The Foresight of Dark Knowing: Chŏng Kam Nok and Insurrectionary Prognostication in Pre-Modern Korea

465 Pages·2018·47.736 MB·English

by  John Jorgensen

The Foresight of Dark Knowing

KOREAN CLASSICS LIBRARY: PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION
The Foresight of Dark Knowing
Chŏng Kam nok and Insurrectionary
Prognostication in Pre-Modern Korea
translated, annotated, and with an introduction by
John Jorgensen
University of Hawai‘i Press/Honolulu
Korean Classics Library
© 2018 The Regents of the University of California
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
23 22 21 20 19 18 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Jorgensen, John
Title: The foresight of dark knowing : Chong Kam nok and insurrectionary
prognostication in pre-modern Korea / translated, annotated, and with an
introduction by John Jorgensen.
Other titles: Korean classics library. Philosophy and religion.
Description: Honolulu : University of Hawai‘i Press, 2018. | Series: Korean
classics library: philosophy and religion
Identifiers: LCCN 2017060277 | ISBN 9780824875381 (cloth alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Chong Kam nok. | Prophecies (Occultism)—Korea. |
Divination—Korea. | Korea—History—Prophecies.
Classification: LCC BF1812.K6 F67 2018 | DDC 133.309519—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017060277
Korean Classics Library: Philosophy and Religion
Series Editor: Robert Buswell, Jr., University of California, Los Angeles
Series Editorial Board:
Donald Baker, University of British Columbia
John B. Duncan, University of California, Los Angeles
Sun Joo Kim, Harvard University
Namhee Lee, University of California, Los Angeles
James B. Lewis, Oxford University
A. Charles Muller, Tokyo University
Young-chan Ro, George Mason University
Ken Robinson, International Christian University, Tokyo
Edward Shultz, University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa
Senior Editor: Jennifer Jung-Kim, University of California, Los Angeles
This work was supported by the English Translation of 100 Korean Classics program through the
Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the Korean Studies Promotion Service of the
Academy of Korean Studies (AKS-2010-AAA-2101).
Publication has been assisted by a grant from the James Joo-Jin Kim Program in Korean Studies,
University of Pennsylvania.
University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for
permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources.
Design and composition by Wanda China
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Part I Translator’s Introduction 1
Historical Background 10
History of the Mantic Arts 15
Early Korea: From the Beginnings to the Advent of Koryŏ 39
Koryŏ 50
Chosŏn 82
Conclusion 200
Part II Translation 203
Translator’s Note 205
1. Predictions of Kam 208
2. Yin-Yang Predictions on the Central Palace 214
3. The Numbers of the Central Palace 215
4. Secret Records/Predictions of the Mountains and
Forests of the Sam Han 216
5. Secret Predictions of Muhak 226
6. History Discussions of Five Hundred [Years] 229
7. Secret Record of the History of the Discussions of
Five Hundred [Years] 231
8. Secret Record/Prediction of Tosŏn 231
9. Secret Predictions of Chŏng Pukch’ang 232
10. Secret Predictions of Nam Sago 234
11. The Ten Excellent Sites for Protection and Good Luck 236
12. Secret Predictions of Great Master Sŏsan 238
13. Secret Predictions of Du Shicong 238
14. Refuge Locations 239
15. Record of the Journey on Hwa’ak Road 240
16. Record of the Journey on the Road to Puktu 241
17. The Method of the Changing Numbers of the Nine Mansions 241
18. Predictions of Ongnyongja 242
19. Predictions Hidden in the House of Mr. Yi of Kyŏngju 243
20. The Poem of Samdobong 245
21. Untitled 246
22. Predictions Hidden in the House of Master Yi of Sŏ’gye 250
vi Contents
23. Hidden Predictions of T’ojŏng’s Family 252
24. Secret Predictions of Yi T’ojŏng 258
25. Poem of the Summer Grains of Kap-o 268
26. The Predictions of Kam 269
27. Teachings of Master Yixing 300
28. The Foresight of Dark Knowing 305
29. Predictions of Chŏng Sun’ong 307
30. Predictions of the Grass Hermitage 308
31. Predictions of the Immortal Nang 309
32. Ongnyongja on Ch’ŏnghak-dong 311
Appendix: The Kap-Cha Cycle 319
Abbreviations 321
Notes 323
Works Cited 433
Index 445
Acknowledgments
I wish to thank the board of the Korean Classics Library series of the
Academy of Korean Studies for providing the funding and support for
this project and to the staff of the Center for Buddhist Studies at the Uni-
versity of California, Los Angeles, especially Jennifer Jung-Kim, for their
assistance over the years it took to complete this project. Special thanks
are due to the anonymous readers of the drafts and the editorial board for
their many valuable recommendations. Copy editor Patricia Crosby pro-
vided a sterling service in dealing with an awkward manuscript and my
many infelicities in style as well for asking pertinent questions about the
translation. Nevertheless, the responsibility for all the faults in this book is
entirely mine. My thanks also to those of my Korean friends who, often in-
advertently, assisted me with understanding some of the ideas that form
the premises of the Chŏng Kam nok. Finally, I wish to thank my wife, Min,
for her patience and understanding during the course of translating this
book, which has been torture for all involved.
This work was supported by the Academy of Korean Studies (KSPS)
Grant funded by the Korean Government.
vii

I. Translator’s Introduction