Korea (Hamilton)/Chapter 9

Until the introduction of foreign methods of education, and the establishment of schools upon modern lines, no very promising manifestation of intellect distinguished the Koreans. Even now, a vague knowledge of the Chinese classics, which, in rare instances only can be considered a familiar acquaintanceship, sums up the acquirements of the cultured classes. The upper classes of both sexes make some pretence of understanding the literature and language of China; but it is very seldom that the middle classes are able to read more than the mixed Chinese-Korean script of the native Press—in which the grammatical construction is purely Korean.

Despite the prevailing ignorance of Chinese, the Mandarin dialect of China is considered the language of polite society. It is the medium of official communication at the Court: the majority of the foreigners in the service of the Government have also mastered its intricacies. It has been estimated by Professor Homer B. Hulbert, whose elaborate researches in Korean and Chinese philology make him a distinguished authority, that only one per cent. of the women of the upper ​class, who study Chinese, have any practical knowledge of it. Women of the middle and lower classes are ignorant of Chinese. Again, the proportion of upper class women who can read the Chinese classics is very small. It is probable that, out of an unselected assembly of Koreans, not more than five per cent. would be found who could take up a Chinese work and read it as glibly as a similar gathering of English might be expected to read ordinary Latin prose.

In relation to the ön-mun, the common script of Korea, there is, however, no such ignorance; the upper and middle classes study their native writing with much intelligence. The language of Korea is altogether different from that of China and Japan; it possesses an alphabet of its own, which at present consists of some twenty-five letters. It has been ascribed by certain Korean annals to the fifteenth century, A.D. 1447, when the King of Korea, resolving to assert his independence by abandoning the use of Chinese writing as the official medium of correspondence, invented an alphabet to suit the special requirements of the vernacular. Conservatism proved too strong, however, and the new script was gradually relegated to the use of the lower classes, and of women and children. There is an extensive literature in the vernacular. It includes translations from the Chinese and Japanese classics; historical works on modern and mediæval Korea, books of travel and hunting, of poetry and correspondence, and a range of fiction, dealing with those phases of human nature that are common to mankind.

Many of these books are regularly studied by Korean women, ignorance of their contents being regarded with disdain by the women of the upper classes, and, in a less pronounced degree, by those of the middle classes. The ​female attendants in the Palace are the readiest students and scholars of the vernacular, their positions at Court requiring them to prepare ön-mun copies of Government orders, current news, and general gossip, for Imperial use. Books in native script are readily purchased by all conditions of Koreans, and taken out from circulating libraries. Many of the works are written in Chinese and in Korean upon alternate pages for those who can read only one or the other; those who are quite illiterate learning the more important chapters by ear. A work, with which every woman is supposed to be intimate, is entitled The Three Principles of Conduct, the great divisions being (1) The Treatment of Parents; (2) The Rearing of a Family; (3) Housekeeping. Companion books with this volume, and of equal importance to Korean women, are the Five Rules of Conduct and the Five Volumes of Primary Literature, which, in spirit and contents, are almost identical. They deal with the relations between (1) Parent and Child; (2) King and Subject; (3) Husband and Wife; (4) Old and Young; (5) Friend and Friend. They contain also exortations to virtue and learning.

Apart from the direction and scope of female education in Korea, which I have now suggested, the theoretical study of the domestic arts is an invariable accompaniment of the more intricate studies. It is supplemented with much actual experiment. As a consequence, while the education of men of certain rank is confined to the books to which they are but indifferently attentive, a wide range of study exists for women apart from the writings and teachings of the accepted professors and classical authorities. Ornamental elegances, the tricks and traits of our drawing-room minxes, are ignored by the gentler classes, vocal music and dancing ​being the accomplishments of dancing-girls and demi-mondaines. The arts of embroidery, dressmaking, sewing, and weaving absorb their attention until they have gone through the gamut of domestic economy. Occasionally women of the upper class learn to play the kumungo, an instrument some five feet long and one foot wide, bearing a faint resemblance to a zither and emitting a melancholy and discordant wail. There is one other stringed weapon, the nageum, but the awful screech of this unhappy viol overwhelms me, even in recollection. The usual and most simple amusement for the middle classes is the gentle, aimless stroll, for the purpose of "look see." Swinging, rope-games, dice, dominoes, and dolls find some favour as distractions.

