The Spirit of Independence: A Primer of Korean Modernization and Reform

Translator’s Introduction

The Spirit of Independence (Tongnip chŏngsin in Korean; hereafter , The Spirit) was written in 1904 by a political prisoner languishing in a jail in Seoul, Korea.1 The author, Yi Sŭng-man (better known as Syngman Rhee, the name he used in his English-language writings, which we also shall use in the present work), was a young political activist who was serving a life term in prison for his radical reform and antigovernment activities. He was a passionate nationalist who wished to awaken his tradition-bound compatriots to accept and support modernization and nation building based on Western models. He knew that Korea had little time to lose in order to protect its sovereign independence in the stormy waters of international politics. Biographical Sketch of Syngman Rhee Syngman Rhee was twenty-nine years old in 1904. He was born on March 26, 1875, into a rural family of only modest means in the western central province of Hwanghae. He was the youngest of five siblings and, after the early death of his older brothers, the only son in the family , whose lineage could be traced back to the third king of Chosŏn dynasty . His family moved to Seoul when he was only two years old. His early education was in Chinese classics, as was customary at the time, and he took—but failed—the civil service examinations more than once.2 When the traditional examination system was abolished in the wake of the 1894 Reforms, Rhee enrolled in Paejae School, which had been established by American Methodist missionary Henry G. Appenzeller. He cut off his topknot in a symbolic gesture to declare his acceptance of 1 Translator’s Introduction Western ways, and he quickly learned English—well enough to start teaching English within six months. He was instrumental in publishing a school newspaper that soon evolved into a daily paper, Maeil Sinmun, written for the general public using only Korean script, han’gŭl—the first publication of its kind in Korea. He also took an active part in the meetings organized by the Independence Club, which was formed in 1896 by Sŏ Chae-p’il (Philip Jaisohn)3 to spearhead a sociopolitical reform movement . In the aftermath of the so-called People’s Assembly movement,4 sponsored by the Independence Club, Rhee was arrested on January 9, 1899, charged with sedition. Within weeks, he attempted a jailbreak, only to be recaptured within hours and sentenced to a harsher penalty: a life term that began with months of torture, leaving permanent marks on his body. Despite the heavy cangue (a kind of pillory worn about the neck) and manacles on his hands and feet, Rhee managed to read and study an amazingly large number of books that his friends, including foreign missionaries , were able to smuggle to him.5 He also accepted Christianity, and when he gained a greater freedom of his limbs—and with the help of some jail guards—he conducted Bible classes and converted some forty inmates to Christianity. Moreover, he was able to write columns for a newspaper,6 set up a library of more than five hundred books within the prison, teach reading and writing to fellow prisoners, start on an EnglishKorean dictionary project, finishing about one-third, and prepare the manuscript of The Spirit, written entirely in han’gŭl for easier reading by common people. Following the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, which caused yet another realignment in the Korean government, he was suddenly released in August 1904, and within a few months Rhee was on his way to the United States. The trip was arranged reportedly with the encouragement and blessing of two high court officials7 who wished to send him on a secret mission to seek the good offices of the United States to safeguard Korea’s independence at a peace conference to end the Russo-Japanese War. Arriving in Washington, D.C., via Hawai‘i in December 1904, Rhee was able with the help of American friends to meet Secretary of State John Hay and President Theodore Roosevelt. But the hoped-for intervention by the United States to preserve Korea’s sovereignty at the peace conference , held at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, did not materialize. The Korean peninsula was reduced to the status of a protectorate of Japan in November 1905. Syngman Rhee stayed on in America and—in a record time—he 2 Translator’s Introduction [3.141.100.120] Project MUSE (2024...