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| Righteous armies | |
 Anti-Japanese Korean rebels, photographed in 1907 byFrederick Arthur MacKenzie | |
| Korean name | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 의병 |
| Hanja | 義兵 |
| RR | uibyeong |
| MR | ŭibyŏng |
In Korean history,Righteous armies (Korean: 의병), sometimes translated asirregular armies ormilitias, mainly refers to civilian armed organizations that were spontaneously formed to fight against foreign invasions, such as theImjin War and theQing invasion of Joseon.[1] The Righteous armies under theKorean Empire also followed this trend; they did not have proper weapons, but fought againstJapanese imperialism.[2][3]
The righteous armies were anirregular military that fought the Japanese army that twice invadedKorea during theJapanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598). Righteous armies were most active in theJeolla Province in the southwestern area of Korea. Righteous armies included peasants, scholars, former government officials, as well as Buddhist warrior monks. Righteous armies were important during the war as a significant portion of the expected government organized resistance had been destroyed in Gyeongsang and Chungcheong Provinces by the Japanese forces at the outset. Thenatural defenders had been defeated and the residue had been called north to help protect the fleeing king. Many of the district officers had obtained their commissions through bribery or influence, and were essentially incompetent or cowards, evidence in their own performance and of their units in the early days of the conflict.This kind of resistance was totally unexpected by the Japanese. In Japanese warfare, civilians would simply submit where their leaders fell. However, the Japanese were shocked upon learning that the Korean people were forming organized resistance against them. Japanese strategies were based on the premise that the people of Korea would submit to them and assist their supply line by giving their food. However, this was not the case and righteous armies continued to interrupt the Japanese supply line. People's voluntary resistance movements were one of the major reasons why Japanese invasion was not successful.
Righteous army was organized and led byseonbi, who were Confucian philosopher and mostly trained archers.[4] Political positions, social status, and economic interests were not consistent between the righteous army commander who created the righteous army during the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, but there was a factor that made them combine.
First, most of the righteous army chiefs were former civil servants among the aristocrats, but most of them were former officials. The spirit of Geunwang spread among local Confucian scholars in order to practice Confucian Taoism, which was usually learned as a local giant, and they were enraged by the incompetence and cowardice of the local leader and armed men.
Second, the creativity of the righteous army was for the defense of the local people and their relatives, and furthermore, it was the manifestation of national sentiment for Japan's barbarity. Joseon, which regarded Confucian ethics as a thorough social norm, considered the Japanese as aggressors because of the continuous looting of Japanese pirates from the end of Goryeo, and culturally despised them and called them Wae or Seom Orang-ke. When invaded by Japan, it was the creativity of the righteous army that occurred as a national resistance movement.
During the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, the righteous army chiefs were at the top of society in the provinces and served as spiritual leaders, and economically, they were small and medium-sized landowners and had an organic connection with farmers through land. The Japanese invasion of the country destroyed their social and economic foundations.
On the other hand, the people wanted a well-known and reliable righteous army commander to fight under the command of an incompetent general who was forced to serve by the government. In addition, it was advantageous to go to the righteous army rather than the government army to protect parents and wives and children around the local area. Since the royal court also recognized the righteous army as a public army to urge the creativity of the righteous army, the number of participants in the righteous army of the general public continued.[5]
During theJeongmyo-Horan andByeongja-Horan, righteous army rose up in each region. At this time, the motivation for the righteous army to occur was to overcome the difficulty that was difficult to solve due to the defeat of the government army. In other words, most of them wereGeunwangbyeong (근왕병: Royal Provincial Army).
During the Horan period, the righteous army rose early not only in the invaded area but also in the rear area. The righteous army activity in the invaded area was to directly fight the enemy and cause losses. The creativity in the rear area was to gather the recruited righteous army in one place and go to the battlefield to overcome the helplessness of thegovernment army.
However, overall, the activities of the righteous army during the Horan were incomparably weaker than those of the righteous army during theImjin War. The reason was that after the Imjin War, political turmoil, economic collapse, and social unrest continued, resulting in no sense of unity between the authorities and the people centered on the dynasty.
In fact, during the invasion, the righteous army did not see much clear activity in the area where the enemy invaded. Mock activities were carried out in the rear areas of Honam and Yeongnam, but they were disbanded whenInjo gave in to theQing dynasty while heading to the northern battlefield.
