This volume explores the socio-religious impact of a successful Korean NRM within the context of East Asian religious history and culture. Like other East Asian NRMs, the Daesoon religious community offers its devotees new teachings drawn from the doctrines of Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism, as well as from Christianity and local shamanic practices. Kim is a gifted ethnographer. He deftly describes the most important doctrines of the religion with respect to the deity, cosmology, the Cheonggye Pagoda, Simudo, creeds, Daesoon objects, commandments and ethical rules. He also addresses rituals, sacred sites, educational work and social welfare projects. In a concluding chapter, Kim speculates how the Daesoon community differs from and is similar to other East Asian NRMs.Stephen D. GlazierYale UniversityThe nineteenth century in Korea was a time of social and religious change, as Christianity (Seohak or Western learning) gained followers, and Korean new religions that drew on local traditions (Donghak or Eastern learning) emerged as a reactive spiritual force from 1860. Daesoon Jinrihoe, a new religion founded by Kang Jeungsan (18711909) in the late 1960s, is the largest new religion in Korea. This innovative study by David W. Kim introduces this fascinating movement to a wider audience.Carole CusackUniversity of SydneyIn this finely crafted volume, David W. Kim provides us with a detailed view of a fascinating new religious movement of South Korea, Daesoon Jinrihoe. Born in the encounter with the West and modernity, this movement claims that a Korean, Kang Jeungsan, was an incarnation of the supreme deity. Kim has meticulously charted the beliefs, rituals and organisation of this movement in a book that should appeal widely to scholars of new religious movements.Olav HammerUniversity of Southern Denmark
