New-York tribune., 1900-08-19
COREA'S HOPES AND FEARS.
v-crNNTNG TO FEEL THE INFLUENCE
OF THE CHINESE UPRISING.


seoul. coreA. July IS CspsciaD-corea is
,ee4nning TO feel the influence Of the upris-
t-g = China. II would be hard to imagine
re CONSERVATION OF the Coreans they learn day
~ day q the events which are. surely leading to
.5e overthrow of China. For two thousand years
rares has looked Up 70 China as the pattern in
almost everything The very clothes that the
coreans wear are more Chinese than those the
chinese themselves wear; the literary language is
,,se- ard pursr Chinese than the Chinese them
lives use: the Contucianisrn OF Corea is less over
.-our By other beliefs than is that Of China And
= sas the great Middle Kingdom. the centre Of all
s,1lgAtenment breaking UP II the face Of foreign
pressure Is ma''eI O. lnos' po's'-~- s-- - ''-e
Corean
To be sure. the japanese II Issi wTenched asun-
sa- the political ties which bound Corea 10 China
.,s ATTEMPTED TO force the Coreans 20 adopt allen
customs but though the outward bond was sew
cred <he actual bond was welded the hr1neT. Why
.bc,,Id Corea not revere her great patron? Far
asacx over twelve hundred years before Christ the
sage Ki1a came from China with his followers and
forn6ed the most successful colony the world mas
ever seen basing II on principles that even in the
,7-s--serb century might be taken model with
orr the modification % single item IN its regime
When the Emperor Chin s. began the herculean
task Of building the Great Wall Of China, two hun
s-es years before Christ thousands OF Chinese
refugees fed from his conscrtptioR and threw in
,ra- LOT with the dwellers Of Southern Corea and
a. co-operation with them established the King
dom Of Silla which IN its day was one OF the
most brilliant Of any in Eastern Asia. It furnished
Japan with q race OF noblemen who 70 this day
dominate the policy OF that vigorous empire. Arab
merchants traded with her She hourished In the
.sefuI arts as well as IN the ornamental. as IS
proved by the that in the little town Of kyong-
u IN Southern Corea, which was formerly the
cauitaI OF Sla, there hangs 10 this day one Of the
largest bells in the world, SURPRISING in size even
the enormous bell in Seoul. the present ca3ital.
MONGOL INFLUENCES
When the Empire OF Genghis Khan was founded,
seven hundred years ago, the King OF Corea took
as his Queen q MongoI Princess. the daughter Of
the Emperor himself. The richest work Of art in
Corsa is highly carved marble pagoda Of ten
stories which the Mongol Emperor sent all the
way from China at the request OF his daughter.
For hundred years II has stood in the centre
q the present capital Of Coree- When, IN 1892 the
japanese armies invaded the peninsula and brought
Cerea the verge Of destruction, the Chinese in
terfered ard helped her drive them back.
Whether this subserviency 70 China has been g
good thing not the fact is unquestoned, and
what has been said viii suffice show why the
Corea1s should look upon the possible dismember-
nent of China With such dismay. And this anxiety
Is not unwarrzuted. for il this weighty cataclysm
who can foresee the fate % Ertle Corea? A Corean
proverb says that when TWO whales fight the
En-iap gets crushed between them and the Core
astute enough 70 see that IN the settlement
q such stupendous problem as that which China
presents t1s fare OF small Corea viii be but a
drop II the bucket.
JAPAN's INTEREST IN COREA
But L looks carefully at all sides Of the
question he VIII discover that It ought 10 cause
Ettle uneasiness il Corea- Their is only one
country which the fate OF Corea is OF vital in
tersst- and that Is japan When in 1855 Japan
oQt from her secluson and Joined the sister
s0od OF nations Corea looked upon il as an act Of
sacrIege-an abandonment OF all that Is worth
while z national life. But the time is likely to
come when Corea viii bless the day that Japan
took steps 70 make herself a genuine world Power
!o- i IS that Power alone which stands between
Corea and absorption IN the great northern en-
P-e which has now reached the Corean frontiers
II contention between Japan and China SO in the
future she Is likely 70 become the rock OF offence
between apau and Russia. This anuagonism IS in
ne pressae sf -lll1ies IN Cbins for If Lamar AK
2 hand IN me game. she surely viii, and the
tine comes when the spoiIs TO be divided.
sad that TOO. is beyond reasonable doubt Japan
almost sure 70 claim paramount influence IN the
= s G 5sa =. coentiy n a7a y ss bT son t1a, +a
Empire u China VIII not be dismembered, but that
The Treaty Powers viii settle upon some method Of
ioiut control Of that vast people But We hear
-hat Germany. II view OF the murder Of her Min
ms AFFAIR with China without reference TO the
5ther Powers Here at the very start we ind a
bar to any such plan Of joint control Of an IN
sisarer tEar isueTn bernnent viii ensle and in that
ease The fate Of Corea Is more than likely TO be
involved This IS not because the Powers consider
corea q part OF China nor because Corea IS in
any sense accessory 10 the inlluEan work going
u across the Yellow Sea but simply because when
china Is parritioned between the Powers Corea VIII
rhe only remaining portion Of Eastern Asia that
s-il c11gs 70 the Old way Of doing things. and the
situation viii be unsettled and p-ecarlOus one
+ COrea were such power as Switzerland, with
enlightened government q 'buneT
State between the greater empires On either side
4 might be possible 10 continue the status quo; but
the trouble Is that Corea is situated that she ts
necessary 70 both Russia and Japan. Both OF those
Towers need 70 control the peninsula in order 70
secure their own ends Here is where the peril
Ees-
4 DIFFICULT SITUATION
Viewed from any standpoint the situation IN the
Far East bids fair TO tax the ingenuity OF the
statesman as few events Of the last century have
soHe. Fifty years ago the great central plains OF
re United States so sparsely settled that all
could De served with land who came; but when at
last the good soil was al pre-empted, behold what
grand rush occurred when Oklahoma was thrown
open the settler. So here. on thousand times
grar6er scale the territory thrown open Is an IN
empire. containing almost one-third OF tle
human and a territory tacomparaDly rfcn
both II agricultural and mineral wealth, and the
settlers VINO preparing 70 rush n and take tne
territory are the most powerful governments II the
world. Does Il seem probable tnat in this event
E friction VIII be avoided II IS TO be sincerely
vas an age IL the world when craftsmanship was
more astute, when comfy between empires was
more perfect when international obligations were
more respected than to-day