The Moon clan originated in Nampyung, near Naju, Cholla Province,a town about 320 miles south of Seoul, in the southwest
region of the country. My great-great-grandfather, Sung Hak
Moon, had three sons. The youngest of these was my great-grandfather,
Jung Heul Moon, who himself had three sons: Chi Guk, Shin Guk, and
Yun Guk. My grandfather, Chi Guk Moon, was the oldest.
Grandfather Chi Guk Moon was illiterate, as he did not attend either
a modern elementary school or the traditional village school. His power
of concentration was so great, however, that he was able to recite the full
text of the Korean translation of San Guo Zhi just by having listened to
others read it to him. And it wasn’t just San Guo Zhi. When he heard
someone tell an interesting story, he could memorize it and retell it in
exactly the same words. He could memorize anything after hearing it just
once. My father took after him in this way; he could sing from memory the
Christian hymnal, consisting of more than four hundred pages.
Grandfather followed the last words of his father to live his life with a
spirit of giving, but he was not able to maintain the family fortune. This
was because his youngest brother, my Great-Uncle Yun Guk Moon, borrowed
money against the family’s property and lost it all. Following this
incident, members of the family went through some very hard times,
but my grandfather and father never spoke ill of Great-Uncle Yun Guk.
This was because they knew he had not lost the money gambling or
doing anything of that nature. Instead, he had sent the money to the
Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, based in Shanghai,
China. In those days, seventy thousand won was a large sum, and this
was the amount that my great uncle donated to the independence
movement.
Great-Uncle Yun Guk, a graduate of Pyongyang Seminary and a
minister, was an intellectual who was fluent in English and well versed in
Chinese studies. He served as the responsible pastor for three churches,
including Deok Heung Church in Deok Eon Myeon. He participated
in the drafting of the 1919 Declaration of Independence, together
with Nam Seon Choe. When it was found, however, that three of the
sixteen Christian leaders among the signatories were associated with
Deok Heung Church, Great-Uncle had his name removed from the list.
Seung Heung Lee, one of the remaining signatories who worked with
my great-uncle in establishing the Osan School, asked Great-Uncle Yun
Guk to take care of all his affairs in case the independence movement
failed and he died at the hands of the Japanese colonial authorities.
On returning to our hometown, Great-Uncle Yun Guk printed tens
of thousands of Korean flags and handed them out to the people who
poured into the streets to shout their support for Korean independence.
He was arrested on March 8 as he led a demonstration on the hill behind
the Aipo Myeon administrative office. The demonstration in support
of independence was attended by the principal, faculty, and some two
thousand students of the Osan School, some three thousand Christians,
and some four thousand other residents of the area. He was given a
two-year prison sentence and was imprisoned in the Eui-ju prison. The
following year he was released as part of a special pardon.
Even after his release, severe persecution by the Japanese police
meant he could never stay long in one place, and he was always on the
run. He carried a large scar where the Japanese police had tortured him
by stabbing him with a bamboo spear and carving out a piece of his
flesh. He was speared in the legs and in the side of his ribs, but he said
that he never gave in. When the Japanese found they couldn’t break
him, they offered him the position of county chief if he would pledge
to stop participating in the independence movement. His response was
to rebuke the Japanese in a loud voice: “Do you think I would take on a
position and work for you thieves?”
When I was about seven or eight years old, Great-Uncle Yun Guk
was staying in our home for a short time and some members of the
Korean independence army came to see him. They were low on funds
and had traveled by night on foot through a heavy snowfall to reach our
house. My father covered the heads of us children with a sleeping quilt
so that we would not be awakened. I was already wide awake, and I lay
there under the quilt, my eyes wide open, listening as best I could to the
sounds of the adults talking. Though it was late, my mother killed a chicken
and boiled some noodles to serve to the independence fighters.
To this day, I cannot forget the words that I heard Great-Uncle Yun
Guk speak as I lay there under the quilt, holding my breath in excitement.
“Even if you die,” he said, “if you die for the sake of our country,
you will be blessed.” He continued, “Right now, we can see only darkness
before us, but the bright morning is sure to come.” Because of the
effects of torture, he did not have full use of his body, but his voice
resonated with strength.
