Franklin Rausch

10.18399/acta.2012.15.2.001

An Chunggŭn Peace in the East social Darwinism Asianism nationalism An Chunggŭn Peace in the East social Darwinism Asianism nationalism An Chunggŭn Peace in the East social Darwinism Asianism nationalism An Chunggŭn Peace in the East social Darwinism Asianism nationalism Chunggŭn Peace in the East social Darwinism Asianism Nationalism

An Chunggŭn is frequently portrayed as having killed Itō Hirobumi primarily out of a sense of wounded nationalism. However, in this article I argue through a close reading of An’s unfinished prison essay, A Treatise on Peace in the East, and relevant court records, that in addition to nationalism, Catholicism, Confucianism and Asianism played an important role in shaping An’s worldview and convincing him that killing Itō was not only justified, but practical, as it would put into motion events that would lead to peace in the East and the restoration of Korean independence. Moreover, I contend that these worldviews are not easily isolated variables within An’s thought, but rather interacted with and shaped each other, with religion acting as an ethical foundation, as seen in the fact that An’s Confucian-Catholic morality led him to absolutize Asianism into a religious principle equivalent to obedience to Heaven. I therefore argue that An killed Itō in part because his essentially religious worldview made it appear to be a more effective means of obtaining Korean independence and peace in the East than it really was. At the same time, I show that An’s universal, religious morality prevented him from adopting a xenophobic form of Asianism and led him to search for a solution that would benefit all human beings as he sought not only East Asian, but world peace.