Front Matter: Cover, Approval, Abstract & Table of Contents
Doctoral Dissertation
Comparative Study on Indigenous Modernity of Donghak Thought and Daesoon Thought: Focusing on Trinity of Heaven, Earth and Man
동학사상과 대순사상의 자생적 근대성 비교 연구 -천관·지관·인간관을 중심으로-
Supervisor: Ko Nam-sik (高 南 植)
Daejin University Graduate School Department of Daesoon Jonghak
Choi Won-hyeok (崔原爀) July 2024
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Comparative Study on Indigenous Modernity of Donghak Thought and Daesoon Thought: Focusing on Trinity of Heaven, Earth and Man
동학사상과 대순사상의 자생적 근대성 비교 연구 -천관·지관·인간관을 중심으로-
Supervisor: Ko Nam-sik (高 南 植)
This dissertation is submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
Daejin University Graduate School Department of Daesoon Jonghak
Choi Won-hyeok (崔原爀) July 2024
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APPROVAL PAGE
The Doctoral Dissertation of Choi Won-hyeok (崔原爀) is hereby approved for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (哲學博士).
Committee Chair [Seal] Committee Member [Seal] Committee Member [Seal] Committee Member [Seal] Committee Member [Seal]
Daejin University Graduate School July 2024
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KOREAN ABSTRACT (국문 요약)
Comparative Study on Indigenous Modernity of Donghak Thought and Daesoon Thought: Focusing on the View of Heaven, View of Earth, and View of Humanity
Choi Won-hyeok Department of Daesoon Jonghak Daejin University Graduate School
The Donghak Peasant Movement is today being reassessed as a modern movement comparable to the French Revolution, and Daesoon Thought, as a traditional East Asian system of thinking, is attracting attention as an indigenous thought capable of explaining the world's transformations since the modern era. This paper examines how, centering on the concept of "Donghak (Eastern Learning, 東學)" as a method of inquiry within East Asian philosophy, both traditions each reconstructed their View of Heaven (天觀, cheon'gwan), View of Earth (地觀, jigwan), and View of Humanity (人間觀, ingangwan) to construct an indigenous modernity of East Asia.
Donghak Thought and Daesoon Thought have long been individually discussed in academic circles as forms of East Asian indigenous modernity in comparison with postmodern contemporary philosophy. However, existing discussions of indigenous modernity have not sufficiently emphasized the shared Eastern origins that connect these traditions to Western modernity. Furthermore, the two traditions have not been comparatively studied with respect to the Eastern philosophical system of thought expressed in the concept of "Donghak (Eastern Learning, 東學)." Grounded in the concept of multiple modernities understood as "the convergence of the Sacred (聖, seong) and the Profane (俗, sok)," this paper aims to compare the indigenous modernity of the two traditions — centering on the View of Heaven, View of Earth, and View of Humanity — through the East Asian philosophical method of Correlative Thinking (상관적 사유), thereby bringing into sharp relief the intellectual value of each tradition.
As the detailed comparative methodology, this paper employs three religio-anthropological frameworks: the theory of Correlative Thinking developed by A.C. Graham and others, Victor Turner's theory of Liminality (리미널리티), and Anthony Wallace's theory of the Revitalization Movement (재활성화). The reason for applying all three theories simultaneously is that they work organically with one another in comparative research. First, the theory of Correlative Thinking clearly reveals the epistemological difference between Eastern and Western modes of thought, thereby clarifying the distinction between indigenous modernity and modernity as such. Second, the theory of Liminality is effective for explaining the process of redistribution within a modernity defined by the reordering of the Sacred (聖) and Profane (俗). Third, the theory of Revitalization is useful for explaining the transmission and continuation of tradition within that process of reordering.
The indigenous modernity proposed by Donghak Thought and Daesoon Thought originated as a response to the problems raised by the Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci, who undertook the mission of Eastern evangelization prior to Europe's imperialist encroachments. Matteo Ricci criticized the East Asian View of Heaven, View of Earth, and View of Humanity for having over-emphasized rationalistic formalization (理法化, ipeopwha) — stressing only the attributive characteristics of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity — to the point of losing the personal-divine attributes of Heaven-beyond-Heaven (天外天, cheon'oecheon). In response, Donghak Thought and Daesoon Thought each offered, through the concepts of the emergence of Heaven-beyond-Heaven and the descent of the Lord of the Ninth Heaven (九天, Gucheon) into the human world, an indigenous redistribution of the Sacred and the Profane (聖俗, seongsok) that integrates Eastern and Western Views of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. The transcendent Heaven of both traditions — each constituting a Heaven-beyond-Heaven grounded in Correlative Thinking — synthesizes the strengths of both Eastern and Western perspectives on Heaven, Earth, and Humanity.
