| Chapter : | Introduction |
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in the political system that occurred during a period of oppressive conditions for the Korean lower classes and peasantry, which had been abused for centuries by members of the ruling yangban group. The Yi Korean ruling class used Confucianism as an ideology to maintain the country's sociopolitical system. Thus, the Tonghak may be seen as a millenarian reform movement, possessing anti-Western elements, but also opposed to simply continuing with the traditional religio-political order. It was a movement born out of the perception that Korea was being endangered by both outside attempts at control and internal decline. There was no social force more powerful than the Tonghak movement in shaping the late 19th and early 20th century political and social climate in Korea. The Tonghak Rebellion of 1894 may be compared in terms of magnitude with the Chinese Taiping Rebellion. These movements originated in deep-seated and long-standing causes, which had repercussions that were felt for many decades among foreign powers. Additionally, all were, in some degree, nationalistic and were led by religious groups whose activities focused on millenarian thought and dreams of national independence.
The actions of both the Taiping and the Tonghak generated numerous and powerful reactions both within and outside their countries of origin. Given the increasingly international political climate of the time, they also precipitated foreign intervention in their respective countries. The Tonghak, for example, provided the impetus for the Sino-Japanese War of 1894. Mutsu Munemitsu, the Japanese Foreign Minister at the time of the Sino-Japanese War, stressed the importance of the Tonghak's role in the diplomatic history of East Asia: