Jeung San Do (), occasionally called

Jeungsanism Jeungsanism () is an English word with two different uses: as a synonym of Jeung San Do (증산도), a Korean new religious movement, or to designate a family of more than 100 Korean new religious movements that recognize Kang Jeungsan ( Gang Il-S ...

, meaning "The Dao/

Tao The Tao or Dao is the natural way of the universe, primarily as conceived in East Asian philosophy and religion. This seeing of life cannot be grasped as a concept. Rather, it is seen through actual living experience of one's everyday being. T ...

of Jeung-san", although this term is better reserved for a larger family of movements, is a

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or Spirituality, spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin, or they can be part ...

founded in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

in 1974. It is one of more than 100 Korean religious movements that recognize Gang Il-sun (also known as Kang Jeungsan, or Chungsan), an early 20th century religious leader, as the incarnation and personification of Sangjenim (, the "governing spirit of the universe") and performed a "reordering of the universe" through his mission and rituals. The religion is characterised by a universal message,

millenarianism Millenarianism or millenarism () is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which "all things will be changed". Millenarianism exists in various cultures and re ...

, and a method of healing meditation.

History

A number of branches of

trace their origins to Goh Pan-Lye (Subu, literally "Head Lady," 1880–1935, although in Kang's circle there was more than one "Subu"), a female disciple of Kang Jeungsan. Around September 1911, Goh gathered around her a number of Kang's followers. Eventually, Goh's male cousin, Cha Gyeong-Seok (1880–1936), a leading disciple of Kang, became the leader of Goh's branch. Dissatisfied with this situation, Goh separated from Cha in 1919 and established her own new religion. In the 1920s, Cha's branch, known as Bocheon-gyo, became the largest Korean new religious movement and possibly the largest religion in Korea, with some 6 million followers. It declined rapidly after Cha's death in 1936, and fragmented into several competing group, as did Goh's organization. Jeung San Do is the largest among the branches claiming a lineage originating from Goh. It was founded by Ahn Un-san (born in 1922), who established his first religious organization in 1945. After further divisions, Ahn founded Jeung San Do in 1974 together with his son, Ahn Gyeong-jeon (b. 1954). Jeung San Do believes that, as Kang was God the Father, Goh, revered with the title of Tae-mo-nim, was God the mother and between 1926 and 1935 performed her own reordering of the universe. Jeung San Do is the movement within Jeungsanism with the most visible presence abroad, although it is not the largest branch in Korea. The central text of Jeungsanism, the Dojeon, was first published in

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

in 1992. The name "Dojeon" is used by other branches of Jeungsanism for their own, different sacred texts. Jeung San Do's version contains detailed description of Jeungsan Sangjenim's and Taemonim's ("Great Mother") lives and of ''Cheonjigongsa'', the "Renewal of Heaven and Earth". The Jeungsanist theory stresses the concept of

, the way of nature. Jeungsanism is often understood as having stemmed from Korean Sinism and Chinese millenarian

Taoism Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...

, and is defined as one of the Korean

indigenous religion Indigenous religion or native religion is a category used in the study of religion to demarcate the religious belief systems of communities described as being " indigenous". This category is often juxtaposed against others such as the " world r ...

Etymology

''Jeung San Do'' means "the Way [''dao/do/

'', 道] of the ''Jeung''(甑)[''siru''] ''San''(山)[mountain]". The word "''jeung''" is ''siru'' in Korean, which is Korean food streamer vessel for cooking Korean rice cakes, ''Tteok'' (). It signifies a vast vessel by metaphor that can contain everything in the world. To conclude, "''jeung''" (甑) denotes the process of rising, maturation, fruition or growth. "''Jeung san''" is also a traditional Korean descriptive term for the highest mountain in a region or "steamer mountain". "''Do''" (道) denotes

, the way. Considered as a whole, therefore, the name "''Jeung San Do''" signifies the highest truth that surpasses all existing religions and teachings.

Teachings

Sangjenim means "Highest Emperor", and is cognate of the Chinese ''

Shangdi Shangdi (), also called simply Di (), is the name of the Chinese Highest Deity or "Lord Above" in the Chinese theology, theology of the classical texts, especially deriving from Shang dynasty, Shang theology and finding an equivalent in the lat ...

''. It is the governing spirit of the universe, and Jeung San Do believe he was incarnated as Gang Il-sun, although God for Jeung San Do also exists as God the mother, incarnated on earth as Goh Pan-Lye. Jeung San Do teaches that, at the age of seven, Sangjenim attained a sudden spiritual awakening while watching a performance of traditional music and dance. When he was twenty-four, he witnessed the tumultuous events of the

Donghak Donghak () was an academic movement in Korean Neo-Confucianism founded in 1860 by Choe Je-u. The Donghak movement arose as a reaction to seohak (), and called for a return to the "Way of Heaven". While Donghak originated as a reform movement ...

