[Illustration: SENTINEL GATE AT PALACE. _Frontispiece_]
FIFTEEN YEARS
_AMONG_
THE TOP-KNOTS
_OR_
_LIFE IN KOREA_
_By_
L. H. UNDERWOOD, M.D.
_With Introduction
by_
FRANK F. ELLINWOOD, D.D., LL.D.
SECOND EDITION
REVISED AND ENLARGED
[Illustration]
YOUNG PEOPLE’S MISSIONARY MOVEMENT
OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA
NEW YORK
Copyright, 1904,
BY AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY.
* * * * *
Copyright, 1908,
BY AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY.
THIS LITTLE VOLUME
IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED TO
MY HUSBAND
IN MEMORY OF
FIFTEEN HAPPIEST YEARS
INTRODUCTION
It may be said at once, that Mrs. Underwood’s narrative of her
experience of “Fifteen Years Among the Top-Knots” constitutes a book of
no ordinary interest. There is no danger that any reader having even
a moderate sympathy with the work of missions in the far East will be
disappointed in the perusal. The writer does not undertake to give a
comprehensive account of missions in Korea, or even of the one mission
which she represents, but only of the things which she has seen and
experienced.
There is something naive and attractive in the way in which she
takes her readers into her confidence while she tells her story, as
trustfully as if she were only writing to a few relatives and friends.
Necessarily she deals very largely with her own work, and that of
her husband, as of that she is best qualified to speak. Everywhere,
however, there are generous and appreciative references to the heroic
labors of associate missionaries. Nor does she confine these tributes
to members of her own mission. Some of her highest encomiums are given
to members of other missions, who have laboured and died for the Gospel
and the cause of humanity in Korea.
Mrs. Underwood, then Miss Lillias Horton, of Chicago, went to Korea as
a medical missionary in 1888. As a Secretary of the Presbyterian Board,
accustomed to visit our candidates before appointment, I found her a
bright young girl of slight and graceful figure in one of the Chicago
hospitals, where she was adding to her medical knowledge some practical
experience as a trained nurse. There was nothing of the consciousness
of martyrdom in her appearance, but quite the reverse, as with cheerful
countenance and manner she glided about in her white uniform among the
ward patients. It was evident that she was looking forward with high
satisfaction to the work to which she had consecrated her life.
The story of her arrival at Chemulpo, of her first impressions of
Korea, is best told in her own words. The first arrival of a missionary
on the field is always a trying experience. The squalid appearance of
the low native huts, whose huddled groupings Mrs. Underwood compares
to low-lying beds of mushrooms, poorly clad and dull-eyed fishermen
and other peasantry, contrasting so strongly with the brighter scenes
of one’s home land, are enough to fill any but the bravest with
discouragement and despair. But our narrator passed this trying ordeal
by reflecting that she was not a tourist in pursuit of entertainment,
but an ambassador of Christ, sent to heal the bodies and enlighten the
souls of the lowly and the suffering.
As a young unmarried woman and quite alone, she found a welcoming home
with Dr. and Mrs. Heron, and began at once a twofold work of mastering
the language, and of professional service at the hospital. Not long
after her arrival she was called to pay a visit to the queen, who
wished to secure her services as her physician. The relation soon grew
into a mutual friendship, and Mrs. Underwood from that time till the
assassination of the unfortunate queen was her frequent visitor, and in
many respects her personal admirer. She does not hesitate to express
her appreciation of the queen, as a woman of kind-hearted and generous
impulses, high intellectual capacity, and no ordinary diplomatic
ability. Of stronger mind and higher moral character than her royal
husband, she was his wise counsellor and the chief bulwark of his
precarious power.
Though Mrs. Underwood’s book is of the nature of a narrative, yet its
smoothly running current is laden with all kinds of general information
respecting the character and customs of the people, the condition
of the country, the native beliefs and superstitions, the social
degradation, the poverty and widespread ignorance of the masses. The
account of missionary work is given naturally, its pros and cons set
forth without special laudation on the one hand, or critical misgiving
on the other. It is simply presented, and left to speak for itself,
and it can scarcely fail to carry to all minds a conviction of the
genuineness and marked success of the great work which our missionaries
in Korea are conducting.
Mrs. Underwood’s marriage to Rev. H. G. Underwood, who had already been
four years in the country, is related with simplicity and good sense,
and the remarkable bridal tour, though given more at length, is really
a story not of honeymoon experiences, but rather of arduous and heroic
missionary itineration. It was contrary to the advice and against the
strong remonstrances of their associates and their friends in the U.
S. legation that the young couple set out in the early spring of 1889
for a pioneering tour through Northern Korea.
Fortunately for the whole work of our Protestant missions, the most
favorable impression had been made upon the Korean Court and upon
the people by the striking and most valuable service which had been
rendered by Dr. H. N. Allen, our first medical missionary, and now U.
S. Minister in Korea. He had healed the wounds of some distinguished
Koreans, who had been nearly killed in a midnight conflict between the
Chinese and Japanese garrisons at Seoul.
Although there were strong prohibitory decrees against the admission
of foreigners in the interior, Mr. and Mrs. Underwood ventured to
presume upon the connivance of the officials at their proposed journey
to the far north. Traveling as missionaries and without disguise, it
was a plucky undertaking for the young bride, since, so far as known,
she was the first foreign woman who had made such a tour. The journey
was a protracted one and involved all kinds of hardship and privation.
Nothing worthy of a name of inn was to be found, but only some larger
huts in which travelers were packed away amid every variety of filth
and vermin.
The curiosity of the people to see a foreign woman was such that the
mob everywhere scrupled not to punch holes through the paper windows
and doors to get a peep. After having been borne all day in a chair,
not over roads, but through tortuous bridle paths, over rocks and
through sloughs, it was found well-nigh impossible to rest at night.
