The heart of the capital—Domestic Economy—Female
slavery—Standards of morality—A dress rehearsal
[Illustration: A SANG-NO]
The inhabitants of the Hermit Kingdom are peculiarly proficient in
the art of doing nothing gracefully. There is, therefore, infinite
charm and variety in the daily life of Korea. The natives take their
pleasures passively, and their constitutional incapacity makes it
appear as if there were little to do but to indulge in a gentle stroll
in the brilliant sunshine, or to sit cross-legged within the shade of
their houses. Inaction becomes them; nothing could be more unsuited to
the character of their peculiar costume than vigorous movement. The
stolid dignity of their appearance and their stately demeanour adds
vastly to the picturesqueness of the street scenes. The white-coated,
white-trousered, white-socked, slowly striding population is irresistibly
fascinating to the eye. The women are no less interesting than the men.
The unique fashion of their dress, and its general dissimilarity to
any other form of feminine garb the world has ever known, renders it
sufficiently characteristic of the vagaries of the feminine mind to be
attractive.
Women do not appear very much in the streets during daylight. The degree
of their seclusion depends upon the position which they fill in society.
In a general way the social barriers which divide everywhere the three
classes are well defined here. The _yang-ban_ or noble is, of course,
the ruling class. The upper-class woman lives rather like a woman in
a zenana; from the age of twelve she is visible only to the people of
her household and to her immediate relatives. She is married young, and
thenceforth her acquaintances among men are restricted solely to within
the fifth degree of cousinship. She may visit her friends, being usually
carried by four bearers in a screened chair. She seldom walks, but should
she do so her face is invariably veiled in the folds of a _chang-ot_.
Few restrictions are imposed upon the women of the middle class as to
their appearance in the streets, nor are they so closely secluded in the
house as their aristocratic sisters; their faces are, however, veiled.
The _chang-ot_ is by no means so complete a medium of concealment as
the veil of Turkey. Moreover, it is often cast aside in old age. The
dancing-girls, slaves, nuns, and prostitutes, all included in the lowest
class, are forbidden to wear the _chang-ot_. Women doctors, too, dispense
with it, though only women of the highest birth are allowed to practise
medicine.
[Illustration: WHITE-COATED, WHITE-SOCKED POPULATION]
In a general way, the chief occupation of the Korean woman is motherhood.
Much scandal arises if a girl attains her twentieth year without having
married, while no better excuse exists for divorce than sterility.
In respect of marriage, however, the wife is expected to supplement
the fortune of her husband and to contribute to the finances of the
household. When women of the upper classes wish to embark in business,
certain careers, other than that of medicine, are open to them. They
may cultivate the silkworm, start an apiary, weave straw shoes, conduct
a wine-shop, or assume the position of a teacher. They may undertake
neither the manufacture of lace and cloth, nor the sale of fruit and
vegetables. A descent in the social scale increases the number and
variety of the callings which are open to women. Those of the middle
class may engage in all the occupations of the upper classes, with the
exception of medicine and teaching. They may become concubines, act
as cooks, go out as wet nurses, or fill posts in the palace. They may
keep any description of shop, tavern, or hotel; they possess certain
fishing privileges, which allow them to take clams, cuttle-fish, and
_bêches de mer_. They may make every kind of boot and shoe. They may knit
fishing-nets, and fashion tobacco-pouches.
If some little respect be accorded to women of the middle classes,
those of a lower status are held in contempt. Of the occupations open
to women of the middle classes, there are two in which women of humble
origin cannot engage. They are ineligible for any position in the palace:
they may not manufacture tobacco-pouches. They may become sorceresses,
jugglers, tumblers, contortionists, dancing-girls and courtesans.
There is this wide distinction between the members of the two oldest
professions which the world has ever known: the dancing-girl usually
closes her career by becoming the concubine of some wealthy noble; the
courtesan does not close her career at all.
