earticle

영어

The Anti-Japanese Movement of Jeju Beobjungsa broke out at Dosoonri in Jeju on December 7 in 1918. The Anti-Japanese movement was staged by some Buddhist monks such as Kim Yeon-il, Kang Chang-gyu and Bang Dong-hwa and about 700 local folks to the purpose of recovering national sovereignty. This study sheds light on the specific characteristics on the Jeju Beobjeongsa movement by tracing not only its preparation and the process of the development for the movement but also the activities and achievements of the leading power all throughout the movement. Beobjungsa had been a staging place for Buddhist monks with Anti-Japanese awareness since it was founded in 19ll. Ever since, those monks had inculcated local folks with Anti-Japanese ideology, claimed to stand for recovering national sovereignty and induced the participation of those local people through Buddhist services for about 8years. Japan, however, tried to diminish and distort the meaning of the resistance movement into “a rabble-rousing instigated by around 300 to 400 pretended devotees”. Seeing the fact that Beobjungsa Buddhist monks induced about 700 local folks' participation for the independence movement through a careful prearranged plan, we can easily perceive the Japanese intention to diminish the meaning of this Anti-Japanese movement. The newly discovered documentary records made this study possible. This study is also based on preserved documents in National Registration Agency, words of mouth from the bereaved families, and materials in their possession.