Ctbrarp of Che Cheolo^ical ^emmarp PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY PURCHASED BY THE HAMILL MISSIONARY FUND DS 902 . G85 Griffis, William Elliot. Corea, without and within Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/coreawithoutwithOOgrif 9 COREA WITHOUT AND WITHIN: CHAPTERS ON COREAN HISTORY, MANNERS AND RELIGION HENDRICK HAMEL’S NARRATIVE OF CAPTIVITY AND TRAVELS IN COREA, ANNOTATED. BY WILLIAM ELLIOT tJRIFFIS, author of “The Mikado’s Empire,” “Corea, the Hermit Nation, ” “The Tokio Guide,” etc. SECOND EDITION. PHILADELPHIA : PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 1334 CHESTNUT STREET. COM TENTS. PAGE Introductory Chapter 9 PART I. CHAPTER I. Who are the Coreans? 15 CHAPTER II. The Three Kingdoms and Ko-rai 22 CHAPTER III. The Land of Morning Calm 28 PART II. CHAPTER IV. Hamel’s Shipwreck in Corea 37 CHARTER V. The Kind Corean Governor 45 • 5 6 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. PAGE Experiences in Quelpaert Island 59 CHAPTER VII. Journey to the Capital 67 CHAPTER VIII. The Captives in Seoul 74 CHAPTER IX. Life in the Southern Provinces 81 CHAPTER X. The Escape to Japan 99 CHAPTER XI. Nature and People in the Kingdom of Corea . . 110 CHAPTER XII. Punishments, Morals, Festivals and Temples . . 124 CHAPTER XIII. Domestic Life, Houses, Marriage, Education, Mourning and Burial 136 CONTENTS. 7 CHAPTER XIV. PAGE National Traits and Habits; Weights and Meas- ures; Writing; the King and the Ambassa- dor 148 PART III. CHAPTER XV. Religion 161 CHAPTER XVI. Christianity and European Influences, 1777 to 1866 172 CHAPTER XVII. The Ever-Memorable Year of 1866 182 CHAPTER XVIII. The Americans Open Corea ( 1867 - 82 ) 191 CHAPTER XIX. Hermit no More ( 1882 - 85 ) 210 CHAPTER XX. Native Products for Food, Clothing and Com- merce 227 CHAPTER XXI. Corean Art, Past and Present 248 8 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXII. PAGE The Eight Provinces 275 CHAPTER XXIII. Corea for Christ 292 Appendix 307 Index 311 INTRODUCTORY. What Caesar said of Gaul we may apply to the oldest continent. All Asia has been divided into three parts — Chinese, Russian and English. The Gauls themselves seem to be adding a fourth division in Annam, making it French Asia. Two portions of Chinese Asia are penin- sular — Indo- or Cochin-China and Corea. In both these countries the French entered first as missionaries, and in both they have attempted to be conquerors. Gaining a foot- hold in Indo-China, in Corea they have failed. The peninsular kingdom of Corea was long believed to be an island, and is so rep- resented on old European maps, and notably 9 10 INTRODUCTORY. in the early Dutch Bibles. It is, however, a peninsula, shaped somewhat like Florida, but with the area of Minnesota and the physical features of California. It consists on its eastern flank of a range of mountains, with a long fertile slope descending irregu- larly westward to the shallow waters of the Yellow Sea. It is the stepping-stone from China to Japan, from continental Asia to the island-empire over which the sun rises. For centuries there was no political unity in the peninsula, and numerous states arose and flourished for a time, only to fall and make room for new political edifices. Dur- ing the tenth century, however, one people and one government possessed the land from the Ever-white Mountains to the Eastern Sea. Then it was that “ Sila,” as the Ara- bians pronounced the Chinese name of the Corean state Sin-lo (or Sil-lo by euphony), was known to Arab geographers. Mussel- mans who then traded in Chinese ports made voyages to “ the land of Sila, which is rich INTRODUCTORY. 11 in gold.” These Westerners even settled there, and thence exported ginseng, cinna- mon, aloes, camphor, nails, saddles, porcelain, satin, deerhorn and ginger to Bagdad and Damascus. Sin-lo (or, as the Japanese call it, Shin-ra) gave way to Kao-li, or in Japanese Ko-rai. When the Portuguese missionaries came to Japan in the sixteenth century, they wrote to Europe about Coria, whence we have it, in the English, Corea. Unfortunately situated between the two rival nations, China and Japan, what with Chinese rapacity and Japanese ambition on a national scale, and with individual pirates from the East and robbers from the West, the policy of self-preservation gradually and of necessity assumed the sternest forms. After bloody and devastating invasions by Chinese, Tartar and Japanese armies, which reduced the country to poverty and retro- gression, this policy degenerated into one of hermit-like seclusion. Tributary to both her 12 INTRODUCTORY. powerful neighbors, she yet ever preserved an attitude of armed neutrality between both. After a contest of ages Corea has succeeded in maintaining her national life and auton- omy. While one cannot but condemn the position so long defiantly held by the tiny kingdom as “ the last outstanding and irrec- oncilable scoffer among the nations,” it is but fair to acknowledge that good cause existed for such an attitude. Now, however, in the year of Christ 1884, Ta Cho-sun, as the Coreans call their coun- try, has abandoned the conditions of national hermitage. Opened by American diplomacy, moored by the electric cable to the rest of the world, bound by treaty to further acts of comity, her envoys visiting the United States, her once-secluded capital the seat of the le- gations of the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Japan and China, her people studying Christianity in Japan, her ports open to American and European commerce, and the beginnings of a foreign municipality INTRODUCTORY. 13 at the seaport nearest the capital, which will give her people an object-lesson in Western civilization, — the future of Corea seems bright with promise, and certainly is full of interest. Into the seclusion of this Land of Morn- ing Calm few European travelers have ever penetrated. The Dutch supercargo and his companions in the seventeenth century spent thirteen years among these strange people. In this nineteenth century, until within a decade, the French missionaries in disguise and a few shipwrecked sailors, chiefly Amer- ican, were the only persons hailing from Christendom who have observed Corean life. Even the Chinese and Japanese of the Mid- dle Ages, except in war-time or in the reti- nues of diplomacy, rarely saw the inside of Corea. As with the lion’s cave in the fable, all the footsteps pointed one way — “ Nulla vestigia retrorsum.” There are Dutch, French and American graves in Corea. Wherever a fragment of our national treasures lie, our hearts should 14 INTRODUCTORY. be ; and the object of the Editor of this work is to interest American readers, and especial- ly American Christians, in what the French priests call “ the land of martyrs.” The journal of Hendrik Hamel, who in 1653, on his way to Nagasaki, Japan, was shipwrecked on Quelpaert Island, is here- with reprinted with explanatory notes. These, with introductory and supplementary histor- ical chapters, will, the Editor trusts, give the reader a bird’s-eye glance of Corea past and present, and views from without and within. W. E. G. Schenectady, N. Y., 1 Dec. 6, 1884. j NOTE TO SECOND EDITION. In this second edition some minor errors pointed out by kind correspondents in Corea have been cor- rected, and a few lines of freshest information added in the final pages. W. E. G. Schenectady, N. Y., \ Oct. 12, 1885. / COREA. PART I. CHAPTER I. WHO ARE THE CO REA NS? The Oldest Teaditions axd the Dawn of History. T70R the fountains of the stream of Corean history we must look, first, westward to China, and next northward to the Amoor Valley and the highlands of Manchuria. The one stream of influences is literary, the other is political. The first concerns the origin of civilization, the other relates to blood and race. On the overthrow of the Chow dynasty of feudal China, 1122 b. c., the viscount (tsze) of the petty fief or state of Ki preferred to remain loyal to his old master of the house of Chow rather than to pay court to the new usurper. Ki-tsze therefore emigrated with 15 16 COREA. five thousand followers to the north-east. Well received by the aborigines, he founded a kingdom on the principles of Chinese feu- dalism, and civilized the inhabitants by in- troducing letters, the arts, medicine and agri- culture. He named his dominions Cho-sen, 1 which means Fresh Morning or Calm of Dawn. The Japanese also call their country Chd-ka, Home of the Morning. The name of this founder of a nation, who is also an ancestor of Confucius, is in Chinese Ki-tsze ; in Corean, Kys-se ; in Japanese, Ki- slii. If Latinized, like the names Confucius and Mencius, it would be Kicius. The people of modern Corea claim Ki-tsze as the father of their country, and ostenta- tiously profess a civilization nearly as old as that of China and more ancient than that of Chaldea. Just where the scene of Ki-tsze’s labors lies is not certainly known. Some writers 1 The Coreans whom the writer met in New York last No- vember pronounced this name Cho-sfln, but the older and more familiar spelling of the ancient name is retained in the text. Like most nations imitating China, they prefix the honorific Ta or Tai. Ta means whole, or all ; Tai means great. Tai Cho-sun is the Great Land of Morning Calm. WHO ARE THE CO REA NS? 17 place it in the modern Chinese province of Shing-king, which borders Corea on the west. Others, more critical, locate it farther north, in the valley of the Sungari, or even in that of the great Amoor River. The story of Ki-tsze’s migration does not wholly satisfy rigid examination, but it is probable. However, a kingdom known as Cho-sen and ruled by princes claiming descent from Ki-tsze, the kinsman of Confucius, certainly existed in the region north-east of Peking, and came to an end about the opening of the Christian era. Its area fluctuated greatly at different periods, and only for a time was any portion of modern Corea included within its boundaries. It was finally swallowed up by China and annexed to that colossal empire. Let us now glance northward to what may have been the scene of Ki-tsze’s labors. Ages ago, says Chinese tradition, there existed in the valley of the [Amoor] River a petty kingdom named Kao-li. A concu- bine of the king, conceiving by means of a 18 COREA. ray of light, bore a son, who, at first rejected by the king, thrown to the pigs and then suckled by a mare, grew to be a vigorous youth, and became an archer so renowned that the royal jealousy was excited. Fleeing southward until he reached the impassable Sungari River, the youth invoked the aid of his progenitor, the Sun, for assistance. Shooting his arrows into the flood, shoals of fishes gathered in one place and made a bridge for him, on which he crossed to the opposite shore, and thus baffled his pursuers. Three men — dressed one in seaweed, one in hemp and one in embroidered robes (fisher, farmer and noble) — welcomed him and led him to their capital city, where he was made king of the country. This was the king- dom of Fuyu Fuyu, as described later in the writings of a Chinese historian, was a fertile land lying between the Sungari River and the Ever- white Mountains. It was occupied by serfs, landholders and nobles, all living in fortified cities and under feudal institutions. These brave highlanders, expert horsemen, well fed and clothed, were possessed of considerable WHO ARE THE COREANSt 19 literary culture and political knowledge. In brief, if letters mark the boundary between civilization and savagery, they were a civil- ized people. They were the first people of Asia to emerge from the desert under the feudal forms of organization. Such phenomena seem to imply and neces- sitate the prerequisite of a teacher of civiliza- tion — of some master mind and influence — or else close contact with a highly-civilized nation. Yet Fuyu was too distant from China for such effects so early in history, and the feudalism of Fuyu, when made known to Chinese writers, was existing cen- turies after feudal institutions had vanished from China. These considerations lead some to suppose that the scene of Ki-tsze’s labors was in Fuyu, or possibly in the half-mythical kingdom of Kao-li, the Japanese Ivo-rai. Out of this ancestral home-land of Fuyu a few families, emigrating southwardly, formed Kao-ku-li (Japanese, Ko-ko-rai). In their social and political features these people were much like those of Fuyu, but less agricultu- ral and more given to horses and cattle. As early as 9 a. d. they became tributaries and 20 COREA. allies of the Chinese, but as they grew in strength they made raids inside the Great Wall and set their former allies the Chinese at defiance. They also crossed the Yalu River, and gradually overspread the north- western part of the Corean peninsula. Once inside what is now Corea, these Northerners came to stay. Increasing in wealth and numbers, they were not only able to keep the Chinese at bay, but also to encroach upon their neighbors inside the peninsula and to send colonies over to Japan. Drop- ping a syllable from their country’s name, they called it Ko-rai. By the sixth century they occupied the country around the Gulf of Liau Tung and the Corean peninsula as far south as the Han River, and numbered probably three or four millions of souls. During the period of anarchy and civil war in China from the second to the sixth century the Ko-raians throve, being but slightly molested from the West; but during the Sui (589-618 a. d.) and the Tang (618- 905 a. d.) dynasties of China they sustained mighty invasions by Chinese armies. The determined policy of the emperors was to WHO ARE THE CORE A NS? 21 crush and annex Ko-rai. After many bloody battles and sieges, which have made Southern Manchuria historic ground, Ko-rai was politically extinguished and became a province of the Chinese empire. After twenty-eight generations and a rule of seven hundred years, the line of kings of Ko-rai came to an end in a. d. 665, and their sceptre departed from them until that renascence of their prestige which, in the tenth century, gave political unity to the whole peninsula. The Fuvu and Ko-rai people are the an- cestors of the modern Coreans, and most probably of the Japanese also. Unlike most of the Asiatic tribes (Huns, Turks, Mongols), who in migrating set their faces westward, the Fuyu people turned to the south, and then faced the rising sun into Corea and Japan, settling the peninsula and in part, at least, the archipelago. In their physical appearance the modern Coreans bear out the theory of their descent as intimated above. They are less “ Mongo- lian ” in the cast of their features than the Chinese, while they are larger and more heavily built than the Japanese. CHAPTER II. THE THREE KINGDOMS AND KO-RAI. T HUS far, we have looked only at that part of the peninsula north of the Han River. South of this water-line and along the shores of the Japan Sea, three independent nations or congeries of tribes were known to Chinese historians before the Christian era. Of their origin we as yet know little or nothing. Un- der the influence of Chinese culture and Buddhism they attained by the sixth cen- tury a considerable measure of civilization. Ma-han and Ben-han, two of these leagues or nations, became one, called Sin-lo (Japan- ese, Shin-ra), and with Ko-rai in the north the epoch of the “ Three Kingdoms ” began. These three states were Ko-rai in the north, Sin-lo (or Shin-ra) in the south-east and Pe-tsi (or Hiaksai) in the west. They were rivals, and often fought against each other. They also made wars and alliances 22 THE THREE KINGDOMS AND KO-RAI. 23 with China or Japan as suited their interests or necessities. Until the ninth or tenth cen- tury their history seems to be but a maze of civil and foreign wars, yet civilization pro- gressed and the culture received from China was transmitted to Japan. Like Cyprus be- tween Egypt and Greece, Corea forms the link between Chinese and Japanese civiliza- tion — the old and the new. “ Like the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Wales, called also Britannia, Caledonia and Cambria, these Corean states were distinct in origin, were conquered by a race from without, received a rich infusion of alien blood, struggled in rivalry for cen- turies, and were finally united in one nation with one flag and one sovereign .” 1 After the political suppression of Ko-rai and its practical annexation to China, the predominant state in the Corean peninsula was Sin-lo, though in blood and race the mass of the people w r ere, very probably, of Ko-raian stock. For two centuries, from the ninth to the eleventh, there was calm “ within the four 1 Corea, the Hermit Nation, p. 34. 24 COREA. seas” and the people enjoyed the sweets of peace. During this period it may be said of this corner of the world, “ Happy is the nation that has no history,” for about all that we know of Corea’s annals during this period are the names of the kings and the duration of their reigns. In 912 a. d. a Buddhist monk living in the north-eastern part of the peninsula, near the shores of the Sea of Japan, raised the flag of rebellion against the decaying house of Sin-lo, and the uprising quickly extended over the country. Wang-hien, in whose veins ran the blood of the old kings of Ko- rai, put the monk to death and took the lead himself. He overthrew the ruling dynasty and brought the whole peninsula under his sceptre. He fixed his capital at Sun-to (now called Kai-seng), a few miles north-east of Seoul, and restored the old name, Ko-rai, which became the symbol of united Corea and the name of the entire peninsula. In a quarrel with the Kitan Tartars, who occupied the country west of the Yalu River, the latter “ rectified ” their frontier by an- nexing the land formerly considered a part THE THREE KINGDOMS AND KO-RAI. 25 of the peninsular kingdom. Henceforward, the boundaries of Corea remained stationary, and have never extended beyond those with which the Western World is familiar. In Manchuria, on Chinese soil, Gauli Chan (Ko-rai Village) still witnesses by its name to former Corean possessions west of the Yalu River. Four centuries of peace and national de- velopment followed, and the era of Ko-rai was the most brilliant in the history of this people. The customs and institutions of feudalism gradually gave way before a cen- tralized system of monarchy, with a “ cabi- net ” of boards or ministries which was copied from that organized by the Tang em- perors of China. The country was divided into eight do or circuits, each ruled by a Tcam-sa or governor. Buddhism became the established religion, and many beautiful temples, pagodas and monasteries were erected. Trade with the Chinese and Japanese developed the internal wealth of the country. The Chinese fleet which in 1122 a. d. brought the ambassador of the emperor to visit his vassal the king of 26 COREA. Ko-rai steered its course from Nanking by the magnetic needle, and thus introduced the mariner’s compass into Corea. Sons of Co- rean noblemen went back to Nanking to study the Chinese arts and literature. The revival of letters and the influence of the brilliant literary period of the Sung dynasty (960— 1333 a. d.) in China reacted on the peninsu- lars, creating much activity among native scholars and laying the foundation of that thorough knowledge of the Chinese classics for which educated Coreans are noted. The typographic press was introduced from China, and thousands of books were printed from blocks of wood cut with raised letters. The Corean alphabet came into general use, and something like popular education was preva- lent. This was also the most flourishing period of Corean art. Two centuries of peaceful progress slipped away, and then Corea was desolated by the Mongols, who, under Genghis and Khublai Khan, were conquering the world. Corea was made the basis of operations against Japan, but the great armada which from her shores sailed so gallantly toward the rising THE THREE KINGDOMS AND KO-RAI. 27 sun was repulsed by “ the Divine Breath ” of tempests and the valor of the Japanese. The only result was to breed more bitter hatred between the islanders and the peninsulars. CHAPTER III. THE LAND OF MORNING CALM. ISTURBANCES in the sun are apt to -E' produce similar results in the planets. Revolutionary events in China, the Middle Kingdom, induce political changes in the surrounding satellite nations. The fall of the Mongols, a foreign, and the rise and establishment of the Mings, a native Chinese, dynasty exerted a profound influ- ence on Corean politics. The royal line had become effete, abuses of power abounded and popular feeling against the court rose to The “ man on horseback ” for the occasion was Ni Taijo, a native of the north-east and born near the modern treaty-port of Wen- shan. Through his influence Corea was re- fused as a refuge to the fugitive Mongols, the Mings were recognized as the rulers of China and tribute was paid to them. The king flood 28 THE LAND OF MORNING CALM. 29 protesting, Ni Taijo deposed him, sent him prisoner to Kang-wa Island and extinguished the Ko-raian dynasty by removing from their place the royal ancestral tablets. Ni Taijo was then declared king, and in- vestiture was duly given by the emperor of China, a. d. 1392. He suppressed Ko-rai, and renamed the kingdom Ta Cho-sun, or Great [Land of] Morning Calm. He estab- lished the capital or Seoul at Han-yang on the Han River, making the main thorough- fares very broad, and building round it a wall about fifteen miles in circumference. Following the natural boundaries of rivers and mountains, he rearranged the eight do or provinces on the basis of the river-basins of the peninsula. He disestablished Buddh- ism and made the doctrines of Confucius the state religion. He also adopted “ civil- service reform ” by making appointments to office rest on personal merit, as shown in competitive literary examinations. The cos- tume of the people underwent a change, and white became the universal color of dress. The styles of hats and hair-dressing also became fixed in their present condition. 30 COREA. Literature flourished, and the art of print- ing by cast and movable metal types was in- vented and came into frequent use. A real cho-sen (morning freshness) of spirit had dawned upon the nation, and two centuries of quiet followed. Then the re- laxation and enervation which luxury always brings began to show their sure effects. Military science and exercises were neglect- ed and the castles and fortifications fell into ruin. The Japanese pirates began to ravage the coasts and to pillage even inland cities. In 1592, Tailed, the ambitious commander- in-chief of the armies of Japan, pretexting arrears of tribute and a desire to humble China, sent large detachments to invade the peninsula. Two army corps, under the rival com- manders Konishi and Kato, landed at Fusan on the 25th and 26th of May, and began a race to the Corean capital, conquering the fortresses by the way, the san-siang or moun- tain-forts being the most difficult to take. The rival corps, after forced marches of eigh- teen days, entered Seoul by different gates on the 13th of June, 1592. Sf*oiil, the Coroan Capital. / THE LAND OF MORNING CALM. 31 The main work of the campaign was now transferred to the north, to Ping-an, under Ivonishi. While Japanese divisions under Kuroda overran the southern provinces, Iva- to occupied Ham-kiung and the north-east, taking prisoner two of the princes of the blood. The Chinese sent large contingents to help the Coreans, and many bloody battles were fought and castles taken. Gunpowder and artillery were used, the Coreans invent- ing bombshells. The Japanese fleet, having been beaten by the Coreans, left the invading armies so far from their base of supplies that, after burning Seoul, they retreated in the early summer of 1593 to Fusan. Three years of inactivity and fruitless diplomacy between Peking and Kioto followed. The second invasion by the Japanese took place in 1597, one corps striking northward from Fusan, and the other landing in the south-western province, named Chulla-do, and, advancing on the castle of Nan-on, the victorious columns effected a junction near Seoul and marched to within seventeen miles of the city; but, hearing of the loss of their fleet and the great Chinese reinforcements in 32 COREA. Seoul, “ their hearts became cold in their bosoms ” and they retreated to the coast. After the long siege of Uru-san Castle, last- ing nearly a year, by an immense allied army of Chinese and Coreans, a great battle was fought, and the Japanese garrison was relieved ; but the death of Taiko soon after taking place, the invaders were called home. They departed, taking with them immense spoils from the monasteries, temples, libraries and houses of the Coreans. Seven years of war, pillage, famine and fire, and the main- tenance of two foreign armies on her soil, wasted Corea beyond measure. Probably a million of her people died of wounds, hun- ger and the diseases of war during this awful period. From this war she has never re- covered . 1 Some notable results, however, followed. Tobacco was introduced by the Japanese, cotton 2 came into more general use and cul- 1 See chapters xii.-xix. in Corea, the Hermit. Nation. 2 The white cotton dress is universal throughout the country — thin in summer and padded in winter. Dresses of ceremony or rank have various parts in colors of silk or hempen mate- rial. An English traveler in Seoul in 1884 thus writes: “It is altogether a strange country, this Hermit Kingdom. The pale, THE LAND OF MORNING CALM. 33 ture, and gunpowder was henceforth one of the standard munitions of war. Christianity was not planted at this time, though Cespedes, a Portuguese friar, acted for a while as chaplain to the many thousands of Homan Catholic Japanese troops, while Konishi and other Christian generals, who took back to Japan a number of young Coreans of gentle birth, had them educated in the faith of Mary. Though earnest efforts were made by Co- rean patriots to revive the military spirit of the people, little was accomplished in the way of preparation to ward off the next national calamity that fell upon them within a generation after the Japanese scourge. The new affliction came out of the north, from behind the Ever-white Mountains. In the same old ancestral seats of the ancient Fuyu people a nation had risen out of the monotonous colors affected by the common people in their dress, the noiseless way in which they move about, the total lack of wheeled vehicles, the absence of street-cries, or, indeed, of shouting of any sort, — have a most weird effect ; and as one passes through the white-clad, silent multitude one almost finds himself wondering whether it is all real, and whether one has not been suddenly transported into dreamland.” 34 COREA. compacted tribes. Calling themselves Man- chius, they were slowly but surely descending to the conquest of China. To conquer Corea was merely work by the way. The Chinese emperor called upon his vassal the Corean king for a contingent of twenty thousand men to assist his legions on the frontier against the invading Manchius, in return for help given the latter a few years before against the Jap- anese. This and other events brought the Manchius into collision with Corea. Crossing the frozen Yalu River in Febru- ary, 1627, these northern hordes took the kingdom by surprise, and soon overran it, the Coreans fleeing before their disciplined foes as sheep before wolves. Fresh provocations brought the fierce Manchius again into Corea in 1637. The king and his court fled to the Kang-wa Is- land fortress. The invaders first captured Seoul, after severe and bloody fighting, and then, with land and water forces and pro- vided with artillery, they invested Kang-wa. Before many days they compelled the king to capitulate and bind himself to pay heavy tribute four times a year to the Tartar khan, TEE LAND OF MORNING CALM. 35 or Manchiu emperor, wlio was now enthroned in Peking as ruler of all the Chinas. Erecting an altar, Tartar and Corean alike worshiped Heaven, while the conquerors compelled the conquered to perform the kow- tow (nine prostrations, with the forehead touching the ground) and to praise the clem- ency of the Tartar general in sparing their lives. Aside from the entrance at stated times of the imperial envoy to collect the tribute, and the annual embassy of Corean nobles to Pe- king to do homage to “ the Great Khan,” the internal politics of “ the little outpost state ” were not interfered with by the Chi- nese government. Such was the state of affairs in Corea when “ the unlucky voyage ” of the Dutch ship Spar-wehr in 1653 accidentally cast upon the shores of this inhospitable peninsula the first Europeans who returned to tell the story of their captivity and travels. The Dutch East India Company at this time had factories or trading-stations in the Malay Archipelago, in Formosa, and at Na- gasaki, Japan. The Spar-wehr (Sparrow- 36 COREA. liawk), one of their ships, commanded by Captain Egbertz, was bound for the latter port, via Batavia and Tai-wan in Formosa. Hamel, our narrator, was “ secretary ” or su- percargo, whose quaint and racy account we now proceed to give in the words of his Narrative. PART II. HAMEL’S XARRATLVE. CHAPTER IY. HAMEL’S SHIPWRECK IN COREA } E sailed out of the Texel on the 10th of January, 1653, in the evening, with a very fair gale, and after many storms and much foul weather came to an anchor on the 1st of June in the roadstead of Batavia. 2 As soon as we had refreshed ourselves there for a few days, the governor-general of the India Company commanded us away to Tai-wan, 3 1 Three Dutch editions of Hamel’s Nnrative of an Unlucky Voyage and Shipwreck on the Coast of Corea are known, of which translations appeared in French, English and German. Of the two in English dress, we have selected that found in Churchill’s Collection of Voyages, London, 1732. Only slight alterations in the text have been made in tiie present edition, such as the re- placement of elided letters, the substitution of modern for ob- solete words, and of the more familiar orthography in all cases after the first appearance in the text of the uncouth and un- familiar orthography of places ; as, for instance, Seoul for Sior, etc. 1 In Java, the capital of the Netherlands Indies. 3 Tai-wan (Terrace Bay) is the Chinese term for the beautiful large island which the Portuguese, from its shapely outlines, called Formosa. The Dutch, driving away the Portuguese set- 37 38 COREA. and accordingly we set sail the 14th of the same month in our ship called the Sparrow- hawk. We carried aboard us Min Heer Cor- nelius Lessen, to take possession of the gov- ernment of Tai-wan and Formosa, with their dependencies, in place of Min Heer Nicholas Verburge, who had resided there three years, according to custom. We had the good for- tune to come to an anchor at Tai-wan on the 16th of July. Min Heer Lessen immediately landed, and caused our ship to be unloaded. Then, having advised with the council, he ordered us to Japan ; in pursuance whereof, having our loading and discharge, we put to sea again on the 30th of the same month. The next day held fair until toward the evening, when, as we were getting out of the tiers in 1624, built the fort Zeelandia, near which the city of Tai-wan-fu has grown up, and ruled large portions of the island for thirty-seven years. They were driven away or massacred by Coxinga, a Chinese freebooter, in 1661, and in 1682 the island formally became part of the Chinese empire. The Japanese Christians, fleeing from persecutions at home, settled in Formosa from 1620 onward; whence, in 1874, the claim of the Tokio government of the right of Japanese troops to land on the island to chastise the Butan savages, and the virtual acknowledgment of the claim by China in the payment of a heavy indemnity to the Japanese. HAMEL’S SHIPWRECK IN COREA. 39 channel of Formosa, there arose a storm, which increased all night. On the 1st of August, in the morning early, we perceived a small island very near us; we used our utmost endeavors to get under shelter of it and find some place to cast anchor, for in most parts of that sea there is no bottom to be found. However, we compassed our design, though with much difficulty, because we were afraid to come near a floating timber that burnt close by us. Our pilot, fortunately looking out, had dis- covered that island, otherwise we had been lost, for we were not above a musket-shot from it. The fog clearing up and the day growing bright, we found ourselves so near the coast of China that we could easily dis- cover armed men scattered along the shore, expecting to make their advantage of our wreck. But, God be praised, they missed of their aim, though the storm increased rather than diminished. There we continued all that day at an anchor in sight of them, as also the night following. The next day, the wind falling, we ob- served that the number of the Chinese was 40 COREA. much increased, which made us stand upon our guard, resolving to remove further from them as soon as possible, but were hindered by a calm which lasted all day and next night. The third day we perceived the storm had driven us twenty leagues from our course, so that we were again in sight of the island of Formosa. We plied betwixt that island and the continent, the weather somewhat cold ; and what troubled us worst was, that the uncertain winds and calms kept us in that channel until the 11th of that month, when a south-west wind grew into a storm, with a heavy rain, and forced us to run north-east by east. The three following days the wea- ther continued still more tempestuous, and the wind shifted so often that we were con- tinually hoisting and lowering our sails. By this time the frequent heatings of the sea had much weakened our vessel, and the continued rain obstructed our making any observation ; for which reason we were forced to take in all our sails, strike the yards and commit ourselves to the mercy of the waves. On the 15th the wind blew so boisterously HAMEL’S SHIPWRECK IN COREA. 41 that we could not hear one another speak, nor durst we let fly an inch of sail ; and, to add to our misfortunes, the ship took in so much water that there was no mastering of it. Besides, the waves broke in upon us in such manner that we expected to perish every minute. That night our boat and the greater part of our gallery were carried away, which shook our bolt-sprit and made us fear we should lose our prow. All possi- ble means were used to repair the damage sustained and prevent the ill consequences it might produce ; hut in vain, for the gusts of wind were too violent and came too close one upon another, besides the breaking of the waves, which were ready to sink us every moment. At length, finding there was no way to save ourselves but by abandoning the vessel and the Company’s goods, we resolved to loose a foretop-sail, the better to avoid the greater surges. Whilst we were thus ern- ployed, a wave coming over our stern had like to have washed away all the seamen that were on the deck, and filled the ship so full of water that the master cried out, 42 COREA. “ My mates, cut down the mast by the board immediately, and recommend your- selves to the mercy of God ; for if one or two such waves return we are all lost, and all our skill and labor will not save us.” This was our condition when the second glass of the second watch being just running out, he that looked out ahead cried, “ Land ! land !” adding, we were not above a musket- shot from it, the darkness of the night and the rain having obstructed our discovering it sooner. We endeavored to anchor, but in vain, because we found no bottom, and the roughness of the sea and force of the wind obstructed. Thus, the anchors having no hold, three successive waves sprung such a leak iu the vessel that those who were in the hold were drowned before they could get out. Some of those who were on the deck leaped overboard, and the rest were carried away by the sea. Fifteen of us got ashore in the same place, for the most part naked and much hurt, and thought none had escaped but ourselves ; but, climbing the rocks, we heard the voices of some men complaining, yet could see nothing HAMEL’S SHIPWRECK IK COREA. 43 nor help anybody, because of the darkness of the night. On the 16th all of us that were in a con- dition to walk went calling and seeking about the strand to see if we could find any more that had got to laud. Some were found scattered about, so that we made up thirty- six, most of us dangerously hurt. Then, searching the wreck, we discovered a man betwixt two planks, which had so pressed his body that he lived but three hours. It is needless to relate how sensibly we were touched at the loss of our ship, and to see that of sixty-four men only thirty-six were left in a quarter of an hour. However, we went along the shore to pay the last duties to those bodies the sea had cast up. We found none but our captain, Egbert z of Amster- dam, stretched out on the sand ten or twelve fathoms from the water, with his arm under his head ; whom we buried. Having scarce taken any sustenance for two or three days past, because there had been no possibility of dressing anything, we searched along the sands to see whether the sea had not cast any of our provisions ashore, 44 COREA. but could get only one sack of meal, a cask with some salt meat, a little bacon, and, what was best for the wounded men, a hogshead of claret. Our greatest trouble was to con- trive how to make a fire, for, having neither seen nor heard any living creature, we con- cluded we were on a desert island. Toward evening the wind and rain somewhat abating, we gathered enough of the wreck to contrive some shelter for us, making use to that pur- pose of the remainder of our sails. Page 45. Corean Magistrate and Servant, CHAPTER V. THE KIND COREAN GOVERNOR. N the 17th, as we were lamenting our cte plorable condition, sometimes complain- ing that we saw nobody, and sometimes flat- tering ourselves with the hopes of being near Japan, where we might meet somebody that might put us in the way to get to the Dutch factory, our ship being in no condition to be refitted, we spied a man about a cannon-shot from us. We called and made signs to him, but as soon as ever he saw us he fled. Soon after noon we spied three more, one of them with a musket and his companions with bows and arrows. Being come within gun- shot of us, they halted, and, perceiving that we made toward them, ran away, though we endeavored by signs to show them we desired nothing but fire of them. At last one of us resolved to attack them ; but they delivered up their arms without 45 46 COREA. making any opposition, wherewith we lighted the fire we wanted. These men were clad after the Chinese fashion, excepting only their hats, which were made of horse-hair, and we were much afraid lest they should be wild Chinese or pirates. Toward evening there came an hundred armed men clad like the others, who, after counting us, kept us enclosed all the night. On the 18th we spent all the morning in enlarging our tent ; and about noon there came down about two thousand men, horse and foot, who drew up in order of battle before our hut. Our secretary, the chief pilot and his mate, with a boy, went out to meet them. When they came before the commander he ordered a great iron chain to be put about the neck of each of them, with a little bell, such as the bell-wether wears in Holland. In that condition they forced them to fall down and prostrate themselves before that commander, all his men at tine same time raising such a shout that we who were in the hut cried out, “We are lost, and must prepare to be used after the same manner which was immediately put in execution. THE KIND CORE AN GOVERNOR. 47 When we had lain some time flat on our faces they made signs to us to kneel. Being in this posture, they put some questions to us, which we did not understand, and we on our side did all we could to let them know that we intended to have gone to Nangasakay 1 in Japan. They were as far from understand- ing us as if they had never known Japan, for they call that country Jeenare or Jirpon. The commander, perceiving he could make nothing of all we said, caused a cup of arac 2 to be filled to every one of us, and sent us back to our tent. They that conducted us, 1 Nagasaki (Long Promontory), a city in the province of Hizen on the island of Kiushiu in Southern Japan, was the loophole through which Japan looked out upon the world during the period of her hermit-like seclusion. In front of the city, on De'-shima (Fore Island) the Dutch had a factory and trading-station, and a limited number of Chinese were permit- ted to live in the city, like the Dutch, under severe restrictions. Nagasaki is now the terminus of the electric cables to China and Siberia, and since 1859 has been an open port for foreign commerce and residence. The usual spelling in the seventeenth century, as we see in Gulliver’s Travels, was as in the text, rep- resenting the southern local pronunciation. The Tokio pro- nunciation is now the standard of the empire and the usage of foreign writers. 2 Arrack, the strong rice-heer which in Chinese is called sam- shv, and jn Japanese sake, the common drink in Corea. By distillation it can be made as strong and intoxicating as whisky. 