Son pivoted from that world view by embracing modernization and accepting help from Japan to achieve that goal.

In any event, after Japan forced Korea to become its protectorate, Son began to distance Donghak from Japanese affiliation.

[7]  Finally in 1919, a mass demonstration was organized calling for Korean independence, with Cheondogyo, Christian and Buddhist religious leaders at the forefront of the movement.

trained [extensively] reading [reciting] the Twenty-One [Character] Incantation thirty thousand times a day.

[16] Cheondogyo sources indicate that Son participated in the petition movement and was a leader of northern assembly forces in the rebellion.

[12] Following the rebel defeat, Haewol and the top leadership of Donghak remained on the run from government authorities.

He established a three person leadership group including Son called the Samam (the three "am", referring to the last character of their religious names).

He had considered going to the United States but decided on Japan as the best place to learn of modern western culture while remaining close enough to Korea to monitor developments there and to maintain control of Donghak.

He went back to Korea briefly and returned to Japan with 24 students who studied Japanese language and trained in modern ways.

This was a dramatic reversal from the sentiments of General Jeon Bongjun, who had cursed Gabo reformists as pro-Japanese "traitors" before he was executed.

The first official Cheondogyo history, Pongyo Yoksa, written in 1912, states that the cutting of hair was seen by Son as a sign that Korea and Donghak were becoming part of the contemporary world.

Furthermore, earlier forced haircutting of Koreans, including the King Gojong, by the Japanese was considered a major humiliation.

Son's brother met with a Japanese general, the deputy chief of staff, and received enthusiastic support for the idea.

It is important to note, however, that those desiring change in Korean government often looked to Japan's Meiji Restoration as an example that Korea could follow, and this often led reformists to seek Japanese help to implement their vision".

[26] He also stressed the importance of a national religion: "Each country in the world safeguards religious enlightenment, protects its people and teaches them an occupation, making their countries as safe as the Tai Mountains [in China]"[27] Samjonnon proposed three means for attaining a stronger nation: religion, the military and industrialization.

Its main activities included promotion of education, economic development, defense of people's rights and aid to the Japanese in the Russo-Japanese War.

The lure of the protectorate status was that Japan would help modernize Korea and then grant it independence at some future time.

[33] According to Carl Young "[Son's] policy had been alliance with Japan not Japanese control over Korean affairs.

"[34] In order to regain his leadership roll and to distance Donghak from the Ilchinhoe and its Japanese connection, Son renamed it Cheondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way) on 1 December 1905.

The office of Administration and Doctrine was presided over by Kim Yon-guk, one of the previous members of Haewol's Samam and who had been released from prison by that time.

As noted by George Kallander: "Under [Son's] leadership, church leaders no longer hid deep in the mountains or at Buddhist temples, creating problems for the state or alarming the foreign community or governments.

Ilchinhoe had begun to harass those who did not agree with its modernization policies and to carryout negative publicity campaigns against politicians that were not in full agreement with it.

[41] Koreans held a special place in the divine order; he stated that although the Lord on High is the father of all people he loves "our country".

Previously, Donghak initiation rituals were held usually on mountaintops on the first and fifteenth days of the month, followed by singing and dancing.

Key elements included recitation of the Donghak talisman, presentation of a bowl of pure water to represent the clarity of heaven and an offering.

[44] During the five years of the protectorate period and even after annexation in 1910, many Koreans had accepted Japan's control as unavoidable and a temporary state of affairs which would allow Korea to modernize.

[7]  Religious organizations, which were protected under Japan's freedom of religion policy, became an important channel for expression of nationalistic sentiments because political parties like Ilchinhoe had been banned.

Cheondogyo under the leadership of Son was able to adopt a more nationalistic stance without arousing Japanese suspicion in part because the authorities still considered it pro-Japanese.

After the war, the Paris Peace accords and Woodrow Wilson's philosophy of "self-determination of peoples" became important motivations.

[51] This initiated a nationwide movement in which many people took part, regardless of locality and social status, but the Japanese immediately mobilized their police and army and brutally put down the demonstrations.