CAPTAIN JOSEPH WADDINGTON GRAVES, B. D.
The Renaissance of Korea
By
JOSEPH WADDINGTON GRAVES, B. D.
LIBRARY OF PRINCETON
OCT 2 5 2007
theological seminary
Copyrighted by PHILIP JAISOHN & CO. 1537 Chestnut Street Philadelphia 1920
CONTENTS
FRONTISPIECE Page
FOREWORD 5
PREAMBLE 7
BIRTH OF A NATION 8
KOREA LIGHTENS JAPAN’S DARKNESS 10
THE SWINGING PENDULUM 12
A GOLDEN AGE 14
HIDEYOSHI 16
THE HERMIT NATION 18
TAI WON KUN 20
EXIT CHINA 22
A LOST CHANCE >24
EXIT RUSSIA 26
AN APPEAL THAT FAILED 28
THE HEART OF HIDEYOSHI 33
THE ARGUMENT OF FORMOSA 35
ASSIMILATION 37
SOWING THE WIND 42
THE NATION’S WEALTH 44
THE APPARENT AND THE REAL 47
CHRISTIANITY 48
THE INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT 50
CAIN’S QUESTION 55
THE ROD 59
THE NEW KOREA 61
BUSHIDO 63
THE WHITE BUDDHA 66
APPENDIX 68
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
MAP OF KOREA BIRDSEYE VIEW OF SEOUL MAIN STREET IN SEOUL POSTOFFICE AND BANK IN SEOUL CENTRAL PARK IN SEOUL CITY GATE OF SEOUL
FOREWORD
BY HARLAN P. BEACH, D. D„ F. R. G. S.
This is not the time when sentimental friends of liberty and weeping advocates of oppressed nations are likely to be heard. The world is too full of woe to listen to any tale of far-away wrongs, when the home situation is scarcely tolerable. To be heard at all above the wail of humanity, a special cause must have as its spokesman one who knows whereof he testifies, who can present the case calmly, justly, forcefully and without rancour. He ought, also, to be a person whose horizon is wider than the Korean’s, or even that of the Far East, a man with Weltanschauung and a mind that comprehends the meaning of world move- ments as a great whole.
Such a person is the author. A British subject, and so by nationality one of Japan’s allies, he has seen with his own eyes in Japan and Korea what that Ally is doing, and he knows what the underlying objectives are. He also knows from personal and firsthand sources what actually occurred in Korea last year. History has supplied him with the foundation in early and later centuries upon which modern Koreg has been built. When the present writer recalls the many hundreds of pages of manuscript personally examined, detailing the true story of the fateful year of 1919, not to speak of what he has read of the earlier outbreak of 1911, he marvels at the temperate tone of the chapters relating to events of last year. The Christian spirit of Captain Graves and his judicial mind have made him give to the public a calm, dis- passionate statement of the entire case in its historical setting and its tragical outcome.
A glance at the table of contents will prepare the reader for a vivid picture or series of views, of these
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stirring events; and, after all, style is needed as well as fact to make history cling to the memory and affect life. We believe this little volume will influence public opinion even at this late day. “Great Japan” would be greater still if the ruling party could see things as the author of this volume does — through Christian and historic eyes. The Empire has made unparalleled progress within half a century; that glory has been eclipsed by events in Korea and in relation to Shan- tung in China, happening within a twelvemonth. The best sentiment in that Empire regrets most sincerely the base acts of their rulers. May we not hope that this epitome of recent history will stir multitudes to a sense of duty toward a nation absorbed against its will within the body politic of a powerful neighbour which might be its friend and savior, but which has become its hated master because of actions like those here chronicled. We hail this little volume as a contribu- tion toward Far-Eastern freedom and self-determina- tion.
HARLAN P. BEACH. New Haven, Conn., U. S. A.
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PREAMBLE
“Is it worth while for any of us to live any longer? Our people have become the slaves of oth- ers, and the spirit of a nation which has stood for four thousand years, since the day of Tan-Gun and Ke-ja, has perished in a single night. Alas! fellow country- men, alas!”
Thus did the Whang Sun Shinmun, a Korean newspaper published in Seoul, express the heartache of Korea when the momentous events of the night of November 17, 1905, became known. So long as men love liberty, the story will be told of how through the long night, the Korean Emperor and his Cabinet re- fused the Treaty which meant the destruction of the nation. The Japanese delegation argued, threatened, and insisted while all around the Palace the Japanese Army made demonstrations, with troops fully armed and field guns in position. With the dawning of an- other day, the argument of the fixed bayonet proved successful, helpless Korea was crushed and Japan’s ambition realized. Following the treaty of 1905 came that of 1907, and then the formal annexation in 1910 was almost a foregone conclusion, thus completing the political subjugation of Korea. It is fifteen years since that dark night in Korean history which marked the beginning of the end, and since the dirge of the Whang Sun Shinmun expressed the humiliation and heartbreak of a proud people. Yet the remarkable fact remains, that instead of being a dead issue by reason of the passing of the years, the whole Korean question is still before the world, and even the West- ern peoples, often so obtuse on Oriental issues, know that it is only in a political sense that Korea is today part of the Japanese Empire. Thus to all students of Asiatic affairs, Korea is still Korea, not Chosen and certainly not Japan, for it is the verdict of history that questions of nationality which are only settled arbitrarily and politically, are not settled at all.
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BIRTH OF A NATION
Korean nationality is based on a history of over four thousand years, and the student and schoolboy can point back with veneration to the days of the mystical Tan Gun, of whose rule and era, relics can still be traced, and remind himself that this period of history antedated the founding of Rome by sixteen hundred years. We can recall the events of Korean history back through the centuries to the day when Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem, and still know that we have not then travelled half the journey of which Korean records tell us. If it should be insisted that those first centuries lack authentic detail and are vague and shadowy, that those were centuries the history of which is largely conjecture, then we will be content to forget the story of the nine tribes and the first twelve hundred years following Tan Gun, and date formal nationality of the Koreans from 1122 B. C. with the founding of the Ke-ja dynasty. Thus over three thousand years ago began the regular and authentic nationality of the people called Koreans.
The walls of the city Ke-ja built can still be traced and his tomb is held sacred today. The reason for the coming of Ke-ja from China to Korea is itself an evidence of the chivalry and loyalty of that great and wise ruler, and was a harbinger of the pos- session of those same qualities by the race which was to follow him. Ke-ja had been a faithful minister of the Chinese Emperor, but his fidelity had been repaid with imprisonment and harsh treatment. Yet when the old Emperor was deposed and his successor offered Ke-ja reinstatement in his high office, his fine sense of loyalty to his old master restrained him from accepting, and, gathering together five thousand fol- lowers, he migrated to Korea and there founded a kingdom which he called “The Land of the Morning
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Calm.” Here he introduced the culture and civiliza- tion of China, as well as the elements of an industrial system, and from him, the uncouth and nomad people of the peninsula, learnt not only the arts of agriculture, but also the principles of right living and virtuous con- duct. Ke-ja ruled for three decades and from his wise and beneficent character and acts, imparted an influence which was of value, not only to the dynasty he founded, and which lasted for nine centuries, but which has no doubt persisted to a real extent through all the long centuries since.
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KOREA LIGHTENS JAPAN’S DARKNESS
Overthrowing the Ke-ja dynasty, Wiman began his reign, but the time was approaching when Korea was to begin to experience the meaning of being a buffer state. In 1 08 B. C., being defeated by China, Korea, (or Chosen, to use the ancient name) was divided into four military provinces, and for the next century, until the dawn of the Christian era, remained sub-divided, though with but little inter- ference from China, and in reality possessing self- government.
The next six hundred years are of great interest as marking the effect and value of the impact of Korea on Japan. This was the “Three Kingdom” period of Korean history, when the political conditions were suf- ficiently stable for long periods at a time to enable Korea to receive from China through steady streams of immigrants, all phases of culture, learning, indus- trialism, and religion, and to thoroughly assimilate these influences. Having thus become possessed of the various factors of civilized life, and having learned the practice of the arts and sciences and virtues of the Eastern world, Korea commenced to display capacity for teaching as well as learning, giving as well as receiving, and became a prime instrument in the civil- ization of Japan. By the same method of migration, Korea commenced to lighten the darkness of Japan and to emancipate that island people from the bonds of superstition and ignorance, commencing a move- ment in culture and civilization, which Japan was to develop so wonderfully in the next twelve centuries. In 405, a celebrated Korean scholar named Wani went to Japan and there introduced the arts of writing, of keeping records, and of general scholarship.
Many such scholars went to Japan from Korea during the fifth century. During the sixth century was
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witnessed the conversion of Japan to Buddhism through the endeavors of Korean missionaries, whose efforts met with such spectacular success, that this has been called the most successful evangelistic effort which the world has ever seen. For over a century and a half, Buddhism had flourished in Korea and now some missionaries, with an image of Buddha and some of the sacred books, were sent to Japan. In fifty years the native gods of Japan were forgotten and the religion of Buddha reigned supreme. Writing of this period, Longford says:
“Civilization and Buddhism went hand in hand through all Japan that in those days acknowledged the rule of the Emperor in Yamato (the north, it is to be remembered, was still held by the savage and uncon- quered Ainos). The original teachers of both were exclusively Korean, and many of the architectural and artistic triumphs of the early Korean proselytes are still in existence. For its earliest knowledge of music and dancing, of astronomy, geography and calendar- making, and of the less creditable arts of magic, invisi- bility, and geomancy, Japan was also indebted to Korea.”
Dr. Inazo Nitobe said recently in paying tribute to Korea’s historic contributions to Japan’s awakening and development:
“Korea was once a powerful and advanced nation, from whom Japan learned most of her ancient arts and crafts.’’ Then he adds the poetic figure, “The Korean Peninsula, jutting out into the Japan Sea, was like a phial from which was poured milk and honey into the mouth of Japan.”
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THE SWINGING PENDULUM
During the seventh, eighth and ninth centuries, Korea gradually became a united people, with a terri- tory including nearly the whole peninsula, and all the time, though in varying degrees, made progress in all the arts of civilization. In 935 Wang Kien founded the dynasty which bears his name, and he became ruler over the entire peninsula, a kingdom which proudly retained integrity of territory for nearly a thousand years, until the recent annexation by the Japanese Empire. The reign of Wang Kien is remem- bered for its wise statesmanship and many reforms. Preceded by a period in which foY a few decades, Korea had been stagnant, if not actually decadent, Wang Kien revived the national sentiment and ambi- tion. His wise innovations included a system of civil service examinations, a system which Korea main- tained during the following ten centuries of her inde- pendent life. During the four and a half centuries of this dynasty, there were both creditable and dis- creditable periods of Korean history, which it is not necessary to discuss in detail here. It may be pointed out, however, that one factor mitigating against the continuity of the progress the nation had shown in reecnt years, was the development of an extreme type of Buddhism, which for a time caused a national paralysis and stopped all progress toward a higher civilization. A state of civil war resulted at one period from the ambitions of the two rival factors in the nation, the Confucian noble and the Buddhist priest. In addition to those internal disorders, much of the virility of Korea was sapped away by the ever-threat- ening Mongol hordes on her northern frontier. At last this particular storm broke, and Korea came under Mongol sway and the rule of the “seventy-two pre- fects” began. Then commenced a period, the mis-
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fortunes of which were felt by Korea for a long time. A vassal of the Mongol court during the far-flung sway of Kublai Khan, Korea had little need to fight, and so, for a time, lost much of the old fighting qualities, and the accompanying strength and morale. Man-power and material wealth was the tribute demanded, and having poured out these, all Korea received in return was the virulent enmity of Japan, against whose island coasts, the Mongol fleet, equipped with the flower of Korean manhood, had flung itself in vain. For cen- turies after this, the lives of Korean fishermen and coast-town residents, were made miserable by the guerilla sea-warfare of Japan. Oppressed from with- out, and distressed within, the cup of Korea’s unhap- piness was made to overflow by the corruption and debauchery of her own Kings at this time.
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A GOLDEN AGE
It is refreshing and agreeable to turn from the inauspicious ending of the old sovereignty, and to find in 1 392 the founding by Yi Taijo of the new dynasty which bears his name, and which was destined to last for more than five centuries, right to our own day.
The reign of Taijo began a century of wise and constructive reforms and progress. Out of the chaos came a new and welcome order, to so practical an extent that soon, re-disciplined, Korea was able to drive off the Japanese invaders and maintain peace in which to develop her coast industries. Civil service and taxation reforms, the decay of feudalism, the commencement of printing with movable type, the invention of the “On Mun” alphabet, are all charac- teristic illustrations of the progress of the first century of the Taijo dynasty. Then followed a decade of national backsliding, when, because of the vile mis- rule of the Yansan regime, the nation suffered a moral and economic reaction. But again sanity triumphed, the decade of night passed and, under the wise and beneficent rule of Chung Jong, began what has been called “The Golden Age of Korean Morals.” Assert- ing what has ever been a wonderful recuperative capacity, the Korean people rose from the slough of degradation to one of the moral mountain peaks of their history. Of this period, Hulbert says (History. Vol. 1 p. 320) “The people took on a Puritan sim- plicity. Men and women walked on opposite sides of the street. If any article was dropped on the road, no one would touch it, but would leave it for the owner to recover. No one had to lock his doors at night.” The story of those days is an idyll, a poem. But it is more. It is a demonstration of the moral and religious capacity of the people, an evidence of the innate nobility of character which it needed merely
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an era of peace and beneficent leadership to develop. For forty years Korea gave evidence of much more than the mere emergence from primitive social con- ditions; she showed the possession of positive quali- ties of goodness and nobility. Longford (Story of Korea 139) describes the Korean of those days as “homogeneous, industrious, intelligent, and tranquil, living in physical comfort and security.”
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HIDEYOSHI
But now the sinister figure of Hideyoshi appears on the horizon, a figure of ominous portent to Korea. Following negotiations characterised by courtesy on the part of Korea and by insolent threats from Japan, Hideyoshi anticipates William Hohenzollern by more than three centuries, demanding the use of Korean soil as a highway for his great army against China. But what Belgium said in 1914, Korea said in 1592, and sprung to arms to defend her national honor, and to preserve her land, inviolate and unprofaned. This was before the days of the use of correct and pon- derous phraseology in diplomatic correspondence, and the historians tell us that the Korean final reply to the Japanese demand, was not merely definite, it was even bold and derisive, lashing the haughty War-lord Hideyoshi to fury and causing a speedy invasion.
With wonderful gallantry, fighting against appar- ently overwhelming odds, suffering many defeats, Korea still refused the right of highway and finally her tactics of guerilla warfare commenced to tell. The iron nerves of an Oriental, whether of man or nation, stand much, but gradually the morale of the Japanese army commenced to weaken. Korea never lost heart, though suffering terrible privations, and famine, and, after a remarkable campaign both on land and on sea, Japan was beaten. With indomitable spirit, Korea refused peace until the last invader had left Korean soil. On the breaking down of negotiations between China and Japan, Hideyoshi’ s army invaded the peninsula a second time, and again the martial spirit of Korea made the achievements of the Japanese very meagre and unproductive, and on the death of Hideyoshi, the contingents were withdrawn. It is of interest to note as another evidence of the great cul- tural contribution of Korea to Japan, that the retiring
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Japanese army took with them, not only a great accumulation of Korean art treasures, but also many of the skilled artisans and clever artists of Korea, and these were the ancestors of the now world-famous Japanese potters. The two invasions of Korea by Hideyoshi are a contribution to our study by demon- strating both the ferocity and cupidity of the Japanese of that day, and also the wonderful heroism of Korea. The Korean, with his bows and arrows, plus his undy- ing sense of nationality, stopped the onward rush of the hardened and armed war veterans of Hideyoshi. There is much that is inspiring in the records of those days and in the story of how thousands of Koreans leapt exultingly to death so that Korea might abide in honor. But the price was so heavy and the result- ant sufferings so terrible that Japan stood to the gen- erations of Koreans that followed, as “the accursed nation.” Not even yet, with history books or with- out, has Korea forgotten those days of suffering and outrage.
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THE HERMIT NATION
Early in the seventeenth century Korea com- menced to pay tribute to Japan, which nation, despite the treaty of withdrawal which she had signed, still retained a hold on Korea at Fusan. In China the Manchus had overthrown the Ming dynasty, and after being twice invaded by the Manchurian hordes, Korea became tributary to the new power also. Truly a buffer state! Is it any wonder that Korea developed a distrust of peoples and powers outside of her own borders? The only world she had known was that composed of China and Japan and from both of these she had suffered terribly. Between them, like a nut in the crackers, she had been crushed and bruised again and again. Especially by Japan had she been exploited, oppressed, outraged. So Korea turns to isolation and becomes the “hermit” amongst the nations. There is something intensely pathetic in the spectacle of this people of fine social qualities, turning from their contact with other peoples, wounded and crushed, from henceforth distrustful of all, and seek- ing' the seclusion and refuge within their own borders. It is like the maiden whose first contact with the world is the contact with brutal men and who soon creeps back, broken and disillusioned, and seeks retreat within the massive walls of the “Refuge.”
Shutting as tight as possible her coast doors, Korea proceeded to make her isolation complete by leaving at the north, a strip of land, thirty miles in width, wild and waste, so that it soon became well nigh impassable. Thrice a year the border gate was opened and business transacted with the outside world, and once a year a great and imposing embassy with tribute, was sent to Peking. For two hundred and thirty years Korea maintained her self-imprisonment and remained the land of seclusion and mystery. The
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story of that long period, in so far as it has been revealed and authenticated, is not, unfortunately, an exhibition of the happiest period of Koera’s national and social life. True there were some good and wise kings, some splendid reforms along educational and social lines, the abolition of the worst methods of criminal punishment, the liberation of slaves and serfs. But along with this pleasing portrayal must be shown the disastrously ill effects of the party strife . which cursed the nation. Intrigue, bribery, assassination, conspiracy, abounded. The people who had flung back in his teeth the challenge of Hideyoshi, seemed lost to any vestige of patriotism, and to be enervated and nerveless. The extent of the exploitation of the proletariat has possibly never been surpassed in any country, and squalor and dejection settled on the poor. The nobles were supreme, but the value of the people was expressed with a cipher. The period is not a pleasing study, but at least some of its unhappi- ness and sordidness must be placed to the blame of that spirit of dejection and distrust, engendered by the unhappy experiences of past contact with other peoples, which led to that abnormal withdrawal from the world.
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TAI WON KUN
The prominent figure of Tai Won Kun appears on the stage in the middle of the nineteenth century, and for many years takes an active part in the closing events of Korean national history. With a consistency and strength of purpose worthy of a better cause, he fought year after year the least suggestion of Korean relationship with the outside world, whether the pro- posal came by means of warships, missionaries, or traders. These years are marred, not only by the extreme exclusiveness of the nation, but by the cruel massacres of missionaries, whose lives had been char- acterized by nothing but devotion and affectionate service. It must be remembered, however, that Tai Won Kun had good reason for hatred and distrust of all foreigners, not only as a student of past Korean history, but because of actual contact with them during his own regime. The attempts by piratical adventurers of the worst type to enter Korea, incited merely by their own cupidity, and displaying a wantonness of human life in endeavoring to attain their ends, were not calculated to broaden the sympathies of the narrow-minded Regent. Such stories as that of Oppert and the desecrated royal grave shed a little light on the dark happenings of those days. Nor were the official attempts of other nations to enter into diplo- matic and trade relations with Korea of such a nature as to implant confidence, however friendly may have been the intent. The overtures made by the French and American governments were alike summarily rejected. At the same time, the Korean attitude to Japan was at least equally bitter and uncompromising. While America and other nations were knocking at the closed door and asking for a peaceable admission, Japan, too, was seeking closer relationships with the
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Hermit Nation, and demanding tribute. Korea’s esti- mate, both of Japan’s power and of her sincerity, is rather succinctly expressed in the letter written by Tai Won Kun, replying to Japan’s demand for tribute.
“We no longer consider each other friends, but enemies. The tone of your despatch is so friendly that we look upon it as treachery, and after having been so friendly with Japan, and being repaid with treachery, we never can be friendly again.’’
This letter, childish as it is, and full of bluster, implies, nevertheless, a challenge, not only to Japan, but to all Europe. In the light of what has happened since, and of the relationship today, that quaint letter of fifty years ago is not without significance. Very speedily, however, it became clear to the rulers of Korea that it would not long be possible to maintain her isolation, and that, with or without her consent, the nations now knocking at her portals would enter in. In 1876 Korea concluded with Japan what was known as the “Treaty of Peace and Friendship,’’ prom- inent in which was the assertion of Korean independ- ence, an independence both of China and of Japan. Korea was described as a sovereign state, and that all intercourse was to be on a basis of equality. Six years later a riot at Seoul and the killing of nine Japanese furnished the Island Empire with an excuse to begin fastening the shackles and chains of dependency about Korea. Preferential treatment for Japanese traders and the right of Japan to station her troops in Seoul were amongst the provisions. The Koreans were even compelled to agree to provide barracks for these unwelcome visitors.
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EXIT CHINA
Now began another of those periods in Korean history in which Conservatism and Reform struggled for supremacy. Korea’s growing knowledge of West- ern civilization, the first evidences of which she met with in Japan, and her closer intimacy with that coun- try, which was then having so remarkable a conver- sion to Occidental ideals and methods, combined to stimulate a national longing for saner and more mod- ern conditions of life. But the Queen Regent, who had succeeded Tai Won Kun on his exile to China, became ultra-conservative, and once again the curse of political strife prevented Korea from stepping out into the dawn of a modern nationhood. Then came the disturbance of 1 884, when the Progressive ele- ment, with the aid of the Japanese troops, overturned the government at Seoul and gained control over the King. But the triumph was short-lived, for two days later troops from the Chinese camp nearby reversed the situation, and restored the old conditions. The Treaty of 1885 between China and Japan, in which both powers agreed to withdraw their troops from Korea and leave her to work out her own salvation alone, was one result. The other result was an intensi- fying of the hatred and distrust of Japan by Korea. For the next decade, 1885 to 1895, Western ideals and reforms, and the spirit of a new and brighter age, took the field in Korea against the superstitions and traditions of Chinese civilization. Light fought with darkness and many victories were won for the light. Much of reform and progress came to the life of the peninsula in those days, but the close alliance, political and sympathetic with China, and the widespread sinol- ogy throughout Korea, prevented a real national awak- ening. Referring to this period Longford says:
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“Populous settlements were established at the open ports. Here again Japan was unfortunate. The Japanese who came to these ports were the reverse of a credit to their country, unscrupulous adventurers, bullies and the scum of all the ruffiandom of Japan predominated among them, and their conduct and demeanor towards the gentle, submissive and ignorant natives, who were unresisting victims to their cupidity and cruelty, were a poor recommendation of the new civilization of which they boasted. On the other hand, Chinese traders — law-observing, peaceable, and scrupulously honest in all their transactions — were liv- ing certificates of the morality engendered by a faith- ful observance of the old.”
The Sino-Japanese War was fought partly on Korean soil, but the influence it had on the history of the nation was far more profound than any physical effect. The “Peace of Shimonoseki” marked the close of China’ s long suzerainty, and marked, also, the be- ginning of a realization to Japan of a long-cherished design toward Korea.
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A LOST CHANCE
Under Count Inouye, Japan, confident and reliant after her recent great triumph over China, began now to develop her advantage, and to thrust a variety of reforms on Korea, changes in customs and habits for which the people, so recently emerged from total seclusion, were quite unready. An illustration is in the arbitrary insistence on the immediate adoption of the European fashion of hair dressing! Thus began the stimulating and compelling to an artificial progress, for which great credit has been claimed by Japan, but which in effect meant the beginning of an oppression of the weaker by the stronger, and which has known no cessation right to the present day. From that time on the administration of Korea by Japan has exceeded in the magnitude of its follies and blunders, the unfor- tunate administration of Ireland by Great Britain during the same period, not to mention at this point the ele- ments of inhumanity and persecution.
It is of importance to notice that the Japanese who settled in Korea at this period, were of the crudest and rudest type. Adventurers, ruffians, criminals, poured into Korea in those days from Japan. It is hard for the average American or European whose only personal acquaintance with Japan has been with the student class in the university or with diplomatic representa- tives, or with delegates from native Christian churches, and has found these to be refined, courteous, and pol- ished gentlemen, whom we welcome in our homes, and whose friendship we prize, — to understand that, even yet, these are exceptions to the general rule in Japan. Still less can we picture the class of the roughest and most uncouth, who went as adventurers to Korea a quarter of a century ago. Under the despotic and incompetent regime of Miura, the Koreans suffered
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every indignity at the hands of the Japanese. Referring to conditions existing during this period, no less an authority than Count Inouye, the late governor, wrote in a prominent Japanese newspaper:
“Under such circumstances, it would be a wonder if the Korean developed much friendship with the Japanese. It is natural that they should entertain more amicable feelings toward other nations than toward the Japanese. For this state of things the Japanese them- selves are responsible. Now that the Chinese are returning to Korea, unless the Japanese correct them- selves and behave with more moderation, they will entirely forfeit the respect and love of the Koreans.”
In the light of a later day, it is evident that Inouye was prophet as well as statesman. His warning was unheeded, and because of the persistence of the Japan- ese ever since, in the very attitude and conduct which he deplored, there has been brought about that which he foretold — Japan has forfeited forever the respect and love of the Korean people.
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EXIT RUSSIA
The story of the bloody happenings of October, 1895, is familiar. Tai Won Kun (who had been allowed to return from his exile at Tienstin, and now lived in retirement near Seoul) though he hated the Japanese, hated the Queen still more, and linking his fortunes with Miura, raided the palace. The queen and her ladies were murdered, the Japanese assisting. A tragedy so bloody and ferocious, was in no sense calcu- lated to impress the Koreans, either with the moral qualities of the new civilization which Japan had adopted, nor with the bona fides of her friendship for Korea. Tokio immediately officially disclaimed responsibility, and participation, but the disclaimer was primarily for the outside world. Indeed the proclama- tion would never reach the ears of the common people in Korea. The actions of the Japanese in Seoul were more eloquent to the Koreans than the later protesta- tions by Tokio, however genuine these may have been. Having fled to the Russian Legation, the king and prince set up the Korean government there, an arrange- ment which lasted for two years, and which has left a record of miserable misrule and corruption. In 1897 the king took up residence at the new palace, and adopted the title of emperor, the higher title serving as an intimation to both Japan and China of the com- plete independence of Korea. The Russian policy of acquiring Northern Korea and many concessions on the peninsula, quickly aroused the suspicions of Japan who saw that Russian ambitions hoped eventually to make Korea a province of the czar’s empire. The sequel was the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-5, the result of which was that once again Korea came under Japan- ese control, and Russia, disastrously beaten, signed a recognition that Japan had prior interest in Korea, and
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a promise not to interfere with Japanese policy there. The pendulum had swung once more, and Japan’s desire seemed now about to be realized in the perma- nent incorporation of Korea in the Empire of Nippon. Following the Russian war, Korea signed an agreement by which she accepted Japan as counsellor and advisor, while Japan on her part guaranteed to maintain the safety and honor of the Imperial House of Korea, and the independence and territorial integrity of the nation. It all seemed modest and simple enough, but it sounded the death knell of a nation. It was not final, for the treaties of 1905, 1907 and 1910 must stand together, but the first of the three dates was the beginning of the end.
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AN APPEAL THAT FAILED
In 1907 Korea, in desperation, sent an embassy to America and Europe to plead for Korea’s life against Japan. There is much that is pathetic in the spectacle of Korea, so lately the Hermit Nation, at whose barred doors America and Europe had so recently stood knocking, now awakened to a belief in the friendship and good will of the Western world, and the Western religion, herself knocking at the doors of those nations in the extremity of her need, and find- ing them locked against her. For the pathos is that Korea knocked in vain. Having nothing to gain, and possibly much to lose by intervention, and Korea being but “one of the least’’ of the world’s brethren, nothing was done. The spectre of Japan, the new war wizard of the East, with the scalps of great China and greater Russia at her belt, and boasting invincibility, cowed the Western world then as the same spectre was to do again, twelve years later at Versailles. The rashness of Korea’s act in appealing to the Occident was met by the retaliatory Act of 1907, and the forced abdication of the emperor. Now all Korean affairs were taken over by Japan, and the Korean army disbanded. The Japanese resident governor became virtually a sov- ereign ruler with wide dictatorship powers. Korean officials were displaced and Japanese appointed. Considerable guerilla warfare lasted for a long time, but it was a pathetically hopeless struggle of the weak against the strong. The end was a foregone conclusion. The futility of Korea’s appeal to the Hague gave Japan the signal for which she had waited and plotted so long. Obviously there was no prospect of interference by the Western world. The new emperor reigned only three years. On August 22, 1910, Korea was formally annexed to the Japanese Empire. Long- ford says in his Story of Korea (p. 361 ) :
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“The dynasty of sovereigns, which had continued in an unbroken line from 1 392, came to an end with the independence of their country, whose national tra- ditions and history had extended over four thousand years, whose foundation as a kingdom was coeval with that of the Assyrian Empire; and the two last living representatives of the dynasty exchanged their posi- tions as imperial dignitaries for those of princes and pensioners of Japan.’’
The national tragedy reads strangely like some of the individual tragedies recorded in sacred lore. Prostrate Korea suggests the murdered Naboth, or the gallant Uriah lying slain on the battlefield. Dean C. R, Brown in his book “The Story Books of the Early Hebrews’’ might well be speaking of the tragedy of Korea.
“The program was carried through without a single hitch. It went as smoothly as a well-arranged church wedding rehearsed in advance. The story reads like the graphic account in next day’s paper. They proclaimed a fast and set Naboth on high. The men of Belial bare witness against him, saying, Naboth did curse God and the king. They carried him forth out of the city and stoned him that he died. They sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is dead. And Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise and take possession of the vineyard, for Naboth is dead.’
“Where there is a will there is a way! How smoothly these things can be arranged by royal edict! ‘What is the Constitution among friends’ or the Ten Commandments or the whole Moral Order where we stand? Arise and take possession of all the good things your heart craves, for Naboth and all other obstacles have been put out of the way! This has been the method of selfish, cruel worldlings from the days of Jezebel to the present hour. God was not in all their thoughts,’’ or again in another chapter:
“Joab executed his orders and presently this message came back to the king, ‘Thy servant Uriah is dead.’ David’s answer to Joab was an ugly mixture
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of cruelty and duplicity, ‘Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another.’ “The way was now open for him to carry out the whole program which he had formed in the unhal- lowed desire of his heart. ‘When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when the mourning was passed’ — 1 fear that in her state of mind it was not greatly pro- longed— ‘David sent and fetched her to his house and she became his wife and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.’ This last sentence is a cloud in the sky, no larger than a man’s hand, but out of it will come a scorm of moral indignation to beat in pitiless fashion upon the head of this royal wrong-doer.’’
When will the nations of the earth, themselves enjoying liberty and loving justice, face, not Japan, but the soulless militarism which has committed so great a crime, and say, with the fearlessness of the prophet Nathan, “Thou art the man’’?
Of course Japan hastened to cover her duplicity and broken pledges with specious excuses. In her proclamation, the Japanese government stated that “they have failed to find in the regime of a protec- torate, sufficient hope for the realisation of the object which they had in view, and a condition of unrest and disquietude still prevails throughout the whole penin- sula.’’ Let Korean history subsequent to annexation bear witness whether or not the problem of the “con- dition of unrest and disquietude’’ has been solved. A decade has passed since Korea was annexed, and since the reason given was the preservation of the peace of the East, and the ideal of good government for Korea. As announced to the world, the aims sounded worthy and commendable, but the achievements have been disappointing in the extreme. The result to Korea has been another era of bloodshed, torture, and strife, accompanied by reforms imposed from without, instead of a development from within. To Japan the situa- tion has brought suspicion and hostility from quarters where she is most in need of friends.
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The Japan Advertiser, published in Tokio, was in June, 1919, in no sense a sponsor for the claims to independence made by Korea, but yet at this time, speaking editorially, the journal makes the severest arraignment of the colonizing method of Japan.
“Koreans are subjected to race discrimination in its most personal and irritating forms. Japanese offi- cials doing the same work as Korean officials — it may be a policeman or it may be a public servant of rank — receive higher pay. Wherever the traveler goes in the peninsula the hand of an alien government is seen. The very porters in the railway stations are Japanese; the Korean who carries your bag to your hotel waits humbly outside the station and receives it from the uniformed ‘redcap’ of the conquering race.
“All this seems to the Korean Government- General to be right and necessary or it would not be done. But conceive the effect on the Koreans. They see themselves made a nation of helots and no hope is held out to them that they can attain a self-respect- ing position of partnership in the Japanese Empire. The result is a sudden outburst of passive revolt, so widespread and so despairing that the picture the world had seen of an efficiently governed and contented dependency is blotted out.”
In a later issue, discussing the case of China as well as Korea, the editor finds in the Korean situation the sternest arraignment of the whole government policy relating to extra- Japanese affairs.
“Japan’s test as a colonizing Power is Korea. If the end of ten years’ uninterrupted control is a revolt which reveals a system of government contrary to the principles of the time and the experience of the rest of the world, and in the suppression of which methods so brutally harsh are employed that they have visibly dug a gulf of hatred and fear between rulers and ruled, how can she claim to be entrusted with authority in China? We have discussed this question mainly as it affects Japan’s international standing, but it is not one for governments alone. It is for the people of Japan to consider whether, with Korea before their eyes, they
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can afford to let their authorities incur similar risks in China.”
A third editorial from the same journal develops the charge so often made of the similarity of Japanese methods in Korea with those of Germany in Belgium.
“When evidence of Japan s qualifications is sought for, statesmen must first turn to Korea, Japan’ s greatest experiment in the art of governing an alien people. What is the evidence of Korea? In the last three months Japanese military forces have applied methods there which do not differ in any way from the methods employed by the Germans in Belgium. This, if it were untrue, would be an atrocious charge to make. Unfor- tunately the facts leave no other description possible. They are admitted by the Governor-General and the Premier. They are known to the governments and the press of foreign countries and they have been accu- rately and moderately reported in the Japan Adver- tiser. They are open to the press so far as we can see, but the Japanese newspapers, instead of inquiring into incidents which make comparisons between Jap- anese and German military methods inevitable, are content to repeat unproved charges of foreign instiga- tion.”
With head buried in the sand, ostrich-like, Japan fails to see what is clear to every nation of the Western world, that, unless she gives evidence of a speedy conversion, she must for all time be pilloried with Germany, as being alien in spirit to the world con- sciousness of the time. Every true friend of Japan urges a lifting of the head and the honest facing of the issues.
