Life in Corea ... With illustrations and map

Preface

Fhough Corea has only been opened to Europeans within the last few years, it by no means affords a new field for literature. In Corea, the Hermit Nation, which was written by Mr. Griffis in 1882, a very full account is given of the country drawn from sources the enumeration of which covers six pages. Since that date much has been published by foreigners who have had access to the country. In official reports, in papers written for different maga zines and learned societies, and in the newspapers, further light has been thrown on the Corean people and their customs. Prominent among all that has been written are the narratives of Hendrik Hamel's Unlucky Voyage and Imprisonment in Corea, 1653- 1667, and Pere Dallet's Histoire de I Eglise de Corde, which was published in 1874. Of these two works, which contain the personal experiences of the authors, the latter is especially noticeable, not only for its history

PREFACE.

VI of the persecutions to which Christianity has been exposed in Corea, but for the accurate and detailed account which it gives of the life, government, and habits of the people and their rulers. The present volume is founded on an acquaintance with Corea of only some eighteen months in duration, and its scope is confined to an attempt at a portrayal of my experiences during that short time. No attempt has been made to define the system of government, or the relations between the king and his nobles, the people and the serfs, except through the account of such incidents as passed under my own eyes. The only exception consists in the short chapter devoted to the history of the murders and fighting which occurred in Soul in December 1884, at which time I was absent from Corea. The illustrations are mostly reproductions of some paintings in sepia by a Corean artist at Gensan.

For the photographs, and for much of the information contained in the book, I am indebted to Lieutenant G. C. Foulk, who was in charge of the United States Legation at Soul while I was there in the early part of 1885. I have also to thank M. Kondo, the Japanese Charge d' Affaires at Soul during the same period ; Professor Terrien de la Couperie ; Professor H.M. Moseley of Oxford ; Mr. W. G. Aston, formerly Her

PREFACE.

VII Majesty's Consul-General in Corea; and Mr. E. H. Parker, of Her Majesty's Consular Service in China, for the ready information which they have given me on those points on which I have consulted them. It is also no small debt that I owe to my old friend, Mr. W. C. Hillier, Her Majesty's Chinese Secretary at Peking, for undertaking to revise the proofs of these sheets during his short holiday in England. Of the matter contained in this book some considerable portion has already appeared in Blue Books, in a paper read before the Royal Geo graphical Society, and in the columns of the Field, but the objects with which the previous papers were written prevented their covering all the ground that is here surveyed. While acknowledging the many shortcomings of this volume, I cherish the hope that it may serve to attract attention to Corea and give an interest in the people, whose language and customs appear to be well worthy of study by those who are interested in the diffusion of races. W. R. C. H. B. M. Consulate-General, Shanghai, July 20, 1887. CONTENTS

Chapter I

Coreans in Peking — Paper, timber, and ginseng their main exports — Collisions with France and the United States — Japanese Treaty with Corea — Reversal of old policy — Attack on Japanese Legation — A Treaty negotiated by Sir H. Parkes Pages i-ii

Chapter II

Departure for Corea — Difficulties of landing — Scene on shore — Start for Soul — Benighted at Mapu . . . 12-22

Chapter III

Road to Soul — Streets — Shops — Dresses — Sir H. Parkes's quarters — Wares for sale in streets — Style of houses — Duck-shooting 23-46

Chapter IV

Start on journey inland — Scenery on road — Our first night's quarters — Frost and flies — Stone dolmens — Gold washings — Corporal punishment — Pink ibis — Tablets to officials — Silver hunting — No ferry boat — Deserted village — Lost on the mountains — Cumbrous coinage — Steamer missing — Sound sleepers — Fusan - -Shanghai again . . . . . . .47-82 CONTENTS X

Chapter IX

Hiring a pony — Ruins of old palace — Hwang-hai Do — Vermin — Hill fortress — Limestone country — Official servants — Officials chosen from nobility — Beautiful wood — Hwang-ju — Fertile plain — Meet Dr. Gottsche — Call on the Governor . . . 143-160

