After Western pressure forced the Joseon government to open its ports, Korea's
brilliant classical tradition became fundamentally unstable. Thus, the opening
of ports signaled the transition from a classical to a modern society and led
to a fundamental restructuring of Korean society and culture.
The opening to the West created a tremendous cultural shock, which led to three
general reactions. The first was opposition, based on the conclusion that Western
power and culture would destroy Korea's culture and social order. Most Joseon-era
intellectuals, directly witnessing the destruction of China's social institutions
and classical culture, naturally assumed this attitude. This anti-Western attitude
has come to be seen as inherently conservative. The second was an attitude of
positive acceptance, for some believed that in order to retrieve Joseon power,
reforms had to be made based upon the acceptance of Western culture and social
institutions. Intellectuals of this reformist disposition claimed that Koreans
should learn about the West in order to overcome the impotence and backwardness
of Asia. There has been an excessive tendency on the part of historians to see
this reformist attitude as pro-Western. Third, there were those who wanted a
selective acceptance of Western ways, rejecting Western culture and spirit but
accepting its technology and institutions. This attitude appeared in the assertion
that Asian spiritual culture was generally superior, while Western technology
was more advanced. This attitude was put forth by a small group of Neo-Confucian
thinkers around the end of the Joseon period, but their efforts could do little
to alter the turbulent waves of modernization that were sweeping the country.
Attitude of Conservative Opposition
After the opening of ports, the attitude of conservative opposition has continued
to manifest itself to the present day in two forms: classical Eastern religions
such as Confucianism and Buddhism, and folk movements, including native Korean
religions and nationalist forces.
Classical Eastern Religions In Confucianism, the king originally acted as master of rites for all national
rituals. Religious rituals and government administration were thus part of the
same social institution. Within this system, regional administrators were likewise
in charge of the rites of their region, and the father, as head of the household,
acted as master of the rites of the family. However, following the demise of
the Joseon Dynasty at the hands of imperial Japan at the turn of the 20th century,
the king and regional administrators could no longer perform their respective
roles as leaders of national and regional rituals. As a result, Confucian rites
were only performed by families. This led to the impression that Confucianism
was solely associated with family rituals. At the same time, Confucianism's
old tradition of education was suddenly no longer recognized. The Japanese imperialists
thus paralyzed Confucianism's traditional social functions of ritual and education.
Thus, Confucianism, which in Korea had been used to oppose the Japanese, lost
its visible function as an institutional religion and became an invisible set
of social norms and ethical rules. The Japanese thus effectively disabled Confucian
opposition to the occupation by eliminating the perception of Confucianism as
a social entity. In spite of this historical setback, the basic norms and values
governing interpersonal relationships continue to be based on a Confucian world-view
in modern Korean society. Although Confucianism, as a social institution, was
unable to participate in Korea's modernization, it clearly formed a value system
and invisible bond that prevented Korean society from falling into disarray
during the traumatic and chaotic process of modernization. In this sense, Confucianism
formed the basis for the value system that made modernization possible, and
it is one of the ancient cultural forms that are relevant in Korea.
After Korea's opening to the West, the problems that Buddhism encountered were
more complex than those of Confucianism. With the opening of ports, Buddhism
gained its freedom, only to encounter numerous problems. Internally, it had
to deal with five centuries of decline, while externally it had to adjust to
the ruthless pace of modernization. In addition, Japan brought married monks
into Korea's celibate monastic order, which in effect, gave rise to internal
discord within Korean Buddhism. It further aggravated the situation by promulgating
an edict that the Japanese colonial government was responsible for the management
of each temple along with its extensive assets. Even today, a half-century after
liberation, the Korean Buddhist order has not been able to completely overcome
the after-effects of this policy. In this sense, Korean Buddhism's preoccupation
with internal problems affecting the order has left it no time to deal directly
with the rapid process of modernization. Even so, Korean Buddhism has undergone
rapid growth in terms of organization following Korea's rapid economic expansion
during the mid-1980s. As a result, it is beginning to have an active influence
on society. Korean Buddhism has become aware of its role as a social entity
representing classical East Asian culture and tradition in opposition to Western
culture, and has thus begun to function in this capacity.
As discussed above, Confucianism and Buddhism have played the most conspicuous
roles among those conservative forces opposed to Westernization. However, Korean
nationalism is just as important as a strong conservative force of the modern
era. In general, nationalism has appeared in the guise of either religious or
intellectual movements.
Religious Movements: Following Choe Su-un's Donghak movement in 1860, countless
new religions appeared in Korea. Donghak means "Eastern Learning" and as the
name implies, it was an Eastern religion embodying the Korean spirit, in opposition
to Christianity which had come from the West. Donghak's central teaching was
embodied in its Gaebyeok (Opening) ideology. Gaebyeok was a cosmic chronology
which claimed that a new era was beginning. In the West, cosmic changes typically
signaled a conclusion, but in the East, they represented a new creation or "Gaebyeok."
