FIFTEEN YEARS
THE TOP-KNOT
LIFE I2VKO
SENTINEL GATE AT PALACE. Front iSp'.
FIFTEEN YEARS
AMONG
THE TOP-KNOTS
OR
LIFE
IN KOREA
By
L. H. UN
DERWOOD, M.D.
FRANK F.
With Introduction
by
ELLINWOOD, D.D., LL.D.
3
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY
150
BOSTON
NASSAU STREET
NEW YORK • CHICAGO
Copyright, 1904,
By AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY
THIS LITTLE VOLUME
IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED TO
MY HUSBAND
IN MEMORY OF
FIFTEEN HAPPIEST YEARS
2216511
INTRODUCTION
IT may be said at once, that Mrs. Underwood's narra-
tive of her experience of "Fifteen Years Among the Top-
Knots" constitutes a book of no ordinary interest. There
is no danger that any reader having even a moderate
sympathy with the work of missions in the far East will
be disappointed in the perusal. The writer does not
undertake to give a comprehensive account of missions
in Korea, or even of the one mission which she represents,
but only of the things which she has seen and experienced.
There is something naive and attractive in the way in
which she takes her readers into her confidence while she
tells her story, as trustfully as if she were only writing
to a few relatives and friends. Necessarily she deals very
largely with her own work, and that of her husband, as
of that she is best qualified to speak. Everywhere, how-
ever, there are generous and appreciative references to
the heroic labors of associate missionaries. Nor does she
confine these tributes to members of her own mission.
Some of her highest encomiums are given to members of
other missions, who have laboured and died for the Gos-
pel and the cause of humanity in Korea.
Mrs. Underwood, then Miss Lillias Horton, of Chicago,
went to Korea as a medical missionary in 1888. As a
Secretary of the Presbyterian Board, accustomed to visit
vi INTRODUCTION
our candidates before appointment, I found her a bright
young girl of slight and graceful figure in one of the
Chicago hospitals, where she was adding to her medical
knowledge some practical experience as a trained nurse.
There was nothing of the consciousness of martyrdom in
her appearance, but quite the reverse, as with cheerful
countenance and manner she glided about in her white
uniform among the ward patients. It was evident that
she was looking forward with high satisfaction to the
work to which she had consecrated her life.
The story of her arrival at Chemulpo, of her first
impressions of Korea, is best told in her own words.
The first arrival of a missionary on the field is always a
trying experience. The squalid appearance of the low
native huts, whose huddled groupings Mrs. Underwood
compares to low-lying beds of mushrooms, poorly clad
and dull-eyed fishermen and other peasantry, contrasting
so strongly with the brighter scenes of one's home land,
are enough to fill any but the bravest with discouragement
and despair. But our narrator passed this trying ordeal
by reflecting that she was not a tourist in pursuit of enter-
tainment, but an ambassador of Christ, sent to heal the
bodies and enlighten the souls of the lowly and the suf-
fering.
As a young unmarried woman and quite alone, she
found a welcoming home with Dr. and Mrs. Heron, and
began at once a twofold work of mastering the language,
and of professional service at the hospital. Not long after
her arrival she was called to pay a visit to the queen, who
wished to secure her services as her physician. The
INTRODUCTION vii
relation soon grew into a mutual friendship, and Mrs.
Underwood from that time till the assassination of the
unfortunate queen was her frequent visitor, and in many
respects her personal admirer. She does not hesitate to
express her appreciation of the queen, as a woman of
kind-hearted and generous impulses, high intellectual
capacity, and no ordinary diplomatic ability. Of stronger
mind and higher moral character than her royal husband,
she was his wise counsellor and the chief bulwark of his
precarious power.
Though Mrs. Underwood's book is of the nature of a
narrative, yet its smoothly running current is laden with
all kinds of general information respecting the character
and customs of the people, the condition of the country,
the native beliefs and superstitions, the social degradation,
the poverty and widespread ignorance of the masses.
The account of missionary work is given naturally, its
pros and cons set forth without special laudation on the
one hand, or critical misgiving on the other. It is simply
presented, and left to speak for itself, and it can scarcely
fail to carry to all minds a conviction of the genuineness
and marked success of the great work which our mis-
sionaries in Korea are conducting.
Mrs. Underwood's marriage to Rev. H. G. Underwood,
who had already been four years in the country, is related
with simplicity and good sense, and the remarkable bridal
tour, though given more at length, is really a story not of
honeymoon experiences, but rather of arduous and heroic
missionary itineration. It was contrary to the advice
and against the strong remonstrances of their associates
viii INTRODUCTION
and their friends in the U. S. legation that the young
couple set out in the early spring of 1889 for a pioneering
tour through Northern Korea.
Fortunately for the whole work of our Protestant mis-
sions, the most favorable impression had been made upon
the Korean Court and upon the people by the striking and
most valuable service which had been rendered by Dr. H.
N. Allen, our first medical missionary, and now U. S.
Minister in Korea. He had healed the wounds of some
distinguished Koreans, who had been nearly killed in a
midnight conflict between the Chinese and Japanese garri-
sons at Seoul.
Although there were strong prohibitory decrees against
the admission of foreigners in the interior, Mr. and Mrs.
Underwood ventured to presume upon the connivance of
the officials at their proposed journey to the far north.
Traveling as missionaries and without disguise, it was a
plucky undertaking for the young bride, since, so far as
known, she was the first foreign woman who had made
such a tour. The journey was a protracted one and
involved all kinds of hardship and privation. Nothing
worthy of a name of inn was to be found, but only some
larger huts in which travelers were packed away amid
every variety of filth and vermin.
The curiosity of the people to see a foreign woman
was such that the mob everywhere scrupled not to punch
holes through the paper windows and doors to get a
peep. After having been borne all day in a chair, not
over roads, but through tortuous bridle paths, over
rocks and through sloughs, it was found well-nigh im-
INTRODUCTION ix
possible to rest at night. ' All sorts of noises early and
late added to their discomfort. As to food, the difficulty
of subsisting on such fare as the people could furnish may
be well imagined. They were not wholly free from the
fear of wild animals, for some districts through which
they passed were infested by tigers and leopards. But
their greatest danger was that of falling into the hands
of roaming bands of robbers. Mrs. Underwood's account
of one experience of this kind will be read with thrilling
interest.
Fortunately, Mr. Underwood had already made one or
two shorter tours through the country alone, and had
baptized a few converts here and there. The passports
also which he carried with him secured the favor of some
of the district magistrates, so that the two were not
exposed wholly to hostile influences.
It is impossible in few words to do justice to the story
related in this interesting book, which was prepared by
Mrs. Underwood at the request of the American Tract
Society, or do anything more than commend in general
terms its various presentations. One of these relating
to the experiences of a severe cholera season, during
which missionaries, not only medical but also clerical,
remained faithfully at their posts, unmindful of the per-
sonal risks and of the heat, filth and discomfort of an
unsanitary city in the most sickly months, in order to do
all in their power to save the lives and mitigate the
sufferings of the poor and despairing people. The
account is given with great simplicity, and without osten-
tatious claims of heroism, and may be regarded as a true
x INTRODUCTION
representation of the faithful service often rendered by
our missionaries in times of trial and great suffering.
Mrs. Underwood's book will be read with peculiar
interest at this time, when all attention is turned to the far
East and especially to Korea, which seems likely to be the
battleground in the war between Russia and Japan. The
position of the poor Koreans, government and people, is
calculated to elicit the sympathy of all Christians and all
philanthropists. Every one wonders what will be the
outcome for poor Korea. It is indeed a time for
earnest prayer that the God of nations will overrule all
current events for the best good of this belligerent people
and for the advancement of Christ's Kingdom.
F. F. ELLIN WOOD.
NEW YORK, Feb. 20, 1904.
PREFACE
THE chapters which are here given to the public are
simply reminiscent, a brief story of a few years of the
writer's life in one of the most unique and interesting of
all the Eastern countries, among a people who are singu-
larly winning and lovable.
I beg that in reading these pages it may be remembered
that this book makes no pretense whatever to being a text
or reference book on Korea, or in any respect a history of
Korean missions. The writer has simply strung together
a few events which have fallen under her own personal
observation during the last fifteen years. If more fre-
quent reference is made to the work carried on by my
husband and myself than to others, it is simply because it
is only with regard to that which has been woven into the
web of my own experience that I can speak with exactness
and authority. All it is hoped to accomplish is, that suffi-
cient insight into the customs and character of the people,
and their moral and political atmosphere, with the results,
opportunities and possible limitations of mission work,
may be given to induce the reader to study further, and
perchance to question what his relation to it all is.
I must acknowledge my great indebtedness to Dr.
H. N. Allen's chronological index, by which I have been
able to verify many dates.
xii PREFACE
I am also indebted to the "Korean Repository," and to
the "Life of Dr. James Hall," for part of the story of the
events connected with his work in Pyeng Yang, both be-
fore and after the war, and for the official report of the
trial of the queen's murderers at Hiroshima. More than
all, I am obliged to my husband, by whose assistance I
have obtained from Koreans the particulars relating to the
Emeute of 1884, the Tonghaks, the Pusaings, the Inde-
pendents, and the Romanists. He has also given me many
of the anecdotes of native Christian life, and as we lived
it all out ourselves, this volume is as much his as mine.
