Timeline (Eastern Awakening)

1860s
'''August 1866 In Korea the US trade ship USS General Sherman ignored demands to turn back on the Taedong River, took hostages and fired on civilians. A 4-day battle followed in which some of the crew were killed. W.B. Preston and Robert Jermain Thomas escape by boat to Tianjin, China by August 23. Outraged, France and the US declare war on Korea by August 30.'''

September 1866: Notified of the situation, the Korean regent, the Daewongun, ordered the strengthening of Korea's military defenses. US expeditionary forces, already formed at August, sailed to Korea. On the 7th, a British ship was sunk by Korean artillery near Jeju Island. On the 11th, Admiral Pierre Gustave-Roze of the French Pacific Squadron prepared his ships for the expedition. Landing on the 16th, the French seize Ganghwa Island. Failure to extract an official apology and indemnity forced Roze to attack Seoul itself. US forces under Sherman and British troops arrive in time to relieve Roze's siege of Seoul. 6,000 estimated Korean casualties. Daewongun forced to kill himself. Korean King Gojong surrendered by the 15th.

October 1866: Korean Sirhak and Seohak scholars met in Pyongyang to start a revolution.

November 1866: Treaty of Seoul signed on the first of November. Korea opened up to the West. Disturbances due to reaction of Korean public are on the rise.

December 1866: On the 8th, a boy was put to death by a conservative Korean mob for having a Western book. Heavy reaction by reformist ensued, culminating on the 18th of famed scholar Baek Gyu-syu condemning the Korean government for the murder of the boy. He also summed up a prediction that a modernized Japan will annex an unmodernized Korea by 1910. Alarmed, the King allowed Baek to share the burden of government. Some corrupt officials living at the vicinity of the capital fired from their positions.

January 1867: By January 5, Baek went to Beijing and approached the American Minister to China asking help to modernize the King's troops. Burlingame, the Minister, informed Seward about this and by the 17th, US military advisers arrived in Korea. They help organize the King's troops into the Special Skills Force or Pyeolgigun.

February 1867: Old-line Korean troops revolt on the 18th in jealousy of the Special Skills Force. Crushed, the commander of the mutineers surrendered on the 24th. The King promised the rebels they will be incorporated to the Special Skills Forces, which eventually the rebels were incorporated.

March 1867: King Gojong of Korea proclaimed the Jeongmyo Oath, proclaiming Korea's intention to open up to the rest of the world and be included in the family of nations.

May 1867: Angry conservative officials lynched reformers in Pyongyang. The King ordered the arrest of the said conservative officials. However, the conservatives managed to rally an army that was defeated by Korean and American troops, and very bloodily.

June 1867: The conservative opposition has been largely eliminated by arrest or assassination.

August 1867: Yu Hong Gi and his retinue of scholars arrive in Japan to announce the Jeongmyo Reforms. April 1868: Emperor Meiji of Japan pronounced his own version of the Jeongmyo Oath: the Charter Oath.

September 1868: Gojong issues orders re-organizing the Special Skills Force, renaming them simply as the Royal Army of Joseon.

October 1868: Yu Hong Gi returns to Korea. Yu said everything Japan is planning to do with the King, including plans to attack Korea if necessary. Although alarmed, King Gojong orders the improvement of the Joseon armies.

January 1869: legal distinctions of class in Korea abolished.

April 1869: a group of reactionary Korean scholars were arrested trying to overthrow of the government.

October 1869: Ministry of Finance established.

December 1869: Yu Hong Gi becomes the chief minister of the King.

1870s
January 1870: Korean system of provinces re-organized. While the number of provinces remain the same, their method of administration were based instead loosely on the French system.

May 1870: Gwageo system replaced a bureaucratic system similar to those that will be implemented in Meiji Japan.

June 1870: Yu Hong Gi publishes his book, "Korea Must be Reborn." He said that there are more needed reforms as the gap between Korean, Chinese, and Western culture is too high.

September 1870: King Gojong formally lifts the ban of foreign travel to its citizens permanently; only those who had a criminal record will not be allowed to go out of Korea.

December 1870: Korea signs an agreement with Japan allowing the citizens of both their countries to emigrate freely to their country. Japanese settle to Korea, mainly in the east especially Busan. Koreans emigrate to Japan, mainly in Edo and Kyushu.

January 1871: Gojong reorganized the aging Joseon fleet as the Royal Joseon Navy. Radicals try to assassinate the King, but fails; perpetrators arrested and executed. One of the perpetrators was a French soldier in Korea with symphaties with the Paris Commune.

April 1871: Tributary mission by China orders the King to stop the reforms; they were politely refused.