If the Western View of Heaven, View of Earth, and View of Humanity — which privileges substance — is characterized by differentiation, the Eastern View of Heaven, View of Earth, and View of Humanity — which privileges attributes — exhibits characteristics of assimilation (同化的), condensation (凝縮的), and transformative contact (接化的), respectively. In response to this, Donghak Thought proposed a View of Heaven centered on the transcendent Heaven, a corresponding Gi-transformation Theory (氣化論, gihwaron) for understanding the earth, and a View of Humanity based on Innaecheon ("Man is Heaven," 人乃天) — thereby attempting an integration of Eastern and Western perspectives. Donghak's Heaven-beyond-Heaven, making its first appearance in over 4,617 years of East Asian civilization traced back to the Yellow Emperor, created a profound resonance in Joseon society of the time and developed into a large-scale peasant movement. However, Donghak Thought, unable to transcend the limitations of Confucianism, ultimately met with great failure and came to be regarded as an episode of Jangnan (作亂, instigating disorder) and social upheaval.
By contrast, Daesoon Thought, under the premise of the Lord of the Ninth Heaven descending into a human body (人身降世, insin'gangse), combined the concepts of Heaven-and-Earth and the Divine Spirits (神明, sinmyeong) through the framework of Gi-transformation Theory, thereby rediscovering the functions of Heaven-beyond-Heaven and the Divine Spirits latent within Eastern thought through the principle of Divine-Human Guidance (神人依導, sin'in'uido). It also revitalized the perspectives on the Heavenly Realm (天界), the Earthly Realm (地界), and the Human Realm (人間界) from the standpoint of the Lord of the Ninth Heaven — perspectives that Donghak Thought had been unable to articulate due to its Confucian limitations. Daesoon Thought redefined Donghak Thought through the religious principles of Haewon Sangsaeng (解冤相生, Resolution of Grievances for Mutual Life) and Boeun Sangsaeng (報恩相生, Reciprocating Grace for Mutual Life), and constructed an indigenous modernity that combines Correlative Thinking — applicable even to the affairs and objects of daily life — with the Heaven-and-Earth Divine Spirits (天地神明, cheonji sinmyeong). In accordance with the tenets of Daesoon Thought — Harmonious Union of Yin and Yang (陰陽合德, eumyang hapdeok), Harmony Between Divine and Human (神人調化, sin'in johwa), Haewon Sangsaeng (解冤相生), and the Ultimate Realm of Truth through Tao (道通眞境, dotong jin'gyeong) — Daesoon Thought gave concrete reality to a View of Heaven, View of Earth, and View of Humanity consistent with Correlative Thinking, encompassing such concepts as the Three Realms (三界, samgye), Later Heaven (後天, hucheon), Mutual Life (相生, sangsaeng), the Way of the Divine (神道, sindo), the Earthly Paradise (地上天國, jisang cheonguk), and the Earthly Immortal (地上神仙, jisang sinsen), and thereby enacted Chiran (治亂, Governing Disorder) as the True Donghak (참동학) — a new indigenous modernity.
Keywords: Indigenous Modernity, Donghak (Eastern Learning), True Donghak, Daesoon, Heaven-Earth-Humanity (天地人), Correlative Thinking, Liminality, Revitalization, Heaven-beyond-Heaven (天外天, cheon'oecheon), Gi-transformation Theory (氣化論, gihwaron), Divine-Human Guidance (神人依導, sin'in'uido), Convergence (統攝, tongsaep) of the Sacred (聖, seong) and the Profane (俗, sok), Jangnan (作亂, instigating disorder), Chiran (治亂, governing disorder).