All sorts of noises early and late added to their discomfort. As to
food, the difficulty of subsisting on such fare as the people could
furnish may be well imagined. They were not wholly free from the fear
of wild animals, for some districts through which they passed were
infested by tigers and leopards. But their greatest danger was that of
falling into the hands of roaming bands of robbers. Mrs. Underwood’s
account of one experience of this kind will be read with thrilling
interest.
Fortunately, Mr. Underwood had already made one or two shorter tours
through the country alone, and had baptized a few converts here and
there. The passports also which he carried with him secured the favor
of some of the district magistrates, so that the two were not exposed
wholly to hostile influences.
It is impossible in few words to do justice to the story related in
this interesting book, which was prepared by Mrs. Underwood at the
request of the American Tract Society, or do anything more than commend
in general terms its various presentations. One of these relating to
the experiences of a severe cholera season, during which missionaries,
not only medical but also clerical, remained faithfully at their posts,
unmindful of the personal risks and of the heat, filth and discomfort
of an unsanitary city in the most sickly months, in order to do all in
their power to save the lives and mitigate the sufferings of the poor
and despairing people. The account is given with great simplicity,
and without ostentatious claims of heroism, and may be regarded as a
true representation of the faithful service often rendered by our
missionaries in times of trial and great suffering.
Mrs. Underwood’s book will be read with peculiar interest at this
time, when all attention is turned to the far East and especially to
Korea, which seems likely to be the battleground in the war between
Russia and Japan. The position of the poor Koreans, government and
people, is calculated to elicit the sympathy of all Christians and all
philanthropists. Every one wonders what will be the outcome for poor
Korea. It is indeed a time for earnest prayer that the God of nations
will overrule all current events for the best good of this beleaguered
people and for the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom.
F. F. ELLINWOOD.
NEW YORK, Feb. 20, 1904.
PREFACE
The chapters which are here given to the public are simply reminiscent,
a brief story of a few years of the writer’s life in one of the most
unique and interesting of all the Eastern countries, among a people who
are singularly winning and lovable.
I beg that in reading these pages it may be remembered that this book
makes no pretense whatever to being a text or reference book on Korea,
or in any respect a history of Korean missions. The writer has simply
strung together a few events which have fallen under her own personal
observation during the last fifteen years. If more frequent reference
is made to the work carried on by my husband and myself than to others,
it is simply because it is only with regard to that which has been
woven into the web of my own experience that I can speak with exactness
and authority. All it is hoped to accomplish is, that sufficient
insight into the customs and character of the people, and their moral
and political atmosphere, with the results, opportunities and possible
limitations of mission work, may be given to induce the reader to study
further, and perchance to question what his relation to it all is.
I must acknowledge my great indebtedness to Dr. H. N. Allen’s
chronological index, by which I have been able to verify many dates.
I am also indebted to the “Korean Repository,” and to the “Life of
Dr. James Hall,” for part of the story of the events connected with
his work in Pyeng Yang, both before and after the war, and for the
official report of the trial of the queen’s murderers at Hiroshima.
More than all, I am obliged to my husband, by whose assistance I have
obtained from Koreans the particulars relating to the Emeute of 1884,
the Tonghaks, the Pusaings, the Independents, and the Romanists. He has
also given me many of the anecdotes of native Christian life, and as we
lived it all out ourselves, this volume is as much his as mine.
LILLIAS H. UNDERWOOD.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
First Arrival--First Impressions--The City of Seoul--Korean
Houses--Mission Homes--Personnel of Mission
in 1888--Beginnings of Work--Difficulties in Attaining the
Language--Korean Religions--Palace Women--First Interview
with Palace Women--Entertainment Given in my
Honor by President of Foreign Office--The Interdict--Confidence
Exhibited by Government in Protestant Missionaries--The
“Baby Riots”--Babies Reported to Have Been Eaten
at Foreign Legations--Restoring Confidence--The Signal--First
Invitation to Palace 1
CHAPTER II
The Palaces--The Stone Dogs--The Fire God’s Defeat--The
Summer Pleasure House--Royal Reception Hall--Court
Dress of Noblemen--First Impression of the King--Appearance
of the Queen--The Queen’s Troubles--The
Queen’s Coup d’État--The Verb Endings--The Queen’s
Generosity--Stone Fight--Gifts--The Quaga--Poukhan--Its
Impregnability--Picturesque Surroundings of Seoul--Pioneer
Work--Progress of Work--The Queen’s Wedding
Gift--Our Wedding--Opposition to my Going to the Interior--My
Chair--The Chair Coolies 20
CHAPTER III
We Start on our Wedding Journey--Songdo--Guards at
our Gates--Crossing the Tai-tong--Difficulties in Finding an
Inn--Korean Launderings--An Old Man Seeks to be Rid of
Sin--Mob at an Inn--A Ruffian Bursts Open my Door--Fight
in the Inn Yard--Pat Defies the Crowd--Convenience
of Top-Knots--A Magistrate Refuses to Shelter Us--The
“Captain” to the Rescue--Pack-ponies--We Lay a Deep
Scheme--Torch Bearers--A Mountain Hamlet--Tiger
Traps--Tigers--A Band of Thirty Conspire to Attack us--Guns
Used by Native Hunters--A Tiger Story 38
CHAPTER IV
Leaving Kangai--We Choose a Short Cut--Much Goitre
in the Mountains--A Deserted Village--The Jericho Road--We
are Attacked by Robbers--A Struggle in the Inn Yard--Odds
too Great--Our Attendants are Seized and Carried
Off--The Kind Inn-Keeper--Inopportune Patients--A Race
for Life--A City of Refuge--A Beautiful Custom--Safe at
Last--The Magistrate Turns Out to be an Old Friend--The
Charge to the Hunters 60
CHAPTER V
Our Stay in Wewon--We Give a Dinner--Our Guests--Magistrates
Propose that we Travel with a Chain-Gang--Our
Trip Down the Yalu--The Rapids--Contrast Between
Korean and Chinese Shores--We Enter Weju--The Drunken
Magistrate--Presents and Punishments--Unpleasant Experiences
with Insincere People--Rice Christians--The Scheming
Colporter--The Men Baptized in Weju--The Lost Passport--Another
Audience at the Palace--Queen’s Dress and
Ornaments--Korean Summer House--The Pocket Dictionary--Our
Homes 77
CHAPTER VI
An Audience at the Palace--Dancing Girls--Entertainment
Given after the Audience--Printing the Dictionary and
Grammar--A Korean in Japan--Fasting to Feast--Death of
Mr. Davies--Dr. Heron’s Sickness--Mrs. Heron’s Midnight
Ride--Dr. Heron’s Death--Difficulty in Getting a Cemetery
Concession--Forced Return to America--Compensations--Chemulpo
in Summer--The “Term Question” in China,
Korea and Japan--Difficulties in the Work 93
CHAPTER VII
The Mission in 1893--“The Shelter”--Opening of Japanese
War--Seoul Populace Panic Stricken--Dr. and Mrs. Hall in
Pyeng Yang--Heroic Conduct of Native Christians--Condition
of Pyeng Yang after the War--Dr. Hall’s Death--Preaching
the Gospel at the Palace--The Queen Seeks to
Strengthen Friendly Relations with Europeans--Her
Majesty’s Generosity--A Little Child at the Palace--The
Slaves of the Ring--A Christmas Tree at the Palace--The
Queen’s Beneficent Plans--The Post-office Emeute of 1884--A
Haunted Palace--The Murder of Kim Oh Kiun 106
CHAPTER VIII
Mr. McKenzie--The First Church Built by Natives--Mr.
