Editing Syngman Rhee (section)

=== Early life ===
Syngman Rhee was born on 26 March 1875 as Rhee Syng man in Daegyeong, a village in [[Pyongsan County|Pyeongsan County]], [[Hwanghae Province]], [[Joseon]].<ref name="Doopedia">{{cite web |url=http://www.doopedia.co.kr/doopedia/master/master.do?_method=view&MAS_IDX=101013000746262 |script-title=ko:이승만 [李承晩] |publisher=[[Doosan Corporation]] |work=[[Doopedia]] |access-date=12 March 2014 |language=ko |trans-title=Rhee Syngman}}</ref><ref name="Brit">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/501064/Syngman-Rhee |title=Syngman Rhee |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=13 March 2014}}</ref><ref name="CNNfyi">{{cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/fyi/school.tools/profiles/Syngman.Rhee/frameset.exclude.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140314010752/http://edition.cnn.com/fyi/school.tools/profiles/Syngman.Rhee/frameset.exclude.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 March 2014 |title=Syngman Rhee: First president of South Korea |publisher=CNN |work=CNN Student News |access-date=13 March 2014}}</ref><ref name="Cold War Files">{{cite web |url=http://legacy.wilsoncenter.org/coldwarfiles/index-33794.html |title=Syngman Rhee |publisher=Cold War International History Project |work=The Cold War Files |access-date=13 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140314010713/http://legacy.wilsoncenter.org/coldwarfiles/index-33794.html |archive-date=14 March 2014 }}</ref> Rhee was the third but only surviving son out of three brothers and two sisters (his two older brothers both died in infancy) in a rural family of modest means.<ref name="Doopedia" /> Rhee's family traced its lineage back to King [[Taejong of Joseon]]. He was a 16th-generation descendant of [[Grand Prince Yangnyeong]] through his second son, Yi Heun who was known as Jangpyeong Dojeong (장평도정;長平都正).<ref name="IEKAS">{{Cite journal |last=Cha |first=Marn J. |title=Syngman Rhee's First Love  |journal=The Information Exchange for Korean-American Scholars (IEKAS) |issue=12–19 |page=2 |date=19 September 2012 |orig-year=1996 |url=http://www.phy.duke.edu/~myhan/kaf1204.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314030738/http://www.phy.duke.edu/~myhan/kaf1204.pdf |archive-date=14 March 2014 |url-status=live |issn=1092-6232 |access-date=14 March 2014}}</ref> This case makes him a distant relative of the mid-Joseon military officer [[Yi Sun-sin (born 1554)|Yi Sun-sin]] (not be confused with Admiral [[Yi Sun-sin]]). His mother was a member of [[Gimhae Kim clan]].

In 1877, at the age of two, Rhee and his family moved to [[Seoul]], where he had traditional [[Confucianism|Confucian]] education in various ''[[seodang]]'' in Nakdong ({{Korean|labels=no |hangul=낙동 |hanja=駱洞}}) and Dodong ({{Korean|labels=no |hangul=도동 |hanja=桃洞}}).<ref name="EncyKorea">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Contents/Index?contents_id=E0044938 |script-title=ko:이승만 |publisher=[[Academy of Korean Studies]] |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Korean Culture]] |access-date=13 March 2014 |language=ko |trans-title=Rhee Syngman}}</ref> When Rhee was six years old a [[smallpox]] infection rendered him virtually blind until he was treated with western medicine, possibly by a Japanese doctor.<ref>It is sometimes erroneously claimed that Rhee was treated by American medical missionary Horace Allen. For a discussion of this topic see, Fields, ''Foreign Friends'', p. 17–19</ref> Rhee was portrayed as a potential candidate for the ''[[gwageo]]'', the traditional Korean [[civil service examination]], but in 1894 reforms abolished the ''gwageo'' system, and in April he enrolled in the {{ill|Paechae School|ko|배재학당}} ({{Korean|labels=no |hangul=배재학당 |hanja=培材學堂}}), an American [[Methodist]] school, where he converted to Christianity.<ref name="Doopedia" /><ref name="CNNfyi" /><ref name="Cold War Files" /><ref name="Korea Times" /> Rhee studied English and ''sinhakmun'' ({{Korean|labels=no |hangul=신학문 |hanja=新學問 |lit=new subjects}}). Near the end of 1895, he joined a Hyeopseong (Mutual Friendship) Club ({{Korean|labels=no |hangul=협성회 |hanja=協成會}}) created by [[Philip Jaisohn]], who returned from the United States after his exile following the [[Kapsin Coup]]. He worked as the head and the main writer of the newspapers ''{{Ill|Hyŏpsŏnghoe Hoebo|ko|협성회회보}}'' and ''{{ill|Maeil Sinmun (Korean Empire)|lt=Maeil Sinmun|ko|매일신문 (대한제국)}}'',<ref name="EncyKorea" /> the latter being the first daily newspaper in Korea.<ref name="Korea Times">{{cite news |last=Breen |first=Michael |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/01/113_64364.html |title=Fall of Korea's First President Syngman Rhee in 1960 |work=[[The Korea Times]] |date=18 April 2010 |access-date=14 March 2014}}</ref> During this period, Rhee earned money by teaching the Korean language to Americans. In 1895, Rhee graduated from Pai Chai School.<ref name="Doopedia" />