Corean Gate - Geata Choirèa
The Corean Gate was a customs outpost on the border between China and Korea near the town of Fengwang cheng (Fengcheng), where imported goods were traded by Korean merchants travelling across the Yalu (Amnok) River into China. To prevent smuggling, access through the gate was strictly controlled by collectors of the customs from nearby Newchwang (Yingkou) and Mukden (Shenyang).
In 1874, John Ross made his first trip to the ‘Gate’ and although he managed to distribute religious literature and learn more about the people and their language, it wasn’t a great evangelistic success. With outreach work in Korea in mind, John resolved to return to distribute copies of the Christian Scripture and to hire a Korean language teacher.
Stormy Waters
The Yalu (Amnok) River was busy during the trading season with boats full of cargo destined for the bustling market at the Corean Gate. It could be a dangerous crossing in stormy weather, and one merchant, Eungchan Lee, a herbal medicine trader lost all his precious cargo when a strong wind upset his boat, leaving him a “ruined man”. This incident led to a fortuitous meeting with John Ross in 1876, when Eungchan Lee became his Korean language teacher and dedicated assistant in Bible translation.
Corean Primer
In 1877, John Ross published the Corean Primer in Shanghai, the first text book of the Korean language which was intended as a teaching aid for missionaries and to help Korean people learn to read.
The grammar book was penned in the traditional “Hangeul” writing system, created in the 15th century by King Sejong the Great. The alphabet was beautifully simple and quick to master.
Publishing the Corean Primer indicated John’s clear intentions to support literacy development and distribute Christian Scripture in the Korean peninsula. The seed of Christianity had been sown.
The Thousand Peaks
Between Fengwang cheng (Fengcheng) and the Corean Gate lay a magnificent mountain range called “Chian shan” (the thousand peaks); the abode of tigers, wolves, deer, pheasants and Taoist recluses. John Ross was struck by the similarity to the Manchurian landscape with his homeland, “The mountains with valleys in between, remind one of the pretty glens of Scotland…some hills were covered with oak and hazel saplings, used to feed the silkworms; the greater number were bare as they could be, their wood long ago cut down for fuel.” His travels through China brought back fond recollections of Easter Ross and his home.
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