LILLIAS H. UNDERWOOD.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PACK
First Arrival — First Impressions — The City of Seoul
— Korean Houses — Mission Homes — Personnel of Mission
in 1888 — Beginnings of Work — Difficulties in Attaining the
Language — Korean Religions — Palace Women — First Inter-
view with Palace Women — Entertainment Given in my
Honor by President of Foreign Office — The Interdict — Con-
fidence Exhibited by Government in Protestant Missionaries
— The "Baby Riots" — Babies Reported to Have Been Eaten
at Foreign Legations — Restoring Confidence — The Signal —
First Invitation to Palace I
CHAPTER II
The Palaces— The Stone Dogs— The Fire God's Defeat—
The Summer Pleasure House — Royal Reception Hall —
Court Dress of Noblemen — First Impression of the King —
Appearance of the Queen — The Queen's Troubles — The
Queen's Coup d'fitat — The Verb Endings — The Queen's
Generosity — Stone Fight — Gifts — The Quaga — Poukhan —
Its Impregnability — Picturesque Surroundings of Seoul —
Pioneer Work — Progress of Work — The Queen's Wedding
Gift — Our Wedding — Opposition to my Going to the Interior
— My Chair — The Chair Coolies 20
CHAPTER III
We Start on our Wedding Journey — Songdo — Guards at
our Gates — Crossing the Tai-tong — Difficulties in Finding an
Inn — Korean Launderings — An Old Man Seeks to be Rid of
Sin — Mob at an Inn — A Ruffian Bursts Open my Door —
Fight in the Inn Yard — Pat Defies the Crowd — Convenience
of Top-Knots — A Magistrate Refuses to Shelter Us — The
"Captain" to the Rescue — Pack-ponies — We Lay a Deep
xiv CONTENTS
PAGE
Scheme — Torch Bearers — A Mountain Hamlet — Tiger
Traps — Tigers — A Band of Thirty Conspire to Attack us —
.Guns Used by Native Hunters — A Tiger Story . .38
CHAPTER IV
Leaving Kangai — We Choose a Short Cut — Much Goitre
in the Mountains — A Deserted Village — The Jericho Road —
We are Attacked by Robbers — A Struggle in the Inn Yard
— Odds too Great — Our Attendants are Seized and Carried
Off — The Kind Inn-Keeper — Inopportune Patients — A Race
for Life — A City of Refuge — A Beautiful Custom — Safe at
Last — The Magistrate Turns Out to be an Old Friend — The
Charge to the Hunters 60
CHAPTER V
Our Stay in Wewon — We Give a Dinner — Our Guests —
Magistrates Propose that we Travel with a Chain-Gang —
Our Trip Down the Yalu — The Rapids — Contrast Between
Korean and Chinese Shores — We Enter Weju — The Drunken
Magistrate — Presents and Punishments — Unpleasant Expe-
riences with Insincere People — Rice Christians — The Schem-
ing Colporter — The Men Baptized in Weju — The Lost Pass-
port— Another Audience at the Palace — Queen's Dress and
Ornaments — Korean Summer House — The Pocket Dictionary
— Our Homes 77
CHAPTER VI
An Audience at the Palace — Dancing Girls — Entertain-
ment Given after the Audience — Printing the Dictionary and
Grammar — A Korean in Japan — Fasting to Feast — Death of
Mr. Davies — Dr. Heron's Sickness — Mrs. Heron's Midnight
Ride — Dr. Heron's Death — Difficulty in Getting a Cemetery
Concession — Forced Return to America — Compensations —
Chemulpo in Summer — The "Term Question" in China,
Korea and Japan — Difficulties in the Work . . . -93
CHAPTER VII
The Mission in 1893 — "The Shelter" — Opening of Japanese
War — Seoul Populace Panic Stricken — Dr. and Mrs. Hall in
Pyeng Yang — Heroic Conduct of Native Christians — Condi-
tion of Pyeng Yang after the War— Dr. Hall's Death—
CONTENTS xv
PAGE
Preaching the Gospel at the Palace — The Queen Seeks to
Strengthen Friendly Relations with Europeans — Her
Majesty's Generosity — A Little Child at the Palace — The
Slaves of the Ring — A Christmas Tree at the Palace — The
Queen's Beneficent Plans — The Post-office Emeute of 1884 —
A Haunted Palace — The Murder of Kim Oh Kiun . . 106
CHAPTER VIII
Mr. McKenzie— The First Church Built by Natives— Mr.
McKenzie's Sickness — His Death — Warning to New Mission-
aries— The Tonghaks — Mr. Underwood's Trip to Sorai in
Summer — Native Churches — Our Use of Helpers — Christians
in Seoul Build their Own Church — Epidemic of Cholera —
Unhygienic Practices — Unsanitary Condition of City . . 123
CHAPTER IX
Difficulty of Enforcing Quarantine Regulations — Greedy
Officials "Eat" Relief Funds — Americans Stand Alone to
Face the Foe — The Emergency Cholera Hospital — The In-
spection Officers — We Decide to Use the "Shelter" — A
Pathetic Case — The Jesus Man — Gratitude of the Koreans —
The New Church — The Murder of the Queen — Testimony of
Foreigners — The Official Report 136
CHAPTER X
The Palace after the Murder— Panic— Attitude of For-
eign Legations — The King's Life in Hourly Danger — Noble
Refugees — Americans on Guard — Mistakes of the New Gov-
ernment— Objectionable Sumptuary Laws — A Plan to Rescue
the King — One Night at the Palace — Forcing an Entrance —
Our Little Drama — Escape of General Yun .... 153
CHAPTER XI
Customs Centering around the Top-Knot — Christians
Sacrificing Their Top-Knots — A Cruel Blow — Beginning of
Christian Work in Koksan — A Pathetic Appeal — People Bap-
tize Themselves — Hard-Hearted Cho — The King's Escape —
People Rally Round Him — Two Americans in the Interior —
In the Midst of a Mob — Mob Fury — Korea in the Arms of
Russia — Celebrating the King's Birthday — Patriotic Hymns
— Lord's Prayer in Korean , 167
xvi CONTENTS
CHAPTER XII
PAGE
A Korean Christian Starts Work in Haing Ju — Changed
Lives of Believers — A Reformed Saloon-Keeper — The Con-
version of a Sorceres-s — Best of Friends — A Pleasant Night
on the Water — Evidence of Christian Living — Our Visit in
Sorai — A Korean Woman's Work — How a King Acts at
Times — Applicants for Baptism — Two Tonghaks — In a Strait
betwixt Two — Midnight Alarms — Miss Jacobson's Death . 183
CHAPTER XIII
Our Mission to Japan — Spies — One Korean Summer —
The Queen's Funeral — The Procession — The Burial by
Starlight — The Independents — The Pusaings — The Inde-
pendents Crushed 201
CHAPTER XIV
Itineration Incidents — Kaiwha — Christian Evidences —
Buying Christian Books instead of an Office — Seed Sowing
— Moxa's Boy in the Well — Kugungers Again — Pung Chung
— Pyeng Yang — The Needs of the Women .... 216
CHAPTER XV
Another Itineration — Christians in Eul Yul — A Ride in an
Ox-Cart — Keeping the Cow in the Kitchen — Ox-Carts and
Mountain Roads — The Island of White Wing — A Midnight
Meeting — Thanksgiving Day in Sorai — The Circular Orders
— New Testament Finished — All in the Day's Work — The
Korean Noble — Meetings of the Nobility .... 237
CHAPTER XVI
Furloughs — Chong Dong Church — Romanists in Whang
Hai — Missionaries to the Rescue — Romanists Annoy and
Hinder the Judge — Results — Interview between Governor
and Priest — The Inspector's Report — Women's Work in Hai
Ju — Death of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Miller — The
End 254
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
SENTINEL GATE AT PALACE Frontispiece
CITY OF SEOUL
SCHOOL BOYS
KOREAN OFFICIAL IN CHAIR
KOREAN STREET
MAIN ENTRANCE TO PALACE
KOREAN STONE DOG IN FRONT OF PALACE GATES ....
PLEASURE HOUSE
HIGH KOREAN OFFICIAL, KIM YAN SIK
A KOREAN NOBLEMAN
THE KING OF KOREA
SURROUNDINGS OF SEOUL
A STREET CROWD
INDEPENDENCE ARCH
FERRY BOAT
TAI-TONG RIVER
METHOD OF IRONING
CARRIER OX
CANDY BOY
GATE IN THE WALL OF NAM HAN
HOUSE USED BY MISSIONARIES ON TOP OF NAM HAN .
DESERTED PALACE
DESERTED ROYAL DINING HALL
CHURCH AT SORAI
A KOREAN TOP-KNOT
RUSSIAN LEGATION HOUSE
PRINCE YI CHAI SOON, COUSIN OF KING
CARRIERS WITH JIKAYS
KOREAN WOMEN AT WORK
GIRLS SEWING AND WRITING WITH NATIVE TEACHER .
THE OX-CART OR TALGOOGY
HORSES IN AN INN YARD
xviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PARTY STARTING OUT IN MORNING FROM THATCHED INN
BOYS PEDDLING
A BUTCHER SHOP
BASKET SHOP
ELDER SHAW OF SORAI AND HIS FAMILY
MRS. KIM OF SORAI AND HER FAMILY ....
