The Education on Religion in Early Ch’ŏndogyo: Focusing on Home College Lecture in 1930s

ABSTRACT

[Objective] The purpose of this study is to examine how education on religion was practiced in Ch’ŏndogyo in the 1930s, focusing on the “Religion Course” in Home College Lecture. [Contents] In 1908, Ch’ŏndogyo began to organize a curriculum for catechetical and modern education in earnest. Initially in the form of “Training Center,” they are developed into schools called “Shi-il School” in the 1920s, and in the 1930s they organized a kind of “Home Schooling Curriculum” called “Jasu College”. The Jasu College compiled a textbook, Home College Lecture, and disseminated advanced knowledge on Chinese religion, Western philosophy, politics, economics, and art to the public. In particular, the “Religion Course” shows a Ch’ŏndogyo perspective, defining the concept of religion based on “Humans are Heaven”. [Conclusions] The conclusions of this study are as follows. First, the modern education system and curriculum of Ch’ŏndogyo during the Japanese occupation gradually systematized from “Training Center” to “Shi-il School” and finally to “Home College.” Second, “Religion Course” in Home College Lecture introduces Chinese religion in the form of a modern philosophy on the one hand, and Korean interpretations of Ch’ŏndogyo on the other.