• Journal of Korean Classical Literature and Education
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• no.32
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• pp.327-355
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• 2016

This study aims to identify petit bourgeois desires through the characters in "Oksosun Stories" from Cheonyerok, an eighteenth-century Yadam anthology. The desires and motivations of the characters are quite secular and egocentric. Because of this, their shared characteristics are similar to those of the petit bourgeois, as neutral existence begins to emerge during the transition from feudal to modern society. The concept of petit bourgeois generally means the public and the working class of modern society. The main character's behavior in the story differs little from general petit bourgeois attitudes. An important belief in petit bourgeois is not the ruling ideology in society but the achievement and stability of realistic and ordinary desires to fulfill their lives' satisfaction. Also selfish or antisocial attitudes and boundary characteristics appear in the process, depending on whether subject having any desire. However, the character's actions are limited in the governance system of a huge reality. And It is characterized by end goal being to meet their upward mobility and stability. This corresponds with Seang's (書生) actions of turning his back on his family and country as well as promising Jaran his love; and, he redeems himself with his family and society by acquiring stability after he passed the state examination. Furthermore, the contemporary significance of this work demonstrates Seang (書生) discovering his desires for human love; therefore, in order to affirm and gratify this desire, he endures the societal state of semi-feudalism against filial duty (不孝), disloyalty (不忠), and non-chastity (不烈), and he acts independently. In addition, on the strength of his pursuit of his desires, Oksosun frees herself from the caste restraint called gisaeng (妓生) and affirms her desire to become a subject of love, but she then deviates from the social system. Moreover, the limitations and achievements of the petit bourgeois are indicated in the actions of recognizing the social threshold of their past in the process, making independent efforts using their capabilities, fulfilling success in the state examination with their intellectual capacity, and re-entering society. From the late Chosun Dynasty to modern times, there is not only the type of contemporary people who hunger for fulfillment of their personal desire and live in free will, but there is also the feudal type that is still lacking in the understanding of independent life. This is not as different as in these present times. This literature asserts the meaning of awakening one's self-existence and assigning great value to the fulfillment of self-desires against the odds that are created by socio-political, cultural, economic norms of the era. "Oksosun Story" affirms the small efforts and successes of private individuals in reality. It also validates the search for life happiness through positivity. In this sense, even the contemporary reader would derive valid meaningfulness from this literature.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.47
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• pp.1-37
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• 2023

This essay seeks to answer the question of how best to understand Korean new religious movements (KNRMs). KNRMs have the characteristics of folk religion, ethno-religion, or popular religion. KNRMs are products of the national consciousness promoted by Korean society during the Late Joseon Dynasty at the turning point of modern Yi-Jing Studies. From the perspective of social evolutionary theory of developmental history, during that period, Joseon (Korea), like China, was faced with a double-edged sword consisting of the strength of tradition and the upheaval of modernity. If the strength of tradition depended on the Yi-Jing Studies to promote national enlightenment toward anti-imperialist aims, then it was equally the case that modernity depended on the sense of urgency to guide the people to secure livelihoods and edification regarding anti-feudalism. In this essay, the KNRMs that appeared during this transition period of Yi-Jing Studies will be a significant focus, and the worldview of Daesoon Thought will be the main focus. As one of the central topics, intensive discussion will be dedicated to the issue of the nature of pre-experientialism (先驗主義) which characterized the Great Opening (開闢). The principles of Daesoon Thought have a religious dimension of realistic awareness that guides the people's lives and edifies them. The process of the Great Opening aims to secure an ontological clock that tracks the Great Itineration of the world toward Daesoon Truth. This in turn as a process establishes the epistemological world of the Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth (天地公事) and reaches the axiological boundary of the future world. The links among the Three Realms is characterized by a pre-experientialist line that experiences the space-time nature of the universe as the Great Opening of the Later World (後天) within the framework of Heaven and Earth. Throughout this course, humans look to enjoy the infinite vitality of the universe from within their own finite vitality. Therefore, Daesoon Thought can overcome perceived reality through pre-experientialist channels such as the Great Opening of the Later World and aim for a state of self-awareness such as the Earthly Paradise. This is an attempt to participate and practice in the actual world rather than pursuing a world of transcendental ideas, and therefore, it tends to be proactive in the world rather than exhibit a passive tendency to be worldliness. In conclusion, the truth of Daesoon Thought, which is characterized by the Great Opening of the Later World, contains a future-oriented outlook that longs for a Nextopia full of hope and promise rather than idealistic fancy towards a Utopia or well-founded dread and disdain towards Dystopia.