SMALL BOY SCRAPING UP REFUSE FOR FIRES .
WOMAN WITH BUNDLE OF WASHING ON HER HEAD .
A KOREAN VILLAGE
THE ROUND GATE, SEOUL
FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG
THE TOP-KNOTS
CHAPTER I
First Arrival — First Impressions — The City of Seoul — Korean
Houses — Mission Homes — Personnel of Mission in 1888 —
Beginnings of Work — Difficulties in Attaining the Language
— Korean Religions — Palace Women — First Interview with
Palace Women — Entertainment Given in my Honor by Presi-
dent of Foreign Office — The Interdict — Confidence Exhibited
by Government in Protestant Missionaries — The "Baby
Riots" — Babies Reported to have been Eaten at Foreign
Legations — Restoring Confidence — The Signal — First Invi-
tation to Palace.
I LANDED in Korea at the port of Chemulpo on a cloudy,
windy March day, in 1888. My eyes fell on a rocky shore,
back of which the bare sharp outline of low hills, whitened
with patches of snow, was relieved by no trees to break
the monotony of the scene. Dreary mud flats, instead of
a sandy beach, lay reeking and slimy along the water's
edge. As our boat neared the shore, for there was and is
no pier, and ships even at high tide cannot approach very
near, wild and strange-looking men, uttering wild and
strange-sounding speech, came hurrying down the hill to
inspect us.
Their coarse black hair was long and dishevelled, in
some instances braided in a single pigtail, in most cases,
however, tied on top of the head, where a careless attempt
at a top-knot had been made, but elf-locks straying round
2 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
the neck and face gave a wolfish and unkempt ap-
pearance. They were Mongolians with all the race
features, not differing much from Chinese or Japanese ex-
cept in dress, and being in the main rather taller than the
latter people. Their garments appeared to consist of a
short loose jacket and long baggy trousers, of a dirty
white native cloth. These garments among the poorer
classes are never changed oftener than twice in a month.
These were the people among whom I had come to
work — this the country which I had chosen instead of
the "groves and templed hills" of my own dear native
land. My heart swelled, and lifted up a yearning prayer
that it might not be in vain.
In justice to the Koreans, however, I ought to say here,
that the people whom I saw that morning were of the
lowest and roughest class, their dress the poorest sort,
and that Chemulpo, especially in March, is perhaps the
most forbidding and unsightly place in Korea. Being
the main port for the capital, it is made up, as ports often
are, very largely of a mixture of various nationalities.
Man)r sailors and traders, and especially Chinese and
Japanese merchants, have built their poor houses and
shops in the main town.
The trip from Chemulpo to Seoul, about twenty-eight
miles, was made the following day, in a Sedan-chair car-
ried by four coolies. The road, although a much traveled
one, was very bad, but is now replaced by a railroad which
accomplishes the distance in about two hours and a half.
The country I found pleasantly rolling — comparatively
few trees were seen, and the population thereabout seemed
quite sparse. Here and there were squalid mud huts
thatched with straw. I found on inquiry that this little
land, lying west of Japan, attached at its northern ex-
tremity to China and Siberia, has an area of about ninety
THE CITY OF SEOUL 3
thousand square miles and a population of over fourteen
millions of people, with a climate varying from that in the
north, like northern New York, to that in the extreme
south, like southern Virginia.
We approached Seoul about four o'clock in the after-
noon, and I was thrilled at the sight of the first walled
town I had ever beheld. The walls are very picturesque
— built of great blocks of stone — hung with ivy, and give
an impression of great age.
At the time of my arrival, and for some few years after,
a very interesting custom was in vogue with regard to the
closing of these gates. Korea had for centuries a signal
fire service, by which news of peace or war was with
telegraphic rapidity conveyed to Seoul, and by number,
frequency of repetition and other expedients a tolerably
useful code had been established. On the south mountain,
within the walls, were four beacons, one for each point of
the compass, to which these lines converged. Every even-
ing as soon as the sun had set, when the bright glow of
these four beacon fires published the fact that all was well
in his majesty's dominions, four officials, whose business
it was to report to the king the message of the fires, pre-
sented themselves at the palace, and with low obeisance,
each announced that all was well in the north — in the
south — the east — and the west. On this, the palace band
struck up its gayest airs, and when this music was heard,
the signal was given for the tolling of the great curfew
bell in the center of the city. When the extremely sweet
and solemn, low and yet penetrating tones of this bell were
heard, the ponderous gates were swung to and barred,
not to be reopened till the ringing of the same bell
at the first streak of dawn gave the signal to the
keepers.
Entering through these gates, fortunately not yet
4 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
closed, we saw narrow, filthy streets, flanked by low mud
houses, either thatched with straw, or tiled. It has been
aptly said that the city looks like a vast bed of mushrooms,
since none of the Korean houses are built more than one
story high.
The common people are very poor and their homes
seem to an American wretchedly poor and comfortless,
and yet, compared with the most destitute of London or
New York, there are few who go cold or hungry in Seoul.
Each dwelling is so arranged that the part of the house
occupied by the women, which is called the anpang, or
inner room, shall be screened from sight from the street
and from those entering the gate — for every house has at
least a tiny courtyard, part of which is also screened off
(either by another wall, or by mats, or trees and bushes)
for the women's use.
Many of the homes of the poor consist of but one room,
with a sort of outer shed, which is used as kitchen. Such
a place often has no window, or at most only a tiny one,
and both window and door are covered with white paper
instead of glass. These doors are usually very low and
narrow, so that even a small woman must stoop to enter,
and within it is not always possible to stand upright ex-
cept in the center, where the roof is highest. These small
rooms are easily heated by means of a system of flues
built under the floor, which consists of stone and mud. A
fire of brush and twigs is kindled under one side of the
house, and as the chimney opens at the other side, the
draft naturally carries smoke and heat through the flues,
the floor becomes very hot, and the whole room is quickly
warmed. The fireplace is built in with pots for boiling the
rice — so that a great advantage is obtained in the matter
of economy, the one fire booth cooks and warms. Wher-
ever it can be afforded, a sarang, or men's sitting room,
KOREAN. HOUSES 5
which opens directly on the street or road, or upon the
men's court, is part of the establishment. Here any man
may enter ; male guests are entertained, and fed, and here
they sleep. No men not members of the family or rela-
tives ever enter the anpang.
It is needless to say that everything in connection with
these houses is fearfully unsanitary, and many of them are
filthy and full of vermin. All sewage flows out into the
unspeakable ditches on either side of the street. Of late
years efforts have been made to alter this state of things,
better streets have been laid, and the open sewers, which
have existed for many years, are sluiced out by the sum-
mer rains, which are the salvation of the city.
It was a great and delightful surprise when suddenly,
entering a gate in a mud wall, we left behind us these
dirty streets and saw around us a lovely lawn, flower beds,
bushes and trees, and a pretty picturesque mission home.
It was like magic. I found our mission in possession of
native houses which had been occupied in past years by
wealthy but now ruined or banished noblemen. They had
been purchased at a ridiculously low price in a condition
of dilapidation, repaired at little expense and the interiors
more or less Europeanized. The one which I entered
had, with great good taste, been left without other ceiling
than its quaint and massive beams and rafters of black-
ened wood, the walls were prettily papered, and rugs and
comfortable furniture and a few pictures and ornaments
gave a homelike air. The rooms were spacious, and
having been the dwelling of the rich, they were not so low
or dark as those I have just described.
Our mission, which at that time had been established
about four years, was high in favor with the government.
Dr. Allen first, and later Dr. Heron, were the official
physicians to the king, who had established a government
6 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
hospital, over which he had placed them in charge. Miss
Ellers, lately married, had been appointed medical ad-
viser to the queen and had been placed in charge of the
women's department of the hospital, both of which posi-
tions she had resigned after her marriage, and to both of
which I had been appointed to succeed. The members of
the mission whom I found were Dr. and Mrs. Heron,
Rev. H. G. Underwood and Mrs. Bunker (formerly Miss
Ellers). Dr. and Mrs. Allen had returned to America on
an official mission.
Work had been well started, the hospital was daily
crowded with patients, in addition to which Dr. Heron
had a large foreign and native practice, as well as a hos-
pital school for the instruction of future drug clerks and
medical students. Mr. Underwood had established an
orphan boys' home and school, had assisted Dr. Allen in
his clinics till the arrival of Dr. Heron, and was at that
time, in addition to the entire care of the orphanage, teach-
ing in the government hospital school, which it was hoped
might be the stepping stone to a medical school. He was
holding regular religious services, and about thirty had
been baptized. He had made a long trip into the interior,
up to the northern borders, selling tracts and preaching
everywhere. Language helps were in preparation, and the
Gospel of Mark in a tentative form had been translated.
Miss Ellers was in charge of women's medical work up
to my arrival, and was high in favor with the queen, who
had bestowed rank upon her, and many costly presents.
She had also begun to work and train the first member of
the girls' school.
