Do Not Repeat Humiliating History

By Choe Chong-dae

Whenever the opportunity presents itself, I take a trip to Namhan Mountain Fortress, located in Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province, which winds sinuously around Namhan Mountain and its foothills.

It is a fascinating place for mountain climbing, hiking, driving and for a lesson in Korean history. The fortress has been one of the most significant strategic sites for the defense of the country since the beginning of the ancient period of the Three Kingdoms.

Following the publication of Korean novelist Kim Hoon's recent best-selling historical novel titled ``Namhan Mountain Fortress," the fortress has attracted many more visitors. The novel portrays how King Injo, the 16th monarch of the Joseon Kingdom, and his ministers spent 47 days in isolation inside the Namhan Mountain Fortress, under siege by Chinese invaders.

King Injo's surrender to the emperor of the Chinese Qing Dynasty in the war of the ``Byeongja Horan,'' the second Manchu invasion of Korea in 1636, has been regarded as one of the nation's most humiliating incidents.

The invasion resulted from Korea's refusal to receive the Qing's envoys who demanded the establishment of diplomatic ties with the Joseon Kingdom which would have resulted in the acknowledgement by the Korean kingdom of their commonwealth status in relation to Qing.

The refusal led to the invasion of Korea by the Qing military. The invasion forced King Injo to take refuge in the Namhan Mountain Fortress, with no hope of mounting an effective resistance. The king subsequently capitulated to Hong Taiji, the second emperor of Qing, in a ceremony at Samjeondo on southern bank of the Han River.

Since then, the Namhan Mountain Fortress has remained as the symbol of a humiliating and bitter moment in the nation's history. However, even though the fortress remains to this day as a vivid witness to King Injo kneeling down in humiliation before the emperor of Qing, the nation itself never in fact surrendered.

For even despite the gross incompetence of the Korean ruling elite at that time, strong resistance to Qing had been shown by three courageous Korean scholars identified as the ``Samhaksa" _ Hong Ik-hwan, Oh Dal-jae and Yun-jip who vigorously opposed King Injo's decision to surrender.

As a result, they were taken to Qing with Crown Prince So-hyun, a son of King Injo, as hostage.

Ultimately, they were tortured to death in China despite Qing's appeasement. Admired for their loyalty to Korea, the court of Qing erected a monument in memory of their integrity in Shenyang, the capital of Qing.

It was in the early 1970s that I visited the Samjeondo Monument for the first time, as a university student accompanying some foreign history professors.

Looking back, it seemed far away from downtown Seoul because we had to travel through the Gwangjin Bridge as there was no other available bridge to reach the site at that time.

Prior to my arrival, I thought that the inscription on the monument would be in Chinese characters only. To my surprise, I found very strange letters inscribed on the monument.

The inscription appeared to be foreign characters, but were neither English, French nor German. Later, I realized that the inscription was written in Manchu and Mongolian on the front of the monument, and in Chinese on the back. The stone monument was dedicated to Hong Taiji for his victory.

The monument was erected in commemoration of Korea's subjugation to the Qing, at the site where the capitulation by the Joseon king had occurred, at Seokchon-dong, Songpa-gu, (now near Seokchon Lake) in 1639.

The monument was cast into the Han River in 1895 during the reign of King Gojong because the ruling class of the Joseon Kingdom regarded it as symbol of national humiliation.

However, it was re-erected in 1913 during the Japanese colonial period as Japan wanted to highlight this humiliating event in Korea's history. Upon Korea's liberation in 1945, the local people buried the monument again. However, it was unearthed by a flood in 1963.

Finally it was re-erected at the present site and designated as cultural property. Ironically, it was desecrated with colored paint by an iconoclast a couple of months ago.

Having visited the monument again recently, many conflicting thoughts crossed my mind while, reminiscing on our ancestors' tragic past. The visit reminded me of the Humiliation of Canossa.

Canossa is known to us a commune and castle town in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, which is famous as the site where the Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich IV did penance in 1077, standing for three days, bare-headed in the snow in front of gate of the castle, in order to reverse his excommunication by Pope Gregory VII because the pope had refused him entry.

From ancient times, many stone tablets with inscriptions have been erected in Korea. These monuments have played a significant role in documenting a variety of historical events. Since its erection, the Samjeondo Monument has witnessed many turbulent times in the nation's life and history.

The monument deserves to be preserved as significant cultural property in consideration of the value of its inscriptions, irrespective of the fact that it marks a shameful period in the nation's history.

As the first non-Chinese inscribed monument in Korea, it is one of the nation's most important inscription.

Even though it stands as a symbol of our ancestors' shameful past, its continued presence also teaches us a valuable lesson. It serves as a reminder to the nation and its people not to repeat the tragic mistakes of the past. It also enables Koreans to remember the courage and integrity of the ``Samhaksa" (the three courageous Korean scholars), who opposed Joseon's surrender to Qing.

Choe Chong-dae is the president of Dae-Kwang International and the Korean representative of Compagnie Cotonniere of Paris, France. He can be reached at dkic98@chollian.com.