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Ernst Oppert's Kingdom of Corea - Grave-Robbing in the Name of God

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May 28, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/28/00
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Ernst Oppert's Kingdom of Corea:
Grave-Robbing in the Name of God

Lee Wha Rang, May 27, 2000
 
http://www.kimsoft.com
In June 1867, Earnest Oppert (a German), Feron (a French Catholic priest) and Jenkins (an American) mounted an expedition to rob the grave of a Korean king. The grave-robbers charted the armed steamer China and some 100 Chinese and Malay pirates, formerly with the Ever Victorious Army of the Taiping War. They succeeded in partially desecrating the royal tomb but the Korean defenders forced them to retreat. Few weeks later, an American ship the General Sherman went on a similar mission and was sunk by the irate Koreans.

Both incidents of piracy involved Christian missionaries and a handful of miserable Korean converts who were more than willing to sell out their country to foreign devils. The French priest Feron was informed of the "rich" royal grave by his Korean converts and in fact, the Korean traitors willingly led the China crew to the grave site. In the name of God, these Satanic devils attempted to rob a grave.

Of these criminals, Oppert was the only one punished by the so-called civilized nations. Oppert served only one year in jail, however. A trial court presided over by George F. Seward, the American Consul-General of Shanghai, cleared Jenkins of any wrong doing, although it was Jenkins who financed the "expedition". The French simply refused to prosecute Father Feron and Feron went on "spreading the Gospel".

Given below is Dr. Williams' comments on Oppert's book. Sections in italics are my comments added to clarify the good doctor's statements.

Sources: Oppert's Kingdom of Corea - A review by Dr. S. Wells Williams of the book Forbidden Land: Voyages to the Corea. With an account of its Geography, History, Productions, and Commercial Capabilities - By ERNEST OPPERT. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 182 Fifth Avenue. New York, 1880. and Kojong Silrok Archives on Oppert

This is, in many respects, an interesting book. A volume which can tell us anything reliable about the inhabitants and condition of a land so little known as Corea, is likely to be acceptable. The principal interest of the present one, however, lies in the narrative of Mr. Oppert’s three attempts to reach Saoul, the capital, and open communications with its authorities. (Oppert's attempts are well documented in the Kojong Silrok given below)

In his account, he tells us enough to show that he is one of that class of adventurous men who are willing and desirous of running great risks for the sake of excitement and a chance of success, but not so willing to bear patiently the failure of a pet scheme; and who never give a thought as to what may be the evil consequences of their deeds upon others who come after them.

His account of this expedition to exhume the relics of an ancient Corean king, in order to use them to extort a treaty of amity and commerce from the authorities of that land, will form a rare chapter in its future annals; and the attempt has already placed him in a conspicuous niche among modern buccaneers.

He withholds some features of these attempts to open a trade with Corea which would have shown more clearly the inducements that promised some return for the outlay in the kind of goods taken there; but gives us proofs of his own daring, and notices of the resources, inhabitants, and policy of the Corean Kingdom, which make altogether a readable volume.

Mr. Oppert visited Nagasaki soon after the opening of that port in 1859, to see what he could do in the way of trade, but apparently without much success. On his return to Shanghai, the claims of Corea to be opened to foreign commerce were urged upon him by several of his native friends, "enterprising and intelligent Chinese merchants, who had for years past cast their eyes in that direction, and collected a good deal of information upon the commercial capacities of the country."

How they obtained it is not stated; and as the only trade with the Chinese coast was carried on by Corean and Chinese boats going across the Yellow Sea from Shantung to the islands in the Archipelago on the west coast of Corca, the information could not have been very accurate or extensive.

It was in one of these smuggling craft that an English missionary, Mr. Thomas (Rev. Thomas was on board the ill-fated American ship General Sherman), lived many months, going from island to island, in order to learn the Corean language, and see what the prospects were for entering the kingdom. About the year 1866, Mr. Oppert got aid from Mr. Whittall, of the British firm of Jardine, Matheson & Co., to make an attempt in the steamer Rona to find the river leading up to Saoul.

A French squadron, in 1845, had surveyed the labyrinth of islands, and had lost two ships in those seas; but the entrance of the River Kang (Han-gang) had eluded the eyes of the surveyors. Mr. Oppert approached the coast in Caroline Bay, where he met a local official named Ta-wha, who did all he could to dissuade his further progress, but agreed to forward a letter to Saoul in which the object of the voyage was stated.