I found that help was much needed on all sides. The
day after my arrival saw me installed at the hospital with
an interpreter at my side. Here work usually lasted about
three hours. My home was with Dr. and Mrs. Heron,
THE LANGUAGE STUDY 7
who with warmest kindness had fitted up a sunny room
for me. Here Dr. Heron and I had a joint dispensary, and
here I was besieged at all hours by women desiring medi-
cal attention. I soon found that language study was con-
tinually interrupted very seriously by these applicants,
who respected not times or seasons. I was of course called
upon to visit patients in their homes, one of whom, the
wife of the Chinese minister of state, Prince Uan (now a
very prominent personage in Chinese matters), must be
seen every day with an amount of ceremony which took
not a little of my precious time. However, finding that
others were being overworked, I consented to give two
hours each day to teaching the little orphans arithmetic
and English.
Of course we made slow progress, and floundered not a
little when the teacher knew no Korean, and the pupils no
English. This institution had the unqualified favor of the
king, and except the hospital was the first institution in
Korea which illustrated the loving-kindness of the Lord.
We hoped it might become a successful school, where
souls might be saved, ere they had been steeped for years
in vice, and the first steps taken in the preparation of
evangelists and preachers ; so we felt it a privilege to help.
My first duty and chief desire was of course to acquire the
language, but this was much interrupted by this other
work. As we stood there, such a little company among
these dying millions, we could not realize that hours of
preparation then meant doubled usefulness in years to
come, and so time and energy, that should have been spent
mainly in study, were poured out in hospital, dispensary
and schools.
The new missionaries of these later days are put in a
language incubator as soon as they arrive and kept there
till they emerge full-fledged linguists, who have passed
8 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
three searching examinations by the language committee
of the missions. Then we sat down with an English-
Chinese dictionary (most scholarly Koreans know a little
Chinese), a Korean-French dictionary, a French grammar
and a Korean reader with a small English primer on
Korean, the Gospel of Mark and a Korean catechism for
text books. We were presented to a Korean gentleman
knowing not one syllable of English, or the first principles
of the constructions of any language on earth, or even
the parts of speech, and without the glimmering of an
idea as to the best methods or any method of teaching,
who yet was called, probably ironically, "a teacher," from
whom we were expected to pump with all diligence such
information on the language as he was able to bestow.
With scanty knowledge of French, more than rusty from
long disuse, I labored and floundered, trying now this
plan, now that, with continual interruptions and discour-
agements.
Before I could more than stammer a few sentences I
was called upon to begin religious teaching, so undertook
a Sunday school service with the little boys, using a cate-
chism which I could not yet translate, but (knowing the
sounds) could hear the boys recite. Soon after I began
holding a Bible class with a few women, with the aid of a
little native boy who had learned English and a former
sorceress who could read the Chinese Scriptures. This
woman would read the chapter, we all united in the Lord's
prayer and in singing the few hymns then translated, and
I talked to the women through the medium of my little
interpreter. I struggled and stumbled. The women were
patient and polite, but to our Father it must have looked
the spoiled tangled patchwork of the child who wished to
help, with ignorant, untaught hands, and made a loving
botch of it all.
KOREAN RELIGIONS 9
Perhaps right here a few words about the Korean re-
ligions may be in place. Confucianism, Buddhism and
Taouism all hold a sort of sway over the natives, and yet
all have lost, to a great extent, the influence they once had.
The majority have very little faith in any religion. Con-
fucianism, otherwise a mere philosophical system of
morals, has the strongest hold upon the people in the laws
it enjoins for ancestor worship. This custom, enforced
by the strongest and most widespread superstitions in the
minds of the Koreans, binds them with fetters stronger
than iron. If ancestors are not worshiped with most
punctilious regard to every smallest detail of the law,
dire calamities will befall, from the wrath of irate and
neglected spirits. The servitude thus compelled is hard
and wearisome, but not one jot or tittle must be omitted,
and woe to the wretch who, embracing another doctrine,
fails to perform these rites. He or she is looked upon as
more than a traitor to home and friends, false to the most
sacred obligations. Buddhism has fallen low, until very
lately its priests were forbidden to enter the capital, and
they rank next to the slayer of cattle, the lowest in the
land.
A few Buddhist temples are maintained at government
expense or by endowment, and women and children, and
all the more ignorant, still worship and believe, to some
extent. The same classes also worship and fear an infi-
nite number of all sorts of evil deities — gods or demons,
who infest earth, air and sea, gods of various diseases, and
all trades; these in common with Satan himself must be
propitiated with prayers and sacrifices, beating of drums,
ringing of bells and other ceremonials too numerous to
mention.
Over all other objects of worship, they believe, is the
great Heavens, the personification of the visible heavens,
io FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
who, as nearly as 1 can discover, is identical with the
Baal referred to in the Old Testament; but everywhere
their faith waxes more and more feeble in these old worn-
out superstitions. In many cases only respect for ancient
customs and public opinion keeps them even in appear-
ance to the outward forms of worship. They are as sheep
without a shepherd, lost in the wilderness, "faint and
hungry, and ready to die," and so when the gospel comes,
it finds many weary souls, ready to take Christ's yoke
upon them and find his rest.
And yet how hopeless looked the task we had before us
in those days, a little company of scarce a dozen people,
including our Methodist brethren, many of us able to
stammer only a few words of the language as yet, at-
tempting to introduce Christianity into a nation of four-
teen or more millions of people, in the place of their long
established religions ; and beginning with a few poor
farmers and old women. But the elements of success, the
certainty of victory, lay in the divine nature of the re-
ligion, and in the Almighty God who sent us with it.
This knowledge inspired us and this alone.
A few days after my arrival in Seoul a messenger came
from the queen, to bid me welcome, and inquire if I had
had a pleasant journey, and shortly after Mrs. Heron
asked some of the queen's attendants to meet me at
luncheon. These women are not, as in other courts, ladies
of high rank, for such could never, under Korean cus-
toms, endure the publicity of the palace, but are taken
as children and young girls from the middle and lower
classes, and entirely separated from all others, to the
service of the majesties. They usually hold no rank, and
are treated with respect, only on account of their relations
to the royal family. They wear on all state occasions im-
mense quantities of false hair, which gives them a pecu-
THE PALACE WOMEN II
liarly grotesque appearance ; are much powdered and per-
fumed, with pencilled and shaven eyebrows ; wear long
flowing silken robes, gilded ornaments in their hair and at
their waists; and present the sad spectacle of women
whose very decorations seem only to add to and empha-
size their painful uncomeliness.
Korean women as a rule are not beautiful. I, who love
them as much as any one ever did, who look upon them as
my own sisters, must confess this. Sorrow, hopelessness,
hard labor, sickness, lovelessness, ignorance, often, too
often, shame, have dulled their eyes, and hardened and
scarred their faces, so that one looks in vain for a sem-
blance of beauty among women over twenty-five years of
age. Among the little maids and young wives (saixies),
who do not yet show the effects of the heavy hand of care
and toil, one often finds a sweet bright gentle face that is
pretty, winning, and very rarely even beautiful. But
these poor palace women come not under that class ; hard-
ened, coarse and vulgar, their appearance only calls forth
compassion. I found to my surprise that they were all
smokers, and they were equally surprised that I would not
accept their invitation to join them in this indulgence.
They examined my dress and belongings with childish
curiosity, and deluged me with questions as to my age,
why I had never married, whether I had children, and
why not, and other things equally impertinent and hard to
answer ; but were after all good natured, friendly and well
meaning.
This was my first introduction to Korean officialdom,
and following this within a very short time came another,
in the form of a luncheon and acrobatic entertainment
given for me by the President of the Foreign Office, Kim
Yun Sik. This invitation came for the following Sunday
— and troubled me, because I was afraid the official (who
12 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
was quite ignorant of our customs and was offering me a
flattering evidence of courtesy and good will) would be
hurt by my refusal to accept an invitation for that day,
and would very likely misunderstand it. However, there
was nothing else to be done, and with suitable explana-
tions, I announced my extreme regret at being obliged to
refuse his kindness.
With great good feeling, he then changed the day, and
I was given carte blanche to invite my friends, and of
course asked the ladies of the Methodist mission, as well
as our own. Several Korean gentlemen of high rank, in-
cluding those in connection with the hospital, and others,
had also been invited by my host. The table, for in defer-
ence to our foreign custom, one long table, instead of a
number of small ones, had been arranged — was piled high
with Korean dainties. Chicken, pheasant and other cold
meats, fish, eggs, nuts and fruits prepared in many fanci-
ful ways, Chinese preserved fruits and candies, a gutta-
percha-like delicacy called "dock," made of rice and oil
pounded well together, an alcoholic native beverage called
siil, and champagne and cigars. It is needless to say that
we Americans did not partake of these latter additions to
the menu. A vast crowd from the streets poured into the
large courtyard, to see the acrobats, who were a strolling
band hired for the occasion. Their performance consisted
chiefly in tight-rope walking and tumbling, and was in no
way remarkable. It lasted, however, nearly three hours,
during all of which time we listened to the monotonous
whining of the Korean band, more like a Scotch bagpipe
(dear cousins, forgive) than anything else I know of; and
learned the Korean verb "anchera" (sit down), which I
heard that day repeated a thousand times, in all its moods,
tenses and case endings, in tones of exasperation to the
irrepressible Korean boy, who ivould stand up to see, just
THE INTERDICT 13
for all the world like some boys of whiter skin, nearer
home.
