1918년 법정사 항일운동 발상지 재고찰

Abstract

Beopjeongsa Temple－founded by Bongnyeogwan (1865-1938) in September 1911－was the cradle of the Beopjeongsa anti-Japanese Movement in Jeju in 1918. Bongnyeogwan was the founder and founding teacher of Beopjeongsa Temple, and its first abbess. Around 1914, Bongnyeogwan invited Kim Yeon-il, Kang Chang-gyu, and Bang Dong-hwa－all of whom were living in Yeongsil－to Beopjeongsa Temple to live as residents. After establishing a preliminary plan at Beopjeongsa Temple in the 6th lunar month in 1918, they completed their preparations, and Beopjeongsa's anti-Japanese Movement launched on the 3rd day of the 9th lunar month in 1918. Serving as a base for anti-Japanese sentiment, Beopjeongsa Temple became a stronghold where key anti-Japanese figures gathered. Only 7 years after it was established, Beopjeongsa Temple was closed down due to its role in the 1918 anti-Japanese Movement. It was later rebuilt by Bongnyeogwan and Baek In-hwa, but was closed again after the infamous Jeju April 3rd Incident. The temple never reopened. In 2019, the World Heritage Headquarters of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province raised doubt about the birthplace of the 1918 Beopjeongsa anti-Japanese Movement, and in 2022, Han Sang-bong directly refuted the Jeju World Heritage Headquarters' claim based on data he had collected. Both the oral testimony of Kang In-ho－the granddaughter of Baek In-hwa, who had visited Beopjeongsa Temple just before the Jeju April 3rd Incident－and the oral testimony of the descendants of residents who lived near Beopjeongsa Temple in 1918 testified that Beopjeongsa Temple was located east of a stream named "Beopjeong-inae." My own comprehensive analysis of this data and the oral testimonies also clearly show that the location of Beopjeongsa Temple in 1918 was east of Beopjeong-inae in Dosun-dong. The birthplace of the 1918 Beopjeongsa anti-Japanese Movement was located east of Beopjeong-inae, and the areas of Sang-dong and Yeongnam-ri, located near Beopjeongsa Temple, were home to slash-and-burn farmers. And among the 66 people who were arrested and sent to the public prosecutor's office, the residents of Sang-dong and Yeongnam-ri were included. My research results presented in this paper concern the year of Beopjeongsa’s founding and its founder, the location of the birthplace of the 1918 Beopjeongsa anti-Japanese Movement that caused the recent controversy, and my analysis52 of the residences near Beopjeongsa where participants of the anti-Japanese movement lived. These should all be helpful to future researchers of the 1918 Beopjeongsa anti-Japanese Movement.