According to Donghak, Gaebyeok heralded the advent of a new utopia which would
be centered around the Korean Peninsula and its people. Donghak ideology thus
fostered a nationalistic faith that culminated in the Donghak Rebellion - a
defining event in Korea's modernization. Moreover, Donghak played a pivotal
role in maintaining this nationalistic consciousness, leading up to the March
First Independence Movement of 1919. Donghak's Gaebyeok ideology later became
the philosophical model for Korea's new indigenous religions, such as Jeungsan-gyo
and Won Buddhism. During the 1930s, these religions were already referring to
themselves as "Korean Folk Religions," and they continue to do so even today.
After Korea was colonized by Japan in 1910, Korea's ancient culture and national
identity reappeared in the guise of these nationalistic religious movements.
These became the central forces in the struggle against the occupation. The
Donghak religion, which had by then been renamed Cheondogyo, headed the March
First Independence Movement, and thus became the fundamental domestic force
behind the anti-Japanese struggle. Another new religion by the name of Daejonggyo
moved its headquarters to Manchuria where it became the main procurer of recruits
and funds for anti-Japanese guerrilla forces. In fact, Daejonggyo coordinated
the famous Cheongsan-ri attack in southeast Manchuria in which resistance fighters
crushed a vastly superior Japanese force. It was the leading organization
in Korea's provisional government in Shanghai.
In his Gaebyeok teachings concerning the advent of a new cosmic order, Gang Jeung-san had predicted the eventual downfall of the Japanese. His followers, having faith in his religious prophecies, were thus able to find courage in the face of Japanese tyranny. In this way, Jeungsan-gyo, through its religious mysticism, gave Koreans a sense of pride. Even today, devotees of more than two hundred traditional religions can be found at famous mountains across the nation. There, they devote their entire lives to religious practice in preparation for the utopian society which will be brought on by Gaebyeok. The devotees who support these religious hermits are convinced that a healthy Korean society must be based on a sense of independence as a people. As long as these religious hermits and believers exist, Korea's folk religions will continue to perform an important function to curb the general historical trend towards Westernization.
Intellectual Movements: Academic circles, centered around so-called Korean studies (i.e. Korean history and language), traditional arts and mass media, formed the second force behind Korean nationalism. By the late-Joseon
period, a national enlightenment movement, which combined nationalist ideologies
and faiths, had already formed outside the scope of Confucianism. This movement
first manifested itself as a religious movement, but then appeared as a diverse
intellectual movement promoting awareness of Korean culture's unique identity.
Key spokesmen for this movement were Sin Chae-ho (1880-1936), who promoted an
enlightened, nationalistic perspective within historical studies, and Ju Si-gyeong,
who promoted Korean language studies.
The central objective of the nationalist movement was not so much a rejection
of Westernization, but the advancement of national identity. Hence, its primary
objective was to achieve independence from Japan. Yet the movement knew that
in order to obtain political autonomy, it first had to promote Korea's cultural
independence. For this reason, the nationalist movement demanded, before anything
else, the preservation and restoration of Korea's traditional culture. Within
this context, the religious movement, which emphasized the sacred character
of Korean culture, and the intellectual movement, which sought to advance Korean
studies, formed a complementary relationship. Thus, theories of ancient Korean
history as exposed by nationalist historians became the philosophical foundation
of the indigenous religious movements of the early twentieth century.
Positive Acceptance of Western Thought
There were those who believed that the chaos following the opening of ports
could be overcome through the positive acceptance of Western culture. Those
who held this open attitude towards reform can be divided into two camps: those
who accepted Western culture through faith in Christianity and those who wanted
to appropriate secular thought and institutions from the West. However, these
two approaches initially were not clearly distinguishable. The blending of these
two approaches is particularly evident when we look at the introduction of Catholicism
to Korea. As we shall see below, the history of Christianity in Korea, whether
it be that of Catholicism or Protestantism, is a truly wondrous development.
The Christian Movement
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The Korean
Catholic Church celebrating mass. |
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Catholicism: The Korean
Catholic church was established on the initiative of Koreans before
foreign missionaries entered the country. This may make Korea unique
within the entire history of Christianity. Korean Catholicism began
when a group of young Confucian scholars by the name of Yi Byeok, Gwon
Il-sin and Yi Ga-hwan along with Jeong Yak-jong and his two brothers
converted to Catholicism after reading Catholic doctrinal texts that
had been sent from Beijing. In 1783, Yi Seung-hun was sent to Beijing
where he became the first to receive baptism. On his return to Korea,
he and the other converts established Korea's first Catholic church
at the residence of Kim Beom-u in Seoul. After this amazing beginning,
Korean Catholics were severely persecuted and many martyred by the government
due to their refusal to participate in ancestral rites. Eventually,
with the signing of a friendship treaty with the United States in 1882,
Korean Catholics gained freedom to carry out church activities. |
In May of 1984 during the bicentennial commemoration of Korean Catholicism,
Pope John Paul II canonized 103 of Korea's martyrs, making the country fourth
in the world in the total number of saints. In the past two centuries of miraculous
development, the Korean Catholic church has brought to Korean society the gist
of Western spiritual culture developed from the Middle Ages to the present.
