The Washington weekly post., 1900-09-04
the LAND OF DEVILS.
herea's Decaaenee Attributed 90 its De-
grading Superstition.

Korea. Decaaenee Attributed 20 its De-
GRADING Superstition.
| From the Lendon Morning Herald
Nest people who learn anything about
Korea are hopelsssiy perplexed In view
| Of the utter weakness OF nation which IS
physically and intellectually qualified 10
! show itself superior 10 both its neisabors.
/. The Koreans are handsOmer than either
ihe japanese or Chinese. and there was a
| time when they were far ahead OF boih in
civilization. Yet for several centuries the
millions OF this lovely mountain peninsula
have ,een abjeetiy at the mercy of China
| and japan alternately. and now they are
certainly doomed TO become subjects OF
| Russia, though not before a terrible strdg-
gle has ensued between the Gar and the
MikadO for this great Prize.
Devil worship Of the most abject order
is the secret Of Korean decadence. such
expert scholars as DR.. Lands, OF Chsnul-
pO. and 1he Rev. Herbert Jones. of the
same Korean city. have devoted so much
| attention 20 this subject of the dem9acla-
try Of the Hermit Nation that they have
been able by their researches TO divalge
| the exact reason for what otherwise must
/ have been inexpliCable. Gftveling SUPER
| stititiOn and fear OF countless evil spirits.
| with the faint hope OF propiuating small
| minority OF kindly demons. nut be held
accountable for the miserable degaae-a-
tion Of the people whom nature did not
| fail TO qualify for a splendid desdny
Buddhism and COnfucianism have both
been overthrow by ShamanIsm, the key
| note Of which is always sOreery Korea Is
| the home OF the most complsx and all-per-
-r{rohor,fF rt
IL is not cruel. like the feti. hism of the Con-
| GO but it is so seryile and puerile shat it
has sapped the virility of a stalwart and
attractive race. The Koreans are the
most Omnivorous and voracious gluttoas
on earth. They simply live TO eat The
! typical Korean is ca ting nuts. fruit. and
confectionery all day long between his
regular meals, imbibing also great auan-
titles of wine at intervals: but ne can
commonly eat three pounds of meat at a
meal, and he eats his portion of flesh all
the more delightedly if IL is black dog
that happens 10 be In season. What can
be done 10 elevate such a people? The
national hber has been destroyed By gross
materialism. and the religious cult has
actually helped the deterioration.
Wizards and witch doctors are the real
|
perhaps in this degrading system is that
parents are counted particularly lucky if
they happen TO have a son born blind. He
| can become Pan Su." or blind sorcerer,
ana IS sure 10 be able TO gain a handsome
ixelhood FOR the whole family. The
ron Su WIZARDS are supposed to be g K;
ed with supernatural instea1 OF natural
vision. The helpers Of the male shamars
are the female sOrcereTs. or witcl es, who
are everywhere in evidence. The function
OF these TWO classes of Shaman deYotees
Is TO propiriate the spirits which swarm
IN The air, at least three-fourths of thesa
demons being altogether mallgn The
Pan Su" and the ''Mutang" will not by
any means exercise their Offices al a Low
iiSure. Their fees are most eXorbitant
ana II Is computed that Shamanism costs
the country not less than f500,0O0 annu Al
ly. Nowhere can the poor Korean escape
from the accursed burden of this lifelong
| bondage 10 unseen foes According TO the
popular creed, the malign spirits fill every
portion OF space. The chimney is crowd
ed with them. they live by thousands in
the kitchen. they have their mansions in
the roof, they squat in every jar they
sit on every beam. they Waylay the
wretched citizen by thousands when he
travels forth along the road, they dance
around him in earth. air, and wafer
Arithmetic cannot compute their number.
for they exist i'm thousands of billions.
The 'Mutang, "or sorceress, Is the most
important sort Of woman among the Ko-
reans. She is everywhere in as much re-
quest as the blind "Pon Su," and as she
can move about freely. not being blind,
as he is, she leads much more active
life Yet. strange 10 say, this all-impor-
taDt parsonage is socially an outcast. The
Koreans hold women in lower esteem than
any other civilized people, and the "Mu-
tang" is relegated to the lowest place OF
alt although she is the mediator between
natural and supernatural agents.
Children are sold to devils by very many
families. To sell a child to a spirit is
reckOned by a Korean father TO be the
surest method of assuring its prosperity
The children thus cOnsecrated still live
with their parents, but they are consider
ed 10 belong TO the "Mutang." II is ex-
traOrdinary that system so unutterably
lpdicrous should prevail over an intelli-
gent and keen-witted people. All classes
are ,beWitched by il. The late queen. a
beautiful and talented woman, was a
profound believer in Shamanism, and
resorted continually TO the demon oracles
But they could not save her from her
cruel fate. She was fOully murdered by
Japanese assaSSins. For that crime The
japanese will be bitterly hated by Korea
for many generation. The place where
her remains were cremated has become
one of the most yenerated of spirit
shrines Most or the spirit shrines in
Korea are groteSque places, adorned with
g1udy paintingc of gigantic caricatures
4 humanity, like exaggerated Chinese
generals. The inscription usually is II
the spirit, dwell i'm this place. The Ko-
reans on coming TO a shrine act as do
the Russians when they catch sight OF a
holy icon, but they have habit In ad-
dition of eXpectorating before passing
on To sick people are often given frag-
ments of feast offered at a shrine. with
the confident hope that a cure will thus
be effected. The effect is often fatal.
For instance. many a typhoid patient is
81 - l. alt Il.
suit seems 10 bring no revusion of opin-
ion. For in Korea the dark reign Of sup
erstitiOn has eclipsed all the light OF com
mon sense.