Chapter XIII: Introduction (11)

Occupying about the same latitude as Italy, Corea is also, like Italy, hemmed in on the north by mountain ranges, and traversed from north to south by another chain. The whole peninsula is very mountainous, some of the peaks rising to a height of eight thousand feet.

The climate of the country is excellent, bracing in the north, with the south tempered by the ocean breezes in summer. The winters in the north are colder than those of American states in the same latitude, and the summers are hotter. The heat is tempered by sea breezes, but in the narrow enclosed valleys it becomes very intense. The Han is frozen at Seoul for three months in the year, sufficiently to be used as a cart road, while the Tumen is usually frozen for five months.

Various kinds of timber abound, except in the west, where wood is scarce and is sparingly used; and in other parts the want of coal has caused the wasteful destruction of many a forest. The fauna is very considerable and besides tigers, leopards, and deer, includes pigs, wild cats, badgers, foxes, beavers, otters, martens, bears, and a great variety of birds. The salamander is found in the streams as in western Japan. The domestic animals are few. The cattle are excellent, the bull being the usual beast of burden, the pony very small but hardy, fowls good, the pigs inferior.

Immense numbers of oxen are found in the south, furnishing the meat diet craved by the people, who eat much more of fatty food than the Japanese. Goats are rare. Sheep are imported from China only for sacrificial purposes. The dog serves for food as well as for companionship and defense. Of birds the pheasants, falcons, eagle, crane, and stork are common.

Among the products are rice, wheat, beans, cotton, hemp, corn, sesame, and perilla. Ginseng grows wild in the Kange mountains and is also much cultivated about Kai-seng, the duties upon it, notwithstanding much smuggling, yielded about half a million dollars annually.

Iron ore of excellent quality is mined; and there are copper mines in several places. The output of the silver mines is very small, but the customs returns for 1886 show the value of gold exported that year to be $503,296. The principal industries are the manufacture of paper, mats woven of grass, split bamboo blinds, oil paper, and silk. The total value of the foreign imports in 1887 was $2,300,000, two-thirds representing cotton goods; the native exports reached about $700,000, chiefly beans and cow hides. The foreign vessels entering the treaty ports yearly number about seven hundred and fifty, of some two hundred thousand tons burden. Three-fourths of the trade is with Japan and more than one-fifth with China; British goods go by way of these countries. Until 1888 business was done chiefly by barter, imports being exchanged largely for gold dust, and Japanese silk piece goods being a current exchange for trade inland. In that year the mint at Seoul was completed, and a beneficial effect on commerce resulted from the introduction of a convenient and sufficient coinage. Seoul is connected by telegraph with Taku, Port Arthur, Chemulpo, Gensan, and Fusan.

Corea is divided into eight provinces, three on the east coast and five on the west coast. These eight provinces are divided into sixty districts with about three hundred and sixty cities, only sixty of which however are entitled to the name, the remainder distinguishing themselves from the larger hamlets and villages merely by the walled-in residence of the chief government official. Only a portion of each real city is walled in; but it must not be thought that these walls are in any way similar to those to be found in China, where even second and third rate cities are protected by high and strong fortifications with moats. Corean walls are usually about six feet high, miserably constructed, of irregular and uneven stone blocks, and nearly every one of them would tumble down at the first shock of a ball fired from a modern gun.

CHINESE PROTECTED CRUISER CHIH-YUEN.
Sunk at the Battle of the Yalu.
]

Corea has for centuries successfully carried out the policy of isolation. Instead of a peninsula, her rulers strove to make her an accessible island, and insulate her from the shock of change. She has built, not a great wall of masonry, but a barrier of sea and river-flood, of mountain and devastated land, of palisade and cordon of armed sentinels. Frost and snow, storm and winter, she hailed as her allies. Not content with the sea border, she desolated her shores lest they should tempt the foreigner to land. In addition to this, between her Chinese neighbor and herself she placed a neutral space of unplanted, unoccupied land. This strip of forest and desolated plain twenty leagues wide, has stretched for three centuries between Corea and Manchooria. To form it, four cities and many villages were suppressed and left in ruins. The soil of these former solitudes is very good, the roads easy, and the hills not high. The southern boundary of this neutral ground has been the boundary of Corea, while the northern boundary has been a wall of stakes, palisades and stone. Two centuries ago, this line of walls was strong, high, guarded and kept in repair, but year by year at last, during a long era of peace, they were suffered to fall into decay, and except for their ruins exist no longer. For centuries only the wild beasts, fugitives from justice, and outlaws from both countries have inhabited this fertile but forbidden territory. Occasionally borderers would cultivate portions of it, but gathered the produce by night or stealthily by day, venturing on it as prisoners would step over the dead line. Of late years the Chinese government has respected the neutrality of this barrier less and less. Within a generation large portions of this neutral strip have been occupied; parts of it have been surveyed and staked out by Chinese surveyors, and the Corean government has been too feeble to prevent the occupation. Though no towns or villages are marked on the map of this neutral territory, yet already a considerable number of small settlements exist upon it, and it was through them that the overland marches of the Japanese army from Corea into Manchooria had to be made.

