¹After thwarting Chi-bok’s campaign to relocate the dojang, Gyeong-seok usurped authority over the dao order on the winter solstice of 1916.²He conferred the twenty-four most senior positions of leadership upon twenty-four of his most loyal subordinates, among whom were Gim Hyeong-gyu and Mun Jeong-sam.³He then sent these officials to various regions to win the support of the followers and to consolidate his authority over the dao order.

⁴In the time that followed, not only was Gyeong-seok ill at ease that Taemonim was so near,⁵he was afraid that his prestige would suffer if others heard how She daily addressed him: “Gyeong-seok, you fool!”⁶And so, Gyeong-seok began to estrange Taemonim from the followers to sever Her relations with them,⁷even hanging a curtain of strung beads over the doorway of Her living quarters,⁸naming this the ‘Passage of Decorum,’ and forbidding anyone access to it without his permission.⁹This curtain was hung ostensibly as a sign of honor, but was actually intended to prevent the followers from seeking audiences with Taemonim.

¹⁰Eventually, the followers ceased visiting the dojang, and only Gyeong-seok and his brothers remained to serve Taemonim.