Korea

by A. Hamilton

CHAPTER III

Move to the capital—A city of peace—Results of foreign influence—In the beginning—Education—Shops—Costume—Origin—Posts and telegraphs—Methods of cleanliness

HEN-SELLER

The situation in which Seoul lies is enchanting. High hills and mountains rise close to the city, their sides rough, rugged and bleak, save where black patches of bushes and trees struggle for existence. The hollows within this rampart of hills and beyond the walls, are fresh and verdant. Small rice-fields, with clusters of thatched hovels in their midst, stretch between the capital and the port at Chemulpo. The atmosphere is clear; the air is sweet; the city is neat and orderly. It is possible, moreover, to live with great comfort in the three-storied brick structure, which, from a pretty collection of Korean buildings, nestling beneath the city wall, has been converted into the Station Hotel.

There is but one wall round Seoul. It is neither so high nor so massive as the wall of Pekin; yet the situation of the city gains so much in beauty from the enclosing mountains, that it seems to be much the more picturesque. If the capital of Korea is more charmingly situated than the capital of China, the wall of Seoul is reminiscent of the walls of the Nankow Pass in the superb disdain with which it clings to the edges of the mountains, climbing the most outlandish places in the course of its almost purposeless meanderings. It extends beyond the lofty crests of Peuk-an and across the splendid and isolated peak of Nam-san, enclosing a forest in one direction, a vacant and soulless plain in another, dropping here into a ravine, to emerge again a few hundred feet higher on the mountain slopes. The wall is in good preservation. In places it is a rampart of mud faced with masonry; more generally it is a solid structure of stone, fourteen miles in circumference, twenty-rive to forty feet in height, battlemented along its entire length and pierced by eight arches of stone. The arches serve as gateways; they are crowned with high tiled towers, the gables of which curve in the fashion of China.

Within the radius of these stone walls, the city spreads itself across a plain, or high on the mountain side, within the snug shelter of some hollow, enjoys a pleasant, cool and comfortable seclusion. Within its metropolitan area there are changes of scenery which would delight the most weary sightseer. Beyond these limits, the appearance and character of the country is refreshing, and is without that monotonous dead-level stretch of plain, which, reaching to the walls of Pekin, detracts so greatly from the position of that capital. Within this broader vista there are hills and wooded valleys. Villages rest beneath the grey, cool shadows of the bush. Upon the hills lie many stately tombs, fringes of trees shielding them from the rush of the winds. There are pretty walks or rides in every quarter, and there is no fear of molestation. Everywhere it is peaceful; foreigners pass unnoticed by the peasants, who, lazily scratching the surface of their fields, or ploughing in the water of their rice plots with stately bulls, occupy their time with gentle industry. It is more by reason of a bountiful nature that has endowed their land with fertility, than by careful management or expenditure of energy that it serves their purpose.

A few years ago it was thought that the glory of the ancient city had departed. Indeed, the extreme state of neglect into which the capital had fallen gave some justification for this opinion. Now, however, the prospect is suggestive of prosperity. The old order is giving way to the new. So quickly has the population learned to appreciate the results of foreign intercourse that, in a few more years, it will be difficult to find in Seoul any remaining link with the capital of yore. The changes have been somewhat radical. The introduction of telegraphy has made it unnecessary to signal nightly the safety of the kingdom by beacons from the crests of the mountains. The gates are no longer closed at night; no more does the evening bell clang sonorously throughout the city at sunset, and the runners before the chairs of the officials have for some time ceased to announce in strident voices the passing of their masters. Improvements, which have been wrought also in the conditions of the city—in its streets and houses, in its sanitary measures and in its methods of communication—have replaced these ancient customs. An excellent and rapid train runs from Chemulpo; electric trams afford quick transit within and beyond the capital; even electric lights illuminate by night some parts of the chief city of the Hermit Kingdom. Moreover, an aqueduct is mentioned; the police force has been reorganised; drains have come and evil odours have fled. The population of the capital for the year 1903 was 194,000 adults. This is a decrease of 2546 upon the year 1902.

The period which has passed since the country was opened to foreign trade has given the inhabitants time to become accustomed to the peculiar differences which distinguish foreigners. It has afforded Koreans countless opportunities to select for themselves such institutions as may be calculated to promote their own welfare, and to provide at the same time compensating advantages for their departure from tradition. Not only by the construction of an electric tramway, the provision of long-distance telephones and telegraphs, the installation of electric light, a general renovation of its thoroughfares and its buildings, and the improvement of its system of drainage, does the capital of Korea give tokens of the spirit which is at work amongst its inhabitants. Reforms in education have also taken place; schools and hospitals have been opened; banks, foreign shops and agencies have sprung up; a factory for the manufacture of porcelain ware is in operation; and the number and variety of the religions with which foreign missionaries are wooing the people are as amazing and complex as in China. There will be no absence in the future of those soothing conjectures from which the consolations of religion may be derived. The conduct of educational affairs is arranged upon a basis which now gives every facility for the study of foreign subjects. Special schools for foreign languages, conducted by the Government under the supervision of foreign teachers, have been instituted. Indeed, most striking changes have been made in the curriculum of the common schools of the city. Mathematics, geography, history, besides foreign languages, are all subjects in the courses of these establishments, and, only lately, a special School of Survey, under foreign direction, has been opened. The enlightenment, which is thus spreading throughout the lower classes, cannot fail to secure some eventual modification of the views and sentiments by which the upper classes regard the progress of the country. As a sign of the times, it is worthy to note that several native newspapers have been started; while the increase of business has created the necessity for improved facilities in financial transactions, a development which has appealed not only to the Dai Ichi Ginko. The Russo-Chinese Bank is proposing to contend with this Japanese financial house. The establishment at Chemulpo of a branch of the Russian Bank is contemplated, from whence will come an issue of rouble notes to compete with the various denominations of the Japanese Bank. Moreover, the Government is preparing to erect a large building in foreign style in the centre of the city, to be used as the premises of the Central Bank of Korea. It will be a three-storied building, and it is intended to establish branches in all the thirteen provinces of the Empire. Its chief aim is to facilitate the transfer of Government moneys, the transport of which has always been a severe tax upon the Government. It will, however, engage in general banking business, and for this purpose Yi Yong-ik, the President of the Central Bank, is preparing at the Government mint one, five, ten and one hundred dollar bills for issue by it.