Korea, the Pigmy Empire

BY W. E. GRIFFIS
Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine (1868-1935); Jun 1902; Vol.XXXIX, No 6; American Periodicals
pg. 945

Korea, the Pigmy Empire

BY W. E. GRIFFIS

HAT was the part

played by Korea m
the old Chinese world
of sun and satellites?
Then there were hermit nations. The ocean
separated
manklnd.
China, the Middle
Kingdom, claiming the
sovereignty of the earth an Immediate
iega.Uon from Heaven, was surrounded
by pupil nations, and the outlying islands
were the tassels pendant to her robe's
:fringe. The inhabitants of distant countries were "barbarians.''
What ls Korea's role in these days of
the New Pacific and the changed world 'l
Now the ocean unites nations and fleets
make ferries with no dependence on
winu or tide. 'rhe once pupil nations are
independent. China herself no longer
tree, ls on inquest, and if paralyzed by
too much "indemnity" ls likely to be par
titioned. Japan is the recqgnized equal
with the nations of Christendom. '.tne
pivot of history is no longer in the M'editerranean or the Atlantic. The United
States, Russia,. Great Britain, France,
Germany, Italy and the Netherlands have
polll!lessions in that once lonely ocean,
which ls now the highway of all peoples.
Geographers reckon that in round num
bers there are about eighty thousand
square miles in Korea. Looking from
the west her shape is that or a headless butterfly. She hovers between what

---,

seems to be thi great Japanese silk

worm, spinning out or its head and
mouth at Kiushiu a long thread of
islands ending in Formosa and bordering
on the possessions of the United States,
and China, the rampant monster ready
to devour, with its maw in Liao Tung
'cllld its paw at Shangtung. All along the
northern wing-edge lies the Imperial
province of Shing-King, while at the
northeastern tip is Russia. The most
striking landmark on this northern frontier is the Ever-White mountain, which
holds, sparkling on its breast, the lake
called the Dragon's Pool. Over the brim
of this crater fall the streamlets which,
reinforced all along the mountain slopes,
form rivers ft.owing east and west to the
sea, making .t{orea a true island, with
water boundaries on all sides. The EverWhite peaked mountain, named less from
its "eternal" snows than from its white
rock and earth. is the central seat of
Manchu legend on its northern side, and
of Korean fairy lore on the south.
. Orographically, Korea consists of a
great mountain spine which gives the
eastern side of the country an abrupt
slope to the sea, with for a hundred miles
a great cliff wall, where there are no
harbors. Speaking roughly, all the rest
of the country, particularly its western
side, Is one prolonged slope. Rivers which
have their cradles in the mountain tops,
run to the sea, forming rich alluvial
plains, making also a sea coast having
many islands and flne harbors, but most
dangerous to navigation because of its
sudden and high tides, which, receding
leave enormous areas of mud exposed
which are malarious and dangerous.
Facing Japan and a shallow sea, tne
rocky and abrupt coast. though sinuous,
shows no gateway or efficient harbor
from the Russian line down to Gensan on
Broughton's Bay. There, on the flat land
and adjacent hills has risen a. smart set
tlement. It is located on the great high
road which skirts the sea from the far

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north to the capital, throwing off also

