Religion (pro-Japanese anti-national collaborator)
| Life | 1875 ~ 1942 |
| Era | 근현대 |
| Clan | 진주 강씨 |
Gang Dae-ryeon was a figure active in religion during the late Korean Empire and Japanese colonial period.
Pro-Japanese activities: As abbot of Yongjusa Temple, he published writings praising Japanese colonial rule and the wars of aggression, and served as chairman of the Council of Thirty Head Temples. For these activities he was named by the government's Committee for the Investigation of Pro-Japanese Collaborator Activities and included in the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators compiled by the Center for Historical Truth and Justice.
At age 14, Gang left home to become a Buddhist monk at Mount Geumgang, taking the Buddhist name Geumheo. After graduating from Myeongjin School in 1905, he became abbot of Yongjusa Temple in Suwon in 1911, a position he held until his death; the Buddhist Central Seminary he founded later developed into Dongguk University.
Shortly after the March First Movement of 1919, he submitted a proposal to Japanese authorities suggesting that intermarriage between the Korean and Japanese royal and noble families would promote reconciliation between the two nations — a proposal that provoked fierce backlash within the Buddhist community and led to a public campaign, known as the "drum-beating expulsion" incident, to denounce and remove him. Undeterred, he adopted the self-mocking nickname "Myeonggosanin" ("man of the beaten drum"), and after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese and Pacific Wars he held Buddhist services for the Japanese military and donated large sums to its war-funding drives, remaining closely aligned with the colonial government throughout.