Chapter III, Sec. 2: Johwajeong (造化定) View of Earth

a. The Western Material (Hylomorphic) View of Earth

Whether the View of Heaven (天觀, cheon'gwan) emphasizes a transcendent heaven beyond the heavens (天外天, cheon-oe-cheon) or an immanent heaven (內在天, naejae-cheon) distinguished as heaven-and-earth (天地, cheonji) also determines how the View of Earth (地觀, jigwan) is shaped. From the standpoint of the transcendent heaven, "earth" (地, ji) becomes an expression encompassing all of heaven-and-earth as divided, and in the Western substance-centered ontological cosmology that does not regard heaven-and-earth as an immanent heaven expressed through yin and yang, heaven-and-earth — and the earth in particular — becomes a material (質料的, jillyo-jeok) entity in which the transcendent form is realized.

The Western material view of earth differed depending on whether the transcendent heaven beyond the heavens was understood as the Platonic Idea, as the monotheistic God, or as materialist reason. Today's materialistic Western view of earth, which regards the transcendent heaven beyond the heavens as materialist reason, has become an atomistic worldview.

Until the modern atomistic worldview appeared — the view that all things are composed of indivisible atoms and molecules — Western thinkers also engaged in correlative thinking (相關的 思惟, sangwan-jeok sauyu) about the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind (地水火風, ji-su-hwa-pung), as is evident in the case of Matteo Ricci.[1] The difference between the Western correlative worldview of the four elements and the Eastern correlative thinking of yin-yang and the Five Phases was, as Jesuit priests like Matteo Ricci noted, that the Western four-element framework was a correlative mode of thinking constituted by substances, whereas yin-yang and the Five Phases were a correlative mode of thinking constituted by attributes.[2] The atomistic worldview was a theory that maximized the substantialist attributes of the four elements through analytical method.

[Footnote 1: Alfonso Vagnone, trans. Yi Jongnan, Gongje-geokchi (空際格致, Investigations of the Air-Space), Paju: Hangilsa, 2012.] [Footnote 2: Alfonso Vagnone, trans. Yi Jongnan, Gongje-geokchi (空際格致, Investigations of the Air-Space), Paju: Hangilsa, 2012.]

Thales' worldview that "the origin of all things is water" is a representative example of substantialist correlative thinking that explains all things in terms of the substance "water." Subsequently, Empedocles' theory of the four elements was expanded and incorporated by Plato and Aristotle, forming the basis of the Western worldview up to the time of Matteo Ricci. The four elements were integrated into both Plato's world of Ideas[3] and Aristotle's theory of forms, constituting a system in which the fifth element (the quintessence) at the center of the four elements maintains the balance among the other four.[4]

[Footnote 3: Plato accepted Empedocles' framework, and the four-element theory was not exclusively Empedocles' claim but was the general materialist worldview of the Mediterranean world. However, Plato descended below the four elements to find more fundamental — yet non-atomic — constituents, seeking to reveal how the Demiurge geometricizes matter-space. (Yi Jeong-u, Segye cheolhaksa 1: Jijunghaesegye-eui cheolhak [World History of Philosophy, Vol. 1: Philosophy of the Mediterranean World], Seoul: Gil, 2011, pp. 284–285.)] [Footnote 4: In Aristotle, the fifth element exists above the moon, moves only in circular motion apart from the four elements, and the four elements circulate in their own cycle. The generation or change of things is said to arise from the lack or acquisition of a certain form. Aristotle's four elements are also arranged in four quadrants based on hot-wet, dry-cold coordinates, analogous to yin-yang and the Five Phases. (Son Yunnak, "Ariseutoteleseu-eui yoso iron" [Aristotle's Theory of Elements], Seoyang Gojeon Hak Yeongu [Studies in Greek and Latin Classics] 31, 2008, pp. 83–108.)]

Although Empedocles introduced the four-element theory into Greek thought, the four elements had already been transmitted as the common worldview of the Indo-European language family. The cosmology of ancient Indian Brahmanism also contains the four elements, and the Buddhist worldview that inherited this tradition is likewise constituted by the four elements. The four elements even influenced China, where they became the Chinese theory of the three cosmic forces — water, fire, and wind. In the cosmological worldview of the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya, which describes the Buddhist conception of heavenly realms, the world appears as an entity floating atop the wheels of earth, water, fire, and wind, above which stands the "iron-ring mountain" (金剛山) guarding the center of the cosmos, and upon that center Mt. Sumeru (須彌山) exists forming the twenty-eight heavens.[5] This four-element cosmology of heavenly realms combines with the Daoist concept of the three cosmic powers to form the thirty-six heavens, which also appears in the later cosmology of Daesoon Thought.[6]

[Footnote 5: Sasaki Shizuka, trans. Beopjang, Gwahak-eui Bulgyo: Abhidharma Bulgyo-eui gwahakjeok segyegwan [Science and Buddhism: The Scientific Worldview of Abhidharma Buddhism], Seoul: Mogwanamu, 2017.] [Footnote 6: Jeon'gyeong [The Canonical Scripture of Daesoon Thought], "Gyoun" [Religious Operations] 2-55.]

The reason the four elements can be connected all the way to Western theories of correlative View of Heaven, View of Earth, and View of Humanity is the correlative principle inherent in the four elements. Another common feature found across Indo-European peoples is the trifunctional system, which was revealed by Dumézil. Dumézil demonstrated that the background for the development of the Indo-European mythological trifunctional system into European views of heaven, earth, and humanity is that the trifunctional system and the four elements are constituted by the same principles of ascent and descent.[7]

[Footnote 7: Kim Hyeonja, Joreu Dyumeijil: Indo-Yureop sinhwa-eui bigyo yeongu [Georges Dumézil: A Comparative Study of Indo-European Mythology], Seoul: Minumsa, 2018.]

Dumézil argues that in the anthropological structure of the Indo-European imaginary, the View of Heaven, View of Earth, and View of Humanity reveal the upper-tier religious function, the middle-tier military-political function, and the lower-tier productive-aesthetic function. He demonstrated that the three functions of the three goddesses in the Trojan War in Greek-Roman mythology — Hera (religion), Athena (politics), and Aphrodite (production) — are identical to the Mitra-Varuna-Aryaman structure in Indian mythology.[8] The trifunctional system also appears in a structure similar to the Buddhist three realms of the realm of desire (欲界), the realm of form (色界), and the formless realm (無色界).

[Footnote 8: Kim Hyeonja, Joreu Dyumeijil: Indo-Yureop sinhwa-eui bigyo yeongu, Seoul: Minumsa, 2018.]

The four elements and the trifunctional system originated in Central Asia and exerted broad influence on both East and West. Their influence also appears in the East Asian concept of the Three Powers of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity (天地人, cheonji-in). The Eastern three realms based on the Three Powers — the celestial realm (天界, cheon'gye), the terrestrial realm (地界, ji'gye), and the human realm (人界, in'gye) — are spatially similar to the Western trifunctional system but differ in emphasizing "attributes" (屬性, sokcheong) over "substances" (實體, silche). The same characters "水 (water)" and "火 (fire)" differ between the four-element framework and yin-yang and the Five Phases because of the distinction between substance and attribute. Accordingly, when the two systems are compared, the functions of "water" and "fire" sometimes appear in reverse.

The Western material view of earth — in the sense that the form of the transcendent heaven beyond the heavens is realized — contributed to the development of modern material civilization. However, the Western material view of earth, biased toward matter, became the starting point of the crisis of modernity by completely demolishing the spirit system (神明體系, sinmyeong-cheye) of the new cosmos and thus leading the world toward the brink of total destruction.

b. The Eastern Condensed (凝縮的) View of Earth

Unlike the Western material view of earth, which took different forms according to whether the transcendent heaven beyond the heavens was conceived as the Platonic Idea, the monotheistic God, or the materialist form, the Eastern condensed (凝縮的, eungchuk-jeok) view of earth appears in three different ways depending on the transcendent heaven, the immanent heaven distinguished as heaven-and-earth, and the role of the heavenly spirits (天地神明, cheonji sinmyeong).

First, when heaven is viewed as the transcendent heaven, the earth encompasses all of heaven-and-earth, and heaven-and-earth as the concept of "earth" in relation to the transcendent Jade Emperor (上帝, Sangje) appears as a spiritual entity that shares and executes the Jade Emperor's intentions for the creative transformation and nurturing of heaven-and-earth (天地化育, cheonji hwa'yuk). In this case, heaven plays the role of assimilation (同化, donghwa), and earth plays the role of condensation (凝縮, eungchuk), so that earth becomes the entity that realizes the gi (氣) of heaven-and-earth as form or vessel (器, gi). In the study of changes (易學, yeok'hak), this has been expressed through the hexagrams Qian (乾) and Kun (坤). As roles are differentiated, the heavenly spirits (天神, cheonsin) take on the assimilating role, while the earthly spirits (地示, jisi) take on the condensing role. However, since the appointment of the spirits fulfilling those roles is coordinated from heaven, traditionally the spirits of heaven have been described as heavenly spirits (天神, cheonsin), the spirits of earth as terrestrial spirits (地示, jisi), and in the human sphere as human shades (人鬼, in'gwi). The concepts of heavenly spirits, terrestrial spirits, and human shades, which first appear in the Rites of Zhou (周禮, Jurye), were systematically elaborated by Dasan Jeong Yak-yong.[9] According to Jeong Yak-yong, "Heavenly Spirits" (天神) refers to the Sovereign on High of the Vast Heaven (昊天上帝, Hoch'eon Sangje), the sun, moon, and stars, and the divine officials of fate, wind, and rain; "Terrestrial Spirits" (地示) refers to deities overseeing the altars of soil and grain, the Five Sacrifices, the Five Sacred Peaks, mountains and forests, and rivers and marshes; and "Human Shades" (人鬼) refers to former kings, former lords, and deceased consorts. He states that although the objects of sacrifice belong to three categories, they ultimately reduce to heavenly spirits and human shades.