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BIRDSEYE VIEW OF CITY OF SEOUL
THE HEART OF HIDEYOSHI
Many of the reforms under Ito were wise, benefi- cent, and far-reaching, especially in cleansing the Court of its vicious practices and corruption, and in setting up new standards for the administration of justice. But the eulogies of these reforms by the historians of that period make strange reading in the light of the events of the few years that followed. Particularly eulogistic are the references to the Ito reforms in the Korean penal system, by the institution of humani- tarian methods in treatment of prisoners, the abolition of torture, the improvements in the police force, and the restrictions of the death penalty. Studied from this present side of 1919, the record becomes a satire. It is true that great material benefits have come to Korea since 1910, in that roads have been built, railways lengthened, schools multiplied, and trade developed. This is the record, and a true one, which Japanese propaganda has carried to every quarter of the globe. But that the heart of Japan toward Korea is still the heart of Hideyoshi, that every reform in Korea has been primarily for the benefit of the Japanese resident, and to advance the political plans of Japan, and that the one supreme purpose has ever been the assimila- tion of the Korean and the destruction of his race so that the incorporation of the peninsula in the Empire of Nippon be made more absolute — these things the inarticulateness of Korea has prevented the world from hearing. Nor was it until March, 1919, that Korea spoke out, and her only propaganda then was the eloquence of the blood of her martyred sons and daughters. Some writers, anxious to defend Japan, have professed to find a parallelism in the case of Britain and Egypt. Waiving the question as to what connection Britain and Egypt have with Japan and
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Korea, it is readily seen that the illustration suggested is not fortunate. The case of Egypt only suggests that of Korea by contrast. British administrators in Egypt today are not facing an hereditary hatred and distrust, engendered by the experience of centuries of brutal misrule, oppression, and exploitation. When Korea was formally annexed, the Emperor of Japan in his proclamation promised that “all Koreans under his sway shall enjoy growing prosperity and welfare, and be assured of repose and security.” The sorrows and discontent of Korea during these years are sufficient commentary on the spectacular failure both of Japan’ s colonizing methods and on her ability to make good the Imperial promises. The Japanese point of view, proclaimed untiringly to the world, and no doubt hon- estly believed by the rank and file in Japan, was that the Koreans were quite unfitted for self-rule, that hereditary feuds and corrupt intrigues were so deep- rooted as to be ineradicable. What Japan proclaimed from the housetops, the world heard, but few and feeble were the articulations of Korea. Nor could the gravamen of the charges be in any case disputed. In many ways, and at many times in her history, Korea has displayed grave irregularities and singular obtuseness in governmental matters, and many a page of her story is read with shame by the loyal Korean today. All this is true — of what nation with a far briefer history is it not true? — but what is forgotten is that some of the most unhappy conditions of recent years, and which were the most quoted in the evidence against her, were because of the baneful influence and demoralizing asso- ciation of the “strangers within her gates.” Only a jaundiced study of Korean history can fail to trace the qualities of patriotism, of statesmanship, of efficient ruling and of national integrity, even in the darkest and least creditable periods of her history.
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THE ARGUMENT OF FORMOSA
The case of Formosa is often quoted as an argu- ment in defense of the present Japanese policy in Korea. Longford (Story of Korea, 363) says, “The Japanese have redeemed their initial error in Formosa, and under their rule it is becoming a prosperous colony; and its inhabitants of Chinese descent, more alien in race, language, customs, and ideas to the Japanese than are the Koreans, have, we are told, forgotten the cruelty to which they were at first subjected, and under just and strict government, are becoming orderly and contented citizens of the Japanese Empire.” He proceeds to ask, “May we not hope that a similar suc- cess will, ere many years have lapsed, be achieved in Korea, and that the immense material benefits which the Japanese have already conferred on the country, will be followed by the heart-whole conciliation of the people?” This hope is built upon a fallacious premise. The cases of Formosa and Korea have very little in common. What are the facts regarding Formosa? Japan acquired that southern island a quarter of a century ago, after the war with China, not because Japan wanted it particularly, but because there was little else available as a prize of war. The population totaled about one quarter that of Korea, the bulk of whom were of the Chinese race with numerous small tribes of head-hunting savages. The first task of Japan was to bring order out of chaos, and in this she speedily had splendid success. Brigandage was crushed, trade developed, production increased, and many modern reforms of railways, sewage systems, etc., introduced.
Great credit is due Japan for her accomplish- ments of reform in Formosa, but in no sense did she face the same conditions and problems then as she did fifteen years later, when Korea was added to the same
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Empire. Formosa had no history, no continuity of race, no nationhood. She had no pride of national identity and cherished no names of great and illustrious heroes. Material prosperity, the subjugation of the head-hunters, remunerative labor — these were all For- mosa demanded, and granted these, it was of little moment whether the flag of the Rising Sun, the Union Jack, or the Stars and Stripes, flew over the Official Residence. Dr. Nitobe, lecturing to the Japan Society in London, in December, 1919, on Japan as a colon- izing power, pointed out this fact. He said, “In its short history, Formosa had been under Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French, and Chinese rule. With such changes of masters there is little patriotism among the people, who, nevertheless, are intelligent, hard- working, and law-abiding. We do not hear of self- determination there. It is quite otherwise with Korea.” There is certainly not enough connection between the conditions Japan faced at Formosa and is now facing in Korea to base any hope that the same course of events will be brought about.
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ASSIMILATION
Thoughtful observers of a few years ago, imme- diately following annexation, united in pointing out the great social and material benefits which were a possible result for Korea under a wise and generous control by Japan. But every prophecy of good, every optimistic forecast, was made conditional and dependent on the sincerity and honesty of the motives of Japan and on the wisdom and magnanimity she henceforth displayed. What these qualified and conditional forecasts really asked was the question, “Will the reforms and develop- ments made by Japan be for Korea or for herself?” Every authority agreed on the unparalleled opportunity which had come to Japan to display statesmanship and colonizing ability such as would bring to her the confi- dence and esteem of all the world. Had Japan learned anything from South Africa? These were the ques- tions which students of affairs in the Far East were asking in the days following the annexation. The tragedy of Korea today is the answer which was so speedily given. Japan must at least be given credit for lucidity and finality in her answer to the world’s question. She did not hide her plans under a bushel, but let her definite fiat to the people of the peninsula be universally known. “Assimilation or exile.” “To the victor, the spoils.” Said Premier Hara, of Japan, to Dr. Schofield, of Seoul, a Canadian missionary, in November, 1919, “Japan’s policy is the assimilation of the Koreans.” “Then,” said Dr. Schofield, “you will face a bloody revolution.” Reforms? Yes. Rail- ways, civic improvements, schools, afforestation, improved agriculture, industrial revival? Yes, all these. But all accompanied by a discrimination against the Korean, the granting of greater privileges to Jap- anese immigrants, the driving to exile of Korea’s finest
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men and women, and at last, a year of blood in 1919. Japan, with the legions of Hideyoshi, crudely and coarsely and brutally plundered Korea three centuries ago. But it was left to the refinements of cruelty of this present age to demand what Hideyoshi never demanded, the extinction of race, the absorption into a stock which Korea not only regards as historically inferior, but towards which she possesses an hereditary hatred. A fanciful Oriental conception based on the geographic relationship of Korea to Japan, likens the peninsula to a dagger, pointed at the heart of Japan. An alternative and happier conception would have been that of a hand of friendship stretched out, or a strong arm of co-operation and union of purpose. Japan herself has decided for the dagger, and rejected the hand-clasp. It has been cynically said that in the past, Korea has known only two political parties, the Ins and the Outs. Today Korea knows but one party — a party pledged to fight and suffer, no matter how stern or long the fight, nor how intense the suffering, until Korean nationality lives again and her people are no longer serfs of a foreign nation and an hered- itary foe.
Have the Koreans ever been acquiescent to the annexation and assimilation plans of Japan? There is no such evidence, but abundance of proof to the contrary. Individual Koreans have fallen to the temp- tation of Japanese gold and honors, but their numbers are comparatively few. Nor are instances unknown where prominent foreigners and even missionaries have endorsed the Japanese position, and not always from unworthy motives. But these exceptions only empha- size the rule of virile hostility to the Japanese Korean policy, on the part of Koreans and foreigners alike. Clear evidence is given in the speech of the Japanese Chief Procurator at the famous Conspiracy Trials in 1912. He describes the plans of the Koreans “to start a War of Independence when Japan happened to be at war with China or the United States, with the object of driving the Japanese out of Korea, and recovering the lost national rights.” He reviewed the
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actions of the Conspiracy, and found that its purpose was “to let the outside world know that the Koreans were not content to be subjugated by Japan.”
In the “Taiyo” for July last appears a very inter- esting article by Dr. Suehiro on the question of the assimilation of the Koreans, and which no doubt expresses the convictions of very many thinking Jap- anese. He says:
“The fundamental question to be considered in this connection is whether Japan should adhere to or abandon that assimilative policy which has so far been pursued. The object of Japan’ s rule of Korea consists in the assimilation of the Koreans — in other words, turning the Koreans into good subjects of the Empire. With this object in view, the authorities are forcing Japanese language on the Koreans and administering to them nearly the same education as the Japanese. There are also signs of resort being had to other meas- ures. They have gone to the length of introducing Shintoism into Korea and building Shinto temples there. What will be the result of all these pains taken by the authorities? Is there any instance of the assimi- lative policy having met with success? The case may have been different in ancient times; but in modern times, when the racial spirit has been intensified in peoples, there is no instance of the policy having succeeded.”
and further, in the same article, he goes on to say:
“The failure of the assimilative policy pursued by the Japanese government in Korea does not cast any reflection on the ability of the authorities concerned. The fault lies with the thing itself. This is especially the case now that the spirit of democracy and the idea of the self-determination of peoples is in so great vogue throughout the world; to try to assimilate the Koreans in these circumstances would be as futile as an attempt at extinguishing a furious fire with an antiquated hand- pump. The assimilative policy which the Government has pursued during the past ten years has ended in complete failure. The Korean disturbances of March last were a most eloquent witness to the fact. It is
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now evident that the Korean policy having Japan for its center must be abandoned.”
In the Japan Advertiser, July 1 1 th, 1919, appears an illuminating article on the whole question of Japan’s tragically mistaken policy in Korea. The writer is “Spectator,” a nom de plume which is understood to belong to a singularly well-informed authority on mat- ters Oriental. “Spectator” writes: ,
“Doubtless Japan felt in 1910, when the an- nouncement was made, ‘Korea Annexed,’ that she had entered upon a path of glory unexampled by anything in her past history. Here were 80,000 square miles of land hers with the flag of the Rising Sun floating over it; a foothold gained on the mainland, and a definite start made for the mastery of East Asia.
“Had Korea been an inanimate object, without soul, or sense, or feeling, it doubtless would have been as Japan thought. Her dry, biting atmosphere of winter could have been overcome; her dull brown hills could have been whipped into line, roads and water- ways opened up, and a world of wonder made of her to blossom like the rose — an agreeable picture to the mind of the ordinary Japanese who had just heard that Korea was annexed.
“But the Japanese sometimes, like the rest of us, think they know it all before they have tried their practice hand, and, when the day of reckoning comes, the showing is poor.
“So it is today. The Japanese are trying to hide it even from themselves, but the fact remains that they have made a failure in Korea, so that the penin- sula is less theirs today than when it was annexed. In her efforts of the last four months to compel the Korean to love her, she has driven even her friends away, and now has a problem on her hands that may well give her pause.
“Where lies the trouble? What is the matter? Foreigners go by and they see great material improve- ment in Korea: well-ordered streets, better buildings, vastly improved sanitary conditions, increase of pros-
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perity, and they herald the news abroad that Japan has been a boon unexampled.
