대순진리회박물관

7Suffering through the Gobu Calamity

Suffering through the Gobu Calamity Due to the Degree Number of the White-clad King and the White-clad General

The ‘Gobu Calamity’ was a series of hardships that Sangje and His disciples suffered through after being imprisoned under suspicion of organizing a voluntary civilian army on the 25th day of the 12th lunar month of 1907. They stayed imprisoned until they were released without charges on the 4th day of the 2nd lunar month the following year.

Sangje warned His disciples in advance that this calamity would come according to the Degree Number of the White-clad King and the White-clad General.

On the night of the 25th day, dozens of armed constables arrested Sangje and about 20 of His disciples under suspicion of being a voluntary civilian army and transported them to the Constable Office.

The next day, in reply to a commissioner’s questioning, Sangje said:

“I am not a voluntary soldier, but I am planning to subjugate the world.”

“People cannot subjugate the world because they lack the wisdom and strategy. But if a person possesses heroic capabilities and a great sense of strategy, how could they simply stand by idly? I truly intend to save the people by subjugating this world.”

In those days, voluntary civilian armies were arising in many places, and they clashed with Japanese soldiers. Anyone who was arrested on suspicion of having joined a voluntary civilian army was shot to death regardless of whether or not they had been identified correctly. Therefore, all the disciples felt frightened by the accusation and trembled with fear.

“Even though hundreds of thousands of people have suffered from this trouble, none of them shall suffer even the slightest injury and all of them shall be released, so you don’t have to worry at all.”

On the last night of the 12th lunar month of 1907, hearing great thunder and seeing lightning, Sangje said,
“This means that divine beings have come over from the West.”

On the first day of the new year, the weather was severe due to heavy snowfall.
“This has resulted from the fact that I have finished a great Reordering Work.”

After suffering through the Gobu Calamity, one day one of Sangje’s disciples, Mun Gong-Shin, complained to Him, and Sangje explained, “Since there was no suitable person capable of setting the Gobu Degree Number, I assigned you a major role and conferred the setting of the Dokjosa (the Lone Fisherman) Degree Number upon you. There is a term called a ‘Dokjosa’ in the Jinju (True Lord) gambling, which means that if a man loses all of his money without winning any money from other gamblers, the winner feels obligated to provide him with a mercy fee, and at dawn, that loser may recover the money he lost. This is a Lone Fisherman. The tab for the meals was mentioned once in Gobu, but if the money had been spent paying it off, it could not have resulted in a Lone Fisherman situation.”