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TABLE OF CONTENTS (목 차)
I. Introduction ················································· 1
1. Background and Rationale of the Research ·················· 1
2. Purpose and Scope of the Research ························· 10
3. Analysis of Prior Research ································ 14
II. Indigenous Modernity and Liminality ························· 35
1. Modernity and Indigenous Modernity ························ 35
a. Modernity and the Convergence of the Sacred (聖) and Profane (俗) ·· 35
b. The Shared Eastern Origins of Western Modernity and Indigenous Modernity ·· 44
c. "Learning (學, hak)" as the Formal Framework of Indigenous Modernity ·· 49
d. The East-West Distinction as the Theoretical Background of Indigenous Modernity ·· 54
e. Correlative Thinking as the Philosophical Methodology of Indigenous Modernity ·· 60
2. Liminality and Revitalization ···························· 65
a. Liminality as the Mechanism of Sacred-Profane Transformation in Indigenous Modernity ·· 65
b. Revitalization as the Mechanism of Sacred-Profane Continuity in Indigenous Modernity ·· 80
III. The Indigenous Modernity of Donghak Thought and the Liminality of Jangnan (作亂) ·· 91
1. The Indigenous Modernity of the Sijeongju (侍天主) View of Heaven (天觀) ·· 91
a. The Formal (形相的) View of Heaven in Western Thought ········ 91
b. The Assimilative (同化的) View of Heaven in Eastern Thought ···· 96
c. The Collision and Mutual Antagonism of Modern Eastern and Western Views of Heaven ·· 104
d. Liminality in the Sijeongju (侍天主) View of Heaven of Donghak Thought ·· 110
2. The Indigenous Modernity of the Johwajeong (造化定) View of Earth (地觀) ·· 128
a. The Material (質料的) View of Earth in Western Thought ········ 128
b. The Condensing (凝縮的) View of Earth in Eastern Thought ······ 131
c. The Collision and Mutual Antagonism of Eastern and Western Views of Earth ·· 136
d. Liminality in the Johwajeong (造化定) View of Earth of Donghak Thought ·· 140
3. The Indigenous Modernity of the Yeongse Bulgmang (永世不忘) View of Humanity ·· 152
a. The Developmental (成長論的) View of Humanity in Western Thought ·· 152
b. The Transformative-Contact (接化的) View of Humanity in Eastern Thought ·· 156
c. The Collision and Mutual Antagonism of Modern Eastern and Western Views of Humanity ·· 160
d. Liminality in the Yeongse Bulgmang (永世不忘) View of Humanity of Donghak Thought ·· 165
IV. The Indigenous Modernity of Daesoon Thought and the Revitalization of Chiran (治亂) ·· 177
1. The Indigenous Modernity of the Insin'gangse (人身降世) View of the Heavenly Realm (天界觀) ·· 177
a. The View of Heaven as View of the Heavenly Realm (天界觀) ····· 177
b. The View of the Heavenly Realm in Insin'gangse (人身降世) ····· 183
c. Revitalization of Eastern and Western Views of Heaven in the Insin'gangse View of the Heavenly Realm ·· 187
2. The Indigenous Modernity of the Cheonji Seong-gyeong-sin (天地誠敬信) View of the Earthly Realm (地界觀) ·· 197
a. The View of Earth as View of the Earthly Realm (地界觀) ······· 197
b. The View of the Earthly Realm in Cheonji Seong-gyeong-sin (天地誠敬信) ·· 202
c. Revitalization of Eastern and Western Views of Earth in the Cheonji Seong-gyeong-sin View of the Earthly Realm ·· 211
3. The Indigenous Modernity of the Seongsa Jaein (成事在人) View of the Human Realm (人界觀) ·· 227
a. The View of Humanity as View of the Human Realm (人界觀) ······ 227
b. The View of the Human Realm in Seongsa Jaein (成事在人) ······· 230
c. Revitalization of Eastern and Western Views of Humanity in the Seongsa Jaein View of the Human Realm ·· 236
V. Comparative Study on the Indigenous Modernity of Donghak Thought and Daesoon Thought ·· 253
1. Comparison of Indigenous Modernity in the View of Heaven (天觀) ·· 253
a. Three Powers (三才, samjae) and Three Realms (三界, samgye) ···· 253
b. Former Heaven (先天, seocheon) and Later Heaven (後天, hucheon) ·· 262
2. Comparison of Indigenous Modernity in the View of Earth (地觀) ·· 267
a. Gi-transformation (氣化, gihwa) and Harmonious Governance (調理, jori) ·· 267
b. Noiwumugong (勞而無功, "Labor Without Achievement") and Cheonji Seonggong (天地成功, "Heaven-and-Earth Achievement") ·· 274
3. Comparison of Indigenous Modernity in the View of Humanity ······ 277
a. Innaecheon (人乃天, "Man is Heaven") and Sin'in Johwa (神人調化, "Harmony Between Divine and Human") ·· 277
b. Buryeon Giryeon (不然其然, "The Inexplicable and the Explicable") and Seongsa Jaein (成事在人, "Achievement Rests with Humanity") ·· 284
4. Comparison of Indigenous Modernity in the Heaven-Earth Relationship of Donghak and Daesoon Thought ·· 288
a. Cheonji Gwisin (天地鬼神, "Spirits of Heaven and Earth") and Cheonji Seong-gyeong-sin (天地誠敬信) ·· 288
b. Dogi Jangjon (道氣長存, "The Enduring Presence of Tao and Gi") and Sangsaeng (相生, "Mutual Life") ·· 293
5. Comparison of Indigenous Modernity in the Heaven-Human and Earth-Human Relationships of Donghak and Daesoon Thought ·· 297
a. The Heaven-Human Relationship of Indo (人道, "the Way of Humanity") and Sindo (神道, "the Way of the Divine") ·· 297
b. The Earth-Human Relationship of Simgeupdo-yu (心急道儒, "Urgency of Mind in the Way of Confucianism") and Dotong Gunja (道通君子, "The Exemplary Person Who Attains Tao") ·· 301
VI. Conclusion ················································· 307
References ····················································· 313
Abstract ······················································· 343
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LIST OF TABLES (표 차례)
Table 1 ························································· 38 Table 2 ························································· 78 Table 3 ························································ 235 Table 4 ························································ 239