32The Sociopolitical Organism:The Religious Dimensionsof Juche PhilosophyEun Hee ShinNorth Korean Juche (chuch’e) philosophy is typically interpreted to be a NorthKorean version of Marxist atheist thought, but this is just one of its aspects. Al-though Juche thought has its origins in Marxist-Leninist philosophy, it hasevolved into the elaborate indigenous national religion of North Korea. Althoughthe average North Korean would of course not think of Juche thought as a reli-gion, it does include a godlike figure, Kim Ils ̆ong (Kim Il Sung), who is worshipedby approximately twenty-three million adherents in North Korea. They believe inhim as “Father,” in the sense of being the national provider, healer, and even sav-ior. Juche is thus no longer a merely political ideology but has become the na-tional religion of North Korea.What Is Juche? From Political Ideology to National ReligionWhat is Juche? Etymologically, Ju(chu) means “the main principle” and che(ch’e)“body” or “self ”; the compound is interpreted as “sovereign autonomy,” “self-determination,” or “self-reliance.” Juche thought has been assumed to be a“Marxist-Leninist political ideology,” but this understanding falls far short of themark today. Although Juche thought captures some essential elements of Marxist-Leninist concepts of the Communist Workers’ Party and the masses, Juche devi-ates from Marxist-Leninist philosophy in its alternative interpretation of history,in which people’s sovereignty is seen as being of greater significance than classstruggle. Kim Ils ̆ong (1912–94), the former leader of North Korea, created theJuche idea of self-reliance in order to emphasize the importance of developingthe nation’s potential using its own resources and reserves of human creativity. Forhim, the people’s primary requirement was to establish the Juche idea in order to
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Religions of Korea in Practice
Religions of Korea in Practice
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Chapters in this book (43)
Frontmatter
PRINCETON READINGS IN RELIGIONS
CONTENTS
CONTENTS BY THEME
CONTENTS BY CHRONOLOGY
PREFACE
MAJOR PERIODS IN KOREAN HISTORY
NOTE ON TRANSLITERATIONS AND CONVENTIONS
CONTRIBUTORS
INTRODUCTION
1. King Mu and the Making and Meanings of Miruksa
2. Won'gwang and Chajang in the Formation of Early Silla Buddhism
3. Miraculous Tale of Buddhist Practice during the Unified
4. Buddhism as a Cure for the Land
5. The P’algwanhoe: From Buddhist Penance to Religious Festival
6. Hell and Other Karmic Consequences: A Buddhist Vernacular Song
7. A Buddhist Rite of Exorcism
8. “A Crazy Drunken Monk”: Kyongho and Modern Buddhist Meditation Practice
9. Educating Unborn Children: A Son Master’s Teachings on T’aegyo
10. A Party for the Spirits: Ritual Practice in Confucianism
11. The Great Confucian-Buddhist Debate
12. Confucianism and the Practice of Geomancy
13. Voices of Female Confucians in Late Choson Korea
14. Yi Kyubo’s “Lay of the Old Shaman”
15. The Creation of the World and Human Suffering
16. Sending Away the Smallpox Gods
17. Village Deities of Cheju Island
18. Shamans, the Family, and Women
19. A Shamanic Ritual for Sending On the Dead
20. Martyrdom and Social Activism: The Korean Practice of Catholicism
21. Catholic Rites and Liturgy
22. Conversion Narratives in Korean Evangelicalism
23. A New Moral Order: Gender Equality in Korean Christianity
24. Indigenized Devotional Practices in Korean Evangelicalism
25. The Grieving Rite: A Protestant Response to Confucian Ancestral Rituals
26. The Great Transformation: Religious Practice in Ch’ondogyo
27. The Korean God Is Not the Christian God: Taejonggyo’s Challenge to Foreign Religions
28. The Won Buddhist Practice of the Buddha-Nature
29. Renewing Heaven and Earth: Spiritual Discipline in Chungsan’gyo
30. Rites of Passage in the Unification Church
31. Internal Alchemy in the Dahn World School
32. The Sociopolitical Organism: The Religious Dimensions of Juche Philosophy
INDEX
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