The Gucheon Sangje Faith and Its Relation to Jeongeup County, the Birthplace of Kang Jeungsan

Abstract

◾ Abstract University This article was conducted with the purpose of finding the religious meaning of Jeongeup ( 井邑 ) by paying attention to two areas of inquiry. The first examines religious interpretations of the place names of peaks, mountains, and villages that have already existed have existed since ancient times. The second area of inquiry looks into religious narratives about Jeongeup that appear in scriptural records of the Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth (1901~1909) as performed by Kang Jeungsan. Looking at these to areas of inquiry together, the place names and topography inherent in Jeongeup and Kang Jeungsan’s various Jeongeup-related Reordering Works, can be summarized as embodying characteristics of ‘beginning ( 始 )’ and ‘origin ( 本 )’ which can be further likened to the meaning of ‘water ( 水 )’ in a ‘well ( 井 ).’ First, Jeongeup equates to the heavenly origin of the Gucheon Sangje (Supreme God of the Ninth Heaven) faith in