[Footnote 9: The concepts of heavenly spirits (天神), terrestrial spirits (地示), and human shades (人鬼), which first appear in the Rites of Zhou (周禮), were systematically elaborated by Dasan Jeong Yak-yong. (Jurye [Rites of Zhou], "Chunggwan" [Spring Officials], 'Daejongbaek.' "大宗伯之職, 掌建邦之天神•人鬼•地示之禮, 以佐王建保邦國." [The duty of the Grand Rectorat is to oversee the rites to heavenly spirits, human shades, and terrestrial spirits of the established state, in order to assist the king in establishing and protecting the realm.]) According to Jeong Yak-yong, Heavenly Spirits (天神) refers to the Sovereign on High of the Vast Heaven (昊天上帝), the sun, moon, and stars, the divine officials of fate (司中, 司命), the master of winds (風師), and the master of rain (雨師); Terrestrial Spirits (地示) refers to deities presiding over altars of soil and grain, the Five Sacrifices, the Five Sacred Peaks, mountain forests, and river marshes; Human Shades (人鬼) refers to the ancestral shrines of former kings, former lords, and former consorts. He states that although the objects of sacrifice belong to three categories, they ultimately reduce to heavenly spirits and human shades. (Jungnyong Gangui-bo [Supplementary Lectures on the Doctrine of the Mean], "Gui-sin-ji-wi-deok jeol" [Section on the Virtue of Spirits and Shades]. "今按, 周禮大宗伯, 所祭鬼神, 厥有三品, 一曰天神, 二曰地示, 三曰人鬼. 天神者, 昊天上帝, 日月星辰, 司中司命, 風師雨師是也. 地示者, 社稷五祀五嶽, 山林川澤是也. 人鬼者, 先王先公先妣之廟是也. 祭祀之秩, 雖有三品, 其實天神人鬼而已...天以天神, 各司水火金木土穀山川林澤, 人主亦使人臣分掌是事. 及其後世, 乃以人臣之有功者, 配於天神, 以祭社稷, 以祭五祀, 以祭山川, 則名雖地示, 其實皆天神人鬼也." (Baek Minjeong, "Sangje-wa Sim gaenyeom-euro bigyohan Jeong Yak-yong-gwa Choe Je-u-eui sayu" [A Comparative Study of Jeong Yak-yong and Choe Je-u through the Concepts of the Jade Emperor and the Mind], Minjok Munhwa [National Culture], pp. 139–149, cited therein.))]

Today, the Three Powers of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity (天地人 三才) and yin-yang and the Five Phases together construct a common theoretical framework and emphasize "attributes" over "substances." Yin-yang, the Three Powers, and the Five Phases each express the relationship between heaven and earth from different perspectives. Within yin-yang itself there is a further distinction: there is yin-yang in the Western sense — as a concept of material earth encompassing the transcendent heaven of form and the immanent heaven-and-earth — and yin-yang in the Eastern sense — emphasizing the immanent heaven distinguished as the heaven of assimilation and the earth of condensation. The Three Powers, by contrast, have a capacity to integrate both these Eastern and Western views of heaven: the transcendent heaven, the immanent heaven, and the immanent earth together form the Triple Supreme Ultimate (三太極, sam-t'aegŭk) and the Three Powers. The Five Phases are the concept that arises when yin-yang and the Three Powers meet — where the tripartite perspective expands into yin-yang, and yin-yang expands into the tripartite perspective. Tracing the origins of the three ideas reveals that they arose from different starting points before converging. Although it is not clear in which direction the four elements and yin-yang and the Five Phases influenced each other, the ideas of yin-yang, the Five Phases, and the Three Powers emerged within a mutually relational context and appear combined in terms of the notion of attributes.[10]

[Footnote 10: U Silha, Jeontong munhwa-eui gusong wolliy [Constitutive Principles of Traditional Culture], Seoul: Sonaamu, 1998, pp. 161–162.]

In the East Asian tradition, because ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, the principle of Qian's vigor and Kun's compliance (乾健坤順, geongŏn gon-sun) — which describes the relationship between heaven and earth — implies that earth's condensation contains heaven's assimilation. Traditionally, the Eastern Way of Earth (坤道, Gon-do) is elaborated in detail in the Commentary on the Changes (易傳, Yeokjeon).

Sublime indeed is Kun-Yuan! The ten thousand things receive their birth from it. It thereby complies obediently with Heaven. The virtue of Kun in bearing things is boundless and boundless; it is encompassing, expansive, luminous, and great, and all the myriad things prosper. [Yi-jing, Kun Hexagram, Commentary of the Judgment (彖傳): "彖曰至哉坤元! 萬物資生乃順承天坤厚載物 德合无疆 含弘光大 品物咸享." Yun Sangcheol, "Yijing-eui Cheon'in hapilgwan yeongu" [A Study on the View of the Unity of Heaven and Humanity in the Yi-jing], PhD dissertation, Sungkyunkwan University, 2014, pp. 189–190, cited therein.][11]

[Footnote 11: Yi-jing, Kun Hexagram, Commentary of the Judgment (彖傳): "彖曰至哉坤元! 萬物資生乃順承天坤厚載物 德合无疆 含弘光大 品物咸享." Yun Sangcheol, "Yijing-eui Cheon'in hapilgwan yeongu" [A Study on the View of the Unity of Heaven and Humanity in the Yi-jing], PhD dissertation, Sungkyunkwan University, 2014, pp. 189–190, cited therein.]

In the above passage, earth appears as a vessel and form that, through the agency of Kun, condenses the gi assimilated by heaven. From the perspective of Yi Yeong-ran's interpretation of liminality, this is the development of heaven [1] into the liminality of earth [1+2].[12]

[Footnote 12: Yi Yeong-ran, Riminaelliti [Liminality], Seoul: Dongbang Inswae-gongsa, 2020, p. 231.]

The differentiation of the celestial realm, the terrestrial realm, and the human realm in East Asian traditional mythology first appears among the Gonggong clan (共工族), which was the most advanced civilization of the age of the sage-kings Yao and Shun.[13] According to material artifacts and written records, this differentiation appears from the Warring States period. Like the underground civilization deity in Daesoon Thought, the Gonggong clan — the earliest civilized people of East Asia — appears in mythology as an underground deity.[14] The appearance of a civilization deity underground is rooted in correlative thinking (相關的 思惟) that regards heaven and earth correlationally.

[Footnote 13: Jeong Jaeseo, Sarajin sindeur-eui gwihwan [The Return of Vanished Gods], Paju: Munhak Dongne, 2022; Jeong Hyeongjin, Cheonnyeon wangguk Susianaeseo on Hwanung [Hwanung from the Millennial Kingdom of Susiana], Seoul: Ilbit, 2006; Jo Cheolsu, (Godae Mesopotamia-e saegyeojin) Hanguk sinhwa-eui biil [(Inscribed in Ancient Mesopotamia) The Secret of Korean Mythology], Seoul: Gimyeong-sa, 2003.] [Footnote 14: Jeon'gyeong, "Gyoun" 1-9.]

From the standpoint of the immanent heaven, earth is far more connected to life and is granted greater weight than from the standpoint of the transcendent heaven. Fengshui geomancy (風水地理, pungsu-jiri) and ancestral sacrifice were icons of traditional culture. In ecology, the importance of the earth is today emphasized as much as that of heaven. Fengshui geomancy, which may be called the indigenous geography of East Asia, was the traditional Eastern View of Earth, and in yin-yang and the Five Phases, this found expression in the centrality of earth (土, to) as the center of yin-yang and the Five Phases. In the context of the View of Heaven, View of Earth, and View of Humanity, correlative thinking is important because it provides a basis for mutual flourishing (相生, sangsaeng). The importance of earth constitutes a major part of the correlationally flourishing View of Heaven, View of Earth, and View of Humanity. In particular, the elevation of the status of earth — which had more capacity but lower status — namely, the rectification of yin and yang (正陰正陽, jeong-eum-jeong-yang), is central not only to the cosmic renewal (解冤, haewon) of humanity but also to mutual flourishing. The great difference between Donghak Thought's "renewed opening of the cosmos" (다시 개벽, dasi gaebyeok) and Daesoon Thought's "opening of the three realms" (三界開闢, samgye gaebyeok) also lies in mutual flourishing. Daesoon Thought's opening of the three realms speaks of mutual flourishing and, for the sake of mutual flourishing, speaks of the resolution of grievances (解冤, haewon). Haewon is possible through the spirits (神明, sinmyeong), and mutual flourishing is achieved through haewon after the balance of yin and yang's status is realized.

The importance of earth in the traditional Eastern View of Earth was expressed in the terminology represented by "heaven-and-earth" (天地, cheonji). Most representatively, "Heaven is round, Earth is square" (天圓地方, cheon'won-ji-bang) does not refer to the erroneous claim of geocentrism subsequently disproven by heliocentrism — namely, that heaven is spherical — but rather is shorthand for "The Way of Heaven is circular; the Way of Earth is square" (天道之謂圓 地道之謂方, cheon-do-ji-wi-won ji-do-ji-wi-bang), expressing the one-dimensional character of time as "cosmos" (宙, ju) and the two-dimensional character of space as "universe" (宇, u).[15] In the Changes, heaven is called "Qian" (乾), and this character "qian" (dry) denotes the dry attribute of time that acts as the "second Heavenly Stem" (乙, eul, i.e., the bending/spiraling stem).

[Footnote 15: Yeosssi Chun'chu [The Spring and Autumn Annals of Mr. Lü], "Wondo" [The Original Way]; National Institute of Korean History, Haneul, sigan, ttang-e daehan jeontong-jeok saseok [Traditional Reflections on Heaven, Time, and Earth], Seoul: Doosan Dong-a, 2007, p. 167, cited therein.]