[Illustration: SHE MAY VISIT HER FRIENDS]
It is impossible not to admire the activity and energy of the Korean
woman. Despite the contempt with which she is treated, she is the great
economic factor in the household and in the life of the nation. Force
of circumstance has made her the beast of burden. She works that her
superior lord and master may dwell in idleness, comparative luxury, and
peace. In spite of the depressing and baneful effects of this absurd
dogma of inferiority, and in contradiction of centuries of theory and
philosophy, her diligent integrity is more evident in the national life
than her husband’s industry. She is exceptionally active, vigorous
in character, resourceful in emergency, superstitious, persevering,
indomitable, courageous, and devoted. Among the middle and lower classes
she is the tailor and the laundress of the nation. She does the work
of a man in the household and of a beast in the fields; she cooks and
sews; she washes and irons; she organises and carries on a business,
or tills and cultivates a farm. In the face of every adversity, and in
those times of trial and distress, in which her liege and lazy lord
utterly and hopelessly collapses, it is she who holds the wretched,
ramshackle home together. Under the previous dynasty, the sphere of the
women of Korea was less restricted. There was no law of seclusion; the
sex enjoyed greater public freedom. In its closing decades, however,
the tone of society lowered, and women became the special objects of
violence. Buddhist priests were guilty of widespread debauchery; conjugal
infidelity was a pastime; rape became the fashion. The present dynasty
endeavoured to check these evils by ordaining and promoting the isolation
and greater subjection of the sex. Vice and immorality had been so long
and so promiscuously practised, however, that already men had begun to
keep their women in seclusion of their own accord. If they respected
them to some extent, they were wholly doubtful of one another. Distrust
and suspicion were thus the pre-eminent causes of this immuring of the
women, the system developing of itself, as the male Koreans learnt to
dread the evil propensities of their own sex. It is possible that the
women find, in that protection which is now accorded them, some little
compensation for the drudgery and interminable hard work that is their
portion.
[Illustration: A MIDDLE-CLASS FAMILY]
The system of slavery among the Koreans is confined, at present, to
the possession of female slaves. Up to the time of the great invasion
of Korea by the Japanese armies under Hideyoshi, in 1592, both male
and female slaves were permitted. The loss of men in that war was so
great that, upon its conclusion, a law was promulgated which forbade
the bondage of males. There is, however, the _sang-no_ (slave boy), who
renders certain services only, and receives his food and clothes in
compensation. The position of the _sang-no_ is more humble than that
filled by the paid servant and superior to that of the slave proper. He
is bound by no agreement and is free to leave.
The duties of a slave comprise the rough work of the house. She attends
to the washing—an exacting and continuous labour in a Korean household;
carries water from the well, assists with the cooking, undertakes the
marketing and runs errands. She is not allowed to participate in any
duties of a superior character; her place is in the kitchen or in the
yard, and she cannot become either a lady’s maid or a favoured servant
of any degree. In the fulness of time she may figure in the funeral
procession of her master.
There are four ways by which the Korean woman may become a slave. She may
give herself into slavery, voluntarily, in exchange for food, clothes
and shelter through her abject poverty. The woman who becomes a slave
in this way cannot buy back her freedom. She has fewer rights than the
slave who is bought or who sells herself. The daughter of any slave who
dies in service continues in slavery. In the event of the marriage of
her mistress such a slave ranks as a part of the matrimonial _dot_. A
woman may be reduced to slavery by the treasonable misdemeanours of a
relative. The family of a man convicted of treason becomes the property
of the Government, the women being allotted to high officials. They are
usually liberated. Again, a woman may submit herself to the approval
of a prospective employer. If she is found satisfactory and is well
recommended, her services may realise between forty, fifty, or one
hundred thousand cash. When payment has been made, she gives a deed of
her own person to her purchaser, imprinting the outline of her hand upon
the document, in place of a seal, and for the purpose of supplying easy
means of identification. Although this transaction does not receive the
cognisance of the Government, the contract is binding.
