Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 (198 page)

24
. Nakano,
An J
ū
kon
, p. 4. So reported by witnesses, but An stated in courtroom testimony that he had cried out not in English or Russian but in Korean,
Taihan mansei
(Long Live Great Han), Han being a name for Korea (Sait
ō
,
It
ō
Hirobumi
, p. 10).

25
. Nakano,
An J
ū
kon
, p. 191; Sait
ō
,
It
ō
Hirobumi
, p. 23. It was reported in the No-vember 3 issue of
T
ō
ky
ō
nichinichi shimbun
that An’s overcoat and suit had been made in France (Sait
ō
,
It
ō
Hirobumi
, p. 46). An also wore a cloth cap as part of his costume as a Japanese.

26
. Nakano,
An J
ū
kon
, p. 103. For an extended account of the An family, see Norbert Weber,
Im Lande der Morgenstille
, pp. 331–49.

27
. An explained in court that he had used the name “An of the Seven Moles” ever since, three years earlier, he had become a
uibyong
(righteous soldier) (Nakano,
An J
ū
kon
, p. 39). In ancient China, seven moles on a person’s body were interpreted as a sign of greatness, probably because they were associated with the seven stars of the Big Dipper.

28
. Sait
ō
,
It
ō
Hirobumi
, p. 34.

29
. For more on the
uibyong
(righteous army), see Peter Duus,
The Abacus and the Sword
, pp. 117, 224–27.

30
. For a description of the fighting at this time, see Nakano,
An J
ū
kon
, pp. 108–10.

31
. Ibid., pp. 118–19; Sait
ō
,
It
ō
Hirobumi
, p. 63. Nakano states without explanation that both An Chung-gun and his father, An Tae-hun, were baptized at this time after passing a test in the catechism (
An J
ū
kon
, p. 118), but he earlier says that Tae-hun had been baptized at some previous date and given the baptismal name of Petrus (p. 108). The name Thomas was rendered in Chinese characters that indicate the intended pronunciation was
to-ma
(as in French).

32
. The son died in 1916 at the age of twelve in Vladivostok, where the family had fled after the assassination (Nakano,
An J
ū
kon
, pp. 225–56; Sait
ō
,
It
ō
Hirobumi
, p. 121).

33
. Nakano,
An J
ū
kun
, p. 39. Although Father Wilhelm’s name suggests that he was German rather than French, he may have taught French to An because French missionaries played the most important role in propagating Catholicism in Korea.

34
. Nakano,
An J
ū
kon
, p. 127.

35
. It may have been not Wilhelm but his superior, the bishop of Seoul, who annoyed An. When An presented to the bishop his plan for a university in Korea, the bishop disapproved, saying that education would be harmful to the Koreans’ faith (Nakano,
An J
ū
kon
, p. 127). An was probably disappointed when Wilhelm, whom he supposed was on his side, agreed with his superior. For another theory as to why An and Wilhelm became estranged, see pp. 144–45. An was so annoyed that he considered appealing directly to the pope. However, he was delighted when Wilhelm visited him shortly before his death. A photograph shows the two men conversing over a table (Sait
ō
,
It
ō
Hirobumi
, p. 110).

36
. Sait
ō
,
It
ō
Hirobumi
, p. 114. These remarks are found in An’s essay “On Peace in East Asia,” left unfinished at his death.

37
. See, for example, Sait
ō
,
It
ō
Hirobumi
, p. 84.

38
. Sait
ō
pointed out, however, that An must have been thinking of the emperor’s proclamation at the opening of the Sino-Japanese War (
It
ō
Hirobumi
, p. 90). The proclamation for the Russo-Japanese War was significantly different, calling for not for peace in East Asia but “peace and order,” and not the independence of Korea but its “integrity.”

39
. Sait
ō
,
It
ō
Hirobumi
, p. 178. See also Nakano,
An J
ū
kon
, pp. 209–10. An condemned as a “crime against Heaven” the actions of Prime Minister Yi Wan-yong, who had helped Russia and fought against Japan during the Russo-Japanese War, although he added that if Yi were to raise a “righteous army” and fight against Japan, this would be in consonance with the will of Heaven; It
ō
’s outrageous behavior had made the difference (Nakano,
An J
ū
kon
, p. 160).

40
. An released all the prisoners unharmed and even gave them back their rifles (Nakano,
An J
ū
kon
, p. 171).

41
. An did not explain how he had come to be a lieutenant general or if there was a general who ranked above him.
Uibyong
(
gihei
in Japanese), translated here as “righteous army” or “righteous soldiers,” has no exact equivalent in English. It means soldiers who are moved by righteous principles, as opposed to ordinary soldiers whose only thought is to obey orders.

42
. Nakano,
An J
ū
kon
, p. 14.

43
. In 1867 It
ō
was not of sufficiently high rank to appear before the emperor. At the time of KMmei’s death, moreover, It
ō
was seriously ill in Ch
ō
sh
ū
and not in Ky
ō
to.

44
. For the fifteen charges with a brief commentary on each, see Sait
ō
,
It
ō
Hirobumi
, pp. 172–75.

45
. Quoted in ibid., p. 46.

46
. Nakano,
An J
ū
kon
, pp. 17, 13.

47
. Sait
ō
,
It
ō
Hirobumi
, p. 100.