Just before this, Mr. Underwood and Mr. Appenzeller
had started on a long itinerating trip toward the north,
the second Mr. Underwood had undertaken. While they
were absent the wrath of the Korean king and cabinet
against the Romanists reached the boiling point, and cul-
minated in a decree forbidding the further teaching of
foreign religions in the ports. The country was not open
to us (as it is not to-day, except by special passports).
The Romanists, with their well-known love of chief seats
and high places, failing to profit by their former experi-
ences of trouble from similar causes in China, insisted
upon choosing as the site for their future cathedral one of
the highest points in the city, overlooking the palace, and
adjoining the temple holding royal ancestral tablets. The
property had been obtained unknown to the king,
through the medium of Korean agents, and though he
used his utmost endeavors, both with the priests and with
the French legation, to induce them to change this for
any other site, they remained obdurate, utterly refused to
yield, and proceeded to lay the foundation of their church.
The decree immediately followed, and the American min-
ister advised, nay ordered, us to recall our missionaries,
who most unwillingly returned. There were, indeed,
those who asserted that this early attempt to carry the
Gospel into the interior had been, at least in part, the cause
of the obnoxious decree, which made it look as if our
work was, for a time at least, at an end. That this was
not so was proved by the fact that Mr. Underwood had
hardly returned ere he was waited upon by a committee
consisting of high Korean nobles and members of the
cabinet, offering him the entire charge of their govern-
ment school, with a generous salary, and with the full
14 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
understanding that he would not hesitate to teach Chris-
tianity to the pupils.
This offer, displaying the great confidence, instead of
the displeasure and suspicion which foreigners assured us
was the feeling of the Koreans toward our evangelistic
workers, was taken into serious consideration, but was
finally refused on account of its interference with other
work, and for other reasons equally important.
It remained to us all to decide upon our course of con-
duct with regard to the prohibitory decree. Some of our
number — the majority — argued, that as it was the law of
the land, nothing remained for Christian law-abiding peo-
ple but to obey it, to stop holding even morning prayers in
our schools, to hold no religious services with Koreans,
but to wait and pray, until God should move the king's
heart, and have the decree rescinded. By this course they
believed we should win favor with the authorities, while
defiance or disobedience might cause our whole mission to
be expelled from the country.
A small minority, however, Mr. Appenzeller, now with
the Lord, his wife, Mr. Underwood and myself, held that
the decree had never been issued against us or our work,
and that even if it had, we were under higher orders than
that of a Korean king. Our duty was to preach and take
the consequences, resting for authority on the word of
God, spoken through Peter, in Acts, 4:19, to the rulers
who forbade the apostles to preach, "Whether it be right
in the sight of God, to hearken unto you, more than unto
God, fudge ye, for we cannot but speak the things which
we have seen and heafd." Others might stop, as they did,
with sorrow, conscientiously believing that to be the best
course; we continued to teach and preach, in public and
private, singing hymns, which could be heard far and
near, in the little meeting-house. No attempt was ever
THE BABY RIOTS 15
made in any way to hinder us. Christians and other at-
tendants on services came and went unmolested. Chris-
tianity has grown much since then, and is acknowledged
as a factor in the politics of more than one province. No
one ever thinks now of disguising or in any way conceal-
ing our work, yet that law has never to this 'day been re-
scinded. This is exactly in accord with Eastern customs.
Laws become a dead letter, and pass into disuse ; they are
not often annulled.
Another event of interest, which occurred during these
first months after my arrival in Korea, was the excitement
culminating in what were called "the baby riots."
Similar troubles in Tientsin, China, had some years pre-
viously resulted in the massacre of a number of foreign-
ers, including Jesuit priests, nuns and two or three French
officials.
Some person or persons, with malicious intent, started a
rumor which spread like wild-fire, that foreigners were
paying wicked Koreans to steal native children, in order
to cut out their hearts and eyes, to be used for medicine.
This crime was imputed chiefly to the Japanese, and it was
supposed the story had been originated by Chinese or
others especially inimical to the large numbers of Japanese
residents in the capital. Mr. Underwood acquainted the
Japanese minister with the rumors, in order that he might
protect himself and his people ; which he promptly did by
issuing, and causing to be issued by the government, proc-
lamations entirely clearing his countrymen of all blame in
the matter, which it was left to be understood was
an acknowledged fact, and consequently the work of other
"vile foreigners," namely, ourselves and the Europeans.
The excitement and fury grew hourly. Large crowds of
angry people congregated, scowling, muttering, and
threatening. Koreans carrying their own children were
16 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
attacked, beaten, and even killed, on the supposition that
they were kidnapping the children of others ; and a high
Korean official, who tried to protect one of these men, was
pulled from his chair, and narrowly escaped with his life,
although he was surrounded by a crowd of retainers and
servants. It was considered unsafe for foreigners to be
seen in the street. Marines were called up from Chemul-
po to guard the different legations, and some Americans
even packed away their most necessary clothing and valu-
ables, preparatory to fleeing to the port. The wildest
stories were told. Babies, it was said, had been eaten at
the German, English, and American legations, and the
hospital, of course, was considered by all the headquarters
of this bloodthirsty work, for there, where medicine was
manufactured and diseases treated, the babies must
certainly be butchered.
One day, when returning from my clinic, my chair was
surrounded by rough-looking men, who told my bearers
that they should all be killed if they carried me to the
hospital again ; and such was the terror inspired, that these
men positively refused to take me thither the following
day. So I rode on horseback through the city to the hos-
pital, Mr. Underwood, who also had duties at the hospital
school, acting as my escort. We went and returned quite
unmolested, and it has been my experience then and later,
that a bold front and appearance of fearlessness and un-
concern in moments of danger impress Asiatics, and act
as a great safeguard for the foreigner.
In the meanwhile, however, the European foreign rep-
resentatives had awakened to the fact that a very real
danger threatened our little community, and might ripen
at any moment into destruction. Proclamations from the
Foreign Office were posted everywhere, but the earliest of
these were mistakenly worded, leaving the impression
RESTORING CONFIDENCE 17
still that possibly some "vile foreigner" had instituted
these awful deeds, and that should he be discovered sore
punishment would follow. At last, however, a notice ap-
peared, written at the dictation of these same "vile for-
eigners," in which it was positively stated that not only
had no such thing been done by any foreigners, but that
should any one be caught uttering these slanders, he
would be at once arrested, and unless able to prove the
truth of his tales, be punished with death. Detectives and
police officers were scattered everywhere through the city,
people were forbidden to stand in groups of twos and
threes, a few arrests were made, and the riots were at
an end.
Before calm was restored, however, we had some un-
certain, not to say uneasy, hours. On the evening of the
day when the excitement had been at its highest, we re-
ceived word from the American legation that should there
be evidence that the mob were intending to attack our
homes, a gun would be fired in the legation grounds as a
signal, and we were then to hasten thither for mutual
safety and defense.
It was a calm starlit July night. We sat in the little
porch leading into our compound, enjoying the cool even-
ing air, when suddenly a terrific illumination of blazing
buildings lit up the horizon, and a fearful hubbub of a
shouting, yelling mob assailed our ears. With beating
hearts we watched and listened. Some one said Korean
mobs always began by burning houses, and while we
waited, wondering what it all meant, the air was rent by
the sharp, quick report of a gun from the American
legation.
This seemed to leave no doubt as to the real state of
affairs, and Mr. Underwood and Mr. Hulbert at once re-
paired to the legation to make sure that there was no mis-
i8 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
take, but soon returned, with the welcome news, that the
firing of the gun had been accidental. The burning build-
ings also proved to have been only a coincidence, and the
noise nothing more than common with a Korean crowd
round a fire. In a way that still seems to be miraculous,
the raging of {he heathen was quieted, God was round
about us, the danger that looked inevitable passed away,
and all was calm.
Not long after this came the first request from the
palace for me to attend on the queen, to which I re-
sponded not without some anxiety, lest through some un-
looked-for occurrence some misstep on my part, the work
of our mission so auspiciously begun should be hindered
or stopped. As yet somewhat uncertain of our foothold,
ignorant to a large extent of the people with whom we
had to deal, we trembled lest some inadvertence might
close the door, only so lately and unwillingly opened.
I had been told I must always go in full court dress, but
when I came to open the boxes, which contained the
gowns prepared for this purpose, I found that both had
been ruined in crossing the Pacific and could not be worn.
Alas! how inauspicious to be obliged to appear before
royalty in unsuitable attire, which might be attributed to
disrespect! But a far more serious trouble than this
weighed upon my mind as my chair coolies jogged me
along the winding streets and alleys to the palace grounds.
I had been strictly warned not to say anything to the
queen on the subject of religion. "We are only here on
sufferance," it was urged, "and even though our teaching
the common people may be overlooked and winked at, if
it is brought before the authorities so openly and boldly,
as it would be to introduce it into the palace, even our
warmest friends might feel obliged to utterly forbid
further access to the royal family, if not to banish us alto-
FIRST INVITATION TO THE PALACE 19
gether from the country." "Wait," it was said, "until
our footing is more assured ; do not risk all through im-
patience."
I saw the logic of these words, though my heart talked
hotly in a very different way ; but I went to the palace with
my mouth sealed on the one subject I had come to pro-
claim.
