The Newtown bee., 1880-06-23
The Kingdom of Corea.

The prospects of our opening very soon the kingdom of Corea to communi- cation with the external world will, says New York paper, be welcome to our own and 10 all civilized people. It Is now the sole country on the globe sealed against commerce and progress. and the general and inevitable ignorance of the land, its people, and its customs has been sufficient to make 1t interest ing, for the unknown is always attrac- tive. This peninsular kingdom of Asia, tributary to China, is mountainous throughout, densely wooded in some
 istricts, with tolerably fertile valleys. The climate. glacial in the north, is else where like the climate of Japan Rain is excessive there, and snow IS univer- sal iii winter. Tho inhabitants are probably of Tungusic stock, the same as that which has populated all North
 ern Asia. They are in feature more positively Mongolian than the J Japanese, whom they yet closely resemble. Their language, differing materially from both Chinese and Japanese. is like the latter in its polysy liable form and alpha bet of twenty-seven letters. The native alphabet and writing are nearly obso- lete, but the Chinese characters are everywhere familiar. The religion and, indeed most of the political institutions are.based on those of China. The Chinese state deities are generally worshiped 1; Buddhism and Taoism have many ad- herents, and the learned classes cleave to the moral system of Confucius. The monarchy is despotic. somewhat tenn pered by privileged ranks and hereditary nobility, and the officers are chosen. The Coreans live very plainly. even primitively, their principal food being inferior rice and grain. Some cotton, silk and tobacco is raised; but agricul- ture is not understood or practiced to any extent, although considerable pep per and ginseng are exchanged with the Chinese for other products. Minerals are plenty, yet very small quantities of gold, silver, copper, iron and lead are mined. The population has been esti- mated at from 5.000,000 to 10000, 900, and is probably in the neighborhood of l4, GOO. .O00. The kingdoms policy of strict isolation from other people has included even the Chinese, with whom they hold no intercourse, except at the annual embassy, accompanied by lew privileged traders, and of the fairs, periodically held at the Gate town, near fhe Mantchusian City ot Feenghwang. The Chinese hatred of everything foreign is intensified by traditions of ancient enmity between. them and the inhabitants of Ch'ao-sien, as Corea was once called. The Mongol conquerors of China subiugated Corea likewise; but the Ming dynasty restored the sover- eighty of that country. which in time got it's present name. Christianity was planted there. oddly enough. in l5a2, by Christian converts among the invading forces of the Japanese usurper, Taico- sama. Until recently nearly all infor- nation about Corea came from the ac- count of Hamel, Dutch sailor, wrecked there and detained for thirteen years. We have made two offensive expedi- tions to the kingdom in consequence of attacks by the natives on OUT vessels. We did not succeed in breaking down the barriers of the peculiar people, but we shall probably succeed the next time