John Ross Scholarship Fund

The scholarship

Recently formed in Seoul, the New College Korean Alumni Association has dedicated itself to establishing a John Ross Scholarship. This will provide each year a bursary for a Korean candidate undertaking postgraduate studies at the School of Divinity. The fund was established in 2006 and contributions are now invited from supporters of this project.

The following links will allow you to contribute directly to the John Ross Fund using the University of Edinburgh Campaign website (this will take you out of the School of Divinity webpages).

Pledge A Regular Donation

Single Gift

The life of John Ross

Originally from Balintore in the Scottish highlands, Rev Dr John Ross (1842-1915) studied at the United Presbyterian Hall in Edinburgh from 1865-69. This institution eventually merged with New College on the Mound after 1900.

Although the United Presbyterian Church may have wished Ross to minister in his Gaelic home country, he resolved upon serving the church overseas from 1872.

Becoming a distinguished missionary, cultural historian and linguist in Manchuria, Ross also persuaded Korean visitors to teach him their language. Yi Ung-chan, an educated merchant of herbal medicines, instructed him in his native tongue. Under the direction of John Ross, he and others produced the first Korean translation of the New Testament.

Separate books appeared in 1882 with the complete New Testament being published five years later. Using the Korean alphabet, Ross and his team enabled the New Testament to be read and used by a wide indigenous audience.

By the time that missionaries arrived in the Korean peninsula in 1885, there were already established Christian communities in Seoul and elsewhere. Their presence confirmed two of Ross's leading missiological principles - first, local people made the most effective church leaders because of their understanding of cultural context, and, second, the Bible was sufficient in itself to enable people to resolve upon the most decisive issues in their lives.

Widely regarded as the father of Protestant Christianity in Manchuria and Korea, John Ross remains a revered figure today, although one who deserves to be better known in his native country.

Here in Edinburgh, a plaque in his honour was unveiled in 2006 at Mayfield Church, a congregation of which Ross was a member in his later years. The service of dedication was attended by staff and students of New College, including several Korean postgraduates and their families.

Further information

More information on the life and work of John Ross can be found in James H. Grayson, 'A Spark in North East Asia: A Personal Hagiography of a Scottish Missionary to Manchuria: John Ross (1842-1915)', in Sainthood Revisioned, Clyde Binfield (ed.), (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995 ), 93-106.

To commemorate the centenary in 1982 of the publication of the first Korean translation of the New Testament, Grayson also produced a full-length biographical study in Korean of John Ross.

It is entitled, 'Na Yohan: Han'gug-ui ch'ot son'gyo-sa' [John Ross: Korea's First Missionary]. This has provided a stimulus for further study of Ross amongst Korean scholars today.

Grayson graduated PhD from New College in 1979 and is currently Professor of Modern Korean Studies at the University of Sheffield.