May 1871: Attempt by Qing Dynasty to invade Korea to keep it in line with the tributary system aborted by Western pressure. Special councilor for instruction appointed for the first time and consulted with American missionaries to help set up a new school system.

June 1871: Korean Ministry of Industry established; starts to build a new factory, one for textiles. Although eventually a failure, this encouraged private businessmen to start their own business.

September 1871: A Korean company, called the Yonghae Iron Works, was established in Busan, after its founder, a former blacksmith, visited a Mitsubishi iron works.

October 1871: Yang offically replaced the mun as the currency in Korea, though it was in 1876 that this would be complete.

December 1871: The Royal Joseon Navy acquires its tenth modern ship. This ship, the Sangmyo, was based on a French Navy design.

January 1872: Baseball introduced to Korea by American sailors. However, it was during the founding of empire that baseball takes hold in Korea.

June 1872: first Korean ship reached North America in San Francisco to unload its export of cotton.

November 1872: that same Korean ship, the Mansudae, returns to America with a train and carriage. As a result, the Korean government established the Royal Joseon Railway Company, chartered by a Korean merchant.

December 1872: Yonghae Paper Company founded in Busan, which was until World War II, the largest paper company in Korea.

February 1873: Korean Land Reform Law takes effect by Royal Decree. Start of the building of the Seoul-Inchon railway, the first ever in Korea.

April 1873: Ministry of Education set up; a new basic school system, based those in America, was implemented. By 1890, 85% of Korea's population are deemed literate.

May 1873: Home Ministry established, using the Japanese Home Ministry system as a model. Effective police forces started to be built at this time, using the French police as a model for Korean police forces.

June 1873: Seoul University established as a Western-style university. A former traditional seowon/Confucian-classics school, this was the first Western university in Korea.

October 1873: US and Korea sign the Jemulpo treaty, where it pledged perpetual friendship by King Gojong and the US President as well as their respective peoples. It was still in effect today.

December 1873: Gregorian calendar officially introduced in Korea; does not replace traditional calendar system until 1895.

January 1874: Short Hair Law enacted. Wearing long-hair by Korean declared optional for men other than government officials and soldiers, and not all men as a riot in Pyongyang in which opponents of the law tried to clash with police.

May 1874: Seoul-Inchon Railway completed.

June 1874: A revised version of the Land Reform Law was approved by the King, noticing that the first law had serious defects, like failing to take account of the antiquated irrigation systems. A new tax law putting a fixed tax rate to 10%, and based on the value of the land rather than the goods the land produced, was implemented and proved to be unpopular.

February 1875: Cadastral survey implemented by Korean government to implement land reform.

May 1875: First modern Asian balloon flown in Seoul. The designer was inspired by both the Montgolfier brothers in France and a suggestion by the former Daewongun to build such a airship. Although a failure [its maiden flight crashed after in the air for fourteen minutes], this would later stimulate interest in flight by both Asians and Westerners.

September 1875: The Special Skills Force became the first fully Westernized and modernized unit of the Joseon Army. They are the core of the future Imperial Korean Army.

January 1876: riots in Northwestern provinces caused 679 deaths. The protests criticized the new tax policy.

March 1876: Korean King Gojong officially severs his country's traditional relationship with China. China, despite protests, was dissuaded by Western ministers from taking action, noting that Korea is not an "autonomous state", as China claimed, but an "independent state." Last combat Western troops leave Korea. Advisers remain to supervise modernization of the military.

May 1876: Some of the surviving leaders of the Northwestern uprising flee to Japan. There, they meet Saigo Takamori, who was dissatisfied with his country's government.

June 1876: Treaty of Ganghwa between Korea and Japan. It stated the brotherhood of the Korean and Japanese nations as well as their equality. It merely confirmed the opening up of Korea's trade.

October 1876: Edward S. Morse gives his lecture in Evolution at a government school in Seoul. The reception to him was rather cold compared to his lecture in Japan a year later.

December 1876: Fifty-three Korean villagers killed by Chinese bandits near the Neutral Strip at the Sino-Korean border. Outrage by Korean public convinced Gojong to form a special border police.

January 1877: Bank Of Korea established to be the bank of issue in Korea.

1877: Satsuma Rebellion in Japan. Korean conservatives who participated in the Northwest Uprising had joined with Saigo Takamori. Upon the rebellion's defeat, some of them return to their homeland to plan their own rebellion.

May 7, 1879: Oh Gyeong-Sok, Chief Minister, was assassinated by a socialist on the 7th.

June 23, 1879: Chongjin Revolt by disgruntled peasants, the leaders of the 1876 revolt, and a rebel former Joseon Army commander ends, with 293 lives lost.

