Comments on: Demands of the Tonghak Rebels

By: Owen

Owen — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 10:55:37 +0000

That Korea Journal I mentioned was vol. 34 and it has tbe overall title ‘The Peasant War of 1894′. The use of the term ‘peasant war’ is itself interesting, I assume an influence from the German peasant war and presumably from Engels’ treatment of it in his The Peasant War in Germany, written in 1850.

Here’s a little excerpt from the last paper in the volume to give you an idea of the nature of the ‘minjung’ view of history so popular among Korean historians (at least until a few years ago):

“It was in the 19th century that the feudal society of the Chosŏn dynasty was dismantled by popular uprisings. It was the process in which the old system was rejected and overcome by the new forces from below. A series of events in the 19th century resulted from the transitional process in which the feudal system was replaced by a new social order.”

(Ahn Byung-ook and Park Chan-seung. “Historical Characteristics of the Peasant War of 1894.” Korea Journal 34: 101-113)

By: Owen

Owen — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 12:33:11 +0000

This is certainly an interesting topic. If you want the more classical left-nationalist view on the rebellion you can look at the special anniversary edition of Korea Journal from 1994. I haven’t got it to hand but I’ll dig it out when I’m at home and give you some of the paper titles.

Another thing that comes to mind here is that even if you accept the 12-point documents as the genuine article then much of what it says is still consistent with a rebellion oriented toward Confucian good governance, the strengthening of the state and rectification of its problems. It should also be noted that certain kinds of egalitarianism and millenarianism had featured in rebellions in China and Korea for hundreds of years before this. As I understand it reference was often made to the Mencian ideal society of equal small landholders both by rebels and people in government who wanted reform (can’t remember the hanmun term for this).

You might also want to look at Anders Karlsson’s article in the International Journal of Korean History where he deals with the question of ideology in the Hong KyOngnae rebellion of 1812, I think there might be some interesting comparisons to be made.
(“Challenging the Dynasty: Popular Protest, ChOnggamnok and the Ideology of the Hong KyOngnae Rebellion” IJKH 2 (December 2001)).

By: Frog in a Well - The Korea History Group Blog

Frog in a Well - The Korea History Group Blog — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 12:10:55 +0000

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By: lirelou

lirelou — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 08:22:10 +0000

Good post! I’ll have to look up Lew’s article. I find it interesting that a great many educated Koreans I talk to regarding Queen Min’s assassination react viscerally when I suggest that the Taewongun was in any way involved. Of course, most of my readings on Korean history are gleaned from the internet, and that poses its own problem. Garbage in, garbage out.