전봉준 全琫準
Leader of the Donghak Peasant Movement of 1894, known as the "Green Bean General"; Cheonan Jeon clan
| Life | 1855 ~ 1895 |
| Era | 조선 말기·개항기 |
| Clan | 천안 전씨 |
Life & career
Jeon Bong-jun (全琫準, 1855-1895) led the Gobu peasant uprising and the Donghak Peasant Movement of 1894. Because of his small build he was nicknamed "Nokdu" (mung or green bean) and later "Nokdu Janggun," the Green Bean General. His clan seat is Cheonan; his courtesy name was Myeongjwa and his pen name Haemong. Sources give several other early names, and his genealogical name is said to be Yeong-jun. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture describes him as a Donghak regional chief (jeopju) and commander-in-chief (dodo daejang) of the peasant army.
Accounts of his birthplace differ. Korean Wikipedia places it at Dangchon village, Jungnim-ri, Gochang, noting that an earlier Jeongeup-birth theory was revised after research; the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture says it is not known precisely and, based on trial records, treats Donggok in Sanoe-myeon, Taein as his main residence. His father was Jeon Chang-hyeok (全彰爀), a steward (jangui) of the Gobu local school, and his mother was of the Gwangsan Kim clan.
The 1894 revolt is viewed both as a peasant movement against exploitation and as an anti-foreign resistance, and Jeon stood at its center. He was hanged in Seoul in 1895, and his name remains a symbol of the Donghak Peasant Revolution.
Joining Donghak and the Gobu Uprising
Jeon Bong-jun is said to have joined Donghak around 1890, in his mid-thirties, and was appointed regional chief of Gobu by Choe Si-hyeong. He took Donghak as a principle of social reform for "assisting the state and bringing peace to the people" (boguk anmin).
Jo Byeong-gap, who became magistrate of Gobu in 1892, extorted the peasants, for example by levying water fees under the pretext of repairing the Manseokbo reservoir. In December 1893 villagers made Jeon the head of their petition, which was rejected, and his father Jeon Chang-hyeok is said to have been flogged for protesting and to have died about a month later. Jeon and 20 comrades then circulated the sabal tongmun, a circular petition signed in a circle, pledging to act.
On 10 January 1894 he led about a thousand people against the Gobu office, opened the armory and returned the seized grain tax to the peasants. The army dispersed when the court punished Jo and sent a new magistrate, but when the special investigator Yi Yong-tae persecuted Donghak followers as rebels, Jeon sent circulars to nearby chiefs in late March calling for a new rising.
From Baeksan to the Jeonju Truce
When some 10,000 gathered at Baeksan, Jeon was acclaimed commander-in-chief of the Donghak forces, assisted by Son Hwa-jung and Kim Gae-nam as chief officers. In early April the peasant army crushed the Jeolla provincial troops at Hwangtohyeon, and on 27 April it took Jeonju fortress.
With Qing and Japanese troops entering Korea, Jeon negotiated with the pacification commissioner Hong Gye-hun and presented a reform program; the Jeonju Truce was concluded on 7 May. Peasant "executive offices" (jipgangso) were then set up across Jeolla to carry out reforms.
The Second Uprising and the Battle of Ugeumchi
After the Sino-Japanese War broke out and Japanese troops seized Gyeongbokgung, Jeon rose again in September 1894 with an anti-Japanese banner. Southern Donghak forces and the northern forces under Son Byeong-hui gathered at Nonsan, and Jeon led the main force against Gongju, but in early November it was badly defeated at Ugeumchi by Japanese and government troops with modern weapons. Fighting continued at Taein and Geumgu, but the peasant army collapsed.
Arrest and Death
After the defeat he fled through Jeongeup and Sunchang and was seized after being informed on by a former subordinate, Kim Gyeong-cheon. The date of arrest differs by source: the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture gives 2 December 1894, while Korean Wikipedia gives 28 December (at Pinori, Sunchang). He was handed to the Japanese and taken to Seoul, and is said never to have disclosed the names of his comrades or his links with the Daewongun in interrogation. The record of that questioning is the "Jeon Bong-jun Gongcho."
He was hanged in Seoul in 1895; the encyclopedia gives 23 April and Wikipedia 24 April (30th of the third lunar month), a one-day difference. A famous death poem beginning "When the time came, heaven and earth lent their strength" is attributed to him, but its authorship and wording vary by source.
Sites and Commemoration
The Jeon Bong-jun house in Josso village, Jangnae-ri, Ipyeong-myeon, Jeongeup, was designated Historic Site No. 293 in 1981 as the "Jeongeup Jeon Bong-jun Site." It is a three-room thatched stone-walled house, thought to have been built around 1878. In 1954 the Cheonan Jeon clan raised a memorial stele at Joso-ri, Ipyeong-myeon, and in 1981 the Korea Junior Chamber erected a memorial at Deokjin Park in Jeonju. The reconstructed birthplace at Dangchon village, Gochang, was reportedly removed in 2019 over authenticity problems.
The Donghak Peasant Revolution records were inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World register in 2023. Whether he has been conferred an independence-merit decoration could not be confirmed; check Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs sources.
Grave
His exact burial place could not be confirmed. His old house stands in Josso village, Jangnae-ri, Ipyeong-myeon, Jeongeup (Jeongeup Jeon Bong-jun Site, Historic Site No. 293).
Descendants
According to Korean Wikipedia, a son by his later wife (of the Namyeong Yi clan), Jeon Yong-gyu, died young, and a second son, Jeon Yong-hyeon, had no heir and adopted a relative, Jeon Man-gil. Of his two daughters, Jeon Ok-rye is said to have hidden at Geumdangsa on Maisan in Jinan after the execution and revealed her identity at a Donghak commemoration in 1970. Sources describe his wives differently. Since 2022 Prof. Jeon Seong-jun, a descendant of the Munhyo-gong branch of the Cheonan Jeon clan, is reported to serve as the ritual heir (bongsason).