Letter by Bak Gyu-su

This letter was written by Bak Gyu-su (1807-1877) to a man whose courtesy name was Yeonjae in 1872, while he was preparing for a visit to the imperial court of Qing as the head of an embassy that included Gang Mun-hyeong (1831-?) and O Gyeong-seok (1831-1879). In the letter he wrote about his expectations for the visit, which would eventually offer him an opportunity to witness the Yangwu Movement, a Chinese effort to deal with the aggressive political and cultural impact of the West, and strengthened his belief in the need for diplomatic relations with Western countries and modernization.