McKenzie’s Sickness--His Death--Warning to New Missionaries--The
Tonghaks--Mr. Underwood’s Trip to Sorai in
Summer--Native Churches--Our Use of Helpers--Christians
in Seoul Build their Own Church--Epidemic of Cholera--Unhygienic
Practices--Unsanitary Condition of City 123
CHAPTER IX
Difficulty of Enforcing Quarantine Regulations--Greedy
Officials “Eat” Relief Funds--Americans Stand Alone to
Face the Foe--The Emergency Cholera Hospital--The Inspection
Officers--We Decide to Use the “Shelter”--A
Pathetic Case--The Jesus Man--Gratitude of the Koreans--The
New Church--The Murder of the Queen--Testimony of
Foreigners--The Official Report 136
CHAPTER X
The Palace after the Murder--Panic--Attitude of Foreign
Legations--The King’s Life in Hourly Danger--Noble
Refugees--Americans on Guard--Mistakes of the New Government--Objectionable
Sumptuary Laws--A Plan to Rescue
the King--One Night at the Palace--Forcing an Entrance--Our
Little Drama--Escape of General Yun 153
CHAPTER XI
Customs Centering around the Top-Knot--Christians
Sacrificing Their Top-Knots--A Cruel Blow--Beginning of
Christian Work in Koksan--A Pathetic Appeal--People Baptize
Themselves--Hard-Hearted Cho--The King’s Escape--People
Rally Round Him--Two Americans in the Interior--In
the Midst of a Mob--Mob Fury--Korea in the Arms of
Russia--Celebrating the King’s Birthday--Patriotic Hymns--Lord’s
Prayer in Korean 167
CHAPTER XII
A Korean Christian Starts Work in Haing Ju--Changed
Lives of Believers--A Reformed Saloon-Keeper--The Conversion
of a Sorceress--Best of Friends--A Pleasant Night
on the Water--Evidence of Christian Living--Our Visit in
Sorai--A Korean Woman’s Work--How a King Acts at
Times--Applicants for Baptism--Two Tonghaks--In a Strait
betwixt Two--Midnight Alarms--Miss Jacobson’s Death 183
CHAPTER XIII
Our Mission to Japan--Spies--One Korean Summer--The
Queen’s Funeral--The Procession--The Burial by
Starlight--The Independents--The Pusaings--The Independents
Crushed 201
CHAPTER XIV
Itineration Incidents--Kaiwha--Christian Evidences--Buying
Christian Books instead of an Office--Seed Sowing--Moxa’s
Boy in the Well--Kugungers Again--Pung Chung--Pyeng
Yang--The Needs of the Women 216
CHAPTER XV
Another Itineration--Christians in Eul Yul--A Ride in an
Ox-Cart--Keeping the Cow in the Kitchen--Ox-Carts and
Mountain Roads--The Island of White Wing--A Midnight
Meeting--Thanksgiving Day in Sorai--The Circular Orders--New
Testament Finished--All in the Day’s Work--The
Korean Noble--Meetings of the Nobility 237
CHAPTER XVI
Furloughs--Chong Dong Church--Romanists in Whang
Hai--Missionaries to the Rescue--Romanists Annoy and Hinder
the Judge--Results--Interview between Governor and
Priest--The Inspector’s Report--Women’s Work in Hai Ju--Death
of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Miller 254
CHAPTER XVII
Historical Review--Korean Characteristics--Football between
Japan, China and Russia--Ill-advised Movements--Unrest
and Excitement--Korea Allied to Japan--Japanese in
Korea--Po an Whai--Kaiwha--Railroad Extension--Japanese
Protectorate--Petition to President Roosevelt--Removal
of American Legation--Education in Korea--Righteous
Army--True Civilization 272
CHAPTER XVIII
Present Status of Missions--Wonderful Progress--Education
for Girls--Medical Missions--Denominational Comity--Christianity
Spreading--Individuals at Work--Christian
Heroes--Character of Korean Christians--How the Work
Grows--Christian Influence--Training Classes--Circuit Work--Statistics--Rapid
Extension--Evangelistic Work--Joy and
Triumph--The Nation being Evangelized 300
CHAPTER XIX
Pentecostal Blessing--Special Meetings--Prayer Answered--Confession
of Sin--Revival in Schools--Great Meetings--Bible
Study--Effects of Blessings--Transforming Power--Holy
Spirit Revival--Comparative Statement of Growth--Features
of the Great Work--Union of Christians in Korea 335
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
SENTINEL GATE AT PALACE _Frontispiece_
CITY OF SEOUL Opposite page 1
MAIN ENTRANCE TO PALACE “ “ 10
KOREAN OFFICIAL IN CHAIR “ “ 16
KOREAN STONE DOG IN FRONT OF PALACE GATES “ “ 20
THE KING OF KOREA “ “ 24
THE GREAT MARKET AT CHEENJU “ “ 32
SURROUNDINGS OF SEOUL “ “ 32
A STREET CROWD “ “ 36
TAI-TONG RIVER “ “ 44
FERRY BOAT “ “ 44
METHOD OF IRONING “ “ 48
PRINCE YU CHAI SOON, COUSIN OF KING “ “ 60
HIGH KOREAN OFFICIAL, KIM YAN SIK “ “ 60
CARRIER OX “ “ 64
THE OX-CART OR TALGOOGY “ “ 64
A KOREAN VILLAGE “ “ 68
A BUTCHER SHOP “ “ 82