48
. They gave examples of men who, because political ideals had inspired their assassinations, were given relatively light sentences. They did not mention, however, the nearest parallel: in 1907, an American named Durham W. Stevens, who had been in the employ of the Japanese in Korea, announced at a press conference given on arriving in San Francisco on his way to Washington that It
ō
Hirobumi had done much to benefit the Korean people. He was assassinated the next day by two angry Koreans. One of them, Chang In-hwan, served fifteen years in prison for the crime. The Japanese newspaper article reporting Stevens’s murder is in Kinebuchi,
Nikkan
, pp. 266–67. See also
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 12, p. 41, and Woonsung Choi,
The Fall of the Hermit Kingdom
, p. 78.

49
. Sait
ō
,
It
ō
Hirobumi
, p. 103.

50
. Nakano,
An J
ū
kun
, pp. 29–30. Sait
ō
mentions the discussion between Judge Hiraishi and Kurachi Tetsukichi of the Foreign Ministry, who had come to Port Arthur under orders from Komura (
It
ō
Hirobumi
, p. 101). Kurachi conveyed the opinion of the government that the death penalty was advisable.

51
. Sait
ō
,
It
ō
Hirobumi
, p. 124.

52
. Katano Tsugio,
Rich
ō
metsub
ō
, p. 284.

53
. Sait
ō
,
It
ō
Hirobumi
, pp. 31, 32.

54
. “Hyakkai ts
ū
shin,” in
Ishikawa Takuboku zensh
ū
, 4, p. 192. A Korean scholar has suggested that Takuboku’s poem “A Spoonful of Cocoa,” usually considered to refer to the execution of K
ō
toku Sh
ū
sui, might actually have expressed his feelings about An (Sait
ō
,
It
ō
Hirobumi
, pp. 150–51). However, the tone of Takuboku’s remarks in “Hyakkai ts
ū
shin” is one of shock, not of sympathy with the terrorist.

Chapter 59

1
. Kinebuchi Nobuo,
Nikkan k
ō
sh
ō
shi
, p. 274. See also Moriyama Shigenori,
Nikkan heig
ō
, pp. 128–29.

2
. Moriyama,
Nikkan
, p. 129.

3
. Yi Wan-yong had an unusually checkered career. In 1896 he was one of the leaders of the pro-Russian party that urged King Kojong to take refuge in the Russian legation. Later that year, he was elected vice president of the Independence Club, which was anti-Russian and opposed foreign intervention in Korean affairs. In 1905, as minister of education, he was the first of the five “traitors” to sign the convention providing for Japanese control of Korea’s foreign relations. In 1906, exasperated by Kojong’s refusal to cooperate more positively with the new government, he proposed to the Japanese that the emperor be deposed (Moriyama,
Nikkan
, p. 125). This earned Yi Wan-yong the confidence of the Japanese, and when It
ō
formed a new cabinet in May 1907, he chose Yi Wan-yong as prime minister.

4
. Moriyama,
Nikkan
, p. 130.

5
. Ibid., p. 131.

6
. Woonsang Choi,
The Fall of the Hermit Kingdom
, p. 70.

7
. Moriyama,
Nikkan
, p. 129.

8
. Kinebuchi,
Nikkan
, p. 274.

9
. Ibid.

10
. The
karatachi
(
Citrus trifoliata
) and the
tachibana
(
Citrus tachibana
) are similar members of the same family that also includes the tangerine. The
karatachi
was also known as
karatachibana
or simply as
tachibana
, evidence of how easily the two plants were confused.

11
. Quoted from the Japanese version of the text, originally printed in the
T
ō
ky
ō
Asahi
on December 8, 1909, in Kinebuchi,
Nikkan
, p. 276. According to legend, the
udombara
blossomed only once in 3,000 years. Both the lucky stars and the phoenix were auguries of future good fortune.

12
. Peter Duus,
The Abacus and the Sword
, pp. 239–40.

13
. Kinebuchi,
Nikkan
, p. 277.

14
. For an excellent analysis of how the “common culture” and “common ancestry” of the Japanese and Koreans was discussed by Japanese at the time, see Duus,
Abacus
, pp. 413–23.

15
. Ibid., p. 197. His source was
Ō
yama Azusa,
Yamagata Aritomo ikensho
, p. 284. In contrast, It
ō
was far more optimistic about the possibility of the Koreans accepting modern civilization. He believed that the reason that the Koreans had fallen behind the Japanese was not because they were inherently indolent but because of the upper classes’ corruption and resistance to change (Duus,
Abacus
, p. 199).

16
. Moriyama,
Nikkan
, p. 178.

17
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 12, p. 430.

18
. Choi,
Fall of the Hermit Kingdom
, p. 74. Choi’s source was Fukuda TMsaku,
Kankoku heig
ō
kinen shi
, p. 597.

19
.
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 12, pp. 455–56.

20
. Ibid., 12, pp. 451–52.

21
. The text is in ibid., 12, pp. 461–62; the translation, in Choi,
Fall of the Hermit Kingdom
, pp. 136–38. There were only five articles in the version presented to Yi Wan-yong by General Terauchi. The preamble, the first two articles (stating the willingness of the Korean emperor to cede his rights of sovereignty and the Japanese emperor’s willingness to accept the annexation of Korea), and the eighth article (the promulgation of the treaty) are missing, but the remaining articles are more or less the same.

22
. In October 1910 seventy-six Korean nobles were given Japanese titles: six marquises, three counts, twenty-two viscounts, and forty-five barons (
Meiji tenn
ō
ki
, 12, p. 488). In December of that year the former Korean emperor was made a general of the Japanese army. The crown prince became a first lieutenant of infantry, and his dissolute elder brother, Yi Kan, and other nobles became lieutenant generals. Probably the crown prince was the only one of these officers to take his military duties seriously. For the others, the superior treatment and attendants that went with their ranks were all that mattered (p. 535).