An intellectual biography of An Ch'angho, the study explores the life, thought and activities of the founding father of the Republic of Korea who unified the Provisional Government, wrote the first republican constitution and waged the war of independence against Japan. Comparable to Sun Yat-sen of China or Gandhi of India, An Ch'angho was a republican revolutionary like Sun and an ethico-spiritual leader like Gandhi. Yet, as a "Revolutionary-Democrat", An Ch'angho not only championed constitutional democracy but also led the efforts for the war of independence. The pioneer of Korean democracy, An Ch'angho was also an institution-builder, constitution writer and military strategist. A revisionist effort, the aims of the inquiry are two-fold: first, to shed new light on how the idea and practice of democracy were introduced to Korea through the nationalist movement, and second, to rectify the previous misjudgments of An Ch'angho by revealing the genuine nature of his nationalist ideology and strategy by investigating his private papers for the first time. As the most significant and extensive collection among Korean nationalists, the An Ch'angho Collection of private papers not only provides valuable insights into his role as the chief architect and strategist of nationalist movement but also offers a rare glimpse of the actual modus operandi of the worldwide network of exile and underground activities. Among others, the private papers of So Chaep'il (1866 -1951) and An Chunggun (1879- 1910) are also consulted. Overcoming a storm of academic controversy, the revisionist findings replace the earlier conceptions of An Ch'angho as a "gradualist-pacifist" or "cultural nationalist", the ideé fixe that had not been questioned since the 1960s. Defining An Ch'angho as a "revolutionary-democrat", the study delineates his comprehensive vision and systematic strategy to achieve independence and democracy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:508472 |
| Date | January 2000 |
| Creators | Pak, Jacqueline |
| Publisher | SOAS, University of London |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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