Establishment of schools and community movements in the Jincheon area during the Japanese colonial period

This paper examines how the local community accepted, interpreted, and actively intervened in the school system in the Jincheon area during the Japanese colonial period, focusing on the process of establishing schools. It analyzes the background of school establishment, the role of local supporters, and the aspects of conflict and cooperation, using various public and private schools established in the Jincheon area from the 1910s to the 1930s as cases. In particular, it focuses on revealing the complex interests and strategic response methods of the local community, going beyond the simple dichotomy of acceptance or resistance to colonial education. What triggered the conflict in the mid-to-late 1920s was the presence of the young generation who returned from outside armed with new knowledge. When they arranged performances to raise funds for school operation, the local commercial capitalist-centered youth association also actively responded in the early stages. However, when pressure from the colonial authorities was detected regarding the activities of the new publication association, the Jincheon Youth Association defined a specific media outlet as an “outsider” and denounced it. In response, the media outlet published articles about the Jincheon youth’s moral turmoil. Eventually, young people armed with new knowledge appeared and tried to elicit the support of the local community together with outsiders, but only question marks remained as to whether they succeeded. The axis of conflict was also drawn between landlords and tenants. It is quite interesting to see the tenants reenact the unfair situations they experienced as a ‘fighting scene’. Landlords also held meetings and jointly devised countermeasures. Meanwhile, the residents of Jincheon held about 10 residents’ meetings at the public hall to resolve current issues such as the establishment and expansion of schools as well as natural disasters. At these times, local officials and Japanese also participated to respond jointly. We can see that the levels of conflict and cooperation were very diverse.