Academic literature on the topic 'Tonghak Peasant Movement'

Abstract This article examines how the ideological orientations of the Tonghak religion, particularly the eschatological vision of time, empowered its practitioners and peasants to imagine a new world and act out their faith. By paying attention to the notion of kaebyŏk, I explore how different temporalities—redemptive time, now-time, and progressive time—played a significant role in the Tonghak movement from its formation through its reconfiguration as Ch’ŏndogyo. In the shifting geopolitics of East Asia at the turn of the twentieth century, Tonghak emerged as a dissonant theology whose prediction of an apocalyptic upheaval of the universe was discordant with the conceptions of time dominant in both traditional Chosŏn and modern Korea. Viewing history as cyclical, the Tonghak founders conceptualized kaebyŏk as an unexpected critical event that could happen in an abrupt, ever-present now. This unique temporal consciousness underpinned the revolutionary characteristics of Tonghak thought and laid the foundation for its followers to manifest their aspirations for social change through a massive uprising at now-time. Yet Tonghak’s theoretical agenda gradually lost its revolutionary edge during the modernization of the church. By adopting ideologies of civilization and enlightenment as well as social Darwinism, Ch’ŏndogyo focused on the self-cultivating role that kaebyŏk played within the progressive vision of time.

This master's thesis deals with the interpretations of influence and significance of the Tonghak Peasant Movement in Korean educative materials of 20th and 21st century. The first part of this thesis notes the social-political influence on the development of modern education from late 19th century until nowadays education in Republic of Korea and Democratic People's Republic of Korea, focusing on high school history education. The second part of the thesis quantitatively and qualitatively analyses the South and North Korean high school textbooks on the topic of the Tonghak Peasant Movement. In the last part the thesis attempts to define social and political influence on the education through the analyzed textbooks and attempts to define the cause of changes in the view on the topic - from the Tonghak rebellion, through Tonghak revolution, to Tonghak Peasant Movement.