a branch roadway which further follows
the coast down through the thinly in
habited region to Fusan. At this latter
seaport, which was for three hundr~d
years a Japanese trading station and 1s
still substantially a part of Japan, we
find again a main road eoming from tile
capital, while the surveys for a railway
from Seoul to FuB'an have already been
made by Japanese engineers, even as it
promises to be built and equipped by
Japanese capital.
We find what is exceptional on the
east coast,-a great aliuvial plain drained
by "the river," and forming for the most
part the province Kyong-Sang, warm,
rich and fertile, where in the Midu1e
Ages, the famous kingdom of Shintra, to
which came the Arabs to trade and settle,
had its domain, and in 1122 Chinese fleets
from Nlngpo steered by the mariner's
compass. Of both of these there is clear
record. Ginseng, deerhorn, aloes, cam
phor, S'a.ddles, poreclain and satin were
sent from the Korean .to Arabian land.
A greased magnetic needle thrust through
a ball of pitch or cork, and laid to float
in a bowl of water formed the "south
pointing chariot," brought to Shinra.
The southern tip of Korea has a frontage of hundreds of isles and out in t.i.e
sea is the largest of Korean islands, rich
in bulls, beef, and ruffianly people, with
vast store of mythology and folk-lore-the potter's field of K.orean romance and
chronology. On the western coast, between mountain and sea, lie the three
provinces, Kyong, Kiung and Cholla, so
often overrun by Japanese and Chinese
armies, and again and again devoured
by them. Just north of the capital there
is the province, Whang Hal, rich in n1story, in Buddhist and mediaeval remains
and monuments, and In fisheries which
provide both food and pearls. The north
western province, Phyong An, borders on
China, and for centuries contained at Wlju, near the Green Duck river's mouth,
the western and only gateway into tue
kingdom. It confronts also that "neutral
strip," which once nominally dividing
queues trom topknots beC'ame during our
century, the home of outlaws, until Li
Hung Chang, with more generosity to

China than justice to Korea. sent a fieet

of gun boats up the river and a force ~f
soldiers into the land, thus annexing the
whole strip.
To-day the "walls of
stakes," or lines of palisades, hundreds
.of miles long, which once fenced in the
Imperial domain, with its B'acred city of
Mukden, have vanished and should have
no place upon the maps.
All over northern Korea, in the mountain region, even far b-eio:w the 38th para!-
lei, the tiger, alert, hungry, and daring,
is the chief ruler of certain districts.
The old Chinese sarC'asm that "the Ko
reans hunt the tigers six months in the
year (In summer) and the tigers hunt the
Koreans the other siit months," (in win
ter). has a large basis of truth. In these
daY.S, when its superb robe is in such
demand abroad, and the mountaineeu~
are beginning to use Remington repea.ters, the tiger Is less the king of beasts,
human and otherwise, than formerly.
Besides pelts, these northern provinces
produce gold. Already an American syndicate has men and machinery at work,
testing (with satisfaction and abundant
revenue) the question whether the rocks
of Korea are yet to disturb the monetary
equilibrium of tbe world.
The main
source of revenue to the country is obtained from gingseng, rice, and beans.
Hlde3, bones and oxen are eitported also.
The possibilities of making "the penmsula" produce the beef supply for the
lands adjacent are excellent.
As yet there Is but one railway from
Chemulpo to Seoul; that iii from the
main seaport to the capital, with an electric tramway In Seoul.
The Japanese
line from Fusan to Seoul and the possible
iron road, to be built thence to the Chinese frontier by the French, to connect
with the great Russian continental line,
wlll 111ake Korea more accessible to Europe.
As yet, however, the means oi.
communication by hoof or vehicle are of
the crudest, the most general and elllclent being the human back. Man is still
the chief beast of burden. The apparatus of porterage is a wooden frame or
S'addle set to the back and strapped over
the shoulder. This work Is controlled by
a guild, with despotic rules forming a
mighty power with which even the nobles

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and the Goverriinent have to reckon.

Next after man, the bll and the horse
div.Ide the honors. of toil. Strange to
say, the pony, unusally small, stunted,
and suggesting, especlil.lly in the north,
a big dog rather than a smcill horse, nas
a bad character, while the bull glories
in a noble reputation and is the friend
For kicking, biting,
of the family.
squealing, and making of himself a general nuis-ance, the Korean pony may "e
warmly commended. He is vicious, untrustworthy, and needs much development to bring him up to our ideas of
even the average horse. He lives, when
decently treated, in a stable, and is usually fed on boiled beans, or roots and
hay.
The bull, from the moment of his birth,
is the pet of the household, and the children's companion during most of his lifetime. He does not love foreigners, out
he is very ilOcb1lly inclined toward Ko
rean human beings. With a ring In his
nose and usually made next to Invisible
under his load of bundles of brushwood

