Gradually the excitement abated and preparations for war were pushed, the wealthy classes supplying the money for the same. Old arms were resurrected, and cannon were cast on the model of one obtained from the French wrecks. At this time there were nine Frenchmen in Korea.
The year 1861 was a hard one for the people. They were taxed to the last farthing and local riots were exceedingly common. The French give us an amusing incident, where the widows of a certain prefecture were taxed. They rose up en masse and mobbed the prefect’s office, caught his mother, tore off all her garments and left her well nigh naked. This of course meant that the prefect was disgraced for life.
Chapter XIV.
Beside the death-bed of King Ch‘ŭl-jong.... a bold woman.... rise of the Tong-hak.... its founder killed.... the King’s father becomes regent.... his two mistakes.... he selects a Queen.... Russian request.... the Regent pushed by the conservative party.... death-warrant of.... Bishop Berneux.... French priests executed.... priceless manuscript lost.... a French priest escapes to China and tells the news.... China advises Korea to make peace.... shipwreck of the “Surprise”.... face of the “General Sherman”.... persecution renewed.... French reconnoitering expedition.... blockade of the Han announced.... French expedition under Admiral Roze.... preparations for defense.... correspondence.... French defeat.... the French retire Koreans exultant.... persecution redoubled.... the Kyŭng-bok Palace rebuilt.... American expedition under Admiral Rodgers.... American victory on Kang-wha.... the fleet retires.... monument erected in Seoul.
The events of the present reign, which began in January 1864, are fresh in the memory of many still living, and the account here given is taken largely from statements of eye-witnesses of the scenes therein described. A detailed history of the present reign would fill a volume in itself and of course we can but briefly touch upon the leading events in it.
The circumstances which ushered in the reign are graphically described by Dallet and are substantially as follows. King Ch’ŭl-jong had been suffering for some time with a pulmonary affection, but in January of 1864 he seemed better and he began to walk about a little. On the fifteenth, feeling greater uneasiness than usual, he went into his garden for a walk. There he was suddenly taken with faintness and was just able to drag himself back to his room, where he fell in a dying condition. The Minister Kim Choa-geun[Choa-geun], his son Kim Pyŭng-gu and three other relatives were immediately in attendance. As they were deliberating, the nephew of the Dowager Queen Cho, widow of the King Ik-jong, happened to pass, and seeing what was going on, he hastened to his aunt’s apartments and exclaimed, “What are you doing here? The king is dead.” He advised her to hasten to the king’s apartments, gain possession of the royal seals and nominate to the throne some one of her choice, declaring him to be the son and heir of King Ik-jong, her husband. This woman thereupon hastened to the side of the expiring king where she found the attendants, as we have said, and with them the queen, who held the royal seals in a fold of her skirt. The Dowager Queen peremptorily demanded these seals, and when the queen demurred she snatched them violently from her. No one dared oppose the determined woman who thus took fortune by the forelock and in the course of a moment turned the course of empire. She then made proclamation in the name of the king, saying “The king says the royal seals shall be in charge of Queen Cho. The throne shall go to Myŭng-bok, second son of Prince Heung-sŭng (whose name was Yi Ha-eung). Minister Chong shall be executor of the king’s will and Minister Kim shall go and find the newly appointed king.” The Dowager Queen Cho thus became Regent and the queen’s party, the Kim family, had to retire from power.
It was at the very beginning of the reign that the peculiar sect called the Tong-hak arose in the south. Its founder was one Ch'oe Pok-sul of Kyöng-ju in Kyŭng sang Province. The great formula of the sect was the mysterious sentence Ch’ŭn Ju cho a chung yŭng se bul mang man sa eui, which means “May the Lord of Heaven aid our minds that we may ever remember, and may He make all things turn out according to our desire.” The adherents of this sect would sit and sing this formula by the hour. They would also dance, brandishing swords in a sort of frenzy, and pretend to be rising to heaven. The name Tong-hak or “Eastern Sect” was given by themselves to distinguish themselves from the Sŭ-hak or “Western Sect,” namely Roman Catholicism. So at least some affirm. Its rise was exceedingly rapid and soon it had enrolled an enormous number of people. The government was at last obliged to take cognizance of it, and a body of troops was sent south, who captured and put to death the founder of the sect. This put an end for the time to its active propagandism but it was by no means dead, as we shall see.
The Dowager Queen Cho was a violent opponent of Christianity and filled all the offices with enemies of the Roman Catholics. But she was not to hold the reins of power long. The king’s father in view of his son’s elevation to the throne had received the title Prince Tă-wŭn, or Tă-wŭn-gun as he is usually called. He was a man of commanding personality and inflexible will and on the whole lie was the most striking character in modern Korean history. He has been variously estimated. Some have considered him the greatest statesman in Korea; others have taken him for a mere demagogue. His main characteristic was an indomitable will which took the bit in its teeth and swept toward the goal of its desire irrespective of every obstacle, whether of morals, economics, politics or consanguinity. He was withal unable to read the signs of the times. The two great mistakes of his life were, first in supposing he could eradicate Roman Catholicism by force, and second in supposing that he could prevent the opening of Korea to treaty relations. The regency naturally passed into his hands and he tacitly agreed to uphold the principles of the conservative party that had raised him to power.
His first act was to order a remeasurement of the tilled land of the country with a view to the increasing of the revenue. The treasury was empty and he had plans in mind that would require money. One of these plans was the erection of a new palace on the ruins of the Kyöng-bok Palace, an enterprise which the finances of the country by no means warranted. His next act was to betroth his son the king to his wife’s niece. His wife had two brothers one of whom was living but the other had died leaving one daughter. It was this daughter of Min Ch’i-rok who became queen. She was the king’s senior by four years. As her father as dead she became the foster child of her uncle Min Ch’i-gu. In this union, as every one knows, the Regent sought to cement his own power, but, as every one likewise knows, he made a serious mistake.
In January 1866 a Russian gunboat dropped anchor in the harbor of Wŭn-san and a letter was sent to Seoul asking for freedom of trade with Korea. The answer given was that as Korea was the vassal of China the matter must be negotiated at Peking, and an envoy was dispatched for that purpose.