The province which borders this neutral territory, is that of Ping-Yang or “Peaceful Quiet.” It is the border land of the kingdom, containing what was for centuries the only acknowledged gate of entrance and outlet to the one neighbor which Corea willingly acknowledged as her superior. The battle of Ping-Yang recently fought, is only one of many which have interrupted the harmony of the province of “Peaceful Quiet.” The town nearest the frontier and the gateway of the kingdom is Wi-ju. It is situated on a hill overlooking the Yalu river, and surrounded by a wall of light colored stone. The annual embassy always departed for its overland journey to China through its gates. Here also are the custom house and vigilant guards, whose chief business it was to scrutinize all persons entering or leaving Corea. Nevertheless most of the French missionaries have entered the mysterious peninsula through this loop-hole, disguising themselves as wood cutters, crossing the Yalu river on the ice, creeping through the water drains in the grand wall, and passing through this town, or they have been met by friends at appointed places along the border, and thence have traveled to the capital. Further details as to the political condition of this neutral strip will be included in a succeeding chapter, preliminary to the outbreak of the war. The Tatong river, which forms the southern boundary of the province, is the Rubicon of Corean history. At various epochs in ancient times it was the boundary river of China or of the rival states within the peninsula. About fifty miles from its mouth is the city of Ping-Yang, the metropolis and capital of the province and the royal seat of authority from before the Christian era to the tenth century. Its situation renders it a natural stronghold. It has been many times besieged by Chinese and Japanese armies, and near it many battles have been fought.

The next province to the south is that of Hwanghai or the “Yellow Sea” province. This is the land of Corea that projects into the Yellow Sea directly opposite the Shan-tung promontory of China, on which are the ports of Chefoo and Wei-hai-wei. Tien-tsin, the seaport of Peking, is a little farther east. From these ports since the most ancient times, the Chinese armadas have sailed and invading armies have embarked for Corea. Over and over again has the river Tatong been crowded with fleets of junks, fluttering the dragon banners at their peaks. To guard against these invasions signal fires were lighted on the hill-tops which formed a cordon of flame and sped the alarm from coast to capital in a few hours. This province has been the camping ground of the armies of many nations. Here, beside the border forays which engaged the troops of the rival kingdom, the Japanese, Chinese, Mongols, and Manchoos have contended for victory again and again. The principal cities of this province are Hai-chiu the capital, Hwang-ju an old baronial walled city, and the commercial city of Sunto or Kai-seng. Rock salt, flints, ginseng, varnish, and brushes made of the hair of wolf tails, are the principal products of the province.

Kiung-kei is the province which contains the national capital, although it is the smallest of all. The city of Han Yang, or Seoul, is on the north side of the river, forty or fifty miles from its mouth. The name Han Yang means “the fortress on the Han river,” while the common term applied to the royal city is Seoul, which means “the capital.” The population of the city is between two hundred thousand and two hundred and fifty thousand. The natural advantages of Seoul are excellent, as it is well protected by surrounding mountains, and its suburbs reach the navigable river. The scenery from the city is magnificent. The walls are of masonry, averaging about twenty feet in height, with arched stone bridges over the water courses. The streets are narrow and tortuous. The king’s castle is in the northern part. The islands in the river near the capital are inhabited by fishermen.

Four great fortresses guard the approaches to the royal city, all of which have been the scene of siege and battle in time past. The fortresses in succession are Suwen to the south, Kwang-chiu to the south-east, Sunto to the north and Kang-wa to the west. On the walls of the first three have been set the banners of the hosts of Ming from China and of Taiko from Japan, in the wars at the close of the sixteenth century. The Manchoo standard in 1637 and the French eagles in 1866 were planted on the ramparts of Kang-wa. Beside these castled cities there are forts and redoubts along the river banks crowning most of the commanding headlands. Over these the stars and stripes floated for three days in 1871 when the American forces captured the strongholds.

Sunto is one of the most important, if not the chief commercial city in the kingdom, and from 960 to 1392 it was the national capital. The chief staple of manufacture and sale is the coarse cotton cloth which forms the national dress. Kang-wa on the island of the same name, at the mouth of the Han river, is the favorite fortress to which the royal family are sent for safety in time of war, or are banished in case of deposition.

The province Chung Chong or “Serene Loyalty” is the next one to the southward facing the Yellow Sea. In the history of Corean Christianity this province will be remembered as the nursery of the faith. Here were made the most converts to the teachings of the French missionaries, and here persecutions were most violent. When the Japanese armies of invasion reached the capital in 1592, it was over the great highways from Fusan which cross this province. Chion-Chiu, the fortress on whose fate the capital depended, lies in the north-east of the province. The province contains ten walled cities, and like all its fellows it is divided into departments, right and left.

The most southern of the eight provinces, Chulla or “Complete Network” is also the warmest and most fertile. It is nearest to Shanghai and to the track of foreign commerce. Considerable quantities of hides, bones, horns, leather, and tallow are exported to Japan. The beef supplied from the herds of cattle in the pastures of Chulla is famous, and troops of horses graze on the pasture land. The province is well furnished with ports and harbors. Christianity had quite a hold in this province, and when Corea was partly opened to the world there were many believers found in the north who were descendants of Christian martyrs. The capital is Chon-chiu. The soil of the province was the scene of many battles during the Chinese invasions of 1592-97.

