| An Chang-ho | |
|---|---|
Ahn Chang-ho in Los Angeles, California. |
|
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 안창호 |
| Hanja | 安昌浩 |
| Revised Romanization | An Chang-ho |
| McCune–Reischauer | An Ch'angho |
| Pen name | |
| Hangul | 도산 |
| Hanja | 島山 |
| Revised Romanization | Dosan |
| McCune–Reischauer | Tosan |
An Chang-ho, or Ahn Chang-ho (November 9, 1878 - March 10, 1938) was a Korean independence activist and one of the early leaders of the Korean-American immigrant community in the United States. He is also referred to as his pen name Dosan. Dosan established the Shinminhoe ( New Korea Society) when he returned to Korea from the US in 1907. It was the most important organization to fight the Japanese Occupation and many of the great Korean patriots got their start as members of this group. He established the Young Korean Academy (흥사단; 興士團) in San Francisco in 1913 and was a key member in the founding of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai in 1919. Ahn is one of two men believed to have written the lyrics of the Aegukga, the South Korean national anthem, and most historical information shows that Dosan was the composer and not Yun Chi Ho. Besides his work for the Independence Movement, Dosan wanted to reform Korean people's character and the entire social system of Korea. Educational reform and modernizing schools were two key efforts of Dosan. He was also the father of Hollywood actor Philip Ahn. Susan Ahn Cuddy is his oldest daughter.
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Ahn was born as Ahn Ch'i-sam, on the 6th day of the 10th lunar month 1878. (This equates to 10-11-1878 but Dosan used 9th November 1878 in his Vita), Kangso Pyeongan province, in present-day South Pyongan, North Korea. Ahn is the family name, chi is the generation marker, and sam, as he was the third son of Ahn Kyon-jin (father), and Hwang (Mother). It is believed that he changed his name to Chang-ho when he began public speaking as a teenager. His father also changed his name from Ahn Kyon-jin to Ahn Heung-guk, (assumed to be his fathers name). In 1896, Ahn moved to Seoul where he attended Gusae Hakdang, a missionary-sponsored school in Seoul run by Horace G. Underwood and Rev. F.S. Miller and eventually converted to Christianity over a period of four years.
In 1902, Ahn came to San Francisco with his wife Helen (Hye Ryon Lee) in order to get a better education. While living in California, he witnessed two Korean Ginseng merchants fighting in the streets over sales turf. Ahn was apparently upset by this display of incivility among his countrymen overseas, so he began to invest time into reforming the local Korean diaspora, rising to become one of the first leaders of the Korean-American community.[1] He founded the Friendship Society in 1903, the first group that was made exclusively for Koreans in the United States. In 1906, he established the Mutual Assistance Society (MAS), the first Korean political organization in the United States. The MAS would eventually merge with the United Korean Society in Hawaii to become the Korean National Association (대한인국민회; 大韓人國民會) in 1909, the official agent of Koreans in the United States until the end of World War II.[2]
In 1926, Dosan traveled to Korea, never returning to the United States. During this time in Korea, he was arrested and put in prison by the Japanese more than five times for his patriotism and independence activities. He was first arrested in connection with Ahn Chung Gun's assassination of Itō Hirobumi, the Japanese Resident General of Korea. Dosan was tortured and punished many times during the years of his activism. He never gave up his love for Korea and remained strong and true to the fight for Korea's freedom.
Many consider Ahn Chang-ho to be one of the key moral and philosophical leaders of Korea during the 20th century. In the turmoil immediately before and during the Japanese occupation of Korea, he called for the moral and spiritual renewal of the Korean people through education as one of the important components in their struggle for independence.
In 1937, Japanese authorities arrested Ahn, but due to severe illness, he was released on bail and transferred to the Kyungsung University hospital where he died on March 10, 1938. A memorial park called Dosan Park (Korean: 도산공원) and hall were built to honor him in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.[3] Another memorial was built in downtown Riverside, California to honor him. Ahn's family home on 36th Place in Los Angeles has been restored by the University of Southern California, on whose campus it sits (albeit in a different location).[4] Dosan never lived in the house on the USC campus. The City of Los Angeles has also declared the nearby intersection of Jefferson Boulevard and Van Buren Place to be "Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Square" in his honor.[5]
A main freeway interchange in downtown Los Angeles where the 10 Freeway and 110 Freeway meet is named after Dosan Ahn Chang Ho.
On the plaques surrounding his statue in Riverside, CA:
One of the tul or patterns of taekwondo, the one corresponding to the 7th gup graduation, is called Do-San or Dosan in his honour.