(Eastern Learning) Uprising in which an ill-equipped but determined army of farmers fought the troops of both the Korean government and the Japanese. This insurrection sparked a war between

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

fought on the

Korean peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

and ended with the crushing defeat of the farmers and Japan's annexation of the country. After observing the death and misery brought on by these events, Jeung San Sangjenim resolved to save the world from suffering. He traveled for three years to observe human behavior and the shape, qi, and spirit of the land. In 1901, after a period of intensive meditation he attained perfect enlightenment into the affairs of Heaven, Earth, and humanity. About this he said: In that year, Sangjenim began a spiritual work that cannot be easily explained or understood. It was called the work of renewing Heaven and Earth (). For 9 years, he conducted works of renewal in the form of rituals, proclamations, and conversations with humans and spirits and utilized the ''qi'' of various places and people. He established a federation of gods called the Creative Government, composed of regional gods, the founding spirits of family lines, gods that founded and advanced civilizations, enlightened spirits, spirits with unresolved bitterness and grief, and the spirits of revolutionaries. With this assembly of spirits, he intended to correct the wrongs of the past and chart a new course for the future. His work of renewing Heaven and Earth shifted the course of Heaven, Earth, and humanity and planted the seeds for a new enlightened and harmonious world of humans and gods. According to his followers, Sangjenim differed from other prophets in that he not only spoke about the future but, through his spiritual work, actually transformed it. One way of understanding this is the Butterfly Effect in

Edward Lorenz Edward Norton Lorenz (May 23, 1917 – April 16, 2008) was an American mathematician and meteorologist who established the theoretical basis of weather and climate predictability, as well as the basis for computer-aided atmospheric physics and m ...

's Chaos Theory. According to that theory, a butterfly flapping its wings in America could cause or prevent a tornado in Indonesia. This of course illustrates the improbability of predicting any event in a highly complex system due to the difficulty of knowing all variables. But, what if someone were enlightened to the point of omnipotence? What if someone did know all the variables? Such a person could not only predict the future, but with the rippling effect of seemingly small actions could actually change the future. About the method he used in the work of renewal, Sangjenim said:

Cosmic year

According to Jeun Sang Do, Gang Il-sun revealed to humanity that the universe embodies a four-fold cycle. A "cosmic year" contains four cosmic seasons corresponding to birth, growth, harvest, and rest.

Views on Korean history

According to Jeung San Do, the

History of Korea The Lower Paleolithic era on the Korean Peninsula and in Manchuria began roughly half a million years ago. Christopher J. Norton, "The Current State of Korean Paleoanthropology", (2000), ''Journal of Human Evolution'', 38: 803–825. The earl ...

is that of a

chessboard A chessboard is a game board used to play chess. It consists of 64 squares, 8 rows by 8 columns, on which the chess pieces are placed. It is square in shape and uses two colours of squares, one light and one dark, in a chequered pattern. During p ...

used by America, China, Russia, and Japan. While the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

completed the

annexation of Korea Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...

in 1910, they were merely pawns or workmen (''ilkkun'') of Sangjenim; racial brothers who saved Korea from domination by the Western

great power A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power ...

s. The Japanese, according to this narrative, provided the "service" (''pongsa'') of modernizing Korea as penance for the

Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) The Imjin War () was a series of two Japanese invasions of Korea: an initial invasion in 1592 also individually called the "Imjin War", a brief truce in 1596, and a second invasion in 1597 called the Chŏngyu War (). The conflict ended in 159 ...

. Accordingly, resistance against Japan was ill-advised, and Chinilpa collaborationist organizations such as Iljinhoe should not be condemned. Koreans merely had to "wait patiently", as Jeung San Do taught, for the guests to vacate the board in order to assume ownership of the

Korean Peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

Vocabulary

* Sangjenim * Taemonim () * Gaebyeok * Taeeul ju * Wonsibanbon (returning to the origin) * Haewon (resolution of bitterness and grief) * Sangsaeng (mutual life-giving) * Boeun (offering gratitude and repayment) * Dojeon * Dojang (temple) - Dao center * Cosmic year - Shao Yung (AD 1011–1077) * Euitong (to heal and to unite) * Cheonjigongsa (renewal of Heaven and Earth) * Nam Sa-go *Hwacheonjeol ():The death day of Gang Il-sun.

References

Sources

* Jeung San Do Dojeon Publication Society
The Jeung San Do Dojeon
* Jeung San Do Dojeon Publication Society
The Cosmic Autumn Approaches: Select Passages From the Dojeon: "The Holy Scriptures of Dao"
* Jeung San Do Dojeon Publication Society
The illustrated dojeon: An Abridged Introduction to the Jeung San Do Dojeon
2009 * Ahn Gyung-jun
Autumn Calling
2001 * Readings in JeungSanDo homepage
Dao Talk IDao Talk II

Introduction of Jeung San Do Dojeon

External links

Jeung San Do
- English homepage
Jeung San Do
- Korean homepage
The Dojeon
- English {{Religion topics Korean new religions