If some little improvement has become noticeable in educational matters under the enlightening influence of the missionaries, great fault must be found with the condition of the law. It is, of course, not always possible to graft upon the legal procedure of one country a system of administration which works well in another. Specific outbursts of violence, arising from identical causes, assume different complexions when considered from the point of view of those who are proceeding to institute reforms. It may be submitted, further, that a certain element of barbarism in punishment is rendered necessary by the conditions of some countries, imposing a restraint upon a population which would scoff at punishment of a more civilised description. If exception may be taken to the penal code of Korea, it must be remembered that in the Far East the quality of justice is not tempered with mercy. Many punishments are still openly and frankly barbarous, while others are distinguished by their ​exceptional severity. Death by decapitation, mutilation, strangulation, or poison is now less frequent than formerly.

Until within quite recent years it was the custom of Korean law to make the family of the arch-criminal suffer all his penalties with him. They are now exempted, and with the reforms introduced during the movement in 1895 some attempt was made to abolish practices opposed to the spirit of progress. The table, which I append, shows the punishments dispensed for certain crimes.

Under the Korean law, no wife can obtain a legal dissolution of her marriage. The privilege of divorce rests with the man; among the upper classes it is uncommon. The wife, however, may leave her husband and accept the protection of some relative, when, unless the husband can disprove her charges, he has no redress. Should the wife fail to establish her case against her husband, the cost of the marriage ceremony, a large sum usually, is refunded by her relatives. The law does not force a wife to cohabit with her husband; nor, so far as it affects the woman, does it take any cognisance of the matter. A man may divorce his wife ​retaining the custody of the children in every case, upon statutory grounds, and upon the following additional counts: indolence, neglect of the prescribed sacrifices, theft, and

shrewishness. There is no appeal against the charges of the husband for women of the upper classes, domestic disturbances being considered entirely reprehensible. Much greater latitude prevails among the lower orders, irregular unions of a most benign elasticity being preferred. Concubinage is a recognised institution, and one in which the lower, as well as the higher, classes indulge.

The rights of the children of concubines vary according to the moral laxity of the class in which they are born. Among the upper classes they possess no claim against the estate of their progenitors; entail ignores them, and they may not observe the family sacrifices. In the absence of legitimate issue, a son must be adopted for the purpose of ​inheriting the properties of the family and of attending to the ancestral and funeral rites. Great stress is laid by the upper classes upon purity of descent; among the middle and lower orders there is more indulgence. Save in the lowest classes, it is usual to maintain a separate establishment for each concubine. The fact that among the lower classes concubine and wife share the same house is responsible for much of the unhappiness of Korean family life. In every case the position of the children of concubines corresponds with the status of the mother.

Within recent years, considerable changes have taken place in the Government and in the administration of the law. Under the old system the despotic thesis of divine right was associated with many abuses. Justice was not tempered by mercy, and, in the suppression of crime, it was not always the guilty who suffered. The old system of government was modelled upon the principles of the Ming rule in China. The power of the sovereign was absolute in theory and in practice. He was assisted by the three principal officers of State and six administrative boards, to whom, so soon as the country was brought into contact with foreign nations, additional bureaux were added. Modifications in the spirit, or in the letter of the law have taken place from time to time at the instance of reformers. Before the ascendency of the Japanese came about, the principles and character of Korean law presented no very marked deviation from that which had been upheld in China through so many centuries. For a long time the intense conservatism of China reigned in Korea. The authority of the sovereign is more restricted to-day; but in the hands of a less enlightened monarch it would be just as effective as ever against the interests of the country. Happily, however, ​the era of progressive reform, which illustrated the inauguration of the Empire, continues.

The Government is now vested in a Council of State, composed of a Chancellor, six Ministers, five Councillors, and a Chief Secretary. The will of the sovereign is,

however, supreme. The Departments of State are conducted by nine ministers, chief of whom is the Prime Minister, assisted in his Cabinet by the President of the Privy Council, the Ministers of the Household, of Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs, Finance, War, Law, Education, and Agriculture. With improved internal administration many of the abuses which existed under the old system have disappeared. There are still many grievances, and the working of the new machine of State cannot be said to give unalloyed satisfaction. Justice is still hedged about with bribery; official corruptness admits of the venal purchase of office. Much outcry accompanies the sweeping of the Augean stables; and, at present, the advantages of the improvements hardly justify the ecstatic jubilation by which their ​introduction was greeted. It is early yet to prophesy; but, if the honourable administration of the public departments can be obtained, there is no reason why success should not attend the innovation. The responsibility for the working of the administrative machine, however, rests, in the interval, entirely upon the shoulders of the foreign advisers. It remains to be seen, therefore, if the united services of these distinguished people can prolong in any degree the era of honest government in Korea.