Eastern Learning and the Heavenly Way: The Tonghak and Chondogyo Movements and the Twilight of Korean Independence

Chapter 4 Tonghak and the Ilchinhoe, 1904–1906

78 ChaptEr 4 Tonghak and the Ilchinhoe, 1904–1906 Tonghak was in a precarious position when the Russo-Japanese War broke out in 1904. Its continued illegal status as a result of the 1894 rebellion led to government repression and persecution, which hampered Tonghak’s efforts to rebuild and curtailed its ability to spread its doctrine and extend its influence in Korean society. Persecution forced its activities underground and deprived it of membership and leadership . Ch’oe Si-hyŏng, the second Tonghak patriarch, had been captured and executed as a result of this government-instigated repression. Son Pyŏng-hŭi, who had succeeded him, was now in Japan, in large part to escape capture by the Korean authorities. Still, all was not dark for Tonghak. In spite of being forced underground , Tonghak managed to attract a substantial number of converts through secret preaching, especially in northwestern Korea. This area had not been a center of strength before but had become the chief center of Tonghak believers by 1904. This was a sign of a dynamic movement that was still able to attract people in spite of repression. When the Russo-Japanese War began in 1904, many opposed to the old conservative government in Korea saw the instability caused by the war as an opportunity to overthrow it. In its place, they envisioned establishing a new government based on reformist principles, in many ways reminiscent of Japan’s Meiji Restoration. Japan had traditionally supported the reformist faction in Korea, and many of these people supported Japan in the war in the hopes that this would help them secure a new government. Along with his new reform-minded friends he had met during his self-imposed exile, Son Pyŏng-hŭi was also favorable to supporting Tonghak and the Ilchinhoe 79 Japan. He felt Japan would be the victor in the war and that it was important for Korea to be on the winning side. It is also likely that Son thought that a Japanese-sponsored reform government would grant Tonghak freedom of religion, thus allowing it to operate freely within Korean society. In order to advance his agenda, Son proposed organizing Tonghak believers in Korea into a mass popular organization that would lobby for political and social change and increase Tonghak’s influence in Korean society. After several false starts, a mass organization called the Chinbohoe (Progress Society) was formed under Tonghak sponsorship in September 1904 under the leadership of Son’s chief deputy in Korea, Yi Yong-gu. The Chinbohoe advocated government and social reform and had active branches throughout the country. Once the Tonghak origins of the new mass movement were discovered, however, government officials and Russian and Japanese occupying troops started violently suppressing it. Around the same time that the Chinbohoe was formed, the Japanese had sponsored an organization called the Ilchinhoe (Advancement Society ) made up of former members of the reform-minded Independence Club. It had a similar agenda to the Chinbohoe but was more overtly pro-Japanese and enjoyed Japanese military protection for its activities. The Ilchinhoe did not have the mass base that the Chinbohoe enjoyed in the provinces, however. The Chinbohoe and the Ilchinhoe entered into negotiations and united in December 1904 with the purpose of forming a nationwide reformist organization that enjoyed Japanese military protection. Yi Yong-gu maintained a position of high influence in the new Ilchinhoe, which became so enmeshed with the Japanese cause that it publicly supported the imposition of the protectorate regime on Korea by the Japanese in November 1905. This led to a rupture between Son Pyŏng-hŭi and Yi Yong-gu. Son changed the name of Tonghak to Ch’ŏndogyo in December 1905, mainly to disassociate Tonghak from the Ilchinhoe. The final break happened in September 1906, when Son finally excommunicated Yi and those still involved in the Ilchinhoe from Ch’ŏndogyo, a crisis that will be dealt with in the next chapter. This caused a major leadership and financial drain on Ch’ŏndogyo, from which it took some time to recover. 80 Chapter 4 This period is often not dealt with in research about Tonghak. Any hint that Tonghak had a period in which it was close to the Japanese could be seen as damaging to its nationalist credentials. This was an important period, however, because it led to the creation of Ch’ŏndogyo and determined the subsequent direction...