In particular, the diverse social-welfare projects undertaken by the church's
various orders have made an invaluable contribution to modern Korean society.
The Protestant church has replanted modern Western culture on Korean soil through
its numerous schools and medical facilities, but it is the Catholic church,
providing service with an attitude of silent obedience to God, that has provided
a spiritual model fully embraced by the Korean people. This attitude of service
served as a source of strength during the political upheavals of the 1980s.
At this time, the Catholic church, by providing sanctuary to dissidents, became
the de facto representative of the Korean conscience. In the future, the Catholic
church will undoubtedly continue to serve as a key spiritual authority.
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Christian church
service. |
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Protestantism: The history
of Protestantism in Korea begins with Horace Allen, an American Presbyterian
(Northern) missionary who arrived in Korea in 1884. Horace G. Underwood
of the same denomination and the Methodist Episcopal (North) missionary,
Henry G. Appenzeller, came from the United States the next year. From
the beginning, Protestant missions simultaneously performed evangelical
and social work. By establishing the country's first Western medical
clinics and introducing a modern school system, these missionaries played
a leading role in bringing the modern social institutions of the West
into Korean society. The results of their efforts are manifold. For
example, many modern national leaders came out of schools operated by
the missionaries. These leaders, with their international perspective,
were able to develop an anti-Japanese independence movement during the
occupation. In addition, through these missionaries' efforts, many Koreans
converted to Christianity, including Syngman Rhee (the first President
after liberation) and much of his cabinet. |
Korean Protestantism grew at a remarkable pace. From the time when missionaries
first entered Korea to the present, Korean society has been plagued by an endless
series of upheavals. Korean society has had to struggle to survive within the
rapidly changing international situation, and in order to survive, it has had
to adapt itself to the new environment. The only organization that could realistically
claim to ensure both Korea's survival as a people (as emphasized by nationalists)
and adaptation to the times (as emphasized by reformers) was the Protestant
church. After all, it was Protestantism that served as the exclusive channel
for exchanges between the Korean people and the societies of America, Canada
and Europe. Through this channel, Koreans were able to maintain international
support for the independence movement and learn about Western culture and social
institutions. Thus, Korean society did not feel opposition toward Protestantism,
but instead, hoped to use it as a guide toward social reform. These circumstances
were unique to Korea, and for this reason, Protestantism was able to grow more
rapidly in Korea than in any other East Asian country.
At present, Korea's Protestant churches have more than 10 million members. This
amounts to more than 20 percent of the entire population. Korea is probably
the only country where one finds churches with daily prayer meetings at 4:00
a.m., a fact which demonstrates the ardent enthusiasm of the Korean Protestant
community. The Protestant church is the most active religious organization in
Korea, and it is also an active social organization. As a result, the Korean
church has taken on the historical responsibility for the future of Korean society.
In this way, Korean Christianity, consisting of both Catholicism and Protestantism,
has assumed a vital role in the modernization of Korean society. However, its
social role has been restricted since the 1960s as a result of Korean society's
rapid industrialization. There are several reasons for this. First, in an industrial
society, corporations and government, instead of churches, play the main role
in international relations, while universities are the key source of ideas on
social reform. Moreover, education institutions look to the government for support.
Second, Christianity still does not have firm roots in the cultural traditions
of Korea, a country which has long been influenced by East Asia's classical
culture and its own unique traditions. These two factors indicate that the social
reformation brought on by Christianity since the mid-1980s has inherent limitations.
Thus, a new paradigm is now required to further deal with the cultural trauma
and after-effects brought on by Korea's opening to the West.
The attitude of complete acceptance of Western thought represents, in effect,
an attempt to learn about the West. In particular, this attitude became deeply
rooted in Korean society as Korean students returned from studying in America
and Europe.
In Korea, these students entered many diverse fields, helping to plan and promote
Korea's industrial development. As a result, Korea has become a competitive
society centered around growth - a society that tends to overlook social justice,
virtue or the environment.
Reform and development are undertaken for specific goals, and these goals must
embody a healthy system of values. For this reason, progress should be value-oriented. Korea, in its imitation of the West, has copied the external institutions without
looking at the value system inherent in the West's industrial structure, and
this has resulted in confusion. Especially during the 1990s, the various sectors
of Korean society have been addressing on this problem.
