The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-05-17
(To Be Continued.)
COREAN CEREMONY.
A Scheme to Strike the European with
Wonder. ..-

Schcme to Strike the european with
Wonder. .-
From the st. James Gazette.
AS entered Seul a royal procession
with which the king visited some OF
the ancestral tombs. was returning by
another gate. Its novel feature was
that the minister OF war rode in Euro
pean evening dress and bowler" hat
On the day following I witnessed a
ceremonial new in Corean history, and
which may have far-reaching results
to Coreans. The Japanese have re.
solved to clean the Augean stable OF
official corruption, and compelled the
king to begin the task by proceeding
In state to the altar of heaven, and
there taking an oath before the spirits
Of his ancestors to the proposed re.
forms. His Majesty, by" exaggerating
trivial ailment, had for some time de-
layed the ceremony, and. even the day
before, dream, in which an ancestral
spirit appeared to him adjuring him
not to depart from ancestral ways,
terrified him from taking the proposed
pledge. But the spirit of Count Mouye
proved more masterful than the ances-
trail spirit; and the oath was taken in
circumstances of great solemnity in a
dark pine wood under the shadow of
Puk Han, at the most sacred altar in
Corea, the center Of three Enclosures,
in the presence Of the coErt and digni-
taries of the kingdom. Old and serious
men had tasted for two days previous
ly, and in the vast crowd Of white
robed and black-hatted men, which
looked down upon the striking scene
from the hills in the gardens Of the old
palace, not a word was spoken. The
sky was gray and grim, with a bitter
east wind-ominous signs in Corean
estimation.
After long delay and much question
ing as to whether at the last moment
tho king would resist the foreign pres
sure, the procession, in solemn silence,
emerged from the palace gate; huge
flags, on trident headed poles purple
bundles carried aloft a stand of sacred
stones conveyed with much ceremony,
groups of scarlet and blue-robed men
in hats shaped like fools caps of the
same colors, the kings personal SER
wants in yellow bamboo hats, deco
rated with pink roses, and men carry
ing bannerets. Then came the red silk
umbrella, followed by-not the mag
nificent state chair, with its forty bear
ers, but plain wooden chair with
green roof and glass sides, in which sat
the sovereign. looking very pale and de-
jected, borne by only four men. At a
short distance behind followed the
crown prince In similar chair. Man
darins, ministers and military officers
were then assisted on their caparisoned
ponies, and each, with two attendants
holding his stirrups, and two more lead
ing his pony. all in gorgeous raiment,
fell in behind the home minister on a
dark donkey conspicuous by his foreign
guard.
Half on hour later, by passing along a
street so narrow that two horsemen
cannot ride abreast, the king reached
the altar Of heaven, where the military
escort was left outside the outer wall,
and only the king, dignitaries and at
tendants proceeded to the altar. The
grouping Of the scarlet-robed men
under the dark pines was most effective
from an artistic point Of view, and
from political standpoint the taking
Of the oath by the Corean king was one
Of the most significant acts in the te-
di0us drama of the present war.