COREA AND THE COREANS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIII, Issue VII, 18 August 1894, Page 158

COREA AND THE COREANS.

THAT people learn geography by the war maps is a saying which is accepted as perfectly true, even of

regions respecting which ignorance of any kind is hardly deemed to be lawful. Respecting that quarter where the Chinese and Japanese have actually come to blows, it is probable that a good many persons will have again to turn carefully to the map of Asia to satisfy themselves as to the exact whereabouts of the contemplated battle ground. Corea, it will be seen, is chiefly comprised within a peninsula lying to the southward of the northeastern portion of China. It is bounded on the west by the Yellow Sea, and on the east by the Sea of Japan. Its extent may be roughly stated as something under the area of England and Scotland. A TRIBUTARY KINGDOM OF CHINA, Corea has still a monarch who exercises the most absolute authority over his own subjects. They are reckoned at some twelve millions. The divinity which doth hedge his Corean Majesty takes a very literal shape. Improving on those Romans who piously held that their Emperors after death at once took their places among the gods, the Coreans accord celestial honours to their Monarch while he is still in the flesh. He is ACTUALLY WORSHIPPED AS A DIVINITY. It is sacrilege to touch his person with an iron weapon, which religious ordinance has, however, its inconveniences for some of the regal divinities themselves. One of them at least is said to have died from an abscess, rather than let a lancet be applied to it. The kingdom of this vassal, though still divine ruler, is divided into eight provinces, and the affairs of the whole are administered through three principal Ministers, who are assisted by various subordinates. Its connection with Chinese history goes back for many centuries, during which, despite its being classed as a separate Asiatic Kingdom, it has been claimed as an integral part of the Chinese Empire. But its relations with Japan, too, are pretty old ones, and ere now have been the reverse o pleasant. Corean records tell, indeed, of a fierce war waged against the Japanese in the 15th century. Corea was invaded by a powerful Japanese army, which did not quit the country till the Coreans bad signed a humiliating treaty by which they were bound to pay tribute to the successful invaders. One of our illustrations depicts THE KING, THE SACRED INDIVIDUAL whom no iron implement must touch, and who, therefore, must shave himself if he desires to be shaved at all. He probably gets over the difficulty by growing very little whiskers.

No. 2 of our illustrations gives a very characteristic piece of Corean architecture—the Red Arrow Gate. It is a sort of Corean equivalent of the Japanese Birds’ Rest Gate. It is the distinctive mark of magistracy. Two tall posts, slightly inclined to each other, are crossed by a third, and bound together a short distance above their crossing by a fourth. Starting from the lower and projecting above the uppei are a row of vertical beams of wood spear-shaped. In the centre is a design as singular to the eye as it is peculiar for its mystic meaning — two spirals coiled together filling the area of a circle. They are

emblematic of the positive and negative essences of Chinese philosophy. The height of the gate is from 30ft to 40ft. No. 3 of our illustrations shows the lotus pond of the Palace of Summer. Water gardening is popular in Corea. The garden is a lotus pond. So universal is the cultivation of the lotus in these artificial waters that it has given them their distinctive name. Even where it is not grown the pond is called a lotus pond just the same. Such ponds are always well-stocked with fish. Our fourth illustration is the Corean Foreign Office. This department of Government is quite a modern arrangement. It did not exist

in ancient Corea, for the very good and sufficient reason that ancient Corea had no foreign affairs to attend to. It now has more than it knows what to do with. No. 4 gives an idea of what Coreans are like. Our sixth illustration depicts the only stone pagoda in Seoul. It is constructed of white granite, but is not in the best of preservation. It is a survival of the time when Buddhism was of some account in Corea. No. 7 shows the Japanese warships Itsukusima and Yoshino. No. Bis a sketch of the Chinese warships Tshao-yong and Ting-yuen. Our ninth illus tration shows what the main street of Seoul is like—nor does it give a very flattering impression either. The houses look dilapidated enough. The Government has fine buildings, the upper ten thousand, who constitute the governing classes, are well off, and have good houses ; but there is no middle class, and the houses of the lower ten million are poor in character. Several of the sketches on page 156 are reproduced from our Australian contemporary, the Town and Country Journal.