Hong Gyeong-nae

Hong Gyeong-nae
Hangul	홍경래
Hanja	洪景來
Revised Romanization	Hong Gyeong-rae
McCune–Reischauer	Hong Kyŏng-rae

Hong Gyeong-nae (1780–1812) was a rebel leader in Pyeongan Province, Korea, during the early 19th century. He was born in Yonggang, in South Pyeongan province, to a family of the Namyang Hong lineage.

In 1811, Hong led an army of farmers against the Joseon Dynasty forces and gained control over much of the northwest, even seizing the heavily fortified castle of Jeongju. The rebellion was a result of an oppressive tax regime enforced by the centrally appointed bureaucrats from Seoul, collecting more than the allotted amount of grain from the famine stricken region of Pyeongan province. Rebels initially captured and executed a hated provincial official, and distributed the stockpiled harvest grains. But the momentum of the rebellion resulted in multiple districts joining the movement, which catapulted Hong to a regional rebel leader. Defeating multiple armies dispatched from Seoul, the rebels captured the city of Jeongju, which was a fortified city designed to withstand invasions from Manchuria. At its height, the rebellion controlled most of the area north of the Cheongcheon River.

In 1812, a large force from the Joseon army arrived at Jeongju and invested the city in a formal siege. Seeing the impossibility of victory, the rebels set themselves up on top of gunpowder and blew themselves up. The survivors were executed and or enslaved. This event perhaps influenced the Donghak Peasant Rebellion later in the century further south in the Jeolla Province.

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