• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.35
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• pp.125-174
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• 2017

The Cheondeok-Song (religious songs of Cheondo-Gyo) of the Japanese colonial period shown on Cheondo-Gyohwe-Weolbo, the monthly magazine of Cheondo-Gyo Church were examined in this paper. The results are as follows. There are scores of songs, lyrics, and articles related to Cheondeok-Song in the monthly magazine. The five-tone scale or Korean traditional rhythm style was partly used, but western music form was dominant in most of the songs. Especially the four-part form of Christian hymns became usual since 1931. This shows how people thought of the new trends. The reception of the new trends being emphasized, but they recognized tradition as an object of overcoming rather than of succeeding. The lyrics contain religious contents and the spirit of the period to restore national self-respect and contribute to the world peace through overcoming Japanese imperialism. But the rhythm of seven and five syllables which is suspected to have been introduced by Japan was spread after the 1920s. Cheondeok-Song have been sung in the three grand anniversaries and other anniversaries, the Prayer-day, in Cheondo-Gyo church services on Sunday, ceremonies, and in lecture. There are various kinds of songs and their status is very high. Especially, Cheondeok-Song have been used actively in mission works and edification for women. Cheondeok-Song actively reflected the domestic and international trends and the demands of that times. They could sing self perfection through enlightenment and also the social reform based on it. These are the reasons why I think Cheondeok-Song of those days are so important. Cheondeok-Song reflected modern elements actively, but couldn't succeed the national form and the traditional elements properly. The problem of cultural identity is not only a specific group's but also that of the whole humanity of maintaining cultural diversity. This is also a task that Cheondo-Gyo Cheondeok-Song have to solve in the future.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.42
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• pp.1-44
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• 2022

This study aims to determine the significance of the devotional offerings held in Daesoon Jinrihoe Temple Complexes (道場 dojang) and to interpret their identity. Firstly, the existing research insists that the significance of these rituals implies that offerings held by Daesoon Jinrihoe embody the order's religious purpose. However, this paper argues that the purpose of devotional offerings is not limited thereto. The reason is that the primary sources of Daesoon Jinrihoe defines the devotional offerings as practiced for purposes of worship, celebration, commemoration, the expression of gratitude, the dissemination of information, and to humbly beg pardon from divine beings. Additionally, the offerings are meant to express the solid faith of devotees. Considering the various purposes of practicing devotional offerings, rather than mostly being about prayer to divine beings, the meaning of the offerings could be better understood as forms of communication and exchange of unique ideas and intentions. Secondly, in the light of Korea's history of rituals, the devotional offerings of Daesoon Jinrihoe obviously differ from the rituals of Confucianism or the ritual for Heaven and Earth (圜丘祭 hwanguje). Indeed, the rituals of Daesoon Jinrihoe are rather alien to both of the aforementioned rituals. Accordingly, the identity of the devotional offerings in Daesoon Jinrihoe do neither succeed to the religious and cultural tradition of Korea nor transform it. It is rather the case that Daesoon Jinrihoe's devotional offerings should be identified as having been newly invented. In this regard, the devotional offerings of Daesoon Jinrihoe should be understood as an invented tradition that began in modern times. In other words, they are 'invented rituals to Heaven.'

• Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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• v.126
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• pp.345-376
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• 2013

Der vorliegende Beitrag zielt darauf ab, Nietzsches Einstellung zum Christentum zu $er{\ddot{o}}rtern$. Nietzsche gilt als einer der eindeutigsten Kritiker des Christentums in der $abendl{\ddot{a}}ndischen$ Geistesgeschichte. $F{\ddot{u}}r$ Nietzsche ist das Christentum nicht nur eine Religion, sondern auch eine Wertvorstellung, an der sich die $europ{\ddot{a}}ische$ Kultur orientiert hat. Nietzsche setzt sich die $vollst{\ddot{a}}ndig$ ${\ddot{U}}berwindung$ des Christentums zum Ziel, weil es der entscheidende Grund des Untergangs der $europ{\ddot{a}}ische$ Kultur ist. Ist Nietzsche Antichrist? Die Antwort auf die Frage ist sehr umstritten, denn Nietzsches Einstellung zum Christentum ist ambivalent. Freilich fokussiert Nietzsche seine Kritik nicht auf den Religionsstifter selbst, sondern auf den Apostel Paulus. In den verschiedenen Phasen seines Werkes erscheint Jesus in unterschiedlicher Weise. Er lehnt die Person Jesus nicht $grunds{\ddot{a}}tzlich$ ab, negiert aber den 'Typus' Jesus, z. B. als 'Idiot' und 'decadent'. Paulus ist der entscheidende Antipode $f{\ddot{u}}r$ Nietzsche. Der Apostel Paulus ist der wahre $Begr{\ddot{u}}nder$ des Christentums und der Sklavenmoral der Christen. Der vorliegende Aufsatz gibt Antworten auf die Fragen: Erstens, was das Christentum $f{\ddot{u}}r$ Nietzsche ist. Zweitens, wie Karl Jaspers Nietzsches $Verh{\ddot{a}}ltnis$ zu Jesus und Paulus besonders in Nietzsche und das Christentum beurteilt. Drittens, welches Problem die Interpretation von Jaspers besonders in Bezug auf seinen Begriff des 'Umgreifenden' hat.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.40
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• pp.91-110
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• 2015

