Gang Il-sun, (; November 1, 1871 – June 24, 1909), also known as Kang Il-sun and known to his followers as Kang Jeungsan (), is the founder of Jeungsanism, a Korean religious movement that generated after his death around one hundred different new religions, including Daesoon Jinrihoe and Jeung San Do. Jeungsanism, as his movement was called, and various Korean new religions (sinheung jonggyo, literally, "newly emerged religions") derived from it, have been seen by scholars as a syncretism of Buddhism (Bul-gyo), Confucianism (Yu-gyo), Taoism (Do-gyo) with unique religious insights of Kang and certain elements borrowed from Christianity (Gidok-gyo), as well as an underlying Korean shamanism (Musok-Sinang). Early life Gang Il-sun was born in Gobu County, Jeolla Province (present-day Deokcheon Township of Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province, Korea) on September 19, 1871, according to the Lunar calendar mostly used by his followers, or November 1, 1871 of the Gregorian calendar. There is a hagiographic literature written by his followers, which describes miraculous phenomena surrounding his early years. For instance, hagiographical accounts record that "at the time of his birth (...) two female fairies (仙女) descended from heaven into the delivery room," filling it with a "sweet-smelling aroma." Later, it is claimed that he "learned Chinese classics at a Seodang and mastered them to the point of memorizing and reciting all of them by heart," through a complete understanding of their meaning. In 1891, Gang married Jeong Chi-sun (鄭治順) (1874-1928), a lady from Gimje County. In 1894, he opened a Seodang in the home of his brother-in-law Jeong Nam-Gi(鄭南基). He acquired a reputation for his knowledge of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Korean folk religions, and gathered a few disciples. Reputedly, he also visited Kim Il Bu (金一夫) (1826-1898), the well known scholar who introduced the Jeong-yeok (正易), i.e. a new interpretation of the Chinese I Ching (Book of Changes). Kim is said to have offered a new arrangement of the I Ching Chinese trigrams, together with other diagrams and an explanatory text, including insights he had received in a mysterious vision. His re-balancing of the trigrams had a profound influence on many Korean new religions, including those derived from Gang. Donghak In 1860 Choe Je-u, concerned about the growing influence of the West, the increasing Japanese presence in Joseon Korea, widespread corruption in government and established religion, and abuse of power by the yangban (aristocratic social class), alleged he had a revelation