NAVAL ATTACK ON THE CHEN-YUEN BEFORE CHEMULPO.
Japanese Drawing.
]

The island of Quelpaert is about sixty miles south of the mainland. It is mountainous, with one peak called Han-ra more than six thousand five hundred feet high. On its top are three extinct craters within each of which is a lake of pure water. Corean children are taught to believe that the three first created men of the world still dwell on these lofty heights.

The most south-easterly province of Corea, and therefore the nearest to Japan, is Kiung-sang or the “Province of Respectful Congratulation.” It is one of the richest of the eight provinces as well as the most populous, and the seat of many historical associations with Japan. The city of Kion-chiu was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Shinra, and from here to Kioto, from the third to the tenth century, the relations of war and peace, letters and religion were continuous and fruitful. The province has always been the gateway of entrance and exit to the Japanese. Fusan, the port which was held by the Japanese from very ancient times, is well at the south-eastern extremity of the peninsula. Its fortifications are excellent, and its harbor well protected. Populous cities encircle the bay on which Fusan stands, and from this point extend two great roads to Seoul. The influence of centuries of close intercourse with their neighbors, the Japanese, is strongly marked in this province.

The “River Meadow,” or Kang-wen province fronts Japan from the middle of the eastern coast directly north of Kiung-sang. It is a province of beautiful scenery and precipitous mountains. The capital is Wen-chiu. The women of the province are said to be the most beautiful in Corea.

Ham-kiung, or complete view, is that part of Corean territory adjoining the boundary of Russia. The south-eastern boundary of Siberia, which has been pushed farther south after every European war with China, touched the Tumen river, the northern boundary of Corea, in 1858. It is but a little ways from the mouth of the Tumen river to the forts of Vladivostok and Possiet in Russian territory. From these cities extends a telegraph across Siberia to the cities of European Russia, and here will be the terminus of the great Trans-Siberian railway now under construction. Possiet is connected with Nagasaki by an electric cable. In the event of a war between China and Russia, the Czar would most probably make Corea the basis of operations. Thousands of Coreans have left their own country to dwell in the neighboring portions of Siberia, and most of them are from the province of Ham-kiung. Persecuted Christians from all over the Corean peninsula have however escaped to Russia for protection for many years. The port of Gensan near Port Lazaref, fronting Broughton’s Bay has been opened for trade since May 1, 1880, and has been an important strategic and commercial point ever since. The capital city of this province is Ham-hung and there are fourteen other walled cities within its limits. Until the Russians occupied the adjoining territory, an annual fair was held at the Corea city of Kion-wen which lies close to the border. Here the Manchoo and Chinese merchants bartered their wares for those of Corean, the traffic lasting but two or three days and sometimes only one day. At the end of the fair any lingering Chinese not soon across the border was urged over at the point of a spear. Foreigners found within the Corean limits at any other time were apt to be ruthlessly murdered.

The government of Corea, since the amalgamation of the different tribes and union of the various states five hundred years ago, has devolved upon an independent king, an hereditary monarch whose rule was absolute and supreme. Next in authority to the king are the three Chong, or high ministers. The chief of these is the greatest dignitary of the kingdom, and in time of minority or inability of the king wields royal authority. The father of the present king ruled as regent up to the time when his son reached his majority in 1874. After the king and the three prime ministers, come the six heads of departments of government which rank next. These six department ministers are assisted by two other associates, the Cham-pan and the Cham-e. These four grades and twenty-one dignitaries constitute the royal council of Dai-jin, though the actual authority is in the three ministers. All of the department ministers make daily reports of their affairs, and refer matters of importance to the supreme council. There are also three chamberlains who record every day the acts and words of the king. A daily government gazette called the Cho-po is issued for information on official matters. The general cast and method of procedure in the court and government were copied in the beginning after the great model in Peking. The rule of the king in Corea is absolute, and his will alone is law. There has always existed, indeed, the office of a high functionary whose special duty consists in watching and controlling the royal actions. Formerly this office really had some significance, but of late years it has possessed none whatever. Another very curious institution has been that of the declared or official favorite, a position generally filled by some member of a noble family, or by one of the ministers whose influence for good or for evil was paramount with his royal master.

The titles of the prime ministers are Chief of The Just Government, The Just Governor of the Left, and The Just Governor of the Right. The six department ministers are those of the interior, or office and public employ, finance, war, education, punishments or justice, and public works. The duties of the minister of foreign affairs devolve on the minister of education.

