Victory stele of Yang Heon-su, Jeondeungsa, Ganghwa
Victory stele of Yang Heon-su, Jeondeungsa, Ganghwa

Steve46814 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

Person1816 – 1888

Yang Heon-su

Commander who repelled the French at Jeongjok Fortress in 1866

During the French campaign of 1866 he slipped into Jeongjoksan Fortress in southern Ganghwa and ambushed the attacking French troops. After this defeat the French withdrew, carrying off the Oegyujanggak royal books and other loot. Han Seong-geun also fought the French at Munsusanseong. The looted Oegyujanggak uigwe returned to Korea on loan in 2011.

Where they went

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1 related event

  1. 1

    Citing the persecution of Catholics, a French squadron occupied Ganghwa. Yang Heon-su drove it off at Jeongjok Fortress, and the French withdrew with looted royal archives.

People who appear alongside

  • Pierre-Gustave Roze1812 – 1883

    Commander of the French Far East squadron who attacked Ganghwa in 1866

  • Heungseon Daewongun1820 – 1898

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

Themes this person appears in

  • The Opening of East Asia1839 – 1901

    From the Opium War to the Boxer Protocol — sixty years in which China, Japan and Korea, forced open by Western gunboats, each tried to reform and went separate ways

  • Printing and Documentary HeritageAD 751 – 2011

    From the Dharani Sutra to the May 18 archives — woodblock and metal-type printing, and the records inscribed on the Memory of the World

  • Ganghwa Island1000 BC – 2011

    From dolmens to the Treaty of Ganghwa — Goryeo’s refuge capital and the stage of Korea’s opening, the island the kingdom fell back on in every crisis