Inyoung Kang, Yu Gwan-sun 1902-1920; A Korean schoolgirl became the face of a national collective yearning to be freed from Japanese colonial rule. New York Times, Apr 30, 2018, at page A18 (obituary).
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/ ... ed-yu-gwan-sun.html
Quote:
"A 16-year-old girl named Yu Gwan-sun * * * was a student at Ehwa Haktang in Seoul, which was established by American missionaries as the first modern educational institution for women. On March 1, 1919, Yu and four classmates joined others taking to the streets with cries of 'Mansei' (Long Live Korea independence!') in one of the earliest protests against Japanese colonial rule. Amid the demonstration, the Declaration of Independence -- written by the publisher Choe Nam-seon 崔 南善 and signed by 33 Korean cultural and religious leaders -- was recited at Seoul's Pagoda Park.
"On March 5, she and her classmates marched at Namdaemun, a gate in central Seoul. They were detained by the Japanese authorities, but missionaries from the school negotiated their release.
"The colonial government retaliated quickly, ordering all schools closed on March 10. A few days later, Yu returned to her hometown, Cheonan [then 天安郡 and now 天安市; the South Korean corvette (commissioned 1989; sunk by N Korean torpedo in 2010) was named after this city], about 53 miles south of Seoul in South Chungcheong Province 忠淸南道, with a smuggled copy of the Declaration of Independence. She went from village to village spreading word of the Samil [syllables are sam-il] (literally 'three-one,' or March 1) Movement 三一運動 and rallying local residents to organize their own protests.* * * Early on April 1, 3,000 people gathered at Aunae, a marketplace in Cheonan. Yu was there, distributing homemade taegeukgi 太極旗 [Qing official 馬建忠 proposed the design, which Korea adopted months later in January 1883], or Korean national flags, and giving speeches calling for independence.
"By the time the authorities quashed the protests a few weeks later, an estimated two million people out of a population of 20 million had participated in 1,542 pro-independence marches, according to Djun Kil Kim, author of “The History of Korea.” More than 7,000 people had been killed, and about 46,000, including Yu, had been jailed. After being convicted of sedition, she was sent to Seodaemun 西大門區 [a district in Seoul; named after 西大門, a gate 'which was once located in the district': en.wikipedia.org] Prison in Seoul [where she died at 17 on Sept 28, 1920 of tortures].
"Yu was born on Dec. 16, 1902, the second daughter of five children to Christian parents near Cheonan * * * The Korean Peninsula came under Japanese military rule three years after Yu was born. It was formally annexed in 1910
"In August 2015, Yukio Hatoyama 鳩山 由紀夫 [of Democratic Party of Japan 民主党; primminister 2009-2010], a onetime leader of Japan, visited Seodaemun, which is now a national museum. * * * Hatoyama knelt and observed a moment of silence before a monument to colonial-era independence activists. He also visited a prison cell where Yu had been held. It was the first time a former Japanese prime minister had visited the site.
Note:
(a)
(i) There is no need to read the rest.
(ii) The en.wikipedia.org spells her name Ryu Gwansun 柳寬順.
(b) quotation 1:
(i) Ewha Womans University 梨花女子大學校
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewha_Womans_University
(private; based in Seoul; In 1886 American missionary Mary F Scranton began classes for women at her home with a grove of pear trees nearby: Ewha Haktang 梨花學堂)
(ii) ten thousand years
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_thousand_years
(Korean: mansei 만세 萬歲)
(iii) Tapgol Park 塔골公園
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapgol_Park
(formerly Pagoda Park; "The word tap means 'pagoda,' and the park gets its name from the Wongaksa 圓覺寺 Pagoda, a 10 storied stone pagoda (National Treasure No.2) located in the park"
(iv) Namdaemun 南大門
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namdaemun
(photo)
(c) Concluded Russo-Japanese War, Treaty of Portsmouth was signed on Sept 5, 1905 in which Russia formally recognized Japan's claims over Korea. In its wake, on Nov 17, 1905 Korean Empire signed a protectorate treaty with Japan (formal names --> English: Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905, Japanese: 第二次日韓協約; Korean: 乙巳勒約 [勒 indicates 'Unwilling'])
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