The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1910-01-21

| are the women themselves,
but what women are not?
II The Korean woman on her
birth has arrangements be-
gun for her marriage and her funeral.
These three events-birth, marriage
and funeral-are the main and only
things for the Korean woman for
which the relatives are called upon
to provide
Inc girl is set about to learn such
Things as homework may demand, be-
cause she probably is married before
she is five-certainly by seven years
of age. The Korean woman. as a rule.
Is, as the woman of Thibet, never to
allow any man to gaze upon her face
except the husband. Only brothers
are allowed entrance in common with
father and husband in the rooms of
the wife. The wife is never permit.
ted to leave the house or garden of
her habitation.
To illustrate the rigor of this rule
woman rs years of age lately was
taken to see the leading doctor of
Seoul, on a visit of professional ur-
gency. She,to him that at IL years
OF age she was married. and from
then she had never, until the occasion
OF her visit to him, been out of her
yard. The women receive no visits
until they are married. Then in GER
tain stated times the old women go
about, and, visiting all the neighbors
of their locality, tell all the gossip
they know or imagine. and also give
the news, which consists of who has
married and who has acted badly
In this occupation they are almost
Americans
The women recently have been talk.
Ing advantage of the exemple of the
oreigners-English and American and
the Japanese-who now occupy the
country, and are coming out on the
street, but only with the face com.
pletely covered, with garment worn
as hood and cloak. This garment is
drawn as curtain before the face in
two parts, split in the middle. At this
middle split one eye is permitted to
see the way and to behold the world
about and man on the street. Should
a
man looking at her she at once draws
the curtain close and hides her face.
or promptly turns about, putting her
side or back to her gazer, even to the
extent of walking by him backwards
The Korean man never looks at the
woman and never speaks or bows to
any woman he may know, though the
husband he may know intimately.
Every young woman is accompanied
by an old woman. The latter walks
in front, but ever at an angle to watch
her movements When the woman ia
not to be recognized or spoken to by
any other woman she wears a band
over her forehead across the hood, as
q notice that she is engaged with her
thoughts and is mot at home" to any
salutations nor on the street at all
to friends.
The man, when in a similar mood,
wears a pair of stained glass or cry
stall spectacles the shape of the or
binary automobile glasses. This is
his disguise-or notice that he is I'M
dertaking mission in which he de.
sires no recognition-or apparent con-
seriousness of what he If saying to
another. Also it is evidence that he
is engaged in deep meditation over his
studies or schemes. So it is if one
says 81 saw you at the market place
yesterday, and you did not speak to
me-" The reply is, did you not see
that had my spectacles on?"
How different this is from the Chi
nese, who regard the keeping on of
the eye glasses when in a converse
tion as an insult-an attempt to pre-
vent him from reading il truth or
falseness be in your eyes.
The garb worn by the women of
Korea is of such color as their condi-
ton and station orders. The collars
are of such ribbons as disclose their
political colors of the political club
they are members of. This is an in
beritance and is of no significance in
itself as the women's politics consist
in the advocacy of one geographical
division of the country over another.
Something as a Scotch clan.
The dress partakes of the same quail
ity that prevails with the Jewish
women in the east-Turkey and CEN
trail southern Ashland has a religious
and patriotic origin. The gown of the
Korean woman is, apparently, dress
of western model-with bodice and
sleeves attached at the waist. But
the garment is thrown over the head.