The books which have been written in Corean, are chiefly primers or manuals of history, books on etiquette and ritual, and geography. There are also a few works of poetry written in the vulgar dialect.
COREAN BAND OF MUSICIANS.—Native Drawing.
In passionate fondness for music the Coreans decidedly surpass all other Asiatic nations. Their knowledge is indeed primitive, however, not superior to that of their neighbors, and their instruments are of rude workmanship and construction. The principal of these instruments are the gong, the flute, and the two-stringed guitar, combining to make a music anything but harmonious. They always sing in falsetto, like the Chinese, in a monotonous and melancholy manner. The Coreans however possess a musical ear, and they know how to appreciate and like to listen to foreign music very much, while the Chinese have not the slightest[slightest] idea of harmony, and placing our music far below their own, look down upon our art with something like a feeling of pity.
The fibres of Corean superstition, and the actual religion of the people of to-day, have not radically changed during twenty centuries in spite of Buddhism. The worship of the spirits of nature and the other popular gods is still reflected in superstition and practice. The Chinese Fung Shuy, which in Corean becomes Pung-siu, is a system of superstition concerning the direction of the everyday things of life, which is nearly as powerful in Corea as in the parent country. Upon this system, and perhaps nearly equal in age with it, is the cult of ancestral worship which has existed in Chinese Asia from unrecorded time. Confucius found it in his day and made it the basis of his teachings, as it had already been of the religious and ancient documents of which he was the editor. The Corean system of ancestral worship presents no feature radically different from the Chinese. Confucianism, or the Chinese system of ethics, holds about the same position that it does in China. Taoism seems to be little studied.
In Corean mouths Buddha becomes Pul and his “way” or doctrine Pul-to or Pul-chie. The faith from India has made thorough conquest of the southern half of the peninsula, but has only partially leavened the northern portion where the grosser heathenism prevails. The palmy days of Corean Buddhism were during the era of Korai, 905 to 1392 A.D. In its development, Corean Buddhism has frequently been a potent influence[influence] in national affairs, and the power of the bonzes has at times been so great as to practically control the court and nullify decrees of the king. As in Japan the frequent wars have developed the formation of a clerical militia, able to garrison and defend their fortified monasteries, and even to change the fortune of war by the valor of their exploits. There are three distinct classes or grades of the bonzes or priests. The student monks devote themselves to learning and to the composition of books and to Buddhist rituals. Then there are the mendicant and traveling bonzes who solicit alms and contributions for the erection and maintenance of the temples and monastic establishments. Finally the military bonzes act as garrisons, and make, keep in order, and are trained to use weapons. Even at the present day Buddhist priests are made high officers of the government, governors of provinces, and military advisers. In the nunneries are two kinds of female devotees, those who shave the head and those who keep their locks. The vows of the latter are less rigid. Excepting in its military phases, the type of Corean Buddhism approaches that of China rather than of Japan.
The great virtue of the Coreans is their innate respect for and daily practice of the laws of human brotherhood. Mutual assistance and generous hospitality among themselves are distinctive national traits. In all the important events of life, such as marriages and funerals, each person makes it his duty to aid the family most directly interested. One will charge himself with the duty of making purchases; others with arranging the ceremonies. The poor, who can give nothing, carry messages to friends and relatives in the near or remote villages, passing day and night on foot and giving their labors gratuitously. When fire, flood or other accident destroys the house of one of their number, neighbors make it a duty to lend a hand to rebuild. One brings stone, another wood, another straw. Each in addition to his gifts in material devotes two or three days’ work gratuitously. A stranger coming into a village is always assisted to build a dwelling. Hospitality is considered as one of the most sacred duties. It would be a grave and shameful thing to refuse a portion of one’s meal to any person, known or unknown, who presents himself at eating time. Even the poor laborers at the side of the roads are often seen sharing their frugal nourishment with the passer-by. The poor man making a journey does not need elaborate preparations. At night, instead of going to a hotel, he enters some house whose exterior room is open to any comer. There he is sure to find food and lodging for the night. Rice will be shared with the stranger, and at bedtime a corner of the floor mat will serve for a bed, while he may rest his head on the long log of wood against the wall, which serves as a pillow. Even should he delay his journey for a day or two, little or nothing to his discredit will be harbored by his hosts.
It is evident after this glance at the history, the conditions, and the customs of the Coreans, that they have many excellent qualities, which require but the leavening influence of Christianity and western civilization to make them worthy members of the family of nations. It is quite possible that the influence of the Japanese-Chinese war, in its ultimate results, may reach this desirable consummation.