The Rorta being obliged to remain, a party from her undertook an excursion into the country, which afforded some glimpses of the Forbidden Land. The authorities had set men to watch the course they took, who were found on guard, and thus admonished not to interfere with their progress:

"Descending into the large plain before us, we found several natives squatting down at a certain distance from each other, who tried to prevent our going on by threatening looks and calls. As we had to pass them on our way, I determined to put an end to this at once; and going up to the first lot with the hand to my revolver, made them understand in so plain a way, how little we were afraid of or cared for them, that they turned at once cringingly polite; and passing purposely close by those who sat forming a line further on, without appearing to take any notice of them, while they did not venture to move or utter a word, we walked on without any further hindrance. This was the first and last time that an attempt was made to stop us on the road; and I have no doubt that nothing but the determined, and not to be mistaken way, in which it was treated, prevented a later recurrence. On the contrary, from that time forward, everybody seemed eager to receive us as kindly as possible".

Still such arguments did not further tbe main object in view; and though Mr. Oppert persistently proposed to remain on shore till the reply to his letter was received, he was unable to obtain permission, and the ship returned to China soon after. On reaching Shanghai, he learned that nine French missionaries had been imprisoned and put to death by the Corean Regent in the spring of 1863; and three others were fleeing and hiding for their lives while he was in Caroline Bay. His ardor in his enterprise was not abated by the sad news.

The same Firm assisted him to renew the attempt in a smaller steamer, the Emperor, carrying six Europeans and nineteen lascars and natives; together with an armament of one nine-pound cannon, a few swivel guns, muskets, revolvers, lances, cutlasses, etc.

She reached Caroline Bay in five days, and Mr. Oppert landed near the previous anchorage, where he again saw his former acquaintance, Ta-wha. One of the best defenses of Corea on its west side, is the great extent of the sandbanks made by strong tides which deposit their silt along the shores as they rise and fall twenty feet eackt ebb and flood.

The next morning the captain went on shore to take observations, and brought back a letter from Pere Ridel, one of the French missionaries who had thus far escaped arrest, asking for relief. An answer was returned, but the design to save the refugees was frustrated at this time, though they escaped a few weeks after, with some Christian converts, in a native boat going to Chefu.

Owing to the want of charts, it took some days to find the mouth of the River Kang, and the steamer anchored near the town of Kiau-tong, about fifty miles from Saoul. While Mr. Oppert was on shore, he saw an officer and his escort approaching the ship’s gig, and hurried down to receive him.

"This officer’s large boat had just arrived when I got down to the foot of the hill, hut he had such a villainous and repulsive look that I at once declined his offer to communicate with him, and ordered our crew to return to the Emperor. Enraged at my refusal to listen to him, he ordered some of his soldiers, armed with three-pronged lances, looking like Neptune’s trident, to retain the gig; hut when the most daring made a show of doing this, our uplifted oars descended so quickly and vigorously on their backs, that they retreated faster than they had come, and did not repeat the attempt. Seeing our revolvers pointed at his head, the fellow got cowed, and sulkily assented to follow me to the steamer, where I allowed only himself and two of his secretaries to come on hoard."

During the visit the vessel was slowly going ahead, and at length they were rowed back into their boat, rather disconcerted at their ill-success. Before night she came opposite to the town of Kang-wha, near which a great crowd was seen. Going ashore, Mr. Oppert saw several officers in the midst, and induced them to go off to the vessel without delay.

The oldest was the highest in rank, the governor of Kang-wha foo, in which prefecture she was then anchored, distant about twenty miles from Saoul. On learning the intention to go there, he dissuaded the foreigners from carrying it out by proposing to send a letter for them to the Regent.

During the conference the boat sent ahead to sound the channel had returned, and reported that the passage was too shallow to proceed further; besides which the captain was told that there was just coal enough to take the steamer back to Shanghai. Mr. Oppert’s reports of another conference with the governor of Kang-wha, named Tschai Kim-henni; afterwards with a special messenger, named Ni Eung-ini; and lastly with Pang On-sen, styled an envoy of the Government, both of whom had come from Saoul to declare that it was impossible to open Corea for foreign trade until the Emperor of China gave permission, all seem to strengthen his opinion of the Regent’s willingness to have then terminated his exclusive policy as Japan had done.