Chapter X

Phyong-yang's history — General Sherman tragedy — Ki Tzu's tomb — Temple to God of War — Local trade — Population — Visit from the Governor — Ki Tzu's portrait and ching — Shipping quarter of town — Stone-throwing — Women's hats . 1 61-174 CONTENTS XI

Chapter XI

Gehazi — Sick dog — Agricultural returns — Manchurian cottons — Repairing bridges — Honey logs — An-ju — Visitors — Country fair — Chinese traders — Out berrying — Honours to the dead — Brass workers — The woman found out — Relation between nature and man — Youthful pedestrian — View of Wi-ju — Arrive after dark — Bright lads ...... Pages 175-196

Chapter XV

Water-mills for hulling rice — Sleds — Bad road — Kang-ge — Female retainers — Sporting official — Ginseng — Exports — Copper mines — Virgin forest — Deep snow — Extreme cold — Cockroaches — Silver mines — Chang-jin — Wooden bridges — Idleness of the people — Valley of the Sam-su River — Gold washings — Hawking • 234-260 CONTENTS XII

Chapter XX

Corean language — Alphabet — Euphonic changes — Affinitytojapanese — Loose spelling — Chinese the official language — Resemblances between Corean and Cantonese .... 309-314 Appendix . .... 315-317 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Map of Corea ..... At beginning of Book. Photo of Un-jin Miriok .... Frontispiece. Photo of Consulate-General, Soul . . Facing page i PAGE Ginseng ......... 4 Porters with Traveller in Chair . . . .18 Woman and Maid-Servant . . . . 27 Women in Cottage . . . . . -29 Water-Carrier . . . . . -3° Street Scene — Men fighting and Peacemakers . 36 Iron Box inlaid with Silver . . . . -37 Man in mourning . . . . . -39 Statesman on Monocvcle . . . . . -41 Official on Chair, with Leopard's Skin . . .61 Egg-Seller ........ 63 Brushwood-Cutter . . . . . . -67 Officers of the King's Court 85 Band of Musicians ....... 88 Lifting Water by Tripod Frame . . . 95 Girls swinging . . . . ■ ■ • .106 Father, Mother, and Child travelling . .

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS XIV PAGE Watchman in Ginseng Garden . . . . 135 Boys whipping Tops . . . • • 137 Corean Pottery ...... 140, 141 Woman Travelling . . . . . .142 Inscription . . . . . . . .170 Boat . . . . . . . 1 7 1 Street Scene . . . . . . . .174 Brass-polishing . . . . . . . .187 Archers . . . . . . . .191 Boys flying Kites . . .... 195 Female Musicians . . . . . . .206 Spearing Fish at Air-Holes in Ice . . . .214 Watermill for hulling Rice . . . .237 Kitchen in Inn in the North . . .256 Highwaymen . . . . . . .281 Royal Personage in Horse Litter .... 300 Dancing Women ..... 302 Corean Alphabet . . . -310 1'HOTO OF CONSULATE-GENERAL, SOUL. To face page i

Chapter I

Coreans in Peking — Paper, timber, and ginseng their main exports — Collisions with France and the United States — Japanese Treaty with Corea — Reversal of old policy — Attack on Japanese Legation — A Treaty negotiated by Sir H. Parkes. To any stranger newly arrived from Europe the streets of Peking present a sight in winter of immense interest, from the many components of the crowd which is constantly moving to and fro. Among the most prominent of the visitors to Peking are the Mongols, of whom there are always many representatives near the British Legation. Whether canteringtheir camels in order to show off their paces, or galloping their ponies, or seated in the midst of a miscellaneous assortment of frozen deer, sheep, salmon, and game brought from Manchuria to the Peking market, or strolling through the streets with their wives and children, they never fail to attract attention from Europeans.