BASKET SHOP “ “ 82
PLEASURE HOUSE “ “ 90
GATE IN THE WALL OF NAMHAN “ “ 98
HOUSE USED BY MISSIONARIES ON TOP OF NAMHAN “ “ 104
DESERTED ROYAL DINING HALL “ “ 112
MR. CHAY CHO SI “ “ 120
ELDER YANG AND FAMILY “ “ 120
PARTY STARTING OUT IN MORNING FROM THATCHED INN “ “ 124
CHURCH AT SORAI “ “ 124
THE THREE STAGES OF MAN IN KOREA “ “ 128
THE ROUND GATE, SEOUL “ “ 146
A KOREAN TOP-KNOT “ “ 166
RUSSIAN LEGATION HOUSE “ “ 172
INDEPENDENCE ARCH “ “ 172
KOREAN WOMEN AT WORK “ “ 188
SCHOOL BOYS “ “ 192
GIRLS SEWING AND WRITING WITH NATIVE TEACHER “ “ 192
KOREAN STREET “ “ 198
HORSES IN AN INN YARD “ “ 198
CANDY BOY “ “ 218
ELDER SAW OF SORAI AND HIS FAMILY “ “ 234
MRS. KIM OF SORAI AND HER FAMILY “ “ 242
CARRIERS WITH JIKAYS “ “ 258
WOMAN WITH BUNDLE OF WASHING ON HER HEAD “ “ 258
[Illustration: CITY OF SEOUL. PAGE 3]
FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
CHAPTER I
First Arrival--First Impressions--The City of Seoul--Korean
Houses--Mission Homes--Personnel of Mission in 1888--Beginnings
of Work--Difficulties in Attaining the Language--Korean
Religions--Palace Women--First Interview with Palace
Women--Entertainment Given in my Honor by President of Foreign
Office--The Interdict--Confidence Exhibited by Government in
Protestant Missionaries--The “Baby Riots”--Babies Reported to
have been Eaten at Foreign Legations--Restoring Confidence--The
Signal--First Invitation to Palace.
I landed in Korea at the port of Chemulpo on a cloudy, windy March day,
in 1888. My eyes fell on a rocky shore, back of which the bare sharp
outline of low hills, whitened with patches of snow, was relieved by
no trees to break the monotony of the scene. Dreary mud flats, instead
of a sandy beach, lay reeking and slimy along the water’s edge. As our
boat neared the shore, for there was and is no pier, and ships even
at high tide cannot approach very near, wild and strange-looking men,
uttering wild and strange-sounding speech, came hurrying down the hill
to inspect us.
Their coarse black hair was long and dishevelled, in some instances
braided in a single pigtail, in most cases, however, tied on top of
the head, where a careless attempt at a top-knot had been made, but
elf-locks straying round the neck and face gave a wolfish and unkempt
appearance. They were Mongolians with all the race features, not
differing much from Chinese or Japanese except in dress, and being in
the main rather taller than the latter people. Their garments appeared
to consist of a short loose jacket and long baggy trousers, of a dirty
white native cloth. These garments among the poorer classes are never
changed oftener than twice in a month.
These were the people among whom I had come to work--this the country
which I had chosen instead of the “groves and templed hills” of my own
dear native land. My heart swelled, and lifted up an earnest prayer
that it might not be in vain.
In justice to the Koreans, however, I ought to say here, that the
people whom I saw that morning were of the lowest and roughest class,
their dress the poorest sort, and that Chemulpo, especially in March,
is perhaps the most forbidding and unsightly place in Korea. Being
the main port for the capital, it is made up, as ports often are,
very largely of a mixture of various nationalities. Many sailors and
traders, and especially Chinese and Japanese merchants, have built
their poor houses and shops in the main town.
The trip from Chemulpo to Seoul, about twenty-eight miles, was made
the following day, in a Sedan-chair carried by four coolies. The road,
although a much traveled one, was very bad, but is now replaced by a
railroad which accomplishes the distance in about two hours and a half.
The country I found pleasantly rolling--comparatively few trees were
seen, and the population thereabout seemed quite sparse. Here and there
were squalid mud huts thatched with straw. I found on inquiry that this
little land, lying west of Japan, attached at its northern extremity to
China and Siberia, has an area of about ninety thousand square miles
and a population of over fourteen millions of people, with a climate
varying from that in the north, like northern New York, to that in the
extreme south, like southern Virginia.
We approached Seoul about four o’clock in the afternoon, and I was
thrilled at the sight of the first walled town I had ever beheld. The
walls are very picturesque--built of great blocks of stone--hung with
ivy, and give an impression of great age.