“This is the superficial view that makes matter more than mind, and body greater than soul. It is the view of the man who has not yet learned Shakes- peare’s little line, ‘There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.’ ’’
Later in the same article, the writer proceeds to answer his own question:
“She (Japan) showed her mistaken reading of the problem from the very first by her determination to assimilate. She actually thought that she could make the Koreans Japanese; wipe their language off the slate; remake their history; bury their literature out of sight, and cause them to forget 2,000 years of a civilization quite equal to that of Japan. She forgot that Koreans were an older race than herself, and that they taught her religion and morals; and were her masters in the arts and crafts that make her famous today; that they are mentally quite her equal, though a people of entirely different ideals. Without a notion of all this, she has set to heat up and hammer them into freshly made Japanese, and put bushido patriotism into their souls as you would put salmon into a tin. Never was there a greater misreading of the other man, with utter failure in its wake. The Koreans today are united in their opposition to the whole Japanese propa- ganda, and will have nothing to do with it. It is not a question of Christians; peers, literati, farmers, labor- ers are all in it.”
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SOWING THE WIND
It is by the warmest friends of Japan that the severest arraignment of her Korean policy is being made. It is those who desire Japan s best good, and who have no quarrel with her predominance in the Far East, looking only for a dominance in ideals of humanity as well as in force of arms, who are the most urgent in pointing out that today in Korea Japan is sowing the wind and the only possible harvest is the whirlwind. The student of history knows that no chal- lenge to a people with a lineage and a history is so dangerous as that of denationalization. No threat has so unifying an effect on a conquered nation as that of the loss of its national identity. At the openly announced policy of assimilation, the Koreans in heart and purpose at least, have sprung to arms and are fighting with their backs to the wall. The guerilla warfare, the spasmodic insurrections of the past few months, are only a presage of what Korea is prepared to do for the perpetuation of her national life. Vis- itors to Korea have remarked on the extreme ferocity of the small horses which are used there for domestic purposes, and they learn that it is the continued cruelty and abuse to which they have been subjected for many generations which has developed this viciousness of character. One of the perils of the present situation is that there may be developed in the Koreans by reason of their misfortunes and distresses other char- acteristics than those pleasing qualities which have ever been their possession and which became so happily prominent in their historic “Golden Age.” It is the lesson of history taught by the story of Switzerland and Austria £ix centuries ago, of Britain and Spain more than five centuries since, which Japan needs to learn at this time. For this is the bitterness in Korean hearts
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today, that while during all the centuries when an inter- national conscience was unknown, when the rights of small nations were unrecognized, and when in conse- quence she had to bear or to withstand constant foreign invasions, she preserved her national integrity despite the long succession of suzerainties and of tribute years, she came right to the edge of a new and better world order, near enough to see the dawn of a new world-day, only at last to have wrested from her the priceless pos- session treasured and defended at so great a cost through the centuries. Is Japan so obtuse as not to see that despite the surface materialistic reforms she has given to Korea, that her policy remains one of actual oppression to that people and as such a per- petual menace to herself? In Kyoto, that wonder-city of Japan, the Mecca of all tourists, can be seen the Mimi Zuka tomb, where are buried hundreds of thou- sands of Korean noses and ears, brought back as war trophies at the time of the invasion of Korea by Hide- yoshi. Japan has learnt much and traveled far in the three centuries since those campaigns of terror, and yet she is still the historic arch-oppressor of Korea. Not ears and noses are her demands, but the priceless possessions of liberty and national heritage.
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THE NATION’S WEALTH
At the time when Korea was a Hermit Nation and her gates were closed against the curious and the covetous, she was regarded as an El-dorado, a dream- land of untold wealth. The unknown is always fasci- nating, and men s conjectures made the mysterious peninsula a Croesus amongst the lands of the East. Today the gates are open, and men who go in and out have found that some at least of the stories were fables and idle dreams. The roads are not laid with gold, nor are diamonds the pebbles of the field. But viewed rationally and apart from extravagant imagin- ings, Korea is found to be a land of vast resources and of varied kinds of wealth. The soil is rich and of great productivity. Perhaps it can best be likened to the rich soil of the virgin prairies of Saskatchewan. It needs but moderate attention and cultivation to pro- duce rich harvests. That Korea has vast mineral wealth is generally recognized, although not yet have the full possibilities of her mineral production been tested. Underwood says, in his “Call of Korea” (page 34), “Korea’s resources are numerous, her possibilities are great, and, for her size, with a proper government and good advisers, she would soon be a rich little country.” Passing on to speak of the other aspect of Korea’s industrial possibilities, her man-power, Underwood is hearty in defence of the Korean laborer. He says: “The Korean, placed in favorable surroundings, proves himself neither lazy, shiftless nor slow. In Hawaii on the sugar plantations, the overseers have been very quick to recognize the value of the Koreans, asserting that they are more industrious, frugal and sober than any laborers they have ever had. The superintendents of the Korean mines, both English and Americans, men who have had experience with every class and
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kind of miners in Australia, Colorado, Alaska and South Africa, are unanimous in awarding the palm to the Korean.” There is not wanting evidence that, granted the opportunity to work out her own national destiny, and set free from the trammels and shackles of a foreign yoke, Korea would speedily become a suc- cessful manufacturing country. With peace in her borders, with the benefits of the cultural impact of the Western world, and with an independence of national- ity under the protection of the ‘‘League of Nations,” her past adeptness in art and skill would speedily be repeated and surpassed. In the beautiful and inter- esting Industrial Museum at Seoul, there is to be seen sufficient evidence of the latent abilities of the Korean people in the production both of general utilities and of works of art. Much of what Japan is practicing to- day in the realm of artistic production was taught her by Korea, and these arts the Korean has not altogether forgotten. By some it is urged that it is this same artistic genius which is having a revival today under Japanese encouragement. That such a statement is fal- lacious and illusory is the conviction of many of the best informed writers in Japan. Of special interest, however, is the point of view expressed by an artist, Mr. M. Yanagi, who contributed a series of articles on Korea to the Yomiuri in May, shortly after the Inde- pendence outbreak. His is the standpoint of the aesthetic, and he writes:
‘‘One day in Seoul, I obtained an excellent antique embroidery which appeared to be the work of the Yi period. It was clearly influenced by the art of the Ming period of China. In color, line and design it was a work which sufficiently told of the beauty of ancient Korea. Not many days after I obtained it, I visited a Korean girl’s high school and saw the work done by the students. As I noticed a large embroidery hanging on the wall, I was struck with a strange feeling, for the work was one in which not a trace of the original Korean beauty could be noted. It was altogether a modern Japanese work — half-westernized, tasteless, un- dignified, foolish in design and vague in color effects.
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But the teacher of the school explained to me that the work was an excellent one, showing a wonderfully well trained hand. As I reflected I was deeply conscious of the wrong education given the Koreans.
“The ancient Japanese arts owed much to Korea. Japan repaid the gift by destroying the Korean arts. If that is assimilation it is a dreadful thing. The educa- tion of the Koreans should be one not to kill their spirit but to revive it.”
In an article in “Asia” (September, 1919), Mar- jorie Barstow and Sydney Grenbie discuss the Japanese reforms and improvements in Korea, and find these to be very real. But then follows the comment: “One advantage of being an imperial power is that one does not have to spare the feelings of the conquered — and the Japanese don’t. If there were no Koreans in Korea one would enjoy the spectacle of this almost boyish spirit of progress — and give thanks for hotels and rail- roads of quality rare in Asia. One would smile in sym- pathy with the enthusiasm of every Japanese face on the street which seems to say, ‘See what a fine new toy we have found!’ But, alas! there are always the Ko- reans— and they are another story.”
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THE APPARENT AND THE REAL
The capital city of Seoul itself affords an illustra- tion of the apparent and the real — the apparent in the success of Japan’s control in Korea, as published from the housetops in Japanese propaganda all over the world; and the real, the evidence of a broken-hearted nation, untouched by the reforms of their masters. The apparent is seen in the modern public buildings, mostly of prosperous and even gay appearance, situated on wide and ambitious thoroughfares. This is the Seoul as seen by the distinguished visitor from America or Europe, who stays a few hours at the luxurious Chosen Hotel and is “shown” the city through the hospitality of the Japanese authorities. The other Seoul, and the real, is found when the modern streets are left, and a journey on foot or by ricksha is taken through the nearby lanes, or more truly alleys. Scenes of squalor and evidences of extreme poverty are on every hand. Seoul under Japanese misrule is a whited sepulchre, and what is true of Seoul is true in the larger sense of Korea. Today there are two Koreas — the Korea of the Japanese, with excellent prospects and an increasing prosperity; and the Korea of the Koreans — moribund, dejected, and futureless. P. S. Reinsch, American Ambassador at Peking, says in his “Intellectual and Political Currents of the Far East” (page 32) :
“it is unthinkable that a nation should give up its essential customs and beliefs, and still retain a unified and energetic national life.”
Despite all her natural resources and wealth of raw materials, the Koreans today (to quote again from the September “Asia”) “are dull and hopeless looking. Somehow they seem to have been left out of the prom- ising enterprise which has invaded their country.”
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CHRISTIANITY
The theory that Korea during the centuries has been experiencing a progressive renaissance, a gradual moving upward and toward a brighter light, interrupted though this has been at periods all too frequent, finds no better exposition than in the sphere of her religious history. Three great religions made their overtures to Korea during the centuries — Confucianism with its basis of ancestor-worship, Shamanism, the religion of many demons, and Buddhism, with its dead hopeless- ness. But none of these ever met with a universal response or secured more than a passing measure of success. It was as though during the recent centuries of turmoil and unrest, Korea was waiting for the coming of the Prince of Peace. For long this real heart-worship of the people had been at the altar of “an unknown God,” and when the real light commenced to dawn, the response was spontaneous and joyous. The first name connected with the religion of Christianity is that of Father Cespides, who was sent by Hideyoshi to Fusan and attached there to Konishi’s garrison. This was in 1594. He was both the first Christian and the first European to visit the peninsula. His stay was brief and it is only in a qualified sense that he can be recorded as a Christian missionary. It was two hundred years before Christianity again touched Korea in the evangelistic efforts of Piek-I and others. Per- secution began at once, and from now on Christianity had for a long time a chequered and troubled career. The story of the gradual planting of the cross in Korea is the record of many valiant heroes and martyrs. Piek-I, Tsiou, Bruguiere, Marubant, Imbert, Andrew Kim and Ferriol, both Europeans and Orientals, have worthy places in the Book of the Acts of the Korean Apostles. Describing the sublime courage of the Ko- rean Christians during 1839, Longford says (“Story of
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Korea,” 267) : “The victims were mainly of the upper classes, who had all they could desire on earth — rank, power, wealth, luxury and ease. All these they gladly sacrificed, and underwent the imprisonment, torture and shameful deaths, from which their rank should have legally exempted them.”
After the first early triumphs of Christianity came the terrible persecutions under the Regent Tai Won Kun, and for a time it seemed as though the faith of Christianity was completely destroyed. But again and again the re-establishment was attempted, and Chris- tianity has no chapter more thrilling in its record of heroism than that of the pioneer martyrs of the Cross in Korea. Truly the blood of the martyrs here proved the seed of the Church. When at last with the storms of persecution over for a time, the Christian religion became firmly established, great were the triumphs of the Cross. Wonderful revivals took place, and it seemed as though Korea would speedily become a Christian nation and a great evangelistic force in the Orient. Then came 1919, with its political happenings, its massacres, avowedly only political but concerning which there is overwhelming evidence of the exhibition of a strong anti-Christian sentiment by Japan. Writing from Seoul in May, 1919, in ‘‘The Christian Movement in the Japanese Empire,” Gerald Bonwick says:
“The majority of the Korean pastors are in prison, and missionaries cannot visit the country churches, as their movements excite the apprehension of the gen- darmerie, and the Korean Christians become more than ever the objects of their suspicion.
‘‘The position of the Christian Church in Korea at the present time is a serious one, calling for all the statesmanship of the Church Universal as well as of the Government. The prayers and aid of the Home Churches are needed by our Korean fellow-Christians, for they are passing through fiery trials and know not what fresh troubles a day or an hour may bring upon them.”
