Shin Chae-ho | |
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Born |
Chungcheong, Sannaeri, Great Korean Empire (Joseon Dynasty) |
November 7, 1880
Died | February 21, 1936 Port Arthur, Empire of Japan |
(aged 55)
Other names | Dansaeng (단생) Danjae (단재) |
Alma mater |
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Awards | Presidential Order of Merit for National Foundation (1962) (PH) |
Era | 19th- / 20th-century philosophy |
Region | Eastern Philosophy |
School | |
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Shin Chaeho | |
Hangul | |
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Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Sin Chae-ho |
McCune–Reischauer | Sin Ch'aeho, Shin Ch'aeho |
Pen name | |
Hangul | |
Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Danjae |
McCune–Reischauer | Tanjae |
Shin Chae-ho (1880–1936) was a Korean independence activist, historian, anarchist, nationalist, and a founder of Korean ethnic nationalist historiography (민족 사학, minjok sahak; sometimes shortened to minjok). He is held in high esteem in both North and South Korea. Two of his works, A New Reading of History (Doksa Sillon), written in 1908, and The Early History of Joseon (Joseon Sanggosa), published in 1931, are considered key works of nationalist historiography in modern Korea. He argued that modern Koreans and the people of Manchuria were of a single race which has an ancestral claim to both Korea and Manchuria, Shin also studied Korean mythology. During his exile in China, Shin joined the Eastern Anarchist Association and wrote anti-imperialist and pro-independence articles in various outlets; his anarchist activities lead to his arrest and subsequent death in prison, February 21, 1936.
Shin was born on November 7, 1880. His grandfather was an official in the royal advisory department. His pen name was "Dansaeng", which he later changed to "Danjae". Shin was taught various Neo-Confucian books and concepts by his grandfather, and later enrolled in the Confucian academy Seonggyungwan, receiving a doctoral degree in 1905. Shin, to a limited capacity, read Italian literature and history and published some Italian-related works; There is some speculation that Dante might be an influence on Shin Chae-ho's work, in particular Dream Sky (1916).
Shin went on to work for the editorial boards for two newspapers, the Hwangseong Shinmun (Hangul: 황성신문; Hanja: 皇城新聞) and the Daehan Maeil Shinbo (대한매일신보; 大韓每日新報), and became the leader of the underground "patriotic enlightenment" group, the Sinminhoe. His group would later migrate to Manchuria in 1910 and attract such radicals as Yi Tong-hwi, a Korean Bolshevik who participated in "The Conspiracy case of 1911," which was an effort to assassinate Japanese Governor-General Terauchi, leading to the arrests of several Sinminhoe members and eventually the dissolution of the Sinminhoe.
Shin went into voluntary exile in 1910 when Japan declared its annexation of Korea; he then traveled to Vladisvostok, then throughout China. Shin never returned to Korea, and since he refused to file for citizenship with the Empire of Japan he became stateless. Shin avoided politicized organizations until the March First Independence Movement, in 1919, which spurred him to join the Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai. Shin quickly became frustrated with the Provisional Government, culminating in a clash with interim leader Syngman Rhee (I Seung-man) and Shin leaving to embrace anarchism and draft the "Declaration of Korean Revolution" for the Righteous Brotherhood (Uiyeoldan) in 1923. Shin went on to join the Eastern Anarchist Association (동방 무정부주의 연맹; 東方無政府主義聯盟) in 1926.