Each of the eight provinces is under the direction of a Kam-sa or governor. The cities are divided into six classes, and are governed by officers of corresponding rank. Towns are given in charge of the petty magistrates, there being twelve ranks or dignities in the official class. In theory, any male Corean able to pass the government examination is eligible to office, but the greater number of the best positions are secured by the nobles and their friends. The terms of office in these posts, from that of provincial governorship down to the lowest are only for two or three years. At the end of that time the incumbent pays purchase money and is removed to another place. The natural result of this system is that the officials take little interest in their offices except to extort as much profit as possible from the people whom they are governing. With offices and honors sold to the highest bidder, the high officers sell justice and plunder their subordinates, while these again try to indemnify themselves by further extortion.

The magistrates lay great stress on the trifles of etiquette, and sumptuary laws exist referring to all sorts of the small things of life. The rule of the local authorities is very minute in all its ramifications. The system of making every five houses a social unit is universal. Every subject of the sovereign except nobles of rank must possess a passport testifying to his personality and must show his ticket on demand.

Civil matters are decided by the ordinary civil magistrate, while criminal cases are tried by the military commandant. Very important cases are referred to the governor of the province, and thence appealed to the high court in the capital.

COREAN CHARACTERISTICS AND MANNERS OF
LIFE.

--------------

Physique of the People—Rigid Caste System—Slavery—Guilds and Trade Unions—Position of Women—Nameless and Oppressed—Marriage and Family Life—Burial and Mourning Customs—Dress and Diet—Homes—Home Life—Children—Education—Outdoor Life—Music—Literature—Language—Religion.

The Corean people are mainly of a Mongolian type, though there is some evidence that there is a Caucasian element in the stock. They are a little larger and steadier of physique than the Japanese, or the Chinese of the south, more nearly approaching to the northern Chinese and even to the tribes in the northeast of Asia. Frequently individuals are met, with hair not quite black, and even blue eyes and an almost English style of face. The characteristics of the people are distinguished to advantage from that of their Chinese neighbors by the openness and frankness of their demeanor. The Coreans, even of the lower classes, are grave and sedate by nature, which, however, does not exclude a spirit of frank gayety shown on nearer acquaintance. They are thoroughly honest, faithful and good natured, and attach themselves with an almost childlike confidence even to strangers and foreigners, when once they begin to trust in their sincerity.

Firm, sure, and quick in his walk, the Corean possesses greater ease and a freer motion than the Chinese, to whom they are superior in height and bodily strength. On the other hand it cannot be denied that the Coreans rank considerably below the Chinese in cultivation of good manners, and they are wanting in that little polish which is not absent even among the lower classes of China and Japan.

The peculiarity of the Corean race and the difference between the same and the neighboring nations, shows itself mainly in the strict and rigid division of the castes which part the various ranks of the population of the peninsula from each other, showing some analogy to the caste institutions prevailing among the Hindus in India. There exists, however, this notable difference between the two, that while with the latter this separation is based upon religious principles and customs, no religious movement appears as its cause in Corea, where its origin seems solely attributable to political reasons, which have been maintained and kept up to our times by the government for reasons of its own. The forms of Corean society to this day are derived from feudal ranks and divisions. The fruit and legacy of feudalism are seen in the serfdom or slavery which is Corea’s peculiar domestic institution.

Speaking in general terms, society has four grades, following the king. These are the nobles and the three classes which come after them, in the last of which are “the seven low callings.” In detail the grades may be counted by the scores. In the lowest grade of the fourth class are “the seven vile callings,” that is, the merchant, boatman, jailer, postal or mail slave, monk, butcher, and sorcerer. The first and foremost rank, immediately after the king and the members of the royal family, who stand absolutely above and beyond these castes, is taken up by the so-called nobles, descendants of the old families of chieftains, who are again subdivided into two degrees, the civil and the military nobility. These two classes of nobles, in the course of time, had possessed themselves of the exclusive right of occupying public office. Following upon these we find the caste of the half nobles, numerically a very weak class, which forms the transition from the nobility to the civic classes. These also enjoy the right to fill certain offices from their ranks, principally those of government secretaries and translators of Chinese. After these come the civic caste, which consists of the better and wealthier portion of the city inhabitants. This class counts amongst its numbers the merchants, manufacturers, and most kinds of artisans. Next follows the people’s caste, which comprising the bulk of the people is naturally the most numerous of all and includes all villagers, farmers, shepherds, huntsmen, fishermen, and the like.

The nobles are usually the slave holders, many of them having in their households large numbers whom they have inherited along with their ancestral chattels. The master has a right to sell or otherwise dispose of the children of his slaves if he so choose. Slavery or serfdom in Corea is in a continuous state of decline, and the number of slaves constantly diminishing. The slaves are those who are born in a state of servitude, those who sell themselves as slaves, and those who are sold to be such by their parents in times of famine or for debt. Infants exposed or abandoned that are picked up and educated become slaves, but their offspring are born free. The serfdom is really very mild. Only the active young men are held to field labor, the young women being kept as domestics. When old enough to marry, the males are let free by an annual payment of a sum of money for a term of years. Outside of private ownership of slaves, there is a species of government slavery which illustrates the persistency of one feature of the ancient kingdom of Korai perpetuated through twenty centuries. It is the law that in case of the condemnation of a great criminal, the ban shall fall upon his wife and children, who at once become the slaves of the judge. These unfortunates do not have the privilege of honorably serving the magistrate, but usually pass their existence in waiting on the menials in the various government offices. Only a few of the government slaves are such by birth, most of them having become so through judicial condemnation in criminal cases; but this latter class fare far worse than the ordinary slaves. They are chiefly females, and are treated little better than beasts. Nothing can equal the contempt in which they are held.

