Yi Jeong-gyu
Yi Jeonggyu (Korean: 이정규; Hanja: 李丁奎; 1897 – 1984) known by his pen name Woogwan (Korean: 우관; Hanja: 又觀) was a Joseon anarchist.[1][2] He was one of the Korean anarchists who first accepted anarchism as Korean exiles in China through their contacts and interactions with the Chinese, Japanese, and other anarchists in China in the early 1920s.[1][3] He is regarded as one of persons who established the anarchist ideology of the independence movement with Lee Hoe-yeong (Korean: 이회영; Hanja: 李會榮).[1][4] He is also younger brother of Yi Eulgyu (Korean: 이을규, Hanja: 李乙奎), who was one of the key figures in the Daedongdan led the exile case of King Yi Kang[5][6][7][8][9] and converted to anarchism in China as well, used to be nicknamed and known as “Korea’s Kropotkin” at that time for his extensive knowledge of anarchist “theories” and his cogency[1][5].
Lifetime
Being domicile of origin in Nonsan, Chungcheongnam-do, Yi Jeonggyu was born in Jangbong-do, Incheon of South Korea.[6][7][10] He attended Incheon High School (formerly Incheon Public Commercial School) in 1911 of Korea under Japanese rule. After graduating, he got a job at a bank but resigned against racial discrimination among the Japanese. Then, he embarked on the independence movement.[5][6][2]
While he was a student at Keiō University in Japan,[1] Yi participated in the February 8 Declaration of Independence in 1919 as a member of the Korean International Student Association (Korean:조선유학생학우회; Hanja: 朝鮮留學生學友會)[6]. When the 1919 March First Movement occurred, he returned to Korea at once and then left for Shanghai in April 1919, where he immediately participated in the Provisional Government of Korea there, representing the Province of Chungcheong, his home province.[1] During his time at Beijing University in 1921 and 1923, he grew up as an anarchist thinker while interacting with the Russian poet Eroshenko.[1][3][11] In April 1924, he organized the Federation of Korean Anarchists (Korean: 조선무정부주의자연맹 또는 재중국조선무정부주의자연맹; Hanja:在中國朝鮮無政府主義者聯盟) with Lee Hoi-young, Hyeon-seop and Baek Jeong-gi.[4][6][12][13] At the end of 1924, he was hired as an apprentice at a British-owned foundry in Shanghai, but was fired for the activities of trade unions and labor schools.[1] In 1927, he joined the opening and operation of Shanghai National Labor University (Shanghai guoli laodong daxue), which was considered an international solidarity of East Asian anarchists, along with Korean, Chinese, and Japanese anarchists in China.[1][4] In October 1928, he was arrested by the Japanese police and sent to Korea where he was sentenced to three years in prison.[1][5]
Yi Jeonggyu served as president of Sungkyunkwan University from 1963 to 1966[14] and invested all his fortune to establish the National Culture Research Center (Korean: 국민문화연구소)[15], an anarchism research group in 1970.[16] He died in 1984 and did not apply for independence fighters during his lifetime.[5][6]
The beginning of the anarchist movement
Yi Jeonggyu was one of the most active Korean anarchists in China in the 1920s. He started his career as an independence activist and converted later to anarchism.[1] Being a student at Kei en University in Tokyo in 1918, he encountered socialism and became interested. Drawn to news of the Russian Revolution, he tried to enter the Far East University in Cheetah in late 1921, but he decided to stay in Beijing after hearing a rumor about the potential danger of losing his life as a result of conflicts between factions of Korean Communists.[1] He there met Yu Ja-myeong and Chinese anarchists such as Li Shinzeng and Cai Yuanpei. These allowed him to continue his studies at Beijing University, where he was enrolled in the Department of Economics as a sophomore.[1][17] He stayed in Beijing until 1923 and formed his ideas and personalities as an anarchist for independence and anarchist society.[1] He later said in China as exiles that “living a life to fight for liberation of the fatherland was the one thing we the youth only could do and felt proud of,” and must had accepted anarchism in relation to his national goal for independence.[1][4]
Anarchism through international solidarity
Yi Jeonggyu did not recognize Anarchism and nationalism as opposing concepts. In China, where activities are relatively freer than Korea, he engaged in solidarity activities with Chinese anarchists as well as anarchists from various countries such as Japan, Taiwan, and Russia.[4]
Esperanto movement
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Hwang, Dongyoun (2016). Anarchism in Korea. State University of New York Press. ISBN 9781438461694. OCLC 959978940.
- ^ a b 이문창 (2008). 해방 공간 의 아나키스트 (in Korean). 이학사. ISBN 978-89-6147-118-3.
- ^ a b 황 (Hwang), 동연 (Dongyoun) (2010). "이정규, 초국가주의적 한국 아나키즘의 실현을 위하여" [Yi, Jeonggyu: For a Realization of Transnational Korean Anarchism]. 역사비평 (in Korean). 93 (겨울호): 198–230.
- ^ a b c d e "재중 아나키스트의 국제 연대". 동북아역사넷 (northeast asian history foundation). Retrieved 1 January 2022.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c d e 김 (Kim), 명섭 (Myeongseop) (24 May 2016). "역사고백 <47> 이을규·정규 형제". 단대신문 (Dankook University Newspaper). Retrieved 2 January 2022.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c d e f 김 (Kim), 주엽 (Juyeop) (2 May 2019). "[독립운동과 인천·(11)]'이을규·정규' 형제". 경인일보. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b 김, 정현 (24 December 2019). 중국 내 한중 항일연대의 역사와 현장 (in Korean). 동북아역사재단. p. 1928. ISBN 896187814X.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ "[법조야사] 대동단(大同團) 총재 김가진(金嘉鎭, 前판사)과 대동단 사건". 법조신문 (The Korean Legal News). 17 January 2002. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "대동단 출범 계기로 황족·귀족도 독립운동 가세". 중앙일보 (The JoongAng). 1 January 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "독립유공자 공훈록 이을규(李乙奎)". 공훈전자사료관 By Ministry of Patriots & Veterans Affairs. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "국제연대와 평화의 언어, 에스페란토" [The language of international solidarity and peace, Esperanto]. 동북아역사넷 (northeast asian history foundation). Retrieved 6 February 2022.
- ^ "재중국조선무정부주의자연맹 (在中國朝鮮無政府主義者聯盟)". Encyclopedia of Korean Culture. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "재중국 조선 무정부주의자 연맹 (在中國朝鮮無政府主義者聯盟)". 국사편찬위원회 (NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF KOREAN HISTORY). Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ "역대총장 (Past Presidents)". 성균관대학교 (SUNGKYUNKWAN UNIVERSITY). Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ "(사)국민문화연구소". Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ 안 (Ahn), 철홍 (Cheolhong) (1 May 2003). "근근히 명맥만 이었다". 시사저널 (sisajournal.com). Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ "우당 이회영과 단재 신채호의 아나키스트 활동 : 항일구국투쟁의 동행" [Lee Hoe-young and Shin Chae-ho’s Anarchist Activities - Companions of Anti-Japanese Struggles to Save Korea -]. 우당 이회영과 단재 신채호의 아나키스트 활동 : 항일구국투쟁의 동행. 2021, vol.15, no.3: 165-211 (47 pages).