The Dowager Empress Hong had her own residence and separate establishment in the rear of this part of the palace, where she was frequently visited by the Emperor, usually accompanied by the Crown Prince. In Korea it is considered the duty of every son, or adopted son, to visit his mother daily. Every afternoon the Dowager Empress sent two or three of her ladies-in-waiting to present her compliments to his Majesty, and to inquire after his health. The ladies who were sent on this errand had to wear some additional garment for the purpose, or to have their hair dressed over an immense frame. The residence of the Dowager Empress was enclosed within high walls, and the entrance gate was hung with dark blue cloth, ornamented with balls of white cotton wool, so that when the gates were open no one should be able to see into the courtyard. Two of the palace police, men of superior position to the city police, were stationed as guards outside the gates. After the death of the Empress Min, the Crown Prince occupied the same residence as the Emperor, and they were rarely separated from one another. During the Russo-Japanese war it was reported by some of the war correspondents that the Emperor had married the daughter of an American missionary, and that she was called the Empress Emily Brown. As this story obtained a certain amount of credence in America I am glad to be able to state publicly that there was not a word of truth in the rumour. The Emperor was devoted to the memory of the Empress Min, and has not married again. For this and the other details of palace life I am indebted to a friend who was at that time closely connected with the court, and who continued so for many years afterwards.
The Crown Princess had her own house and establishment like the Dowager Empress, but on a smaller scale. Every afternoon she went to pay her respects to the Emperor, attended by her ladies-in-waiting and eunuchs, and they might not leave the royal presence until dismissed. This custom was not confined to royalty, but in the Korean nobility etiquette demands that daughters should pay their respects to fathers, and daughters-in-law to their fathers-in-law, and that they should remain standing until dismissed or asked to sit down. According to the usual custom in the East the wives of the sons live in the same compound as the father, frequently in the same building as his wife and daughters, so the carrying out of this custom is a simple matter.
It may be of interest to know some details of the life of the women in an eastern palace. They come into the palace as children of nine or ten years old, bright, good-looking (the Korean ideal of beauty is very different from ours), and intelligent girls. They are trained by other girls a year or two older than themselves, each for her own department. As soon as the children enter service the pigtail of childhood is abandoned, and the hair is dressed in a knot, resting on the nape of the neck. This signifies marriage in the case of all other Korean maidens; but marriage is prohibited in the case of those who enter service in the palace, although it is admittedly the duty of every woman. The girls are dressed in white silk jackets and long mazarine blue silk skirts. The little ones are sometimes allowed to wear pink or yellow silk jackets, but never the elder ones.
If the attendants commit any serious offence, it is reported to the head of the department; those, for instance, who act as ladies’ maids are reported to the head lady in waiting, those in the kitchen to the head housekeeper. One particular woman in this department had been responsible for over fifty years for the dressing of the fish, yet she was only sixty-five when she mentioned the fact, so her responsibilities had begun early.
There are, however, alleviations to the lot of the palace attendants, for they have alternately ten days’ duty and ten days’ holiday. The royal ladies have not only women attendants, but also eunuchs, one of the worst curses of life in an eastern palace. They are required to carry messages from one department to another, and also to perform other duties. One of the eunuchs belonging to the household of the Dowager Empress used to read aloud to her a small daily Korean newspaper. While so doing he sat outside the window, where he could be heard, but whence he could not see inside, because the window was of paper. Korea is like China in respect of windows, and is only now beginning to replace paper by glass.
All this old palace life which I have been describing came to an end not long after the death of the Dowager Empress in 1904. We wandered among the desolate ruins which marked the site of her residence. Finally we reached a grove of pines where is a strange memorial—more like a bandstand than anything else—it marks the site where the remains of the late Empress Min were burned, after she had been cruelly done to death by the Japanese in 1895. In vain her ladies had closed up round her and tried to save her; in vain had one of them declared herself to be the Empress and paid the penalty—in vain, alas!—with her own life. She was hunted from the very presence of the Emperor to her own apartments in the middle of the night, and there put to the sword. In 1897 the court removed to the new palace in the western section of the city, where the deposed Emperor still lives.
Another day we visited the mausoleum erected to her memory, in a beautiful spot some miles to the east of the city. Passing through the east gate we took a tram through the suburbs till we reached the terminus, and there turning off into the woods we walked along a beautiful shady road for nearly a mile. One or two parties of Japanese were the only people we met, and they were evidently bent on picnicking, a favourite form of amusement among them. We had an American friend with us, and when we got to our destination she feared we would not be allowed to climb the hill on which the monument stood. I decided not to wait for permission, and hastily ran up to a beautiful spot commanding a fine view over the plain with the tomb immediately below me, and set to work with the utmost despatch. I had the pleasure of seeing the other visitors arrive and get sent away, and then the guard came up to dislodge me. I met him with a disarming smile, and showed him the sketch, ignoring his obvious intention. Our American friend was greatly concerned as to the righteousness of feigning ignorance, for she understood and translated all they were saying, such as that no one was allowed there except people of great importance, &c. &c. Further shouting from below to send us away was followed by the slow climbing of the hill by other officials. I greeted them in the same way as the first, and it had an equally disarming effect; they seemed quite nonplussed, and before they could decide how to act the sketch was finished, and I presented them with an acceptable douceur, and said good-bye. Their refusal to allow people to approach the tomb, where only the little finger of the Empress is buried, is quite reasonable, for the dearest Korean feelings have been outraged by the wanton disregard shown by visitors who have amused themselves by pretending to ride the stone animals and otherwise “fooling” about the spot.
EMPRESS’S TOMB
Outside Seoul there are many graves of humbler persons, but selected with equal care, and I have made a sketch of one showing the kind of horseshoe mound within which they are most frequently placed. It was a beautiful spot, fragrant with wild azalea just coming into bloom. It is well described in Dr. Gale’s “Korean Sketches” (p. 216). “A grave is chosen on a mountain front if possible, having two arm-like ridges on either hand, one called the dragon side and one the tiger. There should be a mountain directly in the foreground called the An-san, to stand as a support to the family of the dead, otherwise the grave luck would flow down the valley and be dissipated. There must be free exit for streams or surface waters. This is the grave site in outline. Then come the special mountain peaks that are looked for on either side of the An-san. One will mean long life to the family, another a numerous posterity, another rank, another wealth. Every mountain peak to right or left hand has its special message, which the geomancer (the man who has selected the site) holds in his professional grasp.”