"Three heavens, two earths" (三天兩地, sam-cheon-yang-ji / 參天兩地, samcheon-yangji) is a core concept of the Changes meaning that heaven operates on the principle of three and earth on the principle of two. The Changes has traditionally understood Heaven, Earth, and Humanity — which symbolize nature — in terms of the family relationships of father, mother, and son, and has produced an abundance of propositions contrasting the attributes of heaven and earth as father and mother. "Three heavens, two earths" (參天兩地), "Heaven is round, Earth is square" (天圓地方), "Heaven endures, Earth persists" (天長地久), and "the Way of Heaven, the Virtue of Earth" (天道地德) all indicate that father-heaven signifies threefold-circular-long-way (三-圓-長-道), while mother-earth possesses the attributes of twofold-square-persistent-virtue (兩-方-久-德). The complex-systems interpretation of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity in psychoanalysis is almost identical to the Oedipus Complex. From the standpoint of a complex-systems understanding of psychoanalysis, the ternary differentiation system (三數分化, samsu-bunhwa) can be viewed as a form of fractal aesthetics, and the symmetry of the ternary differentiation system was a fundamental proposition of Greek aesthetics.

In traditional thought, earth served as one axis in the correlative relationship with Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. Traditional thought has generally been understood as theology or mythology rather than as indigenous modernity, but there were movements — through Daejonggyo and other traditions — to understand it as indigenous modernity.[16] The ternary differentiation system is a framework that views all things as a complex-systems expansion of three constituent elements: Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. In the West, this ternary differentiation system has been recognized as the common internal structure of all things — as Kant's tripartite system, Freud's father-mother-son, and Father-Son-Holy Spirit; in the East, as the Heaven-Earth-Humanity system.[17] The ternary differentiation system corresponds between East and West from the perspective of the symmetry inherent in the Oedipal structure. The ternary differentiation system illuminates the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences in an integrated manner.

[Footnote 16: Kim Seonghwan, Uuju-eui jeong-o [Cosmic Noon], Goyang: Sonaamu, 2016; Jeon Byeong-hun, trans. Yi Geuncheol and Jo Namho, Jeongsin cheolhak [Philosophy of Spirit], Seoul: Mosinengsaramdeur, 2021.] [Footnote 17: Psychological research applying Daesoon Thought to counseling has also been conducted from this perspective. (Pak Daesaeng, Sangdame Daesoon sasang-eui jeok-yong-e gwanhan yeongu [A Study on the Application of Daesoon Thought to Counseling], MA thesis, Daejin University, 2011.)]

Jeong Jaeseo argues that Chinese mythology is an anti-Oedipal mythology, distinct from Western mythology.[18] In Christian theology as well, a "Heaven-Earth-Humanity theology" (天地人神學) has emerged, emphasizing not only the role of the father but also the roles of earth and humanity.[19] The occasion for integrating the emphasis on earth and humanity that appears in ecological theology and the like with existing theology is found in the Dangun Myth and the Heaven-Earth-Humanity thought of the ternary differentiation worldview unique to Korea.[20] However, Heaven-Earth-Humanity theology is still Christian theology without the Daoist conception of spirits, and so it does not go so far as to claim that the god of the earth is a goddess equivalent to a mother.[21] Heo Ho-ik lists theologians related to Heaven-Earth-Humanity theology, including Yun Seong-beom,[22] Kim Gwangsik,[23] Pak Jong-cheon,[24] Yu Dongsik,[25] Yi Jeong-yong,[26] Yi Eunseon,[27] and Seo Namdong,[28] among others.[29] Kim Heup-young, by similar logic, calls for a transition from existing theology — which emphasizes the father as a Logos-centered theology — to a Praxis theology centered on the mother, and ultimately to a Tao-theology (道-神學) that emphasizes the cosmic Christ as a third figure for a more desirable theology.[30] Yi Eunseon, as a feminist scholar, together with Hwang Phil-ho, also interprets the characteristics of Korean theology as the "augmented lineage" (加宗, gajong) of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity.[31]

[Footnote 18: Jeong Jaeseo, Angtti Ojidiposeu-eui sinhwahak [Anti-Oedipal Mythology], Changbi, 2010.] [Footnote 19: Yi Chanhi, "Daejong'gyo-eui samil cheorhak yeongu" [A Study on the Trinitarian Philosophy of Daejonggyo], Graduate School of Sungkyunkwan University, 2020.] [Footnote 20: Heo Ho-ik, Dangun sinhwa-wa Gidokgyo (Dangun sinhwa-eui munhwasajeok haesok-gwa cheonjiin sinhak seoseol) [The Dangun Myth and Christianity (A Cultural-Historical Interpretation of the Dangun Myth and a Prolegomenon to Heaven-Earth-Humanity Theology)], Korean Christian Publishing House (Daehan Gidokgyo Seohoe), 2003.] [Footnote 21: Heo Ho-ik, ibid.] [Footnote 22: Yun Seong-beom, Hyo-ran mueosinga: Dongyangnyulli, Gidokgyo nyulli, Seoyang nyulli-reul bigyohan Hyo-eui yeongu [What is Filial Piety: A Comparative Study of Filial Piety in Eastern Ethics, Christian Ethics, and Western Ethics], Seoul: Samil Seojok, 1994.] [Footnote 23: Kim Gwangsik, Toakwa wa Haeseokhak: Toakasinnak-gwa Daehwa-eui Sinhak-eui mannam-eul wihayeo [Inculturation and Hermeneutics: Toward a Meeting of Inculturation Theology and Dialogical Theology], Seoul: Daehan Gidokgyo Chulpansa, 2001.] [Footnote 24: Pak Jong-cheon, Sangsaeng-eui Sinhak [Theology of Mutual Flourishing], Seoul: Hanguk Sinhak Yeonguso, 1991.] [Footnote 25: Yu Dongsik, Pungnyudo-wa yesul sinhak [The Way of Pungnyudo and Arts Theology], Seoul: Handul Chulpansa, 2006.] [Footnote 26: Yi Jeong-yong, trans. Yi Se-hyeong, Yeok-eui sinhak: Dong'yang-eui gwanjeom-eseo bon Haneunim-e daehan Gidokgyojeok gaenyeom [Theology of Change: A Christian Concept of God from an Eastern Perspective], Seoul: Daehan Gidokgyo Seohoe, 2001.] [Footnote 27: Yi Eunseon, Ireo-beorin choeol-eul chaj-aseo: Hanguk Yuga-eui jonggyo-jeok seongchal-gwa yeosongjuui [In Search of Lost Transcendence: Religious Reflection of Korean Confucianism and Feminism], Seoul: Mosinengsaramdeur, 2009.] [Footnote 28: Seo Namdong, Minjung sinhak-eui tamgu [An Inquiry into Minjung Theology], Seoul: Dongyeon, 2018.] [Footnote 29: Heo Ho-ik, Cheonjiin sinhak: Hanguk sinhak-eui saelooun mosaek [Heaven-Earth-Humanity Theology: A New Exploration of Korean Theology], Seoul: Dongyeon, 2020, pp. 53–73.] [Footnote 30: Kim Heup-young, "Do (道) Geuriseutollon (Christotao) seoseol" [A Prolegomenon to Christotao], Jonggyo Yeongu [Religious Studies] 54, 2009, pp. 104–105.] [Footnote 31: Yi Eunseon, Hanguk peminiseuteu sinhakja-eui Yuga ilggi: Sinhak-eseo Sinhak-euro [A Korean Feminist Theologian's Reading of Confucianism: From Theology (神學) to Faith-Study (信學)], Seoul: Mosinengsaramdeur, 2023.]

The concept of yin-yang, which can be understood as the complex-systems scientific concept of the Supreme Ultimate (太極, Taegŭk) as a principle of creation and preservation, was first proposed by the Chinese philosopher Mou Zongsan (牟宗三), who has studied Eastern philosophy ontologically. He argues that while Western philosophy understands the personal God through the notion of "substance" (實體), Chinese philosophy understands the Heavenly Way (天道, Tiandao) through the concept of "function" (作用). From this functional perspective on being, Qian-Yuan (乾元) is the principle of creativity, and Kun-Yuan (坤元) is the so-called principle of preservation.[32] Since Daesoon Thought holds that the Supreme Ultimate originates from the circle (圓, won), this accords with Mou Zongsan's view of the Supreme Ultimate as a functional circular motion, and since all things are viewed in terms of complex-systems circular motion, the Supreme Ultimate can be regarded as the fundamental principle of complex systems. From circular motion arise symmetry, asymmetry, and supersymmetry.

[Footnote 32: Mou Zongsan, Dong'yang cheolhak-gwa Ariseutoteleseu (Wonche: Sasinseorhwang'gangrog) [Eastern Philosophy and Aristotle (Original title: Lectures on the Four-Cause Theory)], Busan: Sokang, 2011.]

Unlike the West, which views the earth as the matter in which the form of the transcendent heaven beyond the heavens is realized, the Eastern view of earth — as the place where the practice of the transcendent heaven's creative transformation and nurturing (天地化育) is condensed — did not regard the earth as an object of domination and conquest but rather treated it as an object of reverence, as in fengshui geomancy. However, as Neo-Confucianism excluded the transcendent heaven, the Eastern earth was reduced to merely the counterpart of the immanent heaven, and Eastern correlative thinking became ossified. Since Western substantialist thinking has a tendency to reinforce the spirit of mutual overcoming (相克, sanggŭk), the two views of earth came into collision in the modern era.

c. The Collision and Mutual Overcoming (相克化) of Eastern and Western Views of Earth

Collision of Views of Earth

To Easterners who revered the earth as an object of veneration, Westerners who treated the earth as mere matter came as a profound shock. The two forces, which had been in mutual balance, tilted sharply toward the West after Matteo Ricci. The collision between East and West concerning the View of Earth appeared in two major phases. The first was the worldview collision posed by the material view of earth grounded in the transcendent heaven as presented in Matteo Ricci's The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven (天主實義, Tianzhu Shiyi), and the second was the physical collision in which the West — which had retreated from the East after the controversy over the Rites — returned bearing arms.

Looking first at the worldview collision: it was a collision between the ontological worldview presupposed by the Western material view of earth and the condensed view inherent in the Eastern view of earth. Although the Eastern theory of principle and gi (理氣論, i-gi-ron) was the closest among Eastern philosophies to Aristotle's ontology,[33] the fact that it was dismantled by Matteo Ricci's critiques was because Aristotle's four-element theory and the theory of four causes appeared at the scientific level of that time to explain the divine in a logically compelling manner.[34] At the scientific level of that time, yin-yang, the Five Phases, and the theory of principle and gi — which do not separately recognize substance — became theories that were not logical according to Aristotle's framework.

