people's lives. For example, as 'Daesoon Thought' appears to focus on the genre painting, folk painting, and landscape painting of the Joseon Dynasty, attention is given to verifying these cases. This study analyzes 'Daesoon Thought,' which borrows from Joseon art, from the perspective of art philosophy. Accordingly, attempts are made to find examples of the 'Virtuous Concordance of Yin and Yang' and Tai-Ji in Joseon art which became a basis by which 'Daesoon Thought' was communicated to people. In addition, appreciating 'Daesoon Thought' in Joseon art is an opportunity to vividly examine not only the Joseon art style but also the life, consciousness, and mental world of the Korean people. As part of this, Chapter 2 made several findings related to the formation of 'Daesoon Thought.' In Chapter 3, the structures of the ideas of 'Earthly Paradise' and 'Virtuous Concordance of Yin and Yang' were likewise found to have support. And 'The Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth' and Tai-Ji were found in depictions of metaphysical laws. To this end, the laws of 'The Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth' and the structure of Tai-Ji were combined. In chapter 4, we analyzed the 'Daesoon Thought' in the life and work of the Korean people at the level of the convergence of 'Daeesoon Thought' and Joseon art. The analysis of works provides a glimpse into the precise identity of 'Daesoon Thought' as observable in Joseon art, as doing so is useful for generating empirical data. For example, works such as Tai-Jido, Ssanggeum Daemu, Jusachaebujeokdo, Hwajogi Myeonghwabundo, and Gyeongdodo are objects that inspired descriptions of 'Earthly Paradise', 'Virtuous Concordance of Yin and Yang,' and 'The Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth.' As a result, Tai-Ji which appears in 'Daesoon Thought', proved the status of people in Joseon art. Given all of these statements, the Tai-Ji idea pursued by Daesoon Thought is a providence that follows change as all things are mutually created. In other words, it was derived that Tai-Ji ideology sits profoundly in the lives of the Korean people and responds mutually to the providence that converges with 'Mutual Beneficence.'

• Journal of Daesoon Thought and the Religions of East Asia
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.13-34
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• 2024

This article is a compilation of civilizational crises and their overcoming from the worldview of Daesoon Jinrihoe, based on the premise that religion can offer advice on the crises faced by modern civilization. It is a reinterpretation of human history from a religious perspective, focusing on mutual contentions, grievances, grudges, and their overcoming. Daesoon Jinrihoe explains that modern civilizational crises were first recognized by divine beings in the 18th and 19th centuries, and then later recognized by humans in the 20th and 21st centuries. Unable to resolve the civilization crises, the divine beings asked the Supreme God to intervene in human history, and the Supreme God was born in a human body to reveal the root causes and development of various civilizational crise sand to propose solutions to overcome them. These solutions encompass setting the world aright and ushering in a new era through the Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth (天地公事), attaining enduring peace by practicing grievance resolution for mutual beneficence (解冤相生), and reconstructing the relationship between divine beings and humans in harmonious coexistence. Devotees hold that Daesoon Jinrihoe is a religion that originated as a solution to a problem faced by God rather than humankind. As such, it considers the crises of civilization and their overcoming as the reason for existence. According to the religion's worldview, the Supreme God has already provided the solution to these civilizational crises. With a tip of the hat to the film Interstellar (2014), it could be said, "God Found a Way. He Always Has." Now, Daesoon Jinrihoe posits that it is up to humans to implement the way that God found.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.40
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• pp.187-242
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• 2022

This article was conducted with the purpose of finding the religious meaning of Jeongeup (井邑) by paying attention to two areas of inquiry. The first examines religious interpretations of the place names of peaks, mountains, and villages that have already existed have existed since ancient times. The second area of inquiry looks into religious narratives about Jeongeup that appear in scriptural records of the Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth (1901~1909) as performed by Kang Jeungsan. Looking at these to areas of inquiry together, the place names and topography inherent in Jeongeup and Kang Jeungsan's various Jeongeup-related Reordering Works, can be summarized as embodying characteristics of 'beginning (始)' and 'origin (本)' which can be further likened to the meaning of 'water (水)' in a 'well (井).' First, Jeongeup equates to the heavenly origin of the Gucheon Sangje (Supreme God of the Ninth Heaven) faith in Jeungsan Thought. Mangje (Emperor-awaiting) Peak is a peak that represent the wish for the Lord's descent to earth. Seonmang (Immortal-awaiting) Village is a village that was waiting for an immortal. Jeung (Steamer-on-Cauldron) Mountain (Jeungsan 甑山) is a mountain on the earth and also the honorific name later taken by Kang Il-Sun. In relation to Jeungsan, it is interpreted that Jeungsan was born and incarnated in the village as a human in response to a plea from all divine sages, buddhas, and bodhisattvas, who had existed since the dawn of time and came to wish for salvation of humankind. This is because both Mangje Peak and Seonmang Village are connected to the meaning of 'mang (望 to await).' Second, the Reordering Works of Jeungsan which related to Jeongeup show that Jeongeup has carries the meaning of 'beginning (始源)' and 'origin (本源).' The character, Jeong (井), in Jeongeup is seen as a place that contains water energy, and symbols and allusions referring to this can be found in various Reordering Works. As a symbol or allusion, the well can be seen as a new start, the lives of all people of the world, the purification of the world, and returning to the original root everything. These symbolic images can be found in the life of Kang Jeungsan from his incarnation to his passing into Heaven. This is because Jeong can allude to the origin by the Ninth Heaven, the beginning of the Later World's paradisiacal land of immortals, and the end of the Former World (Seoncheon 先天).

