Ch'oe Che-u's Preparation for his Religious Way

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

In this article, the process of the emergence of Donghak, or Eastern Learning will be examined. To Ch'oe Che-u, who had lost his father and his father's property and belongings, nothing was certain in this world. This was enough to provide for himself a motivation to seek after truth. Moreover, he could not get any job in society. This experience would cause him to reflect on the status of the poor of the minjung. He realized that all was vanity in life and at the same time, that society was corrupted by immorality and indiscipline. Furthermore, human relations between king and office, and parents and children, were traditionally regarded as of great importance in the philosophy of Confucianism, yet were also corrupt. While he was praying to obtain enlightenment after performing ablutions, Ch'oe Che-u was taken sick with a mysterious disease and at the same time heard the voice of Heaven.
In other words, he was about to experience revelation at the end of his intense search through meditation. The more important thing here is that he who was going to reveal the divine message to Ch'oe Che-u was a sinseon. This seems to demonstrate that Ch'oe Che-u enlightenment was the result of contact with the idea of sinseon, and finds in origin in primal religious tradition, even though the greatest emphasis lies in Taoism.