Hong Kyŏngnae's Rebellion () was a peasant revolt that occurred between 31 January 1812 and 29 May 1812 in Joseon. It was led by Hong Kyŏngnae and the upperclass yangban of Pyeongan Province, who were unhappy with a tax regime based on government-administered high-interest loans. Impoverished farmers joined them following a year of exceptionally poor harvest, when they were forced nonetheless to contribute to a "grain fund". It is also called the Gwanseo Peasant War.
The rebellion was initially quite successful. At its height, the rebels controlled most of the area north of the Cheongcheon River, including the town of Jeongju, which was fortified to withstand invasions from Manchuria (then part of Qing China). Whenever the rebels took over a district, they distributed government grain to the people.
However, the rebels suffered defeats in the battles of Pine Grove and Four Pine Field, which caused them to withdraw to Jeongju. There, they came under siege by government forces. The rebellion was put down a few months later, on 19 April, when the government forces breached the town wall with a gunpowder charge. Hong Kyŏngnae was killed in the fighting. Other rebel leaders were also killed in battle or executed. Thousands of people caught up in the uprising, including boys as young as 10, who were also executed.
Although it failed, Hong Kyŏngnae's rebellion may have provided momentum for other popular armed uprisings in different parts of Korea seeking a more just society. The culmination of these was the Donghak Rebellion in 1894, centered in southern province of Jeolla.
Background
As king Sunjo ascended the throne at a young age, Queen Dowager Jeongsun, the second queen of King Yeongjo, ruled as queen regent and wielded power over state affairs. Despite King Sunjo's efforts to reform politics, the fundamental principles of government deteriorated. The state examination became disordered, and corruption in the government personnel administration prevailed, resulting in disorder in society and riots among the people.
Factors of discontent Many social, political, economic, and intellectual factors potentially led to the rebellion. Among those considered by Sun Joo Kim, author of a treatise on this topic, include: Poverty and discontent among the farmers in Pyongan Province. These were brought on by the naturally low fertility of soils in the area compared to those in the southern part of Korea, poor weather conditions at the time, which led to partial crop failure, and high-interest rates on loans extracted despite the poor harvest. Particularly high de facto tax rates for more well-off landowners. These took the form of grain funds and monetary loans, which had to be paid back at high-interest. Cross-border trade policies and taxes on imported goods from China negatively impacted Pyeongan merchants. Signs and prophetic works, particularly the Jeonggamnok, foretold that the Joseon (Yi) dynasty would fall and be replaced by a new, more just dynasty. Rivalries among the yangban were triggered by government policies to encourage or force movements of yangban from the south to Pyongan Province to better integrate it into the Joseon political fabric. However, this policy stoked tensions between the established yangban organizations and the newly arrived yangban. Discrimination against high-level civil service examination passers from Pyongan Province at the Joseon court.
Sun Joo Kim favored this last cause (Discrimination against those from Pyongan Province) as the primary cause. She noted key evidence for this conclusion was the manifesto posted by the rebels in the early stage of the rebellion, which begins:
Another scholar of the rebellion, Anders Karlsson, disagreed with this assessment and offered counterarguments. He considered that the manifesto, written in classical Chinese, would have been incomprehensible to the predominately uneducated army or even most of its leaders. He suggested that perhaps its primary purpose was to legitimize the rebellion and seek the support of those members of the educated elite that had not already joined the rebels. His work emphasized the importance of the ideologies espoused in the prophetic works. However, in the end, he concludes that the relative importance of the various potential causes remains.
Basic arguments for the revolution Hong Kyŏngnae (a geomancer) travelled extensively to find and create support for the rebellion, seeking for geomantically auspicious sites and to fully understand the discontent and to spread a revolutionary ideology. He relied on two basic arguments to gain supporters for the revolution:
1. The Confucian precept that the hardships in the lives of the people and the natural disasters that had recently occurred were a sign/result of the withdrawal of the Mandate of Heaven from the ruling dynasty. Government corruption and events such as famine, winter lightning, and earthquakes were linked to the perpetual dynastic cycle in which one dynasty is replaced by another. 2. In the secret writings of the Jeonggamnok, it is predicted long ago that the fall of the dynasty and the establishment of a new, nearly utopian dynasty. This work predicted that a True Man with the surname Jeong (Chŏng) would lead an army to bring about this change. Even the year 1812 was purported to be predicted. Rebel instigators claimed that their followers would be the vanguard of True Man Jeong's army, and they employed a figurehead leader with that name.
Leaders during the rebellion Rebels Leaders Wu Kun-cheok (U Kunch'ik) was a professional geomancer and used his knowledge of secret prophecies to recruit sympathizers to the rebel cause. He first met Hong Kyŏngnae at the Blue Dragon Temple, where they had studied. They met again in 1801 when they discussed the possibility of rallying supporters for a rebellion. When the rebels launched their first attack, he dressed in a crane-like robe and carried a white feathered fan. He appears to have been the director of a gold mine that raised money for the rebellion. He also mastered martial arts and personally commanded rebel forces in some battles. At the end of the rebellion, he escaped from Jeongju, where Hong Kyŏngnae and other rebels were besieged by government troops but were captured a few days later. While under interrogation, he claimed he was forced to join the rebellion, but evidence indicates that he was one of the masterminds. His claim was not accepted, and he was executed.
