[One Thousand Characters a Day] Ahn Jung-geun's 'Reflections of Korean Ahn Eung-chil'

by Jo Inkyung

Published 23 Feb.2023 06:00(KST)

Updated 24 Feb.2023 09:40(KST)

[One Thousand Characters a Day] Ahn Jung-geun's 'Reflections of Korean Ahn Eung-chil'

Editor's NoteAsia Economy provides daily 1,000-character transcription content for the 'One Day Ten Thousand Steps, One Day One Thousand Characters' newsletter readers. The transcription content is carefully selected according to daily and monthly themes from Eastern and Western classics, Korean literature, notable columns, and famous speeches.

Today, ahead of 'Samiljeol' (March 1st Movement Day), we introduce "Reflections of Korean An Eungchil," written by An Jung-geun while imprisoned. An Jung-geun assassinated Ito Hirobumi with a pistol at Harbin Station in China on October 26, 1909, was immediately arrested on the spot, and transferred to the Lushun Prison under the Japanese Empire. Before the first interrogation by the prosecutor on November 6, he wrote his response in pencil and submitted it to the Japanese prison warden. This writing contains his sorrow for the homeland deprived of sovereignty, the tragic reality of Asian countries devastated by war, and his anger toward Ito Hirobumi, who committed atrocities in the colonies. An was sentenced to death on February 14 the following year and died a martyr on March 26. An Eungchil was An Jung-geun’s childhood name, and the text below was translated by the An Jung-geun Memorial Hall. Character count: 642.

'Reflections of Korean An Eungchil'. This document was rewritten by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to report to their superiors, originally written in pencil by An Jung-geun in prison on November 6, 1909.

Heaven created humans so that the world would become one family. Each person cherishes freedom, loves life, and hates death?these are the rightful feelings everyone possesses. People today commonly call this a civilized era, but I alone lament that this is not so. Civilization means that regardless of East or West, the wise or the unwise, men or women, young or old, everyone preserves their innate nature, reveres morality, and without contentious hearts, peacefully enjoys their livelihood on their own land, sharing in peace together. However, the present age is not so; the so-called elite of the upper society argue as if competing, and research has become a machine for killing people. Thus, on the six continents of East and West, the smoke of cannons and the hail of bullets never cease?how can this not be a matter of lamentation? Now, speaking of the situation in the East, the miserable conditions are even more severe and truly difficult to record. The so-called Ito Hirobumi, without deeply understanding the global situation, recklessly employed cruel policies, causing the entire East to face inevitable destruction. It is sorrowful. How can the young people who worry about the world’s fate sit idly with folded arms, waiting for death without any countermeasures? Therefore, unable to bear it any longer, I fired a single shot at Harbin, condemning the crimes of the old thief Ito before all eyes, awakening the spirit of the young people in the East who have purpose.