Missionaries are people sent to various parts of the world to perform humanitarian activities, propagate religious ideologies, convert non-believers and those who do not share the faith, missionaries have. The term originated from the Latin word missionem which translates as the act of sending (Hiney 5). Its equivalent greek root, apostolos, means messenger. The term is often applied to Christian missions, but the fact of the matter is that the term’s diversity makes it applicable to the any proselytizing system of religious belief (Hiney 5).
It is already time-tested that the western nations embark on the eastern parts of the planet with several reasons. Most of the time, these western nations send groups of expeditioners to explore, conquer or look for alternate routes and trading goods. However, there are people who travel to these regions for a different reason, primarily to get acquainted with the people and experience the culture first hand, and to influence the locals in a non-domineering fashion. Usually, these people are representatives of religious groups who practice the principles of non-violence and other peaceful methods of getting along.
Ironically, these representatives often face persecution, brutality and even death, with a few exceptions, who happen to make their marks as fate demands it, such as doctor Horace NewtonAllen. This paper aims give a close look how doctor Horace Newton Allen spent his life for the welfare of other people, his missions, the events leading to his relocation to another country, his major contrbutions to the eastern parts of the world, particularly in Korea, and his major total pradigm shift from a humanitarian to a diplomat.
Moreover, the paper also attempts to dig deeper on the events that happened prior to Horace Newton Allens involvement in United States and Korean affairs. The paper provides information on how doctor Horace Newton Allen made his way to the hearts of the Koreans and their ruler, as a person and a doctor. In his expereince with a foreign land and its domestic inhabitants, the paper will depict how Horace Newton Allen progressed from being a total stranger to the ruler’s most trusted person. Including the contributions of a westerner to the modernization and globalization of an entire nation.
Furthermoer, the paper discusses how Doctor Allen defied all odds piled against him to personally make the Korean introduction to the world a reality. Obstacles that prove to be overpowering and too heavy for a single person. In line with this, the paper also contains information on how the good protestant medical missionary shared his ideas and exerted his efforts to establish educational institutions and modern medical facilities as part of his mission to lead an alienated nation, shackled by tradition and culture to a new portal of opportunities and alliances.
Lastly, the paper will bequeath how Doctor Allen familiarized the world of the beauty of Korean culture through his publications and written pieces. Name: Professor: Subject: Date: Horace Newton Allen Horace Newton Allen, according to Fred Harrington’s God, Mammon, and the Japanese: Dr. Horace N. Allen and Korean-American Relations, was an American protestant missionary, and later a diplomat, most notable for his affairs in Korea.
In his stay in Korea as the first missionary, he founded the first modern medical facility, which eventually became the Yonsei University Severance and school of medicine. Allen also choperoned the first Korean delegation to the United States as well as brought the Korean culture to the known world. According to the archives of the Herringshaw’s National Library of American Biography, Horace Newton Allen, Born in Delaware, Ohio on April 23, 1958, spent his college years in Ohio’s Wesleyan University and graduated in 1881.
He then pursued a medical course in Miami University, Oxford, Ohio two years later. Subsequently, after finishing medicine, Horace Newton Allen personally requested to the Presbytarian Church’s Board of Foreign Missions to embark on a medical mission to Ninjing and Shanghai in China, with his wife, who gave birth to their first son there. Herringshaw also notes that Allen and his family did not feel any warm accomodations nor any promising fruits of his medical mission in China, theses circumstances prompted them to move and hope for a different fortune in Korea.
The Board of Foreign Missions then appointed Allen to a medical mission in Korea. The PCUSA (Presbytarian Church of the United States of America) recorded that Allen set foot in Korea on November 26, 1884. Decades prior to his arrival, Christian violence and brutal murders were rampant in Korea as performed by Daewongun against then king, Gojong (New World Encyclopedia). In 1882, Korea and the United States signed Treaty of and Trade, part of the agreement between the two nations was Korea will no longer interfere with American Chiristian missionary work (Herringshaw Library).
The treaty’s stipulation did not guarantee one hundred percent safety of the delegates thats why Newton was primarily as a medical missionary (New World Encyclopedia). Horace Newton Allen’s stay in Korea gradually progressed from medical missions to diplomatic affairs by joining the United States diplomatic corps assigned in Korea (Herringshaw Library). Upon his arrival in Korea, Horace Newton Allen had a short-lived stay in the capital Hermit Kingdom until fate brought him to a more active public life.
He quickly put his medical abilities to the test via the Gapsinjeongbyeon revolt in an endeavor to oust Gojong’s kingship (Herringshaw Library). The battle critically injured Prince Min Young Ik, nephew of Queen Min. Local medics, wise men and fortune-tellers from the outer areas of the region did every procedure in their arsenal to spare the young prince, but the traditional methods saw the young prince’s survival close to impossible (New World Encyclopedia). The rebellion scared off other foreign delegates, Allen and his family, among few others, were the only exception.
German diplomat Paul Georg von Mollendorf instantly called for Allen’s presence as he was aware of the latter’s medical background (New World Encyclopedia). Horace Newton Allen quickly responded to the royal summon as he cannot endure the fact that numerous people required immediate medical attention. Allen however, concealed his true character to avoid any prejudiced treatment (U. S. MINISTER TO KOREA 3). Medical Mission in Korea A New York Times article entitled U. S. MINISTER TO KOREA; Dr. H. N. Allen’s Long Residence in “Hermit Kingdom.
” Saves Life of King’s Nephew and Assists in Sending First Korean Representation to Washington, dated February 14, 1904 wrote that the wonders of Modern Medicine, alien to Korea that time fully recovered the severely battered prince in three months time. The Korean populace was then introduced to the compensations of Modern Medicine that marked the beginning of good relations between Allen and Gojong (U. S. MINISTER TO KOREA 3). Allen’s medical expertise also landed him a position as the Court Physician by Royal Decree and excelled in it.
These series of events served as the foundations in Kore’s modernization (New World Encyclopedia). Giving credit to Allen’s unmatched achievement, King Gojong approved of Horace Newton Allen’s petition of a Medical Centre in Seoul and agreed to fund the establishment, subsequently, Korea’s first western Medical Facility, Gwanghyewon or House of Extended Grace (New World Encyclopedia), was founded. Allen’s Medical facility first operated as a hospital with Allen himself taking full supervision.
It soon went by the name Jejungwon, which means House of Universal Helpfulness (New World Encyclopedia). The establishment also provided medical training and admitted its first class in 1886 with 16 students (New World Encyclopedia). The political upheaval and the financial conditions of the succeding decade caused the Royal Financing of the Jejungwon to cease, the Presbytarian Church provided the funding of Allen’s Medical facitlity from then on (New World Encyclopedia) .
The school administration later seperated from the hospital and was renamed Severance Union Medical College, aided by the ecumenical Union Council of Korean Missionaries and philantrophist Louis Severance (New World Encyclopedia). The medical school was merged with Yonhi College; founded by Horace Underwood in 1915, to form Yonsei University in 1957. The name was derived from the two schools’ first syllables (New World Encyclopedia).