Son Byong-hi

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Son Byong-hi
Korean name
Hangul	손병희
Hanja	孫秉熙
Revised Romanization	Son Byeong-hui
McCune–Reischauer	Son Pyŏng-hŭi
Religious name
Hangul	의암
Hanja	義菴
Revised Romanization	Uiam
McCune–Reischauer	Ŭiam

Son Byong-hi (Korean: 손병희; 8 April 1861 – 19 May 1922) was a Korean religious leader and independence activist. His religious name was Uiam. He was the third leader of Donghak, an indigenous religious movement founded from 1860 to 1864.

The founder of Donghak, Choe Je-u (religious name Su-un), and the second leader, Choe Sihyeong (religious name Haewol), had both been executed. Haewol, Son’s mentor and predecessor, was involved in a peasant revolt in 1894 (referred to as the Donghak Peasant Revolution) and he was executed in connection with that in 1898.^[1] Thereafter, Son assumed leadership of Donghak but was forced to flee to Japan in March 1901. He was accompanied with his brother and chief lieutenant Yi Yong-gu.^[2]

In Japan, Son studied modern western ways which had been adopted by the Japanese after the Meiji Restoration. Up to that point Donghak was highly traditional, opposed to modernization and foreign intervention in Korea. Son pivoted from that world view by embracing modernization and accepting help from Japan to achieve that goal.^[3]

In 1902, He sent Yi back to Korea to act as his liaison. At Son’s direction, Yi founded a political organization known as Jungniphoe (Chungniphoe “neutrality society”) which was later reorganized as the Jinbohoe (Chinbohoe "progressive society"). One of the most notable of Jinbohoe activities was the organization of mass hair cutting ceremonies in which Korean men cut off their traditional topknots.^[4] Modernization through education was its top priority. It also had a pan-Asian outlook which encouraged Jinbohoe volunteers to aid the Japanese in the Russo-Japanese War particularly in construction of a railroad to aid troop deployment.^[5]

Yi eventually went so far as to call for Japan to take over Korea’s affairs ostensibly because he thought the arrangement would be temporary and beneficial to Korea. In any event, after Japan forced Korea to become its protectorate, Son began to distance Donghak from Japanese affiliation. Son renamed Donghak as Cheondogyo (Ch'ŏndogyo, Religion of the Heavenly Way) on 1 December 1905. He took concrete steps to modernize it and to extend its doctrinal concepts of Heaven's/God’s eminence in humankind. In September1906, he excommunicated Yi, who went on to form another branch of Donghak known as Sijeongyo (Sich'ŏn'gyo, Religion of Serving Heaven).^[6]

In 1910 Japan annexed Korea. As Japanese rule became more harsh Koreans began to feel that the situation was intolerable.^[7]  Finally in 1919, a mass demonstration was organized calling for Korean independence, with Cheondogyo, Christian and Buddhist religious leaders at the forefront of the movement.  A Declaration of Independence was drafted and Son was the first to sign it. After reading the declaration at the protest, he was voluntarily arrested. Although the first phase of the protest was peaceful, it became violent and was brutally suppressed by the Japanese. Son became ill in prison and was released. He died at home in 1922.^[8][9][10]