[Footnote 33: Kim Gyeongsu, Nojang-eui saengseongnon [The Theory of Generation in Laozi and Zhuangzi], Seoul: Munsacheol, 2015.] [Footnote 34: For a representative account of the Jesuit priests' Aristotelian worldview, see Gongje-geokchi (Hangilsa, 2012).]

When comparing the Western four elements to yin-yang and the Five Phases, the relationship between earth (土, to) and wood-fire-metal-water in yin-yang and the Five Phases is a point of clear difference between East and West. It can be described as the difference between the East, which is temporally closed but ontologically open, and the West, which is temporally open but ontologically closed.[35] The Western four elements also possessed a fifth element, ether, which played a role similar to the earth phase (土, to) in yin-yang and the Five Phases.[36] The key difference was that the Western fifth element was, like the monotheistic God, a transcendent entity separate from the four elements, whereas the earth phase of yin-yang and the Five Phases was both a separate entity and an immanent entity that moves together with wood-fire-metal-water. Shao Yong's (邵雍, Shao Kangjie) yin-yang and Five Phases view of the divine-human relationship was capable of simultaneously accommodating both the transcendent Western divine-human relationship and the immanent Eastern divine-human relationship, and thus comes to be reappraised in later times.

[Footnote 35: The difference can be described as the East being temporally closed but ontologically open, and the West being temporally open but ontologically closed. (Baker, Donald L., "Neo-Confucians Confront Theism: Korean Reaction to Matteo Ricci's Arguments for the Existence of God (韓國 儒學者의 마테오 릿치 神論에 대한 反論)," Dong-a Yeongu [East Asian Research] (3): 1983, p. 158; cited in Kim Seonhui, Mateo Richi-wa Juhui, geurigo Jeong Yak-yong [Matteo Ricci, Zhu Xi, and Jeong Yak-yong], Seoul: Simsan, 2012, p. 230.)] [Footnote 36: In Aristotle, the fifth element exists above the moon, moves only in circular motion apart from the four elements, and the four elements circulate in their own cycle. (Son Yunnak, "Ariseutoteleseu-eui yoso iron: 'Saengsong Somellon'-e nat'anan yosodeur-eui saengsong-somel mekeonijeum-eul jungsim-euro" [Aristotle's Theory of Elements: Focusing on the Generation-Destruction Mechanism of Elements in De Generatione et Corruptione], Seoyang Gojeon Hak Yeongu [Studies in Greek and Latin Classics] 31(-): 2008, pp. 84–100.)]

When criticizing yin-yang and the Five Phases, Matteo Ricci pointed out — just as with the four elements — that the yin-yang and Five Phases theory cannot be interpreted through Aristotle's theory of four causes.[37] The theory of four causes was regarded as the most rational Western theory for explaining the cosmos right up to the seventeenth century in which Matteo Ricci lived. Ricci was also a scientist of the highest caliber of his day,[38] but what he used to criticize yin-yang and the Five Phases was not an atomistic position but rather the four-element theory, which by today's standards looks very similar to yin-yang and the Five Phases. Viewed by today's standards, even Aristotle's four-element theory can be called a resonance theory in the broad sense. True substantialism emerged only after Boyle and Dalton's atomic theory, and seventeenth-century natural philosophy was a system in which Aristotle's theory and atomism competed with each other.[39]

[Footnote 37: An Jongsu, "Mateo Richi-eui Li-gi'gwan" [Matteo Ricci's View of Principle and Gi], Cheolhak Nonchong [Journal of Philosophy] 60(2), 2010, pp. 48–52.] [Footnote 38: Kim Gwiman, "Seoyang geundae munmyeong-eui taedong-gwa Daesoon-eui munmyeonggwan" [The Rise of Western Modern Civilization and Daesoon's View of Civilization], MA thesis, Daejin University, 2014, p. 66.] [Footnote 39: By today's standards, even Aristotle's four-element theory can be called a resonance theory in the broad sense. True substantialism emerged only after Boyle and Dalton's atomic theory, and seventeenth-century natural philosophy was a system in which Aristotle's theory and atomism competed with each other. (Kim Seonghwan, 17 segi jaryon cheolhak: Undong'hak gigyeron-eseo Dongnyek'hak gigyeron-euro [Seventeenth-Century Natural Philosophy: From Kinematic Mechanism to Dynamic Mechanism], Seoul: Geulinbi, 2008.)]

To East Asian intellectuals who, after Buddhism, first encountered an ontological view of nature, the four-element theory — though a form of correlative thinking — came as such a shock that it could lead to a collapse of their worldview. The greatest problem in the Eastern reception of Western Learning was the question of ancestral rites. In the West, the Rites Controversy was a matter of the papacy's position, but newly emerged Eastern adherents of Western Learning had to stake their lives on their belief. The clash of worldviews appeared to end in an Eastern victory through the prohibition of Western Learning.

The next physical collision appeared rapidly around the time Suun (水雲, Choe Je-u) founded Donghak. China's defeat by the West in events such as the Beijing Treaty was a cataclysmic shock. As vividly depicted in Lu Xun's (鲁迅, 1881–1936) The True Story of Ah Q, the stunned Chinese people — out of fear that they would be ethnically cleansed under Western domination — fell into a state of mental derangement akin to "spiritual victory." China encountered the experience of once again witnessing the collapse of the heavenly order, as the feudal system of the Zhou dynasty had collapsed during the Warring States period. It was like the situation in which all Americans had to live in fear of the Russian nuclear threat after the Soviet Union launched a rocket to the moon. Suun is said to have been able to obtain information about the West early on through his wandering life. The Yongdam Yusa (龍潭遺詞, Hymns of Yongdam) contains passages that vividly describe the collisions of that era. Thus, indigenous modernity became a most urgent matter for the East.

Mutual Overcoming (相克化) in the Relationship between Heaven and Earth

Changes in the View of Heaven and the View of Earth also transformed the traditional relationship between heaven and earth. First, in the Western case, Matteo Ricci's introduction of Eastern culture brought the Eastern immanent View of Heaven and View of Earth into Western civilization — which was constituted by the transcendent View of Heaven and View of Earth — resulting in the rapid development of science and technology. Yin-yang and the Five Phases, originally devised to explain the attributive relationship between heaven and earth, crossed over to the West and were applied to the natural sciences, which explain substantive relationships, thereby bringing about the development of science and technology. After Matteo Ricci, new scientific concepts different from Aristotelian science — such as mass, elements, volume, gravity, and velocity — were introduced to the West[40] and swiftly applied to science and technology, while society rapidly became capitalist.

[Footnote 40: Kim Seonghwan, 17 segi jaryon cheolhak: Undong'hak gigyeron-eseo Dongnyek'hak gigyeron-euro, Seoul: Geulinbi, 2008.]

Although the introduction of the immanent heaven into science and technology advanced material civilization, in the Western case the relationship between heaven and earth — previously represented by the fifth element and the four elements — actually fell into a conflictual relationship (相克關係, sanggŭk gwangye) between the monotheistic God and the ten thousand things. Subsequently, the even correlative attributes of the four elements disappeared and the relationship between heaven and earth was further intensified into mutual overcoming within the atomistic worldview. Modern science removed the attributes of the four elements from the View of Heaven, View of Earth, and View of Humanity in the name of objectivity, but from the perspective of mutual overcoming, objectivity can also be seen as a pretext.

In the case of the heaven-earth relationship, the mutual overcoming of the four elements' heaven-earth relationship appeared as the supremacy of heaven and demotion of earth (天尊地卑, cheon-jon-ji-bi) vis-à-vis the monotheistic God. In the Western concept of the four elements, heaven corresponds to the fifth element and earth corresponds to the four elements. When the four elements first appeared, the fifth element — as depicted even in the film "The Fifth Element" — was the central element connecting the existing four elements. This fifth element was subsequently replaced by reason conceived as matter and profit (財利, jaeli).

The Western fifth element is similar in role to the Eastern concept of "earth" (土, to), but what is different about the West is that, unlike the East, the fifth element is a transcendent solid (立體, ipche). The West advances beyond the East by recognizing three-dimensionality through the concept of the fifth element. However, the problem is that the West failed to connect this fifth element back to being internalized into two-dimensionality; instead, it remained in the three-dimensional and became fixed there. As the fifth element became fused with Christianity, the fifth element was further ossified into transcendence.

In the Western case, the mutual overcoming of the four elements manifested as particle theory. The four elements, stripped of their status as spirits, were now demoted to components like atoms and molecules placed under human dominion. The relationship between heaven and earth was severed (絶地通天, jeolji-tongcheon), the mutual relationship was cut off, human beings sought to dominate, and heaven-and-earth — renamed "nature" — became, as ecology holds, an entity that exacts nature's retribution upon humanity.

The Eastern heaven-earth relationship, which rejected the Western transcendent heaven, was also rapidly ossified. Deprived of the transcendent heaven, the heaven-earth relationship loses its liminality element and becomes fixed. The classical Eastern heaven-earth relationship represented by such concepts as "Heaven is round, Earth is square" (天圓地方) and the pattern of heaven and the principle of earth (天文地理, cheon-mun-ji-ri)[41] progressively moved into the mutual overcoming of the relationship of the supremacy of heaven and the demotion of earth (天尊地卑) and the supremacy of yang and demotion of yin (陽尊陰卑).

[Footnote 41: Yun Sangcheol, "Yijing-eui Cheon'in hapilgwan yeongu," PhD dissertation, Sungkyunkwan University, 2014.]

The traditional Eastern heaven-earth relationship of yin-yang and the Five Phases was also excluded from view by the worldview of the suppression of yin and the exaltation of yang (抑陰尊陽, eog-eum-jon-yang), despite the situation in which a spirit of supreme dignity was enshrined on earth. Just as in the concepts of the alternation of yin and yang constituting the Way (一陰一陽之謂道, il-eum-il-yang-ji-wi-do), the virtue of the earth (天道地德), and "Heaven is round, Earth is square" (天圓地方), the heaven-earth relationship was a horizontally corresponding relationship, but as history progressed, the relationship of the supremacy of heaven and the demotion of earth (天尊地卑) became formalized. In the East too, the concepts of the enshrinement of the spirit in heaven (神奉於天, sinbong-eo-cheon) and the enshrinement of the spirit on earth (神奉於地, sinbong-eo-ji) acknowledged that there was an era of "terrestrial supremacy" (地尊, ji-jon), but the spirit of supreme dignity enshrined on earth was reduced to an object of blessings-seeking within the concept of the auspicious site (明堂, myeongdang).

