The educational ministry of early Korean colporteurs

Abstract

The study of the history of Korean colporteurs is relevant to recreate their important role in the spread of education in Korea and their impact on the present, as well as to understand the intercultural influence and innovative approaches to education. The purpose of the article is to identify the educational activities of Korean colporteurs. In the course of the study, a number of methods of theoretical cognition were used, such as analysis, synthesis, comparison, specification and generalisation. As a result of the study, the following conclusions were reached: the colporteurs were the first to translate the Bible into Korean and played an important role in spreading Christian teaching and educational activities in Korea. Сolporteurs played a key role in training and supporting local colporteurs and new believers, providing them with education and training to become spiritual and educational leaders in an environment where the majority of the population rejected Christianity. Acting as intermediaries between foreign missionaries and Korean women, biblical women expanded the church’s influence and, with special training, were prepared to preach the Gospel and distribute the Bible to non-Christians, introducing new perspectives on the role of women in a society where Confucian tradition had limited their activities. Colporteurs also contributed to the preservation of the Korean language and culture in the face of Japanese colonisation by promoting and maintaining the Korean Hanguel writing system and facilitating the creation of a standard Korean language. This article will be useful for historians studying missionary activity in general, as well as for scholars studying the history of 19th-century Korea.