At the time of my arrival, and for some few years after, a very
interesting custom was in vogue with regard to the closing of these
gates. Korea had for centuries a signal fire service, by which news of
peace or war was with telegraphic rapidity conveyed to Seoul, and by
number, frequency of repetition and other expedients a tolerably useful
code had been established. On the south mountain, within the walls,
were four beacons, one for each point of the compass, to which these
lines converged. Every evening as soon as the sun had set, when the
bright glow of these four beacon fires published the fact that all was
well in his majesty’s dominions, four officials, whose business it was
to report to the king the message of the fires, presented themselves
at the palace, and with low obeisance, each announced that all was
well in the north--in the south--the east--and the west. On this, the
palace band struck up its gayest airs, and when this music was heard,
the signal was given for the tolling of the great curfew bell in the
center of the city. When the extremely sweet and solemn, low and yet
penetrating tones of this bell were heard, the ponderous gates were
swung to and barred, not to be reopened till the ringing of the same
bell at the first streak of dawn gave the signal to the keepers.
Entering through these gates, fortunately not yet closed, we saw
narrow, filthy streets, flanked by low mud houses, either thatched with
straw, or tiled. It has been aptly said that the city looks like a vast
bed of mushrooms, since none of the Korean houses are built more than
one story high.
The common people are very poor and their homes seem to an American
wretchedly poor and comfortless, and yet, compared with the most
destitute of London or New York, there are few who go cold or hungry
in Seoul. Each dwelling is so arranged that the part of the house
occupied by the women, which is called the _anpang_, or inner room,
shall be screened from sight from the street and from those entering
the gate--for every house has at least a tiny courtyard, part of which
is also screened off (either by another wall, or by mats, or trees and
bushes) for the women’s use.
Many of the homes of the poor consist of but one room, with a sort of
outer shed, which is used as kitchen. Such a place often has no window,
or at most only a tiny one, and both window and door are covered with
white paper instead of glass. These doors are usually very low and
narrow, so that even a small woman must stoop to enter, and within it
is not always possible to stand upright except in the center, where
the roof is highest. These small rooms are easily heated by means
of a system of flues built under the floor, which consists of stone
and mud. A fire of brush and twigs is kindled under one side of the
house, and as the chimney opens at the other side, the draft naturally
carries smoke and heat through the flues, the floor becomes very hot,
and the whole room is quickly warmed. The fireplace is built in with
pots for boiling the rice--so that a great advantage is obtained in
the matter of economy, the one fire booth cooks and warms. Wherever
it can be afforded, a _sarang_, or men’s sitting room, which opens
directly on the street or road, or upon the men’s court, is part of the
establishment. Here any man may enter; male guests are entertained, and
fed, and here they sleep. No men not members of the family or relatives
ever enter the _anpang_.
It is needless to say that everything in connection with these houses
is fearfully unsanitary, and many of them are filthy and full of
vermin. All sewage flows out into the unspeakable ditches on either
side of the street. Of late years efforts have been made to alter this
state of things, better streets have been laid, and the open sewers,
which have existed for many years, are sluiced out by the summer rains,
which are the salvation of the city.
It was a great and delightful surprise when suddenly, entering a gate
in a mud wall, we left behind us these dirty streets and saw around us
a lovely lawn, flower beds, bushes and trees, and a pretty picturesque
mission home. It was like magic. I found our mission in possession of
native houses which had been occupied in past years by wealthy but now
ruined or banished noblemen. They had been purchased at a ridiculously
low price in a condition of dilapidation, repaired at little expense
and the interiors more or less Europeanized. The one which I entered
had, with great good taste, been left without other ceiling than its
quaint and massive beams and rafters of blackened wood, the walls were
prettily papered, and rugs and comfortable furniture and a few pictures
and ornaments gave a homelike air. The rooms were spacious, and having
been the dwelling of the rich, they were not so low or dark as those I
have just described.
Our mission, which at that time had been established about four years,
was high in favor with the government. Dr. Allen first, and later Dr.
Heron, were the official physicians to the king, who had established
a government hospital, over which he had placed them in charge. Miss
Ellers, lately married, had been appointed medical adviser to the
queen and had been placed in charge of the women’s department of the
hospital, both of which positions she had resigned after her marriage,
and to both of which I had been appointed to succeed. The members of
the mission whom I found were Dr. and Mrs. Heron, Rev. H. G. Underwood
and Mrs. Bunker (formerly Miss Ellers). Dr. and Mrs. Allen had returned
to America on an official mission.
Work had been well started, the hospital was daily crowded with
patients, in addition to which Dr. Heron had a large foreign and native
practice, as well as a hospital school for the instruction of future
drug clerks and medical students. Mr. Underwood had established an
orphan boys’ home and school, had assisted Dr. Allen in his clinics
till the arrival of Dr. Heron, and was at that time, in addition to
the entire care of the orphanage, teaching in the government hospital
school, which it was hoped might be the stepping stone to a medical
school. He was holding regular religious services, and about thirty had
been baptized. He had made a long trip into the interior, up to the
northern borders, selling tracts and preaching everywhere. Language
helps were in preparation, and the Gospel of Mark in a tentative form
had been translated. Miss Ellers was in charge of women’s medical
work up to my arrival, and was high in favor with the queen, who had
bestowed rank upon her, and many costly presents. She had also begun to
work and train the first member of the girls’ school.
I found that help was much needed on all sides. The day after my
arrival saw me installed at the hospital with an interpreter at my
side. Here work usually lasted about three hours. My home was with Dr.
and Mrs. Heron, who with warmest kindness had fitted up a sunny room
for me. Here Dr. Heron and I had a joint dispensary, and here I was
besieged at all hours by women desiring medical attention. I soon found
that language study was continually interrupted very seriously by these
applicants, who respected not times or seasons. I was of course called
upon to visit patients in their homes, one of whom, the wife of the
Chinese minister of state, Prince Uan (now a very prominent personage
in Chinese matters), must be seen every day with an amount of ceremony
which took not a little of my precious time. However, finding that
others were being overworked, I consented to give two hours each day to
teaching the little orphans arithmetic and English.