The perfection of their seat on horse or camel-back, the rich colouring of their complexion, their jovial air and readiness us B CHAP. 2 to greet Englishmen and other Europeans as com rades of the cup and chase, were, as I found them on my first arrival at Peking, in distinct contrast to the bearing of the Chinese. But still further apart from the Mongols stood the Coreans, their rivals in picturesqueness. As a rule, two missions came each year from Corea : the one bearing tribute, and the other to receive the almanac for the coming year, and carry it back to their own country. Year after year we met them in Peking, and it seemed as though time would never bring them any closer to foreigners like ourselves. As far as we could see at that time, they were divided into two distinct classes — the official and the menial ; but neither master nor man ever had a smile or word for us.

The officials were easily noticeable from a distance on account of the bright gloss of the purple or blue silk robes which they wore. The robe, fastened at the waist by a band, hid the rest of the dress, excepting the shoes and hat. The shoes were of a Chinese cut, but of a large size, as the feet were swathed in cotton cloth, and the hat was of a decidedly Welsh pattern and strange material. A cone, like that of a Welsh woman's hat, was fitted to the head, and a circular plate, projecting three or four inches, formed the brim. Both parts were made of a substance like the perforated sides of a meat safe, fastened on to a frame which, like itself, was black, and the hat was tied under the chin by broad black strings. Many attempts to buy one of these hats were all equally unsuccessful, and only proved the truth of the assertion that the Coreans would sell none of their wares except at the great fairs, held at the Pien Men, where, three times a year, the traders of China and Corea met and exchanged their goods under official inspection.

Even the copper cash which were in circulation in Corea could not be obtained in China, and paper, timber, and ginseng were almost the only products of the country procurable even in the north of China. Of these three the paper was excellent for writing purposes with a Chinese pen, and a strong kind of it was in use in almost every house and temple for papering doors and windows exposed to the outer air. While strong and impervious to rain, it let in the light, and was consequently employed in lieu of glass in the winter-houses in gardens. As to the merits of Corean ginseng, the Chinese, at any rate, had no doubts. Where vitality was becoming extinct from age, or strength had been reduced by long illness, ginseng was employed with equal faith and success, and the drug, if of the best quality, was worth almost its weight in gold.

How far the success was due to faith, and how far to the previous diet of the patient, is a matter of question. CHAP. LIFE IN COREA 4 I never recollect an instance of any European trying the experiment on himself, though Chinese are not slow to press its use upon their foreign friends. All GINSENG. that most people know of the drug is that it is the root ofthe panax ginseng, and that, like the mandrake, in shape it frequently resembles the figure of a man. Corean timber was well known in Peking, where the absence of forests in the neighbourhood is severely I 5 felt by native builders, who are almost dependent upon the woods of Liaotung and Corea for their materials. Another outcome of Corea, which was frequently to be seen in the hands of the Corean coolies, was the little pony of the country, fine-coated and small headed.

Ten to eleven hands was about the ordinary height of these little stallions, but their drivers had to step out sharply to keep up with them, even when laden with the heavy buckets in which they carried water to the Legation. The drivers, clad in short cotton jackets, loose trousers, sandals, and cotton wrappings round their feet, were no more disposed than their masters to be friendly with us, and even on the common meeting ground of the bookshops, which formed the frequent haunt of many of the officials, no change was to be seen in the stern demeanour uniformly assumed towards foreigners. That a mutual antipathy should have existed between Coreans and Europeans was not strange, for the occasions on which they had been thrown into contact were not such as to favour friendly feelings. In 1866 a persecution of Christians had broken out in Corea, which had entailed the deaths, under frightful torture and suffering, of nine Roman Catholic priests with their bishop, and thousands, if not tens of thousands, of converts.