The causes which inclined to this course at that moment may have been fear of reprisals for killing the French missionaries, and the arguments derived from what he knew of affairs in Japan. But soon after the Emperor bad sailed, the American schooner General Sherman, Captain Preston, came into the river from Tientsin, having on board Mr. Thomas and a Mr. Hogarth, with the design of disposing of a cargo of goods; her owners trusting very much to the former's knowledge of the Corean language to help on their enterprise.

The circumstances attending her destruction and the death of all on board, have never been certainly ascertained; but the information obtained from some native Christians by Mr. Low, as stated in his dispatch of June 15, 1871, corresponds so well with Corean treachery, that it probably contains the most truth. The Coreans had circulated the improbable story in Peking that the crew had bronght on their own destruction by commencing a quarrel on shore, as they were trying to float the vessel, or guard it against the natives.

One of these Christians, who resided near the scene of the disaster, told Mr. Low that the people on board the schooner were enticed on shore by fair promises of civil treatment and trade, and there entertained and treated to drugged spirits, during which they were suddenly seized, bound, and all massacred, some by beheading, others by being beaten with clubs.

The cargo was taken out and tbe vessel burned for her iron; the cannon were sent to Saoul, and other guns cast like them. This took place only a few weeks before the attack of the French squadron, under Admiral Roze, of whose operations our author gives a succinct account on pages 94—103, but so imperfect that it is more than talizing than satisfactory.

The repulse of the French squadron was sufficient to deter any others from following up the effort to open Corea. The rulers had wreaked their ill-will on all their subjects who were suspected of aiding foreigners in any way; destroying, according to lists furnished by the converts, more than ten thousand persons.

The large company of Coreans which annually visit Peking for trade and ceremonies, and are usually willing to call on foreigners there, were that winter (1866—67) very shy. The chief point of interest to them was to learn the probability of the French admiral renewing his attempt to reach Saoul. They were no doubt rather amused when they read the proclamation of the French charge d’affaires at Peking, announcing that the King of Corea henceforth held his position and authority only at the good pleasure of Napoleon III., and must conduct himself accordingly.

Two years passed, during which the visit of the U.S. frigate Shenandoah to Kang-wha had ascertained the resolve of the Regent to maintain his defiant attitude. Mr. Oppert had got information of matters within the country, and that no encouragement existed for another attempt, when he was approached by Pare Feron, one of the three escaped missionaries, with a proposal to try again, and carry out a plan which the latter was sure would lead to the desired issue "that is, to compel the Regent to accede to the demand to throw the country open".

The promotion of commerce and religion was involved in the scheme; and he added, in a half-apologetic way, “that he could not be reproached with religious narrow-mindedness, as by the conclusion of a treaty the road will be open to Protestant as well as to Roman Catholic missionaries, and quite a new field will be opened to the former.”

The plan concocted by M. Feron and the Corean converts is thus described:

"If the project I am now going to lay before you will at first sight appear to you strange, and out of the common, remember that a great aim can never be gained by small means, and that we must look at this affair from another point of view than that which may be taken by narrow-minded people.

And further, that while it will serve as an effective means of coercion on thu Regent, it will not even cause any lasting harm to him, much less endanger the life or property of a single person in the country itself. If it will become necessary to take a rather strong escort with us, it is not because I myself, or my native friends have the least apprehension of any real danger, but mainly for the sake of protecting us from any idle curiosity which might otherwise impede our progress.

"The Regent, a person of very superstitious disposition, laid great store upon the possession of some old relics, which had been in his family for long years, and which were kept and guarded in a secluded place belonging to him. The possession of these relics was thought to insure the fortune of himself and his family, and were accordingly much treasured, and looked upon with a kind of superstitious awe.

The temporary possession of these objects would be tantamount to invest their holders with an almost absolute power, and equivalent to having possession of the capital itself; that the Regent would only be too glad to accede to anything to have them restored to him, and that he would be compelled to listen to the terms to be proposed to him. These men are so positive in their belief of success, that they assert the Regent would come down in person to sign a preliminary treaty, to have these relics restored.

Above all, before you come to a decision, remember always that the benefit which is to be gained will be shared by the world at large, and by the natives of the country in particular, and is beyond comparison to the harm done to the Regent personally, who, by all his deeds and actions has placed himself beyond the pale of nations."

