King’s Letter
Seaboard Centre

The John Ross Centre is a key part of the history of the Seaboard villages. John Ross was a missionary who was born in Easter Ross, and is known for founding the Dongguan Church in Shenyang, China, and for translating the first Korean Bible. John Ross is a very important figure to modern-day Christians in South Korea, and the John Ross Centre was funded by a South Korean Christian group.

This letter was written by King Gojong of Joseon of Korea to his subjects in 1866. It was donated by Dr. Philip Lee, Chairman of the group of South Koreans deditcated to preserving the history of John Ross.

During the reign of King Gojong, missionary John Ross translated and published the Bible using standard Korean that could be read and understood by ordinary Koreans (the upper classes used a formal type of Korean that was not widely understood outside of the aristocracy).

Today, the work of missionaries is debated. They provided western religious education and often implemented a western standard of living. However, existing religious beliefs and cultural traditions were prohibited, and were sometimes lost forever.