The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-04-29
CUSTOMS OF KOREANS
Punishment Of Criminals Elk
tended to Their Families.
ALL WORK LEFT 3 I-5 wCEEN

Their Participation In Public lar-
tertainmeats Limited to Two sresti-
walls n Year-Men oG1y.
For Amusement and Spcrt-Ee;rful
Tortures Still Fate of EVIL Doors,
Ernest Won Wartegg. the ia
nous German traveller. husband of
Minnie uauck. relates some interesting
facts on Korean life. writes the Berlin
correspondent of the New York Times.
"In Korea, as in Morocco he says,
"tortures are very common. In the
prisons l saw instruments which were
not so fearful as those which two CEN
turtles ago We're used in our OWL coun-
try-only simple sticks and ropes or
the we'll known 'kang,' the neck board
but they put them to Il fearful use.
Only a few years ago the legs Of con-
demned persons were broken with the
sticks, while the ropes We're placed
twice around the loins of the victim
and pulled together in such a manner
as to sink deep into the flesh. Besides
these tortures. the punishments are eX-
tended to the family of the criminal.
For example, even today the punish
ment for treason is decapitation of the
offender and the poisoning or %enslave-
ment of the mother, wife and duugh-
ter. The treason of u woman is pun-
ished by poisoning. For murder the
punishment is similar. If a man COM
mits theft he is decapitated or in lesser
cases banished to a lonely island, his
IS a slave.
"For the Dissertation of the graves of
ancestors-for in Korea a cult prevails
similar to that in China-the offender
and all his male relations to the fifth
degree are decapitated, and his mother
and the other female members of his
family are poisoned. The poisoning is
usually done in prison by a dose Of
arsenic. The decapitation until a few
years ago took place in a broad, fire.
quented street before the. west gates
Of the city. The notice of death SEN
tence is usually published in the writ
ten States Gazette.
11S pOllCC SJ Sl0lu LII IAOIed IS very
elaborate, and it is rare that a criminal
escapes unless he has money enough to
fill the pocket Of a mandarin. Every
male Korean possesses a pass, consist
ing of a long tablet, on which his name,
position and residence are written. The
tablets of the commo people are of
wood, of soldiers horn, of the low no.
bility and officials bone. The minis
tiers, princes and high nobility use red
visiting cards; also small tablets Of
ivory, for every Korean is compelled to
have such a pass. Usually he wears it
with a string around his neck under
his clothes or on the lower arm under
the sleeve. If at night a pedestrian in
the street is found without his tablet
he is at once arrested. At receptions
the Koreans introduce themselves by
presenting these passes with a deep
bow.
"On the public. streets one sees only
women of the lower classes, and these
hide their faces when foreign men ap-
proach. Only the dancers and singers
appear on the street without a veil.
Women take no part in public amuse-
ments or in out of door sport. Two
festival days of the year are, however.
given up to them entirely. The first of
these festivals is a general bathing
this day in all of the cities and villages
women and children troop to the shores
Of the river. The second feast day is
devoted to the old women of the lower
classes, who for the whole year are
compelled to do the heaviest work, car
~ burdens, gather rags and clean
streets. On this day they need not do
any work. They dress themselves in
clean white clothes and go to the quar-
tiers of the rich, where all houses are
open to them. There they receive gifts
Of money and refreshments and are
allowed to wander through the houses
and gardens. On the next day they
return to their usual work. On the
day devoted to ancestor worship the
women also take part with the men.
lowing to the lazy characteristics of
the Koreans public amusements in
their life play a great role. All work
is left to women. The men sleep.
smoke, gossip, play cards and dominos,
fish, hunt, fly kites and practice with
bow and arrow. The Koreans in this
respect have acquired great skill, and
the sport is fostered by the govern
ment. Boxing and wrestling are also
industriously practiced, and in a per-
sonal fight even the Mantchoos are
not equal TO them, while the small
Japanese are pygmies in comparison.
Neighboring villages or parts of a city
frequently arrange sporting contests.
"Next to the birthday Of the king the
greatest festival day Of the year is the
commemoration of victories which the
Koreans have repeatedly won against
the japanese. No nation is so hated
by the Koreans as the Japanese. whom
they contemptuously call 'wojen.' This