 Toward the end of the nineteenth century amid the onset of the foreign/Western influences, Ch’oe Che-u invented the first indigenous system of philosophy/religion (called “Tonghak (Eastern Learning)” with an emphasis on the internalized conception of Heaven in humans. As the creator of the revolutionary movement, Ch’oe calls the ultimate reality “Supreme Vital Force” (chiki 至氣). Thus, Vital Force plays a decisive role in his Weltanschauung. However, it is not the same notion of Vital Force found in the traditional Neo-Confucian Principle-Vital Force scheme of things. For, in Tonghak, “Vital Force” here means “dynamic, creative energy” instead of the material force that can be the cause of moral evil. Further, Ch’oe does not think that Vital Force here is subject to regulation by the unifying and controlling norm of Principle. The Vital Force in Tonghak is the energy or spirit that permeates all things in the world. Human beings are no exception. This is the reason why humans can be united with Supreme Vital Force. In this sense Vital Force is a spiritual energy guarding the heart-mind (守心正氣) (Choe, “nonhakmun,” Tongkyŏng Taechŏn). Human beings, like everything else in the universe, is an expression of the Supreme Vital Force (Ch’oe Che-u, “incantation,” Tongkyŏng Taechŏn).