[Illustration: IN WINTER COSTUME]
As the law provides that the daughter of a slave must take the place of
her parent, should she die, it is plainly in the interests of the owner
to promote the marriage of his slaves. Slaves who receive compensation
for their services are entitled to marry whom they please; quarters are
provided for the couple. The master of the house, however, has no claim
upon the services of the husband. The slave who voluntarily assigns
herself to slavery and receives no price for her services may not marry
without consent. In these cases it is not an unusual custom for her
master, in the course of a few years, to restore her liberty.
Hitherto, the position of the Korean woman has been so humble that
her education has been unnecessary. Save among those who belong to
the less reputable classes, the literary and artistic faculties are
left uncultivated. Among the courtesans, however, the mental abilities
are trained and developed with a view to making them brilliant and
entertaining companions. The one sign of their profession is the
culture, the charm, and the scope of their attainments. These “leaves
of sunlight,” a feature of public life in Korea, stand apart in a class
of their own. They are called _gisaing_, and correspond to the _geisha_
of Japan; the duties, environment, and mode of existence of the two
are almost identical. Officially, they are attached to a department of
Government, and are controlled by a bureau of their own, in common with
the Court musicians. They are supported from the national treasury, and
they are in evidence at official dinners and all palace entertainments.
They read and recite; they dance and sing; they become accomplished
artists and musicians. They dress with exceptional taste; they move with
exceeding grace; they are delicate in appearance, very frail and very
human, very tender, sympathetic, and imaginative. By their artistic
and intellectual endowment, the dancing girls, ironically enough, are
debarred from the positions for which their talents so peculiarly fit
them. They may move through, and as a fact do live in, the highest
society. They are met at the houses of the most distinguished; they
may be selected as the concubines of the Emperor, become the _femmes
d’amour_ of a prince, the puppets of the noble. A man of breeding may not
marry them, however, although they typify everything that is brightest,
liveliest, and most beautiful. Amongst their own sex, their reputation is
in accordance with their standard of morality, a distinction being made
between those whose careers are embellished with the _quasi_ chastity
of a concubine, and those who are identified with the more pretentious
display of the mere prostitute.
[Illustration: A PALACE CONCUBINE]
In the hope that their children may achieve that success which will
ensure their support in their old age, parents, when stricken with
poverty, dedicate their daughters to the career of a _gisaing_, much as
they apprentice their sons to that of a eunuch. The girls are chosen for
the perfect regularity of their features. Their freedom from blemish,
when first selected, is essential. They are usually pretty, elegant,
and dainty. It is almost certain that they are the prettiest women in
Korea, and, although the order is extensive and the class is gathered
from all over the kingdom, the most beautiful and accomplished _gisaing_
come from Pyöng-an. The arts and graces in which they are so carefully
educated, procure their elevation to positions in the households of
their protectors, superior to that which is held by the legal wife. As
a consequence, Korean folk-lore abounds with stories of the strife and
wifely lamentation arising from the ardent and prolonged devotion of
husbands to girls, whom fate prevents their taking to a closer union. The
women are slight of stature, with diminutive, pretty feet, and graceful,
shapely hands. They are quiet and unassuming in their manner. Their
smile is bright; their deportment modest, their appearance winsome. They
wear upon state occasions voluminous, silk-gauze skirts of variegated
hues; a diaphanous silken jacket, with long loose sleeves, extending
beyond the hands, protects the shoulders; jewelled girdles, pressing
their naked breasts, sustain their draperies. An elaborate, heavy and
artificial head-dress of black hair, twisted in plaits and decorated with
many silver ornaments, is worn. The music of the dance is plaintive and
the song of the dancer somewhat melancholy. Many movements are executed
in stockinged feet; the dances are quite free from indelicacy and
suggestiveness. Indeed, several are curiously pleasing.
