KOREA. -
I. GEOGRAPHY
In Japanese Chōsen (morning freshness). An eastern Asian peninsula stretching between Manchuria and the Japanese archipelago, at the latitude of southern Italy. A powerful natural bastion (Chang-paik; 2,750 m. in Paikto-san) separates it to the north from Manchuria, and a long mountain ridge (Taihaku, maximum height 2,473 m.) runs along its entire length. While the eastern coast is high and unbroken, the western and southern coastlines are indented with islands and broad plains watered by rivers. The climate is only slightly influenced by the sea: Keijo (Seoul), at the latitude of Catania, has an average annual temperature equal to that of Paris. Rainfall increases from north to south, reaching a maximum of 1,500 mm. annually in the south.Korea is an agricultural country (rice, barley, wheat, cotton). Forests cover almost three-quarters of the territory. Livestock raising (cattle, pigs, poultry) is considerable, and sericulture and fishing are even more important. Mineral resources (gold, coal, iron, graphite, arsenic, lead, copper, tungsten, etc.) are not adequately exploited.
Over an area of 220,788 sq. km. there live (1940) 24 million inhabitants (density: 110 per sq. km.), of whom about half a million are Japanese and 40,000 foreigners. Keijo, the traditional capital, had 1.1 million inhabitants in 1946; Fusan, the most important communications hub with Japan, 400,000; Heijo (Pyongyang), the capital of northern Korea, 286,000; Taikyu, 269,000; Jinsen (Chemulpo), 216,000, etc. The vast majority of Koreans practice shamanism (only about one-seventh are Buddhist and perhaps no more than 80,000 are unknown). An official estimate of March 1, 1947, gives the number of Christians as 666,000.
A Chinese possession until the Sino-Japanese War (1895), Korea was recognized as a Japanese protectorate after November 18, 1905, and annexed to Japan on August 22, 1910. It was to regain its independence with the Second World War. Meanwhile, northern Korea (north of the 38th parallel; 124,000 sq. km. with 8.2 million inhabitants) constitutes a Soviet-style people’s republic, as imposed by the Russian occupation; the rest (96,000 sq. km. with 14.6 million inhabitants) is under American control.
II. EVANGELIZATION OF KOREA
The missionary history of Korea began with the baptism of Peter Ri Seung-houn-i in Peking in 1784. During the Japanese occupation from 1592 to 1599, children on the point of death were probably baptized by Christian soldiers; however, nothing is known of any established Christian communities. Korean slaves transported to Japan and converted to Christianity were martyred during the great persecutions of the 17th century. Among the Japanese martyrs beatified in 1867, nine were Koreans. All attempts at penetration in the 17th century, whether from Japan, China, or Manila, failed before the country’s hermetic closure, which was only breached by the annual embassy to the court of Peking, to which Korea was a vassal. Through this channel, Christian books reached Korea as the first missionaries.In 1777, some Korean scholars, including Piek-i, began to study these books. Piek-i commissioned Ri Seung-houn-i, a member of the 1783 embassy, to make contact with the missionaries. Ri was baptized in Peking by Fr. Jean Joseph de Grammont, a former Jesuit, and on his return to Korea baptized Piek-i and Koun Il-sin-i, zealous promoters of the new faith. It is true that Piek-i apostatized during the persecution that soon broke out, as did Peter Ri in 1789, after Bishop Alessandro de Gouveia of Peking (1751-1808) declared the hierarchy introduced by Ri invalid and certain ceremonies similar to Chinese ones illicit. However, the Chinese priest Giacomo Tsii, who arrived in Korea in 1795, found about 4,000 Christians, and by his death in 1801 the number had risen to about 10,000. During the persecution of 1801, Tsii died a martyr with more than 300 Christians. In 1802, an anti-Christian decree was issued that lasted until 1882. From 1801 to 1844, the Korean Church remained once again without priests.
Nevertheless, it endured, and in 1811 and then in 1825 it requested priests from Peking and Rome. In 1831, the Apostolic Vicariate of Korea was erected, and Msgr. Barthélemy Bruguère of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (1792-1835), coadjutor of Siam, was appointed vicar apostolic. He never managed to enter his vicariate and died in 1835. The Chinese priest Pacifico Ryou, however, was able to enter in 1834. In 1846 and 1837, the two missionaries Pierre-Philibert Maubant (1803-1839) and Jacques-Honoré Chastan (1803-1839), along with the new vicar apostolic Laurent-Joseph-Marius Imbert (1796-1839), were able to enter secretly and organize the mission, all three dying as martyrs in 1839 (beatified in 1925). Once again, the Church remained without priests for six years. In 1845, Msgr. Jean Joseph Ferréol (1808-1853), successor of Msgr. Imbert, and the missionary Marie Nicolas Antoine Daveluy (1818-1866), aided by the first Korean priest, Andrew Kim, educated in Macao, managed to enter the mission. Kim was martyred in 1846 (beatified in 1925). Fortunately, Msgr. Ferréol (d. 1853) and his successor Siméon-François Berneux (1814-1866), along with coadjutor Daveluy and other missionaries who entered secretly, were able to work until 1866, increasing the number of Christians to about 23,000. In 1866, persecution flared up again: the two bishops, seven missionaries, and more than 10,000 Christians were victims. The three surviving missionaries had to take refuge outside the country. Once again, the Church remained without priests until 1876 and the following years, when missionaries from the Paris Seminary entered secretly. Msgr. Félix Clair Ridel (1830-1848) and the missionary Victor Marie Deguette (1848-1890) were captured and, following French government intervention, were not killed but expelled.
From 1882, commercial treaties with Japan, the United States, and various European states opened the country to trade. The treaty with France in 1886-87 also secured a certain freedom for the missions. In the following years, the number of Christians rose to 77,000 (in 1910), despite ongoing difficulties. The annexation of the country to Japan in 1910 placed it in the same conditions as Japan itself. In 1888, the first nuns, the Soeurs de St-Paul de Chartres, arrived in Korea to educate orphans. The printing press, already existing in Japan (in 1880 and 1881 it had published a Korean grammar and a dictionary), was transferred to Korea. A seminary was erected in 1892 in Ryang-saun near Seoul.
Chinese-style temples are also notable for their interior decorative paintings and sculptures. Among the most famous frescoes are those of Donjō (Tamjūng), in the Hōryūji Temple near Nara. Korean palaces, on the other hand, follow the traditional Chinese layout. Magnificent examples are the Kyŏng-pok-kung and the Chang-tŏk-kung in Ōsul.
Sculpture is of particular interest in the decoration of pagodas, the oldest of which date to the 7th century, in tombs, and especially in Buddhist statuary, where the rich series in the Earth Temple near Keishū, dating to the 8th century, stands out.
Korean ceramics, executed with sobriety and stylistic restraint, reached a very high level of development that greatly benefited Japanese ceramics.