- Jun Bohng-joon Starts the Eastern Learning Revolution
- 1 In 1894, when He was twenty-four, Jeung-san opened a small school in the house of His brother-in-law, Jung Nahm-ghee, to teach reading and writing. He started by teaching His younger brother, Yung-hahk, and other neighborhood children. His method of teaching was exceptional and highly praised.
- 2 That year, Jun Bohng-joon from Tae-in County led an uprising against the tyrannical governor of Go-bu County. Jun started in Go-bu by gathering the Eastern Learning adherents under the slogan “Uphold the nation to comfort the people.” The entire country entered a state of upheaval.
- 3 Revolutions manifest people’s deep grief and suffering as great earthquakes in human history. The earth-shattering Eastern Learning Revolution sparked a war among three Eastern nations.
- 4 This revolution, which proclaimed the dawning of the new age of gae-byuk, arose three times in 1894: in January, March, and September.
- 5 In June 1894, the Jeonju Treaty between the Eastern Learning Army and the government was signed. However, the Japanese military occupied the palace and unjustly interfered in the running of the government, sending the country again into disorder and placing it in danger of being lost.
- 6 In addition, the severe abuse of power by the king’s family was increasing. Signs of the country’s ruin could be seen everywhere.
- The Outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War
- 7 It was in April, after the Eastern Learning Army had occupied the government base in Jeonju, that the government seriously considered asking for assistance from a foreign army.
- 8 China and Japan were carefully watching the unfolding events in Korea. At the time, the prime minister of Japan was Ito Hirobumi.
- 9 General Hohng Gae-hoon, who was in charge of suppressing the Eastern Learning Army, suggested the court get military aid from other countries. Government minister Min Yung-joon, who was pro-Chinese, and the Chinese General Yuan Shikai persuaded the Korean court to allow the Chinese army to enter the country.
- 10 The Japanese, who had been waiting for such a development, advanced onto the Korean Peninsula. This was the beginning of the first Sino-Japanese War.
- 11 Around this time, General Jun Bohng-joon of the Eastern Learning Army returned to his hometown in Go-bu County after visiting the fifty-three Eastern Learning Army camps, the last camp of which was in Na-ju.
- (JSD Dojeon 1,20)
