The women of a burned village
1907 · Ichon, Gyeonggi, Korean Empire · Words heard through an interpreter and written down in English by the British journalist F. A. McKenzie. In a village near Ichon that Japanese troops had burned, on the grounds that it had not stopped the volunteer fighters, the women came forward and told a stranger what had happened, which he notes was unusual. The book says the autumn of 1906, but it describes the Emperor as already deposed and the army disbanded, so this was the autumn of 1907.
"We are glad," they said, "that a European man has come to see what has befallen us. We hope you will tell your people, so that all men may know."F. A. McKenzie, Korea's Fight for Freedom (1920), chapter 8 · in place of the original: the English translation by F. A. McKenzie (1920)
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A villager who lost his family records
1907 · Ichon, Gyeonggi, Korean Empire · Heard through an interpreter in the same village. The “family papers” were presumably genealogies and records handed down through the generations.
"We are rebuilding our houses," he said, "but of what use is it for us to do so? I was a man of family. My fathers and fathers' fathers had their record. Our family papers are destroyed. Henceforth we are a people without a name, disgraced and outcast."F. A. McKenzie, Korea's Fight for Freedom (1920), chapter 8 · in place of the original: the English translation by F. A. McKenzie (1920)
A nameless Righteous Army officer
1907 · Korean Empire · A young officer of a volunteer (“Righteous Army”) band whom McKenzie met. He said this, McKenzie writes, after admitting that his men were badly off. Heard through an interpreter and written down in English.
"We may have to die," he said. "Well, so let it be. It is much better to die as a free man than to live as the slave of Japan."F. A. McKenzie, Korea's Fight for Freedom (1920), chapter 9 · in place of the original: the English translation by F. A. McKenzie (1920)
A nameless Righteous Army officer
1907 · Korean Empire · The same officer, when McKenzie asked whether he had posted sentries against a night attack.
"There is no need for outposts," he replied. "Every Korean man around watches for us."F. A. McKenzie, Korea's Fight for Freedom (1920), chapter 9 · in place of the original: the English translation by F. A. McKenzie (1920)
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