Kim Sar-yong (Kim Sayong) was a yangban. Although poor, he had many family connections with officials in Pyongan Province, which helped him recruit them to the rebel cause. He led one of the two rebel armies. His army was the first to enter Jeongju and captured the district seats, garrisons, and other strategic locations west of Jeongju. However, his army was defeated at the Battle of Four Pine Field and subsequently dispersed by government forces. He then joined the remaining rebels in Jeongju, where he fell in battle.
Hong Chong-gak (Hong Ch'onggak), also known as Hong Bong-ui, was a poor peddler and famously strong. He was appointed head of the second rebel army which led the first attack at Kason on 31 January 1812. He captured several important towns/strategic locations east of Jeongju, but a delay in his planned advance on Anju due to an internal rebel dispute allowed the organization of a regional government army that defeated his army at Pine Grove. He then joined the rebel force at Jeongju, where he aided in its defense. However, he failed to recognize the danger posed by the tunneling efforts of the government forces, which was used to place a gunpowder charge under the wall. After Jeongju fell, he was captured and executed.
Kim Chan-si was a yangban who had passed the lower-level civil service exam. Government reports indicated that he was in debt, which led him to join the rebels. He was popular among the local yangban, which helped in recruiting others. He composed a puzzle-like song that foretold the fall of the Joseon dynasty in 1812, which was incorporated into the Jeonggamnok. He also composed the rebel manifesto (written in literary Chinese), which was intended to justify the rebellion. After the battle of Pine Grove, he joined other rebels in a camp north of Jeongju. When the tide was turning against the rebels, he went on a mission to recruit help from sympathizers along the border region near the Amnok (Yalu) river. However, while on the way, he was beheaded as he slept. The betrayer sold his head to another who attempted to get a reward from the government; however, both men were executed.
Government Officials
Lee Young-sik (Yi Yŏngsik) was the magistrate of Gwaksan (Kwaksan). He was captured by the rebels but escaped with the aid of a loyal military officer. His two brothers and a son became victims of the rebels. After his escape, he went to Jeongju to warn of the rebel threat, but it was too late. He then went to Anju, where he led reinforcements that assured victory at the nearby Pine Grove (Songlim ) battle. He also led the regional army at the Four Pine Field (Sasongra) battle and was victorious there. The loss of these two battles was disastrous for the rebels.
Lee Hae-Seung (Yi Haesŭng) was the army inspector of Anju military headquarters. He led the regional government force at Pine Grove. After it appeared that the rebels had the upper hand, reinforcements led by Lee Young-sik assured victory for the regional force. A report by a central government army officer indicated that he was cowardly and had to be driven out of the gate to participate in the battle. However, after the victory, he became vicious and greedy. It took 30 horses to carry away the goods he took after the battle. His troops also ransacked and burned recaptured rebel-held towns. They also took part in the siege of Jeongju.
Other important government officers included: Pak Kip'ung (Park Ki-pung), the supreme field commander of the central government pacification force. He arrived at Jeongju on 15 February 1812, and took overall charge of the siege. Yu Hyowon replaced Pak due to his inability to put down the rebellion. Yu arrived at Jeongju on 9 April. The force surrounding Jeongju also included a large contingent of Pyeongan provincial troops. There were over 8,000 government troops deployed throughout the siege.
Preparation December 1810 to January 1812: The material preparations for the rebellion appeared to have begun in 1810 when Hong Kyŏngnae and Wu Kun-cheok met again at the Blue Dragon Temple. Hong Kyŏngnae was accompanied by a man named Jeong Chem-in (Chŏng Chemin), who was the figurehead leader of the rebellion, thus fulfilling the prophecy in the Jeonggamnok that a man named Jeong would lead an army that would overthrow the Joseon dynasty. Hong Kyŏngnae also stated that thousands of Ming dynasty troops were secretly stationed in the area and would join the rebels once the rebellion began. In the manifesto written to justify the rebellion, these troops were referred to using a term that implied that they were Ming soldiers (i.e., descendants of the previous Chinese Ming dynasty subjects), which would have been viewed more favorably by the Korean yangban. This promise did not materialize, but it was useful for recruiting purposes.
The rebel family used connections and friendships within yangban organizations to recruit a network of yangban fifth columnists and field officers. The networks were also useful for raising money to buy materials needed by the rebels. Rank and file soldiers were recruited by advertising for gold miners. It was an effective mechanism because the famine had caused many farmers and peddlers to be desperate for a way to make a living. Even bankrupt yangban responded to the advertisement, although the rebels normally disdained menial work.