Both Plato and More imagined alternative ways of organizing society. What is common to both authors, then, is the fact that they resorted to fiction to discuss other options. They differed, however, in the way they presented that fiction. The concept of utopia is no doubt an attribute of modern thought, and one of its most visible consequences. But one of the main features of utopia as a literary genre is its relationship with reality. Utopists depart from the observation of the society they live in, note down the aspects that need to be changed and imagine a place where those problems have been solved. After the two World Wars, the twentieth century was predominantly characterized by man's disappointment at the perception of his own nature. In this context, utopian ideals seemed absurd and the floor was inevitably left to dystopian discourse. Both The Road by Cormac MacCarthy and The Childhood of Jesus by J. M. Coetzee can be called critical dystopia and critical utopia as they represent the imaginary place and time that author intended a contemporaneous reader to view as better or worse than contemporary society but with difficult problems that the described society may or may not be able to solve. As a changed adventure narrative, they have something in common like open ending, father and son relationship and religious allegory. But the most important thing is that they express the utopian impulse that is still energetic and transforming in the post-modern society.

• Korea Science and Art Forum
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• v.16
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• pp.157-169
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• 2014

Lake Biwa Canal was a dream project that reminds us the passion and innovation of Kyoto Citizens more than water supply. It is a modernization project combining engineering knowledge and scientific technology, which started transportation by ship through big-scale civil construction as well as supplying electricity as the first waterpower plant in Japan, and it overcame the physiographic limit through adopting unique method of waterway transportation. Lake Biwa Canal, which has tangible and intangible culture heritage value as the traditional space of Kyoto, the Old Capital of 1200 years, conceives a cultural meaning that is connected through various mutual relation as well as scientific technologic factor. Lake Biwa Canal is not only the function for supplying water to gardens and temples of Kyoto region, but it is also a cultural fruit that is formed by complex causal relationship of various contents such as geographical and environmental background, the phases of the times, local development policy, political circumstances and religions. This study is aimed at interpreting the value of Lake Biwa Canal multilaterally by the convergence of cultural and technological aspects through the view of the world which the age tried to pursue, focusing on the construction of Lake Biwa Canal which was accomplished in the process of promoting the modernization of Kyoto.

• CONCEPT AND COMMUNICATION
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• no.23
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• pp.237-272
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• 2019

This paper reexamines the prevailing understanding of the Meiji Enlightenment in terms of the discourse on civilization and enlightenment conducted by Meirokusha in the early Meiji period. Specifically, it extends the discourse on civilization and enlightenment beyond the confines of Meirokusha to also include the discourses of those advocating the unity of church and state and the establishment of a state religion. Such discourses gave rise to various forms of enlightenment in the late Meiji period, of which this paper explores the critical appropriation of modern western enlightenment that occurred in the process of formation of Kokutai (national polity) theory, hence the enlightenment of Kokutai. There is a particular focus on the division and reorganization of the concept of 敎 (teaching / religion), since it was the key concept in Kokutai theory and enlightenment was only relevant to Kokutai theory in this context. This analysis shows that when the adherents of Kokutai understood it as a religion, and 敎 (teaching / religion) was seen in ideological terms, then enlightenment appeared in a distorted form as a discipline required by divine authority. Another finding is that when rational judgment and criticism of the Kokutai religion were not allowed, this suppressed the formation of the individual subject of enlightenment.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.112-119
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• 2013

This study focuses on an innate 'spiritual' quality of arts including building art, or a meaning of the religious philosophy of 'creativity-art'. In particular, this focuses, among two aspects in roots of modernism, especially on the irrational facet veiled by the name of 'a new' religious faith, rather than the rational such as the function. In fact, although modern Avant-gardes' religious philosophical faiths called by different names respectively have generally considered as one of the sources for their designs, nevertheless it had veiled because of the religious 'orthodoxy power' at that time. Arguably, as known well, the creativity of art is intimate relation with a religious ideas. Thus, for this purpose, this study treats this theme in central these three issues; Orientalism, Universalism, and Froebelianism which are intimate in the realm of religious philosophy. Ultimately, through a research on the universal religious philosophy in all three objects as keeping a quality not of pantheism but of 'Panentheism' emphasizing the individual's 'divine' artistic volition, this study deepens the understanding on the Creativity-art as the main characteristic of modernity. Namely, it is very important to draw a distinction between pantheism and Panentheism; because, through the pantheism, it is difficult to comprehend a stream and a characteristic of the twentieth new religious thoughts including those of modern avant-garde artists, as well as their existential free-will as a whole.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.223-249
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• 2014

