COREA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 8323, 10 November 1887, Page 6

COREA.

Mr Carles, lately Vice-Consul in Corea, has read an interesting sketch of that country before the China Asiatic Society. After referring to the early history of the locality, and the Chinese and Japanese invasions—the relics of one which occurred in the tenth century are said to be preserved in a large mound at Kioto, underneath which are buried the ears and noses of 130,000 Coreans.—Mr Carles says “ Corean civilisation came from the Chinese who invaded the country about 3000 years ago. Prom the seventh to the thirteenth centuries of our era was the period of Corea’s prime, and it was then an important country. It was about this time that Buddhism was introduced, snd the remains of Buddhist temples of that date are still found. At this time Corea was in communication with Arabia and Persia, and many Persian ornaments have bean found as relics of this period, during which the ceramic art was supposed to be introduced into Corea from these countries. Few antiquarian or historical remains are to be found in the peninsula; the great Japanese invasion destroyed almost every vestige of art in the country. The people are exceedingly peaceful and civil to strangers. The women are kept in strict confinement all day, and are only allowed to walk abroad in the evening when all the men retire indoors, and go out after nightfall under penalty of imprisonment. All classes are decent and orderly in their dress and demeanour. The country is so primitive that the people have almost no wants, and the difficulty of trading , with them is that they have nothing to supply, for the reason that they want nothing. The houses have no furniture except a mat, a pillow, and a screen. There is no great desire to make money, beyond what will last through the winter; there is nothing to invest money in, and if a man has more than he urgently needs, it is generally taken from him by the officials. The men ace greatly addicted to drink, and it is a common thing to see them rolling haplessly drunk about the streets, and nobody appears to take the least notice of them. The prevailing colour of the dress is white. The proper names are nearly all Chinese, pure and simple. The country, is about the size of England, Wales, and Scotland, while the population is about one-third of that of Great Britain. The Government is monarchical, and feudalism exists. The pipe is the curse of the country; tobacco is to Corea what opium is to China and drink to England.- The Corean goes about with his pipe about 3ft long held in one hand, while with the other he tries to do whatever work he is at, whether it is digging with a spade or any other employment. The result is that fifteen men can only do the work of three, for nothing will induce a Corean to relinquish his pipe for a moment. Another great impediment to work is their dress, on account of their long, loose sleeves, into which they cram everything they want to carry. This has been recognised as such a nuisance by the King that he issued a proclamation against long sleeves, ordering his subjects to adopt short, tight sleeves, which he wore himself; but the order was utterly disregarded, and the people still keep their long pipes and their long sleeves. The people heve an intense admiration for the natural beauties of their country, which are very great.”