Volta
Person1833 – 1907

Choe Ik-hyeon

Confucian loyalist whose memorials toppled the Daewongun and opposed opening to Japan; raised a righteous army in 1906 and died in captivity on Tsushima

A disciple of Yi Hang-no, he carried on the ideology of defending orthodoxy and rejecting heterodoxy. His 1873 memorial attacking the rebuilding of Gyeongbokgung and the closure of seowon helped bring down the Heungseon Daewongun and begin Gojong's personal rule. In 1876, carrying an axe, he prostrated himself before the palace to oppose the opening of ports, arguing that Japan was no different from the Western barbarians, and was exiled to Heuksando. During the Eulmi Reform he refused the topknot decree, saying, "You may cut off my head, but not my hair." In 1906 he raised a righteous army at Taein in Jeolla with Im Byeong-chan, but disbanded it rather than fight fellow Koreans in the government troops, and was captured.

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3 related events

  1. 1
    1863 – 1873Reforms of the Heungseon Daewongunrelated figure

    When Gojong took the throne at twelve, his father the Daewongun seized power and attacked the abuses of in-law government, seeking to strengthen the crown and relieve the people.

  2. 2
    1895 – 1896Eulmi Reform and the Topknot Decreerelated figure

    The Kim Hong-jip cabinet installed after the queen’s assassination adopted the solar calendar, the era name Geonyang, smallpox vaccination and primary schools — and ordered men to cut off their topknots.

  3. 3
    1905 – 1906Eulsa Righteous Armiesmilitia leader

    Righteous armies rose across the country against the 1905 treaty: Min Jong-sik took Hongju, Choe Ik-hyeon rose at Taein, and the commoner leader Sin Dol-seok fought along the east coast.

People who appear alongside

  • Gojong1852 – 1919

    Twenty-sixth king of Joseon and first emperor of the Korean Empire

  • Heungseon Daewongun1820 – 1898

    Gojong's father and regent, who rebuilt Gyeongbokgung and rejected Western trade

  • Kim Hong-jip1842 – 1896

    Prime minister who led the Gabo Reform; killed by a crowd after the king fled to the Russian legation

  • Min Jong-sik1861 – 1917

    Righteous army leader who captured Hongju Fortress in 1906

  • Sin Dol-seok1878 – 1908

    Commoner righteous army leader who rose at Yeonghae in 1906 and fought in the eastern mountains, called the "Tiger of Taebaeksan"

Themes this person appears in

  • Central Government Through the AgesAD 250 – 1899

    From the noble councils of the Three Kingdoms to the State Council, the Border Defense Council and the Gabo cabinet — how central government shifted between aristocratic consensus and royal power

  • Military Systems Through the AgesAD 685 – 1907

    From the Nine Oath Banners to the Two Armies and Six Guards, the Five Commands and garrison system, the Five Army Camps and the Board of Marshals — armies rebuilt at every crisis

  • Seoul18 BC – 1988

    From Hanseong Baekje to the June Democratic Struggle — the Han River land every kingdom fought for, and Joseon’s capital for five centuries