Korea

by A. Hamilton

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.

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.