The real difficulties in carrying out this program were stated to be entirely physical. The place where the relics were kept was four hours’ walk from the landing-place; and the landing-place could only be reached once a month for thirty hours during spring tides, when the water rises three feet at the utmost; at all other times it was almost dry, and no steamer could ascend the branch of Prince Jerome Gulf where the party was to land.

"But," concluded M. Feron, “some of my Coreans are natives of the district, and know the place well, and they will serve as guides.” Mr. Oppert takes much pains to assure his renders of this man’s purity of character, “which was unquestionable and undoubted", also that he was not a Jesuit, and had never belonged to that Order; and finally that “he was altogether free from religious zealotry. I knew him well enough to be convinced that he was not a man given to entertain any unreasonable or over-sanguine hopes of success the purity of his chaiacter was undoubted. I did not conceal from myself that the project was what may be called an adventurous undertaking; but the stake to be played for was certainly a grand one, and the experience I had gained during my former voyages made me look at the affair with more favorable eyes than I otherwise might have done, and in a different light to what it could be viewed by outsiders."

He makes no reference in this to one other inducement offered, for he says nothing respecting the treasure alleged to be lodged in this tomb of one of the old Corean kings, which at the time was reported as the strong reason for the attempt. However, he secured the aid of an American, “Mr. I... , who had rendered me most valuable assistance, and who, speaking Chinese almost better than a Chinaman, had been permitted to accompany us.”

This disparaging remark is a mean return for all the money and arms lent him by Mr. F. H. B. Jenkins, to further the project, and make a treaty. However, the steamer China of 648 tons was chartered, armed and manned with an extra crew of eight Europeans, twenty-one Manilamen, and one hundred Chinese.

On the 30th April, 1867, she left Shanghai for Nagasaki, where arms were obtained for the “escort,” and on the ninth day reached the Corean coast. The party went on board her tender and started up Prince Jerome Gulf soon after daybreak, hoping to arrive at the landing-place in four hours. But it was eleven o’clock before they landed, and a large crowd had assembled on the beach to learn their object. The party consisted of about sixty armed men, four of whom had spades, all under the lead of Messrs. Oppert and Feron, who marshaled them in a squad before starting.

We give the details of their march, slightly condensed.

"The first part of the road led over a long plain, with only a few straggling villages which were passed unmolested. There was not a tree to shelter us from the sun and we were glad when the plain was crossed and the character of the country turned more wooded, as we ascended the hills. For a long time there were no signs of any habitations; but we rapidly neared a town, where no doubt our march bad already been signaled, and where we might expect to meet some hindrance.

"Nor was the fear of our Corean guides altogether unfounded. A turn brought us face to face with a number of soldiers, who, with the chief official of the town, had planted themselves across the road, and wanted us to stop. When I went up to the leader I asked him to stand aside with his people; he made a feeble show of resistance; but as soon as I ordered our escort to proceed, he thought wiser of it, for he found himself suddenly deserted by the few soldiers, and left alone to defend the roadway if he thought proper.

"Mons. Feron assured the man that we had no intention to harm him or any of his people, upon which he took courage to stay, and even told us which was the shortest way to our destination. One of the sailors just theu fainted from the heat, and as we could not leave him behind, the official lent us a mountain chair in which the man was carried until he had recovered.

Fortunately there was no further impediment on the road, no houses or villages anywhere near; and with the exception of a few herdsmen in charge of a couple of bullocks, there was no living being near. “It soon became apparent that our Corean guides had underrated the time needed to get to the end of our march. We had calculated to reach it by one o’clock, but at that hour we were barely more than half way, and it was close upon five o’clock, when the Coreans pointed out the top of a steep hill as the spot.

Half an hour brought us there. It was one of the prettiest spots I have ever seen. A large village was built on the hill slopes, whose inhabitants turned out, and made not the slightest difficulty to point out the very spot. Instead of a stone house which I had expected to contain the relics, I was rather disappointed to find a walled-in place, strongly protected by an earthwork all around.

To gain access it became necessary to remove one side of the latter, where a door was supposed to lead into the same. As the latter difficulty had not been foreseen (our guides told us the place was easily accessible), and as we carried hardly any implements for the purpose, we had to select such as were required in the village, and our men commenced their labor. This proved a much more arduous work than was expected, and it was five hours hefore this part was nearly done.