48 COREA. to see what provisions we had, found only a little bacon and salt meat, which they showed to their chief. An hour after they brought us rice boiled in water, 1 and, believing we were almost starved, would not give us much, for fear it should hurt us. After dinner they came with ropes in their hands, which very much surprised us, imagining they intended to strangle us ; but our fear vanished when we saw them run all together to the wreck to draw ashore what might be of use to them. At night they gave us more rice to eat ; and our master, having made an observation, found we were in the island of Quelpaert, which is thirty-three degrees thirty-two minutes of latitude. These people were employed all the 19th in getting ashore the sad remains of our wreck, drying the clothes and burning the wood to get the iron, being very fond of that metal. Beginning now to grow somewhat familiar, we went up to the commander of the forces and the admiral of the island, who was also come down, and presented each of 1 For economy’s sake, the Coreans usually save the water in which the rice has been boiled, and drink it. THE KIXD COREA X GOYERXOE. 49 them with a perspective-glass and a pot of red wine, with our captain’s silver cup, which we found among the rocks. They liked the liquor so well that they drank till they were very merry. 1 They returned us the silver cup with many tokens of friendship, and we retired to our tent. On the 20th they made an end of burning all the wood of the ship and saving the iron ; during which time a pleasant accident hap- pened. The fire they made coming to two pieces of cannon which were loaded with ball, they gave so great a report that they all fled, and durst not return a long while or go near the vessel till we had assured them by signs they need not to fear the like would happen any more. This day they brought us twice to eat. 2 * 4 1 The unanimous report of visitors and travelers is that the Coreans are strongly addicted to drink, and intemperance is a national vice. 2 The Coreans were not unfamiliar with the use of gunpow- der, as an incident farther on will show. ^Neither were they ignorant of brass cannon, which the Japanese had used in their invasion in 1592-97. Iron ordnance was, however, then a tarity. Furthermore, the reason why they lighted fires without a suspicion of danger under gun-carriages mounted with cannon was that the Dutch artillery was muzzle-loading, while theirs, 4 50 COREA. On the 21st, in the morning, the com- mander gave us to understand by signs that we must bring before him all we had saved in our tent, that it be sealed ; which was done in our presence. Whilst this was doing some persons were brought before him who had converted to their own use some iron, hides and other things saved out of our wreck, which they had still in their posses- sion. They were immediately punished be- fore our faces, to show us their design was not to wrong us of any of our goods. Each of those thieves had thirty or forty strokes given him on the soles of his feet with a cudgel as thick as a man’s arm and as tall as a man. This punishment is so severe that some of their toes dropped off. About noon they made signs to give us to copied from the Japanese, was breech-loading. The Portuguese and Spaniards, coming to Japan as early as 1539, very probably used breech-loading guns. At the Annapolis Naval Academy may be seen, side by side, a Spanish cannon cast in 1490 and used by Cortez in the conquest of Mexico, and a Corean piece of the same size captured in one of the forts in the Han River by the American naval battalion in 1871. Both have metal cartridge-holders (cast, and not reamed or drilled), which are dropped in the breech and held in by a plug — true breech- loaders. THE KIND CORE AN GOVERNOR. 51 understand we must depart. Those that were well had horses provided for them, and the sick were carried in hammocks. Thus we set forward, attended by a numerous guard of horse and foot ; and, traveling four leagues, came at night, to a little town called Tadiane, 1 where, after a slender repast, they carried us into a warehouse much like a stable. The 22d, in the morning, at break of day, we set out in the same order, and traveled to a little fort, near which there were two galliots. Here we halted to dine, and at night came to the town of Moggan, 2 or Mocxo, where the governor of the island resides. We were all conducted to the square 1 Both the authenticity and genuineness of Hamel’s narrative were doubted by many readers of the seventeenth century in Holland, France and England ; but a glance at a Corean map shows at once the truth and accuracy of the writer. Making allowance for the Dutchman’s enunciation of Corean names, we easily recognize the town of Ta-jon or Ta-djon in “Ta-diane,” which lies a few miles inland from the southernmost point of Quelpaert Island. 2 Now called Nai-ju. Hamel gives us an alternative name, “Mocxo” (or Moo-shoo, the former syllable denoting its old feudal privileges, moo, and the latter the modem termination for cities of its grade, shoo, in which the governor of the dis- trict resides). 52 COREA. before the town-house, where about three thousand men were at their arms, some of whom, coming forward, gave us water to drink in dishes ; but they being armed after a dreadful manner , 1 we thought they designed to rid themselves of us. Their very habit increased our fear, for it had somewhat frightful, which is not seen in China or Japan. Our secretary, attended by the same per- sons with whom he appeared the first time before the commander of the troops, was carried to the governor. When they had lain a while prostrate on the ground a sign was made to us to do the same, after we had been brought near a sort of balcony which was before the house, where he sat like a king. The first thing he caused to be asked 1 These braves were very probably the flail-men so graphic- ally described by the British captain Edward Belcher ( Voyage of the Samarang, vol. i. p. 341) : “The handle of this dangerous weapon [the war-flail] was about three feet in length, with an arm of eighteen inches, jointed in iron and studded three inches from the extremity by nine studs or nails, similar to those used in portcullis-gates. A single blow from this weapon would probably indent a musket and render it useless.” It was this same city that Captain Belcher in 1845 visited with his marines to demand the right of surveying the coast. THE KIND CO RE AN GOVERNOR. 53 of us by signs was, whence we came and whither we were bound. We answered, as before, that we were Hollanders, and were bound for Nagasaki in Japan; whereupon he gave us to understand by bowing his head a little that he understood something of what we said. Then he ordered us to pass before him four and four at a time ; and having put the same question to us all, and received the same answer, he ordered us to be carried to the same house where the king’s uncle, who had attempted to usurp the throne, had been confined and died . 1 As soon as we were in, the house was beset with armed men, and we had a daily allow- ance of twelve ounces of rice a man and the same quantity of wheaten meal, but very little besides, and so ill dressed that we could not eat it. Thus our common meals were for the most part rice, meal and salt, and we had nothing to drink but water. The governor seemed to us to be a very understanding man, and we often found af- 1 Quelpaert Island has been for centuries used as a place of banishment for nobles and high officers, and for the common people is the Botany Bay of the kingdom. Many Christians have been exiled there during the present century. 54 COREA. terward that we had not been deceived in our opinion. He was then threescore-and- ten years old, had been born in the capital city of the kingdom, and was in good esteem at the court. When lie dismissed us he made signs that he would write to the king to know what he was to do with us. It would be a considerable time before his answer could come, because the distance was four- score leagues, whereof all but ten leagues by land, and therefore we begged of him to order we should have flesh sometimes and something else to eat. We also obtained leave of him for six of us to go abroad every day, by turns, to take the air and wash our linen ; which was granted, to our great satis- faction, for it was very heavy to be shut up and live on bread and water. He also did us the honor to send for us often and to make us write something before him, both in his tongue and in our own. There we first began to understand some words of that language ; and he discoursing with us sometimes, and being pleased to di- vert us with some little amusements, we began to conceive some hopes of some day getting THE KIND CORE AN GOVERNOR. 55 over to Japan. He also took such care of our sick that we may affirm we were better treated by that idolater than we should have been among Christians. On the 29th of October our secretary, the master and surgeon’s mate were carried before the governor, where they found a man sitting who had a great red beard. The gov- ernor asked us whom we took that man to be ; and having told him we supposed him to be a Dutchman, he fell a-laughing, and said we were mistaken, for he was a Coresian. 1 After some discourse had passed between us, that man, who till then had been silent, asked us in Dutch who we were and of what coun- try ; to which we answered that we were Dutchmen come from Amsterdam in the ser- vice of the [Dutch East India] Company, and, being bound by their command to Ja- pan, a storm had thrown us upon that island — that our vessel being staved, we begged earnestly of God that we might be sent on our way. 1 This is Hamel’s term for “ Corean,” formed after the anal- ogy of Chinese, Japanese. We shall substitute the more intelli- gible term “ Corean.” 56 COREA. Then we took the boldness to ask his name and what countryman he was ; to which he replied that his name was John Wetterree, born at Riip 1 in Holland, whence he came as a volunteer in the year 1G26 aboard the ship called the Hollandia; and that, going to Japan in the year 1627 aboard the frigate called the Ouderkeres, the wind drove them on the coast of Corea ; that wanting water, and being one of those that were commanded ashore to get provisions, he and two more had been taken by the inhabitants ; that his companions had been killed seventeen or eighteen years since in the wars, when the Tartars invaded Corea; that one of them, born in the same town with him, was Tlieo- dorick Gerards ; the other, John Pieters of Amsterdam. Asking him further where he lived then, and what accident had brought him into that island, he told us that his abode was in the capital city of the kingdom of Corea, whence the king had sent him to know what we were and what had brought us into his dominions. 1 Now Kyp, in the province of North Holland, thirteen miles north of Amsterdam. THE KIND CORE AN GOVERNOR. 57 He added that during- his long residence in Corea he had often asked leave of the king to go over to Japan, without ever obtaining any other answer than that he must never expect it, unless he had wings and could fly thither — that the custom of the country was to detain strangers that came thither, but that they wanted for nothing, being provided with diet and clothes as long as they lived. Thus all the comfort he could give us was that we should be treated as he had been if we were carried to the king. The joy of finding so good an interpreter dispelled our melancholy and made us forget all our misfortunes. It was very surprising, and even wonderful, that a man of fifty- eight years of age, as he then was, should so forget his mother-tongue that we had much to do at first to understand him ; but it must be observed that he recovered it again in a month. The governor, having caused all our dep- ositions to be taken in form, sent them to court, and bade us he of good cheer, for we should have an answer in a short time. In the mean time he daily bestowed new favors 58 COREA. upon us, insomuch that he gave leave to Wetterree and the officers that came with him to see us at all times, and acquaint him with our wants. CHAPTER VI. EXPERIENCES IN QUELPAERT ISLAND. BOUT the beginning of December a new governor came, our benefactor’s three years having expired. We were much con- cerned about it, not doubting but that change might be prejudicial to us. It would be a hard task to express how much kindness and affection he showed us at his departure, inso- much that, seeing 11s ill provided against winter, he caused two pair of shoes, a coat well lined and a pair of stockings of skins to be made for every one of us. Besides, he treated us nobly, and assured us he was sorry it had not been in his power to send us over to Japan or to carry us over with him to the continent. He further added that we ought not to be troubled at his going away, because, being at court, he would use all his endeav- ors to obtain our liberty or to have us carried thither. He restored us the books we had 59 60 COREA. saved, with some other parcels of goods, giv- ing us at the same time a bottle of precious oil which might be of use to us for the time to come. The first thing the new governor did was to reduce our allowance to rice, salt and water. We complained to the old governor, who was still detained in the island by con- trary winds, but he sent us this answer : That his time being expired, it was not lawful for him any longer to hear our complaints, but that he would write to his successor. And as long as he was in the island, though spar- ingly, we were allowed as much as might stop our complaints. After that good lord’s departure, which was in the beginning of January, 1G54, we were much worse used than we had been before, for they gave us barley instead of rice, and barley-meal instead of wheat. Thus, if we had a mind to eat any other food, we must sell our barley and live upon the twelve ounces of meal. This hard usage forced us to think of mak- ing better use of our liberty of going abroad, by six and six at a time, than we had done Two-masted Corean Vessel. (Prom a photograph taken in 1871.) Page 61. EXPERIENCES IN QUELPAERT ISLAND. 61 before. We were invited by the approach- ing spring to make our escape, and the more because the king’s orders did not come, and we were in danger of ending our days in that island in captivity ; therefore, after long consulting how we might seize upon a boat in a dark night, at length six of us resolved to execute this design about the end of April ; but one of the gang being got atop of the wall to discover the vessel we were to seize, he was unfortunately discovered by some dogs , 1 whose importune barking made the guards more watchful and us lose an excel- lent opportunity of making our escape. About the beginning of May, our master going abroad with five others, three of whom are still living, as he was walking observed that at a little hamlet near the city there was a barque well appointed, without anybody to guard it. He presently sent one of his com- pany to get a little boat and some short 1 It is the frequent experience of European travelers in Chi- nese Asia, and of the present writer when in Japan, that the Asiatic dogs are able to distinguish foreigners in disguise and at a considerable distance to windward. The odor of the Cau- casian body seems to be markedly different from that of the Turanian. 62 COREA. planks. Then, making every one of his men drink a draught of water, he went aboard without taking care for any more. Whilst they were laboring to draw the barque over a little shoal that was by it, some of the in- habitants discovered their design, and one of them, running out with a musket, went into the water to oblige them to return ; yet that did not hinder their getting out, except one, who, not being able to get up to the others, was forced to go back to land. The other five going to hoist sail, both the mast and sail fell into the water. They soon got them up, and setting everything right with much labor, as they endeavored a second time to hoist sail the end of the mast broke off short and could not possibly be mended. All these delays gave the natives time to get into another barque and soon overtake them, our men having nothing to help them away. As soon as they came together, our men nimbly boarded them, hoping to make them- selves masters of the vessel notwithstanding their enemies’ weapons ; but, finding this barque was full of water and unfit for ser- vice, they all submitted. EXPERIENCES IN QUELPAERT ISLAND. 63 Being brought ashore, they were carried before the governor, who caused their hands to be made fast to a great log with a strong chain, and having laid them flat on the ground and brought us all before them well bound and manacled, they were asked whether they had done that action without our knowledge or whether we had been made privy to it ; -they all positively asserting we knew nothing of it, Wetterree, before men- tioned, was set to examine what their design was ; and they answered it was no other but to go to Japan. “ How durst you,” said the governor, “ attempt that passage without bread and water ?” They answered they had chosen rather to expose themselves once for all to the danger of death than to die every moment. We were immediately unbound, but the six unfortunate wretches had every one twenty-five strokes on the bare buttocks with a cudgel a fathom long, four fingers broad and an inch thick, being flat on the side that strikes and round on the other. These strokes were so unmercifully laid 64 COREA. on that they who received them were forced to keep their beds a month, and we were all of us deprived of our liberty and Strictly guarded day and night. About the latter end of May orders came to carry us to court, at which we knew not whether we ought to rejoice or be troubled. Six or seven days after they put us into four boats, with fetters on our feet and one hand made fast to a block to prevent our leaping into the water, which otherwise we might easily have done, all the soldiers be- ing seasick. After two days’ struggling with contrary winds we were put back and our irons taken off, and we were returned to our former prison at Quelpaert. This island, which the natives call Sehe- sure, 1 lies twelve or thirteen leagues south of the coast of Corea and is about fourteen or fifteen leagues in compass. On the north side of it is a bay where several barques lie, and whence they sail for the continent, which is of very dangerous access to those 1 This term Se'su-ra seems to be applied to any large island, as that one at the mouth of the Tumen River, which divides Corea from Russia, is also called Se'su-ra. EXPERIENCES IN QUELPAERT ISLAND. 65 that are unacquainted with it, because of several hidden rocks, and that there is but one place where ships can anchor and ride under shelter, for in all other places they are often driven over on the coast of Japan. The island is all encompassed with rocks, but abounds in horses and cattle, which pay great duties to the king ; so that, not- withstanding their breeds of horses and herds of cattle, the islanders are very poor, and despised by the inhabitants of the con- tinent. In this island there is a mountain of a vast height , 1 all covered with woods, and several small hills, which are naked and enclose many vales abounding in rice. Four or five days later the wind came about, and we were shipped betimes in the morning, with the same precaution as be- fore. Toward night we drew very near the 1 This mountain, called Han-ra by the natives, is known to foreigners as Mount Auckland, so named by Captain Belcher in 1845 in honor of the earl of Auckland, high admiral of Great Britain. It is a three-cratered extinct volcano, 6544 feet high, and in Corean superstition was the original home of the three first-created men of the world. The other foreign names seen on maps of Quelpaert, such its “Bullock Island,” “Port Ham- ilton,” “ Beaufort Harbor,” were also applied by the British at this time. 5 66 COREA. continent, and, having lain all night in the roadstead, landed the next morning, where our chains were taken off, but our guards doubled. CHAPTER VII. JOURNEY TO THE CAPITAL. I N the morning we had horses brought to carry us to the city Hey-nam , 1 and, having been separated at sea and landed in several places, we were very glad to meet all together again at that town. The next morning, having taken a very slender re- past, we came to the town of Je-ham , 2 where Paul John Cools of Pierwerende, our gun- ner, died, having never enjoyed his health since our shipwreck. Next day the governor of the town caused him to be buried, and we, mounting a-horseback, came at night to the city Na-dioo . 3 The day following we 1 Hai-nam (Sea-south) is a fortified district town in the south- ernmost province of Chulla-do, at which a magistrate resides and where begins the road to the capital. 2 Now Rion-am (?), the “ county-town,” having jurisdiction over nine villages. 3 Nai-chiu, a fortified city, the second in importance in the right division of the province, and the seat of a vwk-sa , who 67 68 COREA. lay at San-siang, 1 thence to Tong-ap, after crossing a high mountain, on the top where- of is the fort Il-pam San-siang, 2 which is very spacious. Thence we went to the city Teyn, 3 and the next day we baited at the little town of Kuni-ge, 4 and at night came to the great town of Chin-tio, 5 where the king formerly kept his court, and where now the governor of Thilla-do 6 resides ; it is a city of great trade, and very famous in ranks next to governor or intendant of circuit. It lias juris- diction over thirty-eight villages. 1 The name of this city means “ Long-enduring Castle.” It lies at the base of two ranges of mountains, which here meet. 2 The term “San-siang” applies to a fortress built as a ref- uge, not only for a garrison, but for the people of the surround- ing country in time of war. 3 Ta-in. Since Hamel’s day the main road has perhaps shifted to the westward, and Ta-in is on a by-road. It has juris- diction over sixteen villages. 4 Kum-gu. 5 Chon-jiu is the capital of the province in which the kam-sa, governor or intendant, lives. The city proper, having jurisdic- tion over thirty-six villages, is ruled by a pan-kan, or officer of high grade, and is walled and garrisoned. 6 Thilla-do. Do means province or circuit. Evidently the pronunciation of the name of this province is not easily caught by ° ” ear. Tsien-la, Tliilla, Cliulla, Julia, Zenra, Zella, are some of the spellings. We prefer Cliulla. The word is difficult to translate, but seems to mean “Complete Network,” or a maze of mountains, rivers and human habita- tions. JOURNEY TO THE CAPITAL. 69 that country, though a day’s journey from the sea. Going thence, we lay at Jesan, the last town of the province of Chulla-do ; then at the little town of Guuun, next at Jensan, and lastly at Consio , 1 the residence of the governor of the province of Tsiong-sian-do . 2 Next day we crossed a great river , 3 and en- tered upon the province of Sen-ga-do , 4 in which Sior , 5 the capital of the kingdom, is seated. After lying many days in several 1 Kong-jiu, the capital of the province since the Japanese invasion, and the residence of the kam-sa, is a fortified city with walls and garrison. The local magistrate has jurisdiction over twenty-six villages. 2 Tiong-sian-do (Chung-chong-do) means the “province of Serene Loyalty.” 3 The Keum River, which empties into Basil’s Bay. 4 Sen-ga-do is the same as “ King-ki-tao,” which on unre- vised foreign maps does duty for the name of the capital of Corea. “Sen” is the same word as in Sa n-siang, and means “ the royal castle ga is the representative of the second Chi- nese character, which, with the third, signifies “royal capital” or “city of the regal residence.” Kiung-kei-to Ls the Corean, King-ki-tao the Chinese, pronunciation of the three characters forming the name of this smallest but most important province. s S4-oul, “ the city,” the common name for capital, like the Chinese king in Peking, Nanking, etc., and the Japanese kid in Tokid, Kioto, etc. The official and proper name of the Corean capital is llan-yang (“the royal castle on the llan” [River]). 70 COREA. places, we crossed a river 1 as wide as the the Maese is at Dordrecht, a league from which is the city of Seoul, where the king keeps his court. We reckoned seventy-five leagues 2 we had traveled from our landing to this city, all the way northward, only a lit- tle inclining to the west. Being come to this town, they put us all together in a house, where they left us two or three days, after which time they put us into little huts, three and three or four and four, with Chinese that are settled there ; then they carried us all in a body before the king, who examined us as to all points by the help of Wetterree. Having answered him the best we could, we hum- bly beseeched His Majesty that since we had lost our ship in the storm, he would be pleased to send us over to Japan, that, with the assistance of the Dutch there, we might one day return to our country to en- 1 The Han River. 2 Tiie Coreans reckon the distance from Hai-nam, the port at which the Dutchmen landed, at 891 ri from Stioul. The dis- tance in a straight line is about one hundred and seventy-six miles. The French reckon but sixteen minutes difference in longitude east in favor of Seoul. JOURNEY TO THE CAPITAL. 71 joy the company of our wives, children and friends. The king 1 told us it was not the custom of Corea to suffer strangers to depart the kingdom — that we must resolve to end our days in his dominions, and he would pro- vide us with all necessaries. Then he or- dered us to do such things before him as we were best skilled in, as singing, dancing and leaping after our manner. Next he caused us to have meat given us, which was well enough after their manner, and gave each of us two pieces of cloth to clothe us after their fashion. The next day we were all sent before the general of the forces, who ordered AVetter- ree to tell us that the king had put us into his life-guards, and that as such he would allow us seventy catties 2 of rice a month. Every one of us had a paper given him, in which were set down his name, his age, his country, what profession he had followed 1 To-chong, the twentieth king of the line founded in A. D. 1392, who reigned from 1648 to 1658, dying at the age of thirty-four. 2 A catty is one and a third pounds avourdupois, and is the standard unit of weight in Chinese Asia. 72 COREA. before and what he now was, — all in their character, sealed with the king’s great seal and the general’s, which is nothing but the print of a hot iron . 1 Together with this commission they delivered to each a musket, powder and ball, with orders to give a vol- ley before the general every first and fourth day of the month, to be always ready to march into the field with him, whither the king went, or upon any other account. In spring and autumn that general reviews his troops three times a month, and, besides, the soldiers exercise as often in private. A Chinese and Wetterree were appointed to command us, the former as sergeant, and the other to have an eye over us and to teach us the customs and manners of beha- vior of the Coreans. Most of the great men, being fond of novelty, invited us to dine at their houses, to see us exercise after our manner and to make us shoot and dance. But, above all, 1 Every person in Corea lias one of these passports or marks of identity, and must carry it upon his person, and be ready at any time to show it to the authorities. In this wav the govern- ment keeps a close knowledge of the personal habits and where- abouts of every subject. JOURNEY TO THE CAPITAL. 73 their wives and children were eager to see us, because the meaner sort of the island of Quelpaert had spread abroad a report that we were monstrous, and that when we drank we were forced for to tuck up our noses behind our ears. These absurd tales were the cause that the better sort of peo- ple at Seoul were amazed to see us better shaped than the people of their own coun- try. Above all, they admired the fairness of our complexion, and did so throng to see us that at first we had much ado to break through the crowd in the streets, and we could not be quiet at home, their curiosity was so great. At length the general put a stop to this, forbidding all persons whatso- ever to come near us without his leave ; and the more because the very slaves of great men took the boldness to come and fetch us out of our chambers to make a jest at and divert themselves with us. CHAPTER VIII. THE CAPTIVES IN SEO UL. I N August the Tartar 1 came to demand the usual tribute, whereupon the king was forced to send us to a great fort to be kept there as long as the ambassador was in the country. This fort is about six or seven leagues from Seoul, on a mountain they call Numma Sansiang. It is three hours’ work to get up to it, and is so strong that the king retires to it in time of war, and most of the 1 The Manchiu envoy of the Manchiu or Tartar emperor Shun-chi, who was now reigning in Peking. The tribute fixed by the capitulation of 1637 gives some idea of the chief products of the peninsula. It was 100 ounces of gold, 1000 ounces of silver, 10,000 bags of rice, 2000 pieces of silk, 300 pieces of linen, 10,000 pieces of cotton cloth, 400 pieces of hemp cloth, 100 pieces of fine hemp cloth, 10,000 rolls, of fifty sheets each, of large paper, 2000 knives, 1000 ox-horns, 40 decorated mats, 200 pounds of dyewood, 10 boxes of pepper, 100 tiger-skins, 100 deer-skins, 400 beaver-skins, 200 skins of blue (musk?) rats. About one-half the quantity of this tribute had been remitted shortly before the coming of the Dutchmen to Seoul. Later, it seems that the Coreans commuted in ginseng-root for some of the articles enumerated above. 74 THE CAPTIVES IN SEOUL. 75 great men of the kingdom live there. It is always provided for three years and for a great number of people ; there we continued till the beginning of September, when the Tartar went away. About the end of November the cold was so vehement that the river [Han], which is a league from the capital city, as was said before, was frozen, and three hundred horses loaded passed over it. The general, taking compassion to see the cold we endured, gave the king an account of it, who ordered some hides we had saved from our shipwreck to be distributed among us, which were most of them rotten, allowing us to sell them and buy something to clothe us warm. Two or three resolved with the money they got by these hides to purchase to themselves a little hut, choosing rather to endure cold than to be eternally tormented by their landlords, who were continually sending us to the mountains two or three leagues distant to fetch wood. This labor was intolerable, both by reason of the cold and because the ways are bad and uneasy. The little hovel they bought cost them nine or ten crowns ; and 76 COREA. the rest, having clothed themselves as best they could, were forced to pass the remainder of the winter as they had done before. The Tartar returning in March, 1655, we were forbid, as before, under severe penalties, going out of our houses. The day he set forward to return home Henry Jans of Am- sterdam, our master, and Henry John Bos of Haerlem, a gunner, resolved to go meet this ambassador on the way, upon pretense of going for wood. When they saw him appear at the head of several bodies of horse and foot that attended him, they laid hold of his horse’s reins with one hand, and with the other, turning aside their Corean habit, showed him they were clad after the Dutch manner underneath. This at first caused a great commotion among the multitude, and the Tartar asked them earnestly who they were, but they could never make him under- stand them ; however, the ambassador ordered them to follow and be where he was to be that night. Being come thither, he made much inquiry whether there was anybody that could understand what was said to him; and having been told of Wetterree, THE CAPTIVES IN SEOUL. 77 he sent for him to come to him with all speed. That interpreter having advised the king, a council was held, where it was resolved to make the ambassador a present, to the end he should so stifle the matter that it might not come to the Cham’s 1 ear. Our two poor wretches were brought back to Seoul and put into a prison, where they soon after died, but we could never know whether a violent or a natural death, none of us having been ever allowed to see them. As soon as this business was noised abroad we were carried before the council of war, where it was asked whether we had any intimation of our com- panions’ design ; and though we could truly assert we had not, yet that would not save us from being adjudged to have every one fifty strokes with the club for not having given notice of our companions going out. We had certainly received that correction had not the king remitted it, saying we were poor wretches cast into his country by storms, rather than any design of plundering. All the penalty he laid on us was sending us 1 The old form for Khan, or Ko-khan, the emperor of China. 78 COREA. home again, with an injunction not to stir abroad without his orders. In June, when it was thought the Tartar was to come, the general sent our interpreter to acquaint us that a vessel was run aground on the island of Quelpaert, and that, Wet- terree being too old to perform that journey, those three among us who best understood the Corean language must prepare to set out. In pursuance of this order, the assistant, the pilot’s mate and a gunner were chosen, who set out two days after to bring an account of that .shipwreck. The Tartar coming in August, we were commanded, under pain of severe punish- ment, not to stir out of our quarters until three days after he was gone. The day before he came we received letters from our companions, by an express, in which they gave us an account that they were confined on the southernmost borders of the kingdom, where they were strictly guarded, to the end that if the Great Khan had received any intelligence concerning the two unhappy fellows that were dead, and should demand the rest, they might tell him they were all THE CAPTIVES IN SEOUL. 79 three cast away going to the island of Quel- paert. The Tartar came again about the latter end of the year, and we were, by the king’s orders, strictly confined to our houses, as we were before. Though the Tartar had sent twice into Corea since the attempt unfortunately made by our two companions, without making any mention of it, yet most of the great men used all their endeavors with the kins: to destroy us. The council sat three days upon this affair, but the king, his brother, the gen- eral and some others were not altogether of that opinion. The general was for making each of us fight two Coreans, all with the same weapons, pretending that so the king would be rid of us, and none would have it to say that the king had murdered poor strangers. Some more charitable persons, who knew we were kept shut up and igno- rant of what w r as doing, gave us this intelli- gence privately; hereupon Wetterree told us that if we lived three days we should in all likelihood live long enough after. Now the king’s brother, who was president of the council, passing by our quarters as he 80 COREA. was going to it, and very near to us, we had the opportunity to cast ourselves at his feet and implore his favor, lying with our faces prostrate on the ground. This sight moved so much compassion in him that for the future he solicited our affair so earnestly that we owe our lives only to the king and him. This giving offence to many persons who might attempt other methods to destroy us, for the preventing their wicked designs and to avoid our appearing before the Tartars it was thought fit to banish us into the province of Chulla-dd, where we were to be allowed fifty pounds of rice a month, at the king’s cost. CHAPTER IX. LIFE IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES. { CCORDIN GLY, we departed from Seoul in March [1657] on horses provided for us, our acquaintances bearing us company as far as the river, which is a league from the city. There we took our last leave of Wet- terree, for from that day to this we have never seen nor heard talk of him. We passed through all the same towns we had seen on our way to the court, and, coming to lie at Jeam, we set out the next morning, and about noon arrived at a great town called Diusiong, or Thilla-pening, 1 commanded by a large citadel opposite to it. The pening- se, who is chief in the absence of the gov- ernor, resides there, and has the title of colonel of the province. To him the ser- geant that had the charge of us delivered us 1 A large fortress in the south-eastern corner of Chulla-do, near the coast, facing south-eastwardly to Japan. 6 81 82 COREA. with the king’s letters. He was immediately sent away to go fetch our three companions that had been sent away the year before, who were twelve leagues off, where the vice-ad- miral commanded. We were all lodged to- gether in a public-house, and three days after, those that were absent being brought to us, we were again together, thirty-three of us, the miserable remains of our shipwreck. In April they brought us some hides that had been left behind at Quelpaert, from which place we were but eighteen leagues, they not being worth sending to Seoul. We fitted ourselves the best we could, and laid up some small provisions in our new habi- tation. The only business we were charged with was to pull up the grass that grew in the square before the castle twice a month, and to keep it clean. This year, 1657, our governor, being ac- cused of some misdemeanors, was forced to go to court to clear himself, where it is re- ported he was in danger of his life. But being well beloved by the people and favor- ed by the great ones on account of his family, which was one of the noblest in the king- LIFE IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES. 83 dom, he came off so well that his honors were increased. He was very good to us, as well as to the natives. In February came a governor very unlike the other ; for, besides that he found us more work, he would oblige us to 20 three leagues off to the mountain to fetch wood, which his predecessor had caused to be brought home to us gratis. But, God be praised, an apoplexy delivered us from him in September following ; which nobody was sorry for, so little was he liked. In November came a new governor, who took so little care of us that when we asked him for clothes or anything else, he an- swered the king had given him no orders as to that point — that he was only obliged to furnish our allowance of rice, and for other wants it was our business to provide as we thought fit. Our clothes being now worn out with carrying of wood, and the cold be- ginning to pinch us, we resolved to cast off shame among those people, and to beg, mak- ing our advantage of their curiosity, which led them to ask us a thousand questions. Accordingly, that we might get something to clothe us, and not be forced to run half a 84 COREA. league for a handful of salt, we presented a petition to the governor for his leave to beg, representing that we could not possibly get our living any longer by carrying wood, be- cause we were naked and our labor would yield us nothing but a little salt and rice; therefore we humbly prayed he would per- mit us to go abroad in our turns. He granted it ; and we made such good use of this favor that in a short time we were provided against the cold. At the beginning of the year 1G58 the governor was called away, and his successor afflicted us with new crosses. He forbade us going abroad, and told us that if we would work for him he would give each of us three pieces of cotton cloth. After having long con- sidered upon his offers, which would not set us above other wants, especially in a scarce year as that was, and knowing we should wear out more clothes in his service than he would give us, we with all imaginable respect represented to him that he ought not to require that of us ; after which an accident happened which obliged him to consent to our demands. Those people are so much afraid of a fever LIFE IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES. 85 that only the thought of it terrifies them, and some of us being then under that disease, he consented that we should bea; in com- panies, provided we were not absent above a fortnight or three weeks, and that we neither went toward the court nor Japan. The other half of us that remained at home he ordered should look to the sick and take care to pull up the grass in the square. In April this year the king died, and his son 1 succeeded him with the consent of the Great Khan. However, we went on in our trade, and particularly among their religious men, who were very charitable and grateful for the pleasure we did them in giving an account of our adventures and showing them the customs of other countries. They were so much pleased to hear us that they could have spent days and nights in our company. The next governor that came in the year 1660 was so kind to us that he often declared if it were in his power he would send us back into our country, or at least to some place where there were countrymen of ours. He grauted us a confirmation of the liberty 1 Yen-chong, who reigned eighteen years (1658-76). 