Evening star., 1900-10-06
THE LAND OF DEVILS.
COrea's Decadence Attributed to It's
Degrading Superstition.
From the London Morning Herald.

Degrad1nR SuperstltlOn.
From the London Morning Herald
Most people who learn anything about
Corea are hepelessy perplexed In view OF
the utter weakness Of a nation which Is
physically and intellectually qualified to
show itself superior to both its neighbors
The Coreans are handsomer than either the
Japanese or Chinese, and there was a time
when they were far ahead of both in civili-
zation. Yet for several centuries the mil
lions of this lovely mountain peninsula have
been abjectly at the mercy of China and
Japan alternately, and now they are GER
tainly doomed to become subjects of Rus
sia, though not before a terrible struggle
has ensued between the czar and the mi
kado for this great prize.
Devil worship of the most abJect order is
the secret of Corean decadence. Such ex-
pert scholars as DR.. Lands of Chemulpo
and the Rev. Herbert Jones of the same
Corean city have devoted so much attention
to this subject of the demonolatry OF the
hermit nation that they have been able by
their researches to divulge the exact rea-
son for what otherwise must have been in
eXplicabe. Groveing superstition and fear
of countless evil spirits, with the faint nope
of propitiating a small minority of kindly
demons. must be held accountable for the
miserable degeneration of the people whom
nature did not fail to qualify for splendid
destiny. Buddhism and Confucianism have
both been overthrown by ShamaniSm, the
keynote of which is always Sorcery. Corea
is the home of the most complex and all
pervading witchcraft the world has ever
seen. 1t is not cruel, like the fetichism of
the Congo but 1t is so servile and puerile
that it has sapped the virility of stalwart
and attractive race. The Coreans are the
most omnivorous and voracious gluttons
on earth. They simply live to eat The
typical Corean is eating nuts. fruit and con-
fectionery all day long between his regular
meals, imbibing also great quantities OF
urfr1 of int lS hlf 10
eat three pounds of meat at a meal, and he
eats his portion of flesh all the more de-
lightedly If it is black dog that happens to
be in season. What can be done to elevate
such a people? The national fiber has been
destroyed by gross materialism, and the re-
ligious cult has actually helped the deteri-
oration
Wizards and witch doctors are the real
rulers of Corea. What is most singular,
perhaps, in this degrading system is that
parents are counted particularly lucky If
they happen to have a son born blind. He
can become a PAN Su." or blind sorcerer,
and is to be able to gain a handsome
livelihood for the whole family. The Pan
Su' wizards are supposed to be gifted with
supernatural instead of natural vision The
helpers of the male Shamans are the fe-
male sorcerers, witches, who are every
where in evidence. The function of these
two classes of Shaman devotees is to pro-
pitiate the spirits which swarm in the air,
at least three-fourthS of these demons be
ing altogether malign. The Pan SUI and
the "Mutang will not by any means eX-
erc1se their offices at a low figure. Their
fees are most exorbitant, and 1T is COM
puted that Shamanism costs the country
not less than f5OO,OOO annually! Nowhere
can the poor COrean escape from the ac-
cursed burden of this lifelong bondage to
unseen foes. According to the popular creed
the malign spirits fill every portion of
space The chimney is crowded with them
they live by thousands in the kitchen; they
have tfeir 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 water.
Arithmetic cannot compute their number,
for they exist in thousands of billions The
"Mutang' or sorceress is the most impor-
tant sort of woman among the COreans.
She is everywhere in as much request as
the blind Pan Su,'' and as she can move
| about freely; not being blind he is. she
leads much more active life. Yet, strange
to say, this all-important parsonage is So
cially an outcast The Coreans hold wo-
man in lower esteem than any other civil
lied people, and the "Mutang' Is reegated
to the lowest place of all, although she is
the mediator between natural and super
natural agents.
Children are sold to devils by very many
families. To sell child to a spirit is reck-
oned by a Corean father to be the surest
method of assuring it's prosperity. The
children thus consecrated still live with
their parents, but they are considered to
4
nary that a system so unutterably ludi-
| crous should prevail over an intelligent and
keen -witted people. All classes are bewitch-
ed by 1t. The late queen, a beautiful and
talented woman was profound believer in
Shamanism and resorted continually to the
demon oracles. But they could not save
her from her cruel fate. She was foullv
murdered by japanese assassins. For that
crime the Japanese will be bitterly hated
by Corea for many a generation The place
where her remains were cremated has be-
come one of the most venerated of spirit
shrines. Most of the spirit shrines In CO.
rea are grotesque places, adorned with
gaudy paintings of gigantic caricatures of
humanity, like exaggerated Chinese gener-
ais The inscription usually is, 'I the
spirit dwell in this place" The Coreans on
coming to shrine act as do the Russians
when they catch sight of a holy icon, but
they have habit, in addition, of expecto-
rating before passing on. To sick people
are often given fragments Of a feast Of
fered at shrine. with the confident hope
that a cure will thus be effected The eff
fect is often fatal For instance, many a
typhoid patient IS thus stuffed with pork
Yet the sad result seems to bring no re-
Vuls1on of opinion. For in Corea the da -,
reign of superstition has eclipsed all the
light OF common sense.