Hugh Alexander Webster

“ If he meets him on the way, he must do him humblest obeisance; if he writes to him, he must employ the most respectful forms in the language; if the father is sick, the son must attend him; if the father is in prison, the son must be at hand without; if the father is exiled, the son must accompany him on his journey. ”

“ Not only are they destitute of all political and social influence, but they are not held personally responsible for their actions, and live in a state of lifelong pupilage. At the same time they enjoy a considerable amount of freedom, and it is only among the upper classes that they are kept in seclusion. Marriage is altogether an affair of etiquette ”

“ Han-iang, Seoul, or Seyool, the chief town of Kieng-kei, is also the capital of the kingdom and the permanent residence of the court; it is situated on the Hang-kang, and surrounded with high and thick walls, 9975 paces in circuit. The chief towns of the two remaining provinces are respectively Kong-tsiou near the River Keum-kang, and Tien-tsiou, at the foot of the range of mountains that traverses the province.
The king of Corea, though a vassal of the Chinese empire, is within his own country an absolute monarch, with power of life and death over the noblest in the land. ”

“ Trade is mainly carried on by means of markets or fairs, but transactions are hampered by the deficiency of the currency. Only one kind of coin, a small piece of copper known as a “sapeke,” is recognized, and even this is not in use in the northern provinces, where barter alone is in vogue. The roads of the country offer but few facilities for traffic; wheeled vehicles are unknown, and much of the transport of goods is effected by porterage. Except at the capital there is hardly, over any of the numerous streams, a structure worthy to be called a bridge. ”

“ Since 1636 there has been no war with China or with Japan; and the Coreans have maintained in regard to every other nation the most absolute isolation. The ambassadors sent annually to Peking have been the means of conveying some little knowledge of Western nations to their countrymen; but the result has rather been to make them more exclusive. It is recorded in a Corean work that Tsiang-tou-wen-i saw a European named Jean Niouk in the Chinese capital, and obtained from him books, pistols, telescopes, and other curiosities ”

“ The army nominally includes every individual capable of bearing arms, who does not belong to the nobility; but only a small proportion of the men are brought under discipline. The military mandarins, though chosen from the nobles, are in far less estimation than the civil functionaries of corresponding rank. ”

“ The blind are reputed to be endowed with special prophetic aptitude, and, as a natural consequence, a large proportion of those who are deprived of sight make gain of their affliction. In the capital these blind seers are formed into a regular corporation legally recognized, and their services are in great request for the discovery of secrets, the foretelling of the future, and the exorcizing of devils. ”

“ Torture is freely employed in judicial proceedings; and the unhappy victim may either have the bones of his legs dislocated or bent, his calves reduced to rags by blows from a heavy plank, the flesh of his thighs cut through by the continuous friction of a rough cord, or his whole body agonized by a prolonged suspension by the arms. ”

“ On the death of his father the eldest son becomes the head of the family, responsible for all the duties of a father towards his brothers and sisters, who receive no share in the patrimony, but merely dowries and donations on marriage, &c. Between the various members of a family, even after they have separated from the domestic hearth, there remains the greatest intimacy and affection ”

“ Criminal cases are decided by the military mandarin, and the final appeal is to the great court of the capital, which consists of two parts—the po-tseng which collects the evidence, and the ieng-tso which passes the sentence. Public functionaries and culprits accused of treason or rebellion are tried by a special court called the keum-pou, the members of which are named directly by the king. In a case of high treason the whole family of the guilty person is involved in his fate. ”

“ The Sia-tsik is hardly known in the provinces; but in the capital his temple is the most sacred of all. Among the educated classes the only form of religion in real force is the worship of their ancestors, and consequently the greatest importance is attached to all the ceremonial details of funerals, mourning, and tombs. In every district there is a temple of Confucius called kiang-kio, with an extensive domain attached; and if the revenue is not sufficient to maintain the necessary expenses, the treasury of the district must supply the deficit. ”

“ Of first importance for the happiness of a family is the preservation of the ancestral fire, and every housewife has all the anxiety and responsibility of a Vestal Virgin. The number of astrologers and fortune tellers throughout the country is extraordinary. ”