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THE INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT
The events of March 1st, 1919, should not have startled the world. The movement was fourteen years old. Never had the loyal sons and daughters of Korea abandoned hope or settled down in acquiescence while a foreigner and hereditary foe ruled in their land. Scattered they were in many lands, but ever united in the lofty purpose and resolve that some day they would uplift their fair land from the slough of ignominy into which it had fallen. So in Shanghai and Mukden, Harbin and Vladivostok, Honolulu and San Francisco, Philadelphia and London, they not only cherished their dreams but quietly made their plans. By a wonderful system of subterranean correspondence, they evaded Japan’s elaborate espionage system, and kept in com- munication with their comrades in Korea. The Euro- pean War, with the statement of world aims made by Woodrow Wilson, was the signal for action. Address- ing the Senate in 1917, the President outlined the pro- gram of war ideals by which security of religion, of life, and of social well being “should be guaranteed to all peoples who have lived hitherto under the power of governments devoted to a faith and purpose hostile to their own.” The moment seemed opportune and the die was cast. Saturday, March 1 st, was chosen as the day for declaring Independence. A network of organ- izations all over the country, the existence of which had with remarkable success been kept from the knowl- edge of the Japanese gendarmes, made copies of the Declaration of Independence for circulation in their own locality. Processions and demonstrations to take place simultaneously were everywhere planned. C. W. Kendall, in his little book, “The Truth About Korea, gives the following account of what happened in Seoul, prior to the nation-wide demonstration:
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“The night before the demonstration was to begin, twenty-nine of the thirty-three signers of the Declara- tion of Independence gathered in Seoul. After a meet- ing, in which final arrangements were checked up and the proclamation read aloud for the first time, they all adjourned to a prominent restaurant for a last dinner together. It was one of the most singular banquets ever held in the history of any nation. Each man present realized that as soon as the proclamation bear- ing his signature was in the hands of the Japanese authorities he would be hunted down and executed or thrown into prison. All of them were acquainted with the efficiency and methods of the Japanese spy system. They knew that to attempt to escape would be use- less. So when the banquet was completed and the last toast spoken they went to the telephone, called up the Japanese police, told them what they had done, and that they were ready to go to prison. Then, conse- crating their lives to the freedom of Korea, they calmly awaited the arrival of the government authorities. No resistance was offered when the police arrived. They were bundled into automobiles and taken away to prison. One of the signers, having arrived too late to participate in the meeting and dinner, went directly to the prison and asked to be treated the same as the others.”
What happened on the next day and following days has now been told many times. It is a story so terrible that in the telling it one must always hasten to point out that this was not the work of Japan, but of Japanese militarism, and the differentiation is real. The sordid and brutal happenings have been faithfully recorded by F. A. McKenzie in his book, “Korea’s Fight for Freedom,” of which one extract must suf- fice (pages 252-253) :
“The movement was a demonstration, not a riot. On the opening day and afterwards — until the Japanese drove some of the people to fury — there was no vio- lence. The Japanese, scattered all over the country, were uninjured; the Japanese shops were left alone; when the police attacked, elders ordered the people to
51
submit and to offer no resistance. The weak things had set themselves up to confound the strong.
“At first the Japanese authorities were so com- pletely taken by surprise that they did not know what to do. Then the word was passed round that the movement was to be suppressed by relentless severity. And so Japan lost her last chance of winning the peo- ple of Korea and of wiping out the accentuated ill-will of the centuries.
“The first plan of the Japanese was to attack every gathering of people and disperse it, and to arrest every person who took part in the demonstra- tions or was supposed to have a hand in them. Japan- ese civilians were armed with clubs and swords and given carte blanche to attack any Korean they sus- pected of being a demonstrator. They interpreted these instructions freely. Firemen were sent out with poles with big firemen’s hooks at the end. A single pull with one of these hooks meant death or horrible mutilation for any person they struck.
“The police used their swords freely. What I mean by ‘freely’ can best be shown by one incident. A little gathering of men started shouting ‘Mansei’ in a street in Seoul. The police came after them, and they vanished. One man — it is not clear whether he called ‘Mansei’ or was an accidental spectator — was pushed in the deep gutter by the roadside as the dem- onstrators rushed away. As he struggled out the police came up. There was no question of the man resisting or not resisting. He was unarmed and alone. They cut off his ears, cut them off level with his cheek, they slit up his fingers, they hacked his body, and then they left him for dead. He was carried off by some horrified spectators, and died a few hours later.’’
Another testimony, and of indisputable authority, is by the Rev. A. E. Armstrong, Associate Secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, Canada, who was in Korea during those days of tragedy. After giving in detail a description of the happenings which is almost too horrible to read, he concludes:
“These brutal, bestial police and soldiers and
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under-officials are doing worse than any Hun ever did in France. We are certain that women have been violated. We have word from one of the American pastors that Christian school girls have been stripped, made to walk on all fours in the prison before Japan- ese police, and boiling water thrown over them, from a broom, which was dipped in a vessel of boiling water on a stove, and other things which are not mention- able.
“Space will not permit of my relating many other incidents which have taken place in that unhappy land. The foregoing are but samples of the reign of terror now prevailing in the Korean Peninsula. Having but recently returned from Seoul, the Capital of Korea, I am in a position to write with accuracy of the nature of Japanese militarism. It is absolutely Prussian to the core. Nay, worse. The Japanese military system is modeled on the German system, and when there is added to it the Oriental fine art of cruelty, there is a resultant combination which leads many who know the system as it operates in Korea to speak of it as sur- passing the Huns and the Turks in inventive barbarity and fiendish ferocity.
“Our hope is the splendid and growing spirit of democracy, which, though feeble, and followed by few up to November 1 1 last, is now arising and opposing the militarism which will some day be banished from the progressive sunrise Empire of Japan. I could name many leading Japanese officials — civil, not military — who deplore the fearful treatment being administered to the Koreans, and who earnestly desire an enlightened policy of sympathetic dealing with the subject people. Among them are Judge Watanabe and Ministers Sekiya and Usami, to mention only three. Everyone wishes Japan well, and desires to see the Japanese lead the Orient into the way of democracy, liberty and justice, but such acts on a defenceless people as are being per- mitted by the Government must call forth the most vigorous expressions of indignation and protest from British and American citizens, whose sense of fair deal- ings is outraged.”
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Such was the beginning of the weeks and months of floggings, of outrages, of terrorism and of murders. Men, women and children whose only crime was that they loved their country, and with complete passivity had said so, were hunted like wild beasts and punished with more severity than civilization extends to the vilest of criminals. When they arose in passive demonstra- tion, with empty hands and orderly purpose, they numbered one thousand for every seventeen Japanese, so theirs was not the restraint of fear. The only re- straint they knew was the fear of bringing dishonor and shame to the land for which they were willing to die. Korean history will never show a more glorious page than the record of 1919, nor portray more heroic actions than those of the men and women and school children who dared to hold aloft their national flag and sound the immortal cry of “Mansei.” Cheam-ni, Seoul, Tyung-Ju, Soochung and other places where Korean blood was spilt, will remain the Valhallas of their history to all Koreans, even as the thirty-three heroes who signed the Declaration of Independence will be numbered amongst the immortals of the nation.
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CAIN’S QUESTION
How little the Western world of 1910 had grasped the ideal of the rights of small nations, and the vision of a universal fraternity amongst the peoples of the earth, is evidenced by the quiescent spirit in which the world contemplated the ruthless and forcible annexa- tion of helpless Korea. Not yet had the nobler and more worthy doctrines of a common humanity been enunciated by Woodrow Wilson and given documen- tary substance in the League of Nations. Apparently unmoved and unconcerned, the world watched the panorama of events and made little real protest. For what, after all, had happened? Only that a weaker and relatively unimportant member of the world’ s family of nations had been given the death-blow. So Christianity and civilization, with a shrug of the shoul- ders, only repeats the first question that man ever asked his Maker, “Am I my brother’s keeper?’* Longford (“Story of Korea,’’ 381) expresses sympathy “for the downfall of a nation that claims to have had an historical existence from the days when Babylon was still in all its glory and grandeur, for the subjection of a people who, whatever have been the faults of their government and the reaction of those faults on themselves, possess many attractive qualities, who are kind, hospitable, gentle, generous and good tempered, dignified in their outward demeanor and utterly un- worldly; to an alien nation of different race, language and traditions, that has been their relentless enemy from time immemorial, at whose hands they have on many occasions experienced all the miseries of War, and in more recent days, in the time of peace, tyranny and spoliation, the memory of which can only be erased by decades, perhaps even centuries of good and merciful government.’*
The words of President Wilson, though not spoken in reference to Korea, contain a truth which cannot be
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ignored in reviewing the situation in the unhappy coun- try today. He says:
“The world can only be at peace if its life is stable and there can be no stability where the will is in rebellion where there is not tranquillity of spirit and a sense of justice of freedom and of right.**
These pregnant words have an illustration in an event of Korean history which is referred to by Vis- counts Kim Yoon Sik and Yi Yong Chik in a “Petition” addressed by them to Japan at the time of the Inde- pendence Movement in March, 1919. The aged Ko- rean statesmen say:
“A way of doing things is good only as it accords with the times and a Government succeeds only when it makes its people happy. If the Way is not in keeping with the age it is not a perfect Way; and if a Govern- ment fails to make its people happy it is not a good Government.
“It is now ten years since Korea was annexed to Japan, and though there has resulted from it no little profit to the people with the clearing away of abuses, still it cannot be said to have made the people happy.
“Today when the call for independence is given in the street, ten thousand voices answer in response. In ten days and less, the whole nation vibrates to its echo, and even the women and children vie with each place with no fear of death in the heart. What is the reason for such a state of things as this? Our view is that, having borne with pain and stifled resentment to the point of bursting, and being unable to repress it further, at last they have found expression, and, like the overflowing of the Whang-ho river, the waves have broken all bounds, and once having broken away, its power will brook no return. We call this an expres- sion of the people, but is it not rather the mind of God Himself?
“The people, now roused to action, desire that restored to them that they once possessed, in order that the shame of their slavery be removed. They have nothing but bare hands, and a tongue to speak the
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resentment they feel. You can tell by this that no wicked motives underlie their thoughts.
“A man s life is something to be dealt with as the grass that grows. In ancient times, Mencius said to King Soon of Cho Kingdom, ‘If by taking possession of the state, you can make the people of Yun happy, take possession, but if taking possession will render them miserable, forbear to do it.’ Though Mencius thus spoke, the king paid no attention and, as a result, came to the place where he finally said he was greatly ashamed. This is indeed a mirror from history, worthy to be looked into. Even the sage cannot run counter to the times in which he lives. We read the mind of God in the attitude of the people. If a people are not made happy, history tells us that there is no way by which their land can be held in possession.
“We, your servants, have come in these times of danger and difficulty. Old and shameless are we, for when our country was annexed, we accepted the rank of nobility, held office and lived in disgrace, till seeing these innocent people of ours in the fire and water, are unable to endure the sight longer. Thus we, too, in the privacy of our room, have shouted for independ- ence just like the others.
“Fearing not presumption on our parts, we speak forth our hearts, in the hope that your Excellency will be in accord herewith, and let his Imperial Majesty know, so that the cabinet may consider it, and set right the cause, not by mere soft words, not by force, but in accord with the opportunity that Heaven above grants, and the wishes of the people speak. Thus may Japan give independence to Korea, and let her justice be known to the whole world, including those nations with whom she has treaty relations. Undoubt- edly all will grant their approval and, like the eclipsed sun and moon, Japan will once again resume the light and splendor of her way. Who will not look with praise and commendation on this act of yours?