86 COREA. of going abroad without any restraint. This year happened such a drought that all sorts of provisions were very scarce. The follow- ing year, 1(561, was yet more miserable; abundance of people were famished to death and the roads were full of robbers. The king vigorously pursued them, and by that means prevented many robberies and mur- ders. He also ordered the dead bodies found in the fields 1 to be buried. Acorns, pine- apples and other wild fruit were all the sup- port of the people, and the famine was so great that villages were plundered and some of the king’s stores broken open, and none punished for it, because those disorders were committed by the slaves of great men; and this calamity lasted all the year 1662. The 1 This picture could have been often matched in old Japan, and in Corea is not yet an anachronism. A visitor in S6oul in 1884 thus writes ( North ('hina Daily News, Feb. 12, 1884) : “Just after passing through the city-gates the other day, and while riding along one of the main streets of the suburbs, I was hor- rified to come upon fourteen headless bodies lying in the middle of the road. Each body, the arms of which were tightly bound with cords, had a head lying alongside — in some instances face upward, in others the reverse. . . . The bodies were those of burglars who had been executed the previous morning. Some were mere lads.” The conclusion was suggested that “ the sight was too common to attract attention.” LIFE IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES. 87 next year, 1663, felt some share of it ; for either the poor had not sowed or else they had no crop ; however, that was remedied by the plentiful harvest in other places that were watered by rivers or lay near bogs; otherwise the country had been utterly destroyed. The place where we were being no longer able to furnish us, the governor wrote about it to the intendant of the province, who answered that the king having appointed our subsistence to be furnished there, he could not remove us to another place without an order from His Majesty. About the end of February the governor, pursuant to the orders he had received from court, dispersed us into three towns : twelve he sent to Saysiano, five to Siunschien, and as many to Namman, 1 for we were but twenty-two at this time. This parting was very grievous to us, it being a great satisfaction to be all together in a place where we were at our ease and had good pro- visions ; whereas it was to be feared they might send us to some place that still labored 1 “ Namman ” is probably the fortified city of Nam-on, famous for its siege by the Japanese in 1597. It is about “sixteen leagues” inland from the coast. The other towns are near the sea, the first named at the head of a beautiful bay. 88 COREA. under the hardships of famine. This our sorrow was turned into joy, for this alteration was the occasion of our getting away, as will appear in the sequel. About the beginning of March, after tak- ing leave of our governor and returning him abundance of thanks for his favors, we set out from thence afoot, carrying the sick and Avhat baggage we had on the horses allowed us. Those that were going to Saysiano and to Siunschien went the same road with us, and we lay all in the same town the first and second night. The third day we came to Siunschien, where we left five of our com- panions. The next night we lay in a coun- try-house, and, setting out early in the morn- ing, came about nine to Saysiano, where those that conducted us delivered us to the gov- ernor or admiral of the province of Chulla- do, who resides there. He presently ordered us lodging and such furniture as was neces- sary, and the same allowance we had enjoyed till then. This seemed to us to be a very good worthy lord. Two days after our coming he went away to court, and three days after his departure LIFE IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES. 89 came another to succeed him, who proved our scourge ; for he would not suffer us to be far from him, and left us exposed to all hard- ships of the summer and winter. The greatest favor he granted us was leave to go cut wood fit to make arrows for his men, whose only employment is continually shoot- ing with the bow, the great men striving who shall keep the ablest archers. He put many more hardships upon us, but God gave us our revenge. Winter drawing on, and the town we were in not having furnished us with necessaries against the cold, we repre- sented to the governor in what a good con- dition our companions were in the other towns, and humbly prayed he would vouch- safe to permit us to go seek out for something to defend us against the cold. He gave us leave to be absent three days, upon condition that one-half of us should remain with him, whilst the other half was abroad. This lib- erty was very beneficial to us, because the great men, who had compassion on us, fa- vored our sallies, and we w T ere sometimes allowed to be a month abroad. Whatsoever we got was brought and put in common with 90 COREA. those that remained in the city. This con- tinued till the governor’s departure, who was sent for by the king to come to court. At his arrival there he declared him general of his army, an employment always possessed by the second man in the kingdom. His successor eased us of all our burdens that had been imposed on us, and. ordered that we should be as well treated as our companions were in the other towns. Thus we were only obliged to pass muster twice a month, to keep our house in our turns, and to ask when we would go abroad, or at least to give the sec- retary notice, that, if occasion were, they might know where to find us. We gave God thanks for having delivered us from such a wicked man and sending such a good one. This man, besides the favors already mentioned, often treated us, and, civilly condoling our misfortune, asked why, being so near the sea as we were, we did not attempt to pass over that small sea which parted us from Japan. We answered we durst not venture upon such a thing contrary to the king’s will ; and, besides, we knew not the way and had no vessel. To this he re- LIFE IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES. 91 plied there were barques enough along the sea-coast. We rejoined, they did not belong to us, and that if we missed our aim we should be punished as thieves and deserters. The governor laughed at our scruple, not imagining we talked after that manner only to prevent their being jealous of us, and that all our thoughts day and night were em- ployed in contriving liow to seize a barque, and that our enemies had obstructed our buying one till that time. Now we received the news that our late governor had not en- joyed his new honor above six months before he was summoned to answer before the king for his misdemeanors. He was accused of having put to death several persons, as well nobles as commoners, on very slight occa- sions. He was condemned to receive four- score and ten strokes of a cudgel on his shin-bones and to be banished for ever. About the latter end of the year a blazing star appeared, and after that two at once; the first was seen in the south-east for about two months, the other in the south-west, but their tails were opposite against one another. The court was so much alarmed at it that 92 COREA. the king caused all the guards to be doubled in all his ports and aboard his ships. He also caused provisions to be carried into his stronghold, and store of ammunition. He made all his forces, both horse and foot, ex- ercise every day, and expected nothing less than an invasion from some of his neighbors, insomuch that he forbade making any fire at night in those houses that might be seen from the sea. The common sort spent all they had, keeping only as much as would serve them poorly to subsist with rice, because they had seen the same signs in the heavens when the Tartars came to overrun their coun- try. They also remembered that some such thing had appeared before the Japanese de- clared war against them. Wherever we were, they asked us what we judged were the con- sequences of comets in our country. We told them it denoted some signal judgment of God to follow, and generally the plague, war or famine, and sometimes all three. Having had experience of it, they agreed with our opinion. We lived this and the ensuing year, 1665, enough at our ease, using all our endeavors LIFE IN THE SOUTHERN PRO VINCES. 93 to make ourselves masters of a barque, but without success. Sometimes we rowed in a little boat which served us to get our living along the shore, and sometimes to round some small islands, to see whether nothing would fall out to our purpose and which might forward our escape. Our companions that were in the two other towns came every now and then to see us, and we repaid their visits often er or seldomer according as it pleased our governors, for some were more favorable than others. Yet we were patient under the greatest severities, thinking it a great mercy that God granted us our health and a subsistence during that long captivity. The following year, 1666, we lost our pro- tector and good friend ; for, his time expiring, the king honored him with a better employ- ment. It is incredible how much good he did to all sorts of people indifferently during his two years’ government ; and accordingly he was entirely beloved both in the city and country, and the king and nobility had a great esteem for his wisdom and good be- havior. Whilst he was in his post he re- paired public structures, cleared the coasts 94 COREA. and maintained and increased the marine forces. The king was so well pleased at these actions of his that he preferred him to the prime dignities at court. We were without a governor for three days after his departure, for it is enough if he that quits has his place supplied the third day by his successor, these three days being allowed the new governor, that by the advice of some diviner he may choose a happy minute to enter upon his government. As soon as in- stalled he thought it not enough to use us with all the severity the banished governor had done, but would oblige us continually to mould clay, which we refused to do, alleging that his predecessor had not imposed any such labor upon us ; that our allowance being scarce enough to keep us alive, it was but reasonable to allow us what time we had to spare from our own affairs to get something to clothe us and supply our other wants ; that the king had not sent us to work, or if we must be so used, it were better for us to quit his allowance, and desire to be sent to Japan or some other place where there were any of our nation. All the answer was, ordering LIFE IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES. 95 us to be gone, threatening he would find a way to make us comply. But he was luckily prevented ; for but a few days after, be being in a very pretty vessel, some fire accidentally fell into the powder and blew up the prow, killing five men. Here it must be observed that those people keep the powder in a pow- der-room before the mast. The governor, believing he could conceal that accident, gave no account of it to the intendant of the province ; but he was mistaken, for the fire was seen by one of the spies the king keeps on the coasts, and even in the heart of the country, to be informed of all that happens . 1 This spy having acquainted the intendant with it, he sent an account of it up to court, whither the governor was immediately sum- moned, and by sentence of the judges re- ceived fourscore-and-ten strokes on his shin- bones, and was banished for ever. Thus in July we had another governor, who, behaving himself toward us in all re- spects as the last had done, required of us every day an hundred fathom of mat. We 1 These spies are called “ messengers on the dark path.” The same system of official espionage formerly prevailed in Japan. 96 COREA. gave him to understand that was impossible to be done, and made the same remonstrances to him as we had done to his predecessors. This moved him no more than it had done them; for he told us that if we were not fit for that sort of work, he would find other employment for us, which he had done but that he fell sick. His rigidness made us conclude that our misfortunes were beyond redress, because new officers rather add new burdens than take off those that are already laid on. Thus, besides our own affairs, we were obliged to pull up the grass in the square of the peningse, and then to go cut and bring home wood fit for arrows. These considerations made us resolve to take the advantage of our tyrant’s indispo- sition, and to get a barque at any rate what- soever, choosing rather to hazard all than to groan any longer in captivity among idola- ters and bear with all sorts of wrongs they would offer us. For the compassing of our design we decreed to make use of a Corean, our neighbor, who was very familiar with us and whom we had often relieved in his dis- tress. We proposed to him to buy or cause LIFE IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES. 97 a barque to be bought for us, pretending we wanted it to go beg cotton in the neighbor- ing islands, promising him a good share when we came again. He performed what he was instructed with, bargaining very boldly for a fisherman’s barque, and we presently gave him the money to pay for it. The seller, perceiving it was for us, would have gone from his bargain at the instigation of some that told him it was to make our escape, and if we did so he would be put to death. This was really true ; but we offering to pay double the value, he consented, making more account of the present profit than of the mischief that might ensue. As soon as the two Coreans were gone we immediately furnished the barque with sails, an anchor, rigging, oars and all things we thought neces- sary, in order to set out at the first quarter of the moon, that being the fittest season. We kept two of our companions, whom their good fortune had brought to visit us, and who wanted not much courting; and understand- ing that John Piters of Vries, an able sailor, was at Siunschien, we sent to desire him to 98 COREA. come to us, telling him all things were in readiness. The messenger, missing him at Siunschien, went to look for him at Nam- man, which is sixteen leagues farther, and brought him away, having traveled above fifty long leagues in four days. CHAPTER X. THE ESCAPE TO JAPAN. I ^HE day and hour being appointed to depart — which was the 4th of September as the moon was setting — though our neigh- bors had conceived some jealousy, yet we for- bore not at night, after eating a bit of what we had, to creep along under the city-walls to carry the rest of our provisions, being rice, pots of water and a frying-pan. The moon being down, nobody saw us. The first thing we did, we went over into a little island, which was within cannon-shot, where we filled a cask we found in the barque with fresh water. Thence, without making any noise, we made our way before the vessels belonging to the city and just opposite to the king’s frigates, making out as far as we could into the channel. The calm which had con- tinued till then ceasing, there started up a 99 100 COREA. fair gale, which invited us to hoist sail, as we did, heartily calling upon God to assist us and resigning ourselves up to him. On the 5th of September, in the morning, when we were almost out of the channel of the island, a fisherman hailed us, but we would not answer, fearing it might be some advanced guard to the men-of-war that lie thereabouts. At sunrising the wind fell, which obliged us to lower our sails and row to get farther off and prevent being discov- ered. About noon the weather began to freshen, and at night we spread our sail, di- recting our course by guess south-east. The wind growing fresh at night, we cleared the point of Corea, and were no longer appre- hensive of being pursued ; and the wind holding all night, we made much way. The sixth day, in the morning, we found ourselves very near the first of the islands of Japan ; and the same gale still favoring us, we came, without knowing it, before the island of Firando, 1 where we durst not put 1 It was on Hirado Island that the Dutch had their trading- station before being ordered to Nagasaki. A lighthouse now guards the coast of this island, famous not only for its former Dutch and English trade (see Cock’s Diary, London, 1 883), but THE ESCAPE TO JAPAN. 101 in, because none of us had ever been at Japan and we were unacquainted with the road. Besides, the Coreans had often told us there were no isles to coast along in the way to Nagasaki. We therefore passed on to come up with an island that lay farther olf, which appeared to us very small and near to us, and accordingly we left it astern that night. The seventh day we held on our course with a cold wind and uncertain weather, running along abundance of islands, which seemed to us to be numberless ; and being possessed [with the idea that] there were no islands to be left behind, we endeavored to get above them. At night we thought to have touched at a small island, and would have ridden it out at anchor there, but the sky seemed to look stormy ; but we perceived such abundance of fires all about that we re- solved to continue under sail, going before the wind, which was very cold. The 8th, in the morning, we found our- selves in the same place whence we set for- as the ddpot to which Taiko deported the Romish priests out of Japan. 102 COREA. wa d at night, which we attributed to the force of some current . 1 Hereupon we re- solved to stand out to sea, but we had scarce sailed two leagues before there started up a contrary wind, and blew so hard that it forced us in all haste to seek the shelter of the land ; and the weather still growing more boisterous every moment, after crossing a bay we came to an anchor about noon, without knowing what country we were in. Whilst we were dressing some small matter to eat, the natives passed backward and for- ward close by us, without saying anything or making any stay. About evening, the wind being somewhat fallen, we saw a barque with six men in it, who had each of them two knives at his girdle . 2 They rowed close by 1 This is the “ Tsushima branch ” or western arm of the Kuro Sliiwo (Black Current), the great Gulf Stream of the Pacific. The mainstream, beginning below Formosa and running past Japan, sweeps across the ocean to Alaska and California, and then bends westwardly to the Sandwich Islands. It is by this current that so many Japanese castaways have been drifted to American shores. This Tsushima branch flows up the Sea of Japan and rejoins the waters of the Pacific through the straits of Tsugaru and of La Perouse. 2 These were evidently samurai, “two sworded men,” belong- ing to the military-literary class. THE ESCAPE TO JAPAN. 103 us, and landed a man opposite to the place where we were. This made us weigh and set sail as fast as we could, making use of our oars at the same time, to get out of the bay as soon as possible and gain the open sea. But that barque prevented us, for, setting out in pursuit of ours, it soon overtook us. True it is, if we would have made use of our long bamboos we could easily have prevented their coming aboard us ; but, seeing several other barques set out from the shore full of men, who by the description we had heard of them must be Japanese, Ave troubled our- selves no further. They hailing us, and asking us by signs whither we would go, we let fly the colors with the arms of Orange which we had provided for that purpose, crying, “ Holland, Nagasaki.” Hereupon they made signs to us to strike our sail and go ashore, which we presently did. They carried one of our men into their barque, and placed the rest in order before one of their pagods . 1 Being come to an anchor, and having placed barques about ours to guard it, they 1 Buddhist temples. 104 COREA. took another of our men and carried him to the first they had drawn out, asking them several questions, but neither understood the other. Our arrival alarmed all the coast, and there was not a man to be seen but was armed with two swords ; but what satisfied us was, that they endeavored to show us Nagasaki, and seemed to tell us there were some of our nation there. At night a great barque that brought the third man in dignity of the isle of Gotto 1 came aboard us. That gentleman, perceiving we were Hollanders, gave us to understand by signs that we had six ships at Nagasaki, where he hoped to be with us in four or five days if we desired it. He signified to us that we were in the island of Goto, subject to the emperor ; and to sat- isfy his curiosity, desiring to know whence we came, we had a great deal of trouble to give him to understand that we came from Corea, and that it was thirteen years since we had been shipwrecked on an island belonging to that kingdom ; that we desired nothing so earnestly at present as to get to Nagasaki, to some of our countrymen ; and that to gratify 1 Go-to means “ Five Islands.” Corean Officer. Page 104. TIIE ESCAPE TO JAPAN. 105 this our inclination we had exposed ourselves in a poor barque, in a sea unknown to us, where we had sailed forty leagues 1 without a compass to reach Japan, not regarding all the Coreans had said to persuade us that the Japanese put all the strangers that came into their country to cruel deaths. We continued the three following days well guarded in the same place, aboard our barque, whither they brought us water, wood, flesh, and gave us a mat to cover us from the rain, which fell in great abundance all that time. On the 12th they furnished us with pro- visions to go to Nagasaki, and that same night we anchored on the other side of the island, where we spent the night. On the 13th that gentleman we mentioned before weighed anchor, being attended by two large barques and two little ones; he carried some letters from the emperor and some goods. Our two companions were in one of those great barques, and did not come to us again till we were at Nagasaki. About 1 All of Hamel’s statements of distances are rather within the mark and entirely devoid of exaggeration. 106 COREA. evening we saw the bay of that city, and at midnight anchored before it, where we found five ships of ours. Several inhabitants of Goto, and even some of the chief men, pre- sented gifts, and did us many kindnesses, without taking anything of us. On the 14th we were all carried ashore, where the [Dutch East India] Company’s interpreters received us. When they had writ down all the answers we made to their several questions, they carried us to the gov- ernor’s house, and about noon we were brought before him. When we had satisfied his curiosity, he much commended our action in overcoming so many dangers and difficul- ties to recover our liberty. Then he ordered the interpreters to conduct us to our com- mandant, Min Heer William Yolguers, who received us very kindly. Min Heer Nicho- las le Roy, his deputy, was also very friendly, and so was all the nation 1 in general. When 1 About a dozen Hollanders usually remained permanently at the commercial station on the island D&hima in front of the city of Nagasaki. The seven ships’ crews at this time present in the harbor made up a considerable number of Hamel’s coun- trymen. Sometimes, Coreans, driven by stress of weather, lodged in Nagasaki in a “Corean House” erected by the government. THE ESCAPE TO JAPAN. 107 we went thence they caused us to be habited after our own fashion. On the 1st of October, Min Heer Volguers left the island, and on the 23d sailed out of the bay with seven ships. The governor of Nagasaki, who would have kept us a year, caused us to be brought before him on the 25th of the month, and after examining us over again restored us to the Company’s director, who lodged us in his own house, whence we sailed some days after for Batavia, where we arrived on the 20th of November, and at our landing delivered our journal to the general, who, after a very favorable re- ception, promised to put us aboard the ships that were to sail from thence on the 28th of December. These ships, after some storms, arrived at Amsterdam on the 20th of July, 1668, where we returned thanks to God for having delivered us from a captivity of thir- teen years and twenty-eight days, beseeching him to have mercy on our poor companions who were left behind. Here follow the names of those that re- turned home and of those that were left in Corea : 108 COREA. The Names of Those that Returned from, Corea. Henry Hamel 1 of Gorcum, secretary to the ship, and author of this account ; Godfrey Denis of Rotterdam ; John Piters of Vries in Friesland ; Gerard Jans of Rotterdam ; Matthew Ybocken of Enchuysen ; Cornelius Theodorick of Amsterdam ; Benet Clerc of Rotterdam ; Denis Godfrey of Rotterdam. 1 What further do we know of Hamel? In the rare Dutch book, Voyages to America, by David Peterson de Vries, trans- lated and privately printed by the late Hon. Henry C. Murphy of Brooklyn, on page 21, the name of Heyndrick Hamel is mentioned as one of the patroonship to plant a colony in New Netherlands (New York) in 1630. In the Minutes of Royal Archives of Hague, also “ Henrieh Hamel’s” name is mentioned as that of a co-patroon of New Netherlands in America. The signature of “ Henrieh Hamel ” as “ a patroon of New Nether- lands,” under date of June 16, 1634, is down on a claim against the directors of incorporation of the [Dutch] West India Com- pany. Of the nine original patroons, Kilian Van Rensselaer seems to have been the wealthiest. He established the colony of Rensselaer wyck (Albany) while Hamel, instead of being one of the pioneer settlers of New York State, entered the service of the East India Company, and landed in Corea. Evidently, Hamel was also acquainted with Vries, the Dutch navigator who gave his name to Vries Island, near the Bay of Yedo in Japan, and with Arendt Van Curler, the founder of Schenec- tady. THE ESCAPE TO JAPAN. 109 The Names of Those that Remained in Corea. John Lampe of Amsterdam, assistant ; Henry Cornelius of Vreelandt; John Nicholas of Dort ; Jacob Jans of Norway ; Anthony Ulders of Embden ; Nicholas Arents of Ost-Yoren ; Alexander Bosquet, a Scotchman ; John of Utrecht. CHAPTER XI. NATURE AND PEOPLE IN THE KINGDOM OF COREA. T HE kingdom known to us by the name of Corea, and by the natives called Tio- zen-couk 1 and sometimes Caoli, 2 reaches from 34 to 44 degrees of north latitude, being about one hundred and fifty leagues in length from north to south and about seventy-five in breadth from east to west; 3 therefore the l , 2 Cho-sen koku (The Land of Morning Calm). The correct official name since A. d. 1392 is Cho-sen (or Cho-zun), but the common people still use the old name, Kaoli (Japanese Ko-rai). The embassy which visited the United States in 1883 used the term Ta Cho-sen or Ta Cho-suu, Great Morning Calm. The prefix Ta, Tai, like the French Grand, is also used by the Chi- nese and Japanese. 3 The 43d parallel of north latitude grazes the northern fron- tier of Corea. The length of the peninsula is about seven hun- dred and fifty miles, and it probably averages one hundred and twenty miles in breadth ; it lies between the same parallels as Wilmington, N. C., and Portsmouth, N. H., in the United States. The area is, roughly speaking, about ninety thousand square miles — somewhat more than that of Minnesota. 110 NATURE AND PEOPLE. Ill Coreans represent it in the shape of a long square, like a playing-card ; 1 nevertheless, it has several points of land which run far out into the sea. It is divided into eight provinces, contain- ing three hundred and sixty cities and towns, without reckoning the forts and castles, which are all on the mountains. This kingdom is very dangerous and diffi- cult for strangers, who are unacquainted with its coasts, to land, because it is much enclosed with rocks and sands. Toward the south- east it is very near Japan, there being but twenty-five or twenty-six leagues’ distance betwixt the town of Pousan 2 in Corea and that of Osacco 3 in Japan. Betwixt them is the island Suissima, which the Coreans call 1 So the rude Corean, Chinese and old European maps rep- resent it. 2 Pu-san' (in Corean, or Fu-san' in Japanese) is the port at whicli the Japanese have had a trading-station from before the period of the invasion of 1592. It is now a treaty-port open to the citizens of treaty nations. It is connected with Japan by electric cable, and has a population of two thousand Japanese. It is about fifteen hours’ steamer-distance from Nagasaki. 3 By “ Osacco ” Hamel can scarcely refer to the city of Ozaka, but rather to that of Hakata in Ilizen, at which place the Co- rean embassy from Stioul, bearing tribute to the “Tycoon” at Yedo, was accustomed to land on its way from Fusan. J 12 COREA. Taymutta ; 1 it formerly belonged to them, but they exchanged it for that of Quelpaert in a treaty of peace concluded with the Jap- anese. On the west this kingdom is divided from China by the bay of Nanking , 2 but is joined to it on the north by a long and high moun- tain, which is all that hinders Corea’s being an island . 3 On the north-east it is bounded by the vast ocean, where there is every year a great number of whales taken, some of them with the French and Dutch harpoons , 4 1 Tsu-shima, or Twin Islands, called by the Coreans Tai- ma-to. Tii in Corean means island. Tsu-shima has an area of 262 square miles, 8800 inhabitants, and is situated midway be- tween Iki Island and Corea. The submarine telegraph to Fusan passes through it. For centuries it was held in fief by the So family of Japanese daimios. 2 This “Bay of Nanking” is the Yellow Sea. Nan-king (Southern Capital) was for centuries the capital of China, until Peking (Northern Capital) was chosen to be the imperial resi- dence. A flourishing commerce once existed between Nanking and the Corean ports, in which even the Arabs took part. The Corean term for many things of Chinese origin is “Nanking.” 3 These are the Ever-white Mountains, which separate Corea from Russia and Manchuria, marked on maps Chan-yan alyn, or Chang-bai shan. 4 This fact was one of the many arguments formerly used to prove the existence of the north-east passage, which was finally demonstrated by Nordenskjold in the steamer Vega. He made the passage from Gothenburg, Sweden, through Weigats into NATURE AND PEOPLE. 113 those people using to follow that fishery. There are abundance of herrings also caught there in December, January, February and March. Those taken the two first of these months are as large as ours in Holland, hut what they catch afterward are smaller, and like those in Holland called frying herrings, which are eaten in March and April. Hence we infer that there is a passage above Corea, Japan and Tartary which answers to the Straits of Weigats ; 1 for this reason we often asked of the Corean seamen, who use the north-east sea, what lands were beyond them, and they all told us they believed there was nothing that way but a boundless ocean. Those that go from Corea to China embark in the uttermost part of the bay ; for the way by land is too troublesome, by reason of the Polar Sea, and through Behring Straits to Yokohama, and thence, by way of the Suez Canal, to Europe, in 1878-79. 1 Thus, one hundred and twenty years before La Perouse dis- covered the straits which bear his name, and long before Behr- ing demonstrated the existence of the straits connecting the Arctic with the Pacific Ocean, these Dutch captives inferred such a connection. The herring-fisheries of Corea are of great importance, especially on the western coast. Thousands of Chinese fishermen come every year in the spring-time to fish, and the sight reminds one of that on the Banks of Newfound- land. 8 114 COREA. the difficulty there is in passing the moun- tain, especially in winter, because of the ex- cessive cold ; and in summer, because of the many wild beasts. 1 It is easy to pass over on the north side in winter, the bay being generally frozen hard enough to bear. The cold is so intense in Corea that in the year 1G62, we being in the monasteries on the mountains, there fell such a wonderful quan- tity of snow that they made ways under it to go from house to house ; and to go upon it they wear small boards like little battle- dores under their feet; which hinders their sinking, and yet is no obstruction to going up or down. This we forgot to insert in the journal. By reason of this excessive cold those who live on the northern coast feed only upon barley, and that none of the best, for no rice or cotton can grow there ; those that are well- 1 The annual embassy to Peking usually took this northern overland route, difficult as it was. The development of Man- churia and the increase of population have now robbed the journey of most of its terrors. Through this loophole — the town of Ai-chiu on the Yalu Kiver — the French missionaries, disguised as mourning widowers, succeeded in penetrating the country. NATURE AND PEOPLE. 115 to-do there have their meal brought from the south. The poorer sort there have no clothes but what are made of hemp and pitiful skins ; but to make amends the root nisy 1 grows there, which they give to the Tartar for their tribute, and drive a great trade with it to China and Japan. The rest of the country is fruitful, and produces all things necessary to support life, especially rice and other sorts of grain. They have hemp, cotton and silk-worms, but they know 1 “Nisv” is the Corean term for the famous ginseng-root, to which the Chinese ascribe almost miraculous properties, be- lieving it to be a cure-all. The root grows best in Northern Corea and Manchuria. To the Chinese imagination the freshly- prepared root is shaped like a man’s body, and the decoction made from portions taken from the head, trunk or limbs of the tuber is most efficacious in the corresponding part of the human frame. The discovery of ginseng by the Jesuit Lafitan in Can- ada in 1720, and later in Massachusetts by the Stockbridge Indians, then under the missionary care of the Kev. Jonathan Edwards, in 1750, and by the Oneidas and Senecas under Do- mine Kirkland ten years later, led to an increasing commerce in the drug, and formed the first staple American export to Chinese Asia. In the treaty between Corea and the United States in 1882 the export of red ginseng is prohibited. This root has heretofore been a means of great wealth to the Coreans, who possess the art of manipulating the poorer sorts so as to make them pass for the better kinds. The drug has little efleet on European as compared with Asiatic constitutions, owing probably to the great difference in diet. 116 COREA. not liow to work the silk . 1 There are also silver, lead, tigers’ skins and the nisy-root, not to speak of beasts and fowl and several other things. They have store of horses and cows, and make use of oxen to till the land, and of horses to travel and carry goods from place to place. There are also bears, deer, wild-boars, swine, dogs, cats and several other creatures. We never saw any elephants there, but alligators or crocodiles of several sizes, which keep in the rivers ; their back is musket- proof, but the skin of their belly is very soft. Some of them are eighteen or twenty [Dutch] ells long, their head large, the snout like a hog, the mouth and throat from ear to ear, the eye sharp but very small, the teeth white and strong, placed like the teeth of a comb. When they eat they only move the upper jaw. Their backbone has sixty joints, on their feet are long claws or talons, their tail is as long as the body ; they eat either fish 1 Except in the coarse fabric. Satins, brocades and fine tex- tiles come from China or Japan. The Corean raw silk has been recently discovered by American silk-workers to have special merits of its own, and is in demand for certain lines of manu- facture. NATURE AND PEOPLE. -117 or flesh, and are great lovers of man’s flesh. The Coreans often told us that three children were once found in the belly of one of these crocodiles. Besides these, there is an abun- dance of serpents and venomous creatures . 1 As for fowl, they have swans, geese, ducks, herons, storks, eagles, falcons, kites, pig- eons, woodcocks, magpies, daws, larks, lap- wings, pheasants, hens, and plenty of them all, as well as other sorts not known in Europe. Corea is subject to a king whose power is absolute (though he pays an acknowledgment to the Tartar), and he disposes of all things as he pleases, without asking anybody’s ad- vice. There are no lords of peculiar places — that is, who are proprietors of towns, is- lands or villages — and all the great men’s revenues arise out of those estates they hold during pleasure, and from the great number of their slaves, for we have known those that had two or three hundred ; so that the lands 1 The testimony of Hamel concerning these huge saurians is confirmed by the French missionaries and by the language. Like the salamanders of Japan, they belong to a species swiftly becoming extinct, and are now probably found only in isolated lakes or swamps in portions of the country sparsely inhabited. 118 - COREA. and employments the king bestows on any man revert to him after his death . 1 For martial affairs the king keeps abun- dance of soldiers in his capital city, who have no other employment than to keep guard about his person and to attend him when he goes abroad. All the provinces are obliged, once in seven years, to send all their freemen to keep guard about the king for two months; so that during that year the province is under arms, sending all the men in their turns to court. Each province has its general, who has four or five colonels under him, and each of these as many captains de- pending on them, and each of these is gov- ernor of some town or stronghold ; insomuch there is not a village but where at least a corporal commands, who has tithing-men, or 1 There are still many remains of feudalism in Corea, though nominally the feudal system has been abolished. Slavery or serfdom, the inheritance of the early ages, is still practically in existence, though in mild form and without a color-line. Hamel’s meaning seems to be that though the hereditary no- blemen are without administrative office or power, yet they are socially very influential with their wealth and large clientage of followers. Only the officers appointed by the king or gov- ernment have political power, and titles or rewards granted for special services to individuals cease at their death and revert to the king. NATURE AND PEOPLE. 119 officers over ten men, under him. These corporals are obliged once a year to deliver to their captains a list of what people are under their jurisdiction, and by this means the king knows how many men he may reckon upon when he has need . 1 Their horse wear cuirasses, head-pieces, and swords, as also bow r s and arrows, and whips like ours, only that theirs have small iron points. The foot, as well as they, wear a corselet, a head- piece , 2 a sword and musket or half-pike. The officers carry nothing but bows and ar- rows. The soldiers are obliged to provide fifty charges of powder 3 and ball at their own cost. Every town in its turn furnishes also a number of religious men, drawn out within its own liberties, to guard and main- tain the forts and castles at their own ex- pense, these being in narrow passes or on the sides of mountains. They are counted the best soldiers, and obey officers chosen out of 1 The total military force of the nation (on paper) is 1,221,871 men. 2 Made of cotton wadding to nine thicknesses, and able to re- sist a musket- but not a rifle-ball. 3 Corean powder is notoriously slow in burning, and great ir- regularities occur in the home-made product. 120 COREA. their own corps, who observe the same disci- pline as the others . 1 Thus the king knows to a man how many are fit to serve him ; those that are sixty years of age are dis- charged from duty, and their children supply their places. The number of freemen who are not in the king’s service, and have not been, to- gether with the slaves, makes about half the people in the country. The children of a free man and slave woman, and also those of a slave father and free woman, are them- selves slaves; and those whose father and mother are both slaves belong to the moth- er’s master. Corea being almost encompassed on all sides by the sea, every town is to maintain a ship ready rigged and provided with all nec- essaries. Their ships have generally two masts and thirty or thirty-two oars, to each of which there are five or six men, so that each of this sort of galleys carries about three hundred men for rowing and fight. 1 This system of clerical militia as garrisons of fortified mon- asteries and for local warfare closely resembles that formerly in vogue in Japan. NATURE AND PEOPLE. 121 They carry some small pieces of cannon and abundance of artificial fireworks. For this reason every province has its admiral, who views these vessels once a year, and gives an account of what he finds to the high admiral, who sometimes is present at these reviews. If any of the admirals, or the officers under them, commits a fault, he is punished with banishment or death, as in the year 1066 we saw our governor punished, who had the command of seventeen vessels, for not ac- quainting the king that the powder had taken fire and blown up five men. 1 The chief officers by sea and land, who make up the king’s council, meet every day at court, and serve him in all things that occur, without having power to oblige him to anything. They must wait till their advice is asked before they give it and till they are appointed to manage any business before they must meddle with it. These people have the first places about the king, and live and die in those employments, or till four- 1 This high state of naval equipment and discipline was the result of the revival of the military spirit after the Japanese invasion. 122 COREA. score years of age, provided they commit no crime that renders them unworthy to con- tinue. The same is practiced in other in- ferior employments at court, which no man quits unless it be to rise . 1 The governors of places and subaltern officers are removed every three years, and very few of them serve out their time, because they are for the most part accused of some misdemeanors during their administration. The king keeps spies in all places to inform him of every man’s behavior, which is the reason why many are often punished with death or per- petual banishment. The king’s revenue for maintenance of his house and forces arises out of the duties paid for all things the country produces or that are brought by sea ; to this purpose, in all towns and villages there are storehouses to ,keep the tithe, for the farmers, who are gen- 1 The “reform of the civil service” and the appointment to office on the basis of competitive literary examinations, similar to the Chinese system, were inaugurated in Corea in the fifteenth century. The system was probably in a better state of efficiency in Hamel’s time than at present, though Corean gentlemen have assured the present writer that the three-year rule, or “ rotation in office,” is still in active operation. NATURE AND PEOPLE. 