Introduction
Sok Hon Ham (1901-1989), was one of the most influential thinkers and civil rights leaders of Korea during the 20th century. Throughout this period the Korean peninsula has faced intense social turmoil and political upheaval. The Korean people have experienced both external disorder and internal agony, including colonial subjugation by Japan (1910-45), the Korean War (1950-53), the April Revolution and the collapse of the First Republic (1960), the military coups and subsequent dictatorships (1961-1987). Korea's subjugation as a colony was particularly intense. Jon Halliday has described the impact of the Japanese occupation of Korea, which lasted until 1945, as follows:
"Japan transformed Korea more profoundly than any European power changed any of its colonies. It tried to crush the Korean language, and put intense pressure on Koreans to abandon their family names - an act of appalling cruelty in a culture centered on family lineage"1
Additionally, from 1945 the USA controlled South Korea as a buffer in the Cold War. It is worth noting how intimately connected were USA military officials and the former pro-Japanese Korean officials even after the liberation of Korea from Japan. Within such a historical environment, Sok Hon Ham described Korean history as the "Broken Axle" and "Disaster upon Disaster".
In terms of her culture, some degree of ideological change has also taken place during this time. There has been a slow but profound change in Confucianism, which was the state's main ideology from the 14th century until the beginning of the 20th century, Yet it remains a powerful force today. Other religious faiths have been introduced over the centuries, including Buddhism, Taoism, and Christianity. Traditional shamanism also retains its hold. It is thus a controversial statement either to declare that Korea's ideological culture has changed little or to assert that it has changed profoundly, since this depends upon one's angle of view. It is true that since the end of the 19th century, Korea has willingly accepted Western ideology and religion, in particular Christianity. Nevertheless, when I reviewed my personal experiences as a Sunday School teacher (1979-1981), and as a Christian magazine editor (1984-1988) at a Presbyterian church, the basic characteristics of Korean Christianity and its churches seemed not so different from traditional -Confucianism, i.e. Korea's Christianity and churches had adjusted their pattern to fit the hierarchical and authoritarian values of Confucianism. Priests and church leaders ruled as paterfamilias with corresponding responsibilities to, and loyalty from, the subordinate-children, the church laity. On all sides, Sok Hon Ham's life and thought reflected the external social turmoil and internal religious quest that 20th century Korea has experienced. He was a poet, journalist, historian, religious thinker, educator, writer and social activist, as well as being a civil rights leader for democracy. What is more, his ideas were open-ended not only toward Oriental classical philosophies of Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Hinduism, but also toward traditional Christianity, the Non-Church Movement, Quakerism, and the Western sciences and rationalism. If Sok Hon Ham had not been born during the era of chaos within 20th century Korea, he said he would have enjoyed living as a "quiet" gardener. As he recalled: "How happy I should be, if I could only grow flowers at home alone and quietly."2 But, unfortunately or fortunately, he was born in a time of turmoil. Therefore, he had to think, act and sacrifice his freedom, not only in order to pursue the greatest freedom of the greatest number, but also to protect the minority's rights from abuse by the majority. In such a historical context, one cannot underestimate the degree of inter-connection between the socio-political turmoil and the life and thoughts of the man.
In this light, I intend to study the personality and multi-faceted ideology of Sok Hon Ham, concentrating on his understanding of the Taoism of Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu, and of Quakerism, in order to examine his role as intermediary between East and West. I believe that the dominant characteristics in Sok Hon Ham's thoughts are closest to the philosophical Taoism of Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu, and Western Quakerism. Both shared a "heretical" tendency: the one to secede from Confucianism, and the other from established Christian churches of the 17th century. I will examine how he re- interpreted and applied the philosophies of Taoism and Christianity (including Quakerism) to develop a spirituality in keeping with times that witnessed
Japanese colonial rule, the Communist regime in North Korea, and the military dictatorship in South Korea. I hope to illustrate that Sok Hon Ham's religious ideas played a part in re-creating a national identity for Korea as well as in dissolving the immanent conflict between the Orient and the West. Also I hope to show that his civil rights activities were a vehicle for sowing the seeds of democracy within the Korean peninsula.
In order to study the personality and variegated ideology of Sok Hon Ham, I used two main sources. First, as a primary source I used his own works, which are published as a series of over 20 books, The Complete Works of Sok Hon Ham, together with several pamphlets, written by him. Second, I conducted recorded interviews with several of Sok Hon Ham's followers and people who were influenced by him, including academics, journalists, civil rights and political leaders. Apart from the above primary sources, I also used several recorded seminar tapes, books, magazines, newspapers and articles about Sok Hon Ham. In writing this thesis, all the translations from the original Korean documents and recorded tapes, unless otherwise stated, are my own work.
Generally, all Korean names are given according to the McCune-Reischauer system of transliteration, with few exceptions. Some names are given in their more common Idiosyncratic renderings, such as Donggill Kim and Byung- mu Ahn.
