Ham Sok-hon: A Korean Paragon of Daoist Authenticity
This article explores features of a Daoist perspective in the thought of Ham Sok-hon, who is a religious pluralist and a reformative thinker from Korea. Quite noted for his lectures on and lifelong study of Daoist classics, Ham was drawn to Daoism as a philosophy capable of being harnessed to achiev...
| Published in: | Journal for the study of religions and ideologies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
CEEOL
[2019]
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| In: |
Journal for the study of religions and ideologies
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Ham, Seog heon 1901-1989
/ Taoism
/ Underprivilege
/ Social engagement
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| IxTheo Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AX Inter-religious relations BM Chinese universism; Confucianism; Taoism KBM Asia |
| Further subjects: | B
Authenticity
B Resistance B Wuwei (letting be) B Daoism B Ham Sok-hon B Social Praxis B Political Thought B Korea |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | This article explores features of a Daoist perspective in the thought of Ham Sok-hon, who is a religious pluralist and a reformative thinker from Korea. Quite noted for his lectures on and lifelong study of Daoist classics, Ham was drawn to Daoism as a philosophy capable of being harnessed to achieve social change. This article focuses on the spirit of social praxisof Daoism as revealed in Ham's thought. In contrast to what appears to be an obsession with materialism and secular success within contemporary Korean mainstream religions, Ham's thought contains components of social praxis that emphasize understanding the suffering of common people. In his view, Daoism as a way of thinking can be a forceful agent in resistance to authority because Daoism supports the bottom tier of society and the spirit of wuwei (letting be), from a Daoist perspective, signifies self-governing in political parlance. In addition, Ham's pluralist perspective argues that there is a common thread cutting across Christianity and Daoism, in that the two disparate religions have a common foundation. Ham appeared to focus on subjectivity and self-realization in people as ssial (seed) and on marginalized beings at the bottom of the social strata. Thus, Ham's ssialthought is a product that grew out of his lifelong efforts to integrate his own new interpretation of Daoism into the context of contemporary Korea. |
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| ISSN: | 1583-0039 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the study of religions and ideologies
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