123 erally of the common sort, take the tithe of all things upon the spot in harvest-time, before anything is carried away. The great men live upon their revenues, as has been said before, and those that have employments live upon the allowance the king gives them, to be received out of the revenues of the places where they reside, assigning what is raised in the country for the sea and land forces. Besides this tithe, those men who are not enlisted are to work three days in a year at whatsoever business the country will put them upon. Every soldier and trooper has every year three pieces of cloth given him to clothe him, which in all are worth a pistole , 1 which is part of the pay of the troops that are in the capital of the kingdom. This is what is raised from the people, who know no other duties or taxes . 2 1 About four dollars. 2 Custom-houses exist on the Russian and Chinese frontiers, and merchants in the embassy to Peking were obliged to pay roundly for license to trade. CHAPTER XII. PUNISHMENTS, MORALS, FESTIVALS AND TEM- PLES. J USTICE is severely executed among the Coreans, and particularly upon criminals. He that rebels against the king is destroyed, with all his race ; his houses are thrown down, and no man does ever rebuild them, and all his goods forfeited, and sometimes given to some private person. When the king has once made a decree, if any man is so presumptuous as to make any objection to it, nothing can protect him from severe pun- ishment ; as we have often seen it executed. Among other particulars I remember that the king being informed that his brother’s wife made great curiosities at needlework, he desired of her that she would embroider him a vest ; but that princess bearing him a mor- tal hatred in her heart, she stitched in be- twixt the lining and the outside some charms 124 PUNISHMENTS, MORALS, ETC. T25 and characters of such nature that the king could enjoy no pleasure nor take any rest whilst he had that garment on. Alter he • had long studied to find what might be the cause of it, at last he guessed at it ; he had the vest ripped, and found out the cause of his trouble and uneasiness. There was not much time spent in trying that wretched woman : the king condemned her to be shut up in a room the door whereof was of brass, and ordered a great fire to be lighted under it, the heat whereof tormented her till she died. The news of this sentence being spread abroad through all the provinces, a near kinsman of this unhappy woman, who was governor of a town and in good esteem at court for his birth and good qualities, ven- tured to write to the king, representing that a woman who had been so highly honored as to marry His Majesty’s brother ought not to die so cruel a death, and that more favor should be shown to that sex. The king, in- censed at this courtier’s boldness, sent for him immediately, and after causing twenty strokes to be given him on his shin-bones, ordered his head to be cut off. 126 COREA. This crime, and those I shall speak of next, are only personal, and do not involve the whole family in the punishment. If a woman kills her husband, she is buried alive up to her shoulders in a highway that is much frequented, and by her is laid an axe, with which all that pass by, and are not noble, are obliged to give her a stroke on the head till she is dead. The judges of the town where this happens are suspended for a while ; the governor is taken away, and it is made subordinate to another government, or, at best, only a private gentleman is left to command in it. The same penalty is inflicted on such towns as mutiny against their governors or send false complaints against them to court. The man that kills his wife, and proves he had cause so to do — as for adultery or any other heinous fault — is in no danger for so doing ; if the woman so killed was a slave, the penalty is to pay three times her value to the owner. Slaves that kill their masters are cruelly tormented to death ; but they look upon it as nothing for a master to kill his slave, though it be upon a slight account. PUNISHMENTS, MORALS, ETC. 127 Thus they punish murder : After they have long trampled upon the criminal, they pour vinegar on the raw body, which they then pour down the offender’s throat through a funnel, and when he is full they beat him on the bellv with cudgels till he bursts . 1 Thieves are trampled to death ; and though this he a dreadful punishment, yet the Co- reans are much addicted to stealing. If a single man is guiltv of adulterv, he is stripped naked to a little pair of drawers ; then, daubing his face with lime, they run an arrow through each ear, and fasten a little drum on his back, which they beat at all the cross-streets to expose him to shame ; 2 this punishment ends in forty or fifty strokes of a cudgel. If a married man be convicted of adultery, he is to suffer death, and the criminal’s father, if living, or else his nearest 1 It is probable that this revolting punishment, formerly in vogue in Japan also, has been abolished in Corea, as it was long ago in the neighbor country. 1 This indignity — chalk on the face and arrows, feather end upward, in the ears— with beating, and decapitation after brutal strokes given by the soldiers mimicking combat, but spending their blows on the victim, was suffered by three French mis- sionaries in 1839, and by nine in 1866, besides a Chinese priest and many native martyrs. 128 COREA. relation, must be the executioner. The of- fender is to choose what death he will die ; but generally the men desire to be run through the back, and the women to have their throats cut. Those who by a time ap- pointed do not pay what they owe to the king or private persons are beaten twice or thrice a month on the shin-bones, which is done till they can find means to discharge the debt ; if they die before they have satis- fied the creditor, their nearest relations are bound to pay for them or suffer the same punishment; so that neither the king nor private persons ever lose what is due to them. The slightest punishment in that country is to be bastinadoed on the back or on the calves of the legs ; and they look upon it as no disgrace, because it is very common, and they are often liable to it for only speaking- one word amiss. Inferior governors and subordinate judges may not condemn any man to death without acquainting the gov- ernor of the province. No man can try prisoners of state without the king be first informed. As concerning their punishments, PUNISHMENTS, MORALS, ETC. 129 this is the manner in which they bastinado on the shin-bones : They tie the criminal’s feet together on a little bench four fingers broad, and, laying such another under his hams, to which they are fast bound, they strike betwixt these two bindings with a stick as long as a man’s arm, somewhat round on the one side and flat on the other, two inches broad and about the thickness of a crown-piece. This sort of laths is gen- erally of oak or alder, wherewith they must not give above thirty strokes at one time, and then two or three hours after they repeat them, till the whole number be given accord- ing to the sentence. When the offender is to be beaten on the soles of the feet, he is made to sit down on the ground ; then, hav- ing bound his feet together by the great toes, they rest them on a piece of wood they have betwixt their legs, and beat them with a cud- gel as thick as a man’s arm and three or four feet long, giving as many strokes as the judge has ordered. In bastinadoing a hun- dred strokes are equivalent to death, and many die of them, and some even before they have received fifty. When any are ad- 130 COREA. judged to be beaten on the calves of the legs, it is done with rods or wands as thick as a man’s thumb. This punishment is common to women and young apprentices. Whilst all these sorts of punishments are inflicting the criminals cry so lamentably that the spectators seem to suffer no less than the offenders. As for religion, the Coreans have scarce any. The common sort make some odd grimaces before the idols, but pay them lit- tle respect ; and the great ones honor them much less, because they think themselves to be something more than an idol. To prove this, when one of their kindred or friends dies they all appear to honor the dead man at the offering the priest makes before his image, and frequently traveling thirty or forty leagues to be present at this ceremony, whether to express their gratitude to some great man or to show the esteem they have for some learned religious man, and that they preserve the memory of him. On fes- tivals the people repair to the temple, and every one lights a bit of sweet wood ; then, putting it into a vessel for that purpose, they PUNISHMENTS , MORALS, ETC. 131 go offer it to the idol, and placing it before him make a low bow and depart. This is their worship . 1 For their belief, they are of opinion that he who lives well shall be rewarded, and he who lives ill shall be punished. Beyond this they know nothing of preaching nor of mvsteries, and therefore thev have no dis- putes of religion, all believing and practicing the same thing throughout the kingdom . 2 The religious men offer perfumes before an idol twice a day and on festivals ; all the re- ligious of a house make a noise with drums, basins and kettles. The monasteries and temples, with which the kingdom swarms, 'Called by foreigners “joss-sticks.” “Joss” or “Josh” is merely the corruption of the European missionary’s word Deus or Deos as it issues from a Chinaman’s mouth. The Chinese think it a foreign, and the Europeans a Chinese, word. * Hamel, evidently a pious Hollander well trained in the Heidelberg Catechism, and arriving home during the height of the Cocceian and Voetian controversy, gives by contrast too sweeping a generalization. It may be more accurate to state that the educated classes (except the priests) are Confucianists, the masses are Buddhists, and all are much under the influence of the ancient local superstitions. Only the king and higher magistrates perform public worship by sacrifice. The common people worship their ancestors and bum incense to the family memorial -tabl ets. 132 COREA. are for the most part on the mountains, each under the liberty of some town. There are monasteries of five or six hundred religious men, and at least four thousand of them within the liberties of some towns. They are divided into companies of ten, twenty, and sometimes thirty, and the eldest gov- erns; and if any one does not do his duty he may cause the others to punish him with twenty or thirty strokes on the but- tocka; but if the offence be heinous they deliver him up to the governor of the town to which they belong. It being lawful for any man to become a religious, all the country of Corea is full of them, and the more because they can quit this profession when they please ; however, generally speaking, these religious men are not much more respected than the slaves, because of the great taxes they are obliged to pay and the work they are forced to do. Their superiors are in great esteem, especial- ly when they are learned, for then they are equal with the great men of the country, and are called the “ king’s religious men,” wearing their order over their clothes ; they PUNISHMENTS, MORALS, ETC. 133 have the power of judging as subaltern offi- cers, and make their visits on horseback, being very well received and entertained in all places. These religious must eat nothing that has had life ; they shave their heads and beards, and are forbid conversing with women. If any of them breaks these rules they give him seventy or eighty strokes on the but- tocks and banish him the monastery. When they are first shaved, or soon after, they give them a mark on the arm , 1 which never wears off, and by that those are known who have once been religious men. They work for their living or use some trade ; some go a- begging, and all of them have some small allowance from the governor. They always keep little children in their houses, whom they very carefully teach to read and write. If these children will be shaved, they keep them in their service, and have all that they can earn till the master dies, which makes them free and heirs to all their goods ; for this reason they are obliged to wear mourn- ing for them, as for their father, in return 1 By burning the moxa into the flesh. 134 COREA. for all the pains they have taken to instruct and bring them up. The monasteries and temples are built at the public charge, every one contributing proportionably to what he is worth. There is still another sort of people like these religious men, as well in regard of their abstinence as their serving the idols, but they are not shorn and may marry. They believe, by tradition, that once all mankind had but one language, but that the design of building a tower to go up to heaven caused the con- fusion of tongues. The nobles frequent the monasteries very much to divert themselves there with gross amusements and dissipa- tion, because they are generally deliciously seated and very pleasant for prospect and fine gardens, so that they might better be called pleasure-houses than temples ; which is to be understood of the common mon- asteries, where the religious men love to drink hard. In our time there were two monasteries of religious women in the city of Seoul ; in one of them there were none but women of quality ; in the other, maids of the common sort. They were all PUNISHMENTS, MORALS, ETC. 135 shorn, and observed the same rules and duties as the men. The king and great men maintained them, but three or four years since the king now reigning gave them leave to marry. CHAPTER XIII. DOMESTIC LIFE, HOUSES, MARRIAGE, EDUCA- TION, MOURNING AND BURIAL. H AYING spoken of the government and ecclesiastical affairs, I shall now descend to private matters. The houses of the Co- reans of quality are stately, but those of the common sort very mean ; nor are they al- lowed to build as they please. No man can cover his house with tiles unless he have leave so to do ; for which reason most of them are thatched with straw or reeds. They are parted from one another by a wall or else by a row of stakes or palisades. They are built with wooden posts or pillars, with the interval betwixt them filled up with stone up to the first story ; the rest of the structure is all daubed without, and covered on the inside with white paper glued on. The floors are all vaulted, and in winter they make a fire underneath, so that they are al- 136 DOMESTIC LIFE, ETC. 137 ways as warm as a stove ; 1 the floor is covered with oiled paper. Their houses are small, but one story high, and a garret over it, where they lay up their provisions. The nobility have always an apartment forward, where they receive their friends and lodge their acquaintance ; 2 and there they divert themselves, there being generally before their houses a large square, or bass court, with a fountain or fish-pond, and a garden with covered walks. The women’s apartment is in the most retired part of the house, that nobody may see them. Tradesmen and the chief townsmen gen- erally have a store-house adjoining to their 1 The hang, or floor of stone or brick heated by a network of flues that run underneath from the kitchen fire to the chimney out the opposite end of the house, is common to all North -eastern Asia. Little bed-clothing is required, but the rooms are apt to be uncomfortably hot or chilly, and in old houses smoky and full of kitchen odors. A recent foreign traveler in Corea speaks of waking up in the morning after a night’s sleep on the heated floor as “feeling like a well-done mutton chop.” 2 These social gatherings, open to all comers, form perhaps the most striking feature of C'orean social life. They are the substitutes for clubs and newspapers. News is spread easily, and in the subsequent propagation of Christianity the ante-room was a powerful means ready to hand in which the new ideas were discussed. 138 COREA. mansion-house, where they keep their goods and treat their friends with tobacco and rice- spirits. There are virtuous women among them, who are allowed the liberty of seeing people and going into company and to feasts, but they sit by themselves and opposite to their husbands. They have scarce any more household goods than are absolutely neces- sary. There are in the country abundance of taverns and pleasure-houses, to which the Coreans resort to see women dance, sing and play upon musical instruments. In summer they take this recreation in cool groves under close, shady trees. They have no particular houses to entertain passengers and travelers, but he who travels goes and sits down, where night overtakes him, near the palings of the first house he comes at, where, though it be not a great man’s house, they bring him boiled rice and dressed meat enough for his supper. When he goes from thence he may stop at another house, and at several ; yet on the great road to Seoul there are houses where those that travel on public affairs have lodging and diet on the public account. DOMESTIC LIFE, ETC. 139 Kindred are not allowed to marry within the fourth degree. They make no love, be- cause they are married at eight or ten years of age ; and the young maids from that time live in their father-in-law’s house, unless they be only daughters ; they live in the husband’s father’s house till they have learnt to get their living or to govern their family. The day a man marries he mounts on horse- back attended by his friends, and, having ridden about the town, he stops at his bride’s door, where he is very well received by the kindred, who take the bride and carry her to his house, where the marriage is consum- mated without any other ceremony . 1 1 A foreigner may live many years in an Asiatic country, and, never seeing a marriage ceremony, conclude that there is none. The French missionaries thus describe the nuptial solemnities: Both the groom and bride have the style of their hair changed from that of the minor to that of the married state, the hair-dressing being done in each case by a near friend called “ the hand of honor,” who is specially chosen as a mark of confidence. The wedding platform or dais, richly decorated, is set up in the house of the groom. The bride, dressed in her very best clothes and jewelry, perfumed and beautified, takes her place on the platform, her future husband ascending from the opposite side. They make profound salutations to each other, but utter not a word. This is the ceremony. The pair then separate, retiring to their particular apartments or to the company of his or her sex. Feasting and mirth fill out the 140 COREA. Though a woman has borne her husband many children, it is in his power to put her away when he pleases, and to take another ; but the woman has not the same privilege unless she can get it by law. To say the truth, they make no great account of their wives, and use them little better than slaves, turning them away for the least faults, and sometimes on bare pretences, and then they force them to take their children, whom those poor wretches are bound to main- tain . 1 The nobility, and all freemen in general, take great care of the education of their children, and put them very young to learn to read and write, to which that nation is day or week, and the groom’s family must be unstinting in their hospitality to the company assembled. The bride must preserve absolute silence during the whole of the wedding-day. The groom usually wears a cap made in special fashion, and the bride a veil, with ornaments on breast, back and girdle. The bridemaids pour out the wine, or cup of mutual joy, and one or more of the emblems of nuptial happiness or conjugal fidelity — such as a goose, dried pheasant, rice-wine, gourds tied with colored thread, and curious shapes in twisted or plaited straw — grace the feast. A sort of marriage certificate is also signed. 1 By all accounts, the condition of Corean women is, from a Christian point of view, unspeakably wretched. See chapter xxviii. in Corea, the Hermit Nation. DOMESTIC LIFE, ETC. 141 much addicted . 1 They use no manner of rigor in their method of teaching, but man- age all by fair means, giving their schol- ars an idea of learning and of the worth of their ancestors, and telling them how honorable those are who by this means have raised themselves to great fortunes, which breeds emulation and makes them studious. It is wonderful to see how they improve by these means, and how they expound the writings they give them to read, wherein all their learning consists . 2 Besides this private study, there is in every town a house where the nobility, according to ancient custom — of which they are very tenacious — take care to 1 According to many testimonies, the Corean gentlemen are, as a rule, good critical students of the Chinese classics and very thorough in Chinese composition, the language of Confucius and Mencius being their Latin. They correspond and compose fluently in the Chinese style of about two centuries ago. Of course very few except the trained interpreters can speak the vernac- ular of China, whether in the local dialects or in mandarin col- loquial. With pen and pencil, however, one educated in the Chinese characters can easily converse on paper with his equals in Japan, Corea, Manchuria, China, Mongolia, Annarn, Cochin- China, and other parts of Chinese Asia. 2 Corean education, as in mediaeval Europe, is purely scholas- tic, mathematics and science not being a part of general culture, but only the tools of specialists. 142 COREA. assemble the youth, to make them read the history of the country and the condemna- tions of great men who have been put to death for their crimes. To perfect them in their learning there are assemblies kept yearly in two or three towns of each prov- ince, where the scholars appear to get em- ployment, either by the pen or by the sword . 1 The governors of towns send able deputies thither to examine them and choose the best qualified, and according to the report to them they write to the king. The great- est men in the kingdom are there, whether they are in office or not. Their employ- ments are bestowed on those that are thought worthy, and the king orders their commis- sions to be issued. The old officers, who till then have only had civil or military commis- sions, at this time use all their endeavors to be employed in both professions to increase their revenue. The aspiring to these honors is often the ruin of the candidates, because of the presents they make and treats they 1 These are the competitive literary examinations for appoint- ments to civil and military service. The more detailed descrip- tions of them given by the French missionaries agree exactly with Hamel’s sketch. DOMESTIC LIFE, ETC. 143 give to gain reputation and obtain votes. Some there are also that die by the way, and most of them are satisfied with getting the title of the employ they aim at, thinking it honor enough to have been designed for a post. Parents are very indulgent to their chil- dren, and in return are much respected by them. They depend upon one another’s good behavior, and if one of them withdraws after an ill action the other does the like. It is otherwise with the slaves, who have little care of their children, because they know they will be taken from them as soon as they are able to work or do any business. When a freemen dies his children mourn three years, and during all that time they live as austerely as the religious men, are not capable of any employment, and if any of them is in a post he must quit it. It is not permitted them to be in a passion or to fight, much less to be drunk. The mourning they wear is a long hempen robe, without any- thing under it but a sort of sackcloth woven with a twisted thread almost as thick as the twine of a cable. On their hats, which are 144 COREA. made of green reeds woven together, instead of a hatband they wear a hempen rope. They never go without a great cane or cud- gel in their hand , 1 which serves to distinguish who they are in mourning for, the cane de- noting the father, and a stick the mother. During all this time they never wash, and consequently look like mulattoes . 2 As soon as one dies, his kindred run about the streets shrieking and tearing their hair ; then they take special care to bury him hon- orably in some part of a mountain shown 1 Several observers of Corean life from shipboard in giving their impressions of the people speak of the men “armed with clubs,” supposing these emblems of mourning to be weapons of offence. 2 During this long period of mourning they are neither ex- pected to speak nor to be spoken to in public, and may refuse to answer any questions put to them. A noble in mourning is exempted from arrest, and as the head-dress completely covers the face, the wearer cannot be recognized. It will be seen at once what a perfect disguise is at hand for the adventurous traveler into this once “forbidden land.” It was by means of this mourning dress that the French Humanist missionaries were enabled to baffle the vigilance of the guards, and, passing the barriers by land and sea, to live in Corea, even at Seoul, though outlawed and with a price set on their heads. Japanese travelers have also gratified their curiosity by penetrating the interior in this safe disguise. Absconders and criminals also make use of it. To be detected, however, jlayranle delicto, is to invite certain death. DOMESTIC LIFE, ETC. 145 them by a fortune-teller. They use two coffins for every dead body, being two or three fingers thick, shut close, and put one within the other to keep out the water, paint- ing and adorning them as every one is able. They generally bury their dead in spring and autumn. As for those that die in sum- mer, they put them into a thatched hut raised upon four stakes, where they leave them till rice-harvest is over. When they intend to bury them they bring them back into the house, and shut up in their coffins with them their clothes and some jewels. In the morn- ing, at break of day, they set out with the body, after a good repast and making merry all the night. The bearers sing and keep time as they go, whilst the kindred make the air ring with their cries. Three days after the kindred and friends of the party deceased return to the grave, where the } 7 make some offerings, and then they eat together and are very merry. The meaner sort only make a grave five or six feet deep, but the great men are put into stone tombs raised on a statue of the same substance ; at the bottom whereof is the name carved, with the quali- 10 146 COREA. fications of tlie party there buried, mention- ing what employments he enjoyed . 1 Every full moon they cut down the grass that grows on the grave, and offer new rice there ; that is their greatest festival, next to the New Year. They reckon by moons, and every three years they add one, so that the third year has thirteen, whereas the other two have but twelve moons each. They have conju- rers, diviners or soothsayers, who assure them whether the dead are at rest or not, and whether the place where they are buried is proper for them ; in which point they are so superstitious that it often happens they will remove them two or three times. When the children have fully performed the duty they owe to the father and mother by means of this tedious ceremony, if they have left any estate the eldest son takes pos- session of the house that belongs to him, with all the lands depending on it. The rest is divided among the other sons, and we 1 Some of these tombs are of elaborate masonry. The “stat- ues ” are usually square posts carved at the top into a rude representation of a human head or face of a grotesque or com- ical appearance, often producing, amid the tall grass, a ghost- like effect. DOMESTIC LIFE, ETC. 147 never heard that the daughters had any share, because the women carry nothing to their husbands but their clothes. When a father is fourscore years of age he declares himself incapable of managing his estate and resigns it up to his children, who maintain their father and always pay him a great deal of respect. When the eldest has taken pos- session of the estate he builds a house at the public expense for his father and mother, where he lodges and maintains them. CHAPTER X I Y. NA TIONA L TRA ITS A ND HA BITS ; WEIGHTS A ND MEASURES; WRITING ; THE KING AND THE AMBASSADOR. T HE Coreans are very much addicted to stealing, and so apt to cheat and lie that there is no trusting them. They think they have done a good action when they have overreached a man, and therefore fraud is not infamous among them ; yet if a man can prove that he has been cheated in a bargain of horses, cows, or any other thing whatso- ever, he may be righted, though it be three or four months after. Nevertheless, they are silly and credulous, and we might have made them believe anything we would, be- cause they are great lovers of strangers, but chiefly the religious men. They are an effeminate people, and show very little courage and resolution when they are put to it. At least, we were told so by 148 NATIONAL TRAITS AND HABITS. 149 several credible persons, who were witnesses to the havoc the emperor of Japan made in their country when he slew their king ; 1 not to mention what Wetterree so often told us about the irruption of the Tartar, who, coming over upon the ice, possessed himself of the kingdom . 2 He assured us, as one that had been an eye-witness to the whole, that more Coreans died in the woods, whither they fled, than were killed hy the enemy. They are not ashamed of cowardice, and la- ment the misfortune of those that must fight. They have often been repulsed with loss when they have attempted to plunder some European vessel that has been cast on their coast, being bound for Japan. They abhor blood, and fly when they meet with any. They are much afraid of the sick, and particularly of those that have contagious distempers, and therefore they presently re- move them, whether they are in the town or country, and put them into little straw hovels in the middle of the fields. There nobody 1 Kato, the Japanese general, took the sons of the king pris- oner, but none of the royal family were slain. See page 31. 2 See page 34. 150 COREA. talks to them, but only those that are to look after them, who give notice to passengers to keep off ; and when the sick man has no friends to take care of him, the others rather let him die than they will come near him. When there is a plague in one town or village, the avenues to it are shut up with a hedge of briers and brambles, and they lay some on the tops of the houses where there are any sick, that all people may know it. They might, when they are sick, make use of the simples that grow in their country, but the people are not acquainted with them, and almost all the physicians are employed by the great ones ; so that the poor, who cannot be at that charge, make use of blind men and conjurers, in whom they once reposed such great confidence that they followed them everywhere, across rivers and rocks, and par- ticularly into the temples of the idols, where they called upon the devils. But this cus- tom was abolished by the king’s order in the year 1662 . Before the Tartar subdued this kingdom it was full of luxury and debauchery, the Coreans’ whole business being eating and NATIONAL TRAITS AND HABITS. 151 drinking and giving themselves up to all lewdness. But now that the Tartars and Japanese tyrannize over them , 1 they have enough to do to live when a year proves bad, because of the heavy tribute they pay, and particularly to the Tartar, who comes three times a year to receive it. They believe there are but twelve king- doms or countries in the whole world, which once were all subject and paid tribute to the emperor of China , 2 but that they have all made themselves free since the Tartar con- quered China, he not beiug able to subdue them. They call the Tartar Tiekse 3 and Orankay, and our country Nampankouk , 4 which is the name the Japanese give to Por- 1 The tribute paid to Japan did not cease until that country became involved in troubles with foreign nations after the trea- ties were made. When, after the revolution of 1868, the Mi- kado’s government called for a renewal of tributary relations, acts of war between the two countries resulted. 3 A tradition from the Mongol period, when Khublai Khan ruled from the Sea of Japan to the Dneiper River, from Corea to the Crimea. 3 A corruption of Ten-shi (Son of Heaven ?) 4 Nam (south), ban (barbarian), koku (country), “Country of the .Southern Barbarians,” a term borrowed from the Japanese, as the Portuguese coming in 1539 and later came up from the south to Japan. 152 COREA. tugal, and therefore, not knowing us, they give us the same name, having learnt it within these fifty or sixty years ; since then the Japanese taught them to plant tobacco, to dress and make use of it, for till then it was unknown to them; and they telling them the seed of it came from Nampankouk, they often call tobacco Nampankoy. They take so much at present that the very children practice it at four or five years of age, and there are very few men or women among them that do not smoke. When first brought them they bought it for its weight in silver, and for that reason they looked upon Nam- pankouk as one of the best countries in the world. Their writings give an account that there are fourscore and four thousand several coun- tries ; but most of them do not believe it, and they say if that were so every little island and land must pass for a country, it being impossible, say they, for the sun to light so many in a day. When we named some countries to them, they laughed at us, affirm- ing we only talked of some town or village; their geographical knowledge of the coasts NATIONAL TRA ITS AND HABITS. 153 reaching no farther than Siam, by reason of the little traffic they have with strangers far- ther from them. They have scarce any trade, but only with the Japanese, and with the people of the island of Tsushima, who have a storehouse in the south-west part of the town of Pousan [Pusan]. They supply Corea with pepper, sweet- wood, alum, buf- faloes’ horns, goat- and buck-skins, and other commodities, which we and the Chinese sell in Japan. In exchange, they take the prod- ucts and manufactures of the country. The Coreans have also some trade at Peking and in the northern parts of China , 1 but it is very chargeable, because they only go thither by land and on horseback. None but the rich merchants of Seoul 2 trade to Peking, and 1 Since 1637, at Pien-mun (Border-Gate), fifty miles from the Corean frontier, in Manchuria, a market or fair h,as been held four times a year, the two most important occasions being on the exit and return of the embassy from Seoul to Peking, three hundred persons, officers, merchants, teamsters, etc., being in the latter. The value of the trade was about half a million dollars yearly. With the opening of the ports to foreign commerce these bor- der fairs have already lost their importance. 2 The most imposing commercial buildings in Seoul are the large storehouses belonging to the guild of merchants, who possessed almost a monopoly of the trade at the Border-Gate and in Peking. 154 COREA. are always three months at least on the way. This whole trade is in linen or cotton cloth. The great ones and chief merchants buy and pay for all with money, but the meaner sort deal only with rice and other commodities by way of barter. There is but one sort of weight and meas- ure 1 throughout the kingdom, but the traders abuse it very much, notwithstanding all pre- cautions and orders of the governors. They know no money but their casis , 2 and those 1 The Corean scale is the steelyard, large and small. The unit of weight is the kiun, or pound, which is divided like our own into sixteen parts ( niang ). After the niang are decimal divisions, ton, pun, and ri. A niang, or ounce, equals 1.2 of our ounces, or 38 grammes. The measures of length are based on the pal, or arm, or the kil (measure of a man), which have deci- mal subdivisions. The hop, or handful, with decimal subdivis- ions, is the unit of cubic measure; and the chong-ja, or “ little cup,” of liquid measure. Measures of arable land are based upon the amount of rice or other grain sown on it. 2 Hitherto, the only money coined in Corea was the “nip" or pun, which is like the Chinese iron, brass or bronze “ cash,” which is counted in strings : 100 cash are equal to about 19 cents, or from 630 to 670 “cash” equal one tael, or ounce, of silver. In old times 8.50 taels of silver were equivalent to 1 tael of gold. The writer has recently seen the new Corean silver coins, about the size of a half-dollar, stamped or cast with Chi- nese characters, and blue enamel in the centre. This new coin- age of 1883, if not debased, will displace the old golddust, bars and nuggets of barter. The latest issue of silver money (1884) is sufficiently alloyed to keep it in the kingdom. NATIONAL TRAITS AND HABITS. 155 pass only on the frontiers of China. They pay silver by weight in little ingots, like those we bring from Japan. Their language, their way of writing and their arithmetic are very hard to learn. They have many words to express the same thing , 1 and they sometimes talk fast and sometimes slow, especially their learned men and great lords. They use three several sorts of writing — the first and cliiefest like that of China and Japan, which they use for printing their books and for all public affairs. The second is like the common writing: among; us. The great men and governors use it to answer petitions and make notes on letters of advice, or the like ; the commonalty cannot read this writing. The third is more unpol- ished, and serves women and the common sort. It is easier to write in this character than the others, names and things never be- fore heard of being noted down with very curious fine pencils . 2 They have abundance 1 The Corean language is very rich in certain classes of syn- onyms. 3 The three sorts of writing are the “square,” “grass” or “running” hand in script (which are the Chinese characters), and the Corean ; which last is the easiest, and is chiefly for the 156 COREA. of old books, both printed 1 and manuscript, so choicely kept that none but the king’s brother is trusted with them. Copies of them with cuts are kept in several towns, that in case of fire they may not be quite lost. Their almanacs are made in China, they themselves wanting skill to make them. They print with boards or wooden cuts, and lay one cut to each side of the paper, and so strike off a leaf. They cast accounts with little long sticks , 2 as we do with counters. unlearned. It is, however, beautifully phonetic, and hence can be easily used to note down foreign names and words. The Co- rean alphabet consists of twenty-five letters — eleven vowels and fourteen consonants — classified according to the organs of speech, and forms one of the most simple and perfect alphabets and syllabaries in the world. 1 The researches of Mr. Ernest Satow of Tokio have shown that the Coreans possessed the art of printing from wooden blocks as early as the eighth, and practiced it fully by the twelfth, century. A Corean book is known which dates from the period 1317-24, or over one hundred years before the earliest printed European book. During the fifteenth century, as early a6 1420, the use of metal type, made by moulding and casting, was common. A Corean author claims that the art of mould- ing movable copper type was invented in Corea as early as the fourteenth century. Among the spoils brought back by the victorious Japanese generals in 1497 were quantities of Corean books printed from cast movable types. (See Satow, “History of Printing in Japan,” Trans. Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. x.) 2 See Corea, the Hermit Nation, p. 454. NATIONAL TRA ITS AND HABITS. 157 They know not how to keep books of account or shop-books, but when they buy anything they set down the price under it, and write on it what they made of it. When the king goes abroad, he is attended by all the nobility of the court, wearing the badge of his order, or piece of embroidery before and behind, on a garment of black silk with a very broad scarf, a great body of soldiers following in good order. Before him go men on horseback and others on foot, some of them carrying colors and banners and the others playing on several warlike in- struments. They are followed by the life- guards, which are made up of the chief burghers of the town. The king is in the middle, carried under a very rich gold can- opy, and proceeds with such silence that the least noise is not heard . 1 Just before him 1 A correspondent, “ Juniper,” of The North China Daily News of Feb. 12, 1884, writing from Seoul (pronounced Sowl), describes the procession of the king in terms which show that Hamel’s picture in the seventeenth and “Juniper’s” in the nineteenth century are one in substance. “Juniper” adds: “ No such bar- baric array can long exist in a country to which foreign carriages and other Western conveniences have already found their way, and it seems almost possible that the state procession in historic form will never again take place in Corea.” 