Yun Se-bok (尹世復, 29 March 1881 – 13 February 1960) joined Daejonggyo late in the Korean Empire period and served as the third leader of Daejonggyo. He was the third Dosagyo of Daejonggyo during the Japanese colonial period and the rule of South Korea, and he was also the first and third Chongjongyo (總典敎) of Daejonggyo in South Korea.
His birth name was Yun Se-rin (尹世麟), and he later changed his name to Yun Se-bok (尹世復) through a name change.
Within the Daejonggyo community, his title was Master Dan-ae (檀崖宗師), with Dan-ae (檀崖) being his pen name.1
Life
Birth and early life
On 29 March 1881, he was born in Miryang County, Gyeongsang Province, Joseon (present-day Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea). His family seat was Musong, and Yun Se-ju was his paternal first cousin once removed.
Beginning the independence movement
In early November 1909 he moved to Hanseong, and on 13 July 1910, just under a month before the annexation treaty was concluded the following year, he joined Daejonggyo under Dosagyo Na Cheol and became a believer. Consulting with his elder brother Yun Se-yong (尹世茸), he disposed of several thousand seok of family property and moved to Huinan County in South Manchuria. There he devoted himself to Daejonggyo missionary work, and at his own expense he founded schools including Dongchang and Baeksan. He also organized independence-related strategic groups such as the Heungeop Group (興業團), the Gwangjeong Group (光正團), and the Dokrip Group (獨立團), and devoted himself to the Korean independence movement.
On 22 November 1923, in accordance with the posthumous instruction of Dosagyo Muwon Jongsa (Kim Heon), who had stated that the title of Dosagyo should be passed to him, he took office in Yeon'an County as the third Dosagyo. However, in early January 1928, in the fifth year after his appointment, Zhang Zuolin (張作霖), governor of Jilin and military governor, issued a ban on Daejonggyo. He therefore moved the head office to Dangbyeok Village in Mishan (密山), and had Park Chan-ik negotiate with Chiang Kai-shek of the Nationalist Government in Nanjing. In 1930 this led to a lifting of the ban on Daejonggyo in the four northeastern provinces (Fengtian, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Rehe).
Religious activities under oppression
However, in the following year, 1931, the so-called Mukden Incident broke out and religious activities were suspended, so the lifting of the ban had no effect. In the meantime, the three regional head offices (East, West, and North Dobonsa) were dissolved, and in 1930 the South Dobonsa in Gyeongseong (Seoul) was also closed. Determined to restore the strength of the religious community, he resolved to resume activity. In 1934 he moved the head office to Dongjing Castle (東京城) in Ning'an County, the former capital of Balhae, where he enshrined Dangun at the Cheonjin Hall (天眞殿) and founded the Daejong Academy (大宗學園).
Also, with the approval of the Japanese consul-general, he established the Daejonggyo Seondohoe (宣道會) in Harbin, and while promoting large-scale publication of religious records and hastening the construction of the great Dangun Cheonjin Palace, he was arrested by the Japanese police on 23 November 1942. He was eventually referred to a Manchukuo criminal court, and on 8 January 1943 he was sentenced to eight months in prison for crimes including instigating rebellion and disturbance. He was held and served his sentence in Oksoh prison. On 14 March 1943, on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of the founding of Manchukuo, he was released under a special pardon. However, on 12 April 1944 the Japanese police again uncovered his efforts related to the construction of the Dangun Cheonjin Palace, and he was imprisoned a second time, in what were known as the Imo Gyobyeon and Gapsin Gyobyeon incidents. On 12 April 1944, after being arrested by the Japanese police for a second time, he was sentenced on 18 July 1944 by a Manchukuo criminal court to life imprisonment (無期刑) for crimes including collective theft of property for the purpose of rebellion. While serving that sentence, he was released from prison on 15 August 1945 with Japan's defeat. He returned to Korea on 5 March 1946, the year after liberation, and established the head office in Seoul, then the capital under the United States Army Military Government in Korea.
Afterward he carried out remarkable activities, including establishing churches, collecting and publishing religious records, and founding Hongik University. He also welcomed veteran believers such as Lee Si-yeong who had returned from the Shanghai Provisional Government, and prompted a movement to enshrine Dangun halls, establishing Dangun halls throughout the country. Master Dan-ae (Yun Se-bok) abolished the system of succession by teaching-transmission and adopted an electoral system for the Chongjongyo, and took office as the first Chongjongyo.