The influences of sciences on literature have been much researched as relatively familiar themes, and especially the impact of Darwin's evolutionary theory has been interesting research themes on 19th-century history and "Two Cultures". This article outlines the impact of Darwin's evolutionary theory on literatures of the 19th-century British and enlightening-and-colonial-era Korea focusing on some significant features of literary changes, with help of existing researches. It will also give a brief overview of evolutionary psychology as a new perspective of literary criticism. In particular, it will try to show that many transformations of poems and novels appeared diversely depending on different circumstances and various religious or social beliefs societies and individuals were facing and having, and that new understanding of metaphor, narrative, and mind through rediscovery of nature, human and evolution underlay the big changes of literatures.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.27
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• pp.171-200
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• 2016

This paper will analyze the filial piety based ethics of Daesoonjinrihoe (大巡眞理會) and the traditional filial piety of Confucianism (儒敎), Buddhism (佛敎) and Taoism (道敎) through comparing and contrasting their unique systems. The traditional Korean ethics regarding filial piety are in great need of reformation as the relationship between the parents and children should not be vertical or unilateral but parallel and reciprocal. However, there have not been sufficient in-depth studies on this specific ideology and alternative approaches. Regarding this prospect, one representative Korean indigenous new religion, Daesoonjinrihoe has emerged and directly engages in the collision between traditionalism and modernity. The modernity of Daesoonjinrihoe, enables the observation of how the filial piety based ethics have developed within a system of doctrine and thereby provides an exemplary model of traditional filial piety reimagined in accordance with modern sensibilities. A brief summary of comparative findings is as follows: First, Daesoonjinrihoe and Confucianism have taken serving parents with respect as an ethic within filial piety, but Confucianism engenders this ideal through the unilateral and unconditional sacrifice of younger people based on patriarchal feudalism whereas Daesoonjinrihoe has rejected such unilateral sacrifice and instead promotes mutual beneficience between parents and children. This difference occurs, in part, due to the filial piety of Confucianism rising in the midst of the feudal order whereas the ideology of Daesoonjinrihoe contains ideals such as "the reciprocation of favor for mutual beneficence (報恩相生)" and "respect for humanity (人尊)," both of which serve as key principles of the new religious world as envisioned by Daesoonjinrihoe. Second, filial piety in Buddhism and Taoism tends to be passive and inactive and is often expressed by praying for happiness and longevity for one's parents while they are alive and later praying for the heavenly rebirth of one's parents after they die. The filial piety of Daesoonjinrihoe also partially contains such ideas, however; they are extended much further and arrive upon novel and profound expressions. The spectrum of the filial piety in Daesoonjinrihoe expands to the extent children perform actions to resolve their parent's sins and pave a new road for their parents. This filial piety requires a cultivation practice from both parents and children. This system of dual cultivation was established because the world-view of Daesoonjinrihoe enables both parents and children to enjoy happiness and wealth both of which are achieved through the completion of religious objectives following cultivation practice. Third, Confucianism and Daesoonjinrihoe hold memorial services for ancestors with sincerity as an expression of filial piety. Filial piety in the Confucian context excludes ideas from Shamanism and thereby memorial services are held for impersonal entities, however; in the Daesoonjinrihoe context, memorial services are held for personal-entities. Accordingly, holding a memorial service for ancestors with sincerity has a greater sense of realism in Daesoonjinrihoe than it does in Confucianism. Fourth, while Confucianism and Daesoonjinrihoe both aim to requite the grace received from ancestors, the contents of grace and reciprocation of favors (報恩) are viewed differently. In Confucianism, since the ancestors existed previously and bestowed the gift of life to their children and indirectly, all of their descendents. Therefore, memorial services for ancestors are held to convey gratitude and filial piety. However, in Daesoonjinrihoe, ancestors not only bestowed the gift of earthly life to their descendents, in the spirit realm, ancestral spirits also spend sixty years accumulating the merit necessary to imbue each of their descendents with spiritual insight. Consequently, filial piety is expressed through memorial services as well as spiritual cultivation. Fifth, in Confucianism, achieving the fame and prestige indicative of success in the mundane world can be an act of filial piety as it would bring pride to one's ancestors, but in Daesoonjinrihoe, succeeding in religious objectives through spiritual cultivation is considered to be a higher form of filial piety. Sixth, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism all observe filial piety as system of familial ethics based in morality. This is likewise true of Daesoonjinrihoe, however; Daesoonjinrihoe confers greater importance on filial piety as an essential form of ethics for religious redemption. This is due to the Daesoon interpretation that the absence of filial piety was the direct cause which led to the sickened state of the world and its collapse. Forgetting the grace of parents who have given the gift of life or the grace of ancestral spirits who have accumulated merit on behalf of their descendents are acts of ingratitude which are unacceptable during the period of Reordering of the Universe. Judging from these findings, Daesoonjinrihoe embraces parts of traditional filial piety as it exists in Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, but it does so on the ground of its own unique culture. Through re-interpretation and re-creation, ideas regarding filial piety are being further developed. Namely, filial piety in Daesoonjinrihoe is regulations founded upon the reciprocation of favors for mutual beneficence and respect for humanity. Therefore, it is understood as a concept wherein one's own cultivation practice is performed in order to reach religious objectives, the perfection of personal character, and spiritual insight. This requires that even recipents of filial piety (i.e., parents) perform certain cultivation practices to enjoy happiness and wealth. Additionally, filial piety in Daesoonjinrihoe manifests a reinforced religious character and also serves as a system ethics which is soteriologically essential for salvation during the period known as the Reordering of the Universe.