158 COREA. goes a secretary of state, or some other great officer, with a little box, into which he puts all the petitions and memorials private per- sons present upon the end of a long cane, or which they hang along the walls or palings, so that they cannot see who prefers them. Those that are appointed to gather them bring them to the secretary, who puts them into the little box, and when the king returns into his palace 1 they are all laid before him 1 This palace, so often referred to by Hamel, and which was perhaps the finest public building in the kingdom, was burned by accident a few years ago. It was recently visited by travel- ers, who speak of its white granite walls, spacious grounds, pa- vilion, and pleasure-lake “edged with a coping of solid granite blocks, with carved urns of stone and other ornamental works placed round the lake at regular intervals. The water is full of lotus-flowers in summer.” The pavilion, approached by three bridges of solid granite, is over a hundred feet long by ninety wide, and is supported on huge granite monoliths at least eight feet in diameter at the base and about eighteen feet high, “ the ceiling being highly decorated and painted. The king’s private palace was wholly consumed, but the king’s audience- hall still stands upon five terraces of granite. The roof, sev- enty feet high, is ceiled with wooden panels painted with flowers. The centre of the ceiling is occupied by two large golden dragons elaborately carved. Every inch of the intricate woodwork of the roof and beams is elaborately painted in delicate tints with all the colors of the rainbow. The roof of the whole structure is supported by twelve huge polished pillars of timber four feet thick, composed of one single piece, seventy feet in height. The Corean trees which furnish these superb columns are re- NATIONAL TRA ITS AND HABITS. 159 to decide what is to be done, which he per- forms; and his orders are executed out of hand, nobody presuming to contradict them. All the doors and windows of the houses in the streets through which the king passes are shut, and nobody does presume to open the least cranny of them, much less look over the wall or over the palings. When the king passes by the great men or soldiers, they must turn their backs to him, without daring to look or so much as cough. There- fore upon these occasions most of the soldiers put little sticks into their mouths, that they may not be accused of making a noise. When the Tartar’s ambassador comes, the king, going in person with all his court out of town to receive him, waits upon him to his lodging, and in all places everybody does him as much or more honor than to the king. All sorts of musicians, dancers and vaulters go before him, striving who shall divert him most. Duriug the whole time the Tartar is nowned in China, and some of the Peking temples are also beautified with Corean forest columns. In the queen’s palace — in many of the rooms of which the woodwork is finely carved and polished — hang paintings of landscapes by Corean old masters.” 160 COREA. at court all the streets from his lodging to the palace are lined with soldiers, who stand within ten or twelve feet one of the other. There are two or three men who have no other employment but to pick up notes thrown out of the Tartar’s window to be carried to the king, who desires to know what the ambassador is doing at all times. To conclude, that prince studies all ways to please him, endeavoring by all manner of courtesy to make him sensible of the respect he bears the Great Khan, that he may make a favorable report concerning him to his master. [Here ends Hamel’s Narrative.] PART III. CHAPTER XV. RELIGION. “AS for religion, the Coreans have scarce JY any.” This is the testimony of the Protestant Dutchman in the seventeenth cen- tury. A Scotch clergyman who spent six weeks of the autumn of 1883 in the capital and treaty-ports seems to agree with Hamel. He says : “ What in Western nations is usu- ally understood by the term ‘ religion ’ has no existence in Corea ; and in this it differs somewhat from the other countries of Asia.” 1 French Romanist missionaries who have dwelt long in the land, and various visiting travelers, tell the same story. Yet, though there are no gorgeous ritual systems, voluminous sacred literature or dis- ciplined priesthoods, as in Siam or Japan, there is a sad deficiency of religion of the right sort in the peninsula. The national I Notes on Corea, by A. W. D., Shanghai, 1884. II 161 162 COREA. intellect is sunk in a tangled network of su- perstitious. These form a baneful re-ligion that binds and holds back the souls of her ten millions of people from their Creator, and to mental slavery, terror and the gross darkness of ignorance. The preaching of Christ to the Coreans will be a real “ opening of the prison to them that are bound.” There are three distinct strata of ideas which, in their historic order, underlie the native belief. These are the aboriginal fe- tichism and shamanism — worship of visible objects and invisible imaginary influences — Confucianism and Buddhism. All three of these phases of the benighted Coreans’ faith have their representative “temples.” Yet to any one accustomed to the size and splendor of the sacred edifices of China and Japan this word has scarcely any meaning for Corea. Most of the village, and even of the city, temples are surprising- ly small, poor and bare. In Seoul few of the Buddhist temples are any larger than common dwellings. They are, as a rule, recognized merely by the fluting or carving round the eaves or by their peculiar gate- RELIGION. 163 ways. In the villages the “ temples ” are nothing more than huts. One of these village shrines not far from the newly-opened seaport of In-chiun is thus described : In the centre of a small grove of low fir trees, on a bluff about two hundred yards from the hamlet of nine houses, was the sacred structure — the symbol of the aboriginal religion, of which Shinto (the way or doctrine of the gods) is the an- alogue in Japan. It consisted of a conical straw hut, nine feet high and the same in diameter at the base, in the shape of those old-fashioned beehives which were made of twisted straw and had a small square hole at the base for the entrance of the bees. In this Corean temple the opening was triangu- lar, three feet high, and faced the east. In- side were no idols, incense or pictures. The ceiling was formed of bare rough poles laid across and sloping toward the back, the av- erage height from the back being four feet. At the rear wall, facing the opening and tied to one of the rafters, hung a bundle of strips of white paper — the unmistakable counter- part of the gohei, or wand of wood holding 164 COREA. white paper, in Japanese temples. On these strips of paper the spirit of the gods is sup- posed to dwell. It is believed to be death for an ordinary person to enter these shrines. GutzlafF in 1832 was unable to discover any traces of idol-worship, nor did he ever witness the performance of religious rites. On visiting the village temple on the hill he found that it consisted of one aj^artment hung round with paper, and with salt fish in the middle. No idol was visible. A small metal dragon rested on the ground. The names of the contributors, with their several sums, were carefully noted down. Comparatively few wayside shrines, so common in Japan, are seen in Corea, but the cemeteries on the hills or mounds, the mile- stones carved on the top into grotesque human figures, the sacred trees gayly hung with colored rags, the heaps of stone laid beside chosen places or objects, the avoidance of injury to serpents and the feeding of these reptiles, which find a home in the foundation stones or thatched roofs of the houses, are all significant of the primeval religion. The Chinese superstition called Feng- Temple Gateway and Court-yard. Page 1G4. RELIGION. 165 shuey (wind and water) dominates all Corea and gives employment to crowds of sorcerers, fortune-tellers and geomancers, who fatten upon the purses of the people. No Corean would think of building a house, selecting a field, garden or tomb, without consulting one of these gentry. The influences of the spirits are believed to be ever potent ; and one of the common sights everywhere is the pole stuck up on mound or house with its strap of bells or tiny cymbals jingled in the breeze to ward off their malign breath. Already the empty petroleum-cans from America are utilized to rout the goblins. Feng-shuey is the great national school of superstition in which innumerable professors teach millions of docile pupils. The air is far from empty to a Corean. It is populous with active and malignant spirits. Every tree, mountain, water-course, and even the kitchen or chimney, has its tutelary genii, who must be propitiated by prayer, gifts or penance in some form or another. The cult professed by the official and liter- ary class is founded on the ethics of Confu- cius and the system set forth in the classic 166 COREA. books of ancient China. Temples in honor of the sage are found in the large cities of Corea. Strictly speaking, Confucianism is a system of morals and politics, but not a re- ligion. It has no element of progress in it, but is a mode of thought and practice calcu- lated to stereotype the human intellect and petrify a civilization into unvarying routine. It is largely responsible for the inertia and arrested development of China and for the liermit-like seclusion and foolish pride of Corea. It will be, as it always has been, the unyielding foe of Christianity. It is pagan agnosticism, with no root of progress in it. Its force is all conservative. Its tenets are summed up in the doctrine of “ the five re- lations” — of king and subject, of parent and child, of husband and wife, of the elder brother and younger brother, and between friends. The relation expressed, the duty follows. In spite of its excellences, it is atheistic. It makes no provision for the greatest of all relations — of man to God. The chief enemies of truth, progress and spiritual religion in Corea have been, and for generations to come will be, Confucian- RELIGION. 167 ists. Christianity, that levels the pride of man, must by its nature arouse the wrath of the literati. At the expense of the State sacrifices of pigs, sheep and goats are made by the magis- trates at particular seasons. The ceremonies are very similar to those practiced by the Chinese in honor of the spirits of earth and heaven. Older than the Confucian cult, yet close- ly connected with it, is the worship of ances- tors. The veneration of forefathers, the burn- ing of incense and doing of homage to their tablets are as universal in Corea as in China. The system is so deeply implanted that noth- ing but a total change in the Corean mind and heart can extirpate it. Piety and wor- ship become one in theory and practice. It is a great tree, the roots of which strike into the soil of primeval history, while its dense outgrowth of superstitions overshadows every household. Against it the axe of Chris- tianity is to be laid with many a sturdy stroke before it disappears. To preserve the spirit and letter of the fifth commandment, with its gracious promise — the salt of national 168 COREA. preservation, as shown in China’s long con- tinuance — is the problem of the missionary of Jesus in Corea. Booldo or Buddhism first entered Corea in the fourth century, probably by way of Thibet and Mongolia, and again directly from China in the sixth century. Its golden days were during the dynasty of Ko-rai (960—1392 a. d.). Having overspread the peninsula, and being patronized at court, it was made the state religion. The Buddhist priesthood was during this period very nu- merous, influential and learned ; the monas- teries were numerous and costly and the temples grand and magnificent. Education and the arts were fostered, and the status of Corean civilization was higher than at the present time. Since the accession of the house of Ni, which now rules the kingdom, Buddhism has been disestablished, the faith has sunk into decay, the priests into ignorance and most of the finer temples into ruin. A village shrine visited by an English gentleman last year is described as standing in a grove of firs. It was a hut six feet RELIGION. 169 square, the sides of which were formed of coarse wicker and straw, while a thick mat, suspended by a rope, formed the door. The roof was tiled. A rough stone image about three feet high, of a Buddhist saint, in the usual sitting posture, with a square stone in front containing a few copper coins, were all that the “temple” contained. While, how- ever, Buddhism is in low estate in and near the capital, it flourishes in greater strength in some of the provinces. Certain neighbor- hoods are strongly Buddhist, and there the monastic establishments and temples are old and rich, the shaven pates more numerous and the revenues from temple-lands yield handsomely. Some of the most famous shrines, visited annually by crowds of pil- grims, are in the mountains. Idols are of three grades — bronze, stone and wood. Some of these are highly artistic in workmanship. Many of the images of Buddha and his disciples which are now found in Japanese temples came originally from Corea, which to the priests in the Sun- rise Land was long the “ Treasure-Land of the West.” 170 COREA. Buddhism, being a humane system of morals and of aspirations to noble character, stimulates men to good works for the sake of their own salvation and to the advantage of their fellows. Hence it is a civilizer, and in its first energy and freshness it fills a coun- try with benefits, nourishes art, diffuses edu- cation, makes roads, establishes resting-places, promotes beneficence and multiplies comforts in a thousand forms. Buddhism did much for Corea — far more, we think, than Confu- cianism, which soon becomes intolerant, big- oted, hidebound and narrow, paralyzing all progress. The high-water mark of Corean civilization was reached under Buddhism. Yet, after all that may be said in its favor, Buddhism is an atheistic system, and, like all such cults, becomes the prey of parasitic su- perstitions which smother its vitality. Its force in Corea seems to be wellnigh spent. The mind of the Corean peasant resembles a peat-bog in its mixture of decay. The faiths which influence him once had each a distinctive life and form. Their frame and substance now gone, he propitiates all gods and professes all superstitions. Yet doubt- RELIGION. 171 less he has the soul and heart of a man, and yearns for a religion which can satisfy both. How eagerly he grasped at that form of Christianity first presented to him our pages following will show. How earnestly he will receive the purer faith of Christ the future is yet to reveal. CHAPTER XVI. CHRISTIANITY AND EUROPEAN INFLUENCES 1777 TO 1866. F ROM the inside view given by Hamel the elements entering the politics of the pe- ninsula were few and simple. “ Courtesy to the East, respect to the West, tribute to both, and no foreigners wanted in the kingdom,” seemed to sum up the national policy. Toward the end of the seventeenth cen- tury there arose two parties among the nobles, and, though the occasion of their origin ap- pears to have been a mere question of liter- ary pedantry, they have since represented — roughly indeed — the old and the new, or conservative and progressive, tendencies. Later on, the two parties split up into four factions, and, though “ platforms ” varied, the race for “ spoils ” has never slackened. Plots, assassinations, poisonings, blood-feuds, hereditary quarrels and vendettas have been, 172 EUROPEAN INFLUENCES. 173 and are still, among tlie results of the bitter partisan rivalry which at first had no out- look upon things beyond Corea. The motives, methods and details of poli- ticians in the Hermit Nation are too obscure for Westerners to sympathize with or com- prehend ; but during the eighteenth century a new, and by us a better understood, force entered to disturb old lines of battle at the court in Seoul. That disturbing element was Christianity in its Roman form. Fur- ther, during the decade ending with 1884 the pressure from New Japan, the jealousy of China, the dangers from France and Russia and the necessity of signing the American and other treaties, have altered the motives and objects, besides widening the horizons, of parties in “ Great Cho-sen.” The picture of the history of Christianity in Corea, at which we shall now glance, is Rembrandt-like in depth of shadow and in- tensity of light. Triumph and disaster, per- secution and fresh successes, brutal torture and bloody death borne with unquailing for- titude, mark in thrilling alternation the progress of the Church. Strange to say, the 174 COREA. mighty growth began from a seemingly chance-fallen seed. Following out a common custom among the literary men, a number of students gath- ered in a secluded temple in the winter of 1777 to spend a week or more in the reading, criticism and discussion of the Chinese clas- sics. Their leader was one Professor Kwem, a noted Confucian. Entirely novel food for thought was intro- duced to the coterie by one young man who had just returned from a visit to Peking in the embassy. He brought original writings and translations into Chinese of books on the Roman Catholic religion which had been written by the Jesuit fathers then in favor with the famous Manchiu emperor Keen- lung, at the capital of China. Examining these books, the eager students were both surprised and delighted with their contents. The leader, with several of the party, on returning to their homes began at once to practice what they had learned. A son of the envoy to Peking in 1783 was converted and baptized in the cathedral, and brought back new books, images, crosses, medals and EUROPEAN INFLUENCES. 175 pictures. A band of Roman Catholic Chris- tians formed in Seoul, who fasted, prayed and zealously made new converts. From first to last, the native literati were the bitter opponents of so leveling a creed, and soon the opposition on paper changed to legal persecution. The first victim was Thomas Kim, who, on ceasing to be a pagan, had bravely burned his ancestral tablets, the special symbols of national superstition and of idolatry in Chinese Asia. Tortured and sent into exile, he soon after died. A num- ber of others felt the iron hand of the law, and many recanted. The persecutions ceased after a time, but the Nai-po, a peninsular district of country south-west of Seoul, still contained many believers. As it had been the nursery, so it became the garden, of the Church. To cement their union, the Christians, in ignorance and good faith, formed a hierarchy after the model of the Roman Church as set forth in the papal books. This continued in force two years, until light and further ex- planation were received from Peking. Further progress in faith and practice, but 176 COREA. especially the burning of ancestral tablets, brought the Christians into collision with the tribunals, and in 1791, at the trial of two believers, the first full, clear and public ex- position of the new doctrines was made. Paul and Jacques Kim, refusing to recant, suffered decapitation, and died calling on the names of Jesus and Mary. Other martyrs were beaten, tortured or exiled to Quelpaert Island, but the seed of the Church only spread farther and took deeper root. In one decade after the baptism of the first Corean convert ten thousand natives of Cho-sen called themselves Christians. In 1794 a Chinese Jesuit priest from Pe- king, disguised as a noble widower in mourn- ing, passed the barriers at the Yalu Biver, and, reaching the capital, carried on active missionary labors. In 1797, Captain Brough- ton, with the British war-ship Providence of sixteen guns, visited the east coast and gave his name to Broughton’s Bay. A native Christian who went on board the vessel while at Fusan was arrested on suspicion of invi- ting the “ Nam-ban,” or “ Southern barbar- ians,” to invade Corea. All that was proved EUROPEAN INFLUENCES. 177 against him was his remark that “ one such ship could sink a hundred Corean vessels of war.” A letter of the Chinese priest, in which he recommended that the king of Por- tugal should make a treaty and send scien- tific men and teachers to Corea, was seized and deciphered. This discovery of a sup- posed plot caused intense excitement at court. Coming out from his hiding-place to avoid the shedding of innocent blood, the brave Chinaman was beheaded May 31, 1801. The government now suspected a general conspiracy of the Christians to betray the kingdom into the hands of foreigners, for in a letter to the bishop of Peking a prominent convert had proposed an appeal for liberty of conscience to the nations of Europe, and that an army of sixty thousand soldiers be sent to conquer Corea. 1 From this time forth the Christians were branded as “ brigands,” “ evil beasts,” “ trai- tors ” and “ foreigner-Coreans.” To this day Christianity and treason are synonyms to the average official mind. The abject apologies of the king to “ the ' Dallet, Histoire de I’Eylise de Coree, vol. i. p. 205. 12 178 COREA. Great Khan ” for the execution of a Chinese subject were accepted only after a heavy exaction of tribute in Corean silver. A fresh edict against “ the evil sect ” was issued early in 1802, which advertised it to every part of the kingdom. Yet the Church, bereaved of its teachers, had little growth until the winter of 1835, when the soil of Corea was trodden by the French priest Maubant, who, with five na- tives, crossed on the ice of the Yalu. Bishop Imbert entered later, within a year, and by 1839 nine thousand believers in Christ, the Pope and the Virgin were enrolled under the banner of Rome. Then, with the aid of treachery, the dogs of the law scented out their prey : to save the lives of their converts these foreigners nobly surrendered themselves to the authorities. After horrible tortures they were beheaded September 21, 1839. One hundred and thirty victims — seventy by decapitation and sixty by torture — suffered death about the same time. For six years the Christians were without a pastor. Though the sentinels on the western fron- EUROPEAN INFLUENCES. 179 tier were doubled, and though an unsuccess- ful attempt had been made in the north to force an entrance across the Tumen River, yet Andrew Kim, a Corean educated at the Portuguese seminary at Macao in China, en- tered at Ai-chiu in April, 1845. Reaching his home in the south, he manned an un- decked boat with eleven men from the fields, most of them utterly unused to the sea, and with only a compass this Corean Greatheart put out into the Yellow Sea, and after weeks of tempestuous weather reached Shanghai. There he was ordained a priest, and return- ing landed October 12th on the shores of Chulla-do with two French missionaries. Again attempting, off the province of Whanghai, to introduce new reinforcements from the Roman Propaganda, he was seized and thrown into prison. There he was em- ployed in copying, translating and coloring a map of the world and composing a manual of geography for the court. At the same time the French men-of-war, La Gloire and La Victorieuse, despatched by Louis Philippe to inquire into the murder of Bishop Imbert in 1839, were vainly striving to find the 180 COREA. mouth of the Han River, to reach the capital and to point their guns at the king’s castle. They failed, and Andrew Kim was “ put to death for communicating with the Western barbarians,” September 16th. A few weeks after these same French ships were totally wrecked on islands off Chulla-do, their crews being kindly treated. Fresh bands of undaunted missionaries, eager for the ruby crown, entered the penin- sula, and active propagation by preaching and the printing-press began. The faith was introduced to Quelpaert Island by a native who had been shipwrecked, carried to Hong- Kong and taught by a Corean student at Macao. The native Christians in 1850 num- bered eleven thousand, and in 1857 nearly seventeen thousand. About the time of the opening of the Japanese ports to foreign commerce cholera, imported from Japan (and, as the Japanese say, from America), swept off about a quar- ter of a million lives in Corea. The march of events from the year 1860 filled the Corean government with constant alarms. Peking was sacked by the allied E UR OPE A N INFL UENCES. 181 armies of France and Great Britain, and Chinese military prestige destroyed. By the treaty of Count Ignatieff, the Czar added to his dominions “ the maritime provinces,” now a part of Siberia, and the boundaries of Russia touched Corea. The Cossack looked across the Tumen, and the Greek church- spire glittered beyond, where the Corean Christian refugee found a home. New Ja- pan, soon to be almost a Christian nation and a next-door neighbor, was being rapidly Westernized. The Corean court ordered new river-forts to be built, castles to be put in repair and war preparations for defence to be vigorously made. Meanwhile, fresh mission- ary invasions and successes brought up the forces of the Christian army to twenty thou- sand souls led by twelve foreigners. CHAPTER XVII. THE EVER-MEMORABLE YEAR OF 1866. HE direct succession of the royal line of Cho-sen, founded by Ni Taijo in 1392, came to an end in 1864, and a lad twelve years old (the present king) was nominated heir by Queen Clio. His father, Ni Kung, was made regent, or Tai-wen Kun, of the kingdom. This powerful and ambitious man was a bitter hater of all foreigners and Chris- tians and of change or progress of any sort. He may be described as a Confucianist fire- eater. To his already flaming hatred fresh fuel was soon added by American, British and German filibusters and grave-robbers, and by Russian, French and American ex- peditions of trade, treaty or vengeance. In January, 1866, a Russian war- vessel appeared in Broughton’s Bay and demanded from the government the right of commerce, threatening also the violation of the frontier 182 THE EVER-MEMORABLE YEAR. 183 by troops to enforce the demand. The re- gent replied by letter, offering to refer for permission to “ the Great Khan ” of China. Meanwhile, during the intense excitement at Seoul, three Christian nobles, headed by Thomas Kim, addressed to the regent a letter suggesting that an anti -Russian alliance be formed by inviting the aid of France and Great Britain in favor of Corea. The regent invited the petitioners to a council in Seoul. A false report from Peking about this time stated that the Chinese were officially execu- ting all Christians found in the Middle King- dom. The anti-Christian party at the capital of Corea now grew bolder and demanded that the old edicts of persecution be again put in force. As the Russian vessel had gone away and the French seemed passive, the cry now broke out afresh, “ Death to all Christians ! death to the Western barbar- ians!” Under pressure, the regent repub- lished the bloody edicts and signed the death- warrants of the foreign priests. The legal bloodhounds took the track late in February. Within thirty days nine French priests were seized, tried and tortured. Condemned as 184 COREA. outlaws, spies and invaders, their heads were struck off before a vast crowd of spectators on the sand of the river-flats. Scores of natives were beheaded, hundreds were thrown in prison and the infernal engines of torture were plied to their full power, while thou- sands were exiled or otherwise punished. On Chinese smugglers or in open boats the other three foreigners escaped to China. The French admiral Roze and envoy Bel- lonet were duly informed, and an expedition of vengeance was at once planned for “ the conquest of Corea.” A short time after these tragic events fresh visitors from the outside world iuvol- untarily tasted the sweets of Corean hospi- tality, experiencing kindness and seeing the better side of a really gentle and peaceable people. In June, 1866, the American schooner Surprise was wrecked off the coast of Whanghai (Yellow Sea) province. From the moment of their landing extreme kindness attended them. Food, clothing and tobacco were liberally furnished, and by orders from the regent they were escorted on horseback to the frontier, and past the Bor- THE ever-memorable year. 185 der-Gate. Along the way they were honored by the magistrates and treated with consid- eration, the Coreans everywhere showing their true nature and their feeling toward peaceable strangers cast upon their shores. Reaching the United States consul at Niu- chwang in Manchurian China, Captain McCaslin, crew and Chinese cook bore pleas- ant memories of a misrepresented people. The “ Hermit Nation ” gave a different reception to a different class of men during August of this same eventful year. The General Sherman, a schooner owned by an American, but chartered by a British trader, sailed from Chefu, China, on a professed “experimental voyage of trade and discov- ery,” though it was suspected of plunder and piracy. The vessel was heavily armed both with rifles and artillery. The popular belief among foreigners at the Chinese ports was that the Corean royal sepulchres near Ping- an were but slightly guarded and contained coffins made of gold. Ping-an City, whither the vessel sailed, was the capital of Ko-rai and the seat of the royal mausoleums during the early and Middle Ages. 186 COREA. The complement of this disguised war- vessel consisted of three Americans, one En- glishman, a Scotch clergyman, agent of the Bihle Society of Scotland, who went inno- cently to learn the Corean language, and nineteen Malay or Chinese sailors. They were to enter the most turbulent portion of an unknown country, among an excited people who knew no difference at sight be- tween Frenchmen and other foreigners, and who were incensed at the frequent visitations of Chinese and foreign pirates. Nothing is certainly known from outside sources of the behavior or final fate of the Sherman’s crew, except that they entered the Ta-tong River and none ever came back. They were slain to the last man, and their vessel was burned. In August the Jewish merchant, Ernest Oppert, and author of A Forbidden Land , ascended the Han River in the steamer Em- peror, meeting some native Christians, who wrote him a letter in Latin. He held inter- views with local magistrates and secured useful charts of the river. Equipped with these charts, and with the THE EVER-MEMORABLE YEAR. 187 French bishop as pilot-interpreter, the French war-vessels Deroulede and Tardif ascended the river to the capital. On the 25th of September the flag of France floated before the walls of Seoul, frightening the inhabit- ants and causing a cessation of all business. On their return to the anchorage at Boisee Island the bislnyp heard of the burning of the General Sherman. The French squadron which sailed from Chefu October 11th consisted of seven vessels with their crews, and an extra military de- tachment of six hundred men. On the 16th they attacked Kang-wa in force, and easily captured the city and citadel. On the 26tli a landing-party of marines, after a temporary success at Tong-chin, re- tired to the ships, from which the Coreans were shelled with safety. On the 27th a picnic-party of one hundred and sixty men without cannon were despatched to capture a fortified monastery on Kang-wa Island, but were repulsed with heavy loss by the garrison of tiger-hunters and clerical mili- tia of Buddhist priests. The next morning Admiral Roze gave orders to embark. The 188 COREA. sacked city of Kang-wa was set on fire and left in ashes, and the French fleet steamed away. In Paris these hasty acts of the French agents in China were not approved, and, having the Germans at their gates, the French did nothing further in the far East. Their repulse in Corea probably hastened the massacre at Tientsin. At Seoul, after rousing the whole country to a fever-heat of war-preparation, it was determined to extirpate Christianity. Wom- en, children and nobles were put to death and brother betrayed brother. Two men were carried out into the river, and over the place at which the French ships had an- chored were beheaded. Their blood was allowed to spout from their bodies into the water, “ to wash away the defilement of the foreign invasion.” Corea now felt able to defy the world, and soon in her boastful bluster challenged Japan to do her worst. Peacefully the young king was married in the autumn, and the Chinese ambassador, as usual, visited the Corean capital to bear the fe- licitations of the Great Khan to his vassal. THE EVER-MEMORABLE YEAR. 189 Had the regent, who, in native phrase, possessed “ a heart of stone and bowels of iron,” lacked for a crowning cause of hatred to the foreigner, that element was now to be supplied. A refugee French priest was to pi- lot a German grave-robber, whose capitalist was an American, in an attemj^t to rifle the tomb of the regent’s ancestors, with the design of holding the ghastly relics to ransom. Oppert, a German Israelite, left Shanghai April 30, 1867, with the steamer China and tender Greta, in company with an American named Jenkins and the French Roman Catholic priest Feron. His force consisted of eight Europeans, twenty Malays and about one hundred Chinese, mainly laborers, who were to form the military force. At Naga- saki, Japan, they bought cases of muskets, and arrived in Prince Jerome Gulf on the night of Friday, May 8th. Early on Sunday morning the armed crowd moved in the ten- der and two small boats in tow up the river to a point forty miles from the sea. They then marched inland to the tomb. This was of stone masonry, as described by Hamel, and proof against coal-shovels. 190 COREA. Somewhat behind their calculations as to time, and being unsupplied with crowbars or blasting-powder, and soon surrounded by thousands of curious and enraged people, the baffled men were compelled to return to their boats. They were unable to make a second attempt, as the river was navigable only once a year, at this particular season. Landing at Kang-wa Island for purposes unknown, the party was fired upon. Two of the number were killed, and one man, described by Oppert as “ the only disreputa- ble character in the party,” was wounded. The invaders soon left the coast . 1 These shameful circumstances served but to intensify the rage of the regent and the popular hatred of foreigners. 1 See the whole story of Oppert’s exploits in the U. S. Dip. Correspondence for 1868 ; in A Forbidden Land : Voyages to the Corea, by Ernest Oppert, New York, 1880; and in “Oppert’s Corean Outrage” in The Nation, April 7 and April 21, 1880. CHAPTER XVIII. THE AMERICANS OPEN COREA {1867-82). N hearing of the massacre of the General Sherman’s crew, and desirous of inquir- ing into a national policy which showed kindness to one set of men and ordered death to another, Rear-Admiral Henry Bell, of the United States Navy, despatched a vessel from our Asiatic squadron to visit Corea. Commander (now Rear-Admiral) R. W. Sliufeldt, in the war-steamer Wachusett, reached the coast of Whanghai (Yellow Sea) province in January, 1867. A friendly letter, thanking the king and government for kindly treatment of Captain McCaslin and his crew, and inquiring into the causes of the massacre of the General Sherman’s men, was despatched to the prefect of the nearest large city by the American officer. The answer came back in five days, but no satisfaction was obtained. Unable to re- 191 192 COREA. main longer on account of stress of weather, the Wachusett returned to China. A detailed reply to Commander Shufeldt’s letter, couched in friendly terms, explained fully the circumstances of the massacre in the Ta-tong River. According to this, the Sherman’s crew grossly insulted the messen- gers of the magistrate sent to inquire into their business in entering the river. Be- coming violent, they insisted on going up to Ping-an City, seized the adjutant-general’s person and ship, and made him prisoner. The natives attempted to rescue their magis- trate, and several tens of them were killed by the foreigners’ artillery ; but finally, by overwhelming numbers and with the aid of fire-rafts, which set the schooner ablaze and blew up her powder-magazine, the Coreans were rid of their obnoxious foe and the for- eigners all killed. The letter declared that none but Englishmen and Frenchmen, be- sides the crew, were known to be on board, and expressed surprise that an American vessel should inquire about them, declaring the whole affair to be “ but a particle of au- tumn dust.” THE AMERICANS OPEN COREA. 193 It is matter for deep regret that this letter did not reach Commander Shufeldt until several years afterward. Forwarded through the Chinese Foreign Office and the American legation at Peking, it reached the State De- partment at Washington in due course, but to a new administration, and there lay pig- eon-holed and forgotten. Even when the diplomatic and naval expedition was des- patched to Corea in 1871 under General Grant’s administration, nothing was known or suspected of the existence of this friendly letter. Had it been discovered in time, the unfortunate failure of the mission and the “ little war ” of 1871 might have been spared or had a different ending. The missive was unearthed by the naval officer to whom it was addressed previous to starting on his semi-diplomatic mission round the world in the Ticonderoga in 1879-80. Reports, still in circulation, that two of the Sherman’s crew were alive and in prison in Corea, prompted Admiral Rowan to send the war-steamer Shenandoah to make fur- ther inquiry. Commander Febiger therefore proceeded to the Ta-tong River, in May, 13 J94 COREA. 1867, but came away with no other results than a chart of Ping-an Inlet and the Co- rean version of the affair, substantially the same as now revealed in the letter to Com- mander Shufeldt. Nevertheless, our State Department at Washington was kept informed of the con- dition of affairs in the Far East and of the opinions of American citizens in the ports adjacent to the sealed peninsula. The me- morials of Consul-general George F. Seward, Dr. S. Wells Williams and American mer- chants in China prompted President Grant and his Cabinet to attempt the opening of the Hermit Kingdom. In the spring of 1871 the Hon. A. A. Low and the veteran Rear-Admiral John Rodgers were ordered to proceed with the Asiatic squadron to Co- rean waters. The minister was instructed to secure a treaty for the protection of Ameri- can seamen shipwrecked on Corean shores, and, if possible, one of commerce. He was also to inquire into the murder of the crew of the General Sherman. Admiral Rodgers’s fleet, consisting of the flag-ship Colorado, the corvettes Alaska and THE AMERICANS OPEN COREA. 195 Benicia, with the gunboats Monocacv and Palos, sailed from Nagasaki May 16th, and anchored off Roze Island on the 23d. After several days’ survey-work the fleet moved up to Boisee Island. The fogs clearing away revealed to the delighted eyes of officers and men the lovely scenery of late spring-time in Corea. On the 30th a delegation of native official persons, who had come to inquire into the object of the visit, was received on the deck of the Colorado — not by the minister or ad- miral, but by Mr. Drew, the secretary. This was because they were not of the first, but of the third, rank. Mr. Drew informed them that further soundings up the river would be taken. The Coreans, on their side, not being de- sirous of making any treaty, and having ex- plained fully, as they thought, the massacre of the General Sherman’s crew, and know- ing that they treated hospitably all American sailors honestly shipwrecked on their shores, could not understand why the armed Ameri- can fleet should enter their waters with “ friendly ” intentions. They therefore pre- 196 COREA. pared to give the foreigners a warm welcome should they invade the country by ascending the river to menace the capital. Summon- ing their available military, they strongly garrisoned the forts along the river, where the heaviest artillery in the kingdom was mounted. This consisted of a few French pieces, of which thirty-pounders were the largest. The great majority of their ordnance con- sisted of breech-loading brass pieces of but one inch or an inch and a half bore. These were modeled on antique Chinese pieces of a pattern evidently brought from Europe cen- turies before. Many of them bore inscrip- tions showing that they were made in China about two hundred years ago. About four feet in length, the part around the breech was enlarged and open at the top. To each gun there were from two to six removable chambers, which, being loaded, could be easily put in one after the other, and the piece be thus fired repeatedly in quick successsion. Rudely mounted on logs and strapped to their supports with vines or willow withes, fourscore of these petty cannon were ar- THE AMERICANS OPEN COREA. 197 ranged in one redoubt, overlooking the river and bearing exactly on mid-channel. The fort was built on a rocky tongue of land which jutted out from the left bank. On the opposite side, on points of vantage, was a series of still stronger fortifications. Commodore Perry’s Japan policy of patient waiting and friendly enticement was not fol- lowed by the Americans ; for after some ex- change of communications with the prefect of In-chiun (the nearest town and now the treaty-port), the leaders of the American expedition seem to have lost patience and sent an armed force up the river “ to sur- vey.” The Coreans, unable to interpret such an action as friendly, waited till they had the invaders in their power, and then took the revenge of the weak against the strong. At noon of June 2d, Captain Homer C. Blake (of the Alabama-and-Hatteras fame), with the gunboats Monocacy and Palos and four steam-launches, moved up the current, making surveys, yet ready for attack, the men in the boats being fully armed. Rounding a point near the lower end of 198 COREA. Kang-wa Island, the eighty guns of the Co- rean batteries suddenly opened — a moment too late, however — and a sheet of flame wrapped the redoubt, which in a few seconds discharged about three hundred shot. These rasped the water like a hail-storm. The veterans of our Civil War had never known such rapid firing. Yet only one American was wounded. Not knowing the exact channel of the river, and nearer one side than the other, our men, aided by the momentary lateness of the Corean general’s order to fire, escaped with a wetting. The rude artillery of the na- tives, being fixed on logs, was of no further avail. The launches opened at once with their bow-howitzers, and the gunboats came steam- ing round the point, throwing eight- and ten-inch shell into the fort. A few volleys swept it clean of defenders, and the survey- boats returned to report the “ treachery ” to the admiral. “ To make the story short, they (the Americans) having trailed their coats before the faces of the Coreans, and having at last THE AMERICANS OPEN COREA. 