By union and organization it has come to pass that the common people and the serfs themselves in Corea have won a certain degree of social freedom that is increasing. The spirit of association is spread among the Coreans of all classes, from the highest families to the meanest slaves. All those who have any kind of work or interest in common, form guilds, corporations or societies which have a common fund contributed to by all for aid in time of need. Very powerful trade unions exist among the mechanics and laborers, such as hat-weavers, coffin-makers, carpenters, and masons. These societies enable each class to possess a monopoly of trade which even a noble vainly tries to break. Sometimes they hold this right by writ purchased or obtained from government, though usually it is by prescription. Most of the guilds are taxed by the government for their monopoly enjoyed. They have their chief or head man who possesses almost despotic power, even in some guilds of life and death.

One of the most powerful and best organized guilds is that of the porters. The interior commerce of the country being almost entirely on the backs of men and pack horses, these people have the monopoly of it. They number about ten thousand, and are divided by provinces and districts under the orders of chiefs and inspectors. They have very severe rules for the government of their guild, and crimes among them are punished with death at the order of their chief. They are so powerful that they pretend that even the government dare not interfere with them. They are honest and faithful in their business, delivering packages with certainty to the most remote places in the kingdom. When they have received an insult, or injustice, or too low wages, they “strike” in a body and retire from the district. This puts a stop to all travel and business until the grievances are settled, or submission to their own terms is made. Owing to the fact that the country at large is so lacking in the shops and stores common in other countries, and that instead fairs on set days are so numerous in the towns and villages, the guild of peddlers and hucksters is very large and influential. This class includes probably two hundred thousand able bodied persons who in the various provinces move freely among the people, and are thus useful to government as spies, detectives, messengers, and in time of need, soldiers.

The Corean woman has little moral existence. She is an instrument of pleasure or of labor, but never man’s companion or equal. She has no name. In childhood she receives indeed a surname by which she is known in the family and by near friends, but as she grows up none but her father and mother employ this appellation; to all others she is “the sister” of such a one or “the daughter” of so and so. After her marriage her name is buried, and she is absolutely nameless. Her own parents allude to her by employing the name of the district or ward in which she is married. When she bears children she is “the mother” of so and so. When a woman appears for trial before a magistrate, in order to save time and trouble she receives a special name for the time being.

In the higher classes of society etiquette requires that the children be separated after the age of eight or ten years. After that time the boys dwell entirely in the men’s apartments to study and even to eat and drink; the girls remain secluded in the women’s quarters. The boys are taught that it is a shameful thing even to set foot in the female part of the house. The girls are told that it is disgraceful even to be seen by males, so that gradually they seek to hide themselves when any of the male sex appear. These customs, continued from childhood to old age, result in destroying the family life. A Corean of good taste only occasionally holds conversation with his wife, whom he regards as being far beneath him. The men chat, smoke, and enjoy themselves in the outer rooms, and the women receive their parents and friends in the inner apartments. The men seek the society of their male neighbors, and the women on their part unite together for local gossip. In the higher classes, when a young woman has arrived to marriageable age none even of her own relatives except those nearest of kin, is allowed to see or speak to her. After their marriage women are inaccessible. They are nearly always confined to their apartments, nor can they even look out into the streets without permission from their lords.

There is, however, another side. Though counting for nothing in society, and nearly so in their family, they are surrounded by a certain sort of exterior respect. They are always addressed in the formulas of the most polite language. The men always step aside in the street to allow a woman to pass, even though she be of the poorer classes. There is also a peculiar custom which exists in Seoul which exhibits deference to the comfort of the women. A bell in the castle is struck at sunset, after which male citizens are not allowed to go out of their houses even to visit their neighbors. Women, on the contrary are permitted the freedom of the streets after this time, consequently, as they are assured of safety, from seeing men or being seen by them, they take their exercise and enjoy the outdoors most heartily and freely at night.

Marriage in Corea is a thing with which a woman has little or nothing to do. The father of the young man communicates with the father of the girl he wishes his son to marry. This is often done without consulting the tastes or character of either, and usually through a middleman or go-between. The fathers settle the time of the wedding, and a favorable day is appointed by the astrologers. Under this aspect marriage seems an affair of small importance, but in reality it is marriage only that gives one any civil rank or influence in society. Every unmarried person is treated as a child. He may commit all sorts of foolishness without being held to account. His capers are not noticed, for he is not supposed to think or act seriously. Even the unmarried young men of twenty-five or thirty years of age can take no part in social reunions or speak on affairs of importance. But marriage is emancipation. Even if mated at twelve or thirteen years of age, the married are adults. The bride takes her place among the matrons and the young man has a right to speak among the men and to wear a hat.

