남원지역 동학농민혁명과 士族의 대응

Abstract

Namwon is the first area in Honam where Donghak was spread. It was the basis of the Donghak peasant force for the revolution in 1894. This article focuses on the response of local houses with power during the Donghak peasant revolution in Namwon. In Namwon, the legacy of Donghak ended with the execution of Jae-woo Choi in 1864. However, with the effort of Hong-gi Kim from Doonduk, Namwon in the late 1880s, the spark of Donghak started once again in the area. By 1891, the number of followers had increased significantly. They attended various meetings including the Samrae meeting in 1892, Bokhapsangso, and the Boeun and Geumgoo meetings in 1893. With this rise in the number of Donghak followers (along with their activities) local houses with power firmly excluded Donghak as a heresy. They were concerned about the possibility of a civil war breaking out. Therefore, Taek-joo Kim(金澤柱) and others led the Donghak exclusion appeal in Honam in Seoul in January, 1893 and participated in local codes for preventing the spread of Donghak. Despite of such efforts, Namwon castle fell to the Donghak peasant force lead by Gae-nam Kim(金開男) on the 25th of June, 1894 and Namwon became the center of ‘Bogukanmain’ and ‘Cheokwaeyang’. Tens of thousands of people gathered in mid-July. The Donghak peasant force was gathered around August 19 to seize food and weapons in left Jeolla-do (Namwon, Damyang, Gurae, Taeil, Imsil and other places). The food and weapons were gathered for a fight against Japanese troops. The Donghak peasant force was dispatched on October 14. However, the Donghak peasant force failed to overcome the powerful firepower of Japanese troops, and even Namewon fell under the Minbo-gun(民堡軍) led by Bong-yang Park(朴鳳陽) in Namwon. During the Donghak peasant revolution in Namwon, local houses with power lost their wealth to the Donghak peasant force. However, houses with both learning and virtue were not significantly damaged. That’s because the Donghak peasant force was in need of the support of Confucian scholars for leading their revolution into success. Since most Confucian scholars had the idea of ‘Wijungchuksa’, they were not negative about the Donghak peasant force rising up against Japanese troops. However, when the Donghak peasant force was labeled as ‘rebellion’ and started to be defeated by government forces which were forming a union with Japanese troops, local houses with power formed the Minbo-gun for suppressing the Donghak peasant force. After the revolution, with the exception of some local houses, many plebeian origins and servants had fallen victim and many local houses were very negative about Japanese troops marching in Namwon.