for fuel, he can be seen in considerao1e

numbers in the capital and is welcomed
as a friend all over the country. Korea
cannot expect to be either rich or civil
ized while her roads and vehicles are
what they are at present. Her "palace
car," used much for ladies, is still the
Beside the rude ox cart,
paianquin.
heavy and clumsy to the last degree,
there used to be much in use in the capital and yet survives occasionally, the
monocycle, which is usea only by natives
<if much importance. This vehicle is
something like a sedan chair, perched
un two supports above a single wheel.
Out from the base of the cbair run two
poles to the front and rear, across either
end of which is set a cross-bar. Three
men propel the vehicle-two behind the
front cross-bar run along pulling, while
one in the rear, holding the two bars,
merrily guides and pushes the machine
along. This desire for height above com
mon folks is also to be observed in ofli
cial gentlemen, who are swathed in
bright robes of silk or crepe, and wt~ar-

Korean vlllate during public ceremony.

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Winter costume.
hats that, in a gale of wind, must be
found dangerously l'arge, notwithstandmg
that they are held on with a throat-lash
of huge yellow and red beads. On a sad
die, higt.: and lifted up above the back of
his tiny stallion, the rider strives to
maintain on his perilous seat what
passes for equilibrium and dignity.
Alongside of him are usually half a
dozen servants, who are ready to act as
shores and guys when the master seems
about to capsize.
The Korean dress is white, even the
lowest classes wearing what was once
cso, and always professes so to be. It 1s
-astonishing how snowy-hued and glossy
"the gentlemen's robes are, and in most
<lS.l!es the outer garments, at least, of tne
Cotton is the great textile,
:people.
though silk and hemp are also much
used. There is no land on earth, perhaps,
where the women work harder with the
especial purpose in view of keeping the
men looking dapper. Although soap ts
not used, the results of laundry and lye
are wonderful. When the Koreans begin
to emigrate to our country, they may

drive the Chinese out of business. 'l'he

women boil the c!othes three times, clean
them with lye, wash them in running
water, and then, after drying, begin that
tedious process which requires them to
toll during the long hours of the night.
The characteristic sound which one hears
while traveling through the unlighted
streets of a Korean town, is the beating
of the clothes on a fiat board with a
wooden ruler. A gto~ which is almost
like silk results from this long castiga.
tion, and lasts for some days.
Hard, indeed, Is the lot of a Korean
woman; generally speaking, she Is anony
mous. She is somebody's daughter, or
sister, or wife, or mother-for the most
part a cipher attached to some male in
teger. In general, the dress of women
in Korea resembles that among us much
more than does the female garb of China
and Japan. The palace attendants have
an enormous and elaborate head dress,
behind which are stuck two colossal hair
pins. The other women, with some var!
ety in coiffure, gather their hair in a
knot held by pins made of brass or other
material, or, in the case of a young girl,
it is worn in a braid down the back.
The stranger in Korea is often puzzled
in deciding upon the sex of the youthful
and often rosy-cheeked creatures that
wear a braid, but show no fullness in .:he
chest, and soon learns that in the Janel of
top-knots all males until they are married
are looked upon as children only, with
out anything to say in company and with
few rights which adults are bound to reLet the minor, old or young,
spect.
marry and the world changes its attitude
towards him. He cati then pile up hiil
hair on his scalp, or imprison it in a
cage of horsehair, and exult in all the
privileges of manhood, which seem
chiefly to be that of squatting instead of
sitting down properly, and of holding be
tween the teeth, oc<raslonally supported
by the hand, three or four feet of tobacco pipe. The Korean is an inveterate
smoker, but he usually puts between "the
fool and the fire" a yard stick in the form
of a bamboo cane.
In winter the summer's thin white
clothes of cotton or hemp give way to
padded and baggy arrangements of the

