The throne shall go to Myŭng-bok, second son of Prince Heung-sŭng (whose name was Yi Ha-eung). Minister Chong shall be executor of the king’s will and Minister Kim shall go and find the newly appointed king.” The Dowager Queen Cho thus became Regent and the queen’s party, the Kim family, had to retire from power. It was at the very beginning of the reign that the peculiar sect called the Tong-hak arose in the south. Its founder was one Ch'oe Pok-sul of Kyöng-ju in Kyŭng sang Province. The great formula of the sect was the mysterious sentence _Ch’ŭn Ju cho a chung yŭng se bul mang man sa eui_, which means “May the Lord of Heaven aid our minds that we may ever remember, and may He make all things turn out according to our desire.” The adherents of this sect would sit and sing this formula by the hour. They would also dance, brandishing swords in a sort of frenzy, and pretend to be rising to heaven. The name Tong-hak or “Eastern Sect” was given by themselves to distinguish themselves from the Sŭ-hak or “Western Sect,” namely Roman Catholicism. So at least some affirm. Its rise was exceedingly rapid and soon it had enrolled an enormous number of people. The government was at last obliged to take cognizance of it, and a body of troops was sent south, who captured and put to death the founder of the sect. This put an end for the time to its active propagandism but it was by no means dead, as we shall see. The Dowager Queen Cho was a violent opponent of Christianity and filled all the offices with enemies of the Roman Catholics. But she was not to hold the reins of power long. The king’s father in view of his son’s elevation to the throne had received the title Prince Tă-wŭn, or Tă-wŭn-gun as he is usually called. He was a man of commanding personality and inflexible will and on the whole lie was the most striking character in modern Korean history. He has been variously estimated. Some have considered him the greatest statesman in Korea; others have taken him for a mere demagogue. His main characteristic was an indomitable will which took the bit in its teeth and swept toward the goal of its desire irrespective of every obstacle, whether of morals, economics, politics or consanguinity. He was withal unable to read the signs of the times. The two great mistakes of his life were, first in supposing he could eradicate Roman Catholicism by force, and second in supposing that he could prevent the opening of Korea to treaty relations. The regency naturally passed into his hands and he tacitly agreed to uphold the principles of the conservative party that had raised him to power.