Of course we made slow progress, and floundered not a little when the
teacher knew no Korean, and the pupils no English. This institution
had the unqualified favor of the king, and except the hospital was the
first institution in Korea which illustrated the loving-kindness of the
Lord. We hoped it might become a successful school, where souls might
be saved, ere they had been steeped for years in vice, and the first
steps taken in the preparation of evangelists and preachers. Our duty
and chief desire was of course to acquire the language, but this was
much interrupted by this other work. As we stood there, such a little
company among these dying millions, we could not realize that hours of
preparation then meant doubled usefulness in years to come, and so time
and energy, that should have been spent mainly in study, were poured
out in hospital, dispensary and schools.
The new missionaries of these later days are put in a language
incubator as soon as they arrive and kept there till they emerge
full-fledged linguists, who have passed three searching examinations
by the language committee of the missions. Then we sat down with an
English-Chinese dictionary (most scholarly Koreans know a little
Chinese), a Korean-French dictionary, a French grammar and a Korean
reader with a small English primer on Korean, the Gospel of Mark and
a Korean catechism for text books. We were presented to a Korean
gentleman knowing not one syllable of English, or the first principles
of the constructions of any language on earth, or even the parts of
speech, and without the glimmering of an idea as to the best methods
or any method of teaching, who yet was called, probably ironically,
“a teacher,” from whom we were expected to pump with all diligence
such information on the language as he was able to bestow. With
scanty knowledge of French, more than rusty from long disuse, I
labored and floundered, trying now this plan, now that, with continual
interruptions and discouragements.
Before I could more than stammer a few sentences I was called upon to
begin religious teaching, so undertook a Sunday school service with the
little boys, using a catechism which I could not yet translate, but
(knowing the sounds) could hear the boys recite. Soon after I began
holding a Bible class with a few women, with the aid of a little native
boy who had learned English and a former sorceress who could read the
Chinese Scriptures. This woman would read the chapter, we all united
in the Lord’s prayer and in singing the few hymns then translated, and
I talked to the women through the medium of my little interpreter. I
struggled and stumbled. The women were patient and polite, but to our
Father it must have looked the spoiled tangled patchwork of the child
who wished to help, with ignorant, untaught hands, and made a loving
botch of it all.
Perhaps right here a few words about the Korean religions may be in
place. Confucianism, Buddhism and Taouism all hold a sort of sway
over the natives, and yet all have lost, to a great extent, the
influence they once had. The majority have very little faith in any
religion. Confucianism, otherwise a mere philosophical system of
morals, has the strongest hold upon the people in the laws it enjoins
for ancestor worship. This custom, enforced by the strongest and most
widespread superstitions in the minds of the Koreans, binds them
with fetters stronger than iron. If ancestors are not worshiped with
most punctilious regard to every smallest detail of the law, dire
calamities will befall, from the wrath of irate and neglected spirits.
The servitude thus compelled is hard and wearisome, but not one jot or
tittle must be omitted, and woe to the wretch who, embracing another
doctrine, fails to perform these rites. He or she is looked upon as
more than a traitor to home and friends, false to the most sacred
obligations. Buddhism has fallen low, until very lately its priests
were forbidden to enter the capital, and they rank next to the slayer
of cattle, the lowest in the land.
A few Buddhist temples are maintained at government expense or by
endowment, and women and children, and all the more ignorant, still
worship and believe, to some extent. The same classes also worship and
fear an infinite number of all sorts of evil deities--gods or demons,
who infest earth, air and sea, gods of various diseases, and all
trades; these in common with Satan himself must be propitiated with
prayers and sacrifices, beating of drums, ringing of bells and other
ceremonials too numerous to mention.
Over all other objects of worship, they believe, is the great Heavens,
the personification of the visible heavens, who, as nearly as I can
discover, is identical with the Baal referred to in the Old Testament;
but everywhere their faith waxes more and more feeble in these old
worn-out superstitions. In many cases only respect for ancient customs
and public opinion keeps them even in appearance to the outward
forms of worship. They are as sheep without a shepherd, lost in the
wilderness, “faint and hungry, and ready to die,” and so when the
gospel comes, it finds many weary souls, ready to take Christ’s yoke
upon them and find his rest.
And yet how hopeless looked the task we had before us in those days,
a little company of scarce a dozen people, including our Methodist
brethren, many of us able to stammer only a few words of the language
as yet, attempting to introduce Christianity into a nation of fourteen
or more millions of people, in the place of their long established
religions; and beginning with a few poor farmers and old women. But the
elements of success, the certainty of victory, lay in the divine nature
of the religion, and in the Almighty God who sent us with it. This
knowledge inspired us and this alone.
A few days after my arrival in Seoul a messenger came from the queen,
to bid me welcome, and inquire if I had had a pleasant journey, and
shortly after Mrs. Heron asked some of the queen’s attendants to meet
me at luncheon. These women are not, as in other courts, ladies of
high rank, for such could never, under Korean customs, endure the
publicity of the palace, but are taken as children and young girls from
the middle and lower classes, and entirely separated from all others,
to the service of their majesties. They usually hold no rank, and are
treated with respect, only on account of their relations to the royal
family. They wear on all state occasions immense quantities of false
hair, which gives them a peculiarly grotesque appearance; are much
powdered and perfumed, with pencilled and shaven eyebrows; wear long
flowing silken robes, gilded ornaments in their hair and at their
waists; and present the sad spectacle of women whose very decorations
seem only to add to and emphasize their painful uncomeliness.