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same color, so that whether in frost or ding and toilet articles. In the average
heat Korea at night looks like the land house, however, and especially amonlf
of ghosts and by day suggests a huge the poor, the cracks in the ftoor allow
sleeping chamber wJtll the occupants just the smoke to escape, irritating the eyes
out of bed. The great horsehllir caps of the occupants, and making the atmos
and big varnished hats, the conic-al phere exceedingly uncomfortable to the
wicker head dress and four.sided matting traveler. If staying at an inn, he will
covers which the mourners wear, using usually be disturbed further by the near
also a little :flag or fan-shaped device to . noise of the horses and quarrels of the
shield their faces, are additional pec11liar hostlers.
features f the Korean costume.
Yet a Korean house, with its sub
As the Korean footwear is midway in stantlal frame, strong tiled roof and win
development between that of China and dows made with shutters much like our",
Japan, so also in tYPe is the house in lends itself more admirably than eltner
this Cyprus-like land, which historically tbe Chinese or Japanese dwellings to
is the .link between the Asian Egypt, the needs and uses of the American. One
China, anr.. the far-Oriental Greece, Japan. curious phase of life in Korea is the utili
In general, the Korean dwelling, whether zation of the roofs of the houses in
hut or pa.lace, is a one-storied affair. It the country for the growing of vines,
rests on a platform of masonry enclosing melons and other fruit ripening in ine
earth, through which runs a network of sunshine at the top. Another phase of
:flues. To obtain warmth, the fires are life is the skill of the burglar, who bebuilt at one end and the chimney at the comes a sapper and miner, often removother, so that all caloric is utilized. When ing without noise the foundation stones
the heat is well regulated, the stone or and getting up through the flue into the
brick :floor makes the abode very com- house. Indeed, in the Korean romances,
fortable. The houses of the nobles con- as well as hi. actual life, the lover obtains
tain usually parlor, dining and bed rooms, his surreptitious interviews in this way,
with tiger skin screens, eabin:ets and bed- and the widow or the unprotected woman
suffers from this source of danger.
Despite their low estate in general, the
native women have played a great part
not only in religion, but in politics. In
our own day the strongest character in
Korean history, after the Regent "of
stone heart and iron bowels," was the
able Queen Ming, who long thwarted not
only the plots of the King's father
against herself and her clan, but also nullified both the machinations attempted
and the reforms inaugurated by the
Mikado's envoys. She was in every sense
a Queen, but was at l'llst brutally assassi
nated, her body being cremated in the
raid made 'upon the palace by Japanese
ruffians in 1896. It has cost the nation
millions of dollars to get her remain&
properly buried and built over, and further removal and rebuilding must take
place in 1902.
The native historians persistently
claim Kishi, one of the ancestors of Con
fucius, as the founder of their civilization. After the fall of the Shang Dynasty of China, 1122 B. C., he moved toEquipped for modern warfare.
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wards the East, making his capital at

Ping Yang, where the decisive battle of
September, 1894, was fought. It is cer
tain that there are many alleged rellcs
of this famous man, who, if not actually
the founder of Korea, has furnished in
his name a convel\fent center around
which traditions have arranged tb.em
selves. He named the new land Cho-sen,
or Morning Radiance, a term which mir
rors either the tranquility and promise,
as of early morn, which the exile sage
sought and found; or, as is more prob
able, it refers to that benignant favor
of the Dragon Countenance so desired
by vassals and servants of the Chinese
Emperor, who gives audience at auroral
hours and sometimes as early as two
o'clock in the morning. Kishi and his
descendants ruled until the end of the
third century, B. C., when they were dethroned by a Chinese refugee. The new
state thus formed existed, with occasional lapses of re7olt and renewals of
vassalage and tribute, until 108 B. c.,
when Cho-sen was annexed to the Chinese Empire. This ancient Cho-sen of .oe
native histories lay mahily in what is
now Russianized China or Liao Tung.
Within the boundaries of Korea since
the tenth century we have historic phen
omena much like those on the island of
Great Britain. About the beginning of
the Christian era three kingdom& began
to form themselves, and have through a
thousand years worked out a history
characterized by peaceful development,
but often interrupted by border wars and
alternating invasions from or alliances
with China and Japan.
The various
tribes became slowly consolidated into
one people, who borrowed the clvlltzation
of China and assimiliated. it so thoroughly that they were able to become the
teachers of the Japanese. It was mainly
through Korea and not from China directly, that Dai Nippon received from
India and China her letters, art, philosophy and religious ethics. Mainly in
the north and east was the kingdom of
Koral, in the south and east Shinra, and
in the central west Hlaksl. In the year
362, Buddhism was introduced and by the
tenth century was widely disseminated.
During this time and until A. D. 1600,