None of our party knew the object of our search except ourselves, but everybody felt that a matter of the highest importance was at stake, and that everything depended on its being done quickly. “The wall was at last laid bare; hut instead of the expected door, we found its place taken up by a huge stone fitted into the opening. A fruitless attempt was made to remove it, and a closer investigation proved that five or six hours at least would be required to take it out of the way.

Much to my disappointment I was compelled to tell Mons. Feron that I could not take upon myself the responsibility of exposing the lives of any of our people by retarding a return to the vessel; we had already exceeded the allotted time by nearly twelve hours; and further there was barely time to reach the China before the water fell to its lowest point.

Mons. Feron had to admit the justice of my remarks, and it was decided to abandon all further attempts, and return after a short rest for the men. This was safely accomplished in less time than the upward march, the road being completely deserted. On arriving at the tender, she was seen to be surrounded by an enormous crowd, as the news of the attempt had already widely spread.

At several places down the channel, the people assembled and invited the foreigners ashore, and others went off to the tender; as they now understood that their object had been directed against the Regent, they openly expressed great disappointment at its ill result.

When the China was reached in the afternoon, the water had fallen so low that there was only just her draft of water left in which to get out of the bay. Instead of returning to Shanghai directly, as they ougbt to have done, the adventurers went on to Kang-wha, near which the steamer anchored.

Next morning an official came off to inquire her errand. Mr. Oppert gave him a letter written in Corean, signed by him, and addressed to the Regent (Taiwuen-goon - in Chinese, Tai-wang kwa, i. e., an officer acting for the King), inclosing the draft of a treaty, and advising him in no doubtful terms to reconsider his course, and accept their proposals.

On the fourth day a reply was brought on board; the seal of the Regent was affixed to it, and the special messenger admitted that it emanated directly from him. Instead of a full and careful translation, Mr. Oppert only gives the purport of the document. The Regent refused all intercourse. Corca had no need of foreign intruders, and he would find means, as he had done on the occasion of the visit of the French, to keep them off, and to show the world that it was a vain attempt to try to overcome Corean valor.

He wished this decision to be “proclaimed to the rest of the universe, of which he declared himself to be no more afraid now than he had ever been before. Those who brought this letter invited the foreigners on shore, who agreed to meet them next morning at the town on Tricault Island. About twenty Europeans and Manilamen landed for this purpose, and were surprised to find the walls protected by over four hundred armed troops.

While waiting for the officials to appear at the proposed conference, the foreigners dispersed to examine the precincts, and one of them seized a calf to carry it on board. This caused a hubbub, and the two leaders hastened back to settle it by paying for the calf at the gate of the town, and promising to punish the thief besides and restore the calf.

While parlaying about this, the troops on the walls opened fire on them without any warning. One man was killed instantly, and two were wounded before the others succeeded in regaining the tender. One of these was the “disreputable fellow” who seized the calf; and Mr. Oppert expresses his satisfaction “that the perpetrator of the deed had not escaped his share of the punish-ment" and leaves on his readers the impression that it was the cause of the firing on them all.

This is hardly fair, after his own example in search of the relics, which were to act as an open sesame to Corea; but he gravely adds, “that it was not likely that any of the officials would dare to appear again on hoard the China; nor would it have been wise to repeat our visit on the island, where the soldiery had been maddened by their own firing, and intoxicated by the effect of their treasonable conduct.”

He and Mons. Feron therefore steamed away from the scene of their disaster the next morning; and Corea still remains a forbidden land up to the present day, “to the shame of all western nations.” This resume of Mr. Oppert’s proceedings shows the energy and daring of the man, more than his discretion. He does not conceal his ill-will and chagrin at the failure of his attempts, and hopes that Russia will take possession of Corea rather than see the present state of things continue.

His own subsequent trial and imprisonment in Hamburg in consequence of this ridiculous attempt at grave-robbing, has soured him; aided probably by the feeling of mortification at his name being associated with its failure. On the return of the China to Shanghai, proceedings in the U. S. Consular Court were instituted against Mr. Jenkins for “having, in concert with others, prepared an unlawful and scandalous expedition, having for its object the exhuming of the remains of a dead sovereign, or of some other person or nersons, in the Corea.”

