THE LAND OF DEVILS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6938, 30 October 1900, Page 2

THE LAND OF DEVILS.

4 (Morning Herald.) Most people wOio learn anything about Corea are hopelessly perplexed in "view of the utter weakness of a nation which iB physically and intellectually qualified to show itse_ superior to both its neighbours. The Coreans are handsc— ier than either the Japanese or Chinese, and there was a time when they were far ahead of both 5n divilisation. Yet for several centuries the millions of this lovely mountain peninsula have been abjectly at the mercy of China and Japan alternately, and new they are certainly doomed to become subjects of Russia, though not before a terrible smuggle has ensued between the Tsar and the Mikado for this great prize of the Far East. Devil worship of the most, abject order is the secret of Corean decadence. Such expert scholars as Dr Landis, of Chemulpo, and the -Rev (Herbert Jones, of the same Corean city, have devoted so much attention to this subject of the Demonoktry of the Hermit Nation that they have been able by their . researches to divulge the exact reason for what otherwise must have been inexplicable. Qrovelling superstition and feaff of countless evil spirits, with the faint tbope of propitiating a small minority of kindly demons, must bo held accountable for the miserable degeneration ol the people whom Nature did not fail to qualify for a splendid destiny. Buddhism and Confucianism have both been overthrown 'by Shamanism, the keynote of which is always sorcery. Corea is the home of the most complex and all-pervading witchcraft the world has ever seen.. It is not cruel like the fetishism of 'the Congo, but it is so servile and puerile that it has sapped the virility of A STALWART AND ATTRACTIVE RACE. The Coreans are the most omnivorous and voracious gluttons on earth. They simply live to eat. The typical Corean is eat.ug nuts, fruit and confectionery all' day long between bis regular meals, imbibiaig also great quantities of wine at inter v„ s ; but he can- commonly eat three pounds of meat at a meal, and he eats his portion of flesh all the more delightedly if it is black dog that happens to be in season. What can be done to elevate such a people? The national fibre has been destroyed by gross materialism, and the religious cult has actually helped tihe deteriora ion. Wizards and witch docjprs are the real rulers of Corea. Wha.t is most singular, perhaps, in this degrading system is that parents are counted particularly lucky if thsy happen to have a son born "blind. * He can become a " Pan Su," or blind sorcerer, and is .^ure to be able to gain a handsome livelihood for tho whole family. The " Pun Su " wizards are supposed to be gifted M'ith supernatural instead oi natural vision. The helpers of --the. male Shamans are the female, sorcerer-, or witches, who are everywhere in evidence. The 'function of these two classes of Shaman' devotee* is to propitiate; the spirits which swarm in the air, at least .three-fourths of these demons being altogether malign. • The " Pan Su " and the " Mutang ." will not by any means, exercise their offices at a low figure.. Their fees are most exorbitant, and it i; computed that Shamanism costs the country not less than half a million sterling annually! Nowhere can the poor Corean escape from the accursed burden of this life-long bondage to unseen foes. According to the popular creed the malign spirits fill every portion of space. The chimney is crowded, with them; they live by thousands in the kitchen ; they have their mansions in the roof ; they squat in every jar ; they sit on r every beam ; they waylay the wretched citizen by thousands when he travels forth along the road ; they dance around him in earth, air and water. Arithmetic cannot compute their number, for they exist in • thousands of billions. The " Mutang " or Sorceress is the most important sort of woman among the Coreans. She is everywhere in as much request as the blind " Pan Su," and ns she can move about freely, not being blind as he is, she leads a much more active, life. Yet, strange to say, this all-important personage is socially on. cujtawsfc.' Tl\i Gorea— ■& hold woman in lower esteem than any other civilised people, and the; "Mutang'' is relegated to the lowest place of all, although she is the mediator between , NATURAL AXD Strj'KnS'ATTJRAL AGENTS. Children, are sold to devils by 'very many families To sell a child to a spirit is reckoned by a Corean' father to be the surest method of assuring its prosperity. The children thus ocn*ecvated still live with their paremts, but they are considered- to belong to the " Mutang." It is extraordinary that a system so unutt?r.ibly ludicrous should ! prevail over an intelligent and keen-witted people. All classes are bt witched by it. Tlie late Queen, a beautiful and tak-nted woman, was a profound bclievjr in Snamanism, and resorted continually to the demon oracles. But they could net save her from her cruel fate. She Was foully murdered by Japanese assassins. For that crime the Japanese will be bitterly hated by Corea for many a generation. The place whero her remains were cremated has become one of the most venerated of spirit-shrines. Most of the spirit-shrines mi Corea are grotesque places, adorned with gaudy paint-igs. of gigantic caricatures of •humanity, like exaggerated Chinese generals. /Xhe.insj— iption usually is, /'.I, .the spirit, j |ilace," The Coreans on com-

»■- .■* .-I—l ■■■..■■l. 111 1.1. | . ||-l I !■■! ,11 ■■ I- '■ ' IH ng to the shi-me act us do the Russians Tli.ti tlic-y catch siiyht'ot' a lioly " ikon," but li> y have ti habit, ia addition, of expectoritiug before passing on. Tv sick people are •fteii g-iveu fragments of a feast offered at i shrini', with the confident- hope' that a cure vill thus be effected.- The effect is often at a.l. For instance, many v typhoid patient s thus stuffeJ with pi:ik'l the sad reult seems tn bring 'no revulsion of opinion. «\>r in Corea the dark ivivju of superstition ins eci'psed all t-lie light of commonsense. mi iii Miii ■mm ■iw-d*— -_n ~"* —__———_____—_________■__■