frequent colonies of skilled workmen,

artists, teachers and missionaries, botJi
men and women, crossed to Japan, enriching the civilization of the Japanese.
Not only do the mythology, early legends
and traditions of the Japanese point toward Korea, but many a pathetic story
of love, valor and sacrifice ts told of tne
Korean scholar, soldier, nun and monk
in Japan. Classic literature is rich in
allusion to the Jewel Land over the
Western Sea, the Treasure House of Untold Blessing.
In the Japanese nursery, Cho-sen is the
realm of fairy tlnd ogre, the theatre of
the strenuous valor of the Mikado's
soldiers, the land of the tiger and the
home of .wonders and mysteries. The
enthusiastic lads who landed in 1894,
with Murata rifles, to annihilate .the Chi
nese army at Ping Yang, on the old
camp-ground of their own generals,
Kasiwadl! and Kato, must have felt as
an American child would If transported
to Bluebeard's country.
To-day Korea looks to the many trav
ellers, who all agree in their report, like
a despoiled land, scraped and wasted by

"Hard, indeed, is the lot

of a Korean woman."

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In New Korea.

old wars. Its art is languishing. It uas

the general look of a poverty-stricken
country. Yet all the old testimony, as
abundant as it is sound, goes to show
that Korea's past is to be measured by
contrast, her ancient grandeur with the
poverty of to-day. During the era. of
the Three Kingdoms, A. D., 9-966, Korean
Buddhism was in its missionary activity.
From 960 A. D. to 1392 was its golde_n
age. This meant more wealth and a
landscape richer in human interest than
that seen to-day. The evidences from
language a.nd the study of place names,
the ruined cities, the collossal Buddhist
sculptures, now found in the forests and
remote from town and highway, the 'journals of the Japanese officers during their
great invasion, 1592-1597, as well as tne
native chronicles, testify to a degree of
civilization marked by wealth, art, architecture and literature, which the tourist
at this time would never imagine to
have existed. Their absence demonstrates how devastating was the Japanese invasion. The "art-besotted" Japanese Generals scooped Korea clean of. the
art treasures which they did not destroy.
Along with hundreds of artists and thou-

sands of slaves, they carried home fleet

loads of treasure and relics with which
they decorated their houses and temples.
Often the Buddhist remains are . in
situ, colossal sculptures on mountain
spurs cut out of the native rock. Because
of their substance of white granite, at a
distance they have been mistaken by
naval travelers for light houses. Sometimes these tnfryeks stand in pairs, representing the male and female prinThese
ciples that rule the universe.
monoliths are chiseled according to tne
degree of art possessed in their locality.
In quality of conception a.nd workman
l!hip, the Buddhist art works vary from
the exquisite marble bas-reliefs of tne
pagoda in Seoul to colossal stone columns
which, now bearded with the lichens and
moss of centuries, seem little better than
the hideous wooden posts set up on the
wayside as village gods or as distance
markers.
It was Wu-wang who in 960 A. JJ.
gave political unity to the country by
blotting out the rival states, and pro
claiming anew the ancient name which
had prevailed in the northeastern states,
Koral. He fixed his capital at Sunto,

