Bocheonism (
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
: 보천교 ''Bocheongyo'' or ''Pochonkyo'', "religion of the vault of heaven/firmament") was one among more than 100
new religious movements of
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
of the family of religions called
Jeungsanism
Jeungsanism (증산교 Jeungsangyo) is an English word with two different uses: as a synonym of Jeung San Do (증산도), a Korean new religious movement, or to designate a family of more than 100 Korean new religious movements that recognize Kang ...
, rooted in
Korean shamanism and recognizing
Gang Il-sun (Kang Jeungsan) as the incarnation of
Sangje, the Supreme God. It was founded by Cha Gyeong-seok (1880-1936) on Ibam Mountain in Daeheung-ri, Ibam-myeon,
Jeongeup
Jeongeup (), also known as Jeongeup-si, is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. The city limits include Naejang-san National Park, a popular destination particularly in autumn due to its foliage. Jeongeup is on the Honam Expressway an ...
,
Jeollabuk-do
North Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollabuk-do''), also known as Jeonbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Jeolla has a population of 1,869,711 (2015) and has a geographic area of 8,067 km2 (3,115 sq mi) located in the Honam region in the southwes ...
, in the year 1911. Today this site is part of
Naejangsan National Park.
Cha Gyeong-seok was originally a
Donghak
Donghak (formerly spelled Tonghak; ) was an academic movement in Korean Neo-Confucianism founded in 1860 by Choe Je-u. The Donghak movement arose as a reaction to seohak (), and called for a return to the "Way of Heaven". While Donghak origin ...
(
Cheondoist) priest, who converted to
Jeungsanism
Jeungsanism (증산교 Jeungsangyo) is an English word with two different uses: as a synonym of Jeung San Do (증산도), a Korean new religious movement, or to designate a family of more than 100 Korean new religious movements that recognize Kang ...
after meeting
Gang Il-Sun. After Gang's death, Goh Pan-Lye (Subu, literally “Head Lady,” 1880–1935, although in Kang's circle there was more than one "Subu"), a female disciple of Kang Jeungsan, around September 1911 gathered around her a number of Kang's followers. Cha Gyeong-seok was Goh's male cousin and became the leader of Goh's branch. Dissatisfied with this situation, Goh separated from Cha in 1919 and established her own new religion. Cha continued under the name Bocheon-gyo, which was adopted in 1921, at a great ritual held in
Hamyang County
Hamyang County (''Hamyang-gun'') is a county in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea.
It is home to the Wooden Seated Statue of Buddha in Beopinsa (법인사), the Standing Statue of Buddha in Deokjeonri (덕전리), the Three-Level Stone Pagod ...
,
Gyeongsangnam-do.
Eventually, Bocheonism became the largest Korean new religious movement and possibly the largest religion in Korea, with some six million followers,
[ Robert Pearson Flaherty, “Korean Millennial Movements,” in ''The Oxford Handbook of Millennialism'', edited by Catherine Wessinger, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2016,, 326-347 (335).] including leading activists in the
Korean independence movements
The Korean independence movement was a military and diplomatic campaign to achieve the independence of Korea from Japan. After the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, Korea's domestic resistance peaked in the March 1st Movement of 1919, which ...
. Bocheonism, however, declined rapidly after Cha's death in 1936, and fragmented into several competing group, as did Goh's organization. The largest among these branches is
Jeung San Do.
Cha prophesied that the unification of the world would take place beginning in Korea. Branches of Bocheonism are also credited with encouraging local culture in the Jeongeup region, including the pungmulgut performance tradition.
See also
*
Cheondoism
Cheondoism (spelled Chondoism in North Korean sources; ) is a 20th-century Korean pantheistic religion, based on the 19th-century Donghak religious movement founded by Ch'oe Che-u and codified under Son Pyŏng-Hi. Cheondoism has its origins i ...
*
Jeungsanism
Jeungsanism (증산교 Jeungsangyo) is an English word with two different uses: as a synonym of Jeung San Do (증산도), a Korean new religious movement, or to designate a family of more than 100 Korean new religious movements that recognize Kang ...
*
Jeung San Do
*
Daesun Jinrihoe
Daesun Jinrihoe ( ko, 대순진리회), which in its English-language publications has recently used the transliteration Daesoonjinrihoe and, from 2017, Daesoon Jinrihoe, is a Korean new religious movement, founded in April 1969 by Park Han-g ...
*
Okhwangsangje
Sources
* Kim Jaeyoung. ''Bocheongyo and Religions of Korea''. Shin Achulpansa, 2010. Korean language only.
* Lee Chi-ran. Chief Director, Haedong Younghan Academy.
The Emergence of National Religions in Korea'.
References
External links
증산도 공식 홈페이지
New religious movements
North Jeolla Province
1911 establishments in Korea
Jeung San Do
{{religion-stub