Teito Monogatari:
The Tale of the Imperial Capital
Part 2: Supernatural Babylon
Author: Hiroshi Aramata
Part 1: Impossible Fight to the Death
Chapter 4: Concerning Cheondoism
Several nurses bustled in and out before vacating the examination room. It was quiet at last. Dr. Morita poured boiling water into a washbasin, added cold water, and quickly washed his hands. He wiped them with a hand towel placed beside the basin.
"First aid is done. Nothing to worry about, most likely. It's just a sprain."
"Thank you very much, Dr. Morita," said the woman quietly. She had a bandage wrapped around her leg.
Junichi, who had been sitting with his arms folded, got to his feet, opened the tightly shut window a little to look outside, and then turned back to the two with a smile.
"I'm surprised to see you again," Junichi said to the woman. "I ran into you at the entrance, remember?"
The woman's cheeks reddened. She remembered him, of course. He'd nearly pushed her out of the way at the start of the speech. "Perhaps we met in a past life," she said diplomatically.
Junichi chuckled.
"Sorry to be brusque," Dr. Morita cut in. "What is your name and address, miss?"
The woman's eyes hardened for a moment. Then she said, "My name is Kō Hō."
"Oh? A Chinese lady?"
"No, I am Korean."
"I see. And what is your address?"
"Yokohama's Chinatown."
Junichi relaxed his shoulders and smiled again. "I'm glad I found you, then. If the police had dragged you off, you would have been treated far worse. Are you an exile? No—that doesn't seem right."
"I have lived in Japan since I was born."
"You said your address is in Yokohama. Do you have a family?"
"My parents died long ago."
"Can you return to Yokohama?"
"I can't go back. The Japanese police raided my house. I am a Cheondoist."
"What's that?"
"Tonghak, she means. It is a political movement that strives for Korean independence."
The woman shook her head. "No. Cheondoism is different from Tonghak. Tonghak worked for Korean independence, but its adherents were deceived by the Japanese army and used as a tool of Japanese colonialism. Cheondoism corrects the erring Tonghak."
"Wait a moment." Junichi leaned forward. "Isn't the Japanese government currently persecuting Cheondoists? I've heard that they're a licentious and heretical cult. Should you really confess that so openly, miss?"
"It doesn't matter. We are not a secret society. And we are not followers of a licentious and heretical cult."
"I've heard that the Tonghak heal the sick, curse people to death, and indulge in evil pleasures using spells."
"It is true that there is sorcery in Cheondoism, but your view of it is warped."
"Could you tell me about Cheondoism?" Dr. Morita asked. "I am Dr. Morita, a physician who specializes in the treatment of mental illness."
The woman nodded. "As I mentioned earlier, Cheondoism arose when it was discovered that Tonghak had become corrupt. The first Great Leader was called Teacher Uiam. His real name was Son Byeong-hui. When he was in exile in Japan, he went by the name Lee Sang-heon. About nine years ago, he crossed over to Japan and waited for an opportunity to reform Korea.
"Before long, the Russo-Japanese War broke out, and he decided to use it as an opportunity to correct the misgovernment of local officials in Korea and carry out domestic reform. The organization to promote these reforms was called the Iljinhoe.1
"However, the faction that directed the Iljinhoe in Korea joined hands with Ryōhei Uchida. They gathered up Tonghak believers and put them to work laying railways for the Japanese army. They received financial support from the Japanese army and cooperated with the Japanese in their annexation efforts.2 When Teacher Uiam learned of this, he hurried back to his home country, and on the first day of the first month of the year he created a new religion called Cheondoism. This name was taken from the passage in the Tonghak scripture Donggyeong Daejeon that says, 'The Way is the Heavenly Way.'3
"People who had formerly participated in political revolution became Cheondoists," the woman said.
"And what does that mean?" Dr. Morita asked.
"Cheondoism has various rites. These are usually called the five observances and consist of incantations, drinking pure water, attendance to rituals, prayer, and rice dedication. A vessel of pure water is placed on the heavenly altar, and people pray facing it."
"What are the incantations about?"
“In our Way we have a protective talisman called the bow hook.4 The talisman symbolizes the form of the spirit. It is an important charm for protection and warding off misfortune.
"There are two kinds of spells, but the most significant one is something we call 'spirit descent writing.' Such writings are prophetic texts created when the will of Heaven descends upon a person and their hand moves of its own accord."
"Automatic writing, then."
"We call it ‘spirit-descent writing.’ In recent years, a bizarre spiritual technique called kokkuri has also come into fashion.5 Let me give you an example.
"About twenty years ago, this children’s song became popular in Korea:
Birds, birds, blue birds, do not disturb the green-bean fields.
The farmers will cry if the flowers are dropped and lost.
Birds, birds, blue birds, sitting on our green-bean fields.
If the green-bean flowers dropped, the farmers will be angry and you will be thrashed.
Birds, birds, blue birds, sitting on our green-bean fields.
We see our fathers’ and mothers’ ghosts above those fields.
Birds, birds, blue birds, why did you fly in now?