He died of old age on 13 February 1960.
Patriotic movement
As part of the patriotic movement, on 15 January 1909, Dosagyo Na Cheol together with ten comrades including Oh Gi-ho publicly announced and distributed the Dangun Gyo Poemyeongseo (檀君敎佈明書), after enshrining the Dangun Daehwangjo Sinwi (檀君大皇祖神位) in Jaedong, Hanseong (Seoul). This marked the beginning of Dangun Religion, that is, Daejonggyo. One year later, on 15 January 1910, it was renamed Daejonggyo (membership increasing to about 20,000), and branch offices were established in eastern and northern Gando. On 13 March 1914 the head office was moved to Gando, expanding its missionary field to the whole of Manchuria.
Feeling threatened, the Japanese in October 1915 proclaimed the Jonggyo Tongjeian (宗教統制案) and openly escalated repression. Na Cheol, facing the crisis of the religious community's survival, resigned as first Dosagyo on 1 September 1916, and on 12 September 1916 (15th day of the 8th lunar month), at the Samseong Shrine (三聖祠) on Mount Gu (九月山) in Hwanghae Province, he left a letter lamenting Japanese tyranny and took his own life by poisoning.
On 1 September 1916, Kim Gyo-heon (金敎獻), who became the second leader of Daejonggyo, moved the head office to Hwaryong (和龍) in eastern Manchuria, promulgated the Hongbeom Regulations (弘範規則), and organized the secret society Jeonggwang-dan (重光團), which developed into the armed independence group Bukno Gunjeongseo (北路軍政署). In 1920 it achieved great results in the Battle of Chongsan-ri (靑山里戰鬪). In retaliation, the Japanese launched a large-scale punitive campaign the following year and indiscriminately massacred many believers, and Kim Gyo-heon died of illness after being overcome with grief. Kim Gyo-heon wrote the Sinmun Silgi (神檀實記), Sinmun Minsa (神檀民史), and Dan-jo Sagye (檀祖事攷) in order to institutionally establish Daejonggyo and to verify it historically.
On 22 November 1923, Yun Se-bok (尹世復), who became the third leader of Daejonggyo, received, under pressure from the Japanese, a ban on Daejonggyo proselytization issued by Zhang Zuolin (張作霖), then governor of Jilin Province under the mainland Republic of China under the Nationalist Government. With the warm support of Seo Sang-yong (徐相庸), a fellow Korean in Manchuria, he moved the head office to Dongjing Castle, the former capital of Balhae, established the Daejong Academy, founded the Daejonggyo Book Publication Association, and published works including the Samil Singo (三一神告) and Jongji Gangyeon (宗旨講演). However, while hastening the construction of the Cheon Hall (天殿), on 23 November 1942 Yun Se-bok and twenty other executives were arrested by the Japanese police on the charge of forming an organization aimed at Korean independence, and died under torture or in prison.2
Posthumous honors
- The Government of the Republic of Korea recognized the achievements of Yun Se-bok (late) and in 1962 conferred on him the Order of Independence (Independence Medal). Fifteen years later, in 1977, Kim Heon (late Kim Gyo-heon, 1868–1923), the second leader of Daejonggyo, and Seo Sang-yong (late, 1873–1961), who had directly and indirectly supported the third leader Yun Se-bok during his lifetime, were also posthumously awarded the Order of Independence of the same grade.
Works
His works include the SamBeop Hoetong (三法會通), whose formal title is Sujin Sambeop Hoetong (修眞三法會通). This work and collection are prison writings and literary collections that Yun Se-bok, the third leader of Daejonggyo and Master Dan-ae, wrote while repeatedly imprisoned in the Ahe Prison in Mudanjiang, Manchuria, during the Imo Gyobyeon and Gapsin Gyobyeon incidents of 23 November 1942 and 12 April 1944, respectively.
References
- Hanbae Ilsalpi (대종교협제회 編, Yun Se-bok translation, Daejonggyo Chongbonsa, 1951)
- Daejonggyo Yogam (Daejonggyo Chongbonsa, 1983)
- Hanguk Jonggyo Sasangsa, Daejonggyo Changgeonsa, by Kim Hong-cheol, Yonsei University Press (1998, pp. 161–188)
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