CHAPTER II
The Palaces— The Stone Dogs— The Fire God's Defeat— The
Summer Pleasure House — Royal Reception Hall — Court Dress
of Noblemen — First Impression of the King — Appearance
of the Queen — The Queen's Troubles — The Queen's Coup
d'etat — The Verb Endings — The Queen's Generosity — Stone
Fight — Gifts — The Quaga — Poukhan — Its Impregnability —
Picturesque Surroundings of Seoul — Pioneer Work — Prog-
ress of Work — The Queen's Wedding Gift — Our Wedding
— Opposition to my Going to the Interior — My Chair — The
Chair Coolies.
THE palaces, of which there were at that time three,
and are now four, within the city walls, consist of several
groups of one-story bungalow buildings, within large
grounds or parks, which are surrounded by fine stone
walls, twelve or fifteen feet high, of considerable thick-
ness. Within these inclosures were barracks for soldiers,
and quarters for under-officials and servants. A special
group of houses stood separated from the others for
women's apartments, and here might be seen the aged and
rather infirm dowager queen, who died about a year after
my arrival. The main gates in the walls of the palace I
was about to visit are three, facing on the great main
thoroughfare of the city. The central one, larger than the
others, was used only for royalty ; even ministers of for-
eign states are expected to enter by one of the two smaller
ones on either side.
The fact that on one occasion the central gate had by
special royal order been thrown open for the American
minister is an illustration of the kindness and favor
THE STONE DOGS 21
always shown to our representatives. These entrances are
approached by broad, stone steps and a platform with
handsome, carved stone balustrade, which is surmounted
as well as the lofty gates by crudely chiseled stone images
of various mythological animals. Some ten or more paces
in front of these steps, and on either side, are the great
stone dogs, so called for want of a better name, for they
no more resemble dogs than lions. The story of their
origin is as follows : The fire god, it was said, had a special
enmity against this palace, and repeatedly burned it down ;
various efforts had been made to propitiate or intimidate
him with little success; at length an expensive dragon
was brought from China and placed in a moat in the
grounds. While he lived all was well, but one ill-fated
day an enemy poisoned this faithful guardian, and that
night the palace was again burned. Finally some fertile
brain devised these animals, no poison could affect their
stony digestion, no fear or cajoling could impress their
hard hearts ; so there they stand on their tall pedestals —
fierce and uncompromising, facing the quarter whence the
fire god comes, always on guard, never sleeping in their
faithful watch, and, as might be expected, he has never
been able to burn the buildings thus protected.
I was conducted, however, through neither of these
three main gates, but as a very strict rule was then in ex-
istence that no chair coolies should be allowed within the
palace walls, my chair was carried to a small gate, much
nearer the royal apartments, so that we should not be
obliged to walk so far. Mrs. Bunker and Dr. Heron ac-
companied me, and we were met by gentlemanly Korean
officials, and taken to a little waiting room, furnished with
European chairs, and a table, upon which were little cakes,
cigars and champagne, all of which were offered to us
ladies, though after a better acquaintance with us, tea was
22 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
substituted in place of the tobacco and wine. It would
take far too long to describe all that engaged my eager
interest as we walked through the palace grounds. A
beautiful and interesting summer pleasure house — per-
haps one of the most unique and remarkable in the world
— stands in the center of a large lotus pond. It has an
upper story and roof supported on forty-eight monoliths,
the outer row being about four feet square at the base ;
the inner columns are rounded, of about the same diam-
eter, and sixteen or eighteen feet high ; the upper story is
of wood, elaborately carved, and brightly decorated ;
most of these buildings are covered with a beautiful green
glazed tile, peculiar to royal edifices.
There were many other interesting buildings, among
which the royal reception hall was probably the finest.
We saw a great number of officials, eunuchs, chusas,
noblemen and soldiers, each kind and grade wearing a
different attire from all the others.
The dress of the common soldiers was intended to be an
imitation of European military costume adapted to the
ideas of the Koreans. The result was a hybrid which had
neither the dignity nor the usefulness of the one or the
other. It consisted of a loose blouse jacket, and badly
fitting, baggy trousers, made of thin black cotton cloth,
with scarlet trimmings. The jacket was belted in, and a
black felt hat surmounted the top-knot, and was fastened
insecurely beneath the chin by a narrow band. This un-
becoming uniform has now been changed, and the Em-
peror's soldiers are as well dressed as those of any Euro-
pean nation.
Korean noblemen when in attendance at the palace wear
a dark blue coat, with a belt which is far too large and
forms a sort of hoop in front of the person. An em-
broidered breastplate is worn over the chest, representing
THE ROYAL RECEPTION 23
a stork for civil office and a tiger for military rank. The
head-dress is a kind of hat woven of horsehair, with wings
at either side, curved forward, as it were in order to
catch every word uttered by royalty. Nobles and officials
wear on the hat band, just back of the ears, buttons of
various styles made of gold or jade, which indicate the de-
gree of the wearer's rank.
When the royal family were ready to see us, Mrs.
Bunker and I were conducted through the grounds a short
distance, passed through several gateways, and at length
stood at the entrance of an anteroom half filled with
nobles, eunuchs and palace women, beyond which, in a
very small inner room, were the king and queen, and
their son, a youth about sixteen years of age. We passed
forward to the audience-room, bowing frequently and
very low to the smiling party of three who awaited us.
Never before had I, an American — a descendant of
colonial ancestors who had cast off the shackles of tyranny
— bowed so low. Never had I thought to feel as I felt
when first entering the presence of a real live king and
queen. The royal family had most graciously risen to
greet us, and at once invited us to be seated. At that time,
at least, Korean nobles never entered the royal presence
without prostrating themselves to the ground, and such a
piece of presumption as sitting was never dreamed of ; so
we refused the offered chairs, having been especially
warned that not to do so might awaken jealousy and
make enemies to the cause we loved. The point, however,
was insisted upon to such an extent that we could no
longer with politeness refuse, and so we found ourselves
sitting face to face in a chatty sort of way, in a little eight
by ten room, with the king and queen of Korea. The
king impressed me at that and every subsequent meeting
as a fine-looking genial gentleman. He was attired in a
24 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
long touramachi, or coat of rich red silk (the royal color),
with a cap or head-dress like those worn by the noblemen,
except that the wings turned back rather than forward
like theirs.
The queen, of course, excited my deepest interest.
Slightly pale and quite thin, with somewhat sharp
features and brilliant piercing eyes, she did not strike me
at first sight as being beautiful, but no one could help
reading force, intellect and strength of character in that
face, and as she became engaged in conversation, vivacity,
naivete, wit, all brightened her countenance, and gave it
a wonderful charm, far greater than mere physical beauty ;
and I have seen the queen of Korea when she looked
positively beautiful.
She possessed mental qualities of a high order, as I
soon learned, and although, like all Asiatics, her learning
consisted chiefly in the Chinese classics, she possessed a
very intelligent idea of the great nations of the world and
their governments, for she asked many questions, and re-
membered what she heard. She was a subtle and able di-
plomatist and usually outwitted her keenest opponents;
she was, moreover, a sovereign of broad and progressive
policy, patriotic, and devoted to the best interests of her
country and sought the good of the people to a much
larger extent than would be expected of an Oriental
queen. In addition, she possessed a warm heart, a tender
love for little children, a delicacy and consideration in her
relations, at least with us missionaries, which would have
done honor to any European lady of high rank. The
queen, though a Korean who had never seen the society
of a foreign court, was a perfect lady. It was with sur-
prise that I learned that as much difference exists in
Korea between the people of high birth and breeding and
the common coolie as is found between the European
THE KING OF KOREA. PAGE 23
THE QUEEN'S TROUBLES 25
gentleman and the day laborer. Their majesties kindly
inquired about my trip to Korea, my present comfort, and
my friends and family in America, showing the kindest
interest in what concerned me most. The conversation
was carried on through an interpreter, who stood behind
a tall screen, his body bent nearly double in reverence,
never raising his eyes.
I learned later that Korean doctors, always men, who
had treated the queen, felt (?) her pulse by using a cord,
one end of which was fastened about her wrist, and the
other carried into the next room was held in the doctor's
fingers. The royal tongue, I was told, was protruded
through a slit in a screen for the physician's observation.
I found the queen's trouble nothing more serious than a
small furuncle which needed lancing ; but as the mere sug-
gestion of approaching her sacred person with any sort
of surgical instrument was looked upon with unspeak-
able horror and indignation by all who surrounded her,
and was flatly forbidden by the king, patience and slower
measures were necessarily resorted to.
It was hardly to be wondered at that all the queen's
friends were so over-cautious and fearful for her safety.
She had suffered long and malignant persecution at the
hands of a cruel father-in-law, whose wicked ambitious
schemes and greed of power she had balked, and nothing
that a fertile brain and hate combined with wealth and in-
fluence could contrive was left undone to bring about the
ruin of this unhappy lady. Slander, assassins, insurrec-
tion, fire, conspiracy with hostile nations — were all re-
sorted to; many and thrilling were her hairbreadth
escapes. Once disguised and carried on the back of a
faithful retainer, she was taken from one end of the city
to the other, and once in a common native woman's chair
she was borne to a place of concealment and safety.
