The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-11-16
GAMES OF KOREA.
QUAINT SPORTS or A COUNTRY NOW
THE SHUTTLECOCIL OF NATIONS.

and FOOtbaIl-Nets of Spider webs
fer Catching the Dragon Fiy-Odd
Game Played With Fingers.
From the New Orleans Times-Democrat.
Washington, Nov Korea is the land
of kites. The business Of flying paper
birds is understood there as it is nowhere
else in the world. The toys of the country
in general, as well as the games Of the
people. are remarlkable-so much so. in
fact, that Mr.. Stewart Culin Of the Uni
versity of Pennsylvania. who is the great
est living authority on such matters. is
about to publish an illustrated mono
graph describing them.
/ He says that many of the toys Of to-
day in all countries are survivals from
a remote antiquity. Some Of them are
actually ceremonial appliances of dis
carded religions. The kite is only one
of numerous examples that might he
mentioned. With US it is a mere play
thing, but in Asia,it retains suggestions
of its original Significance as a symbol of
the soul. In ancient Egypt the kite
/ bird was an emblem of the immortal
/ spirit of man. As for games, most of
/ them were not invented at all in the or
/ binary sense of the term, but was sur
/ vivals of primitive times in some cases
/ originating in magic rites. All over the
/ world they have striking samenass
! Such a thing as the invention of really
! new game has not been known in the
/ last dozen centuries. Traditions respect
! ing the origin of the typical games of
| the world are traced back to an epoch
/ before the dawn of history
There IS a tradition in Korea to the eff
/ rect that kites We're Invented by a NIL
! itary leader Of that nation during a war
/ with Japan, 400 years ago. The story
/ is that the soldiers had been rendered dis
1Nr IsuH
/ frightened out of their wits by the falling
! of stars in the sky. The general made
kite, to which a small lantern was attach
| et ana sent it up on a dark night The
| troops took the light for a new star, and,
! accepting 1t as an suspicious omen, re-
! newed the struggle with increased energy.
/ The kites of Korea nowadays are made by
/ men specially trained to the craft A first
| rate one costs the equivalent of ten cents
! in our money. The strings are pure silk
| and OF various colors, those used at the
| royal palace being always sky blue. The
strings are costly, and poor people save
| money during the year to spend on kites
| and the necessary equipments al the kite
| flying season. All classes fly kites from the
King down. Women sometimes fly them
from the yards OF houses, and It is said
that one can tell Womans kite by the
way 1t is managed
Koreans say that the Chinese do not
know how to fly kites; the time for kite
flying in the proper season is the first half
Of the month; if any one should fly
| kite at any other time he would be laugh
ed at. On the 1lth day of the first month
| Of the year 1t is customary to write on
kite a wish that the years misfortunes
| may be carried away by it,. The mother
does this for her child. giving the name
! and date of birth. A faVorite emblem on
| kites is a picture of Shoki, the Demon
| Queller; Shoki is the central character of
of an old Chinese myth. He is supposed
to have been ghostly protector of the EN-
peror Ming Hwang, who reigned about $50
A. ID. He is represented as a burly giant
clad in official garb Commonly he is
SHOWN IN the act or Furnishing band Of
plgmy demons, who adopt most comical
subterfuges to escape the keen eye of their
prosecutor
japanese boys attach hummer to
kites of large size. 1t is bow of bamboo
with a string of rawhide, fastened to the
top of the kite The boys are very proud
of the noise made by their kites. 1t is
considered very unlucky fer boy to lose
his kite. Search parties will some times
follow a lost kite for many leagues The
of the personality of the boy. Girls never
have kites There Is a tradition to the
i effect that in the sixteenth century a ia
a kite to steal the gold scales from the
great golden fish on the top of the Castle
of Nagoya Since then, it is said, large
kites have been prohibtted in the PROV
ince of Dwarf y y
Simple kite flying in Korea is secondary
to the sport of kite-nghting. In fact
kites are flown usually for fighting pur-
poses. The silk strings are prepared
through their entire length by dipping
them into a mixture of fish glue and
powered glass. A string thus treate
will readily cut another string that is
crossed by it. In the sport of kite-fight-
ing any kite may be cut down by another
The moment two strings are crossed, the
players must let out their lines as, if
one becomes taut, IL Is cut imme lately.
Sometimes four or five strings are crossed
and the game lasts all day. The moment
kite Il cut down. It is seized by small
boys, who are on the watch for such ca
tastrophies. 1t is a common saying that
there is no property in a lost kite. Kites
are not matched by previous arrange
/ mpQt and the do hpf or,t bff,
In Japan, on the other hand, people
wager mudi money in the sport of kite
flying, and sometimes a sharp curved
kniteblade is attached to the String for
the purpose of cutting an adversary
one of the pastimes of which the chill
dren are very fond is top-spinning. The
tops are made from the hard wood of a
tree under which il IS said the first King
of Korea sat when he came from heaven.
Experts can spin tops on wire. Country
people use conch shells for tops, grinding
them to a suitable shape. One must 90
to Japan, however, to find tops in their
highest development. The variety of
4 URs IN the ta com@onest Is tbe ton5hins
top" so called from its resemblance to
the shaver head of the Buddhist priest
ing tops. acorn tops8 Cake f fops.''
whistle tops" lantern tops" SLAVE
tops" and many other kinds Bumminr
tops are known In Japan as thunder
| tops" they are made of bamboo The
| withdrawing top. contains a mum Der
OF small tops which are released when
| the top is spun
In Korea boys and girls are not allowed
| to play together after they are seven
years old. on baby's first birthday all
the family is invited to an entertainment
| A round table IS covered with hulled rice
| and upon it also are placed a bunch of
| yarn, paper, a pencil, a cake of ink. and
| money The child is brought to the table
and all watch to see what it plays with
| If IL picks up the bundle of yarn II will
have long life. If it prefers the money.
| it will grow to be rich. If it selects the
| writing materials, it will be great schol-
ar. The rice counts the same as the
| money Babies in the hermit Kingdom
| have dried shelhsh TO bite on
once a year comes the ehildren's festi-
| beasts are sold in all the markets. Some
| of these are horses with singing girls on
| their backs. The latter always carry
umbrellas, because singing girls used not
| to permitted to ride in covered chairs and
on this account they took umbrellas when
| they went out The most popular toy IN
| Korea IS called "the Erect-standlng One .,