Archives of the Donghak Peasant Revolution

The nominated heritage is a collection of 185 documents associated with the Donghak Peasant Movement. The Donghak movement was a popular uprising against both corruption in the ruling class and encroachment on Korea by foreign powers, demanding the establishment of a more just and equal society. Over the course of the movement, the Donghak army succeeded in establishing a cooperative governing unit known as a jipgangso through which corrupt officials could be punished and unfair government practices rectified. This unit of governance was a novel experiment in democracy with parallels rarely found anywhere in the world at the time. The Donghak movement paved the way for Korea to develop into a flourishing democracy. The nominated documents serve as a reservoir of memories testifying to the historical processes through which the public acted as a protagonist in history and impelled the course of events toward the achievement of universal values.