The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1883-12-21
C0REA AND THE C0REANS,
A JAPANESE s7HoLAR's ACCOUNT
OF TIE HERMIT NATION.

Established Intercourse With the
Outside WOrId-A Peculiar People.
A native japanese scholar has written
for the New York Tribune an account of
Corea, the country which recently sent
an embassy to the United States. The
writer says: Corea, like Japan, for many
years refused all intercourse with her
sister nations, and now that the barrier
which has shut her out from them has
been removed, much interest has been
awakened in reg ard to this strange coun-
try. This interest none feels more
strongly than Japan, as many of her
arts, as well as literature and religion,
were originally learned from Corea.
Once in several weeks steamers leave
Japan for Corea. The journey is made
in about week with fair sailing. This
time will bring one to the coast, where
anchor is cast some distance from shore.
At this point is river which emptics
into the ocean. and it is possible to reach
Soul, the capital. by means of this, but
the journey cannot be made in large
boats IN account of shadows and tides.
Ships anchor two or three miles from
shore, and the crew row to a little vii
lage near the mouth of the river and
obtain conveyance for the journey over
land. This conveyance resembles the
japanese "kago," and is carried by two
poles underneath. in the hands of two
men elevated as high as the waist, while
in japan the poles are carried on
shoulders. and attached to the " kago ."
at the top. The distance to Soul is
twenty-five miles, and is made in day
The face of the country is billy and but
roughly obligated trees are scarce, being
cut down for use before half grown, and
everything gives evidence of careless
and ignorant people. There are few vii
lagos along the way, and none of any in
terest. Near the capital are some very
fine gates of great beauty and workman
ship, but the temples have none of the
gorgeous appearance found in neighbor-
ing countries. There are some fine walls
around the city.
The streets are very narrow, filled with
rubbish and pervaded by gases from de
caying matter; the houses, crowded
closely together are really nothing more
than rude huts, built at the bottom of
stone and mud, and at the top of wood.
There is no house with second story,
and most of them are very small The
rooms are only about six feet square,
with no sort of ornamentation or furni-
ture. The inmates sit on the bare wooden
floors without mats or cushions, and only
in the richest houses are straw mattings
spread down. Sometimes sort of
bench or chair, covered with oiled paper,
is offered to foreign guest. The houses
do not open into the streets, and some
times there is no door, and the entrance
is by II low window, with a paper
covered sash. Many of the
dwellings are built with one part at right
angles to the other, one-half being the
section for women and the other for men.
Even the kings palace, building better
than the rest, and supposed to be very
fine, has only the addition of tiles to the
roof. 1t seems impossible to believe, in
walking around this city, that there are
as many as three thousand souls in this
small place of crowded houses.
One seldom meets a women on the
Streets and those are only from the poor
est and lowest class, as a respectable
women never shows her face to any man
excepting her nearest relatives. A man
cannot see his brothers wife, or any
female but his immediate family, and few
women SCI other women outside of their
own houses. For years women have
lived in adjoining dwellings, and have
never seen each other. All their life is
lived in the few square feet of rooms as
Signed them, cooking, eating, sleeping
hnd washing their clothes, with not
he slightest bit of mental culture, and
with no idea of the world out
Fidc; perfect prisoners, and to whom the
light of day is almost unknown. There
little beauty among the women of
Corea; their faces are pallid, and no
wonder, and sadness and WEAKNESS mark
he countenances of even the Youngest.
Their costumes seem frightfully rigid,
Ind their condition worst of all the
Women in the world hardly excepting the
women of India. Although when a girl
IS born the parents give her a name, She
S never called by it, but is designated as
he daughter, or the elder sister, aunt or
fousin of this person or that 1t is only
pm the wedding night that the husband
s told the name of his wife. and if he
over calls her name it is when no one
ban hear. Thus woman is almost with
put identity.
Eoes from one house to another a large
Pox-like conveyance with lid is brought
" coolies to the house and left; it is
hen carried by servants into her room,
where she gets into it, is covered up and
arried outside. Then the coolies APP
ear and carry her only into the gateway
the house she is to visit, and then
hey go away she is then ca ried into
ne women's room by those who are per-
litted there, and then she comes forth
rom her pent-up conveyance.
The clothes Of both men and women
RE about the most respectable thing in
orea. A skirt is worn by women, and
lso an upper part like Il waist, in crude
IMITATION OF European dress. These
othes are washed frequently, and this
PENS to be the only particular in which
hey are clearly. The masculine attire is
Pade in one piece, often wadled and
49, of nice material, and buttons across
pc chest, fastening it tightly A mans
pir is carefully arranged, and may be
4 Il l.