Baek Gwan-su Historic House

This building is the historic house of Baek Gwan-su (pen name Geunchon). The main hall (anchae) is four bays wide and two bays deep with a hip-and-gable roof, covering 16.5 pyeong. The plinth stones are natural stones used as found, the pillars are square in section, and the platform was recently repaired with broken stone. The men's quarters (sarangchae) are four bays wide and two bays deep with a hipped roof (ujingak), covering 17 pyeong. Baek Gwan-su was born on 28 January in the 26th year of King Gojong's reign (1889) in Deoksan-ri, Seongnae-myeon. From the age of six he studied classical Chinese under the eminent Confucian scholar Jeon U (pen name Ganjae), and in the year he turned sixteen the Russo-Japanese War broke out and the Eulsa Treaty, which stripped Korea of its sovereignty, was signed. In the spring of 1917, though it meant beginning his studies later than most, he travelled to Japan and entered the law department of Meiji University. There he was chosen for a committee planning the independence movement, and following the historic "February 8 Declaration" he was arrested by the Japanese police and endured a year in prison; this declaration helped spark the March First Movement, making him one of the pioneers of the independence movement. Released from prison in March 1920, he returned home, where he became involved with the Christian Young Men's Association while also entering journalism, working for four years alongside Yi Sang-jae as a director and in sales and editing at the Chosun Ilbo. Rhee Syng-man, who knew the full details of the February 8 Declaration that he had led, pleaded with him to join the independence movement together, but he declined and returned home. In May 1937 he became the seventh president of the Dong-a Ilbo, and after the 1947 shareholders' representative assembly he was elected, on 10 May 1948, as a member of the Constituent National Assembly from his home town of Gochang, serving as the first chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee before being abducted to North Korea by the communists from his own home during the Korean War. He was 62 years old at the time, and whether he is alive or dead has never been confirmed.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gochang, Jeonbuk

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물