26 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
Nearly her whole immediate family were destroyed at one
fell blow, by means of an infernal machine cunningly de-
vised, sent as a present of great value from a supposed
hermit, to be opened only in the presence of every member
of the family. Through some fortunate circumstances the
queen was detained away, but all present were instantly
killed and horribly mutilated. To understand the reason
for this ferocious enmity, one needs to know a little of the
royal history.
The present king was the adopted son of a former
childless king. His widow appointed the present king's
father to act as regent until the majority of his son. The
older man was greedy of power, keen and crafty, and not
inclined to hand over the reins of government ; he there-
fore selected a wife for his son from a family of his near
friends, choosing a woman he supposed he could easily
control ; but he was mistaken in her character and gifts.
Years slipped by and time had long been over-ripe for the
king to assume the government, and yet the "Tai-won-
kun" gave no sign of relinquishing his clutch upon the
reins of power ; but the king, gentle and submissive to his
father, as all Koreans are taught to be, was unwilling
to force a resignation. One morning, however, through a
coup d'etat of the queen, the old man found himself dis-
placed, and a new cabinet and set of advisers selected
from the friends and cousins of the queen. His rage
knew no bounds, and from that time forth he planned her
destruction. How he finally succeeded in carrying out his
malicious intentions must be related later. Thus far, the
queen, equally shrewd and fortunate, had escaped his
toils.
To return to our palace visit, however. After examin-
ing into her majesty's trouble, and prescribing a course of
treatment, we took our leave, backing and bowing our-
THE QUEEN'S GENEROSITY 27
selves out of the royal apartments as if we had been born
and bred hangers-on of courts. I soon learned that all
my verbs must wear a long train of "simnaitas," "simni-
kas," and "sipsios," the highest honorific endings when
visiting the palace. Each Korean verb has a generous
collection of these endings, from which the confused and
unwary stranger must select at his peril, when addressing
natives of different ranks; but there is no doubt, fortu-
nately, about what must be used at the palace, and one
feels quite safe if every verb is tipped with a "simnaita" or
"simnika" To be sure, there are high Chinese-derived
words, which natives always use there, .instead of the
simpler Anglo-Saxon — I should say, Korean1 — but unin-
itiated foreigners are not expected to know them, and are
really most generously excused for all mistakes. Koreans
are in this respect models of kindness and politeness, and
will often hear newcomers make the most laughable and
absurd mistakes without a single spasm of countenance
to show that they have taken note of the blunder.
Not many days after this visit to the palace, an official
appeared at my home with a number of interesting and
beautiful gifts from the queen, including a fine embroid-
ered screen, embroidered pillow, and bed cushions, native
silks, linens, cotton materials, fans, pockets and various
other articles.
Her majesty was extremely generous, and it was noth-
ing unusual for her thus to bestow in most munificent
fashion gifts upon the members of our mission whom she
had met, and upon the ladies of the legations. Every
Korean New Year's day any of us who were in the
slightest way connected with the palace or government in-
stitutions received many pheasants, bags of nuts, pounds
of beef, large fish, hundreds of eggs and pounds of dried
persimmons.
28 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
On the royal birthdays, too, dainties were sent to us,
and at the beginning of each summer dozens of fans and
jars of honey water were presented. This open-handed
generosity indicated not only the queen's kind disposi-
tion, but the favor with which all Americans were re-
garded by the Korean authorities, due largely to the
favorable impression which Dr. Allen had made, and also
perhaps to the fact that we belonged to a large and power-
ful nation, which had no object in interfering in Eastern
politics in any way to the detriment of Korea, and which
might become an efficient ally and defender.
During my first year I had the exciting and doubtful
privilege of being present at a native sectional or stone
fight, an experience which few covet even once — and
which the wise and informed, at least of womankind, in-
variably forego. Once a year at a certain season, where
two neighborhoods or sections have grievances against
each other, they settle them by one of these fights. They
choose captains, arrange the opposing parties, and begin
firing stones and tiles at each other. As one crowd or the
other is by turns victorious, and the pursued flee before
their enemies, and as those who are at one moment tri-
umphant are often the very next the vanquished, hotly
chased, it is almost impossible to find any safe point of
vantage from which to view the conflict. At any instant
the place one has chosen, as well removed and safe, may
become the ground of the hottest battle. Very large
stones are often thrown, and people are fatally injured,
though not as frequently as one would think. It is a
wonder that hundreds are not killed or wounded. In
going from my home to visit a friend one day, a few
weeks after my arrival, I was obliged to pass a large
crowd of men, who seemed divided into two parties, and
were very noisy and vociferous. I remarked upon this to
A STONE FIGHT 29
my friend, and sending to inquire, we found it was the
preliminaries of a stone fight which I had witnessed. Her
husband said it would not be safe for me to return alone,
and therefore to my lasting gratitude offered to see me
through it.
We soon found that the stones and missiles were com-
ing our way, and were forced to run for shelter to a
Korean house. For a few moments the fight was hot
around us, and then as it seemed to have passed on —
quite far down the street — we ventured forth, only to find
that the tide had again turned, and the whole mob were
tearing in our direction. Mr. Bunker, for it was he, said
there was nothing for it but to scale a half-broken wall
into an adjacent compound, and run for it to the house of
Mr. Gilmore, not far distant. So, reckless of my best
gown, I scaled the wall with great alacrity, and we ran for
it quite shamelessly. Missiles of considerable size were
raining around us, and the possibility, or rather prob-
ability, that one would soon light on our heads, accelerated
our speed to no small degree. These affairs are often
funny in retrospect, but smack strongly of the tragic at the
time, while the outcome is so decidedly uncertain. How-
ever, by much dodging and circling, frequently sheltering
ourselves under the wall, we at length reached Mr. Gil-
more's house, when, in a somewhat ruffled and perturbed
condition, I waited till the coast was quite clear and found
my way home, a wiser and deeply thoughtful woman.
On one occasion not long since an affair of this kind
threatened very serious results for a hot-headed young
compatriot of ours, who went to photograph one of these
fights. A cool-headed American recently snapped his
camera on a tiger here before shooting it, and it may have
been in emulation of him, that our young friend made
this attempt. He soon became convinced that he was the
30 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
object at which all the missiles were sent, and that the
bloodthirsty ruffians were all seeking his life. Being un-
fortunately as well as unlawfully armed with a six-
shooter, over-excited and alarmed, he fired into the crowd
and fled. His bullet entered the fleshy part of the leg of
one of the natives, who fell, as most of them supposed,
mortally wounded ;and now indeed the wrath of the crowd
on both sides was directed at its hottest against the
thoroughly frightened young man. He ran for his life —
the crowd pursuing with yells of fury. Camera and over-
coat were flung away — he had nearly a mile to go to reach
shelter in the American legation, which he at length man-
aged to do, panting and almost exhausted. As his victim
was not seriously hurt, he escaped with the payment of a
fine, a few weeks' imprisonment, a most severe reprimand,
and a polite request to leave the country.
The Koreans often evince considerable military skill in
the tactics of these civil battles. Sharpshooters armed
with slings will take possession of some high point, and
others are sent to take them by surprise and dislodge them,
suddenly creeping upon them from the rear, or scaling the
rampart in the face of the enemy's fire. These natives re-
peatedly prove themselves good fighters and no cowards,
when armed and facing not too unequal numbers.
During this my first summer in Korea I was invited to
attend a royal Quaga. This was a very interesting assem-
blage of Korean scholars, who met in the palace grounds,
and there in little tents or booths wrote theses in Chinese
on some subject given by the king. Those whose papers
passed a successful examination were rewarded with some
civil rank, supposed to be proportioned to the excellence
of their standing. I should think that more than a thou-
sand men from all parts of the country were gathered
in these grounds, busily writing or copying their
POUKHAN 31
papers, some of which were then being handed to the
judges.
I was told, however, that in nearly all the successful
cases money was necessary to aid the judgment and
clarify the minds of the judges. We were treated with
great kindness, invited to a fine pavilion, and later offered
refreshments in the royal dining hall. This old-time
(shall I say, dishonored) institution has now fallen into
disuse for some years. No doubt in its honest beginnings
a truly competitive examination for office, it was good
and useful, but abuses creeping in, rendered it an empty
form to be finally abolished as a useless and effete remnant
of ancient days.
Another event of the summer was a little trip made to
Poukhan, or the northern fortress, about ten miles distant
from Seoul. It is said by Koreans that a secret under-
ground road leads from it to the palace in Seoul, so that
in case of any danger, or the investment of the city by
enemies, the royal family could flee hither for safety. It is
in truth an ideal spot for such a purpose. European sol-
diers have said that properly fortified it would be for
months, perhaps years, impregnable. Our visit was made
in Korea's loveliest season, the month of May, which is, if
possible, more beautiful than in any other land. Wild
flowers of the most exquisite hue and odor abound every-
where, but at Poukhan they seemed to be in greater quan-
tities and lovelier colors. The mountain rises bold and
rugged in outline, and its scenery is wild and in places
almost forbidding, but a beautiful brook dashes down its
sides, leaping over huge boulders and turning everything
into luxuriant beauty, like the lovely maids of fairy lore,
in whose footsteps the sweetest flowers sprang and from
whose lips dropped fairest gems.
