The Shifts in the Perception of Nature in Modern Korea: Focusing on Kang Jeungsan’s Perception of Nature which Emphasizing Change and Healing

With the opening of the modern era, views on nature (自然觀) in Korea revealed a division between secular and religious perceptions. Influenced by the introduction of Western modernity into Korea, the shift in the secular perspective of nature involved defining external entities as objects and understanding their principles was a means to exploit and control them at will. This transformation in the view of nature was justified in the name of civilization. As a result, it provided strong foundations for everyday life in the secular world. In the meantime, shifts in the perception of nature were also occurring gradually in the religious sphere. One of them appeared in the religious movement of Kang Jeungsan (姜甑山, 1871-1909). Early 20th-century Korean literati were greatly inspired by Western civilization and regarded nature as a means or object to be utilized. In contrast, Jeungsan viewed nature as a subject of change and treatment. He argued that while nature in the outdated era was governed by mutual contention, the new era should be characterized by mutual beneficence. According to Jeungsan, nature, which had suffered from mutual contention and grievances, should be healed through mutual beneficence. His unique view on nature was unprecedented among established religions.