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By Franklin Rausch
Contributing Writer
Ahn Jung-geun began writing his autobiography before his trial and finished it about a week and a half before he was executed.
In it, he recorded the important events of his life: his fighting in his father's righteous army against Donghak forces, his conversion to Catholicism, and his participation in the patriotic enlightenment and righteous army movements.
Therefore, his autobiography is an invaluable historical record. However, it is also an entertaining and interesting read in which the full force of Ahn's personality can be felt.
Ahn begins his autobiography with the circumstances of his birth. Like most Koreans at the time, he was given a childhood name.
His was Ahn Eung-chil, meaning "seven marks," as he had seven moles on his chest. He used this name later as an alias and entitled his autobiography "The Story of Ahn Eung-chil."
Later, in accordance with Korean custom, he was given the adult name Ahn Jung-geun, which means "heavy root," in order to correct his rash and impetuous nature.
Young Man
As a young man, Ahn loved to hunt and would frequently take his gun and go into the mountains to pursue his hobby.
He was nearly killed once when his gun jammed and then went off suddenly as he was trying to unjam it.
He was even accidentally shot by someone else.
His father, who had passed an official government exam and was known as a skilled poet, despaired as his son neglected his studies to go hunting.
Ahn's friends at school teased him, asking why with his father's scholarly reputation, he wanted to remain ignorant.
Ahn responded by quoting Xiang Yu of China, a commoner who rose to be a general and then a king during the Warring States period (476-221 B.C.), who said, "It is enough to be able to write one's name."
He then said that he would be famous one day, but like Xiang Yu rather than as a scholar.
One day, Ahn and his fellow students, as well as some girls, went on a picnic in the mountains.
Friends
Ahn, seeing some flowers on top of a cliff, decided to pick them - most likely for his female companions.
As he was climbing, he slipped and rolled down the cliff, only stopping his fall by grasping on to some vegetation, just a few feet before he would have gone over the mountain's edge.
His friends threw a rope down to him and pulled him to safety. They then thanked Heaven and went home.
As a young man, Ahn stated that he liked four things most of all: having close friends; drinking, singing, and dancing; going hunting; and galloping around on fast horses.
He often combined them. Whenever he heard of a brave man living somewhere, he would take up his gun and gallop off on his horse to find him.
If Ahn liked him, they would drink, dance, and sing together, sometimes at a kisaeng house (a kind of Korean courtesan, similar to a Japanese geisha).
It may at first seem strange that Ahn would take a gun to go and meet a friend, but Korea, especially Hwanghae Province, now in North Korea, where Ahn lived, was a much wilder place than it is today.
For instance, Ahn was president of the Ten-Thousand Men Club, which held a lottery. Many people gathered together the day the tickets were to be given out.
Unfortunately, the machine that was supposed to issue the tickets malfunctioned and started printing multiple tickets with the same numbers, meaning that several people could have claimed the same prize.
With cries of "Fraud!" and "Death to the president!," the crowd turned into an angry mob, throwing stones at Ahn and the other club members, driving all of them away but him.
Despairing of the future of the club and his own reputation should he run away, Ahn drew his pistol and demanded to know why the crowd was attacking him when he had not done anything wrong.
This seemed to have checked them until a giant of a man stepped forward and demanded to know why Ahn was threatening to kill them with his pistol after having invited them there for a lottery.
Ahn thought quickly and took the man's hand, telling him that matters had just spun out of control, and quoting ancient Confucian books, praised him and hailed him as his savior.
The man listened and agreed with Ahn, announcing to the crowd that he had done nothing wrong.
Ahn's Words
Ahn's words had changed a potential enemy into a friend. The crowd calmed down and listened as Ahn explained what had happened with the machine.
They all agreed to try again and the tickets were then issued without any problems. Quick thinking on Ahn's part had prevented disaster.
Through Ahn's autobiography, we are able to gain a snapshot of what life was like in Korea a century ago.
Though in many ways Ahn was an exceptional man, other Koreans most likely had experiences.
Moreover, we can see from these stories how Ahn's life experiences helped shape history.
Had Ahn lived somewhere else under different circumstances, he might have struggled for Korean independence as a government official, as Min Yeong-hwan did, or through diplomatic means, like Syngman Rhee.
Instead, his love of hunting, proficiency with weapons, and coolness during times of intense physical danger led him to take up arms to fight for Korean independence and peace in the East as a soldier.
The writer is a doctoral candidate at the University of British Columbia in the department of Asian studies where he focuses on Korean religious history. His research was supported in 2007-2008 by the Korea Foundation and in 2008-2009 by Fulbright Korea.
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