[Illustration: MAIN ENTRANCE TO PALACE. PAGE 20]
Korean women as a rule are not beautiful. I, who love them as much as
any one ever did, who look upon them as my own sisters, must confess
this. Sorrow, hopelessness, hard labor, sickness, lovelessness,
ignorance, often, too often, shame, have dulled their eyes, and
hardened and scarred their faces, so that one looks in vain for a
semblance of beauty among women over twenty-five years of age. Among
the little maids and young wives (saixies), who do not yet show the
effects of the heavy hand of care and toil, one often finds a sweet
bright gentle face that is pretty, winning, and very rarely even
beautiful. But these poor palace women come not under that class;
hardened, coarse and vulgar, their appearance only calls forth
compassion. I found to my surprise that they were all smokers, and
they were equally surprised that I would not accept their invitation
to join them in this indulgence. They examined my dress and belongings
with childish curiosity, and deluged me with questions as to my age,
why I had never married, whether I had children, and why not, and other
things equally impertinent and hard to answer; but were after all good
natured, friendly and well meaning.
This was my first introduction to Korean officialdom, and following
this within a very short time came another, in the form of a luncheon
and acrobatic entertainment given for me by the President of the
Foreign Office, Kim Yun Sik. This invitation came for the following
Sunday--and troubled me, because I was afraid the official (who
was quite ignorant of our customs and was offering me a flattering
evidence of courtesy and good will) would be hurt by my refusal to
accept an invitation for that day, and would very likely misunderstand
it. However, there was nothing else to be done, and with suitable
explanations, I announced my extreme regret at being obliged to refuse
his kindness.
With great good feeling, he then changed the day, and I was given
_carte blanche_ to invite my friends, and of course asked the ladies
of the Methodist mission, as well as our own. Several Korean gentlemen
of high rank, including those in connection with the hospital, and
others, had also been invited by my host. The table, for in deference
to our foreign custom, one long table, instead of a number of small
ones, had been arranged--was piled high with Korean dainties.
Chicken, pheasant and other cold meats, fish, eggs, nuts and fruits
prepared in many fanciful ways, Chinese preserved fruits and candies,
a gutta-percha-like delicacy called “dock,” made of rice and oil
pounded well together, an alcoholic native beverage called sül, and
champagne and cigars. It is needless to say that we Americans did not
partake of these latter additions to the _menu_. A vast crowd from
the streets poured into the large courtyard, to see the acrobats,
who were a strolling band hired for the occasion. Their performance
consisted chiefly in tight-rope walking and tumbling, and was in no
way remarkable. It lasted, however, nearly three hours, during all of
which time we listened to the monotonous whining of the Korean band,
more like a Scotch bagpipe (dear cousins, forgive) than anything else
I know of; and learned the Korean verb “anchera” (sit down), which I
heard that day repeated a thousand times, in all its moods, tenses and
case endings, in tones of exasperation to the irrepressible Korean boy,
who _would_ stand up to see, just for all the world like some boys of
whiter skin, nearer home.
Just before this, Mr. Underwood and Mr. Appenzeller had started on a
long itinerating trip toward the north, the second Mr. Underwood had
undertaken. While they were absent the wrath of the Korean king and
cabinet against the Romanists reached the boiling point, and culminated
in a decree forbidding the further teaching of foreign religions in the
ports. The country was not open to us (as it is not to-day, except by
special passports). The Romanists, with their well-known love of chief
seats and high places, failing to profit by their former experiences
of trouble from similar causes in China, insisted upon choosing as
the site for their future cathedral one of the highest points in the
city, overlooking the palace, and adjoining the temple holding royal
ancestral tablets. The property had been obtained unknown to the king,
through the medium of Korean agents, and though he used his utmost
endeavors, both with the priests and with the French legation, to
induce them to change this for any other site, they remained obdurate,
utterly refused to yield, and proceeded to lay the foundation of
their church. The decree immediately followed, and the American
minister advised, nay ordered, us to recall our missionaries, who most
unwillingly returned. There were, indeed, those who asserted that this
early attempt to carry the Gospel into the interior had been, at least
in part, the cause of the obnoxious decree, which made it look as if
our work was, for a time at least, at an end. That this was not so was
proved by the fact that Mr. Underwood had hardly returned ere he was
waited upon by a committee consisting of high Korean nobles and members
of the cabinet, offering him the entire charge of their government
school, with a generous salary, and with the full understanding that
he would not hesitate to teach Christianity to the pupils.
This offer, displaying the great confidence, instead of the displeasure
and suspicion which foreigners assured us was the feeling of the
Koreans toward our evangelistic workers, was taken into serious
consideration, but was finally refused on account of its interference
with other work, and for other reasons equally important.
It remained to us all to decide upon our course of conduct with regard
to the prohibitory decree. Some of our number--the majority--argued,
that as it was the law of the land, nothing remained for Christian
law-abiding people but to obey it, to stop holding even morning prayers
in our schools, to hold no religious services with Koreans, but to
wait and pray, until God should move the king’s heart, and have the
decree rescinded. By this course they believed we should win favor with
the authorities, while defiance or disobedience might cause our whole
mission to be expelled from the country.
A small minority, however, Mr. Appenzeller, now with the Lord, his
wife, Mr. Underwood and myself, held that the decree had never been
issued against us or our work, and that even if it had, we were under
higher orders than that of a Korean king. Our duty was to preach and
take the consequences, resting for authority on the word of God, spoken
through Peter, in Acts, 4:19, to the rulers who forbade the apostles to
preach, “_Whether it be right in the sight of God, to hearken unto you,
more than unto God, judge ye, for we cannot but speak the things which
we have seen and heard._” Others might stop, as they did, with sorrow,
conscientiously believing that to be the best course; we continued to
teach and preach, in public and private, singing hymns, which could
be heard far and near, in the little meeting-house. No attempt was
ever made in any way to hinder us. Christians and other attendants on
services came and went unmolested. Christianity has grown much since
then, and is acknowledged as a factor in the politics of more than one
province. No one ever thinks now of disguising or in any way concealing
our work, yet _that law has never to this day been rescinded_. This is
exactly in accord with Eastern customs. Laws become a dead letter, and
pass into disuse; they are not often annulled.
