The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1894-09-24
COREAN WOMEN.
All ABOUT TIE NOBLE LADIES AND
THE DEGRADED SLAVE GIRLS.
FEW RIGHTS RESPECTED BY MAN.
A Corcnu WOman's Dress-The Original Di-
Vided Skirt and How the Corean
Dame Wears Is-Other Notes.
Ccnvrighted. 1sal. by Frank G. Carpenter.l

Copyrighted, 1891, by Frank G. Carpenter)
The present war. in Corea is bound 70
better the condition of her women. IL
could not be worse than it is. The 100000
women of the country are practically
slaves They are bound to their husbands
with letters Of iron. which only the men
can loosen. They dare not go upon the
streets. Their quarters are kept for them
in the backs Of The houses, and the best
of the Corean wives would commit suicide
if a stranger of the other sex rudely put
his hands upon her. Many of these women
are actually slaves. They have been bought
and they can be whipped if they do not
obey. Little is known about the condition
of Corean womanhood. The lines are so
strict as to their being seen upon the street,
or as to their coming into contact with
any but their own sex, that such travel
letters and books as have been written
concerning Corea contain but little about
them. only the women Of the lower classes
go out of the house, except i'm closed chairs,
and those whom you see with their faces
uncovered are generally slaves. Now ana
then n common woman goes about the
streets of Seoul with a green cloak over
nCr head. She holds this close to her face,
leaving a crack out of which one eve peeps,
and il she meets a man on country road
she runs There are. indeed. three different
middle and the lower class.
The upper class are usually the daughters
Of mobiles. They marry mobiles, and II their
husbands can afford 1t. which is not often,
they have slaves TO do all the work for
them. and they lead lives of comparative
idleness. The dress of all classes is prac-
ticaIIy the same. but that of the upper
classes is made of much more expensive
material. 1t is a very unbecoming dress.
The Corean women are not. rs a rule. beau-
tiful and this dress does not. add 10 their
looks. My Interpreter. 'General fak, VINO
has a wife. a concubine or So and two or
three female slaves. has given me the de
tails. The Corean lady starts in with .
divided skirt. This consists Of pair Of
very fun drawers. which fan i'm folds about
her feet. and which il stretched upwards
would have room to spare when being
Gathered about the neck. The top OF these
drawers has u band fully eight inches Wide
e td this Els esteemed tightly over the breast
by a white ribbon drawstring. which IS
tied in front. This garment is always
white. and it is fastened SO tight that the
band cuts into the flesh at the back. and
among the lower classes often runs below
the breast leaving 1t exposed. Above this
band. and just meeting it, there is litti"
jacket with long sleeves. This jacket is not
more than six inches long J judge. II is
sometimes of yellow green or blue. and at
other times of white.
Ii is tied together with ribbons OF the
same color rs the Jacket ana it is SO scanty
that q great sunburnei streak an inch
wide shines out below the shoulder blades
Of such women as get into the sun. The
drawers are not tied at the ankle. They
narrow down as they fall to the feet, and
below them the woman wears stockings of
lgudded white cotton. These make her feet
look about five sizes larger than they are
ana the winter stocking is half an inch
thick. 1t is more like a boot than a shoe
ana it extends only about two inches above
the ankle. The Corean lady wears no shoes
while at home. She trots about in her
stocking feet. and the poorer classes go
barefooted. When she goes out she puts on
slippers of rabbit skin, faced with silk.
Some of these are very pretty, but they
look uncomfortable, and are quite heavy
They have soles OF 0xhide, which are nailed
ON to the slipper with iron pegs, the heads
OF which are as large around as that Of a
ten-penny nail, ami they are clumsy in the
extreme. IN addition TO these divided
skirts, or drawers, she has overpants OF
white which are very fun, and reach from
the armpits to the knees, and over the
whole she wears cloak-likc GoWn. which
fails to her feet, ana which is tied on with
ribbon. This practically makes up the cos
- -
ar good material, and often Of silk. The
Younger women are fond Of red. The mid
die-aged affect blue and the widows always
wear white. which is the color OF mourning
I like the way the Corean women comb
their hair They part it in the middle, and
put it up in a coil on the nape of the neck.
They wear the biggest hairpins of their
sex the world over. The average one is as
thick as your little finger, and is about five
lncnes long 1t is OF gold, silver or amber,
and it is a poor woman, indeed. who does
not own one or two of these pins. She is
fond Of iewelry, and she likes finger rings,
though she has her own way of wearing
them. The custom is to have two rings on
the third finger of the right hand With
such rings. and a hairpin or SO, and the
above dress, she considers herself decked
out provided her face and eyebrows are
properly touched up. All COrcan women
paint. They cover the face with white and
dash their lips with red. They use Ihuia
ink to mark the line of the eyebrows, ana
they are very particular that this line
should be very delicate, and arched in con-
formity with the line of Asatic beauty.
This is supposed to be a curve like that Of
a line of swans flying in the sky, and with
a pair OF tweeZers she pulls out the hairs OF
her eyebrows until they approach her ideal.
she is also by no means averse to hair oil,
and her locks usually Snlne ike SEcdSeu
ebony.
The daily life of one of the Corean ladies
is interesting. She rises with the sun and
spends an hour at her toilet. She IS waited
upon by her own slaves and her rooms,
in the winter time, have fires built under
them, so that her bare feet fall upon
warm floor. In nine cases out OF ten she
sleeps on this floor, and while she IS max
ing her toilet she squats upon il before
little looking glass. Her breakfast IS
brought into the room 10 her. 1t IS served
on a Corean table about big around and
as high as a half-bushel measure She sits
on her heels while she eats it, and her
table furniture consists OF a spoon and a
pair OF chop-sticks. The food is served in
brass bowls. She has no tablecloth, and
she uses no napkins. She is very particu-
lar to wash after her meals, and contrary
to the general belief, the better class of
the Coreans are cleany. In washing the
teeth a great deal of salt Is used. The
mouth is filled with salt, and with the fin
ger or brush the teeth are rubbed until
they are perfectly pure and clean She
washes her neck and face every morning.