In the Eastern case, the progression of mutual overcoming in the form of the supremacy of heaven and the demotion of earth originated — in contrast to the case of the four elements — in the forgetting of the concept of the Jade Emperor (上帝, Sangje) as a consequence of the internalization of the earth phase (土, to). In the case of the View of Heaven, View of Earth, and View of Humanity of yin-yang and the Five Phases, the mutual overcoming of the heaven-earth relationship manifested as the substantialization of the earth phase. The concept of the earth phase in yin-yang and the Five Phases — which originally signified both heaven and earth simultaneously — underwent mutual overcoming, causing the concept of heaven to fade and becoming reduced to the concept of earth. A mutual overcoming diametrically opposite to that which occurred in the West — where the fifth element became extreme as the monotheistic God — unfolded in the heaven-earth relationship of yin-yang and the Five Phases. Just as in the "earth overcomes water" (土克水, to-geuk-su) concept found in the Baopuzi (抱朴子),[42] the earth phase in yin-yang and the Five Phases is a central element equivalent to the yin-yang of the Five Phases. The materialization of this "earth overcomes water" is revitalized only in Daesoon Thought.

[Footnote 42: Ge Hong (葛洪), Baopuzi Neipian (抱朴子內篇, Inner Chapters of the Master Who Embraces Simplicity), Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2011.]

d. Liminality in Donghak Thought's Johwajong (造化定) View of Earth

Donghak Thought's Johwajong (造化定) View of Earth

In keeping with Donghak Thought's emphasis on the transcendent heaven, the View of Earth in Donghak Thought also shows a View of Earth different from existing views. If heaven is assumed to be the transcendent heaven beyond the heavens, then earth corresponds to the existing heaven-and-earth — that is, the object of the Jade Emperor's creative transformation (造化, johwa), its non-acting transformation (無爲而化, mu-wi-i-hwa), and gi-transformation (氣化, gihwa). Accordingly, the meaning of earth is not made explicit in Donghak Thought's view of earth, and instead concepts such as creative transformation (造化), non-acting transformation (無爲而化), and gi-transformation (氣化) are emphasized.

If the View of Heaven in Donghak Thought began with the divine conversation (天師問答, cheonsa mundap), then the View of Earth in Donghak Thought was gradually formed as Suun's reflection and experience accumulated following the divine conversation. Suun's extensive experience and knowledge fused with the divine conversation to constitute the View of Earth.

In the actual formation of Donghak Thought, there was the influence of Western modernity, but also the internal development of Eastern thought. If the external environment surrounding Donghak Thought was as described above in the establishment of Donghak's indigenous modernity, then internally there was the influx of Luan-dan Daoism (鸞壇道敎, nantan dogyeo) and other forms of Daoism that emerged in early modern China. The influence of Daoism on the formation of not only the View of Heaven but also the View of Earth has been researched and emphasized.

Examining this in detail, it can be distinguished into the influx of spirit-communication Daoism (通神道敎, tongsin dogyeo) and inner-alchemy Daoism (內丹道敎, naetan dogyeo). The existing Daoism introduced to Joseon was inner-alchemy Daoism focused on cultivation practices, as seen in Puk-chang Jeong Ryeom's (北窓 鄭磏, 1506–1549) Yongho Bigyeol (龍虎秘訣, Secret Formula of the Dragon and Tiger) and Kwon Geukjung's (權克中, 1585–1659) Juyek Chamdonggye Juhe (周易參同契註解, Commentary on the Cantong Qi According to the Book of Changes). However, after the Japanese invasion of 1592, faith in Guan Yu (關羽, Guan'gong) was introduced, and the Okchu Bogyeong (玉樞寶經, Precious Scripture of the Jade Pivot) — which had been banned in China — was widely disseminated among shamanic practices and others, so that spirit-communication Daoism and Luan-dan Daoism — that is, Daoism that communicates directly with spirits through incantations (呪文, jumun) and talismans (符籍, bujeok) — became widely disseminated in Joseon as a counterpart to inner-alchemy Daoism. Spirit-communication Daoism, which emphasizes communication with spirits, and Luan-dan Daoism, named after its association with talismans, have different names but share the common feature of emphasizing spirits in comparison to inner-alchemy Daoism. Chronologically, inner-alchemy Daoism arrived before spirit-communication Daoism. While inner-alchemy Daoism was transmitted mainly to the aristocratic class (兩班, yangban), spirit-communication Daoism influenced the general populace. The introduction of these two forms of Daoism into Neo-Confucian Joseon society was not widely known, but had an influence in intellectual circles comparable to Western Learning at the time. During the turbulent period of the Qing dynasty in China, many Daoist priests reportedly emigrated to Korea.

The newly influx Daoism showed new developments in Joseon in relation to Western Learning. At the time, as foreign records from late Joseon indicate, all hope had been lost and the will to work had been exhausted, with most of the populace having given up on labor. At the representative Catholic historic site in Korea — the "Haemi International Catholic Holy Land" (天主教해미國際聖地) — there are many tombs of ordinary people who were martyred, such as the "Tomb of Jesus" (야소무덤). For ordinary people at the time, death was better than life if only it could be guaranteed; thus, the spirit-communication Daoism of Luan-dan Daoism and the Catholic faith of Western Learning gained great resonance among the common people.

The traditional value system centered on Neo-Confucianism, accumulated over a long period of time, faced a crisis, and the whole of Joseon society was confronted with an identity crisis. In the case of Joseon, controversy over identity arose as the Tianzhu Shiyi (天主實義) and the Sinocentrism argument of Western Learning (西學中原論, seohak jungwon-ron) were simultaneously received. As illustrated by the case of Yeon-am Pak Ji-won (朴趾源, 1737–1805) — who, while serving as the magistrate of Myeoncheon County in 1798, persuaded Catholic believers and released them leniently — Neo-Confucian intellectuals of the time were well acquainted with the methodological differences between Western Learning and Donghak and held great interest in Western Learning.

Thus, the newly influx Daoism drew attention as a response to Western Learning. The influx of Luan-dan Daoism also explains why some members of the aristocratic class at the time accepted Donghak's rituals of incantations and spiritual talismans — which were quite unconventional for the period — without great resistance. Even during the Donghak era, organizations that independently practiced cultivation related to Luan-dan Daoism, centered on some members of the aristocratic class, appear in the later denominational history of Donghak and Daesoon. Ultimately, Donghak is a thought presented to rescue the East — which had fallen into crisis after the harmful effects of Western modernity were exposed — in the midst of the collision of Eastern and Western worldviews.

If the background of the formation of Donghak Thought was the Eastern origins of Western modernity, the influx of Luan-dan Daoism, and the spread of Western Learning, then the conceptual formation of Donghak Thought from the standpoint of correlative thinking appeared in the broad sequence of: Donghak (Eastern Learning) → the Supreme Way Without Limit (無極大道, mu-gŭk-dae-do) → heaven-earth spirits and shades (天地鬼神, cheonji gwi-sin) → the renewed opening of the cosmos in the first year of the upper cycle (上元甲, sang-won-gap, dasi gaebyeok). Prior research on the chronological sequence of Donghak's formation has been extensive, but less has been done on the sequence of conceptual formation, making it somewhat difficult to grasp the overview of Donghak Thought. The history of concepts is especially important in comparing the two traditions.

Looking at the above sequence of conceptual formation in order: first, in the case of "Donghak" (Eastern Learning), prior research has explained Suun's adoption of the term "Donghak" from two broad positions.[43] The first represents Donghak as standing in opposition to Western Learning (西學, Seohak),[44] and the second represents Donghak as a position integrating Eastern and Western scholarship.[45]

[Footnote 43: Kim Namhui, Haneul-gwa ingan geurigo gaebyeok [Heaven, Humanity, and the Opening of the Cosmos], Seoul: Ha-u, 2022, pp. 92–93.] [Footnote 44: Hwang Seonhui, Donghak·Cheondogyo yeoksa-eui jaejomyeong [A Reexamination of the History of Donghak and Cheondogyo], Seoul: Mosinengsaramdeur, 2009, pp. 33–34.] [Footnote 45: Pak Maengsu, "Donghak'gye jonggyo undong-eui yeoksajeok jeon'gae-wa sasang-eui sidae-jeok byeonhwa" [The Historical Development of Donghak-Related Religious Movements and the Historical Changes in Their Thought], Hanguk Jonggyo [Korean Religion] 37, 2014, pp. 57–59.]

Although the influence of Daoism was great in the background of the formation of Donghak's View of Earth, the actual formation of the View of Earth came about alongside the development of Donghak Thought — culminating after more than a year of Suun's contemplation following the divine conversation. The development of Donghak Thought as examined in relation to the establishment of indigenous modernity appears in four broad stages. The first is the stage in which the divine conversation disappears and Suun writes at Eujeok'am hermitage (隱寂庵); the second is the stage in which only the method of avoiding the arrow (of death) is revealed; the third is the stage leading to the Donghak Peasant Revolution (동학농민혁명, Donghak Nongmin Hyeong-myeong) after Suun's death; and the fourth is the stage of transition to Cheondogyo (天道敎) following the failure of the Donghak Peasant Revolution.