[Illustration: DANCING WOMEN OF THE COURT]
Upon one occasion, Yi-cha-sun, the brother of the Emperor, invited me to
watch the dress rehearsal of an approaching Palace festival. Although
this exceptional consideration was shown me unsolicited, I found it quite
impossible to secure permission to photograph the gliding, graceful
figures of the dancers. When my chair deposited me at the _yamen_ the
dance was already in progress. The chairs of the officials and chattering
groups of the servants of the dancers filled the compound; soldiers of
the Imperial Guard kept watch before the gates. The air was filled with
the tremulous notes of the pipes and viols, whose plaintive screaming
was punctuated with the booming of drums. Within a building, the walls
of which were open to the air, the rows of dancers were visible as they
swayed slowly and almost imperceptibly with the music.
From the dais where my host was sitting the dance was radiant with
colour. There were eighteen performers, grouped in three equal divisions,
and, as the streaming sunshine played upon the shimmering surface of
their dresses, the lithe and graceful figures of the dancers floated
in the brilliant reflection of a sea of sparkling light. The dance was
almost without motion, so slowly were its fantastic figures developed.
Never once were their arms dropped from their horizontal position,
nor did the size and weight of their head-dresses appear to fatigue
the little women. Very slowly, the seated band gave forth the air.
Very slowly, the dancers moved in the open space before us, their arms
upraised, their gauze and silken draperies clustering round them, their
hair piled high, and held in its curious shape by many jewelled and
enamelled pins, which sparkled in the sunshine. The air was solemn;
and, as if the movement were ceremonial, their voices rose and fell in
a lingering harmony of passionate expression. At times, the three sets
came together, the hues of the silken skirts blending in one vivid blaze
of barbaric splendour. Then, as another movement succeeded, the eighteen
figures broke apart and, poised upon their toes, in stately and measured
unison circled round the floor, their arms rising and falling, their
bodies bending and swaying, in dreamy undulation.
The dance epitomised the poetry and grace of human motion. The dainty
attitudes of the performers had a gentle delicacy which was delightful.
The long silken robes revealed a singular grace of deportment, and one
looked upon dancers who were clothed from head to foot, not naked, brazen
and unashamed, like those of our own burlesque, with infinite relief and
infinite satisfaction. There was power and purpose in their movements;
artistic subtlety in their poses. Their flowing robes emphasised the
simplicity of their gestures; the pallor of their faces was unconcealed;
their glances were timid; their manner modest. The strange eerie notes of
the curious instruments, the fluctuating cadence of the song, the gliding
motion of the dancers, the dazzling sheen of the silks, the vivid colours
of the skirts, the flush of flesh beneath the silken shoulder-coats,
appealed to one silently and signally, stirring the emotions with an
enthusiasm which was irrepressible.
The fascinating figures approached softly, smoothly sliding; and, as
they glided slowly forward, the song of the music welled into passionate
lamentation. The character of the dance changed. No longer advancing, the
dancers moved in time to the beating of the drums; rotating circles of
colour, their arms swaying, their bodies swinging backwards and forwards,
as their retreating footsteps took them from us. The little figures
seemed unconscious of their art; the musicians ignorant of the qualities
of their wailing. Nevertheless, the masterly restraint of the band, the
conception, skill and execution of the dancers, made up a triumph of
technique.
As the dance swept to its climax, nothing so accentuated the admiration
of the audience as their perfect stillness. From the outer courts came
for a brief instant the clatter of servants and the screams of angry
stallions. Threatening glances quickly hushed the slaves, nothing
breaking the magnetism of the dance for long. The dance ended, it became
the turn of others to rehearse their individual contributions, while
those who were now free sat chatting with my host, eating sweets, smoking
cigarettes, cigars, or affecting the long native pipe. Many, discarding
their head-dresses, lay upon their sitting mats, their eyes closed in
momentary rest as their servants fanned them. His Highness apparently
appreciated the familiarity with which they treated him. In the enjoyment
and encouragement of their little jokes he squeezed their cheeks and
pinched their arms, as he sat among them.
[Illustration: BOYS]