The US Consul-General George F. Seward conducted the trial. Ironically, Seward was recalled and stood trial of his own - a US Congressional impeachment hearing for illegal use of public funds and other misconducts.

In the course of the trial, Mr. Oppert testified that Mr. Jenkins went in the expedition only as a passenger, and never landed in Corca; nor did he know anything of the arrangements as to how the treaty was to be made before leaving; nor even what was done in Corca until the China was on her way back. Further evidence proved tbat the reason why the armed force of Coreans, which opposed the party on their way to the grave, deserted their leader, as Mr. Oppert says in his narrative, was a discharge of all their guns so as not to hurt any one.

The trial ended in Jenkins’ acquittal of a conspiracy, for the witnesses made him out to be simply a passenger. Mons. Feron disappeared as soon as he reached China, so that no information was obtained from him. When the facts became known, the community writers in the Shanghai papers all condemned the expedition in strong terms. It is not by such means, now-a-days, that commerce, civilization, or national intercourse are promoted.

From all that we can learn, the chief stimulus to the violent conduct of the Corean Regent and authorities, is to be found in their ignorant fears. Having no knowledge of foreign nations or their policy, these isolated rulers can imagine no other reason than conquest of their country as adequate to explain these repeated visits up to the last one under Admiral Rogers, in the USS Colorado, in 1871.

The wretched and destitute crews of the Narwhal, the Surprise, the Cleopatra, and other vessels, had been reasonably well treated in former years and returned to China. Now that Japan has such commercial relations with it as enables both countries to trade under well-defined regulations, we may hope that Corean ignorance, prejudice, and treachery, will yield to the gradual effects of instruction and patience.

Mr. Oppert prefaces his own voyages with six chapters on the history, foreign wars, social condition, language, and productions of Corca, with notices of the French missions carried on for forty years. Their contents are very imperfect, and derived from old books. He gives countenance to the unusual phrase, The Corea, as a name for the kingdom, and which is merely a Gallicism translated into English; Burmah, Siam, China, might each be introduced by an article with the same propriety.

A careful synopsis of what is now known respecting all these topics, derived from Japanese and Chinese sources, as well as later German, French, and English authors, would prove to be a useful work. The area of the peninsula is roughly estimated at 90,000 square miles, or equal to the island of Groat Britain; and its resources are very poorly developed in comparison with the neighboring empires.

Hundreds of Coreans come to Peking every winter bringing ginseng, paper, and raw cotton, which they exchange for silks, medicines, and some foreign articles. They are quite different in features from the Chinese, bony in contour and muscular, rude in manners, and given to drink. Those who compose this trading embassy are mostly able to talk Chinese, but the citizens of Peking do not care to have much to do with their quarrelsome visitors.

The Chinese government exercises no real control in Corean affairs, but that people themselves keep up this ceremonial intercourse chiefly for the sake of the trade, and the opportunity it affords them for learning something of the outer world. The people must possess much personal courage and discipline to make the resistance their troops offered at Fort McKee, when they were attacked by the Americans, June 11, 1871.

On that occasion they left two hundred and fifty dead on the ground, before they were entirely disabled. The tyranny of the Regent is now ended by his death; but the course of events cannot long enable any Government which follows it to refuse all intercourse with other nations.

Korean Archives on Oppert's Piracy

Source: The Kojong Silrok

Lunar April 21 of the 5th year of King Kojong: A German merchant Oppert, a French priest Feron and an American Jenkins left Shanghai in the steamer China on a mission of revenge for our persecution of the Catholics. They were guided by Choe Sun Il and other Korean converts.

They arrived at Honchun-gun on the 18th of Lunar April (June 1867). Oppert and others boarded a small steamer Greta and landed at Gu-mang-bong. They raided Dok-san-gun fort destroying it and took its armory. The gun-chief Lee Jong Sin was threatened with swords and firearms.

Oppert's group went to the Num-jung-gun cemetary and began to exhume the graves. Lee Jong Sin gathered up some local officials and residents to drive away the grave robbers but they were no match for the armed gang.

Next day, Oppert's gang returned to Gu-man-bong and boarded Greta. They pillaged villages along the way. On the lunar 20th, they returned to the steamer China and left. The Gong-chung-do governor Mun Chi Yang organzied a reaction force to pursue and destroy the gang.

It was noted that local converts aided the gang and therefore an edict was issued to round up convert and punish them severely.

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