Among many patriotic
forefathers who sacrificed themselves to save the
nation and to exalt very high the national spirit, Patriot
Ahn,
Choong-Kun is a true and distinctive representative
of those. Originated
from Sunhung, Patriot Ahn,
the 26th generation descendant of Munsungkong
Ahn
Yu, was born on September 2, 1879. Patriot Ahn's grandfather
Insukong was a man of high reputation who served as
the head of
Chin-haehyun(district), and his father
Taehunkong was a famous scholar
and his mother was
from Cho's family of Paekchon. Born with the 7 black
dots shaped exactly like the Dipper along his chest
and abdomen, he was
believed to be sent by the Big
Dipper and named Ungchil after it by his
parents.
When he was six years old, his family moved to Turamyon,
Shinchon-gun, Chonggye-dong at the foot of the beautiful
Mt, Chon-bong.
Because of patriot Ahn's predominant
and brilliant letter learning
ability in his childhood,
he seemed promising to become a scholar in the
future.
Around the age of seven, he began to demonstrate his
excellence
in horse riding as well as archery. At
the time of local riots under the
pretext of Tong-hak(Eastern
Learning) Revolution in his age of 16, he
led the
soldiers drafted by his father and suppressed the rebels.
He
married Aryo, a daughter of Kim, Hong-Sion in
1884. And later, he
returned home only to see his
father's death and lay him in his hometown
to rest
in peace. Moving to Chinnampo the next year, he devoted
all his
fortune to establish Tonui and Sambung Schools
so as to educate the
manpower for the 'Save-the-Nation
Movement'. Unable to repress his
raging anger, he
decided to go to Vladivostok where he made an every
effort to inspire fierce military campaign against Japan
in the power of
lieutenant general of the Korean
Righteous Army as well as the chief of
the Special
Independence Corps. At the age of 30, he commanded 300
Righteous Army soldiers across the Tumangang River to
fight against
Japanese police force in Kyonghung
and Japanese Defense Guards in
Hoyryong. It was
when he was 31 years old that he cut his finger to
express his patriotic will and wrote 'Korean Independence'
with blood on
Taegukki(Korean National Flag) together
with his 11 congenial spirit of
the 'Death Band'.
Reading from the newspaper that Ito-Hirobumi, who
represented Japanese Government, would make a formal
visit around the
Northern Manchuria to inspect the
region and to have talks with Russian
Minister Kokopchev
on Oriental policies, he went to Harbin where though
to have a high chance to avenge upon Japanese on behalf
of the Korea. At
the historical moment of 9:30 a.m.,
on October 26th 1909, Ito-Hirobumi
was shot to death
by Patriot Ahn's own hand at Harbin Railway Station
when he was getting off the train under water-tight
guard and the crowd
of foreign delegates. Patriot
Ahn then threw the gun away, and shout
'Hurrah for
Korea' three times with peaceful and soul-stirring smile
before being arrested by the Russian military police
who later handed
him over to Japanese authority.
With such an encouraging news of Ito`s
death spread
worldwide, there were no Korean or Chinese who did not
jump
with delight. Never yielding to all those savage
torments and tortures
in Rwisun jail for 5 months,
he wrote his autobiography, the Peace in
the Orient,
and numerous autographs. In the Mae-yang Court in Japan,
he
did not only charged Ito's assassination, but
also 15 kinds of crimes
including the infringement
of Korean territory, Korean sovereignty, and
the
peace in the Orient, but the reasons for his behavior
was eventually
revealed with great dignity. The
Japanese judiciary authority sentenced
him to death
on February 14th and his colleagues Woo, Duk-Sun, Cho,
To-Son, and Yu, Tong-Ha, to years of imprisonment. Leaving
patriot Ahn's
last will touching deeply into the
hearts of 20 million Koreans, he died
a martyr for
his faith at 10:00 a.m. on arch 26th 1910, in Rwisun
Prison
at the age of 32. Though short his invaluable
life was, his noble spirit
will shine forever in
the our history. He was survived by one son and a
daughter, Chun-saeng and Hyun-saeng, and by grandson
Ung-ho who will,
out of all doubt, inherit his patriotism
generation after generation. |