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A native family.

som<:i miles north of Seoul, where to-day

are ruins in granite and vast ginseng
fields. He borrowed from China the cen
tralized system of government, with
boards or ministries, sending out provln
clal governors from the capital. Under
this regime the old feudalism was greatly
modified, though never extinguished. To
this day the Internal politics of the
Pygmy Empire take their trend, color and
movement from forces surviving from
ancient, almost prehistoric feudalism.
Nominally the throne is above all, but
the various clan-factions, as they are up
or down, victorious or defeated, direct
.Korean policy. During this time of
nearly four hundred years of Buddhist
supremacy, albeit of luxury and corruption, Chinese Civilization, especially
those phases of it most prominent under
the Sung (A. D., 960-1126) as before
under the Tang dynasty {A. D., 618-906)
was studied in detail and applied by the
Koreans.
This eagerness to absorb
Chinese culture, continued with redoubled vigor under the d_ynasty now in
power, has produced a. phase of Confucianism which is distinctly different
from that of either China or Japan. While
in the former it has produced a detailed
system of ethics, which gives material
for philosophy and serves the purpose

of a religion, and has created the Chinese

literatus, who is a civilian pure an!l
simple, In Japan it has become the code
of conduct in the round of daily lHe,
nourishing the Samurai, who is a soldier
and a scholar, and mightily reinforcing
the fundamental duty of loyalty to the
Emperor. In Korea, Confucianism is, in
its main force, etiquette, the rule of
social life, making but slight application
of its precepts to business or trade.
Toward the end of the fourteenth century, the Mongol dynasty in China was
overthrown by the Mings. In Korea
a revolution was started which overthrew the old dynasty that had patroni:i:ed Buddhism, now corrupt and degraded, and set up the Li family, whicn,
beginning in 1392, has held the throne
over five hundred years. Buddh~sm was
disestablished and the priests, forbidden
to enter walled cities, were allowed only
to "live in their monasteries among the
mountains and in the government fortresses. There, despite their professedly
peaceful calling, tney still form the chief
garrisons, and a sort of clerical militia.
Nevertheless, Buddhism is the popular
religion in Korea, for all the women
and most of the men seek salvation .,y
this path to the Infinite.
Confucianism, the cult of the court,
became rampant, and all things Chinese
were cultivated with fresh ardor. Sunto
was dismantled and its streets became
fields. The roycll residence, Han Yang,
on the Seoul, was fixed on the Han
River. The eight provinces were organized as to names, boundaries, and admin
lstrations, as we know them on modern
maps. For the most part the boundaries
are those furnished by nature, river, sea
and mountain. Speaking roughly, each
province is a river basin or drainage
area, with a name made up from the first
syllable of the chief city's name with
the word sea, mountain, river or some
other natural feature joined to the word
110 or circuit.
From 1392 until 1866, with the exception of the great Japanese Invasion of
1592-1597, the story of the people within
the "passive peninsula" is that of a hermit or sleeping nation. Then followed
failure of royal heits, adoption and the

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 regime of the Tai Wen Kun or regent;

