Religions, New—Korea
The first indigenous organized religion in Korea originated on 5 April 1860, when Ch'oe Che-u (1824–1864) began having visions in which the Lord of Heaven told him that he had been selected to save humanity. Ch'oe Cheu's Tonghak (Eastern Learning) religion, now known as Ch'ondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way), was but the first of dozens of religions that have been generated by the inroads of Christianity, the trauma of Japanese colonial rule, and the rapid urbanization and industrialization that dramatically transformed Korea in the second half of the twentieth century.
These new religions can be classified into five categories. The first category includes Ch'ondogyo and those religions derived from it that worship the deity with whom Ch'oe Che-u is said to have spoken and that ground their doctrines and practices in a twenty-one-syllable incantation that Ch'oe Che-u revealed. The second category includes Chongsan'gyo and the dozens of related religions such as Chungsando (The Chungsan Way) and Taesun Chillihoe (The Society for the Truth of Kang Chungsan), which view Ch'oe as a prophet who prepared the way for the advent of Kang Chung-san (1871–1909). Members of the Chongsan family of religions believe that Kang is the Lord on High and that he descended to earth and took human form in order to establish the Rites of Cosmic Renewal, which will assist humanity in the transition from the current age of discord and injustice to the coming age of cosmic harmony.
The third category of new religions in Korea worships Tan'gun, the legendary first ancestor of the Korean people. Taejonggyo (The Religion of the Grand Progenitor), founded in 1909, is the most prominent example of this category of religions, which urges Koreans to reject foreign gods in favor of one of the most illustrious of their own ancestors, who, they believe, established a powerful Korean kingdom five thousand years ago. Worshippers of Tan'gun believe that he is part of the Divine Trinity of three persons (Creator, Teacher, and Ruler) in one God.
In addition to new religions with indigenous roots, there are two other categories of new religions: modifications of Buddhism and modifications of Christianity. Won Buddhism is the best-known Buddhist new religion in Korea. Founded in 1916, it represents a modernized urban approach to Buddhism. The Unification Church, based on the belief of its founder, Sun Myong Moon (b. 1920), that he is the messiah sent to complete the mission that Jesus began, is the best-known new Korean religion with Christian origins.
Ch'ondogyo; Taejonggyo; Tonghak; Unification Church
Further Reading
Ministry of Culture and Sports, Republic of Korea, ed. (1996) Religious Culture in Korea. Elizabeth, NJ: Hollym International.
Royal Asiatic Society. (1967) "The New Religions of Korea." Special issue of Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society 43.
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