199 persuaded the Coreans to step on them, de- manded an apology for the insult.” 1 The admiral, after notifying the Coreans of his intention to wipe out the insult to the American flag unless an apology was made within ten da} T s, prepared to inflict heavy chastisement. A “ stalwart policy ” was re- solved on, and treaty-making was forgotten in the stern joys of war. “ The Coreans wrote back sensibly, and said they were very sorry, but they supposed any nation would have done the same.” 2 On the 10th the two gunboats and the launches, containing all the available force that could be spared, amounting to seven hundred and fifty men, started on the first warlike expedition in which our navy had been engaged since the Civil War. The landing-force, composed of six hundred and fifty men, was under the command of Com- mander L. A. Kimberly. Lieutenant-Com- mander Winfield Scott Schley (since re- nowned as the rescuer of Lieutenant Greely *, 2 From the remarks of Mr. E. B. Drew, secretary to the American Minister and president of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, at its meeting at Shanghai, Janu- ary, 1884, printed in the North China Daily News. 200 COREA. and the Arctic heroes) was the efficient ex- ecutive officer and adjutant-general of the expedition. The naval battalion was arranged into ten infantry companies, and the battery, of seven howitzers, was under Lieutenant Douglas Cassel. The Monocacy was strengthened in her armament by two of the Colorado’s nine- inch guns. Landing eight hundred yards below the first fort, the infantry formed and the ma- rines deployed as skirmishers. The first or “ marine ” battery was easily entered after being shelled by the gunboats. The Co- reans, being taken unexpectedly in the rear, could not defend it. After thorough- ly demolishing the works and rolling the cannon into the river, our forces camped out for the night on the plateau in rear of the fort. The next day was hot and clear. The short march to the middle fort began at 7 a. m. The Monocacy resumed her splendid target-practice, and the inside was soon cleared, after which the naval battalion dismantled it thoroughly. From “ Fort THE AMERICANS OPEN COREA. 201 Monocacy ” the advance was made to the citadel on the crest of the rocky hill. The white coats, keeping to the rear of our forces beyond range of the gunboat shells, seemed to be waiting till our men entered the ravine below the hill-fort. Their purpose was then to overwhelm our little army by vastly superior numbers. They might have succeeded, but for the brilliant strategy of the American commander. Placing five howitzers and two companies of infantry as a rear-guard on rising ground, the main body of our men moved on to storm the fort. The Coreans charged on the howitzers of the left section, commanded by Master A. V. Wadhams, but the cool and steady practice of our men at long range scattered them, so that no large body of the enemy, brave as they were, could get into close action. The gunboats now sent a storm of shell into the fort, breaching the walls and deple- ting the garrison. At a signal the fire from the ships ceased, and with a yell our marines and sailors dashed up the steep incline, and under the rain of jingal-balls leaped through 202 COREA. tlie breaches or scaled the ramparts into the fort. A hand-to-hand fight ensued — spear against bayonet, matchlock against rifle. Those not slain inside were brought down by the bullets of the American breech-loaders. Lieutenant McKee and two men on our side were killed and eight wounded. Lieut.-Com- mander W. Scott Schley was, with McKee, one of the first over the parapet into the fort, and Captain McLane Tilton and two marines hauled down the large flag. The Coreans in the fort did not run away, but, not knowing enough to ask for quarter, kept on fighting till all of them were killed. The other two forts below the citadel, being open from the main work, were easily entered. For the first time in the history of our coun- try the Stars and Stripes waved over an Asiat- ic fortress captured by the military forces of the United States. Within forty-eight hours the naval battalion had captured five forts, fifty flags and four hundred and eighty-one pieces of artillery, mostly of small bore, though some were French thirty-two-, twen- ty-four- and twenty-pounders, recovered from wrecks or modeled from the cannon found in THE AMERICANS OPEN COREA. 203 them. In honor of the gallant young officer the citadel was named Fort McKee. In spite of the brilliant success of our navy, “ our little war with the heathen ” was, morally, a repulse and a defeat, for the su- preme purpose of the expedition w T as diplo- matic, not naval. After thirty-five days’ stay in Corean waters, the fleet returned to Chifu, arriving July 5th, where the first news received was of the Tientsin massacre of June 20th. Though in Cho-sen the masses believed that “ our boys ” and the tiger-hunters from Ping-an had driven off “ the barbarians of the flowery flag,” yet the thinking men saw at once how helpless their country was against an attack by a foreign power. “ The defeat which the Coreans received in 1871 probably made them inclined in 1881 and 1882 to treat with their fellows.” 1 In 1873 the young king attained his ma- jority, and by the aid of Queen Clio and the liberal party retired the regent from office. An heir to the king was born, and under 1 Dr. S. "Wells Williams in a letter to the writer dated Feb. 8 , 1883 . 204 COREA. these favoring auspices the national policy of isolation weakened and that of friend- ship with foreign nations began to grow in strength. Heretofore, a strip of neutral uninhabited territory had, by mutual agreement of China and Corea, divided the two countries. Grad- ually, however, lawless characters from either side of the Yalu River had infested the fast- nesses of the hills, while Chinese farmers, “ squatters,” had pre-empted or were cultivat- ing the fertile portions. These latter, as well as the Coreans, making complaint to the em- peror, Li Hung Chang, the viceroy of Chi-li, under pretence of putting down piracy and border-ruffianism, sent a gunboat up the Yalu, along with land-troops and surveyors. The logical consequences followed. The Chinese frontier was “ rectified ” and made “ scientific.” China thus wiped out the neu- tral zone and added about fifteen thousand square miles to her territory. To this the Coreans of necessity submitted, but from Japan they refused to receive en- voys of the Mikado on the plea of their being dressed in Western clothes, the official THE AMERICANS OPEN COREA. 205 garb of the Japanese from ambassador to sailor being now European. On the 19th of September, 1875, the crew of the Japan- ese gunboat Unyo-kwan, while landing for water on Kang-wa Island, were fired on by the garrison of a neighboring fort, being mistaken for Americans or Frenchmen. The force of thirty-six Japanese at once stormed, captured and dismantled the fort, occupying it with colors apeak for two days. In strik- ing proof of the true temper of the court of Seoul, the young king at once ordered the native officer who had given the order to fire upon unoffending persons to be degraded and sent into exile. This flagrant insult to the flag of a nation to which the Coreans had for centuries been tributary roused the whole empire of Japan to the highest pitch of excitement and quick- ly unified all opinions in a common sentiment of action. The “ peace ” and the “ war ” parties were represented respectively in the persons of Minister Mori (late envoy to Washington), who went to Peking, and of General Kuroda, who sailed with a fleet of war-steamers into the Han River. Following 206 COREA. in detail the methods of Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, our great sailor-diplomat who opened Japan, Kuroda obtained apolo- gies for the Kang-wa outrage, and signed, Feb- ruary 27th, a treaty of peace and friendship. The government of Ta Cho-sun showed its good faith by responding promptly, and the first modern Corean embassy — accredited not to the “ Tycoon,” but to the Mikado — sailed to Japan in a Japanese war-steamer, and arrived at Yokohama May 29, 1876. The rather an- cient-looking party rode by steam-cars and railway to Tokio, where in the railway-sta- tion the old Barbarism and the new Civil- ization were confronted in striking contrast. To recognize Cho-sen as a sovereign inde- pendent state, and not as a tributary vassal, cost Japan seven months of civil war in “ the Satsuma rebellion,” twenty thousand lives and fifty millions of dollars. Fusan, the loophole on the south-eastern coast of Corea by which communication was formerly had with J apan, now became not only a place of thriving commerce, but a port of call for the war-vessels of nearly every first-class Europeanpower seekingtheprivileges of trade THE AMERICANS OPEN COREA. 207 and treaty with the little nation. Wen-shan, or Gensan, on Broughton’s Bay, was opened May 1, 1880, and a second embassy from Seoul visited Japan during the summer to study Western civilization applied to an Oriental people. The Americans were not idle. Having enjoyed the prestige of opening Japan, it seemed to be our national duty and opportu- nity to open Corea also. Senator Sargent of California (and afterward minister to Ger- many) on the 8th of April, 1878, offered a resolution that President Hayes appoint a commissioner to arrange by peaceful means a treaty of peace and commerce between the United States and the kingdom of Corea. On the 14th of May, 1880, Commodore R. W. Shufeldt in the U. S. S. S. Ticonderoga appeared at Fusan, and applied to the au- thorities for a friendly interview. He also forwarded a copy of the kindly letter ad- dressed to him by the king’s orders in 1867 explaining the General Sherman affair; yet neither during this visit, nor at a second one later on, after a conference with the Ameri- can minister in Japan, was the commo- 208 COREA. dore successful. His triumph, however, was merely postponed. The Japanese pressed their claims, and the Coreans promised to open the port of In- chiun or Jen-shan, a town twenty-five miles from Seoul. Parties at court were now di- vided between the “ Civilization ” or “ Pro- gressive ” and the “ Exclusionists,” “ Port- closers,” “ Foreigner-haters ” or ultra-Confu- cianists. The innovators were subdivided into pro-Japanese and pro-Chinese, accord- ing as they preferred the former or the latter policy and methods of gradual “ Western- ization.” Speeches, memorials and debates multiplied, and the fierce excitement threat- ened to burst into riot and bloodshed or civil war. Nevertheless, the party of progress ob- tained substantial victory. Young men were sent as students both to China and Japan to learn foreign methods, and Corean agents gave the American legation in Peking strong- hints that all things were now ready for a treaty. Commodore R. W. Shufeldt, who, after a year’s arduous and delicate diplomatic efforts THE AMERICANS OPEN COREA. 209 in China, had succeeded in arranging the preliminaries at Tientsin, sailed in the Uni- ted States steamship Swatara to In-chiun, and there, on the 7th of May, 1882, signed the treaty. Perseverance and long years of waiting had at last crowned with success the diplomatic labors of this eminent naval offi- cer. 14 CHAPTER XIX. HERMIT NO MORE [1883-85.) LMOST before the ultra- conservatives of the once-“ hermit nation ” could realize what had happened, their country was com- mitted to a policy of international fraternity, and was being peacefully invaded with new ideas. With the Japanese legation of forty persons in Seoul, the king’s body-guard drilled by a Japanese lieutenant, and the visiting war-ships of China, Japan, France, England, Germany and the United States at In-chiun, the feelings of the bigoted Confu- cianists were put to severe strain. Yet the old regent was still alive and plotting, and around him the hostile elements gathered. Corea is a stronghold of superstition, and during the summer of 1881 the rice-harvest failed on account of the drought. The horde of geomancers, sorcerers and diviners who fatten on the vitals of Corea now assisted the 210 King and Queen of Corea. Page 211. HERMIT NO MORE. 211 fanatical Confucianists to inflame the popular fears. They ascribed the impending famine and all the national calamities to the anger of the spirits of Heaven and Earth, caused by opening the ports and defiling “ the sacred country ” with foreigners. On the 23d of July, 1882, the king, who holds in his person the monopoly of worship, was out in the open air praying for rain when a mob of the regent’s sympathizers attempted to seize the royal person and thus dictate the policy of the court. He escaped to his castle, but during the excitement a report was started that the Japanese had at- tacked the royal palace and the guards were being defeated. A mob rapidly gathered, demolished the houses of the ministers who were prominent in favoring foreign inter- course, and then moved to the attack of the Japanese legation. From six o’clock until ten at night the city ruffians bombarded the wood-and-plaster edifice with bullets, arrows, and stones, which they hurled with peculiar skill. The valor of the Japanese was worthy of the best days of their chivalry. At ten 212 COREA. o’clock, after firing their buildings, they moved out in a circle, charged their assail- ants, forced the barricades and made their escape in a pouring rain across the river. Reaching In-chiun the next day at 3 p. m., they lay down to sleep in the house tendered them by the local magistrate. Two hours later they were attacked by a local mob of soldiers and ruffians. Again bravely charg- ing vastly superior numbers, they made their way to Chimulpo, the port proper, and thence escaped to Roze Island opposite. Putting to sea in a junk, they were picked up by the British survey-ship Flying Fish and carried to Nagasaki. Only twenty-six persons es- caped out of the forty who composed the legation. Everything was now under control of the old regent, and for a moment the fanatical reactionists had their own way. The regent, however, regretted the disorders and pro- fessed a change of views, fearing the displeas- ure of his Chinese master. On the 16th of August, Hanabusa, the Japanese minister, with a military escort re- entered Seoul and was received with respect. HERMIT NO MORE. 213 He demanded the punishment of the mur- derers, the honorable interment of the Jap- anese dead and indemnity of a half million dollars, military protection of the legation by Japanese troops and further trade exten- sion and facilities of travel. The hesitating court was brought to terms by a menace of war, on August 30th, and agreed to all the demands. The Chinese had not been inactive, but on the first news of the riot in Seoul, Li Hung Chang despatched a force of four thousand troops to Corea. On the 25th of August, under pressure of the Chinese army at the capital, the old regent accepted an invitation to go on board the Chinese fleet at In-chiun. Thence he was forcibly carried to the coun- try of Confucius. Whether the motive of Li Hung Chang was to protect the regent from possible violence, to illustrate the theory of Chinese suzerainty over a vassal state, or to affront and humiliate Japan is not known. To the chagrin of the Japanese and the grief of the king, the old man still remains a pris- oner in China. Hanabusa, the Japanese minister, was 214 COREA. honored by promotion and made the Mi- kado’s envoy to St. Petersburg. Japanese military encampments are now established at the capital and seaport. In this respect the Japanese follow out the precedent estab- lished by the French and English on their own soil after the opening of their ports by treaty in 1860. As the European battalions were in due time withdrawn from Tokio and Yokohama, so when the anti- foreign elements in Corea are subdued, and the central gov- ernment is sufficiently strong to compel the absolute obedience of its people to the trea- ties, both Chinese and Japanese garrisons will be withdrawn. Our government lost no time in carrying out the stipulations of the Shufeldt treaty. With slight amendments the Senate ratified the compact, and on the 26th of February, 1883, President Arthur sent in for nomina- tion the name of General Lucius H. Foote as minister plenipotentiary to Corea. He was confirmed the next day, and, speedily reaching his destination, the formal exchange of ratifications was made in Seoul May 19, 1883. The first salute ever given to the Co- HERMIT NO MORE. 215 rean flag was fired May loth, 1883, from the same guns of the same ship, Monocacy, which had been used in bombarding the Han forts twelve years before. The Coreans responded to American cour- tesy by despatching a mission to the United States, which on the 2d of September arrived in San Francisco. Proceeding to Washing- ton, and thence to New York, they had au- dience of the President in the Fifth Avenue Hotel on the 17th of September. They then visited Boston, and for several weeks devoted themselves to the study and enjoy- ment of American life and institutions. The principal persons in the embassy were Min Yong Ik, the chief minister, a nobleman of highest rank and nephew of the queen, and Hong Yong Sik, a son of the prime minister. They were accompanied by a secretary, five attached subordinates, interpreters and Chi- nese and English assistants, numbering in all eleven persons. The Coreans were attired in their national dress of loose garments, mostly white, made of silk or cotton, baggy shoes and gauze hats of ample perimeter. After a stay of 216 COREA. a month a part of the embassy returned home by way of San Francisco. The min- ister 1 and his interpreter and secretary em- barked November 30th on the United States steamship-of-war Trenton in order to visit the European capitals. Two American na- val officers were detailed as naval attaches to the American legation at Seoul to report upon the resources of Cho-sen. These, with a secretary, an attache of the Smithsonian Institution and the minister and his wife, constitute the family of the American lega- tion in Seoul. Admiral Welles of the British navy, on hearing of the success of Commodore Shu- feldt, proceeded to Corea and made a treaty on the basis of the American. This, after being submitted by Mr. Gladstone and Earl Granville to the chambers of commerce at Hong-Kong, Shanghai and Yokohama, and adversely reported on by them, was rejected 1 The writer spent a most delightful evening, November 27th, with the Corean minister and the two members of his suite at the Victoria Hotel conversing upon Corean topics, during which time much light was thrown upon a number of moot points. No information about Hamel’s party of Dutchmen or upon Co- rean Christianity could, however, be gained. HERMIT NO MORE. 217 by the British government, and preparations were made for obtaining a better one. On the 6th of October, 1883, Mr. W. G. Aston, the accomplished Corean scholar and acting British consul at Hiogo, Japan, sailed for Seoul and made preparations for the coming of Sir Harry S. Parkes, the able minister of Great Britain to China and formerly to Japan. On the 26th of November the new treaty, which was even more liberal in its provisions, both for trade and in matters of religion, than the American, was signed on behalf of Great Britain and of Germany. The later country was represented at Seoul hy Mr. E. Zappe, consul-general of the Ger- man Empire in Japan, Professor Mayet of Tokio, and Herr Budler, interpreter of the consulate at Amoy. Another distinguished German, Paul von Mbllendorf, has since 1881 been employed in charge of the Corean Foreign Office and as general adviser in governmental affairs, such as international law, treaties, revenues, coinage, customs service, lighthouses and the multifarious details of the reorganization of a national policy. Mr. Joseph Haas, late 218 COREA. Austrian consul at Shanghai, has been in- spector of Corean customs. On the evening of the 27th of November the foreigners from Christendom then in the capital (except the French missionaries, un- known and hidden in disguise), with the Chinese and Japanese ministers, assembled at a banquet given by the Corean govern- ment in Western style at the English Lan- guage School in Seoul. The band of the man-of-war Leipsic played alternately with a company of native Corean musicians. The next day the English party left the capital on horseback. On their way they rode past fifteen headless and half-charred corpses of incendiaries lying in one of the main streets of the capital. Such sights in the squalid and filthy capital of a pagan nation show the crying need of pure Christianity and of civilization of the right sort. On New Year’s Day, January 28, 1884 (lunar calendar), the king gave audience to the American minister and to the Japanese and Chinese envoys, and the capital was gay with callers and the festivities of the sea- son. The rapid importation of Japanese, HERMIT NO MORE. 219 Chinese, American and European fabrics and novelties, the opening of a telegraph- office, February 28th, at Fusan on the com- pletion of the submarine electric cable to Nagasaki, the return of the embassy to the United States in May, with many other minor indications of progress, promise great changes for the better in Corea. Nor can we doubt that yet other advances in civili- zation will be made. The issue of silver coins will greatly facilitate the transac- tion of business. The native custom- houses, when fully in charge of expert foreigners of good character, will doubt- less yield a revenue sufficient to enable the government to erect lighthouses along the coast “ to give light and to save life.” As indicative of a most sincere desire to promote commerce and friendship with our country, His Corean Majesty has appointed as his consul-general in the United States Mr. Everett Fraser, of No. 123 Front street, New York, and formerly an American merchant in China. The special committee appointed by the New York Chamber of Commerce 220 COREA. to examine into the commercial possibilities of our new treaty-neighbor reported April 3d. They suggested that a permanent Amer- ican trading-establishment should be opened at Seoul. Already our petroleum, flour, ma- chinery, watches and clocks, notions, breech- loading rifles and miscellaneous American products are becoming familiar in this our nearest Western neighbor after Japan. Min- ister Foote has informed the State Depart- ment that a line of American steamers will ply among the rivers and ports of Corea. The officers of the Monocacy have been, during the spring and summer of 1882, busily employed in surveying the mouths of the Han River. With these British, Japanese and American hydrographic la- bors, soon to be manifested in charts, the coast of the once-“ forbidden land ” will be safe to the vessels of all nations. During the month of September, 1884, the envoys of Russia and Italy were in Seoul making treaties of friendship and commerce. The once “little outpost state” has already en- tered into international relations with no fewer than seven distant nations. Map allowing relations of Corea to China and Japan. I>, w . 22l HERMIT NO MORE. 221 We shall in closing this chapter glance at the recent outbreaks of December 4-7, 1884, and the causes leading to this latest “ revolution.” With the jealous rivals, China and Ja- pan, on two sides of her, the one claiming Corea as a vassal, and the other having done the same for centuries, and now resolutely determined to allow no preponderance of Chinese influence, and with “ ravenous Rus- sia” coveting her islands and harbors, the political situation of “ the little kingdom ” is not enviable. Since 1882, Chinese and Japanese troops have been encamped in or near Seoul. Of late the necessities of China, in view of French invasion, compelled her to reduce her Corean contingent, while the Japanese legation-guard at no time num- bered over three hundred armed men. By the great care and discretion of their officers no collision between the Chinese and Jap- anese military had yet taken place, though the fact that native political opinions were divided according to the rival camps made the presence of these foreign troops a con- tinual source of danger. The feeling be- 222 COREA. tween the Conservatives, or pro-Chinese, and the Progressionists, or pro-Japanese, was at this time exceedingly strained, and a fresh source of irritation lay in the attitude of Min Yong Ik, the nephew of the queen and late envoy to the United States. This officer, who was all along supposed to be of Progressive ideas, seemed on his return to favor the Conservatives. Besides being greatly chagrined at the loss of their ex- pected leader, the radical Progressives sus- pected that the Conservatives were plotting to ruin them, and so resolved to forestall the supposed impending danger. The first step, therefore, was to remove the “ renegade” and the principal royal ministers, who were pro- Chinese. Among the improvements recently intro- duced was a national postal system. At the entertainment given at the opening of the Postal Bureau on the evening of December 4, 1884, all the foreign ministers and chief government officials were present. The ban- quet was nearly over when a fire broke out in the rear of the building, greatly to the disturbance of the guests. Min Yong Ik, HERMIT NO MORE. 223 who had been called out to attend to a mes- senger, was, while standing in the front gar- den, violently assailed by five or six men. After inflicting severe wounds they were driven off by people in the post-office, and their victim was promptly attended to by Dr. H. N. Allen, of the Presbyterian mission. Fires now broke out in other parts of the city, and guests scattered to their homes. The commotion in the streets increased, and the palace was surrounded by an angry mob. What followed may be condensed in the fol- lowing statement : “ During the disturbance the king sent for the Japanese troops to protect the pal- ace. This was resented by the Chinese, and the result was that the Chinese military drove the Japanese soldiers from the palace, and in the fighting which occurred several were killed on both sides. As the Chinese troops were much more numerous than the Jap- anese, and were also aided by the Corean soldiery, the Japanese retired, and a general outbreak succeeded. The Japanese Lega- tion and army stores were burned .” 1 1 At midnight, Mr. Takezoi, the Japanese minister, received 224 COREA. Rear-Admiral Davis, on hearing the news, left Nagasaki in the U. S. flag-ship Trenton, a message from the king asking the protection of his legation- guard, as signs of outrage and disturbance were increasing. Between the two factions even the royal person and residence were in danger. Tak^zoi hesitated at first, but on receiving another urgent — and this time written— request, he marched a party of his troops, numbering one hundred and eighty, to the palace, which was at once guarded. The king, who had fled to his cousin’s house, returned again to the palace, and the Japanese held guard through the 5th and 6th of December. During the early part of the outbreak some of the radical Progressives sent a forged order of the king, sealed with the great seal of the state, to the six high ministers to come to the palace. They came, and were all murdered. The Conservatives meanwhile were not idle, but stirred up the Chinese troops, whose officers considered it their preroga- tive to protect the king and royal palace. Branding the Pro- gressives, and especially the rioters, as rebels, the leaders of the Conservative faction easily persuaded the Chinese to move in force to the castle. First scattering the adherents of the Pro- gressives, they arrived at the palace about four o’clock on the afternoon of the 6th and surrounded it. Firing at once began between the Chinese and Coreans, numbering several thousands, and the Japanese ; and the palace was obscured in smoke, through which the king fled, only to be seized by the Chinese party, who had already gained cus- tody of the queen and king’s mother. The Japanese, now sorely pressed, retired in good order to their legation. Though several times attacked on the way by Chinese and Coreans, they lost but three men, owing to the steadiness of their fire, deliv- ered in volleys when lying down flat. They regained their quarters in the evening. That night and all the next day the incendiaries and rioters held the city in terror and the legation in a state of siege. With firearms, and with stones which the HERMIT NO MORE. 225 reaching Chimul-po on the 17th, the Ossi- pee arriving on the 22d. They found two British, four Chinese and two Japanese vessels of war in the offing. During the disturbances in Seoul our minister had remained at the legation, which was crowded with the foreign representatives and Corean, Japanese and Chinese refugees. No attempt was made to injure them. The American building was not attacked, and the flag was kept flying all the time No harm muscular ruffians hurled with peculiar skill, the rioters kept up their attacks. They were unable to fire the buildings or force an entrance, but a number of Japanese men, women and children, were killed in the streets. At 4 p. M. on the 7th, the Japanese evacuated the place. With the non-combatants, work- men and their families, in the centre and the military on the outside, they fought their way to the city-gate. This was locked, but the carpenters with hammers and axes quickly demolished it. Their path was now partially lighted by the flame of the burning buildings at and near the legation. Repeatedly attacked by the mob, the steady volleys of the little band scattered their assailants, and slowly and painfully inarched to Chimul-po, hav- ing lost in all twenty-four of their number. In the straits of hunger they were fed by the sailors of the men-of-war in the harbor. The Japanese steamer Chitos6 Maru was char- tered to convey the news to Nagasaki, whence it was flashed to Tokio. A cabinet meeting was quickly called, fresh stores of clothing and provisions, with new troops, were despatched to Chimul-po, while Inouye Kaoru, the Mikado’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, proceeded to Corea for diplomatic conference. 15 226 COREA. was intended to other foreigners of any nationality, but only against the Japanese. In the beginning the affair was an anti- Chinese uprising of radical Progressives. After the Japanese were driven from the palace and the tide turned, the riot was an anti- Japanese demonstration. Lieutenant Foulk, who was at the time in the interior, was taken for a Japanese, and had to flee for his life. When, however, within a few miles of Seoul, he was met by messengers from the king, who escorted him in safety to Seoul, in which the only foreign flag left flying was that of the Stars and Stripes. The foreigners left Seoul and returned to Chimul-po. Here for a short time, until the Chinese and Japanese should have settled their diff mlties, the foreigners with their ships, sailors, marines, military and trading establishments, made the sandy beach blos- som into a city. CHAPTER XX. NATURAL PRODUCTS FOR FOOD, CLOTHING AND COMMERCE. SPHERE has been little to encourage the A merchant or to develop trade in Co- rea since the Middle Ages. In the first place, the merchant ranks in the lowest of the four social classes. He is, as a rule, treated with the same contempt as was shown to his confrere in the days of feudal Japan. Though the people of Corea really desire trade, the jealousy of the official class, who dread any possibility of the elevation of the lower classes, has always operated to hamper commerce. Shops or stores are not very numerous. Villages and small towns do not enjoy them, and only in the large cities can they be found. Seoul and Sunto are the largest commercial cities and most noted for trade. In place of shops are markets held at in- 227 228 COREA. tervals of every few days, the particular times varying in different places. The most common are those held on the “ first and sev- enth ’’ and the “ fourth and ninth ” days of the month ; that is, the first, seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first and twenty-eighth, and the fourth, ninth, fourteenth, nineteenth, twenty- fourth and twenty-ninth. Formerly, there was considerable junk-traffic with Japan. The sea-trade with China was carried on in a surreptitious manner by means of the smugglers who came on the fishing-boats off Whanghai province. On the frontier two great fairs were semi- annually held at Kion-wen in the north, and at the Border-Gate, near Fung- whang, over the frontier on the west. At these places Chinese, Manchurian, Russian and a few European products were exchanged for those of Corea. Another important outlet of trade was through the embassy to China every year. This nominal “ embassy ” was in reality a guild of merchants surrounding an ambas- sador. The official nucleus carried an enor- mous tail of traders in its annual orbit and boo ''Suj o} AKsnqur.i UBajo; NATURAL PRODUCTS FOR FOOD, ETC. 229 revolution about the imperial palace in Pe- king. The “ tribute ” paid by the Corean government was doubtless levied largely from the merchants, who were allowed to follow the envoys by purchasing the priv- ilege. The “ tribute ” was but a percentage allowed to the imperial government for the privilege of trade in Peking and the towns on the route. From two hundred to four hundred persons made up the motley train. They traveled in carts, and occupied three months in the round trip. They brought to China oiled-paper fans, five grades of cot- ton and bamboo paper, gold-dust, silver, gin- seng, furs, cotton cloth and tobacco. They took back to Corea porcelain, silk, satin, books and foreign goods. The merchants were not slow to improve any opportunity to turn an honest or dis- honest penny. A few years ago they bought up large quantities of copper cash at Liao- yang on their way home. Chinese cash are worth three times more as copper bullion than as money. The Coreans melted down the coins, made them into copper vessels, and on their return to Peking sold them at 2-30 COREA. a handsome profit. This lucrative business was only stopped after the Corean king, warned by the imperial authorities, forbade the trade on pain of decapitation. The north-east gate of Liao-yang is called the Corean Gate, as the caravan-road leads out from it to Ai-chiu. The opening of Cho-sen to Chinese as well as to American and European trade will no doubt put an end to the regular annual embassy from Seoul, which has been the fixed custom of centuries. Most for- eigners in Peking, since legations were estab- lished in 1860 , have seen the white-clothed people of the eastern kingdom. The em- bassy consisted of about ten officers, three of whom were of the first rank. With them came about one hundred pages, servants and carters. Though the Chinese gave them a bad name for fierceness and inhospitality, yet foreign visitors at their quarters were always courteously received. Their hats, long pipes and topknots made them con- spicuous objects of interest on the streets of the Chinese capital. Mr. W. F. May- ers says : “ Their chief fault is rather an NATURAL PRODUCTS FOR FOOD, ETC. 231 inexhaustible curiosity if once introduced into foreign quarters, and a child-like way of asking for whatever takes their fancy.” The caravan usually arrived in Novem- ber, and both merchants and officials spent the whole winter in Peking, setting out on their return toward the end of February or early in March. As we have seen, the finest commercial buildings in Seoul belong to the merchants who control this overland trade to Peking. Of edible grains, rice and millet are the staples, though others are used in less quan- tities, especially wheat and rye. Peas and a great variety of leguminous plants are cul- tivated. Of roots, the famous long silver- white radish, called in Japanese dai-kon, is the most generally eaten. A few sweet potatoes and the common white tuber are cultivated, rather by stealth, the French nnssi( naries reporting that the culture is interdicted by law. Dr. Frank Cowan no- tices a mountain-potato, growing wild, which attains an average length of two inches and has a faint yellow tinge and an agreeable 232 COREA. flavor. The rice exported to Japan was also pronounced by epicures to be superior to the best Chinese. According to treaty stipulations, the king may forbid its export in times of scarcity of food. Tea is not drunk as a common beverage, the people instead of it making use of rice-water and infusions of ginger and orange-peel. The tea-plant seems to grow wild and unappre- ciated. The bamboo, with its manifold pos- sibilities of adaptation, grows in wild luxu- riance, and is also cultivated for its beauty. The lotus furnishes flowers, ornamentation and edible roots. Of fruits, the grape, straw- berry, plum, peach, apricot, persimmon, ap- ple and pear are known and used, but are yet at rather an imperfect standard of cul- tivation. Our garden- vegetables are rare. For seasoning the natives use mustard and pepper in abundance, outdoing even the Mexicans and American Spaniards in their taste for hot things. Cayenne pepper is the favorite condiment, and the planting and care of chilli, as the cayenne pepper-pods are called, are general. Both in its red and green state this pungent vegetable is NATURAL PRODUCTS FOR FOOD, ETC. 233 enjoyed, and what a Corean lacks in rice or fish he makes lip in pepper. At a dinner given to the Japanese treaty commissioners in 1876 the guests were treat- ed to the following : Boiled pork with rice- wine, macaroni soup, chicken with millet- wine, boiled eggs, pat try, Hour, sesame and honey pudding, dried persimmons and roast- ed rice with honey. Other known articles in bills of fare are taro (egg-shaped potato), lily-bulbs, seaweed and various messes as unknown in their composition to us as some of our concoctions are to Coreans. Of animal products, the most valuable are the horses and the cattle. The south- ern provinces are especially noted for their abundance in this respect, the horses being larger in size and less thick-set than in the north. A large proportion of the exports to Japan consists of the hides, bones and fat of oxen. The modern introduction into Japan of the fashion of wearing shoes and buttons, and of using soap and other chem- ical compounds requiring flits for their man- ufacture, has created a market for these products. The great demand for beef food 234 COREA. in the countries adjacent to the Western Pacific, caused by the presence of Euro- peans and the increasing practice of eating animal food in Japan, will create a market for beef which Cho-sen can supply, and thus enable her to pay for foreign imports. The Coreans are meat-eaters to a far great- er degree than the Japanese. The proportion of beef cattle to the population is not known, but is probably greater than in Japan, where it is two oxen to every hundred persons, as against seventy-three to every hundred in the United States. The horses are of a stunted breed, especially in the north, where the piebald ponies are among the striking features of out-door life. Hogs, both do- mestic and wild, are sufficiently numerous ; they are used both for food and sacrifice. Deer are abundant in the mountainous re- gions, especially in the province of Kang- wen. Sheep and goats seem to be the prop- erty exclusively of the royal family, and are reared for sacrificial purposes only. Dogs are reared in droves. Though their flesh forms a staple article of diet among the humble classes, they can hardly be NATURAL PRODUCTS FOR FOOD, ETC. 235 looked upon, from a Western point of view, as forming part of a country’s edible resources. The crop of furs is by no means insignif- icant, the tiger leading all other wild ani- mals in the value of his carcase. Prob- ably a thousand tiger-skins may be obtained every year. Bears are said to be numerous. The leopard, fox, marten, otter, wolf, bear, sable, badger and a variety of forest crea- tures help to swell the total of fur-produc- tion. The smallest of the useful animals is the most valuable. The Corean silkworm sup- plies a quality of raw fibre that is tough, glossy and possessed of peculiar properties which make it much sought after. The thirty thousand dollars’ worth of raw silk from the southern provinces exported in 1880 is only the beginning of a growing trade in this commodity. Naturally, Corea belongs in the list of great silk-producers, like China, Japan, Italy and India. The harvest of the sea is not the least of the wealth of Corea. The pearl-fisheries, though long neglected, are not yet exhausted. A 236 COREA. large item of exports is that of dried beche- de-mer, or “ sea-ear,” and various kinds of seaweed, shark-fins, dried sardines and shell for inlaying find an easy market in both of the adjoining countries. Various other products of the fisheries in the raw and im- proved