• The Journal of Korean Philosophical History
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• no.32
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• pp.215-249
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• 2011

This essay reflects on the modernity of Korea by examining the transformation of the traditional knowledge system from a historico-semantic perspective with its focus on the opposition and collision of the old and the new conception occurred in the early period(1890~1910) of the acceptance of the Western modern civilization. With scientific success, trick of reason, Christianity and evolutionary view of history, the Western modernity regarded itself as a peak of civilization and forced the non-Western societies into the world system in which they came to be considered as 'barbarism(野蠻)' or 'half-enlightened(半開).' The East Asian civilization, which had its own history for several centuries, became degraded as kind of delusion and old-fashioned customs from which it ought to free itself. The Western civilization presented itself as exemplary future which East Asian people should achieve, while East Asian past traditions came to be conceived as just unnecessary vestiges which it was better to wipe out. It can be said that East Asian modernization was established through the propagation and acceptance of the modern products of the Western civilization rather than through the preservation of its past experience and pursuit of the new at the same time. Accordingly, it is difficult to apply directly to East Asian societies Koselleck's hypothesis; while mapping out his Basic Concept of History, he assumed that, in the so-called 'age of saddle,' semantic struggle over concepts becomes active between the past experience and the horizon of expectation on the future, and concepts undergoes 'temporalization', 'democratization', 'ideologization', 'politicization.'The struggle over the old and new conceptions in Korea was most noticeable in the opposition of the Neo-Confucian scholars of Hwangseongsinmun and the theorists of civilization of Doknipsinmun. The opposition and struggle demanded the change of understanding in every field, but there was difference of opinion over the conception of the past traditional knowledge system. For the theorists of civilization, 'the old(舊)' was not just 'past' and 'old-fashioned' things, but rather an obstacle to the building of new civilization. On the other hand, it contained the possibility of regeneration(新) for the Neo-Confucian scholars; that is, they suggested finding a guide into tomorrow by taking lessons from the past. The traditional knowledge system lost their holy status of learning(聖學) in the process of its change into a 'new learning(新學),' and religion and religious tradition also weakened. The traditional knowledge system could change itself into modern learning by accepting scientific methodology which pursues objectivity and rationality. This transformation of the traditional knowledge system and 'the formation of the new learning from the old learning' was accompanied by the intersection between the old and new conceptions. It is necessary to pay attention to the role played by the concept of Sil(hak)(實學) or Practical Learning in the intersection of the old and new conceptions. Various modern media published before and after the 20th century show clearly the multi-layered development of the old and new conceptions, and it is noticeable that 'Sil(hak)' as conceptual frame of reference contributed to the transformation of the traditional knowledge system into the new learning. Although Silhak often designated, or was even considered equivalent to, the Western learning, Neo-Confucian scholars reinterpreted the concept of 'Silhak' which the theorists of civilization had monopolized until then, and opened the way to change the traditional knowledge system into the new learning. They re-appropriated the concept of Silhak, and enabled it to be invested with values, which were losing their own status due to the overwhelming scientific technology. With Japanese occupation of Korea by force, the attempt to transform the traditional knowledge system independently was obliged to reach its own limit, but its theory of 'making new learning from old one' can be considered to get over both the contradiction of Dondoseogi(東道西器: principle of preserving Eastern philosophy while accepting Western technology) and the de-subjectivity of the theory of civilization. While developing its own logic, the theory of Dongdoseogi was compelled to bring in the contradiction of considering the indivisible(道and 器) as divisible, though it tried to cope with the reality where the principle of morality and that of competition were opposed each other and the ideologies of 'evolution' and 'progress' prevailed. On the other hand, the theory of civilization was not free from the criticism that it brought about a crack in subjectivity due to its internalization of the West, cutting itself off from the traditional knowledge system.