¹In 1894 (DG 24), Jeon Myeong-suk from Donggol Village in Taein County gathered the Eastern Learning adherents under the slogan “Uphold the nation and bring comfort to the people” and initiated an uprising in Gobu County. Soon, the entire country entered into a state of upheaval.

²Prior to this, since 1891 (DG 21), Jeon Myeong-suk had journeyed to Seoul and met with the king’s father, Heungseon Daewongun, on many occasions over a period of three years. ³When the Daewongun had asked Myeong-suk about his aspirations, Myeong-suk had answered, “The sole desire that I harbor in my heart is to die for my country and its people.”

⁴Despite the great age difference, Jeung-san had been an acquaintance of Myeong-suk for many years. ⁵In 1894, Myeong-suk one day came before Jeung-san and said, “I intend to initiate an uprising for the well-being of the common folk, so I am asking for your support.”

⁶“The time is not opportune, so do not go forward with your intent,” said Jeung-san, foreknowing that the ensuing course of this uprising would be disastrous. Jeung-san warned him, ⁷“Your endeavor will not succeed, and countless innocent people will be slain.”

⁸In reply, Myeong-suk declared, “If you will not support me, I will undertake it alone.” Myeong-suk then took his leave.

⁹A revolution is a vast earthquake of history that erupts from the deep grief and suffering of the masses. The Eastern Learning Revolution, in which the Joseon people’s deep-seated bitterness and grief erupted, sparked massive upheavals worldwide.

¹⁰At this time, Jeung-san was observing the grand tides of this momentous upheaval, which heralded the Later Heaven Gaebyeok. Jeung-san was twenty-four years of age, and Myeong-suk was forty years of age, an impoverished scholar without station.

¹¹This revolution, which manifested as three uprisings in January, March, and September of 1894, heralded the dawning of the new age of gaebyeok.