Education—Arts and graces—Penal code—Marriage and divorce—The
rights of concubines—Position of children—Government
Until the introduction of foreign methods of education, and the
establishment of schools upon modern lines, no very promising
manifestation of intellect distinguished the Koreans. Even now, a vague
knowledge of the Chinese classics, which, in rare instances only can be
considered a familiar acquaintanceship, sums up the acquirements of the
cultured classes. The upper classes of both sexes make some pretence
of understanding the literature and language of China; but it is very
seldom that the middle classes are able to read more than the mixed
Chinese-Korean script of the native Press—in which the grammatical
construction is purely Korean.
Despite the prevailing ignorance of Chinese, the Mandarin dialect of
China is considered the language of polite society. It is the medium of
official communication at the Court: the majority of the foreigners in
the service of the Government have also mastered its intricacies. It has
been estimated by Professor Homer B. Hulbert, whose elaborate researches
in Korean and Chinese philology make him a distinguished authority, that
only one per cent. of the women of the upper class, who study Chinese,
have any practical knowledge of it. Women of the middle and lower classes
are ignorant of Chinese. Again, the proportion of upper class women who
can read the Chinese classics is very small. It is probable that, out of
an unselected assembly of Koreans, not more than five per cent. would be
found who could take up a Chinese work and read it as glibly as a similar
gathering of English might be expected to read ordinary Latin prose.
In relation to the _ön-mun_, the common script of Korea, there is,
however, no such ignorance; the upper and middle classes study their
native writing with much intelligence. The language of Korea is
altogether different from that of China and Japan; it possesses an
alphabet of its own, which at present consists of some twenty-five
letters. It has been ascribed by certain Korean annals to the fifteenth
century, A.D. 1447, when the King of Korea, resolving to assert his
independence by abandoning the use of Chinese writing as the official
medium of correspondence, invented an alphabet to suit the special
requirements of the vernacular. Conservatism proved too strong, however,
and the new script was gradually relegated to the use of the lower
classes, and of women and children. There is an extensive literature in
the vernacular. It includes translations from the Chinese and Japanese
classics; historical works on modern and mediæval Korea, books of travel
and hunting, of poetry and correspondence, and a range of fiction,
dealing with those phases of human nature that are common to mankind.
Many of these books are regularly studied by Korean women, ignorance of
their contents being regarded with disdain by the women of the upper
classes, and, in a less pronounced degree, by those of the middle
classes. The female attendants in the Palace are the readiest students
and scholars of the vernacular, their positions at Court requiring them
to prepare _ön-mun_ copies of Government orders, current news, and
general gossip, for Imperial use. Books in native script are readily
purchased by all conditions of Koreans, and taken out from circulating
libraries. Many of the works are written in Chinese and in Korean upon
alternate pages for those who can read only one or the other; those who
are quite illiterate learning the more important chapters by ear. A work,
with which every woman is supposed to be intimate, is entitled The Three
Principles of Conduct, the great divisions being (1) The Treatment of
Parents; (2) The Rearing of a Family; (3) Housekeeping. Companion books
with this volume, and of equal importance to Korean women, are the Five
Rules of Conduct and the Five Volumes of Primary Literature, which, in
spirit and contents, are almost identical. They deal with the relations
between (1) Parent and Child; (2) King and Subject; (3) Husband and Wife;
(4) Old and Young; (5) Friend and Friend. They contain also exhortations
to virtue and learning.
Apart from the direction and scope of female education in Korea, which
I have now suggested, the theoretical study of the domestic arts is
an invariable accompaniment of the more intricate studies. It is
supplemented with much actual experiment. As a consequence, while the
education of men of certain rank is confined to the books to which they
are but indifferently attentive, a wide range of study exists for women
apart from the writings and teachings of the accepted professors and
classical authorities. Ornamental elegances, the tricks and traits of our
drawing-room minxes, are ignored by the gentler classes, vocal music and
dancing being the accomplishments of dancing-girls and _demi-mondaines_.
The arts of embroidery, dressmaking, sewing, and weaving absorb their
attention until they have gone through the gamut of domestic economy.
Occasionally women of the upper class learn to play the _kumungo_,
an instrument some five feet long and one foot wide, bearing a faint
resemblance to a zither and emitting a melancholy and discordant wail.
There is one other stringed weapon, the _nageum_, but the awful screech
of this unhappy viol overwhelms me, even in recollection. The usual and
most simple amusement for the middle classes is the gentle, aimless
stroll, for the purpose of “look see.” Swinging, rope-games, dice,
dominoes, and dolls find some favour as distractions.
If some little improvement has become noticeable in educational matters
under the enlightening influence of the missionaries, great fault must
be found with the condition of the law. It is, of course, not always
possible to graft upon the legal procedure of one country a system
of administration which works well in another. Specific outbursts of
violence, arising from identical causes, assume different complexions
when considered from the point of view of those who are proceeding to
institute reforms. It may be submitted, further, that a certain element
of barbarism in punishment is rendered necessary by the conditions of
some countries, imposing a restraint upon a population which would scoff
at punishment of a more civilised description. If exception may be taken
to the penal code of Korea, it must be remembered that in the Far East
the quality of justice is not tempered with mercy. Many punishments
are still openly and frankly barbarous, while others are distinguished
by their exceptional severity. Death by decapitation, mutilation,
strangulation, or poison is now less frequent than formerly.
