Declining Joseon, 『Jeonggamrok』 as the People's Hope: Where Is Your Map to the Future?

What exactly is pressing down on your heart right now? 🤯 Skyrocketing prices, an uncertain future, a social system that’s hard to trust, or perhaps an uneasy sense of crisis that could strike at any moment. Paradoxically, people say we live in the most prosperous times ever, but honestly, I feel the anxiety about the future only deepens. If at the end of all this chaos a brilliant new world is promised, and there is a secret map leading to that world, would you open that book?

Here is a book from hundreds of years ago, at the twilight of the Joseon dynasty, that shook people’s hearts to the core. It was labeled the most dangerous banned book by the state, yet it was secretly the most beloved bestseller. Simply possessing this book could lead to being accused of treason and annihilation of one’s entire family, but for the people trapped in despair, it was the only beacon of hope. That book is 『Jeonggamrok (鄭鑑錄)』.

This is not just an old story. It is a record of the deep anxieties and passionate desires of people living through a turbulent era when the old system collapsed and a new order was born, and their fierce struggle to carve out the future by their own power. 『Jeonggamrok』 quietly but clearly asks us in the 21st century: “What new world do you dream of, and what map of hope are you drawing for that world?”

The Birth of Prophecy: A Narrative of Hope Created by People on the Brink

Prophecies don’t just appear out of thin air. They always sprout and grow nourished by the deep suffering of the times. To truly understand why 『Jeonggamrok』 spread like a massive virus in late Joseon society, we must first look at the truly horrific realities the people endured.

The two massive wars of the 17th century, the Imjin War and the Byeongja Horan, turned this beautiful land into ashes. The state failed to protect its people, and those who barely survived had to rebuild their lives on the ruins by their own strength. But the suffering didn’t end there. Moving into the 18th and 19th centuries, a few powerful families monopolized all state power in a system called sedo politics (勢道政治). Their greed was boundless, and the state system became a tool not for the people but solely for their own selfish gains.

Farmers suffered under the harsh exploitation known as the Three Tax Disorders (三政紊亂). They had to pay land taxes (jeonjeong) on land they didn’t even own, and even newborn babies or deceased persons were taxed for military service (gunjeong). If they borrowed grain from government granaries during famines, they had to repay it with multiple times the interest (hwangok), which was suffocating. On top of this, recurring famines and epidemics shook the very foundations of their lives.

The official ideology of Joseon, Neo-Confucianism (性理學), no longer offered any answers. Teachings to “be loyal to the king and filial to parents” were hollow echoes in front of a corrupt king and greedy officials who bled the people dry. A society where trust collapsed, an era where hope vanished. Into this vast ideological void, 『Jeonggamrok』 penetrated like rain on parched earth. It diagnosed the root of all suffering clearly: “The fate of the Lee (李) family has ended.” And it presented a revolutionary alternative: “The Jeong (鄭) family will open a new world.” This must have sounded like gospel to the desperate people.

The Secret of the Banned Bestseller

In fact, 『Jeonggamrok』 is not a single book written by one author as commonly thought. Rather, it is more accurate to see it as an “open-source prophecy book” or a “collective creation project” that evolved continuously with the times, existing in dozens or hundreds of different versions.

Avoiding strict censorship, it circulated secretly as handwritten manuscripts, with people adding and modifying content to reflect their own thoughts and the urgent hopes of their era.

However, most versions share a core worldview: a sophisticated fusion of Feng Shui, Docham thought, and Maitreya belief.

• Docham Thought (Future Prophecy): Provides a temporal logic answering “Why must the world change?” The universe’s energy cycles, so no dynasty can last forever; the fall of the Lee dynasty is the will of heaven.
• Feng Shui (Spatial Logic): Offers a spatial answer to “Where will the new era begin?” The land energy (地氣) of the capital Hanyang has waned, and the new energy flows abundantly in Gyeryongsan (鷄龍山), which will become the new capital. This links abstract fate theory to concrete evidence of the land’s power, enhancing persuasiveness.
• Maitreya Belief (Messiah Thought): Promises a savior figure answering “Who will save us?” When the end-times suffering peaks, a savior called ‘Jeong Doryeong (鄭道令)’ or ‘True Man (眞人)’ will appear to judge all evil and build a paradise on earth. This is a Korean adaptation of the long-held Maitreya Buddha faith deeply rooted in the people’s hearts.

These three elements created a perfect synergy. 『Jeonggamrok』 presented the end of the old regime (why), the stage for the new era (where), and the agent of change (who), thus constructing a powerful and systematic counter-ideology against Neo-Confucianism. The message “The Lee fall and the Jeong rise (李氏亡 鄭氏興)” was hidden in cryptic word puzzles like “Wood Son (木子=李) falls and Jeon-eup (奠邑=鄭) rises,” adding a mysterious aura of secret knowledge that only insiders understood, further enhancing its authority.