For example, In Yean-hyeon, theseonbi clans of Yean-hyeon, centered on the Gwangsan Kim clan, were active in Hyanggyo. When the Jeongmyo-Horan broke out, theseonbi clans of Yean-hyeon organized and divided the righteous army around the righteous army office (兵廳廳소) by mission, and most of them focused on mobilizing the supplies rather than mobilizing the military. Therefore, the righteous army was disbanded as reinforcement was promoted with little actual military activities.[5]
When theJapan-Korea Protectorate Treaty signed in 1905, the restoration of national sovereignty emerged as the most pressing issue, and righteous armies rose up across the country, attacking Japanese soldiers, merchants, and pro-Japanese Koreans known asChinilpa.[6] The Righteous Army that rose up in this year is called the Jeongmi Righteous Army (乙巳義兵), initially led by Confucian scholars includingChoe Ik-hyeon. However, when government troops suppressed them, Confucian scholars, driven by feudal ethics that prohibited drawing a sword against the king, surrendered voluntarily. Instead, unknown gentry members and local peasants became the core of the righteous armies.[7]
After the disbandment of theKorean Empire's army due to theJapan–Korea Treaty of 1907, a significant number of soldiers joined the Righteous Army. The Righteous Army that rose up in this year is called the Jeongmi Righteous Army (丁未義兵), of which the leaders were either fallen nobles such as Sim Nam-il and Ahn Gyu-hong, or commoners such asShin Dol-seok.[7] The Righteous Army struggle between 1907 and 1910 was so intense that according to official Japanese statistics, there were 150,000 uprisings, 2,851 clashes, 16,700 deaths, and 36,770 wounded, for a total of 53,000 Righteous Army casualties.[8]
At the time, the most active area for the Righteous Army struggle wasSouth Jeolla Province, and Japanese landowners in this region became the primary targets of the Righteous Army's activities. In 1909, at the strong request of theMokpo Japanese Chamber of Commerce, the Japanese Empire launched the so-called Great Suppression of the Southern Insurgents Operation (南韓討伐大作戦), engaging in a decisive battle with the Righteous Army in Korea. As a result, the Righteous Army suffered a decisive blow and was forced to relocate its base toManchuria and other places. These Righteous Army members grew into the core of theKorean Independence Army.[7]
The Righteous Army was formed byYu In-seok and other Confucian scholars during the Peasant Wars. Its ranks swelled after the Queen's murder by the Japanese Samurais. Under the leadership ofMin Jeong-sik,Choe Ik-hyeon andShin Dol-seok, the Righteous Army attacked the Japanese army, Japanese merchants and pro-Japanese bureaucrats in the provinces ofGangwon,Chungcheong,Jeolla andGyeongsang.
Choe Ik-hyeon was captured by the Japanese and taken toTsushima Island where he went onhunger strike and finally died in 1906.Shin Dol-seok, an uneducated peasant commanded over 3,000 troops. Among the troops were former government soldiers, poor peasants, fishermen, tiger hunters, miners, merchants, and laborers.
The Korean army was disbanded on August 1, 1907. The Army was led by 1st Battalion Commander MajorPark Seung-hwan, who later committed suicide, which occurred after the disbandment and was led by former soldiers of the Korean Army against Japan inNamdaemun Gate. The disbanded army joined the Righteous Armies and together they solidified the foundation for the Righteous Armies battle.
In 1907, the Righteous Army under the command ofYi In-yeong amassed 10,000 troops to liberate Seoul and defeat the Japanese. The Army came within 12 km of Seoul but could not withstand the Japanese counter-offensive. The Righteous Army was no match for two infantry divisions of 20,000 Japanese soldiers backed by warships moored near Incheon.
The Righteous Army retreated from Seoul and the war went on for two more years. Over 17,000 Righteous Army soldiers were killed and more than 37,000 were wounded in combat. Unable to fight the Japanese army head-on, the Righteous Army split into small bands ofpartisans to carry on the War of Liberation in China, Siberia, and the Baekdu Mountains in Korea. The Japanese troops first quashed the Peasant Army and then disbanded what remained of the government army. Many of the surviving guerrilla and anti-Japanese government troops fled toManchuria andPrimorsky Krai to carry on their fight. In 1910, Japan annexed Korea and started theperiod of Japanese rule.
Of the sixty righteous armies, the list and descriptions below follow what is known of the names of the more well-known armies and their sequential appearance in combat; individual generals and named figures are given larger biographies on separate articles which cite more historical background.