Another event of interest, which occurred during these first months
after my arrival in Korea, was the excitement culminating in what were
called “the baby riots.” Similar troubles in Tientsin, China, had some
years previously resulted in the massacre of a number of foreigners,
including Jesuit priests, nuns and two or three French officials.
Some person or persons, with malicious intent, started a rumor which
spread like wild-fire, that foreigners were paying wicked Koreans to
steal native children, in order to cut out their hearts and eyes, to
be used for medicine. This crime was imputed chiefly to the Japanese,
and it was supposed the story had been originated by Chinese or others
especially inimical to the large numbers of Japanese residents in
the capital. Mr. Underwood acquainted the Japanese minister with the
rumors, in order that he might protect himself and his people; which he
promptly did by issuing, and causing to be issued by the government,
proclamations entirely clearing his countrymen of all blame in the
matter, which it was left to be understood was an acknowledged fact,
and consequently the work of other “vile foreigners,” namely, ourselves
and the Europeans. The excitement and fury grew hourly. Large crowds of
angry people congregated, scowling, muttering, and threatening. Koreans
carrying their own children were attacked, beaten, and even killed,
on the supposition that they were kidnapping the children of others;
and a high Korean official, who tried to protect one of these men, was
pulled from his chair, and narrowly escaped with his life, although he
was surrounded by a crowd of retainers and servants. It was considered
unsafe for foreigners to be seen in the street. Marines were called up
from Chemulpo to guard the different legations, and some Americans even
packed away their most necessary clothing and valuables, preparatory
to fleeing to the port. The wildest stories were told. Babies, it was
said, had been eaten at the German, English, and American legations,
and the hospital, of course, was considered by all the headquarters of
this bloodthirsty work, for there, where medicine was manufactured and
diseases treated, the babies must certainly be butchered.
One day, when returning from my clinic, my chair was surrounded by
rough-looking men, who told my bearers that they should all be killed
if they carried me to the hospital again; and such was the terror
inspired, that these men positively refused to take me thither the
following day. So I rode on horseback through the city to the hospital,
Mr. Underwood, who also had duties at the hospital school, acting as
my escort. We went and returned quite unmolested, and it has been
my experience then and later, that a bold front and appearance of
fearlessness and unconcern in moments of danger impress Asiatics, and
act as a great safeguard for the foreigner.
In the meanwhile, however, the European foreign representatives
had awakened to the fact that a very real danger threatened our
little community, and might ripen at any moment into destruction.
Proclamations from the Foreign Office were posted everywhere, but the
earliest of these were mistakenly worded, leaving the impression
still that possibly some “vile foreigner” had instituted these awful
deeds, and that should he be discovered sore punishment would follow.
At last, however, a notice appeared, written at the dictation of these
same “vile foreigners,” in which it was positively stated that not only
had no such thing been done by any foreigners, but that should any one
be caught uttering these slanders, he would be at once arrested, and
unless able to prove the truth of his tales, be punished with death.
Detectives and police officers were scattered everywhere through the
city, people were forbidden to stand in groups of twos and threes, a
few arrests were made, and the riots were at an end.
[Illustration: KOREAN OFFICIAL IN CHAIR. PAGE 16]
Before calm was restored, however, we had some uncertain, not to say
uneasy, hours. On the evening of the day when the excitement had been
at its highest, we received word from the American legation that should
there be evidence that the mob were intending to attack our homes, a
gun would be fired in the legation grounds as a signal, and we were
then to hasten thither for mutual safety and defense.
It was a calm starlit July night. We sat in the little porch leading
into our compound, enjoying the cool evening air, when suddenly a
terrific illumination of blazing buildings lit up the horizon, and
a fearful hubbub of a shouting, yelling mob assailed our ears. With
beating hearts we watched and listened. Some one said Korean mobs
always began by burning houses, and while we waited, wondering what it
all meant, the air was rent by the sharp, quick report of a gun from
the American legation.
This seemed to leave no doubt as to the real state of affairs, and Mr.
Underwood and Mr. Hulbert at once repaired to the legation to make sure
that there was no mistake, but soon returned, with the welcome news,
that the firing of the gun had been accidental. The burning buildings
also proved to have been only a coincidence, and the noise nothing more
than common with a Korean crowd round a fire. In a way that still seems
to be miraculous, the raging of the heathen was quieted, God was round
about us, the danger that looked inevitable passed away, and all was
calm.
Not long after this came the first request from the palace for me to
attend on the queen, to which I responded not without some anxiety,
lest through some unlooked-for occurrence some misstep on my part,
the work of our mission so auspiciously begun should be hindered or
stopped. As yet somewhat uncertain of our foothold, ignorant to a
large extent of the people with whom we had to deal, we trembled lest
some inadvertence might close the door, only so lately and unwillingly
opened. I had been told I must always go in full court dress, but
when I came to open the boxes, which contained the gowns prepared
for this purpose, I found that both had been ruined in crossing the
Pacific and could not be worn. Alas! how inauspicious to be obliged to
appear before royalty in unsuitable attire, which might be attributed
to disrespect! But a far more serious trouble than this weighed upon
my mind as my chair coolies jogged me along the winding streets and
alleys to the palace grounds. I had been strictly warned not to say
anything to the queen on the subject of religion. “We are only here on
sufferance,” it was urged, “and even though our teaching the common
people may be overlooked and winked at, if it is brought before the
authorities so openly and boldly, as it would be to introduce it into
the palace, even our warmest friends might feel obliged to utterly
forbid further access to the royal family, if not to banish us
altogether from the country.” “Wait,” it was said, “until our footing
is more assured; do not risk all through impatience.”
I saw the logic of these words, though my heart talked hotly in a very
different way; but I went to the palace with my mouth sealed on the one
subject I had come to proclaim.