“We, your servants, behind closed doors, ill and indisposed, and knowing not the mind of the world, offer our poor woodmen’s counsel to the state. If
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you accede to it, countless numbers of people will be made happy, but if you refuse, we two alone will suffer. We have reached the course of life, and so we offer ourselves a sacrifice for our people. Though we die for it. we have no complaints to make. In our sick chamber, with age upon us, we know how to speak per- suasively. We pray your Excellency to kindly give this your consideration. In a word, this is what our hearts would say.”
To Christian civilization today comes the bitter cry of Korea’s need, while to those nations the measure of whose responsibility is the measure of the light they possess, comes the word of the God of Nations, ‘‘Thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.”
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THE ROD
In his little book on Korea, George Heber Jones tells the story of how, in his old age, a former prime minister of Korea, when retiring from public life, trav- elled back to his native town and visited the school of his boyhood. Taking the switch, the symbol of discipline, and setting it against the wall, he made lowly obeisance to it with the remark, “The rod made me a man!” What was needed to put the iron into the Korean Constitution after the long period of indulgence and lassitude — the floggings and tortures and murders under the regime of the Japanese gendarme in 1919 have amply supplied. If Korea was not a nation be- fore, the rod has made her one — united, determined and resolute.
There is another reason. The spectacular awak- ening of Japan and China during the last few decades has riveted the attention of the world, and done much to develop international consciousness and world- co-operation for the well-being of humanity. Fifty years ago Japan was apparently hermetically sealed against the Western world. Comparatively few had entered her domains or had explored her wonders, but those who had, pronounced a common verdict that illiteracy was the rule, ravaging diseases were well-nigh unchecked, superstitions abounded, and for the twenty- five millions of people the daybreak of civilization had not come. China followed Japan very closely along the road of an awakened consciousness; in fact, viewed from some standpoints, the awakening giants marched shoulder to shoulder out to the dawn.
Bibliography is prodigal in its descriptions of the rapid and glad emancipation of China and Japan from the thraldom of social darkness and superstition. But of late the theory has been finding fuller expression, that it was not any one country or two to which the light came, but that the Orient as a whole, with a
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greater degree of simultaneity than has sometimes been believed, had its renaissance and saw the dawn. Coupled with this is the growing recognition that not necessarily in the superficial of western life, domestic habits, styles of dress, and social etiquette, was the advance the most real and most to be welcomed, but in the deeper sentiments and qualities and sympathies of men. Viewed from this angle, may it not be claimed that in all the ways that most matter, Korea has seen the light and entered the new world order, as truly as has China, and China as truly as has Japan?
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THE NEW KOREA
Only thus can be explained the dignity and self- control which even the simple Korean peasants dis- played during the weeks when, under the Hasegawa regime, the brutal Japanese gendarmes ran amuck. Only thus can be explained the genius and statesman- ship and organizing ability (equalling that of Taijo six centuries before) with which the March demon- stration was secretly planned and successfully carried out. Only thus can be explained the lofty idealism which has so consistently and steadily pursued its aims during the past decade, despite “the dungeon, fire and sword.” Only thus can be explained the unwavering faith which, though it cannot trace the path, never doubts the ultimate recovery of the lost nationhood. Only thus can be explained the consciousness of a world brotherhood that has come to Korea, and a belief in the bona fides of the friendships of Western nations, which causes her today to stretch out pleading hands, begging for at least sympathy and comradeship. It is a new Korea, erect and chastened, redolent of the dawn, which appeals to the Occidental world of to- day. A pamphlet issued by the “Organizing Com- mittee of the Independence Movement” closes with an appeal and a prayer:
“This is the time for our escape from the hands of our Japanese oppressors. We earnestly appeal to the nations of the earth to set a limit to our pitiful con- dition and to obtain for us the common rights of humanity. Our confidence and our prayers go out to God. Amen.”
This is not the spirit of Tai Won Kun or the lan- guage of a Hermit Nation.
In the mountains of Korea in years past were numbers of large and savage tigers, and the men of Korea became renowned as tiger-hunters. The Ko-
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reans scorned to go other than alone, and would go forth and meet single-handed a ferocious beast. Re- cent events have shown that the Korean is no less brave than before, but he has added to his courage other virtues which he lacked in those tiger-hunting days.
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BUSHIDO
In a “Foreword” to his recent brochure, “The Truth About Korea,” C. W. Kendall expresses a sen- timent and makes a distinction, which have also been expressed of late by F. A. McKenzie and other writers: “In presenting this volume, it is not my purpose to create a feeling of hostility against the Japanese people. I cannot believe that the kindly men and women of Japan approve the unnamable cruelties taking place today in Korea. Where I have used the term Japan or Japanese in connection with the Korean situation, I refer not to the Japanese people — the wives and daughters, husbands and sons of the Flowery Kingdom — but to that spirit of Military Autocracy which knows no conscience, no human regard nor tol- erance, and crushes all who oppose it beneath the insatiable wrath of its iron heel.”
The distinction is between Bushido, the innate qualities of justice, truth, honor, self-control, courage and benevolence indigenous in the elite of Japan (whether the elite toil in the rice field or occupy a throne), and that which is the very antithesis of the code of the Samurai, Japan’s modern military despot- ism. which has found so lucid an expression in the recent horrors perpetrated by Hasegawa’s gendarmes. Dr. Inazo Nitobe, in his fascinating volume on “Bush- ido, The Soul of Japan,” makes many claims, which, in the light of recent Korean happenings, can only be admitted as true today if such a dividing line is al- lowed, as will differentiate between what the heart of Japan really is, and what is historically done by an element which, though in control, is alien to the soul of the nation. To take one illustration only from the many captivating stories he relates:
“Lovers of Japanese art must be familiar with the representation of a priest riding backwards on a
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cow. The rider was once a warrior who in his day made his name a by-word of terror. In that terrible battle of Sumano-ura (1184 A. D.), which was one of the most decisive in our history, he overtook an enemy and in single combat had him in the clutch of his gigantic arms. Now the etiquette of war re- quired that on such occasions no blood should be spilt, unless the weaker party proved to be a man of rank or ability equal to that of the stronger. The grim combatant would have the name of the man under him; but, he refusing to make it known, his helmet was ruthlessly torn off, when the sight of a juvenile face, fair and beardless, made the astonished knight relax his hold. Helping the youth to his feet, in paternal tones he bade the stripling go: ‘Off, young prince, to thy mother’s side! The sword of Kuma- gaye shall never be tarnished by a drop of thy blood. Haste and flee o’er yon pass before thy enemies come in sight!’ The young warrior refused to go and begged Kumagaye, for the honor of both, to despatch him on the spot. Above the hoary head of the veteran gleams the cold blade, which many a time before has sundered the chords of life, but his stout heart quails; there flashes athwart his mental eye the vision of his own boy, who this self-same day marched to the sound of bugle to try his maiden arms; the strong hand of the warrior quivers; again he begs his victim to flee for his life. Finding all his entreaties vain and hearing the approaching steps of his comrades, he exclaims: ‘If thou art overtaken, thou mayest fall at a more ignoble hand than mine. O, thou Infinite, receive his soul!’ In an instant the sword flashes in the air, and when it falls it is red with adolescent blood. When the war is ended, we find our soldier returning in tri- umph, but little cares he now for honor or fame; he renounces his warlike career, shaves his head, dons a priestly garb, devotes the rest of his days to holy pil- grimages, never turning his back to the West, where lies the Paradise whence salvation comes and whither the sun hastes daily for his rest.”
Korea, a nation of sorrows, calls today by the
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PARK, SEOUL ONE OF THE CITY GATES
direfulness of her need, for the display of the old Samurai qualities of justice and benevolence, while the world still waits for the verdict of Japan. The spirit of Hideyoshi and Hasegawa, or the spirit of Chung Jong and Kumagaye — which shall it be? It is the people of Japan who must give the momentous answer, r
X
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THE WHITE BUDDHA
In the summer of 1919 the present writer was in the city of Seoul, and amongst many places of interest visited the famous White Buddha, a few miles from the city. Passing out from the city proper by the Great West Gate along the Dokuritsumon Dori, and passing the Independence Gate, erected two hundred years ago to receive the Imperial messengers from the suzerain power of China, the long hill climb brought us to the Peking Pass. Here a mental picture pre- sented itself of the passing for centuries to and from the capital of China of the emissaries of Korea. Leav- ing the main road to the right and taking the narrow paths across the tiny rice fields, we came in sight of the White Buddha. To our right was a stone quarry, and the process of blasting was being employed to split the rocks and secure the necessary material for the good roads throughout the peninsula, on which Japan has set her heart. To our left, and at the foot of the rocks, was a wide but shallow river, so shallow that pieces of rock which would serve as stepping stones, were everywhere visible. Directly across the river we saw th~ quaint object of our search. On a big rock, with a flat wall surface jutting out into the water, had been carved the head and shoulders of Buddha, a representation so familiar to every traveller in the Orient. Having been carved on the gray rough rock, the carving had been painted over with plain white, giving it the name by which it is known, and making it stand out with an almost startling distinctness from the background setting of rocks and trees. But from where we stood and studied the figure it seemed to be incomplete — suggesting that not all of the artist’s original work was visible to us. So it proved on closer scrutiny. We climbed into our rickshas, and the coolies, wading into the water, pulled us across, halting
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on a bank of sand and stones, immediately in front of the Diabutsu. Then we saw the reason for the ap- parent direct descent of the figure into the ground. It was not that the rock had sunk, nor that the sculptor had worked below the ground level. What had hap- pened was that the deposits of sand and stones had been washed down by the shallow but fast-flowing stream, and that the great figure of Buddha was being gradually buried under the accumulation.
The story is a parable. As we stood before the white-faced image and saw the evidence of an im- pending fate, the rock-carved Buddha stood to our imagination not for decadent Buddhism alone, but for all the forces of superstition and corruption, which in the past had brought Korea so close to the precipice of disintegration and vitiation. Now (and with far greater force than that of the water at our feet) the irresistible tide of enlightenment and a world consciousness, belief in one common Fatherhood, and one universal Brother- hood, is sweeping down from the heights of God, and every element of reaction, every force of perversion, is doomed by the incoming tide. That day may be distant yet, as man with his tiny foot-rule measures distance. The stream must carry down mountains of rubble yet, before the idols and the skeletons and the ghosts of many unhappy centuries are completely laid low and forgotten. But today the flood gates are open and no man-built dams can stop the tide. No dam of annexa- tion can permanently resist the flood tides of an awak- ened nationhood. Korea’s renaissance has come! And soon, with the tribulations of the present day all passed, Korea will again be Chosen, “The Land of the Morning Calm.” Then, possessed of a restored but happier nationhood, dignified and holy, she will march shoulder to shoulder with Japan, with China, and with the nations of the Western world, out into the sunlight of a new world era, which will be the Kingdom of God.
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APPENDIX
Protocol Concluded Between Japan and Korea on February 23, 1904, Regarding the Situation at Korea.
Hayashi Gonsuke, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, and Major-General Ye-tchi-yong, Minister of State for foreign affairs ad interim of His Majesty the Emperor of Korea, being respectively duly empowered for the purpose, have agreed upon the following Articles:
Article 1. For the purpose of maintaining a permanent and solid friendship between Japan and Korea, and firmly establishing peace in the Far East, the Imperial Government of Korea shall place full confidence in the Imperial Government of Japan and adopt the advice of the latter in regard to improvements in administration.
Article II. The Imperial Government of Japan shall in a spirit of firm friendship, ensure the safety and repose of the Imperial House of Japan.
Article III. The Imperial Government of Japan definitely guarantee the independence and territorial integrity of the Korean Empire.
Article IV. In case the welfare of the Imperial House of Korea or the territorial integrity of Korea is endangered by aggression of a third Power or by internal disturbance, the Imperial Government of Japan shall immediately take such necessary measures as the circumstances require, and in such cases the Imperial Government of Korea shall give full facili- ties to promote the action of the Imperial Japanese Govern- ment.
