I. Traditional Views

Aimed at least partially towards towards the perfection of human nature, the martial arts are influenced by some traditional views of what constitutes "perfection". To understand tradition as well as to appreciate the Wonhwa Do view of man, we will first mention some traditional views.

A. The "Superior" Man of Confucianism
Confucius' view of the ideal man was consistent with his overriding interest in formal ethics. He treasured the "Way of Heaven" and aimed for virtue. With such ideas, the Confucian ideal of perfection was called the "superior" man ("chun tzu"). This is a virtuous man, described by Confucius as one who is "courteous in his private conduct, punctilious in serving his superior, kind in his dealing with people, and just in exacting services from them". Furthermore, when trial comes, "A gentleman stands firm in his misery. It is the small man who gives way to license in times of trouble". Such a man is disciplined and cannot be pried from virtue even by misfortune. The way to virtue is through knowledge and one's success in learning indicates his character. On this matter Confucius said:

"Men born with possession of knowledge are the highest type; those who gain it by study rank next; those who gain it by study rank next; . . . those who, although they study hard, do not attain it are lowest."

Thus, through studious application, Confucianism was generally optimistic regarding the improvement of man's "original" nature. Original nature was described by Hsun Tzu, a disciple of Confucius, in the following way:

"Original nature is the unwrought material of the original . . . Without original nature, there would be nothing upon which to add acquired training. But without acquired training, original nature could not become beautiful by itself."

Thus, in Confucianism, the notions of discipline and scholarship towards the attainment of personal virtue are characteristic of its view of the man of harmony.

B. The Selfless Man of Buddhism
Zen Buddhism also had exercised a heavy influence on the martial arts. One important notion is the state of "selflessness". This is a state of mind which is not like the opposite of selfishness; it is more extreme than that. One Zen master explains that a swordmaster achieves perfection when: "All is emptiness: your own self, the flashing sword, and the arms that wield it. Even the thought of emptiness is no longer there." (Takuan) And another says that such a master ". . . lives happily enough in the world, but ready at any time to quit it without being in the least disturbed by the thought of death." (D. Suzuki)
Achieving this kind of radical inner harmony has numerous beneficial effects: equanimity, fearlessness, spontaneity, etc. But it is only gained through severe and prolonged training.
Another important notion is that of the "bodhisattva". This is the name of one who has attained total inner harmony but is willing to return back to the earth in order to show the way to other seekers. This ideal is highly regarded in Buddhism and it therefore promotes an attitude of self-sacrifice among teachers.

C. The Man of "Normality" in Taoism
In Taoism, the ideal man is one who achieves harmony with nature's Tao. Lao Tzu called this state "normality". Of it he said:

"Knowing Normality, a man is all-embracing. Being all-embracing, he is selfless / Being selfless, he is supreme / Being supreme, he is divine / Being divine, he is with Tao / With Tao, he is everlasting."

Normality then has to do with achieving personal harmony with the Tao. This produces behaviour which is non-assertive and adaptable. Yet by following the Tao and not opposing it, Lao Tzu said that the business of life somehow gets done in due time. He explained this conviction by saying that: "The Tao invariably does nothing, and yet there is nothing that is not done."
Because of these views, Taoism promotes man's achievement of a passive or yielding kind of harmony with nature's Tao.

D. The Loyal Man of Shintoism
In this indigenous Japanese religion, elements of the preceding philosophies can be perceived. But there was a particularly radical stress upon harmony with the lord, especially the emperor, who was considered the descendant of heaven. Loyalty to the emperor thus became synonymous with loyalty to God. Largely influenced by this belief, the samurai warrior's code ("bushido") considered the harmony of extreme loyalty an essential characteristic of an ideal man.

E. The Patriotic Man of Chondogyoism
The Chondogyo faith emerged in Korea and was influenced by the nation's history of defence against larger invading Asian nations. It was later also influenced by the colonial expansion of Western nations. Because of these situations, the Chondogyo faith developed a strong identity with the national purpose. It nurtures a spirit of loyalty and patriotism, which is thoroughly compatible with the spirit of the older Hwarangdo martial tradition.

All of these traditional views have endowed the martial arts with strongly inherent concepts about what personal harmony actually means. They also share the viewpoint that man must consciously try to improve his nature and develop this heart, so that he lives for greater things than himself alone. Regarding this, a particularly valuable observation was made by Mencius, the great disciple of Confucius:

"Human-heartedness is man's heart, and righteousness is man's path . . . When men lose their fowl and dogs, they know to seek them. But they lose the heart and do not know to seek for it. The end of learning is nothing but the search for the lost heart."

II. The Wonhwa Do View of Man

In Wonhwa Do, inner harmony depends upon achieving man's "original human nature". Since this is one of the main goals for practicing Wonhwa Do, we must explain what is meant by the concept of original human nature. In short, it is the kind of nature possessed by an "original man"; one who embodies the Principle of Harmony within himself. Thus, we will discuss original man's nature in reference to the cosmic law. We will discuss his Correlativity, Individuality, Original Character, Position and Standards of Harmony. Finally, we must explain "fallen nature".

A. Correlativity
1. Unity of Mind and Body
Man is a being with the correlative aspects of mind and body. The body has instinctive desires for food, shelter, sex and clothing, and the mind is uniquely interested in the pursuit of values. The main values are truth - which satisfies the intellect, beauty - which satisfies the emotion, and goodness - which satisfies the will. The human mind possesses these three capacities of intellect, emotion and will, and the development of certain fields of study is also directly related to them. As the diagram illustrates, man's development of science is related to intellect; his development of arts is related to emotion; and his development of religion and philosophy is related to will.
As the relationship of internal to external should be a subject-object relationship, in man the mind should be subject over the body. A good deal of the discipline in Wonhwa Do is done for the purpose of establishing harmony based upon mental dominion over the body. This in turn is based upon the mind's harmony with the Origin.
Thus, a first step in achieving proper mind and body unity is to achieve a mind "centered" upon the Origin. This is one main reason for the meditation, tenets, bows and spoken affirmations of Wonhwa Do. As can be seen in the diagram, such a relationship can be expressed through the structure of the Quadruple Base. This is such a basic idea in Wonhwa Do that the first form a student will learn - Sawa Gidae Eui Hyung - is based upon it.

2. Harmony of Man and Woman
The other aspect of correlativity is the harmony of yang and yin. In humanity, this is expressed as the harmony of man and woman. The ultimate expression of this is conjugal harmony, or an ideal marriage.
This does not merely refer to a "horizontal" or romantic relationship between a couple. Conjugal harmony is instead based upon the "vertical" relationship that each of the individuals has established with the Origin. Then, when they engage in a conjugal relationship, they automatically bring their personal centeredness into an interpersonal centered relationship. This would lead to true fulfilment and it is why Wonhwa Do stresses the value of conjugal harmony: it expresses the correlativity of yang and yin in the universe and thus of the Principle of Harmony within it.

B. The Individuality of Man
Besides having correlativity, man is also a being with individuality. This means that each man and woman is a unique individual and unlike others. This is possible because of the way each person's mind and body is modified by the yang and yin attributes. To be more specific, this means that - in the mind - the intellect, emotion and will can be each be given a certain character which is more yang or yin. Thus, a person's character can be more thoughtful and pensive (yin). Also - in the body - all parts of the physique can be varied to be more yang or yin. In this case, one body can be tall and heavy (yang), while another could be short and light (yin).
In reality, because every single part of a person's mind and body can be modified through yang and yin, the degree of variation possible between people is infinite; this ultimately stems from the infinitely creative imagination of the Origin. That is the reason why there is distinctness between the personalities and physiques of individuals: people are endowed with their own unique individuality.
Finally, each person is also a unique object of Shimjung for the Origin. For these reasons, Wonhwa Do is concerned with the appreciation and development of the individuality of each student.

C. The Original Character of Man
Of all created beings, man was uniquely conceived of as a being with original character. This is the main thing which distinguishes man form other creatures. It called "original" character because it is patterned after the Divine Character of the Origin. This was done in order that man would be the highest object of Shimjung. Similar to that Divine Character, the original character of man is composed of Shimjung, Logos and Creativity.

1. Man is a being of Shimjung

Shimjung is the first and most essential aspect of man's original character. As we had explained in the Principal of Harmony, original man is a being of Shimjung (Original Heart; that is, one united with the Origin's own). To repeat, this refers to his inner impulse to experience enjoyment through relationship. It is an irrepressible impulse and thus the most powerful determinant of all behaviour: what Shimjung desires determines what the mind will think, the emotion will feel and the will will pursue.
Also, since Shimjung is the root of intellect, emotion and will it can express itself through all of them. Thus, when love flows outward from Shimjung, it may be shaded with an intellectual, emotional or wilful colouring. For example, Shimjung may be expressed intellectually by imparting knowledge to enlighten. It may be expressed emotionally through words of endearment. And it may be expressed through will, as when discipline is administered.
In Wonhwa Do instruction all these ways are employed by the instructor as he invests his heart in his students. He will alternately give intellectual explanations of techniques at one moment, then emotional encouragement at another or strong-willed commands at yet another moment. In all these situations throughout a class, a good instructor is simply directing the expression of heart through different channels.

2. Man is a being of Logos
Logos is the second main aspect of man's original character. As we had explained in Chapter Two, it refers to the reason and law within the mind.
Reason is the highest stage of intellect, the two lower stages being perception and understanding. To clarify the difference between the three, we can say that "perception" is the act of the sensory organs in perceiving a sensation, whether it be sound, image, taste, smell or touch. After a sensation is perceived, it is identified by the intellect and this constitutes "understanding". Reason is the highest act of the intellect because it then takes the understandings (or individual ideas) and uses them to analyse and create new ideas.
Law is the other component of Logos. It is inherent within man's original mind and accounts for the sense of both natural and moral law, which guides and restrains our conduct.
As the diagram illustrates, Logos is formed - centred upon Shimjung - by the Give and Take Action of reason and law within the mind. This characteristic is what makes an original mind value behaviour and relationships which are both reasonable and lawful. Thus, man is meant to conduct himself responsibly, governed by reason and law throughout all his life: during childhood and education, during marriage and employment, and in society. However, it is most important that these relationships do not become mere "legalities", because the centre of Logos in original man is Shimjung. This actually means that every single thought of a man with original character would be motivated by Shimjung.

3. Man is a being of Creativity
This is the third basic aspect of man's original character. It endows man with the ability to create new things. Specifically, it is the activity resulting from the Give and Take Action within mind and body, impelled by Shimjung.
For example, the creation of a form in Wonhwa Do is initiated by a Purpose (which Shimjung generates). Then, within the mind, reason acts with law to form Logos and a "logical" plan of movement and technique is visualised in the mind. Then, when the mind guides the body to move and execute these techniques in actuality, the form is substantially created.
Looking at it this way, it should be evident that original creativity is not an accidental or random process. Rather, it should be guided by Logos and most of all, by Shimjung.

D. The Position of Man
This fourth section in Wonhwa Do's view of man deals with the position which he occupies in the created world. By this we are referring to the relationships a human being should have witth the Original Being and with other created beings. This is important to know because it helps man understand his value and his responsibility more clearly.
Man is meant to hold two positions in the universe: the object position and the subject position.

1. The Object Position of Man
The Principle of Harmony explains that man's primary position in life is to be the object of the Origin. It is for this reason that he was originally conceived, since Shimjung requires an object of relationship.
It was to fulfill this position that man was conceived with an original character (Shimjung, logos and creativity) patterned after the Divine Character of the Origin.
Gaining an awareness of this position produces a special kind of inner attitude called "object-consciousness". When someone achieves this state, his heart (Shimjung), thought (logos) and action (creativity) act in consonance with the Origin's own. This is the first level of harmony, which Wonhwa Do aims to cultivate. In such a relationship, the unity of the Origin and man is realized through perfect subject-object relationship. This state of inner harmony is what many past masters have aimed at in one way or another.
In Wonhwa Do, object-consciousness causes the student to conceive of himself as objective to his instructors, parents, and ultimately to the Origin. Object-consciousness manifests itself through actual virtues such as loyalty, filial piety and obedience. On the other hand, attitudes such as arrogance, disunity and egocentricity are indications of an off-centred consciousness.
2. The Subject Position of Man
The Principle of Harmony identifies the second position of man as the subject position. This means that he is originally meant to occupy a position of authority or "dominion" in the world. This would require him to achieve a degree of expertise in some field. Then, with this qualification, some things of the world - including people in an organisation - could be the objects of his dominion. He could manage them creatively to achieve goals and experience enjoyment.
Such dominion should not be abusive of course. Original subjectivity depends upon having first achieved object-consciousness, meaning harmony with the Origin. This object-consciousness is the prerequisite for a person to have subject-consciousness for is what keeps the heart, thought and action centred upon Shimjung.
A person in the subject position should act with the awareness that he represents the heart and thought of his own subject, and this is ultimately the Origin. Thus, he should manage his objects in a manner which reflects his regard for the concerns of his own subject.
In Wonhwa Do, this means that a senior practitioner must regard his juniors in the way that the founder would. He must be benevolent, dignified, strict and provide a model for the personal development of the junior students. On the other hand, arrogance and brutishness are signs of off-centred subjectivity and a consciousness which is cut off from the founder.
E. Standards of Harmony
The Principle of Harmony upholds three standards of harmony, which a person must attain to achieve his original human nature. These are Individual harmony, Conjugal harmony and Universal harmony.
1. Individual Harmony
Individual harmony refers to the unity of mind and body centred upon the Origin. This is the first standard and the equivalent of individual perfection. It is also the basis for all subsequent development.
The diagram indicates that in this state, the mind is subject of the body and the body is responsive to the mind.
The mind is also centred upon the Origin's Shimjung, and thus the intellect, emotion and will are likewise centred. Because of that, the heart, thought and actions of such an individual would cause joy for both the Origin and himself.
The virtues associated with this kind of centred harmony are loyalty and filial piety. This is the reason why Wonhwa Do is focused on their cultivation.
2. Conjugal Harmony
Conjugal harmony refers to the unity of husband and wife centred on the Origin. This is the second standard of harmony and it is the reflection of the harmony of yang and yin in the universe.
Conjugal harmony provides the foundation for building an ideal family. In such a situation, a man and woman who have each achieved individual harmony engage in marriage and produce children who would then also learn how to attain individual harmony. The result would be a family where Shimjung is fully manifested: the husband would love the Origin, his wife and his child; the wife would love the Origin, her husband and her child; the child would love the Origin, its father and its mother; and the Origin would have them all as His objects of Shimjung. As the diagram indicates, the result is a beautifully centred family with "twelve bonds of love" uniting them.
Because of this standard, Wonhwa Do aims at producing men and women who can be faithful husbands and wives embodying the virtue of "fidelity", as well as parents with the virtue of "benevolence". This standard also makes such behaviour as infidelity and child abuse violations of the Principle of Harmony.
3. Universal Harmony
Universal harmony refers to the unity of mankind with nature and created things centred upon the Origin. This is the third standard of harmony and the basis for an "ideal world".
In this situation, original man would be the true subject of the creation and the creation would be responsive to him. He would exercise a dominion of creative authority over all things. Centred upon Shimjung, he could then use the materials of the earth to create clothing, furniture, tools, buildings, roads and all manner of things. This would bring happiness to man, to nature and to the Origin who created it all.
Because of this standard, Wonhwa Do encourages an attitude of respect, appreciation and responsibility for the things in the universe. Students start by caring for their bodies, uniforms, and the training hall. This should then be projected into an appreciation for all things.

F. Original Nature and Fallen Nature
The ideal of original human nature is as we have explained it thus far. However, in reality, man struggles with the weight of "fallen nature". This is related to deviant behaviour and a reversal of human values. This means that the desires of the body take priority over those of the mind. Thus, sensory gratification takes precedence over the pursuit of values, meaning truth, beauty, goodness and love. In such a state, fallen human nature causes a person to behave in a selfish and self-centred manner.
Fallen nature distorts every other aspect of the original nature: it causes confusion in man-woman relationships; it distorts original individuality into narcissism; it corrupts the original heart, morality and creativity; it destroys the proper awareness of object and subject positions; and it causes disharmony in the individual, the family and the world.
In Wonhwa Do, fallen nature is the main barrier to development. Through the student-teacher relationship and years of discipline and training, all the tendencies of fallen nature must be stripped away so that the student's original human nature can be revived and strengthened.

Conclusion

These are the basic ideas of Wonhwa Do's view of a man of harmony, one with original human nature. While there are similarities with the traditional views, the differences are apparent.
To repeat, in Wonhwa Do, harmony is not only a matter of union between mind and body; nor is it a matter harmony with forces of life or the universe. It is aimed at harmony with the Original Being. In many views however, the Origin is reduced to an infinitely vast and unknowable force or entity.
In Wonhwa Do however, though vastness is not denied, there is a stress on the resemblance between the Original Being and the human being, which He purposed in order to make their relationship possible. Specifically, this resemblance occurs between the divine nature of the Origin and the original nature of man. Firstly, The Origin possesses the correlative attributes of Sung Sang-Hyung Sang and yang-yin, and man possesses the corresponding attributes of mind-body and man-woman. And secondly, the Origin possesses the Divine Character of Shimjung, Logos and Creativity, and man possesses the original character of Shimjung, Logos and Creativity. Thus, despite their differences, the Original and the human being bear resemblance to one another. This provides a basis for understanding and allows especially the relationship of Shimjung - which the Origin intends and which man needs - to be fulfilled. To help establish this essential relationship is one of the greatest goals of Wonhwa Do.