Marina Pak (c. 1572–1636): An Attempted Reconstruction of Her Years in the Philippines

Abstract

Marina Pak (c. 1572–1636) entered Christian history as Korea’s first significantly cloistered individual, but researchers know almost nothing about her twenty-two years in the Philippines because of the scarce primary source testimonies. On the other hand, through interdisciplinary reflections on Marina’s pluralistic religious background, the influence of the Japanese state, the significance of the Pasig River, and her relationship in the Philippines with Miyako no Bikuni foundress Naitō Julia (c. 1566–1627), one can reconstruct the steps that Marina might have undertaken to navigate a Christian vocation in a foreign land. This article explores the ways in which Marina might have tried to reconcile three different cultural factors (the Korean identity of her birth, Japanese influences arising from her involuntary sojourn in Japan, and the Filipino culture of her final destination), and despite the tentative nature of the study’s conclusions, these findings may offer paths for future scholars to follow.