1910: Ahn Jung-geun, Korean nationalist
March 26th, 2010 Headsman
A century go today, Korean independence martyr Ahn Jung-geun (or An Jung-geun) hanged at Port Arthur for assassinating Japanese statesman Ito Hirobumi.
Ahn Jung-geun, who was also a skilled calligrapher (his epigram, “Unless reading everyday, thorns grow in the mouth” is well-known in Korea), actually had a more visionary pan-Asianist agenda than his nationalist byline might initially suggest.
But he militantly opposed Japan’s annexation of the peninsula, and won his hero stature for gunning down Ito in Manchuria.
Ito, for his part, is a national hero in Japan for establishing that country’s parliamentary government and serving as its first Prime Minister.
So, yeah. Still a spot of tension over this incident.
Because the Japanese worried that “if Ahn Jung-geun’s body is handed over to the surviving family or impudent Koreans … it will not be good in the future,” its ultimate deposition has become an enduring historical mystery, with China the current likely suspect. Koreans’ intensified hunt for records pointing to Ahn’s grave has been much in the news during the centennial run-up.
Wherever his bones rest, the Korean patriot (as the saying has it) lives on. He’s even been posthumously promoted by the South Korean army to the rank of “General”.
The recent Korean film 2009 Lost Memories is premised on an radically different alternate timeline starting when Ahn is prevented from killing Ito. Here’s its aesthetically appealing climax, when history is righted.
Scrabbel put the Ahn Jung-geun story to music.
On this day..
- 1689: Gabriel Milan, Danish West Indies governor - 2020
- 1907: Joseph Jones, no workhouse - 2019
- 1720: Antoine-Joseph de Horn, humanity from an executioner - 2018
- 1437: Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl - 2017
- 1785: Three at Shrewsbury, in depraved times - 2016
- 1822: Hannah Halley, scalding infanticide - 2015
- 1913: Henry Lovell William Clark, Raj poisoner - 2014
- 1907: Emile Dubois, Valparaiso popular saint - 2013
- 1555: William Hunter, reader - 2012
- 1918: Emile Ferfaille, the last in Belgium - 2011
- 1697: Godfrey McCulloch, on the maiden - 2009
- 922: Mansur al-Hallaj, Sufi mystic - 2008
Entry Filed under: 20th Century,Activists,Arts and Literature,Assassins,Capital Punishment,Death Penalty,Execution,Famous,Hanged,History,Japan,Korea,Martyrs,Murder,Notable for their Victims,Occupation and Colonialism,Popular Culture,Separatists,Treason
Tags: 1910, 1910s, ahn jung-geun, an jung-geun, ito hirobumi, march 26, nationalism, port arthur, ryojun
@omgthissuks The Japanese should be ashamed of the multitude and various injustices they brought upon Korea during their 35 years of occupation. Japanese should be worried about the pride Koreans should feel towards a martyr that not only fought for his country’s independence, but also championed East Asian Peace between China, Korea, and YES Japan.
Writing about an incident between two countries, which you aren’t really aware of, is a real bad idea.
“Because the Japanese worried that “if Ahn Jung-geun’s body is handed over to the surviving family or impudent Koreans … it will not be good in the future,” its ultimate deposition has become an enduring historical mystery, with China the current likely suspect. Koreans’ intensified hunt for records pointing to Ahn’s grave has been much in the news during the centennial run-up.” this whole statement is biased to Japanese, you don’t deserve to write this passage.
The Vietnamese audio threw me off there for a sec.. .LOL.