나철 羅喆
Independence patriot · Revived Daejonggyo (first Dosagyo, head of the faith) · Plotted to execute the Five Eulsa Traitors · Order of Merit for National Foundation, Independence Medal (1962)
| Life | 1863 ~ 1916 |
| Era | 근현대 |
| Clan | 나주 나씨 |
Life & career
Na Cheol (1863–1916) was an independence activist of the late Korean Empire and the religious leader who revived (junggwang) Daejonggyo, the Dangun faith. His clan seat was Naju; his original name was Na Du-yeong and he also used the name Na In-yeong. His pen name was Hongam, and he came from Boseong, Jeolla Province. He passed the civil service examination in 1891 and served in the Royal Secretariat and the Office of Diplomatic Correspondence.
As Japanese encroachment grew he left office and in 1904 formed the secret society Yusinhoe with patriots from the Honam region. In 1905 he went to Japan, presented Japanese politicians with a memorandum calling for an alliance of Korea, Japan and China and respect for Korean independence, and fasted in front of the Imperial Palace. After the Eulsa Treaty he and Oh Gi-ho planned to kill the Five Eulsa Traitors and attempted it in March 1907. When his comrades were arrested he turned himself in and was sentenced to ten years' exile, but was released that same year by special pardon of Emperor Gojong.
In 1909, in Jae-dong, Seoul, he and his comrades enshrined the spirit tablet of Dangun, held a heavenly rite and proclaimed Dangungyo; the day is commemorated as the faith's Junggwang Day. As its first Dosagyo he renamed the faith Daejonggyo in 1910, published Sinri Daejeon and built a temple at Cheongpaho in Helong, Manchuria.
When the Japanese authorities outlawed Daejonggyo under their 1915 religious control regulations, he entered Samseongsa shrine on Mount Guwol in Hwanghae Province in the eighth lunar month of 1916 and, leaving a testament lamenting Japanese tyranny, ended his life as a martyr. Daejonggyo commemorates the day as Gagyeong Day. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Independence Medal, in 1962.
Grave
Buried, according to his will, on a hill at Cheongpaho (Blue Wave Lake), Hwaryong County, Manchuria (present-day Helong, Jilin Province, China)
Descendants
Eldest son Na Jeong-ryeon (1882–1943) and second son Na Jeong-mun (1892–1944), both independence activists posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Patriotism Medal, in 1991