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| − | The most important of Korea’s native religions is probably Cheondogyo, the “Religion of the Heavenly Way,” originally known as Donghak. Choe Je-u, a man living near Gyeongju in 1860, was aware of Catholicism, which was then called Western Learning. He had direct inspiration from heaven and set forth doctrines that he called Donghak, or Eastern Learning, clearly a response to Catholicism. It was not anti-Catholic, per se. In fact, they incorporated some Western ideas, such as a weekly worship service—theretofore Confucianism and Buddhism had commemorated important anniversary dates, but had not yet established weekly services. And they eventually built places for worship that looked very much like Western churches. | + | The most important of Korea’s native religions is probably Cheondogyo, the “Religion of the Heavenly Way,” originally known as Donghak. Choe Je-u, a man living near Gyeongju in 1860, was aware of Catholicism, which was then called Western Learning. He had direct inspiration from heaven and set forth doctrines that he called Donghak, or Eastern Learning, clearly a response to Catholicism. It was not anti-Catholic, per se. In fact, they incorporated some Western ideas, such as a weekly worship service—theretofore Confucianism and Buddhism had commemorated important anniversary dates, but had not yet established weekly services. And they eventually built places for worship that looked very much like Western churches. |
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| − | ==Yongdamjeong Pavilion (Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do)==
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| − | In a picturesque narrow gorge with a beautiful little waterfall and a pond below the waterfall sits a pavilion that marks the spot where Choe Je-u began to see a new world order, a new beginning.
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| − | The core doctrine was in nae cheon—man and God are one, or man is god. The religion was egalitarian, in stark contrast to the hierarchy of Confucianism. In traditional Korea under the influence of Confucianism, one’s family background was of primary importance. In Donghak, they took on new names that did not have surnames—eschewing all that a family name could mean, implying high status or low status.
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| − | The religion ran afoul of the government as soon as it started, and Choe Je-u was arrested and executed—ironically, under the anti-Catholic laws whereby hundreds of Catholics were executed. But the religion did not die with the founder. A distant cousin, Choe Si-hyeong, became the next leader, and mostly while hiding from the authorities for the next thirty years, he led the religion.
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| − | [[File:UKS06_Korea's Religious Places_img_80.jpg|500px|thumb|center|Yongdamjeong Pavilion, Gyeongju]]
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| − | Choe Si-hyeong resisted the faction that wanted to use the religion to tackle social injustice, but finally, in 1894, succumbed and allowed the political elements in the party to take action. Jeon Bong-jun led the Donghak followers to take over government offices at the county level and break into the government granaries that had been set up for disaster relief, general welfare purposes, and to distribute grain to the poor or the unfortunate, but had become a tool for corruption of local magistrates who would use the granaries for self-enrichment. The movement, once ignited, spread like wildfire, and soon the Donghak rebels took over much of the southwest quadrant of Korea.
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| − | The suppression of the movement by government forces was not successful, and the government called upon its ally China to send in troops. China had just put down its own neo-religious uprising, the Taiping Rebellion of 1850 to 1864, and it sent troops. The Japanese cited a treaty of 1882 that neither side would send troops without informing the other, and accused China of violating the treaty. Really, it was the excuse that the Japanese militarists were waiting for, and thus Korea was the venue for the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895.
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| − | ==Cheondogyo Central Temple (Seoul)==
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| − | After the First Sino-Japanese War, Donghak returned to its non-political roots by changing its name, to disassociate itself from the Donghak Peasant Movement, to Cheondogyo, meaning the “Religion of the Heavenly Way.” A new leader, Son Byeong-hui, led the religion through a new era that was capped by one more political action—the March First Independence Movement. Of the thirty-three signers of the declaration, fifteen were Cheondogyo followers, sixteen were Christian, and two were Buddhist. The Cheondogyo network of churches, as well as the Christian network, was utilized to disseminate copies of the declaration.
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| − | [[File:UKS06_Korea's Religious Places_img_81.jpg|x500px|thumb|center|Cheondogyo Central Temple]]
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| − | The Cheondogyo Central Temple, located in the heart of Seoul near the former palaces of the Joseon kings and across the street from the grand residence of the Heungseon Daewongun, the father of King Gojong, is a church built in Western style reminiscent of the Myeong-dong Cathedral or the Chungdong Methodist Church. Built of brick, like the other churches of the time, at the height of anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea, which culminated in the March First Movement of 1919.
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| − | The Central Temple is an impressive structure with a large meeting capacity. In the front of the chapel, where there might be a crucifix in a Christian building, is the symbol of Cheondogyo, a set of circles inside half-circles, a symbol of in nae cheon.
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| − | Cheondogyo does not have a large membership today. Some estimates say there are around 50,000 followers in South Korea. In North Korea, although religion is proscribed, Cheondogyo survives as a political party—one of the few parties other than the Communist, or Workers’ Party of Korea. Of course, North Korea sees virtue in the native movement, for, after all, the first peasant revolution in Korea, and in its narrative, the precursor of the twentieth-century Communist movement, was the nineteenth-century Donghak Peasant Movement.
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The most important of Korea’s native religions is probably Cheondogyo, the “Religion of the Heavenly Way,” originally known as Donghak. Choe Je-u, a man living near Gyeongju in 1860, was aware of Catholicism, which was then called Western Learning. He had direct inspiration from heaven and set forth doctrines that he called Donghak, or Eastern Learning, clearly a response to Catholicism. It was not anti-Catholic, per se. In fact, they incorporated some Western ideas, such as a weekly worship service—theretofore Confucianism and Buddhism had commemorated important anniversary dates, but had not yet established weekly services. And they eventually built places for worship that looked very much like Western churches.
