page_title: An Jung-geun
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: An Jung-geun / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: One of en:An Jung-geun's posthumous calligraphy. This work is "一日不讀書口中生荊棘 庚戌三月於旅順獄中 大韓國人安重根書"(Korean pronunciation: il il bu dok seo gu jung saeng hyeong geuk, Meaning: Unless reading everyday, thorns grow in the mouth.), Treasures No. 569-2 of Korea republic. 한국어: 보물 제569-2호 ko:안중근의사유묵 "一日不讀書口中生荊棘"(음: 일일부독서구중생형극, 뜻: 하루라도 책을 읽지 않으면 입속에 가시가 돋는다)
context_page_description: An Jung-geun, sometimes spelled Ahn Jung-geun, was a Korean-independence activist, nationalist, and pan-Asianist.
  On 26 October 1909, he assassinated Prince Itō Hirobumi, a four-time Prime Minister of Japan, former Resident-General of Korea, and then President of the Privy Council of Japan, following the signing of the Eulsa Treaty, with Korea on the verge of annexation by Japan. He was imprisoned and later executed by Japanese authorities on 26 March 1910. An was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation in 1962 by the South Korean government, the most prestigious civil decoration in the Republic of Korea, for his efforts for Korean independence.
context_section_description: The assassination of Itō by An was praised by Koreans and many Chinese as well, who were struggling against Japanese invasion at the time. Well-known Chinese political leaders such as Yuan Shikai, Sun Yat-sen, and Liang Qichao wrote poems acclaiming An.
  In the 2010 An Jung-Geun Symposium in Korea, Wada Haruki (和田春樹), an activist who once worked at Tokyo University, evaluated An by quoting Itō Yukio (伊藤之雄), a fellow history scholar in Kyoto University. In his text published in 2009, Itō Yukio claims that the reign by Itō Hirobumi resulted in strong resistance from Koreans as it was considered the first step for annexation of Korea due to the cultural differences, and that An is not to be blamed even if he assassinated Itō without understanding Itō's ideology (2009, Itō).
  On 26 March 2010, a nationwide centenary tribute to An was held in South Korea, including a ceremony led by the Prime Minister Chung Un-Chan and tribute concerts.
caption: "一日不讀書口中生荊棘" means "Unless reading everyday, thorns grow in the mouth."
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