Early Missionary Writings on Hymns and Korean Cultural Practice

[SAMPLE] Early missionaries in Korea wrote many articles on their findings in Korea in the late 19th century. Here we have collected some articles from the Korean Repository, a monthly journal on Korea and Korean missions. These articles are intended to be educational, with an intended audience of other westerners and missionaries. One of the main themes throughout them is how best to approach converting Koreans using the arts. The writers however show a strong confidence in their work without a clear understanding of the culture and language they are writing about, often regarding it with contempt or superiority. 

At this time Korea was still an independent country, one which had not modernised as quickly as its neighbours Russia and Japan. Missionaries at this time were concerned with the encroaching influences from these Empires, and wanted to create a Christian nation in the east. Early on in their time in Korea, missionaries realised that an effective way to convert Koreans to Christianity was through arts, and set about translating many hymns into Korean in the unpopular hangul script. Some of the sources here describe their attempts at translation and the setbacks they faced. 

Many of the first missionaries in Korea at the end of the 19th century wrote extensively on the arts and culture they found there. They saw Korea as fertile ground for mission work, and were concerned with the encroachment of both Russia and Japan.

A Few Words On Literature

A Few Words on Literature is an article written by James. S. Gale published in the monthly journal “the Korean Repository.” In this article Gale introduces the reader to Korean literature and other arts, and frames them in terms of their difference to western arts of the same type. He discusses three subjects; pictures, music, and mathematics. In broader terms this is imagery in arts, music, and some writing on the functionality of the Korean language. 

Gale’s deductions on each topic are based on popular misconceptions about East Asian thought. Gale also shows a lack of understanding towards Korean culture and language. He comes to the conclusion that because of Koreans’ language and arts they must view the world in a functionally different way to westerners.

However, the main intention of this article is understanding Korean literature with the purpose of finding the best way to “touch the heart” of Koreans. By this Gale meant making Koreans understand non-native concepts in a way that still made sense to them. Gale’s effort here is part of a wider effort at the time by missionaries to find the best way to use cultural production, and in particular music, to convert Koreans to Christianity. Gale called for Christian literature based on Korean principles so the missionaries can “sing to the heart” of Koreans.

Gale, James S. “A Few Words on Literature.” The Korean Repository 2 (November 1895): 423-425.

Gale’s A Few Words on Literature is available as a digital downloadable copy.

---

Korean Vocal Music

Homer B. Hulbert’s 1896 article “Korean Vocal Music” is about the subject as a whole as well as its different types and their construction. The article is descriptive in nature, providing translations and musical notation for Korean songs including arirang, which had been gaining popularity at the time. Hulbert also explains who is likely to perform these songs, and their place in Korean society. For those interested in Korean music as it was sung at the time, the notations Hulbert provides are a great source. 

Translations of different types of Korean vocal music are given with only a few lines of the original. These translations Hulbert says are closer to the original feeling He explains to the reader the different genres of vocal music, like spring songs, and their significance to Koreans.Hulbert, like many missionaries at the time, showed a high degree of confidence in their work despite not necessarily having the skillset. Therefore these should be looked at with scrutiny, especially due to missionaries’ later self confessed inaccuracies. 

It must be noted that these explanations and his views are not reflective of modern understandings nor are they the most culturally sensitive. His purpose was to educate other missionaries and foreigners on Korean cultural products so as to convert them to Christinity, and Hulbert did so in a tone reflective of the era in which he wrote. 

Hulbert, Homer. B. “Korean Vocal Music.” The Korean Repository 3 (February 1896): 45-53.

Hulbert’s Korean Vocal Music is available as a digital downloadable copy.

---

Korean Poetry

Hulbert’s article entitled Korean Poetry from the Korean Repository is a description of Korean lyrical poetry. He acknowledges the difference in styles of poetry between Korea and the West, but feels that they show a fundamental difference between the two groups. 

Hulbert acknowledges that his attempts to understand Korean lyrical poetry and thus Koreans themselves comes from the desire to convert them to Christianity. 

His view of Korean language and poetry is influenced by his view of the language, particularly its use of Chinese characters in the written form. The Korean language he describes as being unable to convey anything other than pure emotion, and that Chinese characters convey to the reader more than simple sounds and meaning. Hulbert rejects literal translations of poems, as he feels that the original meaning would be lost. He provides some translations of Korean poems, but as to what the original is or who translated them it is not clear. 

He feels that Koreans have a simpler world than that of westerners, and that their appreciation of nature and their like for metaphor comes from a lack of external distraction. This he argues is where the heart of Koreans lie, and that in order to convert them and make Korea a Christian nation missionaries have to speak directly to this “heart.”

Hulbert, Homer B. “Korean Poetry.” The Korean Repository 3 (May 1896): 203-207.

Hulbert’s Korean Poetry is available as a digital downloadable copy.

---

Korean Hymns Some Observations

This entry to the Korean Repository, signed by its anonymous author as “Looking Forward,” is on their opinions on Korean Chrisitan hymns. The author describes the purpose of a hymn, and how it must be clear and well constructed in terms of its stress and meter. However, the hymns that had been translated into Korean, the author acknowledges, are lacking in these regards. 

Whilst the hymns could be sung, they were awkward in that the stress came in at odd times and the language used was impolite for the subject matter. Korean uses an honorifics system and when translating the hymns in order to fit the necessary syllables into the lines the authors had to drop the honorific particles. This created hymns which the author viewed as not being well suited to the language or subject matter. 

The author asks the reader what impression this will give to the Korean mind. They end their article by asking for original Korean hymns, rather than awkward translations, so that the lyrics will fit the rhythm of the songs. This is an example of how missionaries, and other Christians in Korea, wanted to convert Koreans to Christianity using the Korean language and western style hymns. It is clear from this author that there were still many flaws in this system. Many missionaries from this time were unwilling to see the flaws in their work, so this article is an exception to the confidence shown in other entries to the Korean repository.

“Korean Hymns Some Observations.” The Korean Repository 4 (May 1897): 184-186.

Korean Hymns Some Observations is available as a digital downloadable copy.

---