An expedition sent the same year by the French Minister to avenge the deaths of his countrymen had led to no definite results, but that blood had been shed in the field as well as on the execution ground. About the same time an American schooner, named the General Sherman, had been burnt with all on board in a river on the northern coast of Corea, where the vessel had attempted to trade. In 1867 there had set forth from Shanghai an expedition, under the guidance of a Roman Catholic priest, a German adventurer, and an American citizen, whose object had been to rifle one of the royal tombs of Corea of its contents, in order, as they said, to extort concessions from the king in favour of trade and missionary work, or, as their enemies said, to seize the gold coffins said to be buried there. The expedition failed, but not until blood had been shed, and greater hatred towards foreigners generally had been excited.

Such were a few of the facts relating7 to Corea which were generally associated with the name of the country, when in the winter of 1870 foreigners in China were startled by a rumour that Corea had volunteered to expel all Europeans from China. How far the rumour was well founded it is not necessary to inquire, but the amusement which the story created faded away the following year into a I LIFE IN COREA 7 feeling of respect for the " tiger-hunters," who had fought so pluckily against an American expedition under Admiral Rogers, which had been sent with the object of securing protection for American sea men on the coasts of Corea. But two months later the Coreans showed that when not provoked they would give the assistance which they refused to yield to force, and the crew of a vessel wrecked on the south coast were well taken care of until they were fetched away in one of H.M. ships.

Mr. Mayers, H.M. Consul at Chefoo, who went on board the gunboat, did his utmost to use the occasion to cultivate some relations with the people and officials, but it was found impossible to purchase anything or establish any communications with the officials, though presents of chickens and other food were offered by the natives, evidently acting under orders. In 1873 the King of Corea attained his majority, and with it the reins of power, which had been withheld from him by his father, the Prince Regent, considerably later than is usual with minors in that country, where, as in China, the time of attaining majority depends upon the character of the boy and his capacity for rule. On the expiration of the regency, which had lasted ten years, hopes were entertained of a milder treatment of the Christians in the country, who had for some years suffered the most savage persecution, instigated by the govern ment, but there were few who expected that the country would be opened to foreigners except by force.

In 1876, however, the Japanese, in consequence of an attack on some of their men who had landed on the island of Kanghoa, at the mouth of the river which flows past the capital, sent an armed expedi tion to negotiate a treaty of peace with Corea ; and, partly owing to the good offices of China, the mission was successful without having to use its arms. Of the full meaning of the change of policy which this treaty implied, it is impossible to form an idea without reverting to the previous history of Corea. So far as historical records can be referred to — and Corea certainly would claim that 3000 years are covered by them — it seems doubtful whether she had ever admitted the right of free intercourse between foreigners and her own subjects on her own soil. From time to time her land had been overrun by armies of invasion from China and Japan, to resist which the most strenuous efforts and the most complete sacrifices were made on her part.

Even these would more than once have been fruitless but for assistance from storms and accidents, which prevented the junction of the land and sea forces of her enemies. Of the utter wreck and ruin which resulted from I LIFE IN COREA 9 these wars, the traces are strikingly evident at this day in the paucity of buildings, pictures, books, and porcelain, of an earlier date than even the last Japanese invasion, which took place at the end of the sixteenth century. When it is borne in mind that Corea has long been credited with having introduced the manufacture of porcelain into Japan, and that her state of civilisation centuries back was cer tainly not less advanced than that of the present day, the completeness of the destruction which took place during that war is fully realised by any one travelling in the country.

Of monuments there are hardly a dozen of any antiquity through the length and breadth of the land ; and the most diligent search is necessary even in the capital to discover anything in the shops or stalls which is worth carrying away. Under her new treaty, Corea was to permit the residence of Japanese at three ports on her coast, and to allow of the establishment of a Legation at her capital, besides granting the right of trade between subjects of the two countries, subject to certain restrictions. That such a change could not take place without some disturbance was but in evitable ; and in 1882, at a time when the king was anxious to establish relations with foreign countries, in order to secure the independence of Corea, and when treaties between Corea, the United States, Germany, and Great Britain were on their way across the seas for ratification, there broke out in the palace a revolution directed against the queen and her family, one of the consequences of which was the destruction of the Japanese Legation, the death of several of its members, and the flight of the Minister and his staff to the coast, where at last they were free from pursuit, and, after some exposure at sea in a native junk, were picked up by H. M.S. Flying Fish, which fortunately was surveying those waters.

