Despite its small size and unconventional doctrines, the Korean new religious movement, “Rectified Confucian Way” (Kaengjŏngyudo), exerts considerable influence on Korean society today. Members of the group operate dozens of children’s camps and other educational programs aimed to promote traditional moral behavior among the population, in line with their millennial vision of an evolving Confucian era. This article offers the first English-language introductory investigation of this fascinating movement. It reviews the early twentieth-century mystical genesis of the religion, its development of scriptures and rituals, and its members’ active, optimistic attempts to lead the world into the Confucian millennium. Based on this data, the paper suggests that this group offers a unique model of a long-term, gradualist—rather than imminent—millennial expectation.
University of California Press