The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-29
FACTS ABOUT CoREA.
The Country That is the Cause of the
Trouble Between China and Japan.

! Trouble Between China and japan
From the Philadelphia Ledger.
! The impending conflict between China
and Japan in the peninsula Of Corea di-
reefs all eyes TO that fertile and prOduc-
| tive, but almost unknown, territory, for
/ it is not beyond the range of possibility
| that a war between the two great
! Oriental empires might involve England
and Russia If that were the case, it
would be a strange commentary on the re
cent development Of political and com
mercial relations between opposite quar-
tiers of the world.
In the latest number of "Globus," a
geographical magazine, appears an article
by G.. ArnOus, who, for the last ten years,
has occupied an official position in Fusan,
the chief Corean port of entry, and knows
the country thoroughly. 1t may be of in
terest TO abstract a few of the more strik-
ing details, which the author gives
partly from his own observation and
partly from a manuscript placed at his
disposal by the French missionary bishop
TO Corea.
TIE king is an absolute autocrat, and
holds the power Of life and death even
over princes of the royal blood. To him
the first fruits" of every industry are
annually offered, and he is the recipient
of almost divine honors. The suzerainty
of China is so far acknowledged that the
king, on his accession, receives his official
name from the Chinese emperor; but it is
high crime to pronounce it, and is
used only in reports addressed to the
Son of Heaven 1t is only after his
death that he receives from his successor
the name by which he is TO be known in
history.
In the presence of the king no one is
allowed to wear either spectacles or
veil. His person must not be touched
nor be brought in contact with iron or
steel. This regulation cost the life of a
former king, who died in the year 1900 of
a tmor, which might readily have been
removed by the surgeon's knife. a later
sovereign, under similar circumstances,
had the good sense to insist upon an oper-
alton, thus putting his surgeon in very
awkward dilemma, for, if he refused TO
obey the kings command, his head was
certain to come off, while, if he obeyed,
he subjected himself to the penalties
of high treason. AS it was, the
attachment of the people to their
old traditions is so blindly
obstinate that, though the mOnarch's life
was saved. he had difficulty in rescuiug
his deliverer from the clutches of the
law. The dress TO be worn at court is
rlgidly prescribed by the master of cere-
monies, and person received in audi
ence must testify his subsection by con-
whatever rank. must dismOunt before the
palace walls and pursue his way on foot
until he has passed them. If the king
chances 70 touch any one the individual
so hOnored must wear upon that part of
his person a visible token, usually red
slken cord, as perpetual memorial of a
distinction so extraordinary
The Corean coins do not bear the kings
image or superscription, not because, as
in MQhammedan countries, images are
forbidden by the sacred law, but because
IL would be polluted by the fingers of the
populace. Until lately etiquette has for
hidden that any portrait of the king
should appear during his life to be gazed
upon aby profane eyes, but since Corea
has been, in measure, open to foreign
intercourse, the strictness of the rule
has been relaxed, and photographs both
OF the present king and the crown
prince are not Obtainable. The royal
residence has by no means a palatial
aspect, but consists of an aggregation of
buildings of various sizes and
degrees of rdornment, including
some large saloons, surrounded by high
wall. When a subject has a petition to
present, he kindles bonfire on a neigh
boring hill, and, if this happens to at
tract the kings notice, he usually sends
an attendant TO find out what it is all
about. In addition to the apartments oc-
Cupleu Dy Jne royal nOuSenOIu, are JnOSe
designated the ancestral chambers, in
which the portraits or images of former
sovereigns are placed, and honored as if
they were still living. The Gus tomary re-
pasts are daily placed before them, they
are attended by crowd of eunuchs and
maid servants, and the royal etiquette is
as strictly enforced as in the presence of
the reigning king.
The worship of ancestors is in fact the
basis of the Corean cult. The funeral of
a king is the most solemn and splendid of
all ceremonials. The Coreans are re-
quired to regard their king as their
father, and to wear mourning for twenty
seven months after his decease. During
the first five months of this period no
sacrifice can be offered, no marriages
celebrated and even the dead remain un-
buried. Meat is at this time banlShed
from the Corean bill of fare, for
no animals are allowed 10 be
killed, and criminals can be neither SEN
fenced nor executed. They seem to be
the only class to whom the death of a
king brings advantage. During the re
naming ~ months the government pre-
scribes the style of dress TO be worn, and
bright cOlors and expensive stuffs are
strictly forbidden. This may act as a
wholesome check upon extravaganza;
hut under all the circums tances, the
majority of marking would scarcely
choose to be the subjects of the King of