Until within quite recent years it was the custom of Korean law to make
the family of the arch-criminal suffer all his penalties with him. They
are now exempted, and with the reforms introduced during the movement in
1895, some attempt was made to abolish practices opposed to the spirit of
progress. The table, which I append, shows the punishments dispensed for
certain crimes.
Treason, Man Decapitated, together with male relatives to
the fifth degree. Mother, wife, and daughter
poisoned or reduced to slavery.
Treason, Woman Poisoned.
Murder, Man Decapitated. Wife poisoned.
Murder, Woman Strangled or poisoned.
Arson, Man Strangled or poisoned. Wife poisoned.
Arson, Woman Poisoned.
Theft, Man Strangled, decapitated, or banished. Wife reduced
to slavery, confiscation of all property.
Desecration of graves Decapitated, together with male relatives to the
fifth degree. Mother, wife, and daughter
poisoned.
Counterfeiting Strangulation or decapitation. Wife poisoned.
Under the Korean law, no wife can obtain a legal dissolution of her
marriage. The privilege of divorce rests with the man; among the upper
classes it is uncommon. The wife, however, may leave her husband and
accept the protection of some relative, when, unless the husband
can disprove her charges, he has no redress. Should the wife fail
to establish her case against her husband, the cost of the marriage
ceremony, a large sum usually, is refunded by her relatives. The law does
not force a wife to cohabit with her husband; nor, so far as it affects
the woman, does it take any cognisance of the matter. A man may divorce
his wife, retaining the custody of the children in every case, upon
statutory grounds, and upon the following additional counts: indolence,
neglect of the prescribed sacrifices, theft, and shrewishness. There
is no appeal against the charges of the husband for women of the upper
classes, domestic disturbances being considered entirely reprehensible.
Much greater latitude prevails among the lower orders, irregular unions
of a most benign elasticity being preferred. Concubinage is a recognised
institution, and one in which the lower, as well as the higher, classes
indulge.
[Illustration: JUSTICE IS NOT TEMPERED WITH MERCY]
The rights of the children of concubines vary according to the moral
laxity of the class in which they are born. Among the upper classes they
possess no claim against the estate of their progenitors; entail ignores
them, and they may not observe the family sacrifices. In the absence of
legitimate issue, a son must be adopted for the purpose of inheriting
the properties of the family and of attending to the ancestral and
funeral rites. Great stress is laid by the upper classes upon purity of
descent; among the middle and lower orders there is more indulgence. Save
in the lowest classes, it is usual to maintain a separate establishment
for each concubine. The fact that among the lower classes concubine and
wife share the same house is responsible for much of the unhappiness
of Korean family life. In every case the position of the children of
concubines corresponds with the status of the mother.
Within recent years, considerable changes have taken place in the
Government and in the administration of the law. Under the old system
the despotic thesis of divine right was associated with many abuses.
Justice was not tempered by mercy, and, in the suppression of crime, it
was not always the guilty who suffered. The old system of government was
modelled upon the principles of the Ming rule in China. The power of the
sovereign was absolute in theory and in practice. He was assisted by the
three principal officers of State and six administrative boards, to whom,
so soon as the country was brought into contact with foreign nations,
additional bureaux were added. Modifications in the spirit, or in the
letter of the law have taken place from time to time at the instance
of reformers. Before the ascendency of the Japanese came about, the
principles and character of Korean law presented no very marked deviation
from that which had been upheld in China through so many centuries. For
a long time the intense conservatism of China reigned in Korea. The
authority of the sovereign is more restricted to-day; but in the hands of
a less enlightened monarch it would be just as effective as ever against
the interests of the country. Happily, however, the era of progressive
reform, which illustrated the inauguration of the Empire, continues.
[Illustration: CHILDREN OF THE LOWER CLASS]
The Government is now vested in a Council of State, composed of a
Chancellor, six Ministers, five Councillors, and a Chief Secretary.
The will of the sovereign is, however, supreme. The Departments of
State are conducted by nine ministers, chief of whom is the Prime
Minister, assisted in his Cabinet by the President of the Privy Council,
the Ministers of the Household, of Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs,
Finance, War, Law, Education, and Agriculture. With improved internal
administration many of the abuses which existed under the old system
have disappeared. There are still many grievances, and the working of
the new machine of State cannot be said to give unalloyed satisfaction.
Justice is still hedged about with bribery; official corruptness admits
of the venal purchase of office. Much outcry accompanies the sweeping of
the Augean stables; and, at present, the advantages of the improvements
hardly justify the ecstatic jubilation by which their introduction
was greeted. It is early yet to prophesy; but, if the honourable
administration of the public departments can be obtained, there is no
reason why success should not attend the innovation. The responsibility
for the working of the administrative machine, however, rests, in the
interval, entirely upon the shoulders of the foreign advisers. It remains
to be seen, therefore, if the united services of these distinguished
people can prolong in any degree the era of honest government in Korea.