¹Mun Gong-sin was born in Gangsam-ri Village of Taein County, but moved to Waryong-ri Village of Gobu County after his marriage.

²Gong-sin’s family was wealthy, owning vast tracts of land in Waryong-ri Village, so he had no need to worry about a livelihood and instead devoted himself from youth to seeking dao.³At age sixteen, during the Eastern Learning Revolution of 1894, he joined his second oldest brother, Seon-myeong, in the Battle of Hwangtohyeon Hill.⁴After the Eastern Learning Revolution ended in failure, Gong-sin quietly secluded himself at his house for a period, then eventually joined the Catholic Church and received baptism.⁵Afterward, he returned to ardently believing in and practicing Eastern Learning, so much so that when Eastern Learning adherents held a major assembly in Ganggyeong Township in 1904, he sold thirteen plots of his rice field and presented the money as offering. He also served as the president of the Iljin Association for Heungdeok and Buan counties.⁶However, he eventually began to harbor doubts about the Eastern Learning movement, and he one day thought, “None of these paths are what I seek, so where can I go to find the true path?” Full of ardent devotion, Gong-sin began searching for a true teacher.

⁷One day, Gong-sin went before the Shrine of General Guan Yu in Taein County and fervently prayed for days on end, pleading, “Allow me to meet a true teacher.”⁸He received no sign for the first five days, save for visitations by demons.⁹But the demons finally vanished on the sixth day, and the spirit of General Guan Yu appeared to Gong-sin and commanded, “Go south.” The spirit then vanished.