The badge of single or married life is the hair. Before marriage the young man who goes bareheaded, wears a simple tress hanging down his back. In wedlock the hair is bound up on the top of the head and is cultivated on all parts of the scalp. Young persons who insist on remaining single, or bachelors who have not yet found a wife, sometimes, however, secretly cut off their hair or get it done by fraud in order to pass for married folks and avoid being treated as children. Such a custom however is a gross violation of morals and etiquette.

On the evening before the wedding the young lady who is to be married invites one of her friends to change her virginal coiffure to that of a married woman. The bridegroom-to-be, also invites one of his acquaintances to do up his hair in manly style. On the marriage day in the house of the groom a platform is set up and richly adorned with decorative cloths. Parents, friends, and acquaintances assemble in a crowd. The couple to be married, who may never have seen or spoken to each other, are brought in and take their places on the platform face to face. There they remain for a few minutes. They salute each other with profound obeisance but utter not a word. This constitutes the ceremony of marriage. Each then retires upon either side; the bride to the female, and the groom to the male apartments, where feasting and amusement after fashions in vogue in Chosen take place. The expense of a wedding is considerable and the bridegroom must be unstinting in his hospitality. Any failure in this particular may subject him to unpleasant practical jokes. On her wedding day the young bride must preserve absolute silence both on the marriage platform and in the nuptial chamber. Etiquette requires this at least among the nobility. Though overwhelmed with questions and compliments, silence is her duty. She must rest mute and impassive as a statue.

It is the reciprocal salutation before witnesses on the wedding dais that constitutes legitimate marriage. From that moment a husband may claim a woman as his wife. Conjugal fidelity, obligatory on the woman, is not required of the husband, and a wife is little more than a slave of superior rank. Among the nobles the young bridegroom spends three or four days with his bride, and then absents himself from her for a considerable time to prove that he does not esteem her too highly. To act otherwise would be considered in very bad taste and highly unfashionable.

JAPANESE WAR SHIP “YOSHINO.”
(During the Attack on Wei-hai-wei, August 17th, 1894.)
]

Habituated from infancy to such a yoke and regarding themselves as of an inferior race, most women submit to their lot with exemplary resignation. Having no idea of progress or of an infraction of established usage they bear all things. They become devoted and obedient wives, jealous of the reputation and well-being of their husbands. The woman who is legally espoused, whether widow or slave, enters into and shares the entire social estate of her husband. Even if she be not noble by birth she becomes so by marrying a noble. It is not proper for a widow to remarry.

The fashion of mourning, the proper time and place to shed tears, and express grief, according to regulations, are rigidly prescribed in an official treatise, or “Guide to Mourners,” published by the government. The corpse must be placed in a coffin of very thick wood, and preserved during many months in a special room prepared and ornamented for this purpose. It is proper to weep only in this death chamber, but this must be done three or four times daily. Before entering it the mourner must don a special suit of mourning clothes. At the new and full moon all the relatives are invited and expected to assist in the ceremonies. These practices continue more or less even after burial, and at intervals during several years. Often a noble will go out to weep at the tomb, passing days and nights in this position. Among the poor, who have not the means to provide a death chamber and expensive mourning, the coffin is kept outside their houses covered with mats until the time for its burial.

Though cremation is known in Corea, the most usual form of disposing of the dead is by burial. Children are wrapped up in the clothes and bedding in which they die and are thus buried. As all unmarried persons are reckoned as children their shroud and burial are the same. With the married the process is more costly, and more detailed and prolonged. The selection of a proper site for their tomb is a matter of profound solicitude, time, and money; for the geomancers must be consulted with a fee. The tombs of the poor consist only of a grave and a low mound of earth. With the richer class monuments are of stone, sometimes neat or even imposing, sometimes grotesque.

Mourning is of many degrees and lengths, and is betokened by dress, abstinence from food and business, visits to the tomb, offerings, tablets, and many visible indications detailed even to absurdity. Pure or nearly pure white is the mourning color, as a contrast to red, the color of rejoicing. When noblemen don the peaked hat which covers the face as well as the head, they are as dead to the world, not to be spoken to, molested, or even arrested, if charged with crime. This Corean mourning hat proved the helmet of salvation to Christians and explains the safety of the French missionaries who lived so long in disguise under its shelter, unharmed in the country where the police were ever on their track. The Jesuits were not slow to see the wonderful protection promised for them, and availed themselves of it at once and always, both while entering the well-guarded frontier and while residing in the country.

Corean architecture is in a very primitive condition. The castles, fortifications, temples, monasteries, and public buildings cannot approach the magnificence of those of Japan or China. The dwellings are tiled or thatched houses, almost invariably one story high. In the smaller towns these are not arranged in regular streets but are scattered here and there. Even in the cities the streets are narrow and tortuous. In the rural parts the houses of the wealthy are surrounded by beautiful groves, with gardens circled by hedges or fences of rushes or split bamboo. The cities show a greater display of red-tiled roofs, as only the officials and nobles are allowed this honor. Shingles are not much used. The thatchings are rice or barley straw. A low wall of uncemented stone five or six feet high, surrounds the dwellings. The foundations are laid on stone set in the earth, and the floor of the humble is the ground itself. The people one grade above the poorest, cover the hard ground with sheets of oiled paper which serve as a carpet. For the better class a floor of wood is raised a foot or so above the earth.