state are noted in the published list of exports. A kind of streaked fish, caught in the sea off Ham-kiung, and noticed by Chinese writers in the third century, is still a plen- tiful delicacy. The “ silver-mouth ” is a favorite river-fish. Salmon abound in some of the northern rivers ; great numbers of them, when stranded on account of their multitude, furnishing food to the bears. On the west coast the variety, beauty and abun- dance of the various finny tribes are the themes of naturalists. Though lovers of science who have ram- bled on the shore, scoop-net in hand, revel in the description of the wonders of insect and reptile life, these have little or no com- mercial importance. Perhaps also, speaking from an alien’s point of view, the same may be said of the interesting variety of birds NATURAL PRODUCTS FOR FOOD, ETC. 237 which make their home in the peninsula, from the “ hens with tails three feet long ” (pheasants) and the falcons, eagles and storks, to the little house-pets and the javs that build in the willows near human habi- tations. Eagle, pheasant and falcon feath- ers are bought up by the Japanese mer- chants, who probably send them to Europe or America, where they supply the ruling fashion in feminine head-decorations. From ancient times the birds sent as presents to Japanese dignitaries have called forth their admiration. Even in human hair the buv- J ers of European markets now rival the Chinese merchants in the purchase of the long tresses of the Coreans. In the solider resources furnished by the vegetable kingdom Corea is opulent. In China the fame of Corean timber has from ancient times been great in temple, in pal- ace, in ship-yards and in wheelwright-shops. Some of the finest species of forest, shade and fruit trees, as well as of plants and veg- etables, in Japan, are known to have been brought by human agency from the penin- sula. Susanob, one of the legendary civil- 238 COREA. izers of the country, is also reputed to have brought the seeds of Japanese trees from Corea. In and around Kioto and at other places in Japan parts of temples and refecto- ries, especially ceilings, are of Corean wood. With China a bustling trade in timber was formerly carried on, and still exists in a hampered condition. The magnificent pine forests of the western coast furnished employment for many thousand natives, who loaded the junks plying to Chefu and Taku, near Tientsin, bringing back Chinese prod- ucts. Many of the imposing columns in the great temples at Peking once stood on the mountains of Cho-sen. The same wood is largely used in the Chinese works of irrigation, in the Hoang-ho embankments and for special parts of wagons, boats and ships. Quelpaert produces a very red and a very black timber which are famous. A kind of oak which can remain under water for a hundred years without decaying is well known. A writer in the Japan Mail states that Corean timber is in constant demand for the public works on the Pei-ho and Peh- tang-ho rivers in China and on the Grand NATURAL PRODUCTS FOR FOOD, ETC. 239 Canal. The cart-shafts, dray-poles and axletrees of North China are mostly made from the ash, elm, hornbeam and other hard timbers cut in Corea, as well as large masts and spars and the flag-poles for mandarins’ offices. One cause of the local famines that sometimes rage is the loss of timber, which in st)me districts has been allowed to go on to a wasteful degree. In Seoul wood for fuel is comparatively scarce. It is sold in little packets at a nip, or one cash, each. The Coreans seem to be acquainted with no other fuel, so that near large cities timber often becomes a scarce article. The larch and willow are found every- where. The bamboo, which is used for a vast number of beneficial and ornamental purposes, is prolific. Pine, oak, maple, mulberry, juniper, persimmon and many other less-known timber trees abound in this well-forested country. The cork tree grows on both coasts, the value of its bark being apparently unknown. Another, the varnish tree, yields the sap from which the natives produce the golden-tinted lacquer which nearly resembles gilding, and which, 240 COREA. like the Japanese urushi, poisons the skin. The “ rat-dung tree ” furnishes the substance from which white wax is produced. From another tree they produce oil for women’s hair, or make an infusion from its wood which when drunk tastes like ginger. The flora of Corea, like that of Japan, so far as studied, greatly resembles (as does also its conchology) that of the eastern or Atlantic coast of the United States. It has been great- ly influenced by the currents, both polar and tropical, which play round the long coast- line. In a walk one traveler noticed rhodo- dendrons, azaleas, myrtles, mallows, sages, asters, hypericums and hundreds of other flowers familiar in Europe and America. Arthur Adams, in the Voyage of H M. S. Samarang and in Travels of a Naturalist in Japan and Manchuria , has described these with accuracy and enthusiasm. The pu- yang, or water-lily, is a great favorite with the people, who cultivate it in garden-ponds. It is said to change its color three times a day. The most valuable vegetable products of a commercial nature are cotton, tobacco, NATURAL PRODUCTS FOR FOOD, ETC. 241 hemp, flax, indigo, paper, ginseng and varnish. The cotton of the peninsula has the long and fine silky fibre so much esteemed among cotton-spinners. It is nearly equal to the valuable sea-island staple of South Caro- lina. From it the famous long-fibred and cloth-like paper of Corea is made, which is so thick, tough and durable that Chinese tailors use it as a lining for winter coats. Paper is also employed for money, strings, towels, waterproof garments, table-cloths, hats, windows, partitions and other strange purposes, in lieu of india-rubber, leather, woolens, metal or wood. The thick and fibrous product, which is made either from the mulberry-bark, cut every year from the trees planted for this purpose, or of cotton and rag stock, is so w T ell glazed, and at the same time so flexible, that it may easily be mistaken for oiled silk. It is in common use for table-cloths, as it is easily cleansed. The process is substantially that of an Amer- ican inventor, who has discovered and recent- ly patented the process of making paper pos- sess many of the properties of leather. This is done by a solution of a gelatinous seaweed, 16 242 COREA. one of the algae. The finest grade of this glazed paper is used for making the large hats of the magistrates. Ginseng, though not as fine as the wild root of Manchuria, is in much demand for the Chinese market. The reddish appear- ance which is believed to add value to the root is duly put on at the po-so, or factory, where the Coreans “ manipulate ” ginseng as certain Christians do tea and coffee for the American market. The numerous lacquers, varnishes and oils made are consumed in the native arts, but the herbs and medicines peculiar to Chd-sen rarely become “ drugs ” in the markets of China and Japan. There is an unusual variety of tam-pai, as the natives call tobacco, for so small a country, and a correspondingly luxuriant vocabulary is devoted to the various brands of “ green,” “ dry,” “ mountain,” “ plain,” “ river-flat,” “ wind-dried,” “ sun-dried,” “ fine-cut ” and others best appreciated by a smoker. A variety of flavors seems to have been obtained by careful cultivation of the plant. The natives are inveterate NATURAL PRODUCTS FOR FOOD, ETC. 243 smokers, or in the native idiom “ drinkers,” and a pipe-case and tobacco-pouch are parts of the national costume. Tobacco-dealers in America may yet discover special desir- able qualities in Corean, as they have in Japanese, tobacco, making it an article of demand abroad. With respect to mineral wealth, all signs point to the unusual richness of Corean nat- ural deposits. From ancient times the most precious metal in nuggets, sheets and dust has been imported to China and Japan. In the Middle Ages it attracted even the Arabs, who sailed the China seas, imported gold from Shin-ra, and perhaps also coined it at Bagdad. The prophecy of Dr. Frank Cowan, the American visitor at Gensan in 1881, is well known : “ With respect to gold, I am of the opinion that next of the coun- tries on the golden rim of the Pacific, after Peru, California and Australia, to disturb the monetary equilibrium of the world, will be Corea. From Fusan to Genzanshin [Wen-shan], a distance of three hundred and ten miles, the geologic structure is not incompatible with the theory that the whole 244 COREA. region is productive of the precious metal.” The Japanese mention Sho-gen, Shitsugen and Kinkai in Kiung-sang province, and Tansen and Kanko in Ham-kiung, as places in which gold is found. Gold-mining seems to be forbidden by the government, or, at any rate, the policy of the rulers has resembled that of the dog in the manger ; yet gold-dust seems to be ob- tained from all points of the compass. Most of that exported is probably from surface- washings. The future, with scientific min- ing, can alone solve this problem. Silver is abundantly used for women’s rings and ornaments, officials’ badges, dec- orations and fine utensils. Several silver- mines are worked in the southern provinces. Yet the only coins of the country until 1883 were of iron and copper, or of an alloy of tin and zinc. Paclc-fong, the white metal used for pipes, cups, pots and other utensils, is a composition of zinc, copper and silver. Cop- per is imported from Japan, though the native metal lies under the hills. Lead is common, and coal has been found by the Japanese. In general terms, it may be said that Co- NATURAL PRODUCTS FOR FOOD, ETC. 245 rea is a poor country, with comparatively little accumulated wealth. Its natural re- sources, however, are good. Once blessed with improved government and enlightened ideas on social and political economy, the little nation may yet become wealthy, and her people individually share the measure of comfort usual to prosperous nations in Christendom. The sumptuary laws of heathen nations are, as a rule, radically distinct from those of Christian countries. In our land espe- cially a man who has earned money may spend it almost entirely as he pleases. In Corea and India, as in Old Japan and most Eastern countries, the successful merchant or diligent mechanic cannot do this. The size and style of his house, the cut of his clothes, and public privileges and customs, such as riding a horse, taking pleasure in vehicles or boats, are usually regulated, and often curtailed, by law. Hence there is far less motive for diligence, steady persever- ance and business enterprise. Gutzlaff well says of the Corean common people: “We cannot charge them with lazi- 246 COREA. ness, but we fear they want the necessary stimulus to exertion. Government does not permit them to enjoy the fruits of their labors ; they are therefore indifferent to the possession of anything beyond the necessa- ries of life. Would their present state have been what it is had they been allowed inter- course with foreigners? . . . Walking over these fertile islands, beholding the most beau- tiful flowers everywhere growing wild, and the vine creeping among weeds and bushes, we accuse the ‘ lord of nature,’ man, of shame- ful neglect ; for he could have changed this wilderness into an Eden. Let the gospel penetrate into these regions, and, as far it is accepted in truth, misery will cease.” These words, in prophecy and in fact, are as true in 1885 as in 1832. It is to the honor of the United States envoy, Commodore Shufeldt, that he, after much patience, succeeded in convincing the Coreans that their country is capable of absorbing a large foreign trade, and from her own resources of contributing greatly to the comfort of the world beyond her bor- ders. Corea now acknowledges this com* NATURAL PRODUCTS FOR FOOD, ETC. 247 mercial truth “ with the enthusiasm that invariably follows conversion from incre- dulity.” " On the other hand, American merchants, if they push their way with energy, will cer- tainly find a market for the cotton goods, hardware, machinery and petroleum of our country. Already American clocks, watches, lamps and “ notions ” are beginning to be familiar among the once “ hermits.” The Coreans have, since the writing of this book commenced, ordered from their new treaty- friends in America carpets, printing-presses, photographic and chemical apparatus, breech- loading rifles and Gatling guns. Finally, the royal palace and grounds at Seoul are to be illuminated with Edison’s electric lights. CHAPTER XXI. COREAN ART, PAST AND PRESENT. rilHE art and art-industries of a nation are not simply the expression of fancy and the production of pretty things. Art is rather one of the many expressions of na- tional mind and character, and the history of art in any country is a history of what the people living in it have produced in times of peace. From this point of view Corean art is worthy of notice, even by the general reader. We propose to glance at its past and present and its connection with that of China and Japan. The art of the peninsula is a link in the chain between that of the mainland and the island empire, and is the ancestor of that of the Japanese. It had a life and develop- ment distinctively its own. Its masterpieces are numerous in the temples, museums and collections of private individuals in Japan, 248 CORE AN ART, PAST AND PRESENT. 249 and from these we have studied some of its characteristics. In ancient times Shin-ra sent freely to Yamato 1 her artistic treasures, artificers and artists. The earliest traditions of intercourse between the two countries refer to the spoils, in the form of works of price and skill, whose decoration and mechanism were the wonder and admiration of the Japanese. According to tradition, eighty ships laden with spoils taken by the queen Jingu, in the third century, contained many treasures in the form of cut and polished jewels, silk- en fabrics, pictures, faience and inlaid weap- ons and armor. In later reigns there are numerous entries in the chronicles of Japan announcing the arrival from Corea of skilled artisans, both male and female, artists, de- signers and decorators, as well as scholars, teachers, astronomers, priests and physicians. The guild of costumers sent over a society of dressmakers and flower-weaving girls. Again, “ a family of seventeen hats,” under which were persons of skill, is noted as coming. Occasional notices of such immi- 1 The ancient name of Japan. 250 COREA. grations from Sliin-ra and Ko-rai to Japan occur also throughout the later Middle Ages. After the Japanese invasion of 1592-97, besides whole fleets laden with spoil, seve- ral colonies of potters and porcelain-makers were brought over and settled in Hizen and Satsuma, and at Agano in Buzen, Yatsushiro in Higo, and in the village near Hagi, in Cho-shiu. These “ Corean villages ” in Ja- pan are as well known as the Huguenot set- tlements in England and Holland. It was mainly under their skillful hands, aided by the native artists, that the faience of Satsu- ma and the porcelain of Imari gained their renown throughout the world. Indeed, to the student of the art of Cho-sen, that of the Japanese seems far less original than before his acquaintance with the products of this once-hidden land. The existence of any special traits or principles of decoration, or a peculiar set of symbols in Corean art, has been thus far hardly known. When fully studied, these will greatly modify our ideas of Ori- ental art, and especially of the originality COREAN ART, PAST AND PRESENT. 251 of the Japanese designers. Corea was not only the road by which the art of China reached Japan, but it is the original home of many of the art-ideas wdiich the world believes to be purely Japanese. The revelations of Kurium and the Cyp- riote treasures supplied the missing link between Egypt and Greece. Corea is the Cyprus of the Far East, between the vast and ancient China and the newer and more graceful Japan. The parallel which likens Egypt to China, Japan to Greece, and Co- rea to Cyprus might easily receive further illustration from their history and policy. While we accord to the Japanese the meed of praise wdiich their lively fancy and dec- orative skill have won among the refined nations of the Western World, yet truth compels us to state that to the ancient Co- reans are due the first principles, and much of actual models and achievement, of which Japanese art is but the copy or develop- ment. Indeed, it may be seriously believed, without going very far afield, that after the decay of Buddhism, and the rise even to big- otry of the Chinese ethics, the chief cause of 252 COREA. Corea’s decay in art was the sending of her artisans so freely to the Japanese archipel- ago. Like the Huguenot skill that enriched other countries to the loss and detriment of France, the Corean emigration eastward of skill and artistic resources became the true sunrise of art in the Mikado’s empire . 1 As one looks upon Corean art-works, and compares them with the products of Persian and Arab skill, there seems to be an unmis- takable flavor of the former in the latter. One asks, as we have often asked in Japan while studying Corean artistic products, Did not one learn from the other ? Did the Per- sians instruct the Chinese, Coreans and Jap- anese, or did the knowledge of art flow from the East westward ? Were the East and the West equally original, and did they work unconsciously in the same groove, or did one borrow from the other? Are the resem- blances between the art-works of Persia and Corea and Japan real, or they acci- dental ? 1 In the Century magazine for November, 1882, this subject has received fuller treatment in a paper by the writer under the title “The Corean Origin of Japanese Art.” CO RE AN ART, PAST AND PRESENT. 253 Fortunately, we have some clue to find our way to the truth. It has been shown 1 that the Persians and Coreans had commu- nication with each other — that they met face to face at the court of the Chinese emperor at Nanking. In all probability, they ex- changed presents, and it may be sent skilled men to gain knowledge and practice one of the other. We know from the Persian poet (in Saadi’s Gulistan) of his typical merchant — one among many — who with a hundred camels laden with merchandise, and who had forty slaves in his employ, intended “to take brimstone to Persia and China, and from China to take porcelain to Greece, and from Greece to take gold-tissue to In- dia.” We have seen also from Khordadbeh, an Arabic author, that the Musselmans set- tled in the Corean peninsula for trade, and that among the articles of export were por- celain and saddles, which we know were highly decorated. It seems clear from this that Corea in- fluenced Persia, and Persia influenced Co- rea. Especially in the scroll- and fretwork 1 Corea, the Hermit Nation, p. 1. 254 COREA. and arabesque decoration the far-eastern peninsula seems to have borrowed from her far inland neighbor. The influence of Saracen art upon the Corean is seen in a variety of Corean prod- ucts. Japanese encyclopaedias show the fig- ures of large vases with marked arabesque designs. In the French-Corean dictionary a native term ( tchyoui-piyeng ) is defined as arabesque designs such as seen upon screens, though the term is now also applied to the patterns formed by clipping interlacing trees into curious shapes. In a collection of Co- rean bronzes the arabesque and loop pattern will be noticed as frequently recurring, as well as upon the woven stuffs and brocades. One especially pretty figure is that of the swastikas (or Buddhist cross) in diamonds, alternating with scroll patterns in squares. Fans, embroidered robes, dress patterns and lacquered work, all show Persian influence. The so-called “ Greek fret ” is a common symbol on much of the art-work of Eastern Asia, and, like the swastika , or “ Buddhist cross,” pattern, is not specially characteristic of any nation. On Corean bronzes this fret- CORE AN ART, PAST AND PRESENT. 255 work in all its varieties is very noticeable. It probably stands to the philosophic mind as the graphic symbol of evolution, or the inter- play of the dual principle of male and fe- male, active and passive, which runs through all nature, and finds its literary expression so fully in Chinese speculation. On porcelain and embroidery, war-banners and head-dresses, and in architecture, the Corean eye seems to love its mysticism and chaste adornment. Decoration is the passion of the Orient, and for this, rather than for creative or ideal art, must we look from this nation to whose language gender is unknown and in which personification is unthought of, though all nature is animate with malignant or beneficent presences. Abstract qualities embodied in human form are unknown to the Corean, but his refined taste enjoys what- ever thought and labor have made charming to the eye by its suggestion of pleasing im- ages to the imagination. His art is decora- tive, not creative or ideal. His choice pieces of bric-a-brac may be rougher and coarser than those of Japan, but their individuality is as strongly marked as that of the Chinese, 256 COREA. while the taste displayed is severer than that of the later Japanese. These objects of skill and price, of use and beauty com- bined, made by the skillful artificers of Sliin-ra, delighted the courtiers of Nan- king, Kidto and Bagdad, and are worthy of our study. We proceed to notice some of the most striking art-motives or decorative symbols seen on Corean wares. First of all, and most characteristic, is the “ wave-pattern,” so called. It resembles the effect produced in plumage by the overlapping ends of feath- ers, which show only their curved tips, or that of fisli-scales, where one circle impinges upon and occults parts of the others. That the Corean symbol represents waves, and not scales, disks or feathers, is shown by the fact that each circle or semicircle has con- centric lines drawn within it. The wave- pattern is fitly chosen as the most impres- sive idiom in the language of Corean art, for “the hermit nation” is set not in “a streak o'f silver sea,” but dwells encompassed by “ ten thousand flashings of blue waves.” The waves mounting one upon another in COREA N ART, PAST AND PRESENT. 257 ceaseless ebb and flow is to the Corean a symbol of the eternal sea. However con- ventionally they may be treated, they form that picture of the restless main which strikes the eye of this dweller in a mountain-land. Looking down from a height upon the wide plain of the sea, the water seems to slant upward, curve upon curve, to heaven. The wave-pattern in art, as in his own phrase, represents to the Corean “ ten thousand flashings of blue waves.” The Japanese, adopting this symbol along with a host of art-motives from Cho-sen, greatly improved it. On their porcelain, bronze and wood-carving they have made the waves hooked and finger-like, as if in- stinct with life. They have added bubbles and spray, and have painted the tiny sea- bird fluttering up and down with the rising billows. Jacquemart in his History of the Ceramic Art, and Prime in his Pottery and Porcelain, give a picture of a Corean water- pot decorated in waves moulded on the sur- face of the paste, with flowers floating, and upright bands of arabesque dividing the mimic ocean into “the four seas.” 17 258 COREA. A more prosaic use of the wave-design is found on the back of the perforated iron and brass coins, the well-known “ cash,” where it represents circulation — perhaps also fluctuation in value. Other uses of the wave in Corean art are less conventional in form. The handle of a tall teapot shows a cluster of curling waves frozen into solidity. A bowl . has a base which makes it look as though it were floating on a mass of foamy waves. On armor, curtains and in architecture, espe- cially in panels, the wave-pattern is notice- ably frequent. On Japanese wares and on our own printers’ head- and tail-pieces for fancy printing — often mixed with European designs — it may now be frequently recog- nized in this country. Another pattern very frequently repeated seems to be founded upon the chrysanthe- mum, the favorite flower of the Coreans even before it became the imperial badge of Japan, if indeed the so-called kiku-mon of the Mikado be not a sunflower treated conventionally. Long centuries ago chrys- anthemums were among the gifts of the COREAN ART \ PAST AND PRESENT. 259 sovereigns of Shin-ra to the Japanese em- peror. In Corean art petal upon petal, as if copied directly from the perfect autumn flower — only one of which is allowed to grow upon a stalk — seems to have been the delight of the artist, who made bronze and wood and porcelain bloom again with fra- grance to the eye. Another design seems adapted from the rosettes W'hicli the taper fingers of Japanese and Coreans plait from bamboo shreds. Some fine examples of carving in these floral designs are found in the royal palace in Seoul. The “ shark’s tooth ” is another figure often used, especially on vases where the spherical surface requires a broad base and sharp slope to a point. On either the inside or outside of flaring brims of vases these highly-pointed arches are very effective. A number of designs in the Gh'ammar of Japanese Ornament, illustrating decorative effects in upholstery, brocade, painting and carving, may be recognized as of Corean ori- gin. Other striking designs may be studied on Corean war-banners and equipments, which are at once emblems of art, religion 260 COREA. and patriotism. The method of treating the clouds is slightly different from that in vogue either in China or Japan. The lightning is not only forked and zigzagged, but returns upon itself like a celestial boomerang. The stars are represented in galaxies and con- stellations, each linked to the other by trans- verse lines. One spirited design shows the lightning darting out of the suddenly-illu- mined clouds ; another represents the sun and clouds in contrasting effulgence and shade. On another the guardian deity charges to victory on his tiny piebald horse. All these martial designs show spirit, orig- inality and vigor of artistic treatment. In depicting animals the Coreans seem to equal, if not to excel, the Japanese, their motion and expression being represented with spirit and keen appreciation. Color is liberally used, and the artist’s brush suc- ceeds fully in portraying upon the canvas what the native imagination pictures to it- self. The ancient and still-lingering wor- ship of Heaven and all the powers of the air, visible and invisible, is strikingly re- flected in the forest of banners borne by CORE AN ART, PAST AND PRESENT. 261 the Corean military forces. A large col- lection of these were captured by United States marines and sailors in 1871, which have furnished to the writer interesting matter for study. Illustrating both super- stition and art, they are full of originality and bold artistic treatment. The “ fire- tiger ” on the flag of the mountaineers and hunters — a winged tiger rampant clasping curling fire in his claws — and the double- winged serpent were among the figures most frequently repeated. Both these creatures are worshiped in Ping-an and Ham-kiung provinces. Though the dragon, with other symbol- ical animals common to the art of Chinese Asia, is often absent from the ceramic prod- ucts of Corea, yet this creature is a favorite subject with artists in ink and color. To our Western eyes, the dragon is only a gro- tesque and hideous monster, a product of the delirium tremens of the pagan imagination. To the Oriental he is the embodiment of con- centrated force. To the casual Western eye all dragons are alike, yet to the Oriental critic the dragon of a painter of genius is unique. 262 COREA. Seizing this subject as expressive of cos- mic power, of the fierce pride of victory, of invincible courage, the Corean artist, like the Chinese and Japanese, revels in the joy of his craft as he depicts its writhing folds half hidden in the clouds. In decorative art the dragon is especially made use of, as its shape lends itself admirably to curved surfaces, and its coils and arches are easily utilized for handles and bas-relief effects. Perfectly plain utensils have often as their only decoration a young dragon on their side or edge. Fans are the objects of much decoration and carving and inlaying. There are, as the language shows, several varieties of these useful articles of etiquette and per- sonal comfort. The Coreans use all sorts, though the Japanese claim the invention of the folding fan, which, modeled on a bat’s wing, opens and shuts. The finest are in- laid with pearls. A few of those we have seen were painted with landscapes, water- scenes or in arabesque patterns. Some of the presents of the king of Corea to Taiko, handsomely decorated with pearls, are still exhibited in Kioto. COREAN ART, PAST AND PRESENT. 263 The early Japanese learned the art of wood-carving from the artists of the penin- sula, and some of the most notable examples of fine woodwork in Nippon are referred to Corean originals. So far as known to us, this art is now historical rather than actual, though in the un visited temples secluded among the mountains specimens worthy of study may still be found. The Coreans cannot boast of skill in lac- quering equal to that of the Japanese, yet their varnish closely resembles gilding. The ot or lacquer comes from the ofnanu, a tree which, like the Japanese, poisons the skin. The chil-woli seems to be of still another kind. We have seen a few specimens of their tong- yu varnish-work, mostly fans, but these were not of the best kind. Their musical instru- ments and fine boxes are very neatly fin- ished with the hard gilt-like polish which this vegetable product confers. In metal-working it is not probable that the Coreans have kept pace with the Jap- anese, although at the tombs of the Toku- gawa shoguns in Tokio there is a pair of massive bronze gates which are superb spe- 264 COREA. mens of artistic workmanship. They were presented by the king of Corea, and have on one side the waves which belong to Co- rean art. At Nikko, where Old Japan’s greatest statesman, Iyeyasu, is buried, a most elaborate chandelier of bronze is said to have formed part of the tribute from Cho-sen. In the latter case the candle- holders are sconces like ours, whereas Jap- anese candles are hollow and rest on a spike. It is not impossible that the sconces were added afterward or that the Coreans make use of them. In addition to the chandelier, there is a fine bronze bell from Corea, also a gift, with an inscription composed by a minister of the court of Seoul, dated about 1642. If these gates and the chandelier are not of genuine Corean workmanship, there are in other places of Japan undoubted speci- mens of Corean bronze-casting. The old- est pieces are the finest. It is probable that the Japanese term for bronze, lcara-lcane , usually translated “ Chinese metal,” means, more properly speaking, “ Corean alloy,” the oldest bells — occasionally dug up on COREAN ART, PAST AND PRESENT. 265 Japanese soil — being of copper. From an- cient times the Japanese visitors to the peninsula, whether priests or soldiers, were impressed with the massiveness and beauty of the bells, images and vases of bronze, and some of the handsomest pieces of this sort in the museums of Xara and Kidto are known to have been brought over from Corea. Connoisseurs recognize them by their general style, texture of metal and character- istic symbols of decoration. In looking over these Corean bowls, vases, braziers, decanters, incense-burners, censers, kettles and trenchers, as depicted in Jap- anese works and described as Corean, one cannot fail to be struck with their graceful forms and the purity of their lines, as well as the chasteness of their decoration — the “ Greek fret ” in every form, the swastika in squares, the dotted diamond, the wave pat- tern and the loop-figure and rosette prevail- ing, though in some cases all these designs are used on one surface. The pearl-inlaid and decorated saddles, bows and arms which pleased the Arabs in the ninth century are still made in the pen- 266 COREA. insula to-day, but the finest metal-work is damascened. The inlaying of gold and sil- ver on iron is carried on, and some of the metal helmets and cuirasses captured by the French at Kang-wa in 1866 excited their profound admiration. In ceramics it is said that the manufac- ture of porcelain is but a memory, the Jap- anese invasion of 1592-97 having sapped the industry and carried the craft and the craftsmen bodily to Japan, with their ideas, models and skill. Indeed, nearly all the achievements of the Japanese in the ceramic art are historically referable to Coreans, as we have before seen. The old blue unglazed pottery found in tombs and dolmens in Cen- tral Japan are traceable to “ the Treasure- land of the West.” In Taiko’s time, even before the war, a family of Corean potters settled in Kioto made a black or brown ware, chiefly in the form of bowls, upon which the Mikado’s regent allowed the maker to set a golden seal granted by him- self. Such bowls, humble as they appear to us, still bring the incredible price of three hundred dollars in Japan. They were CORE AN ART, PAST AND PRESENT. 267 in great request for those tea-clubs of Kioto which Taiko originated in the interests of peace. The Coreans were never profuse decora- tors of porcelain. Their borders are chaste and their ornaments few and simple. The mythical animals are not often seen. Un- like the Japanese or Chinese, their favor- ite porcelain was, and is, a fine ivory-white glazed ware which is without the lustre, or rather the glitter, of the Japanese. This ware dates from the Korai period, or from about the twelfth century on to the Japan- ese invasion. The numerous pieces which we have seen consisted chiefly of incense- or ash-holders with moulded flowers under the glaze, cups and bowls of simple form, fruit-dishes, vases, a large plate with land- scape, water and government officers in a boat, and, finest of all, a plump dignitary on one of the stout, stunted little ponies of Northern Corea. The tall, long-spouted tea- pot with wave-handle, or decoration with moulded waves under the glaze, is among the prizes of collectors. It seems highly probable that heretofore we have had on 268 COREA. our tables the most characteristic pieces in Corean ceramics — namely, the tall, long- spouted porcelain teapots which our grand- mothers loved so well. The Coreans are careful to distinguish im- ported from native ware, and the historic dif- ferences in pieces are well known to the cul- tured. Sa-kiui is faience or semi-porcelain ; oai-kiui is Japanese ; while tang-lciui or mod- ern Chinese ware is named after dynasties. Crackle-ware is among the favorites. Pong- sa is given by Bishop Ridel as the title of “ superintendent of the factory of royal por- celain.” Where such a factory is, if any now exists, or whether there be others, we do not know. In artistic work with the brush or pen (and in Chinese Asia the pen is a brush) caligraphy ranks among the finest of fine arts, and good specimens are greatly appre- ciated. These are written with the brush and “ India ” ink. With a backing of silk they are hung up as wall ornaments. Any picture, scroll or painting mounted in Co- rean style and hung up is called pok-ja. The various styles of drawing and paint- COREAN ART, PAST AND PRESENT. 269 ing are carefully discriminated and classified by the natives. Chu-hong are pictures in red; chai-pon are polychrome. There are also sketches in black and white only of land- scapes, mountains, bamboo, moonlight, etc. At the present time little that is truly artistic is produced in the peninsula, and the glory of native art is largely a thing of the past. Yet it is highly possible that “ the hermit ” may appear “ in the market- places” of the world with a surprise for us. A recent Japanese visitor to Seoul, and a member of the Mikado’s embassy sent to make a treaty in 1876, makes the severe criticism which we give below. Yet we must remem- ber what has been said about caligraphy : “ The art of drawing seems to be in a very backward state among the Coreans. They have pictures in which various colors are used, and some in India ink only, and seem greatly to prefer the former. But if we com- pare either of these with their writing, the painting is far behind. The pictures which we saw on the screens in the best room in Cho-sen might be purchased for a tempo (penny) or so in Japan.” 270 COREA. Koei-Ling, the Chinese ambassador to Seoul in 1866 , writes of the extreme sim- plicity of Corean interiors, “ Except in the palace of the king, I have not seen any object of art.” Though at the present time the artistic industries of this newly-opened country are in a very degenerate state, yet some articles are still produced in the potteries and foun- dries worthy of the art-collector’s regard. In faience small articles of exquisitely grace- ful form, with celadon glaze of a peculiar green tint, are made, and industriously and cheaply counterfeited in Japan and China. Much of the scroll fretwork and even figure decoration upon their vases and jars, which we have seen in a collection in this country, reminds one of the severe simplicity of early Greek art. The marvelous tints used in their glazes in the better days of native art seem to be still known and practiced by Corean potters, but the making of real por- celain is perhaps at present nearly unknown in the peninsula, and the chief works pro- duced from the kilns are the huge glazed water-pots seen in every dwelling. For COREAN ART, PAST AND PRESENT. 271 most works of household utility, for which the Japanese aud ourselves use porcelain, such as cups and dishes, the Chd-senese use white metal or brass. The potters usually live in villages by themselves in favored situations where clay and wood are convenient ; for, though coal exists in the peninsula, it is never used for firing pottery. When either clay or wood is exhausted, they select another site for their industry, building their huts and the furnaces, or one common oven, very near each other. The day on which their baked products are withdrawn from the kilns is a gala-day marked by great rejoicing and dis- sipation. As in Old Japan, there are no large facto- ries in Corea ; the only workshops or manu- factories are the lowly huts of the workmen, and in these all the products of skill, how- ever fine, are produced. In many instances the stock patterns re- produced from century to century in Japan are of Corean conception. As matter of prosaic fact, the modern Oriental artist is content with mere repetition of certain real 272 COREA. or conventional forms of natural objects, and much of the supposed love and faithful ad- herence to Nature is in reality but technical skill in copying. Yet when art was strong and original in Shin-ra and Korai, as in Ja- pan, it was a faithful reflection of Nature in her moments of beauty and glory. Upon such undoubted specimens of Corean art as we have studied natural scenery is rendered with accuracy and subdued enthusiasm. The far-off mountains uprearing their summits in pride “ ten thousand heights of a man ” above the lowly hut of the laborer, or by their eternal repose dwarfing into insignif- icance even the temples erected on their slopes ; the expanse of sky and water ; the lofty trees and the tiny undergrowth, — all caught in Nature’s happiest mood and fixed in rich color on vase or fan, seem but a re- flection of the beauty of earth in the mirror of the artist’s mind. And yet, when turning from descriptive to decorative the artist knows well the nature of his material and the limitations imposed upon him by form and shape. A teapot in a sketch before us is a typical CORE AN ART, PAST AND PRESENT. 273 example of Corean decorative art. In its shape, in the delineation and position of trees, mountains and temple, the true in- stinct of the artist is shown. And as any representation of Nature is not perfect to his mind without water in some form, the artist has wrought in the handle a strand of curling waves. A shallow dish has in the flat top brim a variety of the “ Greek fret,” and on the sides waves and rolling foam. On another fruit-dish the decora- tion is in leaves, probably of the fruit it- self. While the figures, patterns and borders chosen by the artists are all aj^propriate and beautiful, the exquisite shapes of the vessels will not fail to win admiration. After a study of these all will acknowledge the pos- session of a refined art-sense in Cho-sen. In their decoration of war-flags, trumpets, skin and metal drums and other musical instruments, and the patterns used in their brocade and woven goods, a high knowledge of the principles of decorative art is shown. Somewhere in this country must still exist the cultivated taste to appreciate these treas- ures of artistic skill. Even from a study 18 274 COREA. of such genuine works of Corean art as we possess in Europe and America, it is clear that in the light of its study Japanese art loses much of its originality. To the artists of this hermit land we must give the credit of many an artistic conception and method of treatment hitherto considered to be pure- ly Japanese. CHAPTER XXII. THE EIGHT PROVINCES. HE Coreans, who have for centuries kept themselves in ignorance of the rest of the world, are surprised at the knowledge which foreigners possess about their coun- try. Yet the matter is easily explained. The Japanese during their great invasion in the sixteenth century made themselves thor- oughly familiar with the topography of the peninsula. The Jesuit Fathers in Peking, who undertook a survey of the Chinese em- , pire, included the little vassal “ kingdom in the east ” in their labors. They made a map of Corea from a copy brought from the palace in Seoul, which they translated and published in Europe. Numerous foreign war-vessels have surveyed portions of the Corean coast, and thus a miscellaneous body of information lay ready for the use of the cartographer. 