Of the revolution itself there is no need to say much. It was only remarkable for the promptitude with which it was put down by a Chinese force despatched from Tientsin to the assistance of the king, and for the extraordinary resuscitation of the queen. When the palace was invaded, she had been carried off in disguise to a town in the neigh bourhood, and a lady of her court, personating her mistress, had sacrificed her life for the queen. The secret ofthe disguise was not discovered ; an edict was issued decreeing national mourning for her majesty ; and it was not until after order had been completely restored that her existence was made known. Japan lost no time in demanding ample satisfaction for the outrage on her Minister and his staff, and Corea made little difficulty as to the terms demanded.1 1 Owing to the difficulty which Corea found in paying the in demnity stipulated by treaty, Japan generously abandoned in 1884 insistance on its payment in full.

I LIFE IN COREA 11 The treaty with Great Britain, which had been signed in 1882, not having been ratified, Sir H. Parkes, our late Minister at Peking, was instructed in the autumn of the following year to negotiate another treaty ; and about the same time an opportunity was offered me by Mr. Paterson, a partner in the firm of Messrs. Jardine, Matheson, and Co., of visiting the country privately. This led to a larger connection with it than I contemplated at the time. Of the interest which I naturally felt in a country which, without the natural barriers of Tibet or Roraima, had withstood all attempts on the part of Europeans to intrude on its territory, it is not necessary to speak. The land before me was virtually a new country of which nothing was known to outsiders, except through the few brave men who, in the midst of their labours for Christianity, had found time and spirit to write something of the land in which they were dying.

It is true that The Hermit Nation had just been written by Mr. Griffis ; but full as the book is of information, it is derived entirely from other authorities, as the author had not set foot in the country. Thus much re mained, and still remains, to be learnt from per sonal observation of the people and their land.

Chapter II

Departure for Corea — Difficulties of landing — Scene on shore — Start for Soul — Benighted at Mapu. Leaving Shanghai early on the morning of the 8th November, we steamed direct to the Corean coast, off which we anchored the following evening. Larg/e flocks of swans off Swan Island were the only objects of interest on the way, and the weather was too cold in any case to encourage a long stay on deck. As soon as the tide served, our good steamer, the Naming, passed in from Ferrieres to Roze Island, off which were lying H.M.SS. Sapphire and Cockchafer. The morning was fine, the tide high, and the first view of Corea decidedly attractive. Numerous small islands lay in the river, girt with richly-coloured rock, which, as seen through the haze of the morning, stood out precipitously from the water.

The autumn tints on the few shrubs on their summits, and the red granite of the hills on the shore, lent an air of warmth which was peculiarly acceptable. CHAP. II LIFE IN COREA 13 There was little time, however, to enjoy the scene, for rain came on and prevented the landing of our goods and chattels. We therefore paid a call on Captain Fullerton to ask for news of Sir H. Parkes's doings, and made arrangements for an early start the next day, the final understanding with the boatmen being that they should lie along side the steamer that night in order not to lose the morning's tide. Our party was a large one, consisting of three Englishmen — viz. Messrs. Paterson, Morrison, and myself — and M. Velschow, a Dane. In addition there were several Chinese servants and workmen, three Chinese ponies, six or seven retrievers and spaniels, and an enormous quantity of stores of every kind that could be wanted for a month's stay in the in terior.