The formation of Donghak Thought spans from the mystical experience of April 5, 1860 to the period of Eujeok'am — if that period constitutes the formation of Donghak Thought — while the period from Eujeok'am to the founding of Cheondogyo constitutes the development of Donghak Thought. The Donghak songs (동학가사, Donghak gasa) were constituted through the divine conversation and Suun's writing up to his execution at the Daegu provincial office in 1864, and through the memories of Choe Si-hyeong and the Donghak followers regarding lost materials. Daesoon Thought also holds that during this period Suun received the Heavenly Mandate (天命, cheonmyeong) and divine teachings (神敎, sin'gyo).[46] It is said that after Suun attained on his own the words of the Jade Emperor (天主, Cheonju) on the fifteenth day of the ninth month of the gyeongsin year (1860), he no longer needed to conduct the divine conversation.[47] It is also said that it was from this time that Suun was urged by the Jade Emperor to spread virtue (布德, podeok), proclaimed "Donghak," and began writing the Donggyeongedaejeon (東經大典, The Great Scripture of Eastern Learning) and the Yongdam Yusa (龍潭遺詞, Hymns of Yongdam). Ultimately, the subsequent Donghak came to reflect much of Suun's own thinking.

[Footnote 46: Jeon'gyeong, "Gyoun" 1-9.] [Footnote 47: Yi Don-hwa, Cheondogyo chang'geonsa [History of the Founding of Cheondogyo], Seoul: Gyeong-in Munhwasa, 1970, pp. 15–16. (Cited in Kim Tak, Hanguk sinjong'gyo-reul gwan'tongha-neun inyeom, ingan jungsim-juui [The Guiding Ideology Running Through Korean New Religions: Anthropocentrism], Seoul: Minsok-won, 2023, pp. 86–87.)]

The Jeon'gyeong states that Suun's subsequent understanding of Donghak Thought was, initially, an excellent understanding that contained the three vital forces of Shao Yong's knowledge (邵雍, Kangjie's knowledge), the poetry of Li Bai and Du Fu, and the eloquence of Su Qin and Zhang Yi; but regrettably it could not transcend the Confucian classical canon (儒敎 典憲), and so the Heavenly Mandate and divine teachings were perforce withdrawn.[48] In fact, on the twenty-eighth day of the tenth month of the gyehae year (1863, Suun's birthday), Suun dreamed a strange dream and thereafter received through the divine conversation only the method of avoiding the arrows.[49] Parting from Choe Si-hyeong, Suun could no longer know even the method of avoiding the arrows, and the Jade Emperor's guidance was cut off. Suun was arrested in Gyeongju on the twentieth day of the twelfth month of 1863 by Royal Messenger (宣傳官, seonjeon'gwan) Jeong Un-gu (鄭雲龜) sent by the court. It is said that Suun was completely unprepared for his arrest at that time. The Dowon Giseo (道源記書, Record of the Source of the Way) — which contains the record of Choe Si-hyeong's meeting with Choe Su-un (Suun) and their conversations — contains the following record:

[Footnote 48: Jeon'gyeong, "Gyoun" 1-9.] [Footnote 49: Yun Seoksan, Chogi Donghak-eui yeoksa [A History of Early Donghak], Seoul: Sinseo-won, 2000, p. 7. (Cited in Daesoon Hoebo [Daesoon Newsletter] 262.)]

Before long, the twenty-eighth day of the tenth month arrived, and the fortieth birthday was observed. "The teacher originally felt uncomfortable in his heart about holding a banquet," but the disciples (beginning with the [head disciple]) secretly made preparations and arranged a grand feast at the Yeongdeok assembly hall. Receiving the feast table, the teacher took up his chopsticks and spoon and said, "The world will call me Heavenly Sovereign of the Yellow Primal Epoch" (天皇氏, Cheonhwang-ssi). Cheonhwang-ssi refers to the first ruler who opened the era of culture from the pre-cultural era. The Grand Master (大神師, Daeshin'sa) is interpreted as claiming himself to be Cheonhwang-ssi in the sense that he had once again opened a new world. After the feast table was cleared, the Grand Master received the oral explanation of the Heungbiga (興比歌, Song of Rising and Comparison) one by one from his disciples, and then told them the story of a strange dream he had had a few days earlier. "In the dream, the killing energy of the sun shone upon me, then transformed into fire and drew the character for 'person' (人 in) on my thigh for a long time. When I awoke and examined my thigh, there remained a single purple mark that would not disappear for three days. After that, the Jade Emperor's teachings ceased." [Yun Seoksan, Dowon Giseo [Record of the Source of the Way], Seoul: Mosinengsaramdeur, 2012, pp. 50–51.][50]

[Footnote 50: Yun Seoksan, Dowon Giseo, Seoul: Mosinengsaramdeur, 2012, pp. 50–51.]

The reference to Cheonhwang-ssi (Heavenly Sovereign of the Yellow Primal Epoch) appears in Daesoon Thought in connection with Geumsansa Temple (金山寺).[51] It is a coincidental fact that the divine conversation was severed from the day Suun uttered the words claiming to be Cheonhwang-ssi. Suun also reportedly made a bold claim that Donghak practice would bring enlightenment within three years, and these aspects are related to the Confucian classical canon.

[Footnote 51: Jeon'gyeong, "Yesi" [Prophetic Instructions] 14.]

From Eujeok'am onward, Suun began to commit the Yongdam Yusa and the Donggyeongedaejeon to writing, and it is said that throughout both texts, Suun's writing was accomplished, like the divine conversation, in a state between dream and wakefulness. If that is the case, then — like the Jeon'gyeong passage stating "the three vital forces are manifest in the Donghak songs"[52] — the Yongdam Yusa and the Donggyeongedaejeon also contain much of the content of the Heavenly Mandate and divine teachings. Donghak Thought researchers call the Donghak from 1860 to 1864 "early Donghak." The Donghak Thought asserted in Daesoon Thought is related to early Donghak only.

[Footnote 52: Jeon'gyeong, "Gyobeop" [Religious Laws] 2-42.]

In contrast to the situation where the indigenous thought of most colonized nations remained as the thought of minority groups, Donghak Thought developed into a new religious movement of the general masses. The period of Donghak's formation was a precarious time for people uninformed about the international situation, and Donghak became an important catalyst for gathering people who had nowhere to turn.

Donghak Thought developed into a peasant movement in Gobu County (古阜), which was at the time the most severely oppressed region. The regional Donghak assembly leaders (接主, jeop-ju) were distributed throughout the country, and when the movement to restore the founding teacher's name (敎祖伸寃運動, gyojo sinwon undong) occurred and Donghak's influence became known to the wider world, it became both a target of suppression and a catalyst for activation.

The View of Earth in Donghak Thought was attained through Suun's continued practice, as implied by his remark that Western Learning believes in the Jade Emperor without possessing the "gi-transforming spirit" (氣化之神, gihwa-ji-sin). Since from the standpoint of the transcendent heaven, heaven-and-earth all falls under earth, and human practice likewise falls within the domain of creative transformation, gi-transformation, and non-acting transformation, the View of Earth in Donghak Thought was established through Suun's continued practice.

The transition from the Eastern view of earth — which regarded the given earth as the View of Earth — to a View of Earth verified through practice was an epoch-making change for its time. In a Confucian society where only the king could receive the energy of the earth and perform sacrifices to the earth, the View of Earth — in which ordinary people could communicate with the transcendent heaven through practice — became the beginning of indigenous modernity, in which the boundary between the sacred (聖, seong) and the profane (俗, sok) was reconfigured.

Liminality Aspects of the Johwajong (造化定) View of Earth

The View of Earth of Western modernity and the View of Earth of Donghak Thought appear in contrasting modes. The View of Earth of Western modernity begins with heliocentrism (地動說, ji-dong-seol) — moved by the immanent heaven — starting from geocentrism (天動說, cheon-dong-seol) — moved by the transcendent heaven. In heliocentrism, the agency of the immanent heaven takes precedence over the will of the transcendent heaven. The heliocentric theory — which holds that it is not the heavens that revolve but the earth — is called the "Copernican Turn" and brought about a transformation that overturned all existing values. It is said that there is a Copernican turn in Donghak Thought in that gi-transformation is viewed as the gi-transformation performed by the Jade Emperor himself.[53] Past values, believed to have been fixed by divine providence, came to be subject to doubt. Heliocentrism, sociologically speaking, carried the meaning that those who work are more important, providing the theoretical foundation for modernity. In Donghak Thought as well, the earth presided over by the Jade Emperor appears not as the subordinate nature of past heaven-supremacy-earth-inferiority (天尊地卑), but as a living entity to be revered alongside the Jade Emperor.

[Footnote 53: It is said that there is a Copernican turn in Donghak Thought in that gi-transformation is viewed as the gi-transformation performed by the Jade Emperor himself. This differs from the gi in the theory of Mutual Triggering of Principle and Gi (理氣互發), premised on a strict distinction between principle and gi, and also differs from Zhang Zai's theory of human nature — which began from gi-monism but ultimately revealed logical self-contradiction by creating friction with the dualistic theory of nature (dividing heavenly nature [天地之性] and material nature [氣質之性]) — according to some scholars. (Hwang Jongwon, "Choe Je-u-wa Pak Eunsik-eui Yuga gaehyeok bangyang, pyeongdeunggwan, seogu geundae munmyeong-e daehan taedo" [The Direction of Confucian Reform, Views on Equality, and Attitudes toward Western Modern Civilization in Choe Je-u and Pak Eunsik], Toegyehak-gwa Yugyo Munhwa [Toegye Studies and Confucian Culture] 49, 2011, pp. 325–326.)]

Furthermore, in Donghak Thought, the earth is interpreted as the agency of the transcendent heaven. In Donghak Thought, in which the transcendent heaven is newly emphasized, the concept of earth in existing Eastern thought expands to encompass the entire scope of the transcendent heaven's creative transformation, gi-transformation, and non-acting transformation. Accordingly, the thought of life is more prominent in Donghak Thought's View of Earth than in existing Eastern thought's views of earth. For this reason, Donghak came to attract attention in later generations as a philosophy of life and environmental philosophy.

As Donghak was reexamined as a philosophy of life, the Donghak emphasis on earth was also reexamined. Today's organic farming methods in Korea are said to have originated from the earth-centered thought of Donghak Thought. However, references to earth are actually not strongly emphasized within Donghak Thought itself. Since this discussion concerns Donghak only up to early Donghak, only early Donghak will be considered. What is regarded as Donghak here is the Donghak songs (동학가사, Donghak gasa) and Suun's songs (수운가사, Suun gasa).

Heaven-and-earth is also spirits and shades (鬼神, gwi-sin), and spirits and shades is also yin-yang — how could those unaware of this, wise men and exemplary gentlemen, understand? (Yongdam Yusa, "Song of Virtue and Ethics" [道德歌, Dodeokga]). [Cited in Cha Namhui, "Choe Je-u-eui Haneullim-gwa Gwi-sin" [Choe Je-u's Lord of Heaven and Spirits/Shades], Damron 201, 11(1), 2008.][54]

[Footnote 54: Cha Namhui, "Choe Je-u-eui Haneullim-gwa Gwi-sin," Damron 201, 11(1), 2008, cited therein.]

Applied to earth, the above passage means that earth is elevated into a yin-yang relationship with heaven. In the Changes, the significance of earth was concealed because yin-yang was not strongly expressed with the term "spirits and shades" (鬼神, gwishin). Reflecting on Zhang Zai's (張載) words — which brought "spirits and shades" into the domain of Confucian gi-transformation — one can see that Choe Je-u too likely interpreted them as the unfolding [伸, sin] and return [歸, gwi] of gi. He thus understood spirits and shades through the Neo-Confucian framework of gi-transformation. However, it is said that his understanding of gi differs significantly from Toegye Learning, which was the family scholarship underpinning him before he founded Donghak, and even from the Zhang Zai philosophy mentioned above.[55] In practice, the first person whom Suun proselytized in Donghak was his wife — who symbolizes the earth — and Suun took as the starting point of Donghak practice the valuing of women's rights. The above passage from Donghak Thought has until now been primarily studied as an expression of the Neo-Confucian view of earth influenced by traditional thought. Although Donghak failed to transcend the Confucian canonical tradition, the View of Earth of Donghak Thought as expressed in the above passage can be interpreted, when inferred through the concepts of "gi-of-the-earth" (地氣, ji-gi) and the "Supreme Way Without Limit" (無極大道, mu-gŭk-dae-do), as containing the concept of the "terrestrial realm" (地界, ji'gye) analogous to Daoism.

[Footnote 55: "Pondering on Zhang Zai's words, which brought 'spirits and shades' into the domain of Confucian gi-transformation, one can see that Choe Je-u too likely interpreted them as the unfolding [伸] and return [歸] of gi. He thus understood spirits and shades through the Neo-Confucian framework of gi-transformation. However, it is said that his understanding of gi differs significantly from Toegye Learning, which was the family scholarship underpinning him before he founded Donghak, and even from the Zhang Zai philosophy mentioned above. (Hwang Jongwon, "Choe Je-u-wa Pak Eunsik-eui Yuga gaehyeok bangyang, pyeongdeunggwan, seogu geundae munmyeong-e daehan taedo," Toegyehak-gwa Yugyo Munhwa 49, 2011, p. 325.)"]

Although the fact that Donghak commonly contains Daoist elements of spiritual talismans and incantations has been frequently emphasized, the fact that Donghak also contains the Daoist View of Earth has not been emphasized. Although the concept of the View of Earth in Donghak did not expand all the way to the terrestrial realm (地界) through the application of the notion of spirits, the influence of Daoism — which accommodated the terrestrial realm — meant that this potential was implicit. The expression "heaven-and-earth is spirits and shades" in the passage above is a concept that also appears in Neo-Confucianism, but in Donghak Thought — which accommodates Daoism — it can be interpreted as extending beyond the Neo-Confucian concept to encompass the Daoist concept of the terrestrial realm.

The Daoist concept of the terrestrial realm contains within it the infinite expansion of the concept of yin-yang. The infinite expansion of the concept of yin-yang implies a polytheistic system (多神體系, da-sin-cheye). The Daoist View of Earth contains a polytheistic system. However, while both are polytheistic, the polytheistic system of Hinduism differs from the Daoist polytheistic system in that the Daoist system has the consistency of being an infinite expansion of the yin-yang principle. The Hindu polytheistic system may also be open to interpretation as an infinite expansion of the Indo-European trifunctional system.

Accordingly, the expression "heaven-and-earth is spirits and shades" in the above passage is a verse in which the View of Earth of Donghak Thought — like its View of Heaven — also shows a View of Earth different from Western Learning, one that contains the principle of the spirit realm (神明界, sinmyeong-gye) with its Daoist bureaucratic system embedded within it. The above passage demonstrates that the View of Earth of Donghak Thought is a new View of Earth different from both the dry and materialist View of Earth of Western Learning — which excludes spirit — and the Neo-Confucian View of Earth — which operates only according to the system of principle (理法, i-beop).

Furthermore, while the View of Earth of Donghak Thought as expressed in the above passage shares with the Daoist View of Earth the infinite expansion of yin-yang, the View of Earth of Donghak Thought differs from that of Daoist thought in that Daoist thought does not emphasize the principle originating from the transcendent heaven beyond the heavens. The View of Earth of Donghak Thought, which emphasizes the transcendent heaven beyond the heavens, places more emphasis on the variability (可變性, gabyeon-seong) of the View of Earth than the Daoist View of Earth. If the Daoist View of Earth emphasizes the lawfulness (法則性, beopchik-seong) in accordance with the principle of Qian and Kun, then the View of Earth of Donghak Thought emphasizes variability through the transcendent heaven beyond the heavens. Furthermore, Donghak Thought demonstrates through the concepts of Serving Heaven (侍天主, si-cheon-ju) and gi-of-the-earth (地氣, ji-gi) that the earth is also a world operating according to the principle of the Jade Emperor, and is therefore a harmonious (造化論的, johwa-ron-jeok) View of Earth that can correspond to the human being who Serves the Jade Emperor.

Donghak Thought — which defines the earth as a comprehensive system of spirits (神明, sinmyeong) obeying the mandate of the Jade Emperor, the transcendent heaven beyond the heavens — further resets the center and periphery of the earth. Donghak Thought, by identifying Korea as the location of the auspicious site (明堂, myeongdang), implies that the center of the earth can be Korea — the place where the Jade Emperor appeared. This is expressed as the "auspicious site," and the auspicious site expands even to the issue of lesser-Sinocentrism (小中華, so-jungwha) and greater-Sinocentrism (大中華, dae-jungwha). Even in Neo-Confucianism there was the thought that China was the auspicious site and Korea was "lesser China" (小中華), but Donghak emphasizes that Korea is the auspicious site. The View of Earth of Donghak was, like its View of Heaven, extremely innovative in content, but its value was hidden, and that value is made clear in Daesoon Thought's view of the terrestrial realm.

Liminality Aspects in Donghak Thought's Demonological (鬼神論的) Relationship between Heaven and Earth

The View of Heaven in Donghak — which first offered the idea of "serving heaven" — has been the most noted aspect of Donghak Thought. Prior research on the characteristics of the View of Heaven in Donghak Thought is broadly divided into formal aspects and content aspects.

From the formal aspect, the View of Heaven in Donghak Thought is represented by a view of heaven-and-earth based on the traditional theory of yin-yang, namely, "heaven-and-earth is spirits and shades, and spirits and shades is heaven-and-earth." In Donghak Thought, the identity of heaven-and-earth and spirits and shades has the same expression as the identity of spirits and shades and heaven-and-earth found in Confucianism, but there is a significant difference in whether the heaven-and-earth in the concept of "heaven-and-earth" constitutes the transcendent heaven or the immanent heaven. As the concept of heaven in Donghak Thought expands to heaven-beyond-heaven (天外天, cheon-oe-cheon), the existing concepts of heaven-and-earth and spirits and shades are also newly rearranged. Expressions emphasizing the identity of heaven-and-earth and spirits and shades as the transcendent heaven appear variously in Donghak Thought.

In Donghak Thought, first, the concept of "spirits and shades" (鬼神, gwi-sin), which had been used only as the immanent heaven, is applied for the first time to the transcendent heaven.

"They know heaven-and-earth but do not know spirits and shades — and spirits and shades, that is me." (Donggyeongedaejeon, "Nonhangmun" [On Learning])[56] (知天地而無知鬼神, 鬼神者吾也)

[Footnote 56: Donggyeongedaejeon, "Nonhangmun."]

In the above passage, "spirits and shades, that is me" means that the term "spirits and shades," known only as the agency of yin-yang — that is, the heaven within heaven-and-earth — actually originates from the agency of the heaven beyond the heavens, the transcendent heaven (天外天). In Donghak Thought, spirits and shades as the transcendent heaven give heart-mind and soul (心靈, simnyeong) to human beings, offering the hope that humans can transcend a heaven-and-earth filled with suffering. This concept of spirits and shades as the transcendent heaven is also used as a critique of Western Learning — which knows only the transcendent heaven but not the immanent heaven.

"That the Jade Emperor resides at the Jade Capital Platform in the sky above — speaking as if one were seeing it — setting aside the principles of yin and yang, is it not an empty, baseless theory? The Wugu Affair (巫蠱事) of the Han dynasty having been transmitted to our Eastern land, what is kept in every household has, by various names, only spirits and shades — look at this kind of senselessness! Heaven-and-earth is also spirits and shades, and spirits and shades is also yin-yang — unaware of this, what good is it to examine the canons and commentaries? Knowing neither the Way nor virtue, how could wise men and exemplary gentlemen understand?" (Yongdam Yusa, "Song of Virtue and Ethics" [道德歌, Dodeokga]).[57]

[Footnote 57: Yongdam Yusa, "Dodeokga."]

In the above passage, "speaking as if one were seeing it — setting aside the principles of yin and yang, is it not an empty, baseless theory?" is a critique stating that the View of Heaven of Western Learning — which knows the transcendent heaven but has no concept of the immanent heaven divided into heaven-and-earth — may be empty wishful thinking lacking the yin-yang principle of the immanent heaven that actually experiences the workings of heaven. Donghak Thought, by contrast, claims to have presented an integrative perspective capable of penetrating the contents of the canons by adding the View of Heaven of the transcendent heaven — which was lacking in Eastern thought — onto the foundation of Eastern thought that valued the immanent heaven.

