Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1883-06-22
COREA AND THE COREANS.
A Corner Of the Earth Now Being
Opened for Public Inspection.

There is much natural beauty in the
country, the beau y Of mountain, forest
and prairie, Of profuse vegetation and
plentiful rivers and cataracts. And the
people arc not Indifferent to these beau
Ties; they are seeing race, and proud
among themselves) of their marine and
mountain views. The country is FER
tile, but the climate has great extremes
of heat and cold. The Indian story of
"the tiger that owns my village" would
be thoroughly appreciated in Corea,
where very large and fierce species
of that terrible apimal abounds, and the
idea of it pervades all works of art. To
japanese children, Chosen is known as
"the land OF the tiger" Leopar6s,
bears and wolves are also very numer-
Gus, the wild deer and the wild hog
abound, monkeys are found in the
southern provinces, and aligators and
salamanders in the rivers. The people
are large eaters, especially of meat;
small oxen in great numbers supply
them IN the south, and dogs are eaten
commonly. Tea and rice are rare lux
uries, and fish Is chiefly devoured ra W.
Altogether the "diet" is an uncomforta.
BILE one. Sheep are imported from
China for sacrifcial purposes only, and
goats are rare. The poorer classes are
mesgerly fed; they live, like the Japa-
nese, on millet and beans All classes
use tobacco very much. We may take
it that the manners and customs which
| Mr.. Gritfis describes as existing now are
just the same as they have been ior
ages: domestic slavery in its mildest
form, for instance, the position Of
women, the fraternal principles On
which trades and industries are con.
Quoted, and the curious ceremonies OIL
marriage, burial and mourning.
Women arc not so i'll off in Corea as
in many other less secluded heather
countries. They have 10 rights, and
are disposed of like the other animals;
but they are not ill-treated by then
owners, and though their personal in
significance actually extends to then
| having no names, they receive titles OF
| honor In public, their apartments are
secure from intrusion, they can not be
punished for any crime (the males OF
the family being responsible for them J.
and they are free land safe) to go about
at all hours. Widows of position are
not supposed TO marry again, and are
expected to mourn all their lives, but
d man whose wife dies wears half
mourning for very short time. 1t is
d breach of good manners 10 be
vehemently sorry for ones wife, and
the sex that makes every law fnds that
one easy to keep.
A Corean king is a rather absurd
parsonage; nobody must touch him
unbidden, and anyone who accidental.
ly does so has henceforth to wear a
red cord round the neck. Metal, also,
must never approach the royal person.
The king has despotic power; but it is
tempered by many kindly customs; he
hears the complaints of his subjects,
aEd Is IN constant communication with
the populace, by means of commits
sionera. The royal outings are ire
mendous affairs, with caparisoned
horses, dragon flags, and the sacred fan
and umbrella. The nCbles are s. Dad
and cruel class, according to all &C
counts of them; the officials and
Magistrates are literary" Literature
has from time immemorial been held
iu honor in Corea, from whence tie
Japanese adopted printing in the
twelfth century, when q work of the
Buddhist canon was printed from wood
en- blocks. "a Corean book is known
which dates authenticity from the
period 1317-24, over century before
the earliest printed book known IN
Europe" The Coreans are Buddhists,
but Snamanlsm has never lost it's hold
upon them, and the old gods are
reverenced still, just as the old myths
remain IN modern Greece. Tne air is
not empty for a Corean, and every
has Its three unlucky days, the 5.h,
The 15.h, and tie 251h. The worship
of ancestors and the Chinese system OF
ethics, or Con!ucisnism, are there rul-
ing principles, ans the iulfiIlment OF
the parental and tilial relations in an
admirable manner Is the distinguish
ing virtue of the hermit race.-LOndon
Spectator.