천도교의 신문화운동

Abstract

This paper examines the formation of the Korean religious movement,Cheondogyo, and investigates the core doctrine that provides an ideological background for its new cultural movement. Furthermore,this paper organizes the development process of Cheondogyo’s new cultural movement and also reveals its distinct characteristic. Cheondogyo’s new cultural movement can be divided as follows: 1. Period of Uiam Son Byeong-hui’s (孫秉熙) political asylum in Japan (1901.3-1905.12)2. Period of establishing the Cheondogyo order (1906.1-1918.11), 3. Period of developing an independence movement (1918.11-1919.9),4. Period of Cheondogyo youth activities (1923.9-1939.4). The distinct features of Cheondogyo’s new cultural movement can be classified as follows: First, it is an effective, practical, and realistic movement for the great opening of the later heaven (後天開闢) because it tackles urgent national issues that arise in modern history by adopting the philosophy of Innaechun (Man is Heaven人乃天) from the doctrine and history of Donghak. Second, although it first started under the pretext of a religious movement, this independent movement promotes national interests and provides for the welfare of the people by systematically and continuously proliferating education movements,feminist movements, youth movements, peasant movements, economic movements, literature movements, as well as supporting publishing businesses. Third, it is a mass movement that focuses on nonresistance and nonviolence with a focus on Cheondogyo youth groups who hold progressive ideas. Moreover it is a movement that pursues social reform on the basis of training the skills of people and moves on the principle of the struggle for existence and the theory of social evolution. Therefore, there is no doubt that Cheondogyo’s new cultural movement is a symbol of an autonomous mass movement that represents religious action that has changed our society within the last 100 years.