December 30, 1879: A Korean diplomat returns to Seoul badly bruised, he claims, by the Chinese officialdom in Beijing.

1880s
January 2, 1880: Declaration of the Korean Empire.

1881: Treaty of St. Petersburg signed between Russia and Qing China, in which the Ili Region and Kashgaria were ceded to the Russian Empire in exchange for 5,000,000 silver rubles for the Qing as payment. This comes as negotiations for returning the Ili region to Russia failed due to the assassination of the Chinese governor of Xinjiang and a compromise settlement was reached. While Russian diplomats hail this as a victory, Chinese officials view this as another humiliating defeat at the hands of Russia. The ceded Region will later become known as Russian Uyghuristan.

Also, the Korean Civil Code was passed, loosely based on French law.

1882: constitutional convention held in Korea. Korean Sea Mail Company established.

1883: Japan turns down an offer by France for a military alliance for the Franco-Chinese war in Vietnam. Korea, however, accepts the deal, making it a participant in the Franco Chinese War. Now it becomes the Sino-French-Korean War.

February 14, 1884: Korean ship Yangmu fired upon by a Chinese warship. Few survived the incident including the captain.

March 5, 1884: Korean and Manchu troops clashed in the Korean-Chinese border. 23 Qing troops and 3 Koreans were killed.

March 18, 1884: Chinese warships of the Beiyang Navy bombarded the Korean ports of Nampo and Haeju.

March 20-22, 1884: Chinese troops attacked Sinuiju. Heavy losses by the Koreans forced them to retreat to Chongju. In contrast, the Manchu attack on Hyesan and Tumen fared poorly and was eventually defeated. Korean fleet expels Chinese naval vessels from its waters by the 21st.

March 28, 1884: Koreans launch a counter-offensive in Seoncheon. The Koreans despite heavy losses, win the day.

April 1, 1884: Korean naval attempt to bombard Zhili proved to be inconclusive.

April 9, 1884: Tumen Offensive by Koreans successful.

April 14, 1884: Zhili evacuated by Koreans, with eight ships lost and 4,233 lives lost.

May 7, 1884: The Korean government receives a request by the French to occupy Formosa. However, the Koreans turn it down, fearing it might anger Japan which had interests in the island and that Japan could police it better than Korea. Korea proposed instead that Hainan Island be occupied by Korea. '

May 9, 1884: The French accept the Korean proposal.

August 3, 1884: Korean Socialist Party founded.

August 4, 1884: Korean troops land in Hainan.

August 20, 1884: Korea declares Hainan "secured."

August 23, 1884: Battle of Fuzhou near the Taiwan Straits between Chinese, French and Korean warships.

October 1, 1884: Korean and French ships bombard Keelung, Taiwan.

February 1885: The Qing pressured the British not to accept French and Korean warships on the Yangtze. France and Korea responded with rice blockades.

February 11-14, 1885: Attempt by the Chinese Nanyang Fleet to crush the Korean and French blockade of Formosa fails, and most of the Chinese ships were chased away to Ningbo Bay by the 14th.

March 1, 1885: Korean ship Taeryong sunk in the successful attempt to destroy remaining Chinese warships on Zhenhai Bay.

March 21, 1885: Korean troops land in Zhili, while Korean ships disable three Chinese warships in the Gulf of Bohai.

March 30, 1885: French Premier Jules Ferry's government falls because of the French parliament's refusal to send more troops.

April 4, 1885: Charles de Freycinet, the new French premier, concludes peace with China.

April 7, 1885: The Korean Prime Minister, Kim Ok-gyun, concludes a truce with China with Li Hongzhang.

April 18, 1885: Treaty of Tianjin: Korea annexes Hainan as part of the indemnity and forced the Chinese to accept Korean independence and equality.

June, 1885: peace treaty with China and France. Formosa and the Pescadores were not annexed by France.

November 10-18, 1885: Eulmi Night of Knives of 1885. Donghak leader Choe Si-hyeong survives barely the attack, in which he laid the blame on the government of Kim Ok-gyun. 189 people were killed.

January 1, 1886: Burma was formally annexed by Britain, as a "birthday present" to Queen Victoria. Korean Prime Minister Kim Ok-gyun, incensed by the British blockade of Korean warships from the Yangtze, issues a formal protest, claiming that Burma should have been given a new king from its royal house instead of being annexed.

January 8, 1886: Emperor Gojong harangues the Constitutional Convention on their failure to create a workable constitution.

May 31, 1886: Ewha University opens as a small school with three female students. It was also the first university for females.