275 276 COREA. In 1876 the Japanese War Department in Tokio, making use of this collected ma- terial, began the construction of an elabor- ate map of Cho-sen. Fortunately, at this time the Corean refugee, Kin-Rinshio, a thorough scholar and familiar with the geog- raphy of his own country, was present in Tokio and lent his invaluable assistance. The map was drawn to scale, with latitude and longitude, and the mountains, rivers and coast-line were accurately delineated. This is at present the best map of Corea yet produced, and educated natives are sur- prised at the fullness and precision of infor- mation which it exhibits. Fortunately, the original purpose of its publication — that of guide to the Japanese armies of invasion — has been forgotten in the triumphs of peace- ful diplomacy. From this map and other data, Chinese, Japanese, American and European, we are able to outline the geography of the eight provinces. We refrain, however, from the use of many uncouth names, and refer the student to the Manual of Korean Geograph- ical Names and other Proper Names Roman- THE EIGHT PROVINCES. 277 ized, by Mr. William G. Aston , 1 which is an English index to the Chinese characters used in this superb map. The map in Co- rea, the Hermit Nation, is also reduced from this fine specimen of Japanese cartography. Corean names are as yet unfamiliar to our eyes and ears, and for some time to come there will be confusion in books and newspapers from the fact that there are at least three ways of pronouncing the Chi- nese characters with which each w T ord is written — viz. Chinese, Corean and Japan- ese. As we have Leghorn and Livorno, Munich and Munchen, London and Lon- dres, in Europe, so a person writing from Tokio will pronounce In-chiun, Kin-sen ; a Pekingese, Jen-shan ; and a native will use the local and national term. It is hoped that the Corean way of sounding Corean words will soon be the method in general use, and that the missionary triumphs of Christianity will before the end of this century make the names of many places : Yokohama, printed at the Japan Mail Office. Messrs. Kelly & Co. of Yokohama, No. 28 Main street, supply books, maps and literature relating to Corea and the Corean language. 278 COREA. now unknown as familiar as household words. We glance now at the physical, descrip- tive and historical geography of the eight provinces, beginning at the central or cap- ital one. It is called on old maps King-ki- tao, which is the Chinese sound of the three characters used in its name. It is the small- est though among the most populous of the eight provinces, and much of its area is the basin of the Han River, the largest in the peninsula. This, “ the Great River,” flows across nearly the whole breadth of the coun- try. It has its fountains in Kang-wen prov- ince, in the great mountain-chain of the peninsula. After draining the two prov- inces, the full volume of all its tributaries empties into the Yellow Sea about thirty- five miles from Seoul. One of its mouths finds a channel for its waters south of Kang- wa Island, and the other around the north- ern end. The current is very violent, and the apparent breadth of the river is greatly increased by banks of mud and sand which are covered in the spring freshets. The water, coming swiftly from the mountain- THE EIGHT PRO VINCES. 279 heights, is very cold, and helps to cause the fogs which often enshroud the coast for hours and days. These fogs, with the tre- mendous tides and numerous islands, make navigation dangerous and difficult. Westward of the three lower western prov- inces there stretches out “ the Corean Ar- chipelago,” a maze of islands of all sizes and degrees of habitation and fertility. The governor of each province has jurisdiction over the islands fronting his land domain. Those belonging to the capital province lie between the thirty-seventh and thirty-eighth parallels. The Ferrieres group is usually sighted first by ships from Shanghai. The channel bears over toward Roze Island, thence to Boisee, and so past Kang-wa Isl- and to the true mouth of the Han River, the waters of which can, by eye and ther- mometer, be distinguished nearly as far south as Roze Island. Indeed, a recent visitor describes In-chiun as “situated at the entrance of the Han River, opposite Roze Island.” These names, together with those of Prince Jerome Gulf and Imperatrice Gulf, are of 280 COREA. French origin, and were bestowed by the officers of Admiral Roze’s squadron in 1866. The new seaport of Chimul-po, which is five miles from the town of In-chiun, lies on the south-eastern curve of Imperatrice Gulf. The distance to Seoul over mountain, hill and valley is about twenty-five miles. The landing facilities at the port are as yet rude, but its trade promises to be lively and per- manent. The tide at this place rises and falls twenty-eight feet. We find In-chiun marked on old Corean and Japanese maps of the sixteenth century. One of the tokens of its recent history is in its cemetery, where stand fourteen granite monuments erected to the memory of the members of the Japanese Legation who were killed in Seoul and at this place in 1882. Other cities in this province are Kai-seng or Sunto, Kwang-chiu, Pu-pion, Kang-wa on the island of the same name, Su-wen and Kum-po. Yang-kun, a town near the east- ern borders, may be called the cradle of Roman Christianity in Corea. Nearly every part of the capital province THE EIGHT PROVINCES. 281 is historic ground, and is full of interest to the patriot, the student and the traveler. Kang-wen-do, the next province to the east and bordering on the Sea of Japan, is well named the “ Province of the River- Sources.” It consists of a lofty chain of mountains fronting the sea like a wall, and the slopes and valleys in which lie the head- waters of Corea’s greatest river. Kang-Aven is but sparsely inhabited, but is supposed to be rich in minerals. Whang-hai, or Yellow Sea province, re- ceives its name because the larger part of its frontier lies on that sea. It fronts the promontory of Shan-tung, the Chinese prov- ince in Avliich Confucius was born. It is probable that in very ancient times the land lying between these two countries A\ T as above Avater, and the Yellow Sea is still extreme- ly shallow. The inhabitants of Whang-hai dAvell chiefly along the highroads in the centre of the province, the coast being thinly populated and the eastern half be- ing very mountainous. In the spring-time, when the shoal Avaters near the coast are alive with herring beneath and Chinese 282 COREA. fisliing-junks on the surface, smuggling is extensively carried on. The French priests made this shore their gate of entrance into this land, which they assert to be as full of valuable metals as of missionary promise. Along the thirty-eighth parallel the shore is indented by a great in- let of the sea. The Sir James Hall group of islands lie off this gap. These were visited in 1816 by Captains Maxwell and Basil Hall of the British navy in the ships Lyra and Alceste. They are named in honor of the father of Captain Hall, pres- ident of the Edinburgh Geographical So- ciety. Hai-chiu, the capital, and Whang- chiu are the chief cities. Ping-an is the north-western circuit or do, bordering on the Chinese province of Shing-king and on Manchuria. Its name signifies “ Tranquillity.” Its northern and part of its eastern frontier is made by the Yalu Biver. Since the abolition of the neutral strip of fifty miles in width west of the Yalu the Coreans and Chinese are neighbors, but free travel across the frontier is as yet far from THE EIGHT PROVISOES. 283 being allowed to the Chinese. One tres- passer who crossed from the western side of the river in 1883 without a passport was seized and decapitated. Even if the Chi- nese or other foreigners are, during this century, allowed general access and transit in a country so long “ forbidden,” it will doubtless be with many restrictions. In place of the old wall of isolation, the lighter protection of excise and customs will make a lesral barrier to restrain too eager immi- grants. Corea, “the little outpost state,” has as great, and perhaps as groundless, a fear of a “ Mongolian invasion ” as have certain politicians among ourselves. The custom- houses which still line the northern frontier are for revenue from the natives, and not for admittance to, or collection of excise from, foreigners. A considerable Corean population is found dwelling on Russian and Chinese soil beyond the Yalu and the Tumen Rivers. Though in some cases these persons have fled from justice, oftener they are refugees from persecution or peace- able farmers, fishermen or hunters. The Scotch missionaries in Manchuria and the 284 COREA. schoolmasters and priests of the Greek Church in Siberia are making these cen- tres of Corean population their missionary- ground. In its physical features Ping-an consists of four lines of mountains trending south - westwardly to the Yellow Sea. In the val- leys formed by these ranges flow the three important rivers — the Ta-tong, Ching-chong and Yalu. The former, despite its violent high tides, is navigable for fifty miles. At the head of navigation lies the principal city and capital of the circuit, Ping-an, famous from times anterior to the Christian era for its sieges. Here Chinese, Tartars of various dynastic names, Mongols, Jap- anese and Manchius, have struggled for the city, which is a natural fortress and the key to the northern peninsula. The city population of Ping-an is found mostly along the sea-coast, which faces the south, and in the towns following the high- road to Seoul. The rural population is sprinkled through the valleys. In the mountainous regions live the miners, and the hunters, whose magnificent game is the THE EIGHT PROVISOES. 285 thick-furred tiger, which sometimes reaches a bodily length of twelve feet. Ham-kiung, the largest and most north- erly of the eight circuits, borders on Russia and the Sea of Japan, its boundaries being formed by nature of mountains, rivers and the sea. Its name means “ Perfectly Bril- •/ liant.” The Tumen River divides the Co- reans from the Russians, and rises in those Ever-white Mountains, famous in Chinese and native poetry, in which are the foun- tains of three streams — the Yalu, the Tu- men and the Sungari. By far the largest portion of the popula- tion lives along the sea-shore, though several frontier towns are found in the Tumen val- ley and along the head- waters of the Yalu. The interior of the province is a mountain- mass, in which snow, ice and tigers are the chief winter products, while in summer bril- liant flowers adorn the hills and gold-dust comes to market In the bight called Broughton’s Bay we have a marked feature of the coast. Here is a superb bay capable of accommodating the navies of the world, the shore dotted 286 COREA. with towns and villages, the surrounding country fertile and full of places of historic interest. Fifteen of the three hundred or more of Corea’s walled “ cities ” are found in this province. Besides Port Lazareff and Wenshan (Genzan), the new treaty-port, are old camping-grounds of the Japanese, and the neighboring cities, or fu, of Toku- gen and the capital, Ham-fun. Kiung-sang, the province nearest Japan, and whose language, customs and traditions show most powerfully Japanese influence, is populous, warm, sunny and fertile. It is the “ Well-governed ” province. Its great river is the Whang-tong, or Nak-tong, which flows the whole length of the cir- cuit and with its ramifying branches drains the whole area. Varied industries, such as cattle-raising, mining, farming, fishing and commerce, flourish in this the most popu- lous of the provinces. Here also is the stronghold of Buddhism. Kiung-sang was noted for its early civilization and the fre- quency of its intercourse with Japan both in peace and in war. We find at the mouth of the chief river THE EIGHT PROVINCES. 287 of Kiung-sang an opening in the coast which is as historically and commercially valuable as is Broughton’s Bay in the north. Near each other are Fusan, the treaty-port, the cities of Tong-rai, Kun-hai and a group of interesting towns. Three great roads run from Fusan to Seoul. Tai-ku is the capital, while Ulsan (Uru-san) on the coast and Chin-chiu in the interior are famous in Japanese history. Kion-chiu, near Unkoff- sky Bay, was for centuries the capital of Shin-ra, and long after was to Corean Buddh- ism what Home was first to primitive and then to papal Christianity, until the torch of the Japanese reduced it to ashes in 1596. Chulla, like Kiung-sang, has a fringe of islands off its southern coast. It has also an archipelago lying to the westward. Over these and Quelpaert (coveted by Russia as a coaling-station) the governor of Chulla has jurisdiction. Many of them bear Brit- ish or French names on the charts thus far made, showing that visits for survey, curios- ity or supplies, and shipwrecks, have been frequent. This is the province interesting to Westerners because of the residence of 288 COREA. Hamel and liis companions. It doubtless contains the unknown graves of many waifs from Europe and America which research may yet find and mark. Three rivers of considerable size drain the surface of Chulla, which in the level parts and valleys is fertile. As this prov- ince is nearest to Shanghai, and quite near Japan, modern diplomacy, forced by com- mercial need, will very likely open new ports for trade. Two places are naturally favor- able. The first is Kang-ching, on the south coast, where begins the highroad to Seoul. It lies near the head of a beautiful bay on a river. Another place, already noted by the Japanese, is Mo-po, on the south-west coast, at the mouth of the Yung-san River. This stream is crossed near the town of Mu-an by the highroad to Seoul, and is navigable to Mu-an, and possibly to Nai-jiu, by boats. Chung-cliong-do, or “ Province of Serene Loyalty,” is interesting from many points of view. Three great roads cross its north- eastern portion from Kiung-sang-do, all converging into Seoul. The western high- THE EIGHT PROVINCES. 289 road, coming up from the south, skirts the sea-shore. Two rivers, each with many affluents, drain the area, the oue flowing to the south-west into Basil’s Bay, the other going north-west into Prince Jerome Gulf. The mouth of the former, Kin, or Golden River, is noted for the peaceful visit of Captain Hall in 1816, and of Gutzlaff, the Bible missionary, in 1832. The other and smaller stream is notorious as the scene of the grave-robbing expedition of adventurers in the China in 1866. In the north-west is the Nai-po penin- sula, “the granary of the kingdom,” and renowed in Roman Catholic annals as “ the Garden of the Church.” Fair harbors are found here, and Caroline and Deception Bays are good for the shelter of small ves- sels. Sand- and mud-banks are too frequent for larger ships to approach land, especially as the tides are violent and treacherous. Four cities of the first rank are found in this province. Kon-chiu is the capital. Chion-chiu is on the highroad, and Chuin- ehiu, in the north-west, is of strategic im- portance. The other chiu, or “ first-class 19 290 COREA. city,” in which a kam-sa, or governor, re- sides, is On-cliiu, in the western centre of the circuit. Tai-an and Hei-mi on the Nai- po coast are well known to foreigners. At the town of Tek-san, or Totta-san, twenty- live miles inland from Prince Jerome Gulf, is a place very sacred to the royal family. Here are situated the tombs of the king’s ancestors. These in 1864 were renovated and adorned with great care. This step was taken by the regent to propitiate fur- ther the ancestral spirits to whose favor he owed his exaltation to power. It was to rifle these tombs that the expedition was made by Oppert, piloted by Feron the priest. Incidentally, the outrage was the cause of the regent’s violent persecution of the Christians. The population of the kingdom of Corea is not yet ascertained with precision. The estimates vary from eight to fifteen millions. Until a regular census is made it is impos- sible to arrive at accuracy on this point. It seems tolerably certain, however, that under better government, a higher civilization and a religion which offers nobler motives for car- THE EIGHT PROVINCES. 291 ing both for body and soul, and for replen- ishing the earth and subduing it, than Corea at present enjoys, the “ Land of Morning Calm ” would be able comfortably to sup- port five times her present population. CHAPTER XXIII. COREA FOR CHRIST. HE Coreans are soon to be known to us, not only as neighbors by treaty, but even as brethren in Christ. Instead of finding them all bloodthirsty, cruel and savage, as has too much been their reputation, we shall yet know them as gentle, patient and teach- able people. To those who are interested in their moral and spiritual welfare, rather than in their commerce or politics, there are cheering signs. Corea is yet to become one of the kingdoms of Christ. No survey of Protestant Christianity in Corea would be just without mention of the name of the Rev. Charles Gutzlaff. This devoted pioneer, a native of Prussia, was an agent of the Netherlands Missionary So- ciety. After faithful labors in various parts of Chinese Asia, exploiting fields for the planting of mission-stations and sowing the 292 COREA FOR CHRIST. 293 Bible as the precious seed of salvation, he visited Corea in 1832. He landed at an island called Chwang-shan (in Corean, Clii- on-to), north of Basil’s Bay, and spent nearly a month in the neighborhood. He held interviews with many of the common people and magistrates, and made gifts of seeds, potatoes and woven goods. He offered to present the king with a Bible, but the proposition was declined. Gutzlaff was impressed with the national need of cleanliness, temperance and educa- tion. He departed with the faith as of a grain of mustard-seed, for he wrote : “ One thing is true : these islands are not inacces- sible to Christianity.” Nor must we forget what the Scotch mis- sionaries in Manchuria have done for Christ and Corea. Those zealous agents of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, the Bev. Messrs. John Boss and John McIn- tyre, living at Mukden, have come into per- sonal contact with hundreds of Coreans, refu- gees or persons in the embassies to Peking. Mastering the language, they have preached the gospel and translated the New Testa- 294 COREA. ment. Under their ministration scores of Coreans have become Christians and glorify God in them. Already they have a church organized, and are prepared to move over across the Yalu River when the hour is fully come for freedom of Christian wor- ship in pagan Corea. We see that the last stronghold of super- stition is to be assaulted by land and sea. With the help of the Scottish Bible Society a font of Corean metal type has been cast at the Presbyterian Mission press at Shanghai. Portions of the New Testament have already been printed and are now circulating in Corea by the hundreds. Editions of three thousand copies each of Luke and John were exhausted in February, 1884. A new translation of Luke, combined with Acts, has since gone into the peninsula to do its leavening work, followed by fresh editions of five thousand each of John and Matthew. Mark, Romans and Corinthians are ready for the press, and Ephesians follows. The year 1885 will see a completed New Testa- ment printed and in general circulation. Many thousands of pages of Christian RijiutSe. Page 295. COREA FOR CHRIST. 295 tracts have also sped on their errand. The Christian Coreans baptized in 1882 and 1883 have gone back to their native land, soon, we trust hopefully, to be heard from as good sowers of the seed and faithful soldiers of Jesus Christ. ‘‘These from the land of Sinim.” Turning now from China to “ the rising of the sun,” we find in Japan an equally hopeful sprouting of the gospel seed, ready for transplanting to the peninsula at the right time. The Japanese Christians feel that Corea is their Macedonia. Either in or following after the various embassies from Seoul, from 1876 to the present time, have come Corean young men to study Western languages, science and Christianity in Ja- pan. Several of these have been converted and have united with Japanese Christian churches. The most prominent of these is the nobleman Rijiutei, formerly of the royal household in Seoul, who came to Tokio after the riot in 1882. Now, as an earnest Chris- tian, he not only labors to advance the gos- pel among his countrymen in Japan, but has 296 COREA. also begun the translation of the Scriptures into Corean. A converted heathen’s mother-speech, when he is baptized by the Spirit of Jesus, becomes from his pen or tongue a new instrument of thought. The diction of a native must necessarily be vastly superior in force and eloquence to the work of a foreigner, however scholarly or consecrated. There are now in Tokio, at the Sandham Academy of the Reformed Church in Amer- ica, seven Corean young men, most of whom are Christians. Two Corean girls have been educated at the American Mission Home at Yokohama. The Christians of Scotland seem resolved to be behind no others in prayer and work for Corea. In 1883 the Rev. A. W. Douth- waite on behalf of the Scottish Bible Society visited the ports opened by treaty, and, de- spite some native and foreign official oppo- sition, was able to distribute many of the society’s publications in Chinese. A further supply, forwarded to the Rev. John Ross, will enter by way of Manchuria. Under the auspices of the United Pres- COREA FOR CHRIST. 297 byterian Church of Scotland, the Rev. Mr. Nagasaka, a Japanese pastor, reached Corea early in the spring of 1884, and shortly after the Rev. Mr. Thompson of Scotland fol- lowed. These, with the help of two native believers, have established Bible-depots at the open ports. All honor to our earnest Scotch brethren ! It is quite possible that the Anglican Church may before many months begin missionary work in Seoul. Addressing a letter under date of January 12, 1884, to Sir Harry Parkes, the British minister plenipotentiary to China, after his return from Chimul-po and Seoul, concerning the right and possibility of open preaching of the gospel, the envoy replied : “ Whether the right to proselyte will be conceded or not must in no small degree depend upon the judgment and discretion of the first pioneers of the missionary field. . . . Mis- sionary labor would naturally commence at the ports, and time would be required to say when it would be wise and safe to extend it into the interior.” Bishop Scott, in trans- mitting the British envoy’s letter to the 298 COREA. archbishop of Canterbury, requests that he bring the matter forward in quarters where it will be likely to awaken interest, with a view of organizing a mission of the Church of England to Corea. Meanwhile, what have American Chris- tians done to bring Corea to Christ? The question is vital and timely for our new neighbors, and important to ourselves, since necessity to obey the Master’s orders is laid upon us. We have had “ our little war with the heathen” with powder and ball, by which, probably, six hundred heathen house- holds were made desolate by American arms. Now let us begin the holy war of love. The old forts on the Han River, once bombard- ed by our Dahlgren guns, are now disman- tled, overgrown with vines and beautiful with bloom. These battlefields “ Nature has long since healed and reconciled to herself with the sweet oblivion of flowers.” Let our peaceful warfare now be with burn- ing zeal, fed by the fuel of a holy fire. In the race to enter first the heathen stronghold, to plant the standard of Im- manuel, there lias been noble emulation COREA FOR CHRIST. 299 between the two great bodies, the Method- ists and the Presbyterians. Which will lead in this glorious work the future has yet to reveal. Our Methodist friends, however, are the first in point of time to arrive on the soil and to be recognized by the govern- ment as helpers in the new paths of national advancement. In the autumn of 1883 the Methodist Missionary Committee in New York appro- priated $5000 to reconnoitre the Corean field. Dr. and Mrs. Maclay of Japan accepted the appointment to act as pioneers. Arriving, at Chimul-po, they made their way overland in sedan chairs to the capital in the sum- mer of 1884. At the American Legation they received a hearty welcome from Mr. and Mrs. Foote. A letter addressed to a prominent officer of the government w T as answered promptly by an invitation to an interview, which resulted in an approval of Dr. Maclay’s work. "While still strongly opposed to that form of Christianity which, linked as it was with treasonable ideas, had caused so much trouble in the kingdom, yet the Reformed faith, divorced for ever from 300 COREA. temporal rulers and claims, would find no serious obstacles to its progress in Ta Cho- sun. In Dr. Maclay’s wise opinion, only Corean agents should be employed in start- ing the mission, as there is a strong dislike to the Japanese still lingering among the natives. This feeling is the remnant of the bitterness engendered by the long and terri- ble wars of the sixteenth century, increased by an apparent tendency in the Japanese merchant-class to despise the natives as “ uncivilized.” It is the intention to break missionary ground by employing first the physician and teacher. Rev. William B. Scranton, M. D., of Cleveland, Ohio, will establish in Seoul a hospital and dispensary, and another gen- tleman is under appointment to go out, found a school and do missionary work proper. We wish a harvest of success to our Methodist friends on this new gospel field — like our own prairie soil, hard to break, but rich in possibilities. The clearness of the providental call to the Presbyterian churches of America to enter this Macedonia is shown in a three- COREA FOR CHRIST. 301 fold manifestation. First, several Coreans, and these of marked influence, have been led to Christ through the personal labors of our Presbyterian missionaries in Japan. Second, one of these, Rijiutei, has issued a touching appeal for gospel messengers to his countrymen. Third, nearly ten thou- sand dollars have been contributed at home expressly for starting a Corean mission. As stewards of the Lord, the Board of Foreign Missions is bound at once to put this fund to active interest pf good. Preparation can- not be begun too soon. As we write these closing lines, w r e desire to pay a tribute to the wisdom and energy of the Board, and express the hope that the members of it have been directed aright in their choice of the pioneers. The Rev. Hor- ace Underwood, a graduate of the Theologi- cal Seminary of the Reformed Church in America, ordained November 11th at New Brunswick, New- Jersey, is under commis- sion to learn the Corean language in Japan and begin evangelistic labors in Seoul as soon as possible. The medical missionaries appointed are Dr. J. H. Heron of Jones- 302 COREA. boro’, East Tennessee, and H. A. Allen, M. D., of Shanghai, China. Dr. Allen arrived in Seoul about the middle of September, 1884, and is official- ly the physician to the U. S. Legation until full opportunities open to prosecute active Christian work. In the Foreign Mission- ary for December, 1884, the secretaries of the Board had the pleasure of publishing “ Our First Letter from Korea.” It is an inspiring sight to see Christian young men and women, strong in youth and consecrated purpose, so ready to enter this “ land without a religion.” As we close the missionary record for 1884 and begin that of 1885, we see a band of five Christian envoys leaving New York, January 20th, for San Francisco, intending to sail from that port February 3d for Corea by way of Japan. They are sent out by the Meth- odist Board of Foreign Missions. They will tarry in “ the Sunrise Kingdom ” (Japan) until Cho-sen becomes Morning Calm again. The party consists of the Rev. Wm. B. Scran- ton, M. D., and Mrs. Scranton ; the Rev. H. G. Appenzeller and Mrs. Appenzeller ; and COREA FOR CHRIST. 303 Mrs. Mary F. Scranton. A recent letter from the Corean Minister of Foreign Affairs to Dr. Maclay gives reassurance of the de- sire of the government that school and hospital work be at once begun in Seoul. The recent disturbances in the capital are not likely seriously to retard the spread of the gospel. Its steady propagation is sure to go on. The heathen gates, unbolt- ed and already ajar, will soon be flung open wide, and Christian churches stand on the soil so long cursed with superstition. The interior too, we hope, may soon be traversed by the bearers of an open Bible and Christ’s free Evangel. Then will Corea take her place among the nations which, once sitting in darkness, have seen a great Light. In old Asiatic countries, semi-civilized and without representative institutions, rev- olutions, or at least riotous outbreaks, must be expected whenever a change of policy has been decided upon. Where the means of expression of public opinion are lacking, the government is almost of necessity that of “ a despotism tempered by assassination.” What in Great Britain would be accom- 304 COREA. plished by a change of ministry, and in the United States by a Presidential election, is in Corea, as in Old Japan, brought about by riot and bloodshed. The murderous proceedings of July 23, 1882, and of De- cember 4, 1884, seem to be little more than Corean equivalents for moving a resolution of censure on the ministry or voting in a new administration. In both cases, how- ever, but especially in the latter, the in- tense jealousy of the rival “ protectors ” of Corea furnished the conditions for a compli- cated and bloody conflict. The long-stand- ing hostility of China and Japan found a centre in Seoul. It may be that a third power, Russia, will step in and seize the prize. At present we see grounds for be- lief that the regeneration of Corea, instead of being retarded by recent events, will rather be hastened thereby. Paganism certainly receives no benefit from them. One of the direct results of the disturb- ances of December last is the opening of a hospital in Seoul under the superintendence of a Christian physician and the arrival in our own land of influential Coreans, three COREA FOR CHRIST. 305 of whom had been members of the liberal cabinet. After the riots in December, 1884, Lieu- tenant Foulk, of the American legation, made the application, and the house former- ly occupied by Hong Yong Sik (p. 215), who was killed in the riots, was granted by the Corean minister of foreign affairs. This Hay Min So, or “ House of Civilized Vir- tue,” is sustained by the government. It contains forty beds and most of the necessary appliances of a hospital. For many weeks after the bloody disturbances of December, Dr. Allen was busy in attending to the wounded Chinese soldiers and Coreans. A most inter- esting letter to the Medical Record details his work from the view" of science. In the Foreign Missionary we read of his attend- ance in the royal palace upon the queen dowager. Medical w’ork promises to be an efficient pioneer for the gospel. From the reports of the Scotch mission- aries through native colporteurs, and the circulation of the New Testament in Corean, we hear of six hundred inquirers after Christ. This is the burden of Corea. Though con- 20 306 COREA. servatives be in power and Chinese influence retard, the work of Christianity and civiliza- tion cannot suffer long hindrance. Thus far, conservatives and liberals alike have been kind to Christian missionaries who wisely li keep out of politics.” China and Japan have compounded their differences in the Corean matter by agreeing to withdraw their troops from Seoul. In their negotiations the English language was used, for the sake of greater clearness. Despite the temporary discouragements which those within and without Corea are too prone to brood over, we still, as Chris- tians who believe that “ the evening and the morning” make God’s day, hold our faith unshaken in her speedy evangelization. That the Land of Morning Calm, the Middle King- dom and the Empire of the Rising Sun are yearning for full human brotherhood with Christian nations and are yielding to Christ’s gospel is as sure as the coming of a full day to him who gazes into the fountains of the dawn. APPENDIX. BOOKS ON THE COUNTRY, PEOPLE AND LAN- GUAGE. For the further study of the people and the language of Corea we may refer the in- terested reader to the standard works of Du Halde, De Mailla, Klaproth and Yon Sie- bold ; the more recent monographs of Pfiz- maier, Kempermann and Scherzer ; the voy- ages of Basil Hall, J. McLeod, C. Gutzlaff, E. Belcher, Arthur Adams, E. Oppert; the travels of A. Williamson ; and the books of S. Wells Williams, John Boss, and the His- tbire de L' Eglise de Coree, par Cli. Dallet. These books are, most of them, easily acces- sible in libraries or at the larger bookstores. For the bibliography of the subject see pp. xi.-xvii. of Corea, the Hermit Nation. The chief interest in Corea, to American readers, is in the future. For fresh and 307 308 COREA. sterling information we must look to the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Ja- pan, to the Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, to the Missionary Record of the United Presby- terian Church of Scotland, to the Foreign Missionary of the Presbyterian Church (North) in our own country, and to the missionary publications of those Christian bodies having gospel agents in this new mission-field. Most of what has been written about the country, people and language of Corea is scattered through miscellaneous, diplomatic, naval, scientific and other serial publications, or in monograph pamphlets which are dif- ficult to procure. Valuable publications are often printed at the ports of China, Japan and other Asiatic countries, which, though worthy of reprint in America or Europe, rarely pass beyond a first edition, and are lost to the student, who would gladly pos- sess them. A knowledge of some reputable bookseller in the East would often enable those at home to possess the desired pub- lication. We may recommend Messrs. Kel- APPENDIX. 309 ly & Co., Yokohama and Shanghai, who have on hand, or take an interest in pro- curing, whatever in print relates to the “ Far East.” For the study of the Corean language the student may consult Dallet, vol. i. pp. 77- 94 ; the Dictionnaire Coreen-Frangais, pp. 695 ; and the Grammaire Coreenne, pp. 334. These are the fruits of the labors of the French missionaries. The Corean Primer, by the Rev. John Ross, is a manual of conversation in eighty- nine pages. The Corean New Testament is the joint work of Rev. Messrs. John Ross and John McIntyre. With this and several classics of Christian literature, such as Peep of Day, Pilgrim’s Progress and Dr. Martin’s Evi- dences of Christianity, the student will be greatly aided. Mr. W. G. Aston, the foremost living English student of Corean at this writing, has written several reviews and valuable papers showing thorough knowledge of the subject, and his works may be heartily com- mended in advance of publication. The 310 COREA. apparatus for the mastery of Corean has yet to be made, but cannot long be deferred. In this work, so nobly begun by Scotch and English scholars, it is hoped Americans may soon take part. INDEX A. Adams, Arthur, 240. Agriculture, 115, 122, 231-233. Ai-chiu, 114, 179. Allen, Dr. H. A., 223, 302. Alphabets, 26, 156. American Legation in Seoul, 214, 218, 225, 299, 302. American relations with Corea, 173, 184, 185, 186, 191-203, 207-209, 216, 226, 298. Amoor River, 15, 17. Ancestor-worship, 167. Ancestral tablets, 175, 176. Animals, 116 Annam, 10. Arabs in Corea, 10, 252, 253. Archery, 89. Area of Corea, 10. Armor, 119. Arms, 49, 50, 119. Army, 119, 123. Art, 26, 248-267. Arthur, President, 214, 215. Artillery, 49, 50, 196, 198, 202. Aston, Mr. W. G., 217, 277, 309. B. Beds, 137. Bible, 293, 294, 297. Birds, 117, 237. Blake, Captain H. C., 197. Books, 155. Border-Gate, 153, 185, 228. Broughton, Captain, 176, 182, 285. Buddhism, 24, 29, 168-170. Burial, 144-146. O. Cannon. See Artillery. Cassel, Lieut. Douglas, 200. Ceramics, 266. Cespedes, 33. Chifu, 185, 187, 203. Children, 140-143. Chimul-po, 212, 225, 226, 280. See In-chiun. Chinese, 22, 26, 31, 213 Cholera, 180. Cho-sen, 16, 110. Christianity (Greek), 181. Christianity (Reformed), 293- 302. 311 312 INDEX. Christianity (Roman), 33, 173- 188, 280. Chulla-do, 31, 68, 288. Civil-Service Reform, 29, 122, 142. Climate, 114. Coins, 224. Comets, 92. Confucianists, 166, 182, 208, 211 . Corea, name, 11, 110. Coreans in Japan, 21, 106, 249, 266. Costume, 29. Cotton, 32, 240, 241. Cowan, Dr. Frank, 231, 243. Coxinga, 38. Crocodiles, 117. D. Dallet, M. Charles, 307, 309. Diet. See Food. Dogs, 61, 234. Douthwaite, Rev. A. W., 296. Dragon, 164, 261, 262. Drew, Mr., 195, 199. Dutch. See Hollanders. E. Education, 140-143. Edwards, Jonathan, 115. Embassies, 153, 206, 207, 215. Episcopal missionaries, 297, 298. F. Fans, 262. Feng-shuey, 164, 165. Feudalism, 18, 25, 118. Fish, 113, 236. Flags, 215, 261. Flail-men, 52. Flowers, 240. Flying-fish, H. B. M. S. S., 212. Food, 231-234. Foote, General Lucius H., 214, 299. Formosa, 36-40. France, 181. French, 9, 179, 183-187, 189, 205, 218, 280. Fruits, 232. Fu-san, 31, 111, 153, 206, 207, 287. Fuyu, 18, 19, 21, 33. G. Genghis Khan, 26. “General Sherman,” 185, 191, 192, 195, 207. Gen-san. See Wen-shan. Geography of Corea, 275, 291. Germans, 189, 217. Ginseng, 11, 74, 115, 242. Gladstone, Mr., 216. Gold, 11, 243, 244. Goto Islands, 104. Grain, 231. Grant, General U. S., 193, 194. Gunpowder, 33, 95. Gutzlaff, 164, 245, 289, 292, 29a H. Hai-nam, 67. INDEX. 313 Hall, Captain Basil, 282, 289, 307. Hamel, Hendrick, 13, 36, 107, 108, 131, 189. Han River, 20, 75, 197-203, 205, 278, 298. Hanabusa, 212, 214. Han-yang. See Seoul. Hats, 29. Hayes, President, 207. Head-dresses, 29. Heron, Dr. J. H., 301. Hiaksai, 22. Hirado, 100. Hollanders, 35, 55, 56. Horses, 234. Hospitality, 138. Houses, 136-138. I. Idols, 169. Ignatieff, 181. Imbert, Bishop, 178. In-chiun, 163, 197, 208, 210, 212, 277, 280. Intemperance, 47, 49. J. Japanese, 21, 30, 102, 151, 169, 180, 204-206, 211-213, 221, 224, 249, 250, 251, 257, 300. Jen-shan. See In-chiun. Jin-sen. See In-chiun. Jesuits, 174, 275. K. Kang-wa, 34, 187, 190, 198, 205. Kaoli or Ko-rai, 17, 24, 25, 26. I Kimberly, L. A., Commander, 199. King, 157, 188, 211. King-ki-tao, 69. See Seoul. Ki-tsze, 15, 17. L. Language, 204, 213, 296, 307- 310. Li Hung Chang, 204, 213. Lotus, 158. Low, Hon. A. A., 194 M. Macao, 179, 180. Maclay, Rev. Dr., 299, 300, 303. Magnetic needle, 26. Manchuria, 15, 21, 185. Manchius, 34. Markets, 228. Marriage, 139. Maubant, M., 178. Mayers, Mr. W. F., 230. McCaslin, Captain, 185, 191. McIntyre, Rev. John, 293, 309. McKee, Lieutenant, 202, 203. Methodist missionaries, 299, 300, 302. Min Yong Ik, 215. Mollendorf, Herr Paul von, 217. Monasteries, 25, 132-134, 168. Money, 154 Mongols, 26, 28. Monocacy, U. S. S. S., 195, 197, 200, 215. 314 INDEX. Morals, 148. Mourning, 143-145. N. Nagasaki, 47, 104, 105, 189. Nai-po, 175, 289. Nanking, 26, 112. Nan-on, 31, 87. Neutral strip, 204, 282, 283. Nin-sen. See In-chiun. Ni-Taijo, 28, 29, 182. Niu-chwang, 185. Nunneries, 134. O. Oppert, Ernest, 186, 189, 190, 290. P. Palace, 158, 223, 224. Parkes, Sir Harry, 217, 297. Passports, 72. Peking, 153, 174, 180, 193, 230. Pepper, 153, 232. Perry, Commodore M. C., 197, ‘ 206. Petitions, 158. Ping-an, 185, 192, 194, 203, 284. Political parties, 172, 208, 222. Pope, 223, 241. Portugal, 177. Pottery, 266. Presbyterian missionaries, 293, 294, 296, 301, 302. Printing, 26, 30. Products, 11, 74, 153. Provinces. See Geography. Punishments, 50, 63, 86, 91, 124-130, 184. Q. Queen Cho, 203. Quelpaert Island, 53, 55, 78, 170, 176, 238, 287. R. Rain, 211. Reformed Church in America, 296, 301. Regent. See Tai-wen-kun. Religion, 130-135, 161-171. Revenue, 122, 123. Rice, 48, 210. Rijiutdi, 295, 301. Robbers, 86. Rodgers, Rear-Admiral John, 194, 195, 199. Ross, Rev. John, 293, 296, 307, 309. Roze Island, 195, 212. Russians, 181, 183. S. Sacrifices, 167. Salc'e River. See Han River. Sargent, Senator, 207. Satow, Mr. Ernest, 156. Schley, W. Scott, Lieutenant- Commander, 199, 202. Schools, 26, 140, 218, 300. Scotchmen, 109, 186, 293-296. Scranton, Rev. Wm. B., 300. Scioul, 29, 30, 32, 34, 69, 153, ISDEX. 315 157, 158, 1ST, 188, 210, 216, 218, 223, 224, 239, 247, 299. Serfdom. See Slavery. Shanghai, 179. Shing-king, 17. Shin-ra, 249. Shinto, 163. Shipping, 120, 121. Shufeldt, Rear-Admiral R. W., 191, 192, 193, 207-209, 246. Siam, 153, 161. Silk, 116, 235. Silver, 244. Sinlo, or Shin-ra, 11, 22, 23. Slavery, 120, 126. Sorio. See Fusan. Spies, 95. Sunto, 24, 280. Superstitions, 125, 146. T. Ta Cho-sun, 12, 16, 29. Taiko, 30, 32, 262. Tai-wen-kun, 182, 212. Tartars, 35, 74, 76, 78. Tea, 232. Telegraphs, 12, 112. Temples, 162, 163, 164, 169, 174. Thomas, Rev., 186. Tieonderoga, U. S. S. S., 193, 207. Tientsin, 209. Tiger-hunters, 187. Tigers, 235, 261. Tilton, Captain McLane, 203. Timber, 237-240. Tobacco, 32, 152, 242. Tombs, 189, 190, 290. i Treaties, 206, 216, 217. Trees, 159, 164, 165, 237-239. Tribute, 74, 151, 229. Tsushima, 112, 153. Tumen River, 179, 181, 255. U. Underwood, Rev. Horace, 301. Uru-san, 32. W. Wachusett, U. S. S. S., 191. Wadhams. Master A. V., 201. Weigats, 113. Weights and Measures, 154. Welles, Admiral, 216. Wen-slian, 29, 207, 286. Whales, 112, 113. Williams. Dr. S. Wells, 194, 203, 307. Women, 125, 137-141. Writing, 155. Y. Yalu River, 24, 32, 176, 204, 294 THE END. DS902 .G85 Corea, without and within: ’rinceton Theological Semmary-Speer Library 1012 00023 5863 HIGHSMITH #45230