I also remember thinking to myself then: “Why did such a wonderful
person as Great-Uncle have to go to prison? If only we were stronger
than Japan, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Great-Uncle Yun Guk continued to roam about the country, avoiding
persecution by the Japanese police, and it was not until 1966, while
I was in Seoul, that I received news of him again. Great-Uncle appeared
in a dream to one of my younger cousins and told him, “I am buried
in Jeong-seon, Kang-won Province.” We went to the address he gave in
the dream and found that he had passed away nine years before that.
We found only a grave mound covered with weeds. I had his remains
reburied in Paju, Kyounggi Province, near Seoul.
In the years following Korea’s liberation from Japan in 1945, communists
in North Korea killed Christian ministers and independence
fighters indiscriminately. Great-Uncle Yun Guk, fearing his presence
might cause harm to the family, escaped the communists by crossing
south over the 38th parallel and settling in Jeong-seon. No one in our
family was aware of this. He supported himself in that remote mountain
valley by selling calligraphy brushes. Later, we were told that he set up
a traditional village school where he taught Chinese classics. According
to some of his former students, he often enjoyed spontaneously
composing poems in Chinese characters. His students transcribed and
preserved some 130 of these, including the following:
South North Peace
南北平和
Ten years have passed since I left home to come South
在前十載越南州
The flow of time speeds my hair to turn white
流水光陰催白頭
I would return North, but how can I?
故園欲去安能去
What was intended as a short sojourn has been prolonged
別界薄遊爲久游
Wearing the long-sleeved ko-hemp clothing of summer
袗長着知當夏
I fan myself with a silk fan and consider what the autumn will bring
紈扇動搖畏及秋
Peace between South and North draws near
南北平和今不遠
Children waiting under the eaves,
You needn’t worry so much.
候兒女莫深愁
Though separated from his family and living in Jeong-seon, a land
unfamiliar to him in every way, Great-Uncle Yun Guk’s heart was filled
with concerns for his country. Great-Uncle also left this poetic verse:
“When setting your goal in the beginning, pledge yourself to a high
standard; don’t allow yourself even the least bit of private desire (厥
初立志自期高 私慾未嘗容一毫).” My great-uncle’s contributions to
the independence movement were posthumously recognized by the
Republic of Korea government in 1977 with a Presidential Award and
in 1990 with the Order of Merit for National Foundation. Even now, I
sometimes recite his poetic verses. They are infused with his steadfast
love for his country, even in the face of extreme adversity.
Recently, as I have grown older, I think about Great-Uncle Yun Guk
more often. Each phrase of his poetry expressing his heart of concern
for his country penetrates into my heart. I have taught our members the
song Daehan Jiri Ga (Song of Korean Geography), whose words were
written by Great-Uncle Yun Guk himself. I enjoy singing this song with
our members. When I sing this song, from Mount Baektu to Mount
Halla, I feel relieved of my burdens.
Song of Korean Geography
The peninsula of Korea in the East
Positioned among three countries.
North, the wide plains of Manchuria
East, the deep and blue East Sea,
South, a sea of many islands,
West, the deep Yellow Sea
Food in the seas on three sides,
Our treasure of all species of fish.
Mighty Mount Paektu stands on the North,
Providing water to the Rivers of Amrok and Tumen.
Flowing into seas east and west,
Marking a clear border with the Soviets
Mount Kumgang shines bright in the center,
A preserve for the world, pride of Korea.
Mount Halla rises above the blue South Sea
A landmark for fishermen at sea.
Four plains of Daedong, Hangang, Geumgang, and Jeonju
give our people food and clothing.
Four mines of Woonsan, Soonan, Gaecheon, and Jaeryung
give us the treasures of the Earth.
Four cities of Kyungsung, Pyongyang, Daegu, and Kaesung shine over the land
Four ports of Busan, Wonsan, Mokpo and Incheon
welcome foreign ships.
Railroads spread out from Kyungsung,
Connecting the two main lines, Kyung-Eui and Kyung-Bu
Branch lines Kyung-Won and Honam run north and south,
Cover the peninsula.
Our sites tell us our history.
Pyongyang, 2,000-year-old city of Dangun,
Kaesung, capital of Koryo,
Kyungsung, 500-year capital of Chosun,
Kyungju, 2,000 years of Shilla’s culture shines, origin of Pak Hyuk-ko-sai,
Chungchong has Buyo,
the historic capital of Paekche.
Sons of Korea pioneering the future, the waves
of civilization wash against our shores.
Come out of the hills, and march forward in
strength to the world of the future!