The Life of the Prophecy: The Invisible Hand That Moved History

『Jeonggamrok』 was never a dead text confined to bookshelves. It boldly entered the lives of the people and became a living force that changed the course of history.

Igniting the Flames of Rebellion

In the 19th century, when uprisings flared across Joseon like a burning thirst, the shadow of 『Jeonggamrok』 was always behind them.

A representative event was the 1811 Hong Gyeong-rae Rebellion. Hong Gyeong-rae, a fallen aristocrat, rose against deep-rooted discrimination in Pyeongan Province and the harsh exploitation of the sedo regime. He declared himself a pioneer helping ‘Jeong Doryeong’ to open a new era, proclaiming that their uprising was not a mere rebellion but the will of heaven to end the old world. 『Jeonggamrok』 united scattered popular grievances into a powerful force and gave their anger the ideological weapon of a “righteous revolution.”

This movement culminated in 1894 with the Donghak Peasant Revolution, Korea’s largest popular uprising in modern history. Donghak’s egalitarian idea that “Man is Heaven (人乃天)” and the belief in a coming new world (Hucheon Gaebyeok) deeply resonated with 『Jeonggamrok』’s worldview. The Donghak leadership developed the vague hopes of a new era from 『Jeonggamrok』 into concrete political goals of anti-feudalism and anti-foreign domination. Simply put, 『Jeonggamrok』 sowed the seeds of revolution, and Donghak nurtured those seeds with organization and ideology into a mighty revolutionary tree.

The Birthplace of New Religions

The influence of 『Jeonggamrok』 extended beyond political revolution. It deeply comforted the oppressed people’s souls and offered a new path to salvation, becoming the ideological foundation for many new religions. Various sects derived from Donghak, as well as religions in the Jeungsan (甑山) tradition centered on Kang Il-soon, actively embraced and reinterpreted 『Jeonggamrok』’s prophetic system in their own ways.

Especially, Gyeryongsan, the prophesied land, literally became the “Mecca” of new religions. From the Japanese colonial period through liberation, countless religious leaders called themselves ‘Jeong Doryeong’ and gathered at the foot of Gyeryongsan to build their ideal worlds. This vividly shows how powerful and profound the longing for salvation and utopia presented in 『Jeonggamrok』 was.

The Mirror of the Times: How Prophecy Evolves

The most astonishing aspect of 『Jeonggamrok』 is its remarkable vitality and flexibility. As times changed, so did the meaning of the prophecy.

In 1910, when the Korean Empire was forcibly annexed by Japanese imperialism, the prophecy of ‘Lee’s fall (李氏亡)’ sadly became reality. People’s attention naturally shifted to ‘Jeong’s rise (鄭氏興),’ the coming of a new era. During the Japanese colonial period, 『Jeonggamrok』 was astonishingly reborn from a prophecy of dynastic change into a prophecy of national liberation. The Japanese, who took the place of the Lee dynasty, were seen as a new oppressive force to be overthrown, and ‘Jeong Doryeong’ was regarded as the incarnation of independence who would restore the country.

After liberation, even more interesting interpretations emerged. The phrase in 『Jeonggamrok』 about a “True Man (眞人) coming from across the sea to save the people” was interpreted as referring to then U.S. President Harry S. Truman. The similarity in pronunciation between ‘Truman’ and ‘True Man (眞人),’ combined with his decision to drop the atomic bomb that led to Korea’s liberation, made this a striking example of how 『Jeonggamrok』’s prophecy expanded its meaning beyond the Korean Peninsula to global historical events.

Why Do We Read 『Jeonggamrok』 Again in the 21st Century?

『Jeonggamrok』 was not simply a book to predict the future. It was like a mirror reflecting the deep pain and anxiety of its era without filter. It is another history book engraved with the voices of the people, their tears, and desperate hopes that the ruling class’s official records deliberately ignored.

The prophecies in 『Jeonggamrok』 did not come true. The Jeong dynasty never rose, and Gyeryongsan did not become the capital. But I believe the true value of this book lies not in whether the prophecy was right or wrong. Its value lies in the tenacious spirit of people who firmly said “NO” to the old world and never gave up their desperate longing for a better future.

Today, we do not wait for a superhuman savior called ‘Jeong Doryeong.’ But we still yearn for just and capable leaders to solve our society’s problems. We do not wander searching for a refuge called Sipsungji (十勝地) to escape disaster. Yet we still dream of a stable home amid soaring real estate prices and economic crises.

Perhaps 『Jeonggamrok』 is, in a way, an “unfinished prophecy.” When we feel the system fails to protect us and the future is completely unclear, what can we believe in, and where should we place our hope? 『Jeonggamrok』 does not give a direct answer. It only tells the story of people who stubbornly created their own narrative of hope even on the edge of a cliff. Now, I dare say, it is up to us living in the 21st century to fill in the next page.