The Savannah morning news., 1903-10-11

and span old ladies going to a tea
party. Nothing is ever seen Ike their
head covering. This is a tall cylin-
drical hat with wings woven of horse
hair, and so thin that the top-knot can
be plainly seen. This it is etiquette
not to remove. Even at Minister AL
lens Fourth of July reception the Ko-
reans kept on their hats.
When a boy marries he puts up his
hair and assumes this hat. If he does
not marry. he must wear his hair
braided down to his back in a pig tail,
and has only a pet name and must sub
NIT to being topsie- wootsied until he
it toothless and dies. All Korean boys
look like girls. The girls are never
seen.
The Korean gentleman, unlike his
wife, does not lack for entertainment.
He is devoted to nature, picnics, feasts
and the Korean geisha, or gesang-
that is to say, singing girl" These
girls are the necessary accompaniment
of civilization that shuts up its wives
and sisters. Hense a class of women
trained for this purpose. They do not
fall into it as do their prototypes i'm
the Oceident Their parents perhaps
assist the Korean geisha to it as the
best means of earning a livelihood.
AS they depend on their attrac tiveness,
they are taught to be good natured
always pleasing, to be ACCOMPLISHED.
witty. to sing and to dance. This
necessity gives the gesang incentive
to study and time for devoting her
self to refined occupations. She
dresses modestly, even when wearing
the brilliant silks and gauzes of her
calling, and what seems the greatest
of her privileges, she can go freely
abroad.
After the feast. death is the greatest
of Korean functions. Four days after
dying the departed is given a send-off
in the fashion of u great feast. His
coffin is then provided with money
and pieces of rich stuffs for the jour
ney. If he is a person of consequence,
the geomancer is called in to deter
mine the time of his burial. This
may not be for three months.
The family graveyards. which oc-
cupy an inordinate space Of Korean
territory are the occasion of what are
known as graveyard fights. in which
the contending parties toss out the
sacred ancestors bones without cere-
mony
Korea is the least religious of all the
nations of the East. A mild form of
Confucianism serves for philosophy,
and ancestor worship is the only
thing that resembles religion. There
is not temple in Seoul. In the coun-
try there are monasteries, but to the
monasteries the Korean gentlemen re-
pair for their high revels.
On the roofs of the Korean houses
squat grotesque images, intended to
scare away evil spirits. and before the
doors of novels are seen wisps of
plated straw and strips of garments
for the same purpose. There are devil
trees Also on which these strips hang.
The Korean devil is so stupid that
coming across these strips he fancieS
he has the Wearer of the clothes.
The cultivated Korean gentleman is
a delightful acquaintance. He has a
charming sense of humor, lightness
of touch in conversation and a pleas
ing gallantry all of which make him
an eminently social person. The Ko-
reans are good linguists, and those
who speak English do it without ac-
cent.
Americans are persona grata in
Seoul. This is due to the admirable
character of our diplomats and the de-
votion of the American missionaries to
Korean interests and literature.