Description
It was in this context of social change and an increasingly perilous international situation that Tonghak rebuilt itself, emerging as Chondogyo (Teaching of the Heavenly Way) in 1906. During the years before Japan's annexation of Korea in 1910, Chondogyo continued to evolve by engaging with new currents in social and political thought, strengthening its institutions, and using new communication technologies to spread its religious and political message. In spite of Korea's loss of independence, Chondogyo would endure and play a major role in Korean nationalist movements in the Japanese colonial period, most notably the March First independence demonstrations in 1919. It was only able to thrive thanks to the processes that had taken place in the twilight years of Korean independence.
This book focuses on the internal developments in the Tonghak and Chondogyo movements between 1895 and 1910. Drawing on a variety of sources in several languages such as religious histories, doctrinal works, newspapers, government reports, and foreign diplomatic reports, it explains how Tonghak survived the turmoil following the failed 1894 rebellion to set the foundations for Chondogyo's important role in the Japanese colonial period. The story of Tonghak and Chondogyo not only is an example of how new religions interact with their surrounding societies and how they consolidate and institutionalize themselves as they become more established; it also reveals the processes by which Koreans coped and engaged with the challenges of social, political, and economic change and the looming darkness that would result in the extinguishing of national independence at the hands of Japan's expanding empire.
About the Author
Carl Young is associate professor in the history department at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada.
Book Information
ISBN 9780824838881
Author Carl Young
Format Hardback
Page Count 264
Imprint University of Hawai'i Press
Publisher University of Hawai'i Press
Weight(grams) 640g