Here, Western Learning is likened to the Wugu Affair (巫蠱之禍, mu-go-ji-hwa) of the Han dynasty — which misled and deceived people by emphasizing power over reason. "Wugu" (巫蠱) refers to effigies made of straw or wood for use in sorcery. The Wugu Affair refers to an incident in which Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty intervened in the question of crown prince succession using wugu (sorcery effigies), causing the deaths of numerous people. Ultimately, it is said that Western Learning — which emphasizes only the transcendent heaven without the immanent heaven — will produce hollow results like wugu (sorcery effigies).

The movement of people's hands and feet — that too is spirits and shades. Whether for good or evil, the use of the mind — that is gi (氣, vital energy). Speaking and laughing — that is creative transformation (造化, johwa). (Yongdam Yusa, "Song of Virtue and Ethics" [道德歌, Dodeokga]).[58]

[Footnote 58: Yongdam Yusa, "Dodeokga."]

The above passage demonstrates that spirits and shades as the transcendent heaven are entities that also operate in everyday material things, thus incorporating the Western View of Heaven as well. Furthermore, the gi and creative transformation (造化) connected after "spirits and shades" ultimately show that spirits and shades, creative transformation, and gi are the same kind of agency.

Compared to "Serving the Jade Emperor" (侍天主, si-cheon-ju), Donghak's yin-yang view of heaven-and-earth has not received much attention. The yin-yang view of heaven-and-earth in Donghak Thought has been regarded as the Confucian view of spirits and shades due to some tendencies within Donghak Thought that seek to follow the Confucian canonical tradition. However, the yin-yang view of heaven-and-earth presented by Donghak Thought was a different concept from the Confucian heaven-earth-spirits-and-shades view (天地-鬼神觀), in that it constitutes the View of Heaven-and-Earth of the transcendent heaven. However, in Donghak — which lacks the concept of spirits (神明, sinmyeong) — the yin-yang view of heaven-and-earth is not sufficiently explained, and is specifically explained in Daesoon Thought, which includes the concept of spirits.

The change in the View of Heaven to the transcendent heaven beyond the heavens also transforms the human-heaven relationship and the human-earth relationship. Through the transformed human-heaven relationship and human-earth relationship, indigenous modernity is all the more prominent. Calvin's doctrine of predestination — identified as the precursor of Western modernity — is represented by the change in the human-heaven relationship. The doctrine of predestination is said to have laid the foundation for the modernity of salvation through effort, rather than salvation through priests, and Weber called this the Protestant spirit that became the origin of capitalism. The heaven-earth and heaven-humanity relationships proposed by Donghak Thought negated the discriminatory material nature (氣質之性, gijil-ji-seong) — which differentiated between the aristocratic class and the commoner class in the theory of principle and gi — and sought to take only the best of Eastern and Western heaven-earth and heaven-humanity relationships.

The heaven-earth relationship in Donghak Thought was expressed in various places as a demonological (鬼神論的, gwi-sin-ron-jeok) heaven-earth relationship. In the case of heavenly spirits and shades (天地鬼神, cheonji gwi-sin), they became another element differentiating Daoism and Western Learning from Donghak. Unlike Daoism, heavenly spirits and shades in Donghak Thought signify the Jade Emperor, and unlike Western Learning, they also signify immanent transcendence. Looking first at the case where they signify a transcendent entity: it states "spirits and shades, that is me" (鬼神者吾也, gwi-sin-ja-o-ya) and "spirits and shades are none other than the Lord of Heaven" (하늘님), explicitly identifying spirits and shades as the Jade Emperor.[59] However, these spirits and shades are immediately described as immanent transcendence in various ways: "my mind is your mind" (吾心卽汝心, o-sim-jeuk-yeo-sim), "the mind of heaven is the mind of humanity" (天心卽人心, cheon-sim-jeuk-in-sim), and so on.[60] [61]

[Footnote 59: Kim Yongwhoe, "Donghak-e natnan Dogyo-jeok yoso jaegomto" [A Reexamination of Daoist Elements in Donghak], Dogyeo Munhwa Yeongu [Studies in Daoist Culture] 24, 2006, pp. 221–249.] [Footnote 60: "My mind is your mind. How can people know this? They know heaven-and-earth but do not know spirits and shades — and spirits and shades, that is me. You have reached the limitless, limitless Way; cultivate and refine it, compose writings to teach people, rectify the method and spread virtue, and I will cause you to live long and be illustrious throughout the world." Donggyeongedaejeon, "Nonhangmun." 東經大全, ｢論學文｣, "吾心卽…汝心也. 人何知之, 知天地而無知鬼神, 鬼神者吾也. 及汝無窮無窮之道, 修而煉之, 制其文敎人, 正其法布德, 則令汝長生, 昭然于天下矣." (Cited in Kim Yongwhoe, "Donghak-e natnan Dogyo-jeok yoso jaegomto," Dogyeo Munhwa Yeongu 24, 2006, p. 238.)] [Footnote 61: Yongdam Yusa, "Dodeokga." Cited in Cha Seon-geun, "Su-un-gwa Jeungsan-eui jonggyo sasang bigyo yeongu" [A Comparative Study of the Religious Thought of Suun and Jeungsan], Jonggyo Yeongu [Religious Studies], 2012, pp. 212–213.]

Traditionally in the East, Zhu Xi (朱子, Zhu Hui, 1130–1200) is said to have concisely summarized the principled identity of heaven (天, cheon), spirits and shades (鬼神, gwi-sin), and the Jade Emperor (上帝, Sangje): "What is referred to in terms of visible form is called heaven (天); what is referred to in terms of governance is called the Jade Emperor (帝/上帝); what is referred to in terms of function is called spirits and shades (鬼神)." [Zhuziyulei (朱子語類, Categorized Conversations of Zhu Xi), Vol. 68, Entry 9: "以形體謂之天, 以主宰謂之帝, 以功用謂之鬼神."][62] It is also said that even before the emergence of Donghak Thought, in the Neo-Confucian principle-heaven (理法天, i-beop-cheon), the beginnings of a conception of the Jade Emperor could be seen.[63]

[Footnote 62: Zhuziyulei, Vol. 68, Entry 9: "以形體謂之天, 以主宰謂之帝, 以功用謂之鬼神." (Baek Minjeong, "Sangje-wa Sim gaenyeom-euro bigyohan Jeong Yak-yong-gwa Choe Je-u-eui sayu," Minjok Munhwa, p. 149.)] [Footnote 63: An Yugyeong, "Joseon jung·hugi jonggyo-jeok cheon'gwan-eui jeon'gae yangsan: Toegye, Dasan, Suun, Jeungsan-eul jungsim-euro" [The Development of the Religious View of Heaven in Mid- to Late-Joseon: Focusing on Toegye, Dasan, Suun, and Jeungsan], Daesoon Sasang Nonchong [Daesoon Studies] 36, 2020.]

The heaven-and-earth conceived as spirits and shades in Donghak Thought — containing the meaning of the Jade Emperor — differs from Zhu Xi's spirits and shades found in traditional Neo-Confucianism in that it includes the meaning of the Jade Emperor in addition to the meaning of yin-yang. In Donghak Thought's conception of spirits and shades, the meanings of a personal deity (人格神, in'gyeok-sin) and a principle-based deity (理法神, i-beop-sin) appear simultaneously.

The concept of heaven-and-earth conceived as spirits and shades containing the meaning of the Jade Emperor in Donghak Thought provides the anti-structural (反構造的, ban-gujo-jeok) attributes of liminality to the heaven-earth relationship of the supremacy of heaven and the demotion of earth (天尊地卑). Following the transformed human-heaven relationship and human-earth relationship through Serving the Jade Emperor, Serving the Jade Emperor also transforms the heaven-earth relationship through creative transformation. The ten thousand things and affairs represented by heaven-and-earth are integrated through the gi-of-the-earth (地氣, ji-gi).

The demonological heaven-earth relationship reactivates the traditional, equitable heaven-earth relationship of yin-yang and the Five Phases — represented by "the Way of Heaven, the Virtue of Earth" (天道地德) — from the mutually-overcoming heaven-earth relationship of the supremacy of heaven and the demotion of earth (天尊地卑). Accordingly, Suun first selected his wife as the recipient of his proselytizing efforts and through the equalized yin-yang (正陰正陽, jeong-eum-jeong-yang) marital relationship — unseen in Neo-Confucian marital relations — put into practice the harmonized heaven-earth relationship of Donghak Thought. Donghak followers, following Suun's precedent, took as their primary practice the transformation of age-old human relationships constituted by the mutually-overcoming yin-yang relationship of the suppression of yin and the exaltation of yang — such as husband-wife and parent-child — into equalized yin-yang (正陰正陽) relationships.

The demonological heaven-earth relationship manifests as the practice of non-acting transformation (無爲而化, mu-wi-i-hwa). Non-acting transformation was a new concept simultaneously encompassing both the Daoist non-acting naturalness (無爲自然, mu-wi-ja-yeon) based on yin-yang and the Five Phases, and the Western concept of creative transformation (造化) of the four elements. In Donghak, non-acting transformation was also interpreted as meaning "within there is the divine spirit, without there is the gi-transformation" (內有神靈 外有氣化, nae-yu-sinnyeong oe-yu-gihwa), which is a more detailed and elaborated expression that concretizes the concept of creative transformation (造化) found in Serving the Jade Emperor. From the perspective of the heaven-supremacy-earth-inferiority relationship, the divine spirit and gi-transformation are also in a relationship of superiority and inferiority. By serving the Jade Emperor who transcends all three realms, the superiority-inferiority relationship transforms into an equalized yin-yang relationship — this can be understood as the meaning of "within there is the divine spirit, without there is the gi-transformation." Non-acting transformation developed further to mean in Donghak Thought the state in which the creative transformation of non-acting naturalness has been practiced within the heart-mind through the inner-outer relationship of divine spirit and gi-transformation. While non-acting naturalness had been interpreted in yin-yang and Five Phases thought as the harmony of yin-yang and the Five Phases, as yin-yang and the Five Phases became mutually overcoming, the concept of liminality that transforms the mutually-overcoming yin-yang and Five Phases was added, and non-acting transformation was accordingly emphasized in Donghak Thought.