**7. Conclusions**

In this article, I have demonstrated the way in which spirit-written texts were published and distributed under the Enlightenment project in the late Choson period. These publications provided ˘ both vernacular Korean translation for the those ignorant of Sinograms as well as Classical Chinese for the literati. Its predominant purpose was to urge people to restore fundamental ethical principles.

Enlightenment (*kaihua*/*kaehwa*) had various strata of meanings in Buddhism and Daoism, particularly in a soteriological context, and was even consonant with the Confucian concept of edification (literally "teaching and transformation"; *jiaohua*/*kyohwa* 敎化). Spirit-writing played the role of a furnace in which to meld the Three Teachings and to transform Chinese-oriented gods into universal deities standing for transcendent standards of morality. It should be observed that the members of spirit-writing altars in Choson had no emic identification as "Daoist," belonging to any ˘

particular sect—this is the same as many spirit-writing practitioners in China. Rather, they shared an identity as "the Enlightened" who strove for enlightening "Dao" as the fundamental Way of humanity.

In case of European Enlightenment (Aufklärung), Reinhart Koselleck and Horst Stuke have sketched di fferent forms of the ideas, and even dissent, regarding the core concepts (Koselleck 1988; Stuke [1975] 2014). According to their works, the impetus of the Enlightenment was to ensure an individual basis of morality. Consequently, it was inevitable that Enlightenment discourse would contain an element of utopian idealism.

I found some parallels with the European case in the varying discourses of Enlightenment among Choson intellectuals. There was also an aspect of utopian idealism, especially with regards to morality. ˘ Even the famous thinker of Enlightenment Party, Yu Kilchun 兪吉 濬 (1856–1914)—who was greatly influenced by Fukuzawa—presupposed an ideal state of Enlightenment, which would be based in perfect morality and therefore "exceedingly good and extremely beautiful 至 善 極 美." In his six-stage classification of Enlightenement, the first stage is the Enlightenment of behavior (*haengsil* 行 實), which implied the embodiment of the ethical virtues of the five constant human relationships (*oryun* 五倫) and ultimate understanding of moral principle (*dori* 道 理). The rest are, in order: education, politics, law, mechanics, and the utility of material goods (Yu 1895). Yu Kilchun considered the ideal type of Enlightementassomethingbalancedbetweentraditional-universalethicsandnewinstitutionalbenefit.

Although the anti-superstition campaign was one of the vocal critics in the new field of public opinion such as newspapers, the sole dominance of *kaehwa* (Enlightenment) weighted on the scientification and disenchantment is a sort of modern East Asian delusion or myth. In reality, "marvels and wonders" from the divine world had never ceased to give powerful momentum to social changes. Recent studies pay attention to the struggles of modern intellectuals to find compatibility between science and religion both in East and West.<sup>56</sup> As Paul Katz has observed, "Be it Western Enlightenment or Chinese modernization," the processes of modernization "cannot be fully understood outside the context of religious beliefs and practices" (Katz 2015, pp. 279–80). In early modern China, "spirit-writing not only shaped the lives of individual elites but their collective activities as well" (Katz 2015, p. 280). The same holds true for the late Choson period. ˘

The spirit-writing practice and publication of morality books in the late Choson provoke a ˘ reconsideration of the spiritual movement that had emerged—and were even requested—in the dynamic flux of the era, faced to World Powers and the Christian religion in the border between premodern and modern. From the young leaders of the progressive party to the conservative elder officials, from royal members to ordinary people, all social strata of people actively transacted with the ideas of Enlightenment diversely. However, the religio-ethical thinking of Enligtenment was in no way incompatible with the picture of Civilization with powerful and precise mechanics. Many future studies are needed, especially on the relation of Enlightenment with the Neo-Confucian heart-mind theory and self-cultivation practice.<sup>57</sup>

**Funding:** This research was funded by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2019S1A5A8035576).

**Acknowledgments:** I want to express my gratitude for the Coordinate Research Program at Harvard-Yenching Institute, hosted by Prof. James Robson in the 2018 fall semester, which was helpful in developing my ideas on Enlightenment and Daoist eschatology, as well as to survey East Asian resources. Dr. Daniel Burton-Rose revised earlier drafts and provided fruitful advice. Anonymous reviewers helped me improve the clarity of my arguments.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The author declares no conflict of interest.

<sup>56</sup> As for this issue in the European Enlightenment, see (Saler 2006). Siginificant studies on this issue in Europe and East Asia are listed in footnotes 4 and 5 in (Katz 2015, p. 279).

<sup>57</sup> The privatization of moral judgment is an important subject. Spirit-writing practice liberated people from formal religious institutions and clericalism and resulted in the individual encounter with one's heart-mind—the unconscious dimension of humanity—from where spirit-writing descend. Recently, Daniel Burton-Rose showed the evolution of spirit-writing practice from the clan and community base into individual dreams and the self-fashioned practice. (Burton-Rose 2020). It should be studied the relevance between the contemplation on individual minds and East Asian modernization of morality.