the outbreak of persecution against the
Christians; the slaughter of the French
priests; the raid and destruction of tne
General Sherman, the French and American chastising expeditions; the Japanese
treaty of 1876, succeeded by the American treaty a.nd others; the anti-foreign
reactions and riots; the turbulent and
~urderous attempts of Korean stalwarts
who had been abroad to introduce "civilization" within twenty-four hours; tne
storming of the Japanese legation, the
fighting between the soldiers of China
and Japan; the Li-Ito convention, and
finally the China-Japanese war of 1894.
Then Korea was independent-though
hating her deliverers.
The Chinese
gateway near Seoul, at which the kings
of Korea had for centuries done obeisance to China's ambassador, wa.s torn
down and a handsome modern structure
erected named Independence Arcn.
K.orea, no longer a vassal, but a free
state between two empires, took another
step in imitation of the greatness and
claims of the various "sons of Heaven"
and "world-powers" around her.
Not to be outdone by the people or tne
rulers of other countries in manifestatic..i of nationalism or imperialism, tne
newly formed Independence Club held
patriotic meetings at the arch and discussed the abolition of slavery, moral reforms and Korea's true policy, while the
king assumed the title of emperor. This
ceremony was performed on October -<I,
1898, before the great altar dedicated to
the Spirits of the Land, witn all the spectacular show and accessories of solemnity once peculiar to Korea, but now
vanishing away.
Russian iniluence was powerful in
this same year. During a twelvemonth,
Colonel Putiati with three officers and
ten drill sergeants, tried to remodel tne
Korean army. This body, so vast o.n
paper, and sufficient in the depletion of
the treasury, ls pitifully small in actual
numbers. Jealous Japan looked on, but
could do nothing in Seoul or Peking .o
stop Russia from putting her nominee in
charge of the Seoul treasury also. When
however, the double-headed eagle shadowed all northern China and secured an

ice-free port and railway terminal at

Port Arthur, Korea fell below par in
Russian appraisement and the Czar withdrew his agents. The little country suddenly becam~ once more a vacuum of
diplomacy; that is, in all probability the
dead calm at the centre of a rising
typhoon.
The pivot of history is now in the
Paciilc. Down at the bottom of the outer
ferment is the control of the Chinese
market. Who shall have it. Russia or
Japan? Before this question.can be answered; must come the settling of the
possession, or at least the disposal, of
Korea. Each nation, like a new Archimedes or Atlas, wishes to lift the commercial world of Asia and walk off with
it. Each meets Korea us a fulcrum
for his lever. Japan has swept away
feudalism and knighthood, and the day
of the mlll hand, the manufacturer, and
the merchant has come. .ro make money
is the aim of men In this new nation of
shopkeepers that wlll fight for the markets of Asia. But Russia wants these
also and has the Ian<! base of supplies,
a railway and an army. In 1894 J-.ipan,
like a falcon, struck the fat goose China
to tlie earth, but the double-headed eagle
drove off the victor and appropriated tne
prey. Now Japan with a mighty ileet of
transports,' cruisers, battle ships, torpedo
boats and the ability to throw 250,000
men into R.orea within a month, waits
and hopes for peace. Meanwhile Korea
cowers in weakness at the opening of a
new century, believing that her weakness
is her only strength.
The question naturally arises, why have
the Japanese and not the Koreans been
able to modernize themselves, to be a
"self-reformed hermit nation?" What Is
the difference between the Islanders and
the continentals? One fact Is patent. In
Japan there ls the samurai-the gentleman-soldier, civill'an and war man In
one-a character wholly absent in China
or in Korea. The samurai or shioku
form a large body of educated men, who
for a thousand years have enjoyed culture, have had the same body of tradi
tions and opinions. These men and their
families form a full tenth of the population, and through their unifying senti-

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ment of loyalty to the Emperor have

been enabled to swing the whole country
out of the rut of Asiatic conservatism
into the path of. modern progress. Jn
China, between the Emperor and the
people, or rather between the Imperial
Clan and the body of 6,000,000 Manchus
who govern nearly 400,000,000 Chinese,
there is no middle term, or large bouy
of intelligent patriots, but only a few
mandarins, who are, for the most part
steeped in a hoary system of corru!)tion.
In Korea anything like patriotism in
our sense of the word is unknown. Tbe

feudalism of many warring clans prevents anything like unity. Selfl.shnel!IS,

greed and the instincts ~f clanship are
as yet too powerful to lift the nation out
of the morass of immorality into patriotic virtue. Outside of the new Korea,
as yet scarcely as big as a man's hand,
which is forming under the influence of
Christian teachers, it is difficult to see
where there is any force for the regeneration of this once hermit nation, forced
into the world's market place and still
too much dazed to know exactly what is
going on.
Nevertheless a new Korea Is forming.

Characteristic Korean architecture.

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