“ The Chinese or Japanese ships are allowed to fish for trepang along the coast of Pieng-an and for herring on that of Hoang-hai; but they are prohibited, not only from landing, but from holding any communication with the Coreans at sea.
Dwellings and Dress.—The houses of the Coreans are of one story, flimsily constructed of wood, clay, and rice-straw, visually covered with thatch and badly provided with windows. Lamentable accounts are given of the general poverty of the common people. Their houses are only about ten or twelve feet square ”

“ He is expected to provide for the poor of his realm, and there are always a large number of pensioners on the royal bounty. The princes of the blood are most jealously excluded from power, and their interference in the slightest degree in a matter of politics is regarded as treason. The nobles, however, have within the present century extended their influence, and infringed on the royal prerogatives. ”

“ The salaries of the governors and other high officials are large, but as the term is only two years, and the custom of the country is for a person in office to support all his relatives, it is seldom that the position proves genuinely lucrative. ”

“ The ordinary shoe or sandal is formed of straw, and leaves the great toe exposed; but stockings are worn by all. Wide pantaloons and a long vest are the principal articles of attire,—the well-to-do wearing also a large overcoat, which the peasant uses on gala occasions only. The national hat is composed of a framework of bamboos covered with an open kind of haircloth; it protects neither from rain, cold, nor sun, and is altogether very inconvenient. ”

“ The tsin-sa are destined to fill administrative posts in the province, the keup-tchiei the higher positions about the capital and the palace. The military degree, which is also known as the keup-tchiei, involves but little literary culture, and is sought only by the poorer nobles. The whole system is in a state of great decay, and the purchasing of degrees or of doctoral theses is far from uncommon. ”

“ One volume particularly attracted M.'s attention; it consisted of a number of marble tablets, united by gilt copper hinges; each tablet was protected by a cushion of scarlet silk, and the letters were in gold incrusted on the marble.
Education.—As in China, so in Corea, learning is ostensibly in high estimation, and all public officials must pass certain examinations. The student is left perfectly free to follow any system and receive instruction from any teacher whatever,—the examiners, who are appointed by the Government, taking account of nothing but results. ”

“ The king alone has the right of rearing sheep and goats, which are kept for the purpose of being sacrificed in religious ceremonials.
Political Divisions and Towns.—The kingdom of Corea is divided into eight provinces, of which three, Ham-kieng, Kang-wen, and Kieng-sang lie along the eastern side of the peninsula, while the others, Pieng-an, Hoang-hai, Kieng-kei, Tsiong-tsieng, and Tsien-la face the Yellow Sea. Ham-kieng and Pieng-an are the two that border on Manchuria. ”

“ Animals.—Of the wild animals the most remarkable are a small species of tiger, the bear, and the wild boar; and of the domestic kinds the principal are cattle, horses of diminutive proportions but considerable strength, swine, and dogs. ”

“ Of individual summits the highest known to Europeans are Hien-fung and Tao-kwang [1] in the Pepi Shan Mountains, to the north of Broughton Bay; and these attain no greater elevation than 8114 and 6310 feet respectively. Another of special mark, called Sedlovaya, or the Saddle, by the Russian navigators, is situated in 38° 10′ 30′′ N. lat. The country to the west of the main ridge is occupied by irregular spurs; and throughout its whole extent there is no district that can properly be described as a plain. ”

“ The study of their native language is greatly neglected by the Coreans, and the educated classes regularly employ Chinese both in literature and social intercourse. The annals of the kingdom, the laws, scientific treatises, public inscriptions, and even shop-signs are all written in the foreign language ”

“ Industry and Trade.—The industrial arts are but slightly developed, the peasant himself in most cases supplying by his own labour the greater part of his needs. The one manufacture in which the Corean ranks really high is that of paper, a material employed as in Japan in a great variety of ways. ”

“ The third in 35° 2′ is large enough to shelter merchant vessels of all sizes and even ships of war below the rank of frigates. Throughout its whole extent this eastern shore presents mainly a succession of steep but not very lofty cliffs, sinking at intervals into irregular dunes, or into stretches of almost level sand. The south and west coasts, on the other hand, are much more varied with inlet and promontory, estuary and peninsula; and the neighbouring sea is occupied by a multitude of islands and rocks. ”

“ Foreign commerce there is none, unless the fair which is held annually for several days at Pien-men on the occasion of the passage of the ambassadors, or that which takes place every two years at Hung-chung, is to be counted an exception. ”