This brook flows from a spring which bubbles up in
32 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
the top of the mountain, so that any garrison stationed
there need never surrender for want of water, nor indeed
of food, for after a steep ascent of about a mile, the path
suddenly pierces the rocks, and entering a picturesque gate
in a more picturesque wall, all hung with ivy, dips into a
verdant valley surrounded on all sides by lofty barriers of
rock. Here are fertile fields where food can easily be
raised and stored against an evil time.
Some of our missionaries often come here, and spend
the hot and unhealthy summer weeks among the cool
shades of these lofty rocks — in some of the Buddhist
temples. There are some delightful little pavilions, near
clear, cool pools of water, with scenery on all sides very
wild, beautiful, and picturesque.
At that time, in the history of our mission nearly every
foreigner possessed a horse, most of them Chinese ponies,
very gentle and easy to ride. Utterly unacquainted with
the nature of the people, it was feared by many that
danger might suddenly arise, and that we ought to have
means of escape at hand. We found them very useful and
pleasant accessories, and often when the hot afternoon
sun was low we explored some of the pretty and interest-
ing surroundings of Seoul.
This city lies encircled by low mountains, whose tree-
less and bare outlines cut the blue horizon with a bold
abruptness. Among the hills and mountain passes are
pretty woods and groves — and here lies nestled many a
little hamlet, entered through some charming lane, bor-
dered with blossoming bushes of clematis, eglantine, haw-
thorn or syringa, in richest profusion. Mr. Underwood
was often my guide on these excursions; sometimes we
walked on the city wall, and saw the distant mountains
and the sleeping villages beneath us, bathed in glorious
moonlight, and thanked God for casting our lives in a land
PROGRESS OF THE WORK 33
of so much beauty and among a people so kindly and
teachable.
During all these months and the following winter
foundations were still busily laying, language helps
and Bible translations were under way, and through
hospital and school, as well as by direct evangelistic effort,
people were being reached. The number of attendants
upon the services in the little chapel was daily increasing,
and reports came from the natives working in the country
of inquirers and converts there, which made it seem neces-
sary to make another extended trip as soon as possible.
A second trip had already been made by Mr. Underwood,
selling books and simple medicines, and gathering in here
and there a little handful of converts. He met with great
encouragement, but baptized few. During his first trip
he traveled to the northern border of Korea, stopping in
all the large towns, Songdo, Anju, Pyeng Yang, Kangai,
Haiju, Ouiju. During the entire year less than twenty-
five were baptized, and from the first altogether up to that
time hardly fifty, while Methodists and Presbyterians to-
gether up to 1889 numbered only a little over one hundred.
In April of 1888 he baptized seven men at Sorai, a village
in Whang Hai, where the Gospel had been brought in
from China by a Mr. Saw Sang Hyen, a convert of Mr.
Ross'. Some of these men had come to the capital in the
spring of 1887 and three had been baptized after careful
examination.
The seven who were received in their own village had
been for more than a year in preparation, and then were
baptized only after Mr. Underwood had spent ten days
in their village, talking with and examining them.
This is mentioned to show that extreme caution was used
in making the first admissions to the native church, in
order that its foundations might be laid securely, if slowly.
34 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
In the trip made in November, 1888, certain Koreans had
been placed in a few localities to instruct, sell tracts and
pave the way for the work of the foreigner on a succeed-
ing visit. One of these men was stationed at Pyeng Yang,
one at Chang Yun, and one at Ouiju. Extremely encour-
aging, but in some cases exaggerated reports came from
all these places as to the increasing number of hopeful in-
quirers, and it seemed imperative that a trip should be
taken as soon as spring opened, for the examination, en-
couragement and instruction of these new believers, and
to oversee the work of the employed agents, who were
necessarily unproved as yet.
Mr. Underwood and I had been engaged since the early
fall, and we had arranged to be married, and to start for
the country on the fourteenth of March. The whole
foreign community seemed to vie with each other in
tokens of kindness and good will towards us on that oc-
casion.
On the morning of the eventful day, the jingling bells
of many pack-ponies was heard in our courtyard, and
I soon discovered that quite a train of the little animals
had arrived with the gift of her majesty. One million
cash! It sounds like "Arabian Nights," but as at that
time 2,500 to 3,000 cash went to the making of the dollar,
it was not, after all, more than a generous Korean queen
might easily give, or a missionary easily dispose of. Their
majesties arranged for several people from the palace
to be present at the ceremony, the army was represented
by General Han Ku Sul, a nobleman of the highest rank,
and the cabinet by Min Yeng Whan, a near relative of
the queen, and in highest favor with their majesties.
A number of palace women were also present, behind
screens, and of course some of the native Christians. The
whole foreign community gave us their good wishes, and.
OUR WEDDING TRIP 35
cable messages were put in our hands just after the cere-
mony, from each of our respective homes in America.
Early on the morning of the I4th of March, 1889, we
set out on our wedding trip.
Everything except force had been resorted to by mis-
sionaries and foreigners residing in Seoul to prevent my
taking this journey. No European woman had, as yet,
ever traveled in the interior of Korea, and not more than
four of five men had ever ventured ten miles outside the
walls, except to the port. Tigers and leopards were
known to exist in the mountains ; the character of the
natives was not well understood by most people; conta-
gion in the inns, the rudeness of mobs, the difficulty of
obtaining good water, no means of speedy communica-
tion with Seoul, the necessity at times of long marches,
were all possible dangers, but were greatly overestimated.
It was freely and frequently predicted, that if I came back
at all, it would be in my coffin, and my poor husband fell
under the heaviest of public censure for consenting to take
me. As he had made two trips and saw no difficulty, I
felt I could trust his judgment, and as country work was
exactly what I had longed to do, and what had been my
ideal from the first, I looked forward with the greatest
pleasure to a journey through a lovely country, to be
filled with blessed service ; it seemed to me no honeymoon
so rich in delight could ever have been planned before.
It was arranged that I Should go in a native chair,
which consisted of a sort of box frame, high enough for
me to sit in Turkish fashion; it had a roof of bamboo
covered with paper oiled and painted, the sides were
closed in with blue muslin, and there were little windows
of stained glass on either side. A curtain in the front
could be raised or buttoned down to keep out the chill or
the disagreeable piercing eyes of the curious sightseers or
36 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
kugungers, as they are called in Korea. My conveyance
was made more comfortable by cushions beneath and be-
hind my seat, a shawl was draped around the inside to
keep out draughts, and with a hot-water bottle and foot-
muff at my feet, I felt positively steeped in luxury, and
quite too much babyfied for a hardy missionary.
I was carried by a couple of strong chair coolies, the
poles on which the chair was placed resting in straps,
which hung from the shoulders of the carriers, so that its
main weight came on them, rather than on the hands,
which grasped the poles. There were four bearers, two
who carried, and two who, by placing a strong rod under
the chair, lifted its weight from the tired shoulders, for
half a minute or so, once every ten minutes. At the end
of every three miles these lifting men and the others
changed places, and so we easily made thirty miles or
more every day, without much fatigue on the part of these
hardy men, whose profession this had been for years.
I'm afraid they were a very rough set of customers,
and undoubtedly got us into trouble on more than one
occasion. They were full of fun and spirits, and told long
and fishy yarns, to the country folks, and occasionally
played off practical jokes on these simple swains, to be-
guile the tedium of the road. They aroused the awe and
admiration of the natives in the country villages, by tell-
ing them what wonderful things we carried in our packs.
There was nothing, according to them, that we could not
do, or had not got. "Why, even a boat," said they, "is in
that trunk. It folds up very small, but one blows into it,
and it gradually grows hard and large, and lo! a boat."
Thus was magnified our rubber bath tub. That we fin-
ished our trip with so little difficulty with such com-
panions speaks well for the gentle good nature of the
natives.
TRAVELING BY CHAIR 37
Of course, I walked as much as possible, but many
weary miles must be endured in the chair, with its tire-
some jogging, interrupted regularly with an upward jolt
of several inches. The ordinary road soon came to be
quite tolerable, but when the bearers in the half light of
early dawn (or worse still, the evening, when tired with
a long day's march) picked their way over the narrow
foot-paths, slippery with clay, between half-submerged
rice fields, or jumped across intervening ditches, the rear
man going wholly by faith, I must say it was not easy or
pleasant.
We had quite a little train. Mr. Underwood was on his
horse, with a mapoo to lead and care for it. These horses
are all fed on a hot food of beans and chopped hay, and
very carefully attended to. We had two or three pack-
ponies which carried medicines, tracts, at that time mostly
Chinese, which only scholars could read, our blankets and
bedding, a few cooking utensils, and foreign food and our
clothing. The question of money and changes of horses
was a difficult one, but it had been solved by an order
from the Korean Foreign Office, to the country magis-
trates, to accept our receipt for any amount of money that
we might need, and also for horses in exchange for ours,
all of which bills we were to pay in Seoul on our return.
The money was so extremely bulky, it was impossible to
take more than a couple of days' supply on our ponies.
On previous trips Mr. Underwood had carried large lumps
of silver, which were exchanged in the towns for cash.
The little inns along the road never charge for rooms ;
the number of tables of rice and the number of horses fed
are usually the only items in the landlord's bill. In addi-
tion to chair coolies and mapoos, we had a young Chris-
tian helper, a cook, and a kesu. The two latter left us at
Pyeng Ya.ng and returned home.
CHAPTER III
We Start on our Wedding Journey — