The Donghak Revolution

    On the tenth day of the first month in the 35th year of Podeok(1894), in Gobu township, North Jeolla Province, the Donghak administrative head of the region, Jeon Bong-jun, led a crowd of several thousand unable to further tolerate the exploitation and tyranny of Gobu magistrate Jo Byeong-gap in attacking the local government office. It was this incident which touched off the Donghak Revolution.
    Upon the outbreak of this Donghak-led people's uprising, the Joseon court dispatched Royal Commissioner Yi Yong-tae to restore the peace. He rounded up many innocent people on the assumption they were Donghak followers and had them flogged. Other atrocities committed were the plunder of property, setting of fires, and the rape of women. With the situation taking such a turn, followers of Donghak throughout Jeolla Province ultimately came to raise the banner of revolution. Regional Donghak administrative heads Son Hwa-jung of Mujang, Gim Gae-nam of Taein, and Gim Deok-myeong of Geumgu, unable to further tolerate the exploitation and tyranny of Gobu magistrate Jo Byeong-gap, joined Jeong Bong-jun in leading an insurrection in Mujang. On the 21st of the third month, at Paegsan in Gobu a Donghak military force was organized, and finally it was decided that the revolutionary battle be joined. With Donghak Commander Jeon Bong-jun and his manifestoes, petitions, and plans of action at their head, Donghak soldiers, their many-colored unit banners flying, were roused as one to action under the slogans "away with violence, save the people?jepokgumin, 除暴救民) and "repel the West, repel Japan?cheokyang-cheokwae, 斥洋斥倭).
    Seeing Donghak forces advancing on Gobu, Royal Commissioner Yi Yong-tae was utterly terrified and ran off. After taking over Taein and Buan Donghak forces moved on to Dogyosan, and on the seventh day of the fourth month at Hwangtohyeon they achieved a great victory by taking control of Jeongeup, Hongdeok, and Goch"ang.
    The Donghak army, to avoid bringing harm to the guiltless peasantry, established twelve rules for military conduct, and discipline was strict. Wherever they went they were hailed by the people, and their strength and numbers grew by the day. Mujang, Yeonggwang, and Hampyeong were occupied until, on the twenty-third day of the fourth month, in a hard fought battle at Hwangyongcheon in Jangseong, the Seoul forces under Hong Gye-hun met with a resounding defeat. Finally, on the twenty-seventh day of the fourth month, Donghak forces, by occupying Jeonju, had seized control of the entire Honam region, with an advance on Seoul firmly in their sights.
    In this situation, the government army reported to the court that they had insufficient manpower to suppress the revolt. The emasculated and spiritless ministers at court thereupon committed treason against the nation by requesting the help of volunteer forces from the Chinese government. In this way, on the fifth and seventh days of the fifth month, some two thousand Chinese soldiers disembarked at Asan. More trouble came in the form of seven thousand Japanese soldiers who disembarked at Incheon on the sixth day of the fifth month and marched towards Seoul.
    By this time Donghak forces had made their triumphal entry into Jeonju, taken control of the entire Honam region, and were planning to head north towards Seoul. However, so as to not give the armies of either China or Japan a pretext for interfering in Korea, they suspended their northward march. After entering negotiations with government forces the "Jeonju Accord?was concluded by the two sides, which contained provisions for the implementation of "Reform Proposals for the Corrupt Government?and the establishment of Donghak "Overseer's Offices?jibgangso, 執綱所). In exchange, Donghak forces, on the eighth day of the fifth month, relinquished control of Jeonju and returned it to government troops. The twelve items of the "Reform Proposals for the Corrupt Government?are of great import and profound meaning, and represent the concrete first steps of Korea's modernization. Some of these proposals are as follows: "All crimes committed by greedy and corrupt officials shall be investigated and severely punished?"Tyrannical and overbearing people of great wealth shall be severely punished? "Slave registry documents shall be burned? "Discriminatory treatment of the seven classes of lowborn shall be ameliorated, and the wearing of the "Pyeongyang hat?by members of the very lowest class is no longer required?"A young widow shall be allowed to remarry?
    Furthermore, Donghak forces established "Overseer's Offices?in each of Jeolla Province? 53 administrative districts, and for the very first time in Korean history set up an independent people? government guided by an autonomous regional administrative system.
    The independent and autonomous implementation of these reforms were proceeding peacefully when Japan and China, claiming a moral obligation to suppress the Donghak followers and having mutual designs for domination over the other, landed their forces on the Korean peninsula, thereby setting the stage for the Sino-Japanese War. With the military balance of power favoring Japan, its forces quickly made King Kojong their virtual prisoner. A puppet government supporting Japanese policies was then set up, and the so-called Gabo Reforms(甲午更張) were implemented.
    When Donghak forces learned the facts of the Japanese army's encroachment they once again collected their arms, retook Jeonju, and aimed for Seoul. Finally, on the 18th day of the ninth month, on orders from Master Haeweol, all Donghak administrative units from throughout the country assembled at Cheongsan in Chungcheong Province, and the violent specter of the Resistance War Against Japan was launched. To this purpose Donghak forces were mobilized from 339 regional units spread throughout the country to form a huge army numbering in the many tens of thousands. In the tenth month, already in control of the three southernmost provinces and the southeastern part of Chungcheong Province, they concentrated their main force at Nonsan and proceeded to march northward towards Gongju.
    At the battle of Seseongsan near Mokcheon Donghak forces inflicted roughly a thousand casualties, and at Iinyeok and Ongnobong in Gongju the main army crushed government forces, but when it reached Bonghwangsan on the twenty-second day of the tenth month, a great and bloody battle was joined at Ugeumchi in Gongju with Japanese troops. In the battle of Eugeumchi in Gongju, Eugeumchigogae was lost and retaken no less than forty to fifty times, and the area was strewn with dead bodies and drenched in blood. However, the Donghak army was no match for the powerful new weaponry and superior firepower enjoyed by the Japanese, and on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, with the dead covering Eugeumchigogae, they met with the undying bitterness of wretched defeat and retreat.
    Afterwards, with the intention of destroying all vestiges of Donghak, Japanese forces relentlessly and indiscriminately carried out punitive operations. During this time Donghak forces throughout the country, in Chongju, Hongcheon, Hadong, in Hwanghae Province and Pyeongan Province, and Sangweon, carried on with fighting, but after many gruesome and bloody battles they collapsed, having sacrificed some 300,000 lives in all. Afterwards, in the 39th year of Podeok(1898) Master Haeweol was captured and executed by government troops. He was 72.
    The Donghak Revolution came into being under dual banners of anti-feudalism and anti-foreign encroachment, but it was also the ardent wish of Donghak followers to bring about a society in the new dimension of the ?ost-Cosmic creation?