Corea: The Hermit Nation

by William Elliot Griffis

Senghuni himself became a docile pupil, and was, with the consent of his father, baptized. With the hope that he would become the first stone of the church in Chō-sen, he was named Peter.[1] He pledged himself to suffer all torments rather than abandon his faith, to have but one wife, to renounce worldly vanities, and finally to send his foreign friends tidings every year.

Safely passing the sentinels at Ai-chiu, he reached Seoul. Stonewall, eagerly receiving his share, gave himself for a time up to fresh reading and meditation, and then began to preach. Some of his friends in the capital, both nobles and commoners, embraced the new doctrines with cheering promptness and were baptized.

It is interesting to note the choice of baptismal names. As Stonewall had been the forerunner, he was named John the Baptist. Another called himself Francis Xavier, intending to make this saint his protector and patron. Other names of these primitive confessors are Ambrose, Paul, Louis, Thomas, Augustine, and later, [[349]]among the women, Agatha, Marie, Madeleine, Barbe, etc. The adoption of these foreign names excited bitter feelings among the patriotic, and became a cause of intense hatred against the Christians, who were stigmatized as “foreigner-Coreans.”

A counterblast soon followed. The first, and as they were destined to be the last and most bitter enemies were the literati, who saw at once that the new faith sapped at the base their national beliefs and their most cherished customs. In the contest of discussion which followed, Senghuni came off victor. The pagan champions retired from the conflict uttering memorable and prophetic words, with a final question, that became a by-word to Americans nearly a century later: “This [Christian] doctrine is magnificent, it is true, but it will bring sorrow to those who profess it. What are you going to do about it?”

Among the converts were the lecturer Kwem and his brother, both of whom propagated the faith in their district of Yang-kun, thirty miles east of Seoul, now justly called “the cradle of the faith.” One of their converted students from the Nai-po returned home to labor in the new cause, and from first to last, in the history of Roman Christianity in Corea, Nai-po has ever been a nursery of fervent confessors and illustrious martyrs. A second convert of the Kwem brothers laid the foundations of the faith in Chulla. At the capital, a learned interpreter, on becoming a believer, multiplied with his own facile pen copies of the books brought from Peking; and it is believed translated from the Chinese the “Explanation of the Gospels of the Sabbaths and Feasts”—the first Christian book in the Corean language.

Thus from small beginnings, but rapidly, were the Christian ideas spread, but soon the arm of the law and the power of the pen were invoked to crush out the exotic faith. The first victim, Thomas Kim, was tried on the charge of destroying his ancestral tablets, tortured, and sent into exile, in which he soon after died. The scholar now took up weapons, and in April, 1784, the king’s preceptor fulminated the first public document officially directed against Christianity. In it all parents and relatives were entreated to break off all relations with the Christians. The names of the leaders were published; and the example of Kim was cited. Forthwith began a violent pressure of entreaty and menace upon the believers to renounce their faith. Instead of peace, the sword was brought into the household. Then began an exhibition alike of glorious confession and shameful apostasy, but though even [[350]]Stonewall lapsed, the work went on in Nai-po, and in 1787,[2] persecution slackened.

Meanwhile, in order to cement more closely their bonds, the leaders formed a hierarchy after the model which Peter had seen in Peking, and to which their liturgical books so often referred. Francis Xavier was made bishop and others were chosen as priests. Separating to their various posts, they baptized, confessed, confirmed, and distributed the sacred elements in communion, all of which infused a new glow of faith among the converts. They robed themselves in rich Chinese silk, and erected platform confessionals. For ordinary faults confessed by the kneeling penitents alms were ordered, but for graver derelictions the priests administered one or two smart blows on the legs—a mild imitation of the national punishment, which so suggests Western methods of nursery discipline.

In perfect good faith and harmony, this curious hierarchy, so strange and even comical to a believer in the so-called “apostolical succession”—continued for two years; but in 1789, certain passages in their books suggested doubts as to the validity of their ministry. After earnest thought, and even at the risk of public ridicule, and of troubling the consciences of the faithful, they resigned their offices and took their places among the laity. A letter of inquiry was written, and sent in 1790 by the convert Paul to Peking. Surprised and overjoyed at the news from Corea, the fathers baptized and confirmed Paul, explained to him the Roman dogma of validity of ordination, and gave him a letter written on silk, to be concealed in his clothes, directed to Peter and Francis Xavier. His godfather Pansi, being an artist, painted Paul’s portrait in oil, which was sent on to Paris.

The Christians at Seoul graciously submitted to the Episcopal rebuke and explanation, giving them the right only to baptize, yet [[351]]they yearned to receive the sacraments. Inflamed by the accounts of Paul, who pictured before them the ritual splendors, in the Peking cathedral, of altars, lights, vestments, solemn masses, music, processions, and all that enchants the eye and fires the imagination in the Roman form of Christianity, they indited another letter to the bishop, beseeching that an ordained priest should be sent them. This letter, carried by Paul, who left with the special embassy sent to congratulate the renowned emperor Kien-lung, which left Seoul September 17, 1790, contained a whole catechism of vexed questions of discipline and faith which had begun to disturb the little church.

While in Peking, Paul’s companion was baptized, receiving the name of John the Baptist. The fathers gave them a chalice, a missal, a consecrated stone, some altar ornaments, and everything necessary for the celebration of the eucharist, with a recipe for making wine out of grapes, in order that all might be ready on the arrival of a priest among them. Paul and John the Baptist, after the return journey of a thousand miles through Shing-king, arrived safely in Seoul. All were filled with joy at the idea of having a priest sent them, but the episcopal decision against the worship of ancestors proved to many a stone of stumbling and a cause of apostasy. Hitherto, in simple ignorance and good faith, they had honored their ancestral shades and burnt incense at their shrines. Henceforth, all participation in such rites was impossible. After the authoritative declaration from Peking, that the worship of God and the worship of ancestors were contrary and impossible, no Corean could be a Christian while he burned incense before the tablets.