“Europeans have planted their spawn in every country of the globe except China. All of them honor this religion (!), but we are surprised to find that the Chinese scholars and people have not escaped contamination by it.”
On p. 42 it is said: “Of late the so-called Ye Su Kyo (Christianity) has been trying to contaminate the world with its barbarous teachings. It deceives the masses by its stories of Heaven and Hell: it interferes with the rites of ancestral worship, and interdicts the custom of bowing before the gods of Heaven and Earth. These are the ravings of a disordered intellect, and are not worth discussing.”
P. 50: “How grand and glorious is the Empire of China, the Middle Kingdom! She is the largest and richest in the world. The grandest men of the world have all come from the Middle Empire.”
This tirade from an official pen was thought worthy of a remonstrance from the foreign representatives.
The graceful Pai-low, near the Peking Pass, at which generations of Korean kings had publicly acknowledged Chinese suzerainty by awaiting there the Imperial Envoy who came to invest them with regal rights, was removed, and during my sojourn the foundation of an arch to commemorate the assumption of Independence by Korea in January, 1895, was laid near the same spot, in presence of a vast concourse of white-robed men. An Independence Club, with a disused Royal Pavilion near the stumps of the Pai-low for its Club House, had been established to commemorate and conserve the national autonomy, and though the entrance fee is high, had already a membership of 2,000.
After a number of patriotic speeches had been made on the occasion of the laying of the foundation of the independence arch, the Club entertained the Foreign Legations and all the foreign residents at a récherché “collation” in this building; speeches were made both by Koreans and the Foreign Representatives, and an extraordinary innovation was introduced. Waiters were dispensed with, and the Committee of the Club, the Governor of Seoul, and several of the Ministers of State themselves attended upon the guests with much grace and courtesy.
One of the most important events in Seoul was the establishment in April, 1896, by Dr. Jaisohn of the Independent, a two-page tri-weekly newspaper in English and the Korean script, enlarged early in 1897 to four pages, and published separately in each language. Only those who have formed some idea of the besotted ignorance of the Korean concerning current events in his own country, and of the credulity which makes him the victim of every rumor set afloat in the capital, can appreciate the significance of this step and its probable effect in enlightening the people, and in creating a public opinion which shall sit in judgment on regal and official misdeeds. It is already fulfilling an important function in unearthing abuses and dragging them into daylight, and is creating a desire for rational education and reasonable reform, and is becoming something of a terror to evil-doers. Dr. Jaisohn (So Chia P’il) is a Korean gentleman educated in America, and has the welfare of his country thoroughly at heart.
The sight of newsboys passing through the streets with bundles of a newspaper in En-mum under their arms, and of men reading them in their shops, is among the novelties of 1897. Besides the Independent, there are now in Seoul two weeklies in En-mun the Korean Christian Advocate, and the Christian News; and the Korean Independence Club publishes a monthly magazine, The Chosen, dealing with politics, science, and foreign news, which has 2,000 subscribers. Seoul has also a paper, the Kanjo Shimbo, or Seoul News, in mixed Japanese and Korean script, published on alternate days, and there are newspapers in the Japanese language, both in Fusan and Chemulpo. All these, and the admirable Korean Repository, are the growth of the last three years.
The faculty of combination, by which in Korea as in China the weak find some measure of protection against the strong, is being turned to useful account. This Kyei, or principle of association, which represents one of the most noteworthy features of Korea, develops into insurance companies, mutual benefit associations, money-lending syndicates, tontines, marriage and burial clubs, great trading guilds, and many others.
With its innumerable associations, only a few of which I have alluded to, Korean life is singularly complex; and the Korean business world is far more fully organized than ours, nearly all the traders in the country being members of guilds, powerfully bound together, and having the common feature of mutual helpfulness in time of need. This habit of united action, and the measure of honesty which is essential to the success of combined undertakings, supply the framework on which various joint-stock companies are being erected, among which one of the most important is a tannery. Korean hides have hitherto been sent to Japan to be manufactured, owing to caste and superstitious prejudices against working in leather. The establishment of this company, which brought over Japanese instructors to teach the methods of manufacture, has not only made an end of a foolish prejudice, in the capital at least, but is opening a very lucrative industry, and others are following.