A Study on the Life and Patriot Movement Mun Seok-Hwan as a Seonbi of Late Joseon(Ⅰ)

Abstract

Mun Seok-Hwan was one of the Hongju Righteous Army of 1906. Although Mun was not well-known, he was a member of 9 Hongju Martyrs and was captured in Tsushima for 1 year and 10 months by the Japanese government. Mun Seok-Hwan, author of Madoilgi, was born on October 16 of lunar calendar in 1870 at Habcheon, Chungcheongnamdo. In May of 1906 Mun Seok-Hwan joined Hongju Righteous Army under the commandership of Min Jong-Sik as a clerk. On May 30, he was captured with 82 others by the Japanese Imperial army and sent to Seoul. After the interrogation, he was sentenced for 4-year imprisonment on July 17. With other 8 Hongju martyrs, he was imprisoned in Tsushima Island on August 8,1906 and stayed until October 8, 1908. This study aims to see what kind of person he was from the reflected image of himself in his diary. As a Neo-Confucian scholar, Mun Seok-Hwan would be reexamined. From this, this study provides the information on the how the Neo-Confucian scholars reacted at the time of national crisis. At the same time, this study will find out the patriotism of the Neo-Confucianism especially a scholar belonged to the loyalty school. This study will focus on the first two months of his diary in captivity at Tsushima because it was a crucial period. Unfortunately, the diary begins with January 1907 and there is no evidence on his captivity before. Still, it was the time Mun was not fully adjusted to the captured life. Later study will find out how the captivity influenced him and his thought as well as his behaviors. From this, this study brings out the role and spirit of the scholars and the haves of the society at the time of crisis.