Memory of the World- Republic of Korea

Archives of the Donghak Peasant Revolution

The nominated heritage is a collection of 185 documents associated with the Donghak Peasant revolution. The Donghak revolution was a popular uprising against both corruption in the ruling class and encroachment on Korea by foreign powers, demanding theestablishmentofamorejust and equal society. Over the course of the revolution, the Donghak army succeeded in establishing a cooperative governing unit known as a jipgangso through which corrupt officials could be punished and unfair government practicesrectified.Thisunitofgovernance was a novel experiment in democracy with parallels rarely found anywhere in the world at the time. The Donghak revolution paved the way for Korea to develop into a flourishing democracy. The revolution triggered theFirst Sino-JapaneseWarandultimatelyshifted the geopolitical order in East Asia: The Chinese and Japanese troops arriving in Korea to quell the rebellion started the First Sino-Japanese War, where the Japanese soldiers defeated their Chinese counterpartsand replaced Chinaasthedominantpower in the region. The nominated documents serve as a reservoir of memories testifying to the historical processes through which the public acted as a protagonist in history and impelled the course of events towardthe achievement ofuniversalvalues.­­­­­