# The passing of Korea

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THE
PASSING OF KOREA
BY
HOMER B. HULBERT
A.M., F.R.G.S.
Author of "The History of Korea," "Comparative Grammar of Korea and Dravidian," "A Search for the Siberian Klondike," etc.
Illustrated from Photographs
NEW YORK
Doubleday, Page & Company
1906
Copyright, 1906, by
Doubleday, Page & Company
Published, September, 1906
All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian
Dedicated
TO HIS MAJESTY
THE EMPEROR OF KOREA
AS A TOKEN OF HIGH ESTEEM AND A PLEDGE OF UNWAVERING ALLEGIANCE, AT A TIME WHEN CALUMNY HAS DONE ITS WORST AND JUSTICE HAS SUFFERED AN ECLIPSE AND
TO THE KOREAN PEOPLE
PREFACE
MANY excellent books have been written about Korea, each of them approaching the subject from a slightly different angle. In the present volume I have attempted to handle the theme from a more intimate standpoint than that of the casual tourist.
Much that is contained in this present volume is matter that has come under the writer's personal observation or has been derived directly from Koreans or from Korean works. Some of this matter has already appeared in The Korea Review and elsewhere. The historical survey is a condensation from the writer's "History of Korea."
This book is a labour of love, undertaken in the days of Korea's distress, with the purpose of interesting the reading public in a country and a people that have been frequently maligned and seldom appreciated. They are overshadowed by China on the one hand in respect of numbers, and by Japan on the other in respect of wit. They are neither good merchants like the one nor good fighters like the other, and yet they are far more like Anglo-Saxons in temperament than either, and they are by far the pleasantest people in the Far East to live amongst. Their failings are such as follow in the wake of ignorance everywhere, and the bettering of their opportunities will bring swift betterment to their condition.
For aid in the compilation of this book my thanks are mainly due to a host of kindly Koreans from every class in society, from the silk-clad yangban to the fettered criminal in prison, from the men who go up the mountains to monasteries to those who go down to the sea in ships.
H. B. H.
NEW YORK, 1906. ​
CONTENTS :
| Introductory. The Problem | Introductory. The Problem | Page 3 |
| Chapter | Chapter | |
| I. | Where and what Korea is above and below ground | 10 |
| II. | The People | 27 |
| III. | Government | 45 |
| IV. | Legendary and Ancient History | 69 |
| V. | Medieval History | 78 |
| VI. | The Golden Age of Korea and the Japanese Invasion | 90 |
| VII. | The Manchu Invasion and Early Christianity | 103 |
| VIII. | The Opening of Korea | 114 |
| IX. | The Assassination of the Queen | 129 |
| X. | The Independence Club | 148 |
| XI. | Russian Intrigue | 169 |
| XII. | The Japan-Russia War | 185 |
| XIII. | The Battle of Chemulpo | 199 |
| XIV. | The Japanese in Korea | 208 |
| XV. | Revenue | 225 |
| XVI. | The Currency | 234 |
| XVII. | Architecture and Building | 241 |
| XVIII. | Transportation | 252 |
| XIX. | Korean Industries | 269 |
| XX. | Domestic and Foreign Trade | 281 |
| XXI. | Monuments and Relics | 288 |
| XXII. | Language | 300 ​ |
| XXIII. | Literature | 306 |
| XXIV. | Music and Poetry | 314 |
| XXV. | Art | 330 |
| XXVI. | Education | 335 |
| XXVII. | The Emperor of Korea | 343 |
| XXVIII. | Woman's Position | 349 |
| XXIX. | Folk-lore | 372 |
| XXX. | Religion and Superstition | 403 |
| XXXI. | Slavery | 432 |
| XXXII. | Funeral procession—Geomancy | 437 |
| XXXIII. | Burial Customs | 445 |
| XXXIV. | Modern Improvements | 456 |
| XXXV. | The Future of Korea | 461 |
| INDEX | | 467 |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS :
| The Emperor of Korea | Frontispiece |
| | FACING PAGE |
| The faithful Fuel-Carriers of Korea | 18 |
| Shoeing a Bull | 20 |
| American Bridge across the Han | 28 |
| A dancing-girl Posturing | 40 |
| Otium sine Dignitate | 62 |
| Relics of Ancient Korea | 72 |
| Three Bridges of Korea | 74 |
| Ruins of "Golden Pagoda," Ancient Silla | 82 |
| Bas-Relief on Door of Ancient Silla Pagoda | 82 |
| Astronomical Observatory of Ancient Silla | 82 |
| The Marble Pagoda in Seoul | 86 |
| A Buddhist Relic in the South | 86 |
| The Late Regent, Prince Tai-Wun | 116 |
| Buddhist Abbot | 130 |
| A Picturesque Nook in the Old Palace | 132 |
| A Palace-Woman in Full Regalia | 138 |
| Two of the Foreign Legations in Korea | 150 |
| The Japanese Legation | 190 |
| The French Legation Building | 204 |
| Martial Law | 210 |
| Views of Picturesque Korea | 216 |
| Min Yong Whan, Prince and General | 222 |
| The Korean Farmer | 226 |
| A Corner Grocery | 244 |
| How they Shovel Dirt | 246 |
| Building a Dirt Wall | 248 ​ |
| Art and Religion | 250 |
| Water-Carriers at a Neighbourhood Well | 258 |
| The Shipyard | 260 |
| Two Industries of Korea | 264 |
| Automatic Water-Mill | 266 |
| Hulling Rice | 270 |
| Poultry Peddler | 270 |
| Boys who Gather Grass for Fuel | 272 |
| Dead Child Tied to Tree | 272 |
| Placer Gold-Mining | 274 |
| An Archery Tournament | 278 |
| An Interesting Chess Problem | 282 |
| Swinging | 286 |
| Stone Dog, Guardian of Palace against Fire | 290 |
| A Boundary Stone | 294 |
| Symbols of Korea's Religion | 296 |
| A Member of the Body-Guard of the God of War | 302 |
| Village Devil-Posts | 302 |
| Mural Decorations in Old Palace | 332 |
| Woman's Correct Street Costume | 354 |
| The Laundry | 356 |
| Imperial "funeral Baked Meats" | 440 |
| A Prince's Tomb | 448 |
| The South Gate, Seoul | 450 |
| Stone Image near Tomb | 452 |
| The American Methodist Church, Seoul | 454 |
| Residence of the American Consul-General | 458 |
THE EMPEROR OF KOREA
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1949, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 74 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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