An Chang Ho

The thinker (http://www.koreanhistoryproject.org/Ket/C30/tp/TP3001a.htm)

My hero is very courageous. He is courageous because he went to jail more than five times and maybe even faced death! But he faced all of those things without fear. (Ok, maybe he was a little scared). I also think of him as brave.

Ahn-Chang ho

My hero’s name is Ahn Chang-Ho. But he was also referred to by his pen name Dosan. He was born on November 9,1878 and died on March 10,1938. Dosan established the New Korean Society when he returned to Korea from the US in 1907. The New Korean Society was the most important society that fought back against the Japanese because at the time Japan ruled over Korea. He was also one of the early leaders of the Korean-American immigrant community. He is the father of a Hollywood actor named Philip Ahn. His oldest child’s name is Susan Ahn Cuddy.

Statue of Ahn-Chang ho

Ahn Chang-Ho was also the person who established the Young Korea Academy in San Francisco in 1913. He was a key member in the founding of the Provisional Government of Republic of Korea in Shanghai in 1919. He was also believed to be one of the two men who wrote the lyrics of the South Korean national anthem. In 1902, Dosan went to San Francisco with his wife, Helen. During his time in California, he saw two Korean ginseng merchants fighting over sales turf. This display of incivility upset him. So then, he began to take his time into reforming the local Korea diaspora. In 1926, he traveled back to Korea and never returned to the U.S. During this time, he was arrested and sent to jail by the Japanese more than five times! The first time he was arrested was because he was thought to be part of the assassination of Ito Hirobumi who was the Japanese resident general of Korea.

My hero Ahn Chang-Ho is important to me because without him Korea might still be ruled by Japan! Dosan made a difference in my life because if Korea was still ruled by Japan my mom might not have been able to go to America, which means she wouldn’t have met my dad and then I wouldn’t have been born! I would like to be just like Dosan because he helped millions of people!

Dosan fought wholeheartedly by doing acts of patriotism for what is now a grand and free Korean republic. He is my hero and that is how he helped people. He was very brave when he went to jail because he acted very fearlessly while facing danger. Ahn Chang-Ho will always be remembered for his great deeds and acts of patriotism. He may seem like an ordinary guy but he is a hero and you can be too.