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.40
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• pp.1-38
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• 2022

The aim of this research is to discover the value of peace conveyed by Haewon Sangsaeng, the Resolution of Grievances for Mutual Beneficence, as espoused by Holy Teacher Kang Jeungsan (姜甑山, 1871~1909) and to evaluate its modern significance. To the faithful, Jeungsan is seen as the Supreme God who descended into the world in the Late Joseon Dynasty in the year 1871. Until the time of His passing away into Heaven in 1909, He vastly saved the world and fulfilled the hopes of humankind by carrying out the fundamentally innovative Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth (1901~1909) in the Three Realms of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. He has thereby been appraised as a great religious figure within religious and academic circles. Jeungsan's ideological contributions can be summarized into two main points. One is the concept of 'the Great Opening and the Later World,' which foreshadowed the liquidation of the old system of order and the arrival of a new world. The other contribution is the concept of 'the Resolution of Grievances for Mutual Beneficence,' a fundamental principle meant to achieve human salvation and world peace. In this context, 'the Great Opening' is precisely a 'positivistic religious expression of peace,' and 'the Resolution of Grievances for Mutual Beneficence' is the principle by which 'peace can be achieved in the world for all humankind.' In particular, the Resolution of Grievances for Mutual Beneficence is a tenet within the doctrine of Daesoon Jinrihoe, and it is the main concept that forms the basis of Daesoon Thought. It can be said to be the core current that flows through Jeungsan's Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth. Nowadays, the Resolution of Grievances for Mutual Beneficence is being discussed and cited in various ways in academic fields as well as in discourse on coexistence, mutual beneficence, and peace. The Resolution of Grievances for Mutual Beneficence is specifically based on observations of the structure of conflicts as observed throughout world history via global conflicts, regional conflicts, cultural conflicts, ideological conflicts, class conflicts, generational conflicts, racial conflicts, religious conflicts, and other such conflicts. That is why the Resolution of Grievances for Mutual Beneficence is discussed in depth within academic settings wherein the nature of conflict-resolution is examined. Looking at the previous studies on this topic, those studies tended to focus on key concepts or concerns such as human beings, divine beings, the earthly paradise of the Later World, ideal societies, world peace, new principles of order, and lasting peace. In particular, the Resolution of Grievances for Mutual Beneficence has been presented as directly related to concepts such as love, coexistence, harmony, and peace for humankind and the world. Its significance has been applied to ethics, philosophy, order, and principles, and it has been understood as conveying values such as peace. Accordingly, this paper examines the ideological connections to the succession and establishment of Jeungsan's notion of the Resolution of Grievances for Mutual Beneficence based on previous research, but further examines the value of peace communicated via the principles and ideas that pervade current discourse on the Resolution of Grievances for Mutual Beneficence. I hope to thoroughly explore Haewon Sangsaeng in regards to its modern significance to the world and to humankind.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.47
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• pp.1-37
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• 2023

This essay seeks to answer the question of how best to understand Korean new religious movements (KNRMs). KNRMs have the characteristics of folk religion, ethno-religion, or popular religion. KNRMs are products of the national consciousness promoted by Korean society during the Late Joseon Dynasty at the turning point of modern Yi-Jing Studies. From the perspective of social evolutionary theory of developmental history, during that period, Joseon (Korea), like China, was faced with a double-edged sword consisting of the strength of tradition and the upheaval of modernity. If the strength of tradition depended on the Yi-Jing Studies to promote national enlightenment toward anti-imperialist aims, then it was equally the case that modernity depended on the sense of urgency to guide the people to secure livelihoods and edification regarding anti-feudalism. In this essay, the KNRMs that appeared during this transition period of Yi-Jing Studies will be a significant focus, and the worldview of Daesoon Thought will be the main focus. As one of the central topics, intensive discussion will be dedicated to the issue of the nature of pre-experientialism (先驗主義) which characterized the Great Opening (開闢). The principles of Daesoon Thought have a religious dimension of realistic awareness that guides the people's lives and edifies them. The process of the Great Opening aims to secure an ontological clock that tracks the Great Itineration of the world toward Daesoon Truth. This in turn as a process establishes the epistemological world of the Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth (天地公事) and reaches the axiological boundary of the future world. The links among the Three Realms is characterized by a pre-experientialist line that experiences the space-time nature of the universe as the Great Opening of the Later World (後天) within the framework of Heaven and Earth. Throughout this course, humans look to enjoy the infinite vitality of the universe from within their own finite vitality. Therefore, Daesoon Thought can overcome perceived reality through pre-experientialist channels such as the Great Opening of the Later World and aim for a state of self-awareness such as the Earthly Paradise. This is an attempt to participate and practice in the actual world rather than pursuing a world of transcendental ideas, and therefore, it tends to be proactive in the world rather than exhibit a passive tendency to be worldliness. In conclusion, the truth of Daesoon Thought, which is characterized by the Great Opening of the Later World, contains a future-oriented outlook that longs for a Nextopia full of hope and promise rather than idealistic fancy towards a Utopia or well-founded dread and disdain towards Dystopia.