In late July of 1894, a quick succession of events took place. They were intended to overturn the old order in Korea, and eventually in East Asia as a whole.
What began with the Japanese military's seizure of the Korean royal palace led soon to the Gabo Reform, a series of fundamental changes decreed by a group of Korean government officials.
The reform, which included a completely new form and direction for the government, would be most notable for overturning social and cultural traditions that dated back centuries, if not millennia.
Slavery, hereditary social status, discrimination against widows and concubines, and many other forms of determining social privilege were legally abolished.
This did not mean that everything changed overnight. Some of these ideals took years and even decades to realize, but the Gabo Reform's initiation and articulation of momentous change proved significant and durable. The “spirit of Gabo” persisted as a driving force for social and political reform and shaped the subsequent emergence of modern Korea.
The Japanese had a lot to do with this. Their troops enabled the Gabo Reform to take place, and a decade later they returned, amid a war with Russia, to begin the process of colonization of Korea that lasted until 1945.
But back in 1894, the Japanese had little to do with the substance of the Gabo Reform, which addressed deeply-rooted problems that could only be identified and properly addressed by Koreans.
The Japanese also had a larger agenda, a bigger fish to fry: China. More specifically, the Japanese were determined to topple China's domination over Northeast Asia, a sphere of influence dating back thousands of years.
The Japanese victory over the Qing Dynasty in a war, which began in the summer of 1894 and was fought almost exclusively in Korea, flipped the traditional order of East Asia for the next hundred years.
More immediately, the Japanese began to build their empire. They took Taiwan and parts of Manchuria as war booty in 1895, Korea in the first decade of the 20th century, the rest of Manchuria in the 1930s, and much of East and Southeast Asia, including China, in the 1940s.
This half-century growth of Japanese imperialism, and of Japanese economic and cultural influence over the region, became arguably the dominant historical story of East Asia in this era.
And it began in the streets of Seoul in late July 1894. But what were the Japanese doing in Korea at this time? This brings us to the third monumental event of that year, the one that started it all: the Donghak Uprising.
Donghak, a native Korean religion founded in the 1860s, had grown mostly underground in the intervening three decades, until its followers exploded onto the scene in the spring of 1894.
They rebelled against the searing corruption of a county official in northern Jeolla province and soon captured most of the surrounding region. They defeated government troops sent down to pacify them, and the Korean court, justifiably feeling endangered, called China for help.
The quick entrance of Chinese troops into the battle against the Donghak rebels, though, came at a major cost to the Korean government, for this move also gave reason for Japan to join the fray.
The Japanese troops not only occupied the capital city in July, but also they used this position as the basis for formally launching a war against the Chinese, in a confrontation that had been brewing since the early 1880s.
The ensuing devastation to the Korean countryside, especially in the northern regions, was enormous, which was gruesomely fitting, because the Japanese and Chinese were fighting for control over Korea.
The outcome of this Sino-Japanese War and of the Gabo Reform both ensured the end of China's unrivaled influence over Korea, which in some form or another dated back over 1,000 years.
So what began as a revolt against local corruption in a small corner of Korea in the spring of 1894 triggered a chain of events whose consequences extended to the East Asian region and modern East Asian history. And through the Gabo Reform, the impact of 1894 on Koreans' own efforts to modernize was pivotal.
Yet, among these three major events of 1894, what Koreans today most commemorate is the Donghak Uprising. Part of this comes from the Gabo Reform's association with Japan, and Koreans understandably find that unsettling, given Japan's role in the nation's subsequent history.
And the war between Japan and China, likewise, is seen as the first of several modern battles over Korea between menacing imperialist powers that stripped the country of its independence and dignity.
The Donghak Uprising, on the other hand, is credited with defending the common people against injustice and thereby serving as a model for righteous social movements throughout modern Korean history.
Just as important, the Donghak Uprising, which began with domestic goals but soon morphed into an anti-foreign crusade as well, is perceived as a great example of Koreans' struggle for national self-determination against the ravages of foreign interference.
Depending on one's background or interests, one could argue for any of these three major events from 120 years ago as being the most important. But there is no denying that, together, all three contributed to making 1894 the signal year in the birth of modern Korean history.
Kyung Moon Hwang is associate professor in the Department of History, University of Southern California. He is the author of “A History of Korea ― An Episodic Narrative” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010). The Korean translation was published as “황경문, 맥락으로 읽는 새로운 한국사” (21세기 북스, 2011).