Bed clothes are of silk, wadded cotton, thick paper, and furs. Cushions or bags of rice-chaff form the pillows of the rich. The poor man uses a smooth log of wood or slightly raised portion of the floor to rest his head upon. In most families of the middle class, the “kang” forms the vaulted floor, bed, and stove. It is as if we should make a bedstead of bricks and put foot-stoves under it. The floor is bricked over or built of stone, over flues which run from the fireplace at one end of the house to the chimney at the other. The fire which does the cooking is thus used to warm those sitting or sleeping in the room beyond.

Three rooms are the rule in an average house, and these are for cooking, eating, and sleeping. In the kitchen the most notable articles are the large earthen jars for holding rice, barley or water. Each of them is big enough to hold a man easily. The second room, containing the “kang,” is the sleeping apartment, and the next is the best room or parlor. Little furniture is the rule. Coreans, like the Japanese, sit not cross-legged but on their heels. Among the well-to-do, dog skins cover the floor for a carpet, or tiger skins serve as rugs. Matting is common.

The meals are served on the floor on small low tables, usually one for each guest, but sometimes one for a couple. The best table service is of porcelain and the ordinary sort of earthenware with white metal or copper utensils. The tablecloths are of fine glazed paper and resemble oiled silk. No knives or forks are used; but instead chopsticks and what is more common than in China or Japan, spoons are used at every meal. The walls range in quality of decoration from plain mud to colored plaster and paper. Pictures are not known. The windows are square and latticed without or within, covered with tough oiled paper, and moving in grooves. The doors are of wood, paper, or plaited bamboo. Glass was till recently a nearly unknown luxury in Corea.

The Corean liquor by preference is brewed or distilled from rice, millet, or barley. These alcoholic drinks are of various strength, color, and smell, ranging from beer to brandy. No trait of the Coreans has more impressed their numerous visitors than their love of all kinds of strong drink. No sooner were the ports of Corea opened to commerce than the Chinese established liquor stores, while European wines, brandies and whiskeys have entered to increase the national drunkenness. Although the Corean lives between the two great tea-producing countries of the world, he scarcely knows the taste of tea and the fragrant herb is little used on the peninsula.

The staple diet has in it much more of meat and fat than that of the Japanese, and the average Corean can eat twice as much as the Japanese. Beef, pork, fowls, venison, fish, and game are consumed without much waste and rejected material. Dog flesh is on sale among the common butchers’ meat. The women cook rice beautifully, and other well-known dishes are barley, millet, beans, potato, lily-bulbs, seaweeds, acorns, radishes, turnips, macaroni, vermicelli, apples, pears, plums, grapes, persimmons, and various kinds of berries. All kinds of condiments are much relished.

One striking fault of the Coreans at the table is their voracity. In this respect there is not the least difference between the rich and poor, noble or plebeian. To eat much is an honor, and the merit of a feast consists not in the quality but in the quantity of the food served. Little talking is done while eating, for each sentence might lose a mouthful. Hence, since a capacious stomach is a high accomplishment, mothers use every means to develop as elastic a capacity as possible in their children from very infancy. The Coreans equal the Japanese in devouring raw fish, and uncooked food of all kinds is swallowed without a wry face. Fish bones do not scare them. These they eat as they do the small bones of fowls.

THE BATTLE AT GAZAN.
Japanese Drawing.
]

Nationally and individually the Coreans are very deficient in conveniences for the toilet. Bath tubs are rare, and except in the warmer days of summer, when the river and sea serve for immersion, the natives are not usually found under water. The need of soap and hot water has been noticed by travelers and writers of every nation. The men are very proud of their beards, and honor them as a distinctive glory and mark of their sex. Women coil their glossy black tresses into massive knots and fasten them with pins, or gold and silver rings.

Corea is famous as the land of big hats. Some of these head-coverings are so immense that the human head encased in one of them seems as but a hub in a cart wheel. In shape the gentleman’s hat resembles a flowerpot inverted in the center of a round table. Two feet is a common diameter, and the top, which rises in a cone nine inches higher, is only three inches wide at the apex. The usual material is bamboo, split to the fineness of a thread and woven. The fabric is then varnished or lacquered, and becomes perfectly weatherproof. The prevalence of cotton clothing, easily soaked and rendered uncomfortable, requires the ample protection for the back and shoulders which these umbrella-like hats furnish.

The wardrobe of the upper classes consists of the ceremonial and the house dress. The former as a rule is of fine silk, and the latter of coarser silk or cotton. They are of pink, blue, and other rich colors. The official robe is a long garment like a wrapper, with loose baggy sleeves. There are few tailors’ shops, the women of each household making the family outfit. The underdress of both sexes is a short jacket with tight sleeves, which for men reaches to the thighs, and for women only to the waist, and a pair of drawers reaching from waist to ankle. The females wear a petticoat over this garment, so that the Coreans say they dress like western women, and foreign-made hosiery and undergarments are in demand. Their general style of costume is that of the wrapper, stiff, wide, and inflated, with abundant starch in summer, but clinging and baggy in winter. The white dress of the Corean makes his complexion look darker than it really is. Footgear is either of native or of Chinese make. The laborer contents himself with sandals woven from rice-straw, which usually last but a few days. Small feet do not seem to be considered a beauty, and the foot binding of the Chinese is unknown in Cho-sen.

