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'Sin Ch’ae-ho' (1880-1936) is the founder of the nationalist historiography of Korea, and is often referred to as “Korea’s greatest historian” by both North and South Koreans. Two of his works, ''Toksa Sillon'' (“A New Reading of History”) written in 1908, and 'Joseon Sanggosa' (“The Early History of Choson”) in 1924/25 laid out the first ethnic (''minjok'')-based linear national history of Korea. He is also famous for his claim of the Manchurian connection to Korea’s grandeur ancient past. Later in his life in exile, Sin joined an anarchist organization and wrote articles on anti-Japanese Imperialism in anarchist newspapers.

Contents

Life

Sin Chaeho’s Nationalist Historiography

References

See also

Life

Sin was born on November 7, 1880, and his grandfather was an official in the royal advisory department. His literary name was Tansaeng, which was later changed to Tanjae. Sin had been educated in a traditional Korean way by his grandfather with no exposure to Western thoughts, and received a doctoral degree from the prestigious state-sponsored Confucian academy Seonggyungwan in 1905. He was appointed in the same school, but because of his strong nationalist feelings, he vacated the position upon learning that Japan had announced Korean as its protectorate. He served on the editorial boards for two of the new papers, the ''Hwangseong sinmun'' (황성신문, 皇成新聞) and the ''Daehan maeil sinbo'' (대한매일신보, 大韓每日新報). Sin used his literary prestige to support the Patriotic Enlightenment Movement. He exiled himself to China in 1910 when Japan declared its annexation of Korea. He helped open the Qingdao Council with his comrades in exile, and also organized the New Korea Youth Society in China in 1915. He was briefly associated with the Shanghai Provisional Government in 1919. Later he became more interested in anarchist thoughts and activities, and got involved in drafting ''The Manifesto of the Korean Revolution'' (1923). Sin joined the Eastern Anarchist Association (동방 무정부주의 연맹, 東方無政府主義聯盟) some time around 1925-1927.
Sin was arrested by the local police in Taiwan (Jilong) in May 1928 when he smuggled counterfeit funds from Beijing with a fake Chinese identity by the name of Yu Byongtek (柳烟澤) in order to gain funding for activities of the Eastern Anarchist Association. His first trial took place in Dalian, China, on July 19 1928, and it continued until April 1930. Sin was sentenced to 10-years imprisonment, and died in prison in 1936.

Sin Chaeho’s Nationalist Historiography

'The History of Korean ''Minjok'' (ethnicity)'
Sin was the first historian to focus on the Korean ''minjok'', and narrated Korean history in terms of its ''minjok'' history. For Sin, ''minjok'' and history were mutually defining and as he says in the preface of the'' Toksa Sillon'', “if one dismissed the ''minjok'', there is no history.” Sin emphasized the ancientness of the Korean ''minjok'' history, elevated the status of the mythical figure, Tangun, and located the host ''minjok'', Puyo. Sin launched a vision of the Korean nation as a historically defined ''minjok'' (or ethnic) entity.
'Korea’s Own Genealogy'
Sin’s purpose of the minjok discourse was to establish Korea’s genealogical history that is separate from China and Japan. Sin purposefully opposed the ''Sadae Juui'' (사대주의, 事大主義), or Confucian historiography that puts China at the center. In order to establish Korea’s own history, Sin advocated constructing a new ‘autonomous spirit’ through rediscovering Korean uniqueness in its history, legends, heroes (such as Yi Sunsin) and events. Replacing the story of Gija by the Dangun legend was one of the important ways to establish Korea’s uniqueness.
' Social Darwinism'
Sin conceived the ''minjok'' as almost an organic, biological entity, and regarded history as a process of competitions among groups. He perceived the entire Korean past as a national struggle against its neighbors. In ''Choson Sanggosa'', he elaborated his view of history that evolves around competitions between the “I” and “non-I,” which shows a strong Social Darwinian nature. The adoption of Social Darwinism also signifies a radical shift from traditional Confucian historiography.

References

Chang Ūl-Byōng, "Shin Ch'ae-ho's Nationalism and Anarchism," ''Korea Journal'', November 1986

Song Chae-So, "The Changes of Tanjae's Thought Seen in "The Dream Sky" and "The War of the Dragons,'" ''Korea Journal'', December 1980.
''
Sin Yong-ha, "Enlightenment Thought of Sin Ch'aeho,"''Korea Journal'', December 1980.
Lee Ke-baik, "Nationalism in Tanjae's Historical Study," Korea Journal" September 1979
Andre Schmid, ''Korea Between Empires''. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002.

Andre Schmid, "Rediscovering Manchuria: Som Cj’aeho and the Politics of Territorial History in Korea," in ''The Journal of Asian Studies'', 56, no. 1 February 1997.

Hyung Il Pai, ''Constructing Korean Origins A Critical Review of Archaeology, Historiography, and Racial Myth in Korean State Formation Theories''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2000.

Henry Em, “Nationalist Discourse in Modern Korea: Minjok as a Democratic Imaginary.” Ph.D dissertation, University of Chicago, 1995.

Kim Gi-seung, “Embracing and Overcoming of Social Darwinism by Confucian Intellectuals in the Early 20th Century Korea,” ''International Journal of Korean History,'' 2, Dec. 2001

Michael Allen, “Ambivalent Social Darwinism in Korea,” ''International Journal of Korean History'', 2, Dec. 2001

''Chosun Ilbo'', December 28, 1928, Page 5

''Chosun Ilbo'', September 28, 1929, Page 5

''Chosun Ilbo'', April 15th, 1930, Page 2

See also

★ History of Korea

★ Joseon Sanggosa

★ Korean nationalism

★ Korean independence movement