The fifth, fifteenth, and twenty-fifth of each month are called “broken days,” on which they avoid beginning anything new. These are the “Fridays” of Chō-sen. In the beginning of each [[299]]of the four seasons of the year they post up on the doors of their houses slips of paper, on which are written mottoes, such as “Longevity is like the South Mountain,” “Wealth is like the Eastern Sea,” etc. Certain years in each person’s life are supposed to be critical, and special care as to health, food, clothing, new ventures, etc., must be taken during these years, which are ended with a feast, or, what is more economical, a sigh of relief.
The fifteenth day of the first month is called “Stepping on the Bridge.” A man and woman go out together over the bridge at the rising of the moon and view the moonlit scenery, indulging meanwhile in refreshments, both of the solid and liquid sort. It is believed that if one crosses over seven bridges on this night, he will be free from calamities during the year.
Not the least interesting of the local or national festivals, are those held in memory of the soldiers slain in the service of their country on famous battle-fields. Besides holding annual memorial celebrations at these places, which fire the patriotism of the people, there are temples erected to soothe the spirits of the slain. Especially noteworthy are these monumental edifices, on sites made painful to the national memory by the great Japanese invasion of 1592–97, which keep fresh the scars of war. A revival of these patriotic festivals has been stimulated by the fanatical haters of Japan, since this neighbor country broke away from Asiatic traditions.
Though much has been written concerning the population of Corea, we consider all conjectures of persons alike unfamiliar with the interior and the true sources of information as worthless. These random figures vary from 250,000 (!) to 6,000,000. Dallet presumes a population of 10,000,000. A rude enumeration made thirty years ago gives the number of houses at 1,700,000, and of the people at 7,000,000. Our own opinion, formed after a study of the map and official lists of towns and cities, is that there are at least 12,000,000 souls in Chō-sen. A Japanese correspondent of the Tōkiō Hochi Shimbun, writing from Seoul, states that a census made last year (1881) shows that there are 3,480,911 houses and 16,227,885 persons in the kingdom. [[300]]
CHAPTER XXXIII.
SHAMANISM AND MYTHICAL ZOÖLOGY.
Shamanism is the worship of a large number of primitive North Asiatic tribes, having no idols except a few fetishes and some rude ancestral images or representations of the spirits of the earth and air. It is a gross mixture of sorcery and sacrificial ceremonies for the propitiation of evil spirits. These malignant beings are supposed to populate the earth, the clouds, and the air, and to be the cause of most of the ills suffered by man. They take various forms, chiefly those of animals whose structure and anatomy are more or less imaginary, each imp or demon being a composite creature, compiled from the various powers of locomotion, destruction, and defence possessed by the real creatures that inhabit water, earth, and air. Some of them, however, are gentle and of lovely form and mien. Their apparition on earth is welcomed with delight as the harbinger of good things to come. Confucius, the teacher, hailed by the Chinese as their holiest sage, and to whom even divine honors are paid, believed firmly in these portents and appearances. Chief among these mythic creatures are the phœnix, the kirin, the dragon, besides a variety of demons of various sizes, colors, habits, and character. Much of the mythology of Chō-sen is that common to Chinese Asia. Instead of a gallery of beautiful human, or partially human, presences like that of Greece, the mythology of China deals largely with mythic animals, though legendary heroes, sages, and supernatural beings in human form are not lacking. The four chief ideal creatures are the dragon, phœnix, tortoise, and kirin.
There is another animal which, though a living reality, the Coreans have idealized and gifted with powers supernatural and supra-animal, almost as many in number as those with which the Japanese have endowed the white fox. This is the tiger. They not only ascribe to him all the mighty forces and characteristics of which he is actually possessed, but popular superstition attributes [[301]]to him the powers of flying, of emitting fire and hurling lightning. He is the symbol of strength and ubiquity, the standard of comparison with all dangers and dreadful forces, and the paragon of human courage. On the war-flags this animal is painted or embroidered in every posture, asleep, leaping, erect, couchant, winged, and holding red fire in his fore-paw. On works of art, cabinets, boxes, and weapons the tiger is most frequently portrayed and is even associated as an equal with the four supernatural beings. In ancient time he was worshipped.