Donghak
Encyclopedia
Donghak is a Korean religion founded in 1860 by Choe Je-u
Choe Je-u
Choe Je-u was the founder of Donghak, a Korean religious movement against foreign invasions and critical of Joseon Dynasty government policies of the time. He was from Gyeongju and his pen name was 'Suun'. He was martyred March 10, 1864 by order of the Daewongun.-External links:*...

. Donghak venerated the god Haneullim
Haneullim
Haneullim is the "Lord of Heaven" venerated in the Cheondoist religion....

 ("Lord of Heaven") and believed that man is not created by a supernatural god but man is instead caused by an innate god. Koreans have believed in Haneullim from ancient times, so Donghak would be an endogenous Korean religion, unlike Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 or Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

.

In 1898, following the execution of Choe Si-Hyeong, the leader of Donghak, Son Byong-Hi
Son Byong-Hi
Son Byong-hi was a Korean nationalist and Korean independence activist. He was born in Cheongju, in Chungcheong province...

, sought political asylum in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. After the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...

 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. This coordinated series of activities was known as the Donghak Peasant Revolution
Donghak Peasant Revolution
The Donghak Peasant Revolution, also known as the Donghak Peasant Movement, was an anti-government, anti-feudal and anti-foreign uprising in 1894 in the southern Korea which was the catalyst for the First Sino-Japanese War....

.

Relationship with other religions

Donghak called for veneration of god, called Haneullim
Haneullim
Haneullim is the "Lord of Heaven" venerated in the Cheondoist religion....

("Lord of Heaven"), and holding the belief that man is not created by a supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...

 God, but man is instead caused by an innate God. Koreans have believed in Haneullim from ancient times, so Donghak could be seen to be a truly Korean religion, unlike Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 or Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

.

Choe was alarmed by the intrusion of Christianity (천주교, Cheonjugyo Catholicism), and the Anglo-French occupation of Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

. He believed that the best way to counter foreign influence in Korea was to introduce democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

, establish human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 and create a paradise on Earth independent of foreign interference.

Donghak was not accompanied by a specific agenda or systematic doctrine. Choe believed in improvising as events occurred. He had no practical plans or visions of how one would go about establishing a paradise on Earth, let alone what paradise meant except that all people were equal. Nevertheless, Choe's advocacy of democracy, human rights and nationalism struck a chord among the peasant guerrillas and Donghak spread across Korea rapidly. Progressive revolutionaries waded in and organized the peasants into a cohesive fighting unit.

Choe's songs were a blend of traditional elements from Korean Confucianism
Korean Confucianism
Korean Confucianism is the form of Confucianism developed in Korea. One of the most substantial influences in Korean intellectual history was the introduction of Confucian thought as part of the cultural influence from China...

, Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 and Songyo (teachings of Silla
Silla
Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...

's Hwarang
Hwarang
The Hwarang, or "Flower Boys"., were an elite group of male youth in Silla, an ancient Korean kingdom that lasted until the 10th century. There were educational institutions as well as social clubs where members gathered for all aspects of study, originally for arts and culture steeped mainly in...

), and to these he added modern humanistic
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....

 ideas. Exclusionism was another characteristic of his religion, which incorporated an early form of nationalism and rejected alien thought.

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 Jeu (1824–1894) 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.

Donghak becomes Cheondoism

Members of Donghak were severely persecuted by the colonial government, and so, on December 1, 1905, Son Byeong-hui decided to modernise the religion and usher in an era of openness and transparency in order to legitimise it in the eyes of the Japanese. As a result he officially changed the name of Donghak to Cheondoism ("religion of the Heavenly Way"). During the waning days of the Joseon Dynasty, King Gojong
Gojong
Gojong is the temple name of several Korean kings. It can refer to:* Gojong of Goryeo * Gojong of the Korean Empire...

 himself embraced Cheondoism and promoted it nationwide. The King added Buddhist and Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 rituals and codices to the new religion, which was organized into a formal organizational hierarchy similar to that of Roman Catholicism with Pope, Papal Nuncio, formal ceremonies.
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