New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-12-09
THE HERMIT NATION.
A NATIVE JAPANESE SCHOLARS NOTES IN
COREA.

Corea, like Japan, for many years reluseu az
Intercourse with her sister nations anu no" .a a-
barrier which has shut her out from then mas
od much interest has been awakened In the regafu
o. ,hts stronpe country This interest none reefs oio
49,, o. Tooan az many Of her arts, az wei as
,.,,,-o and religion, originally learned nun
Core, II was therefore, naturally supposed oy VIZ
Jopancse that there would be founu IN TINS haton
was interesting novel aud curious Ine actua rae"
-, Gov have nroyed great disappointment, ana TIC
,hoorv that all the skilled artisans were Drought o
from Corea through the influence OF Japanese I'm
leaving only the ignorant people behind VINO iIoin
,t t,o on have degcneaed seems true as the present.
condition OF Corca Is much lower Inan III oiu nm
since the treaties were made between japan anu -.
tho peonle OF the latter country have been frequently
seen In Japan The men have seemed 10 IeseInpi'
Janancse more closely than the Chinese They nave
a. bysioue regular Oriental features, with dark mar
opd more than ordinary intelligence; but ther sans
costumes OF gay coOrs and queer CUT WIN ther "o'
boir hats and cotton wadded feet. attracted c"u
cozo They were regarded as new nationality WIN
horn the Japanese might become on friendly terms
visit to the country however shows no" "'uo 'P'i'
two nations arc IN every respect
once In several weeks steamers leave Japan Tor Coroa
The tourney IL made in about week Win iair Sais
This time will bring one to the COAST "herc amen"
cast some distance from shore Az lhs point -
river which emptles into the ocean, ana IN possoIe
reach Soul the capital by means OF ths Dut inc
or,ot no made In large boats, on account OF shso"S
and tides shIps anchor three miles IRON snore
and the crew row to little village near tue mouth oi INC
river and obtain conveyance Tor inc journey wv "
Tbis conveyance resembles the japanese kago' anu
carried by two poles underneath IN the nahus Vi WV
Ion elevated as high us the waist while In Japan tne
IT,, rc carried on shoulders, and attached
90 tho "kaeo" ut tho top. The distance 10 Soui
ia twenty-five miles. and Is made In day Inc iaco u
the country is billy and but roughly cuit'aEu' co9 ~
scarce being cut down for use before hai grown anu
everything gives evidence OF careless ana Ignorant
oone There arc few villages along the way and none
s Interest Near the capital are very fine gates
81 Great beauty and workmanship but the temples nave
none OF the gorgeous appearance found IN neshoorR
countries There some fine walls around the c'ly
rrlo trocts arc very narrow filed with rubbish ana
peryadcd by gases from decayng matter the HOUSES
crowded closely together really nothing more IMAM
ds Init. buit Mt the bottom of stone and mud ana at
h Ton ~ wood There Is no house with second story
o,d most of them are very small. The rooms are only
about six feet square, with sort OF ornanenaoh OF
f,rniture The inmates ait on the Dare WoPdeh hoorS
without mats or cushions and only In the richest houses
orc straw mattings spread down Sometimes sort OF
bench or chair covered with oiled paper Ia offered to
foreign guest The houses do not open Into the streets
rd somctlmes there IS no door, and the entrance Il by
Low window with a paper covered sash. Many Of the
dwellings ore built with part at right angles 10 the
other onha being the section for women ana the other
for men, Even the Kings Palace. building better than
lion Of tiles TO the roof It impossible TO believe
in walking around this city, that there are rs many as
three thousand souls this small place OF crowded
houses.
THE DEGRADATION or WOMAN.
ono seldom meets a woman the streets, and those
arc only from the poorest and lowest class "A respect
abe woman never shows her face to any man excepting
her nearest relatives A cannot see his brothers
vito or any female but his immediate family, and few
woman see other women outside OF their own houses For
wears women have lived In adjoining DWELLING ana nave
mover seen each other All their life Ia lived In the Few
SQUARE feet OF the assigned then' COOKING eating
sleeping and washing their clothes with not the slightest
nj, ~ mental culture and with idea Of tho world out
side perfcct prisoners and TO whom the light OF day Is
almost unknown There Is little beauty among the
women Of Corca their faces panld and no "onHer
and sahness and WEAKNESS mark the countenances VI
even the Youngest. Their costumes seem fHghtmlly
rigid and their condition worst OF all the women IN the
world hardly excepting the women OF india Although
when S sg SGn bn t sacd a. tho dsasief or
the eldest sister cousin Of this person or Thai IL
Is only on Ss % we ana he ever ca' her IS
when no one hear Thus woman Is almost without
d %beS woman from some ntfes.y goes from one
house 20 another large ho.e an Ieft ~ Il tbsn
carried by servants Ito her ROOM where she gets into H.
/. covered up and carried outside Then the cSohes up
she is TO visit and then hoy 20 away she then carried
and then she forth from her p3ntup conveyance
CLOTHING, FooD ANp MANNERs.
The clothes Of both and women about the most
respectable thing in COrea skirt Is worn 10y women
and also an upper part like waist in crude imitation OF
Furopoan dress These clothes washed frequently,
and this seems to be the only particular in which they
are ceanly The masculine attire Is made In pieoe,
often wadded aud made OF nice material and buttons
scross the chest fastening II tightly. mans hair Ia
carefully arranged. and may he dimy seen through his
tall hat which Is made Of hairs and tho hat Is not re
moved on any occasion. His feet tightly wrapped In
cotton 10 make enduabe the hard shoes which very
mucn like those the Chinese aud generally made OF
wood but sometimes Of hard ocloth. The shoes worn
in the house are OF cloth, and more comfortable.
The Corcan salutation r. made thus: When meets
an acquaintance, he clasps his own hands together and
shaking them bows his head them very low, some
what like the japanese and Chinese. According 70 the
Corean standard OF cleanliness bath IL not necessary,
and bucket pail IL hard TO obtain, and tub large
enough for a bath Is All the water Is taken
from wells in eourds, which grow to large size When
bathtub in house. the only way he could obtain II
TO long and large log Of wood and have followed
out bit By bit until II the shape and size he wished
The principal food OF the COreans II rice M with al
Eastern nations but 80 poorly is 1t cooked being hed
to the All the food IL poorly cooked there no
variety in the preparation Of e. and all meals are the
same. They feed themselves with chop sticks assted by
fiat spoon All the china IS crudey made IT is thick
sort OF greensh ware roughly finished and II at all 9Tn9
most impossible 10 believe that Japan learned how 20
make her exquisite from these people In ancient
times Vegetation Il luxurious In respects. There
is abundance OF the best quality OF bay but this is
burned for fuel wood being used. The cattle excel
any along the coast OF ASIA and with good grazing
would become profitable for expectation There are
not many varieties OF fruit, hut peaches large and
luscious almost twice the size OF those in America
There are nuts and the chestnut Ia larger than
known In Europe and twice large the Italian.
vegetables are not abundant but they have several for
eign Species and they have plenty ofegg and splendid
| meat.
When gentleman OF high rank ys!ts another It Is the
custom 20 take with him not only presents but all the
food he will require and food for the family he visits TO
each person IL assigned enormous quantities OF meat,
moro than one could possibly eat with the best appetite
The utensils for cooking are very strange The stove
made OF stone and arranged that the smoke from the
fire goes through pipe under the floor OF the house and
makes it, escape from the other SIDE aud IN every house
| the smoke WIN De Issuing from the floor. On
asking for O washbasin the utens for boiling rice
be handed you. The sleeping apartments used for
every other purpose The bed the floor is hard and