New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-09
COREAN TRAITS.
A LAND OF JOLLITY, BAZAATS AND POOH
HOTELS.


HOTELS.
Haitsin, June 10.
Which is the more pleasant sounding eplthe"
foreign devil of ku-lxyong- kun? Or wouid IL NC
best to call man O psrallelopipedon at once anu
have done with it? The first OF these IS tc h.'iNe
by which your correspondent was known III mn"
though unhappily, happily, as you plcaSe' ho 10.
no monopoly of it, II was not proper name-thaV
goes without saying: it was and Is msnS i"i,
nroner-but an exceedingly common one, appiieo
with all-cmbracing generosity to all corners from
the barbaric lands outside the Flowery hlnsdoin-
IT, WAS applied spontaneously, too, and no amount
10 o,cument or entreaty could ever persuade the
mild-pved Mandarins that it was not approprlhleY
bestowed The second, on the other haho' the
melodious ku-kyOng kun, was only given oy 'he
Jolly Coreans after long pcrsuadlng 1heS nav
been in the habit of calling each other Dy ~, aCu
they we'll may do But that II couiu as NJ
tingly be given to stranger, foreigner uio
NOT occur 10 them. Il means, however, simply
a pleasure-seeker a pic-nicker, chap OH lol
holiday Shall ! add, q personally conducted
tourist? The last term, by the way, generdHS
means a tourist who doesn't personally con'uc"
himself, but is conducted by some ctner person.
and therefore would not fit the present writer
Rut a full-hedred ku lIyong-llun / am at last
after many efforts, IdHEinB aloA6 wiz" VIZ
licking, hilarious natives who seem 10 spend halt
their time in making Jokes ana inc oUhei H'ii III
laughing at them.
This amiablc trait of the Corean character Is 10
be observed probably to the best advantage at the
fairs or bazaars. which greatly abound in all the
populous portions of the kingdom. Fair-holdlhg'
in truth seems to be the national manner OF carry
ing on business. Follow the crowd on Coreah
road any day and you are morally certain 10 1etch
mn in n fair in the nearest market town. The crowd
consists of all sorts and conditions of people, but
all dressed in gay coofs and all in hilarious spirits
Business is business but they go about 1t as though
il were the greatest bit Of fun in the world Even
the babies, carried on their mothers bacKs, are
growing and smiling rapturously; the coolies under
the burden of huge crates of merchandise are
laughing as they trudge; and the very bullocks ana
ponies almost as heavily laden as the coolies, arc
cheerful if not actually frisky. Meeting or over
taking, or being overtaken by stranger, they all
executing the four-footers-hall him with good
natured chat even the women forgetting the rule
of Corean etiquette which commands them never
to show their faces to strangers. That rule Is
probably falling into general disuse. Now and
then a woman scrupulously turns her back upon
stranger but most of them do not hesitate to look
him squarey in the face and exchange merry
| greeting.
Arrived at the market-tOwl one beholds plct-
| uresque scene; such as there is beneath my win
dow at this moment. The street is wide just here,
made wide for the purpose of the fair. On both
sides it is lined with little booths Of straw. and
nearly all the rest of the space is taken up with
| board platforms or cloth spreads, laid on the
ground In the booths and on the boards and
cloths are piled the goods for SALE and great is the
variety thereof. There are melons and fruits of
tmany kinds, rice and barley and peas and beans;
fish. fresh and salt, with glorious piles OF sal
mon looking like pyramids of ruddy gold; char
coal the popular fuel, tied up in little bundles like
| kindling wood in Newly Ork: pots and kettles and
other utensils of castrOn cheap in price and rude
and rough in make wickerware Of really fine
quality: hats and sandals of the curious COrean
pattern gold and silver jewelry, in Quaint and
artistic designs; and indeed nearly all the mer-
chandise, things to eat, TO wear, TO use, that may
| be needed in COrean life.
There are beggars, too, in plenty; mostly monks.
These religious mendcantS are in all parts
| of C0rea and they seem TO meet with much en-
couragement. / have never seen one turned away
from house without an aims They spend half
their time " in residence" at the monasteries and
the other half on the road" They tramp along
from town TO town singing or chanting Buddhstic
psalms and presenting their aims bowls at the door
Of every house they pass. They dress in ordinary
| Corean costume, including the long white travel
ling cloak, but may readily be distinguished by
their peculiar hats. This may seem strange state
ment, since all Corean hats are peculiar. But the
monks hats have an individuality of their own
which makes them conspicuous and unique. They
are each about two feet in diameter at the brim,
and are fat cone-shaped coming to a sharp point
at the apex They are built of bamboo frame
work. matched over with fine straw. and finished
with o covering of mating The nuns, also. have
q peculiar hcad-drcss of their own. 1t consists OF
nothing in the world but little sheaf of fine straw
bound tightly at one end and loose at tic other.
IL is spread open at the loose end into rude cone
shape, and thus set top Of the head. What holds
it there, goodness knows-and probably the nuns
The ku-kyong-kun in Corea has one bad thing
10 deal with, the hotels. They are bad very bad.
Generally they are built in the form OF a hollow
square Two sides OF the square are devoted "a
human beings and the other two 10 animals. The
hitter stray at will about the courtyard, and the
fragrance Of their presence pervades the whole es
tabl!shinent. The courtyard indeed, is nothing
but stable-yard, often piled high with manure
and usually containing "a number OF hogs which
the landlord Is fattenns on the refuse OF the
kitchen. As the kitchen and dning-room open
directly upon this place the general conditions are
not especially appetning line sceping-rOo'ns are
curious places. They have earth. or mud, floors
Their furniture consists Of bit Of bamboo mat
ting and block Of wood. The mating spread
On the mud floor is the bed and the block OF Woo
is the pillow. statistics Of Insomnia are uE.
fortunately not accessible. The lack of furniture
il partially atohed for. however, by the penitudt
! of living occupants. Ten tn usand bugs 70 eaci
room is moderate estimate, and their activity ant
voracity-wcll, beggar description But dc
in Corea finds so many novel sights and secs 81
much genial and hearty, j! childlike, gopd mature
all about him, that he can very properly claim {.
rank as ku-kyong kun of the jolie't type.