To land all these in boats, such as we had seen, was evidently no easy matter, and I came on deck with daylight to see how things were progress ing. Truly, there was need for some one to be stirring, for the boats which were to have taken us off were lying off a point of Roze Island, whence they were unable to make way against the flood tide. Boats were sent off from the steamer to help them, and eventually, with Captain Balbirnie's per sonal assistance, one or two junks did get alongside. When there, it was little help that they could render. The men on board, in a dazed condition, watched CHAP. LIFE IN COREA 14 the energetic manner in which the crew heaved our traps on board and slung the ponies into the open hold. When they cast off, it seemed to me that my life was in greater peril than it had ever been in before.

No rails or iron of any kind entered into the construction of the boat ; no paint concealed their absence. As far as the eye could gather through the mass of boxes, ponies, men, and strings of a nautical kind, the boat consisted of a fortuitous concurrence of planks, which extended the whole length of the sides and bottom, but were too short to cover in more than the two ends. In the planks were fixed two poles, to which were attached the sails, and the art of navigation consisted in dropping anchor and letting down the sails with a run on top of the confused mass of beings in the boat. Strangely enough we outran our fellow, and after several times hauling up to our anchor, which must have had a trick of running landwards, we positively reached the shore just as the ebb-tide was becoming too strong to make further way against it.

The scene on shore was quaint in the extreme. On a small rocky headland, which overhung the little bay that we had entered, were seated a large group of penguins, whose white breasts, black heads, and stiff motionless figures stood out in relief against the rocks behind them. Our nearer approach disturbed them from their perches, and LIFE IN COREA 15 converted them at once into a family group consisting of Noah and his descendants, in the self-same hat and coat, and with the same wooden gait with which they stepped out of the ark in the nursery. But they had taken to smoking, and left their wives at home. It seemed unfair to ask men who were so much our seniors to lend a hand, but of their own accord they came forward and willingly did their best. As they had no bamboos, and had not acquired the Chinese trick of carrying weights, it required many hands and many journeys to get the things on shore.

As to the ponies, it would have been impossible for them to get out of the wells in which they stood, but that it had to be done. When at last Paterson and I had eyes for other things than our own immediate belongings, we found that Morrison's boat, failing to reach our landing-place, had made leeway and drifted on to a mud bank some 300 yards from the shore, and that Captain Balbirnie in his gig was endeavouring to extricate him without placing himself in the same position. The question arose, what should we do ? We were assured on all hands that there was no place in Chemulpo where we could sleep, and the wretched plank buildings and mud huts, which furnished all the accommodation that the place could offer, were cer- CHAP. 16 LIFE IN COREA tainly not inviting. The Japanese Consulate looked a real palace, but as we did not know the Consul, and could not speak Japanese, we did not like to ask for quarters there, and the only place really available, even for shelter, was a mud cottage which formed the Custom's offices.

Just as Paterson and I had agreed to push on at once for Soul, in spite of the condition of the ponies, the lateness of the hour, 2 p.m., and the distance, about twenty-six miles, Morrison surprised us by appearing on shore. The contemplated deser tion, for only two ponies had been landed, did not seem to be favoured by him, but in such quarters our presence could hardly lend a charm, and we therefore started off, leaving all our belongings, and thereby entailing on our companions an amount of trouble, of which we little dreamt, in arranging for their despatch to Soul. The last words that rung in our ears were, " You will be late for the city gate ! " but such a thought mattered little compared with the relief of having actually made a start. We were soon free of the Japanese houses which had been run up alongside of the road by the small traders, who had profited by the opportunities of early trade with a new country.

These houses formed the intermediate stage between the Japanese Consulate and the huts of the Corean squatters, who had come to the place for work. A Japanese house can never fail to be possessed of some attractive ness, but the Corean huts were wretched hovels of mud thatched with straw, almost destitute of ventila tion, and arranged in irregular lines on either side of small trenches, which contained some portion of the filth and refuse lying outside the cabins. It is true that the town was quite new, and a year or two previously there had been only five or six cabins, where at that time there were over a hundred. We were glad to get away from these surround ings on to the low hills, which extend over almost the whole of the country between the sea and that part of the river Han which is opposite the capital.