The Imperial Government of Japan may, for the attain- ment of the above-mentioned objects, occupy, when the cir- cumstances require it, such places as may be necessary from strategical points of view.
Article V. The Government of the two countries shall not in future, without mutual consent, conclude with a third Power such an arrangement as may be contrary to the principles of the present Protocol.
Article VI. Details in connection with the present Protocol shall be arranged as the circumstances may require, between
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the Representative of Japan and the Minister of State for For- eign Affairs of Korea.
Hayashi Gonsuke, (Seal) Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. The 23rd day of the 2nd month of the fifth year of Meiji.
Major-General Ye Tchi-young, (Seal) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs ad interim. The 23rd day of the 2nd month of the 8th year of Kwang-mu.
Agreement Between Japan and Korea, Signed August 22, 1904, Relating to the Financial and Diplomatic Advisers.
Article 1. The Korean Government shall engage a financial adviser to the Korean Government a Japanese subject com- mended by the Japanese Government, and all matters concern- ing finances shall be dealt with after his counsel has been taken.
Article II. The Korean Government shall engage a diplo- matic adviser to the Department of Foreign Affairs a for- eigner commended by the Japanese Government, and all important matters concerning foreign relations shall be dealt with after his counsel has been taken.
Article III. The Korean Government shall previously con- sult the Japanese Government in concluding treaties and con- ventions with foreign powers, and in dealing with other impor- tant diplomatic affairs, such as the grant of concessions to or contracts with foreigners.
Hayashi Gonsuke, (Seal) Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
The 22nd day of the 8th month of the 37th year of Meiji.
Yun Chi- ho (Seal)
Acting Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
The 22nd day of the 8th month of the 8th year of Kwang-mu.
Agreement Between Japan and Korea, Signed April 1, 1905, Regarding Communications Services.
The Imperial Government of Japan and Korea finding it expedient from the standpoint of the administration and finances, of Korea, to rearrange the system of communications in that country, and, by amalgamating it with that of Japan, to unite the two systems into one common to the two countries, and having seen the necessity, with that object in view, of transferring the post, telegraph and telephone services of Korea to the Japanese Government, Hayashi Gonsuke, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Japan, and I. Ha-Yong, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Korea, each invested with proper authority, have agreed upon and con- cluded the following articles:
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Article I. The Imperial Government of Korea shall trans- fer and assign the control and administration of the post tele- graph and telephone services in Korea (except the telephone service exclusively pertaining to the Department of the Imperial Household) to the Imperial Japanese Government.
Article II. The land, buildings, furnitures, instruments, machines and all other appliances connected with the system of communications already established by the Imperial Gov- ernment of Korea, shall by virtue of the present Agreement, be transferred to the control of the Imperial Japanese Govern- ment.
The authorities of the two countries acting together shall make an inventory of the land, buildings, and all other requisites mentioned in the preceding paragraph, which inven- tory shall serve as evidence in the future.
Article III. When it is deemed necessary by the Japanese Government to extend the communications system in Korea, they may appropriate land and buildings belonging to the State, or to private persons; the former without compensation and the latter with proper indemnification.
Article IV. In respect of the control of the communica- tions service and the custody of the properties in connection therewith, the Japanese Government assume on their own account, the responsibility of good administration.
The expense required in the extension of the communica- tions service shall be borne by the Imperial Government of Japan.
The Imperial Government of Japan shall officially notify the Imperial Government of Korea of the financial condition of the system of communications under their control.
Article V. All appliances and materials which are deemed necessary by the Imperial Government of Japan for the control or the extension of the system of communications shall be exempt from all duties and imposts.
Article VI. The Imperial Government of Korea shall be at liberty to maintain the present Board of Communications so far as such retention does not interfere with the control and extension of the service by the Japanese Government.
The Japanese Government, in controlling and extending the services, shall engage as many Korean officials and employees as possible.
Article VII. In respect of the arrangement formerly entered into by the Korean Government with the governments of foreign Powers, concerning the post, telegraph or telephone services, the Japanese Government shall in behalf of Korea, exercise the rights and perform the obligations pertaining thereto.
Should there arise in the future any necessity for conclud- ing any new convention between the Government of Korea and the governments of foreign Powers concerning the communi- cations services, the Japanese Government shall assume the
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responsibility of concluding such convention in behalf of the Korean Government.
Article VIII. The various conventions and agreements respecting the communications service hitherto existing between the Governments of Japan and Korea are mutually abolished or modified by the present agreement.
Article IX. When in the future as a result of the general development of the communications service in Korea, there is some adequate profit over and above expenditures defrayed by the Japanese Government for the control and maintenance of the old services and for their extensions and improvements, the Japanese Government shall deliver to the Korean Government a suitable percentage of such profit.
Article X. When in the future an ample surplus exists in the finances of the Korean Government the control of their communications service may be returned to the Government of Korea, in the sequel of consultation between the Governments.
Hayashi Gonsuke, (Seal) Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
The 1 st day of the 4th month of the 38th year of Meiji.
I. Ha -yeng, (Seal) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
The 1 st day of the 4th month of the 9th year of Kwang-mu.
Agreement Respecting the Coast Trade of Korea.
The Imperial Governments of Japan ad Korea, deeming it necessary, for the purpose of improving the trade and pro- moting the development of the resources of Korea, to allow navigation by Japanese vessels along the coasts and in the inland waters of Korea, Hayashi Gonsuke, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Japan, and I. Ha-yeng, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Korea, duly authorized by their respective governments for the purpose, have agreed upon tha following articles:
Article I. Japanese vessels shall be at liberty to navigate along the coasts, and in the inland waters of Korea, for the purpose of trade in accordance with the stipulations of the present agreement, which, however, shall not be applicable to navigation between the open ports.
Article II. Licenses shall be obtained for all Japanese ves- sels to be employed in navigation of the coasts and inland waters, upon reporting through the Japanese Consular Officers to the Korean Customs the names and residences of the owners, the names, type and carrying capacity of the vessels, as well as the limits within which such vessels are to navigate.
Licenses shall be available for one year from the date of their issue.
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Article III. Upon receipt of a license, fees shall be paid to the Korean Customs according to the following rates:
For a vessel of foreign type below 100 tons 15.00
For a vessel of Japanese type 15.00
For a vessel of foreign type above 100 and below 500
tons 50.00
For a vessel of foreign type above 500 and below 1,000
tons 1 00.00
For a vessel of foreign type above 1,000 tons 150.00
Article IV. Japanese vessels may freely navigate within the limits specified, but shall not proceed to any place not in Korean territory, except in case of stress of weather or other emergency, or in case special permission has been obtained from the Korean Customs.
Article V. The licenses shall be carried on board the ves- sels during their voyages, and shall be shown whenever requested by the Korean Customs or by local officials of Korea or by chiefs of villages duly authorized by such local official.
Article VI. Japanese shipowners shall have the liberty to lease land for the purpose of building warehouses at the places where their vessels call.
Such owners may also construct piers or wharves on the banks and coasts with the permission of the Korean Customs.
Article VII. In case of infraction of the present agreement by a Japanese vessel, the Korean Customs may cause the license of such vessel to be confiscated, or may refuse to issue a new one, if the offence be found upon examination, to be of a grave nature.
Article VIII. When a Japanese vessel or the crew thereof, infringes the stipulations of the present agreement or of other treaties, or when a member of the crew commits any crime, the Japanese Consular Offices shall deal with the case in accordance with the provisions of the treaties and the laws of Japan.
Article IX. The present agreement shall remain in force for a period of fifteen years from the date of its signature, and after the expiration of each period, further arrangements may be made by mutual agreement.
The two Governments may, however, conclude an agree- ment by mutual consent, even before the expiration of the aforesaid term, when in future the navigation of Korea shall be further developed.
Hayashi Gonsuke, (Seal) Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
The 13th day of the 8th month of the 83rd year of Meiji.
I. Ha-yeng, (Seal) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
The 13th day of the 8th month of the 9th year of Kwang-mu.
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Declaration of the Japanese Government.
November 22, 1905.
The relations of propinquity have made it necessary for Japan to take and exercise, for reasons closely connected with her own safety and repose, a paramount interest and influence in the political and military affairs of Korea. The measures hitherto taken have been purely advisory, but the experience of recent years has demonstrated the insufficiency of measures of guidance alone. The unwise and improvident action of Korea, more especially in the domain of her internationl con- cerns, has in the past been the most fruitful source of compli- cations. To permit the present unsatisfactory condition of things to continue unrestrained and unregulated would be to invite fresh difficulties, and Japan believes that she owes it to herself and to her desire for the general pacification of the extreme East to take the steps necessary to put an end once and for all to this dangerous situation. Accordingly, with that object in view and in order at the same time to safeguard their own position and to promote the well-being of the Government and people of Korea, the Imperial Government have resolved to assume a more intimate and direct influence and responsi- bility than heretofore in the external relations of the Peninsula. The Government of His Majesty the Emperor of Korea are in accord with the Imperial Government as to the absolute necessity of the measure, and the two governments, in order to provide for the peaceful and amicable establishment of the new order of things, have concluded the accompanying compact. In bringing this agreement to the notice of the Powers having treaties with Korea, the Imperial Government declare that in assuming charge of the foreign relations of Korea and under- taking the duty of watching over the execution of the existing treaties of that country, they will see that those treaties are maintained and respected, and they also engage not to prejudice in any way the legitimate commercial and industrial interests of those Powers in Korea.
THE DECLARATION OF KOREAN INDEPENDENCE March 1, 1919
We, the representatives of 20,000,000 united people of Korea, hereby proclaim the independence of Korea and the liberty of the Korean people. This proclamation stands in wit- ness to the equality of nations, and we pass it on to our pos- terity as their inalienable right.
With 4,000 years of history behind us, we take this step to insure to our children forever life, liberty and pursuit of happiness in accord with the awakening consciousness of this new era. This is the clear leading of God and the right of every nation. Our desire for liberty cannot be crushed or destroyed.
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After an independent civilization of several thousand years we have experienced the agony for fourteen years of foreign oppression, which has denied to us freedom of thought and made it impossible for us to share in the intelligent advance of the age in which we live.
To assure us and our children freedom from future oppression, and to be able to give full scope to our national aspirations, as well as to secure blessing and happiness for all time, we regard as the first imperative the regaining of our national independence.
We entertain no spirit of vengeance towards Japan, but our urgent need today is to redeem and rebuild our ruined nation, and not to discuss who has caused Korea’s downfall.
Our part is to influence the Japanese Government, which is now dominated by the old idea of brute force, so that it will change and act in accordance with the principles of justice and truth.
The result of the enforced annexation of Korea by Japan is that every possible discrimination in education, commerce and other spheres of life has been practiced against us most cruelly. Unless remedied, the continued wrong will but intensify the resentment of the 20,000,000 Korean people and make the Far East a constant menace to the peace of the world.
We are conscious that Korea’s independence will mean not only well being and happiness for our race, but also happiness and integrity for the 400,000,000 people of China and make Japan the leader of the Orient instead of the conqueror she is at the present time.
A new era awakes before our eyes, for the old world of force has gone and out of the travail of the past a new world of righteousness and truth has been born.
We desire a full measure of satisfaction in liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In this hope we go forward.
We pledge the following:
1 . This work of ours is in behalf of truth, justice and life and is undertaken at the request of our people to make known their desire for liberty. Let there be no violence.
2. Let those who follow us show every hour with gladness this same spirit.
3. Let all things be done with singleness of purpose so that our behavior to the end may be honorable and upright.
The 4252nd year of the Kingdom of Korea, 3rd month, 1st day.
This document was signed by thirty-three (33) repre- sentatives of the people.
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