Why did you fly in this spring when the pines and bamboos are barely green? 6
"This song is based on the childhood nickname of Korean general Bong-Joon Juhn, who was the leader of the Tonghak party. We believe that it is spirit descent writing and that it predicts that the general will one day create a paradise on earth.
"As for spells, there is a formula of words like this that is said to be extremely effective in curing illness. 'Shi ki kon shi kou sho tai kou,' meaning 'bearing the Heavenly Lord, creation is accomplished; eternally unchanging, you will know all things.'
"There is also an incantation commonly called the Thirteen Characters, 'I ten shu zon ga sei, ei sei fu bou ban ji chi,' meaning 'serving the Heavenly Lord, I undergo transformation, and eternally am reminded not to forget.' If we recite the Eight Characters and the Thirteen Characters every day, we will be blessed with supreme happiness. The Eight Characters are a spirit-summoning spell, and the the Thirteen Characters are the central teaching of our religion."
"I have heard that when a sick person comes before one of your practitioners, you write the character for 'bow' on white paper, burn it, and make them drink it in a solution of water, and that this heals them. Is that correct?" the doctor asked.
"Yes. Besides that, we write characters that mean turtle, dragon, cloud, auspiciousness, and righteousness and give them to people. Hemorrhoids and respiratory ailments can easily be cured using these talismans."
"I hear that the Tonghak have mastered the art of flying up into the sky and dancing on air."
"Yes, that is a sword dance art. Wielding a sword and dancing on the ground, the practitioner becomes filled with emotion. They can then jump anywhere from three to thirty meters in the air."
"That all sounds heretical to me," Junichi said.
Dr. Morita folded his arms and stared fixedly at the woman's face. "Some of the ideas are intriguing," he said. "Burning paper with characters written on it and making someone drink the ashes in water is a form of suggestive therapy. I expect that many people treated that way do feel better, at least temporarily."
"That kind of therapy strikes me as entirely delusional," Junichi said. "I have much more interest in the handwriting of madmen."
"Patients with delusional insanity are tormented by a persecution complex, and so they tend to use cryptic words and abbreviations understandable only to a very small number of friends. In extreme cases, there are even patients who create entirely original systems of language and writing," Dr. Morita said obligingly. "Using written characters as treatment overlaps with Cheondoist practices, which fascinates me. Miss, would you mind teaching me your Eight Characters and Thirteen Characters? I'd like to study them."
The woman nodded. "Certainly." She used a piece of waste paper the doctor handed her, took up a brush and wrote on it.
Dr. Morita rubbed his chin and waited for the scrap of paper to be returned.
When he read the paper, he went very pale. His lips trembled. This is what he saw:
Junichi noticed something was wrong. "Doctor, what is the matter?"
Dr. Morita remained silent, staring at the page. Among these characters, he found the same symbol that Yukari had written. He said nothing for a time, but at length turned toward the woman. "You said you had nowhere to go, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"If you don't mind doing odd jobs, you could work at this hospital for a while. I also have something important to ask you," he said.
"Doctor, whatever has come over you? This woman is an activist being hunted by the police," Junichi said hastily.
Startled by Junichi's voice, the doctor straightened his posture, folded up the scrap of paper, and slipped it into his pocket. Then he placed a hand on the shoulder of the young, taciturn Korean woman.
"You rescued her," the doctor said. "Even if the police find out, I doubt we'd be punished much. I intend to have her look after Miss Yukari for a while."
"Dr. Morita, you can't do this," Junichi said.
"Don't ask me the reason, but I believe she may find a clue that will assist us with the girl's treatment."
Junichi looked at Kō Hō, the unfriendly woman and Cheondoist. How had this happened? He'd encountered her at an activist meeting! In barely an hour, she'd become important to Yukari's future treatment.
He was troubled by the piercing quality of her gaze. Kō Hō was proud. She had chosen a hard life for herself and stood strong despite persecution. Junichi felt like she was a dangerous woman.
Kō Hō held Junichi's gaze.
The gleam in her eyes reminded Junichi of someone else--a savagely violent person. Ill at ease, Junichi didn't dare utter that person's name.
1 Iljinhoe means "Advance in Unity Society" in Korean.↩
2 Japan annexed Korea in 1910. ↩
3 Donggyeong Daejeon means "Great Scripture of
Eastern Learning." ↩
4 This is
spelled literally bow + hook: 弓乙. ↩
5 狐狗狸: Kokkuri is a
nonsense word meaning "foxes, dogs, and raccoon dogs." ↩
6 The Korean general Bong-Joon Juhn lead an unsuccessful uprising against
corrupt rulers and invading Japanese troops in the late 19th century. His
nickname was the Green Bean General. Legend says that he was a Korean
version of Robin Hood; after attacking corrupt officials and seizing their
treasures, he then distributed them to the poor commoners. He was very
popular and many commoners joined his army. His army swept through large
parts of the Korean peninsula before Korean rulers requested the Japanese
army to intervene. Juhn’s army, equipped with spears and arrows, was no
match against the westernized gun-wielding Japanese army, and in 1895 Juhn
was captured and hanged. Korean commoners sang this song to lament General
Juhn’s death and the failed coup d’état, and it is said the widows of Juhn’s
army sang this song to their babies as a lullaby. ↩
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