Judging from a collection of the toys of Corean children, and from their many terms of affection, and words relating to games and sports, festivals and recreation, and nursery stories, the life of the little ones must be pleasant. In the capital and among the higher classes, children’s toys are very handsome, ranking as real works of art. They have many games played by the little ones quite similar to those of our own babies, and they delight in pets, such as monkeys and puppies.

At school the pupils study out loud and noisily, according to the method all over Asia. Besides learning the Chinese characters and the vernacular alphabet, the children master arithmetic and writing. The normal Corean is fond of his children, especially of sons, who in his eyes are worth ten times as much as daughters. Such a thing as exposure of children is little known. The first thing inculcated in a child’s mind is respect for his father. All insubordination is immediately and sternly repressed. Far different is it with the mother. She yields to her boy’s caprices, and laughs at his faults and vices without rebuke, while the child soon learns that a mother’s authority is next to nothing.

Primogeniture is the rigid rule. Younger sons at the time of their marriage, or at other important periods of life receive paternal gifts, but the bulk of the property belongs to the oldest son, on whom the younger sons look as their father. He is the head of the family, and regards his father’s children as his own. In all eastern Asia the bonds of family are much closer than among Caucasian people of the present time. All the kindred, even to the fifteenth or twentieth degree, whatever their social position, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, officials or beggars, form a clan or more properly one single family, all of whose members have mutual interests to sustain. The house of one is the house of the other, and each will assist to his utmost, another of the clan to get money, office, or advantage. The law recognizes this system by levying on the clan the taxes and debts which individuals of it cannot pay, holding the clan responsible for the individual. To this they submit without complaint or protest. Instead of the family being a unit, as with us, it is only the fragment of a clan, a segment in the great circle of kindred. The Coreans are fully as clannish as the Chinese, and in this lies one great obstacle to Christianity or to any kind of individual reform.

China gave her culture to Corea and Corea passed it on to Japan. If we may believe Corean tales, then the Coreans have possessed letters and writing during three thousand years. It is certain that since the opening of the Christian era the light of China’s philosophy has shone steadily among Corean scholars. In spite of their national system of writing, the influence of the finished philosophy and culture of China has been so great that the hopelessness of producing a copy equal to the original became at once apparent to the Corean mind. The culture of their native tongue has been neglected by Corean scholars. The consequence is that after so many centuries of national life Corea possesses no literature worthy of the name.

At present Corean literary men possess a highly critical knowledge of Chinese. Most intelligent scholars read the classics with ease and fluency. Penmanship is an art as much prized and as widely practiced as in Japan, and reading and writing constitute education. Corea has most closely imitated her teacher, China, in the use of education. She fosters education by making scholastic ability as tested in the literary examination, the basis of appointment to office. This civil service reform was established by the now ruling dynasty early in the fifteenth century. The Corean child, neglecting his own language, literature, and history, studies those of China and the philosophy of Confucius, so that his education is practically that of the young man in China. The same classics are studied and the same attention is paid to memory cultivation. The competitive examinations too are very similar to those of China, and corresponding degrees are granted. The system of literary examinations, which for two or three centuries after its establishment was vigorously maintained with impartiality, is at present in a state of decay, bribery and official favor being the causes of its decline.

The special schools of languages, mathematics, medicine, art etc., are under the patronage of the government, but amount to very little. The school of astronomy and the choice of fortunate days for state occasions is for the special service of the king. There is also a school of interpreters, charts, law, and horology.

Although the Chinese language, writing and literature form the basis of education and culture in Chosen, yet the native language is distinct in structure from the Chinese, having little in common with it. The latter is monosyllabic, while the Corean is polysyllabic, as is the Japanese which the Corean closely resembles. No other language is so nearly affiliated to the Japanese as is the Corean. The Corean alphabet, one of the most simple and perfect in the world, consists of twenty-five letters, eleven vowels and fourteen consonants. They are made with easy strokes in which straight lines, circles, and dots only are used.

JAPANESE SOLDIERS DESCENDING FROM THE CASTLE AT FUNG-HWANG.
Japanese Drawing.
]

As in Japan, so in Corea three styles of languages prevail, and are used as follows: Pure Chinese without any admixture of Corean, in books and writings on science, history and government, and in the theses of the students and literary men; in the books composed in the Corean language the vernacular syntax serves as the framework, but the vocabulary is largely Chinese; the Corean book style of composition which is written in the pure Corean language. Every one in Corea speaks the vernacular and not Chinese.

The books which have been written in Corean, are chiefly primers or manuals of history, books on etiquette and ritual, and geography. There are also a few works of poetry written in the vulgar dialect.