Over a century ago, the Dojeon outlined a precise timeline for civilizational transformation, describing a seven-to-eight-year period marked by escalating global conflicts beginning with "a black coat from the north" and culminating at "the Hour of the Horse." This timeline (2022-2029) remarkably aligns with independent scientific projections: MIT's "Limits to Growth" predicts systemic collapse by 2024-2030, climate scientists warn of cascading tipping points by 2030, and the ordained event markers (2022 Russia-Ukraine war, 2026 US-Venezuela intervention) match real-world developments with startling accuracy. The convergence of Sangjenim's Work of Renewal and modern systems analysis points to the same conclusion: we are passing through a narrow window of profound transition.
[How Will the Work of Heaven and Earth Proceed?]
1Sangjenim revealed to the disciples, “The enlightenment to come lies within Geon, Gam, Gan, Jin, Son, Ri, Gon, and Tae.” 2While seated, Ryu Chan-myeong loudly recited the eight trigrams once and then went outside.
3At that moment, Choe Deok-gyeom asked Sangjenim, “How will the work of heaven and earth proceed?”
4Sangjenim wrote horizontally the Twelve Earthly Branches:
子丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥
자축인묘진사오미신유술해
ja chuk in myo jin sa o mi sin yu sul hae
Rat, Cow, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig
5He then declared, “This is how the work will proceed.”
6“It is difficult to understand,” Gim Ja-hyeon said. “How can we know through the Twelve Earthly Branches when the work of heaven and earth will be fulfilled?”
7Sangjenim wrote, above the Twelve Earthly Branches, the Ten Heavenly Stems:
甲乙丙丁戊己庚辛壬癸
갑을병정무기경신임계
gap eul byeong jeong mu gi gyeong sin im gye
8He then asked Cha Gyeong-seok, “Do you understand?”
“No, I do not understand.”
9“Only enlightened ones as empty as bamboo can truly understand,” Sangjenim said.10“It is like a reed on a loom and a hair comb. Do you understand?”
“No, I do not,” Gyeong-seok answered.
11“You cannot understand through the mainstream pursuits of the Early Heaven. You can understand only through the pursuit of my dao beyond the mainstream.”
[Dojeon 10:24]
[The Publication of the Dojeon and the Passage to the Later Heaven Gaebyeok]
1In a work of renewal, Sangjenim recited an old poem:
2七八年間古國城은 畵中天地一餠成이요
칠팔년간고국성 화중천지일병성
黑衣飜北風千里하고 白日頃西夜五更이라
흑의번북풍천리 백일경서야오경
For seven to eight years, this fortress of an ancient land
is heaven and earth in a painting,
like a delectable morsel of rice cake.
A black coat flutters in the north; the tempest blows one thousand ri.
A white sun sinks in the west; night has grown deep.
3東起靑雲空有影하고 南來赤豹忽無聲이라
동기청운공유영 남래적표홀무성
虎兎龍蛇相會日에 無辜人民萬一生이니라
호토용사상회일 무고인민만일생
A green cloud rises in the east, casting a shadow in the air.
A red leopard of the south suddenly goes silent.
At the time when the tiger, rabbit, dragon, and snake meet,
among the world’s people, though they are blameless, only one in ten thousand survives.
[Dojeon 5:229]
[The Dawn of the Later Heaven Gaebyeok]
1One day, Sangjenim composed a poem and gave it to Gim Byeong-seon:
2日入酉配 亥子難分
일입유배 해자난분
日出寅卯辰 事不知
일출인묘진 사부지
日正巳午未 開明
일정사오미 개명
日中爲市交易退 帝出震
일중위시교역퇴 제출진
The sun sets in the Hour of the Rooster,
obscuring all in darkness as in the hours of the Pig and Rat.
The sun rises in the hours of the Tiger, Rabbit, and Dragon,
yet people still do not fathom the tides of the world.
The sun crosses the meridian in the hours of the Snake, Horse, and Sheep,
and my dao and the tides of the world are brightly revealed.
When the sun reaches its zenith, the marketplace of my dao flourishes;
When trading subsides and the market closes, a founding emperor emerges from the direction Jin.
3Moreover, Sangjenim proclaimed, “When the rooster crows, dawn has come. When the dog barks, people are up and about. 4The destiny of one year lasts until the April of the next year. 5In the years of the Dragon and Snake, a holy sage emerges, and in the years of the Horse and Sheep, bliss fills every house of my dao.”
6He also revealed, “When writings of illumination come forth, all minds will awaken.”
[Dojeon 5:178]
[A Dosu for a Massive War; Keenly Observe the Grand Tides of the World]
1Sangjenim one day ordered the disciples, “Ascend Gumisan Mountain.” 2After Sangjenim ascended Gumisan Mountain, bypassing Yumungeori Crossroads, he asked, “What is the current time?”
3“It is about noon,” a disciple answered.
4At that time, Gim Ja-hyeon gazed down toward the marketplace and then informed Sangjenim, “The people at the marketplace are butting each other in the head.”
5At this, all the disciples directed their attention to the marketplace and saw that everyone in it, both men and women, had grabbed each other by the collar and were butting their heads. If they did not have an opponent, they butted their head against a pillar or wall.
6Witnessing this, a disciple inquired of Sangjenim, “What is the nature of this dosu?”
7“This is a dosu for war. I could compel all the world’s people to fight one another on the same day at the same hour, as in that marketplace,” Sangjenim revealed. 8“By all means, be mindful. My dosu is the dosu in which the outside converges inward, so keenly observe the grand tides of the world.”
9At that moment, a disciple asked, “Since you conducted this work of renewal at the Hour of the Horse, does this mean that war will break out at the Hour of the Horse?”
10“That is something that you should all contemplate deeply,” Sangjenim said.
[Dojeon 5:68]
[The Conclusion of the Five Immortals Playing Baduk Dosu]
1After he had completed the Work of Renewing Heaven and Earth, Sangjenim proclaimed, “With the sangssireum, this world of the Early Heaven will come to an end in the land of the Northeast. 2War will bring closure to the world, so how could there not be war at the time of gaebyeok?”
[The Grand Tides of Sangssireum]
3Sangjenim also revealed, “No matter how the world boils over, the end will come only when the northern side(North Korea) invades the southern side.
4“A war will flare up at the thirty-eighth parallel, but a vaster war will be waged in China.
5“At the coming of the time, the disaster of war and the disaster of disease will erupt simultaneously. 6The disease will strike soon after the war erupts, and the war will be halted only by this disease. 7At that time, pandemonium will reign throughout all lands, and there will be neither winners nor losers, only annihilation. 8When such a time arrives, the grand tides of the world will be yours, and my work will be fulfilled in a single stroke.”
[Dojeon 5:214]
[How the Disease Will Eventually Spread Across the World]
1Sangjenim also revealed, “In the coming times when the catastrophic disease breaks out first in Gunchang(Gunsan), the province of Jeollabuk-do will reek of rotting corpses lying everywhere. 2After it strikes Gwangju and Naju, the province of Jeollanam-do will reek of rotting corpses lying everywhere. 3After it strikes Incheon, the entire world will fall into the same horrible state.”
4“In the future when the catastrophic disease breaks out in Gunchang, the place of its origination, it will spread in circles for seven days and then leap toward the northwest. By that time, the situation will have become desperate. 5The disease will sweep across Joseon for forty-nine days and then devastate the world for three years. 6When the disease strikes Gunchang, know that the world is coming to an end.”
[Dojeon 7:32]
