Changes in Korean History Textbooks’ Representation of the 1811 Hong Gyeong-nae Rebellion

This study explored how Korean history textbooks have portrayed the 1811 Hong Gyeong-nae Rebellion from 1945 to the early 2020s by focusing on shifts across different curriculum periods. Until the 1950s, the rebellion had been a central topic in history education but lost such status in the 1960s. Since the 1970s, as history education expanded, textbook narratives have become more detailed and extensive. Even after the 1990s, with the decline in the proportion of premodern history in the curriculum, coverage of the rebellion remained largely consistent. The rebellion, which took place from December 1811 to April 1812 in Pyeongan Province, was one of the most politically and socially significant uprisings of the late Joseon dynasty. Factors that drove this even included discrimination against the northwestern provinces, abuses of sedo (factional) politics, corruption in the Samjeong system (taxation, military service, and land management), successive famines, economic changes in the region, the emergence of local merchants, and support from diverse social groups, especially the peasantry. In addition, defining the event solely as a regional uprising or peasant war is an overgeneralization rooted in class-strug gle-oriented historiography, and more nuanced interpretations, such as “social disruption” or “search for a new social order,” may better capture its historical significance. This study highlights the challenges surrounding the revision of entrenched curricular frameworks, providing a starting point for reconsidering conventional historical narratives.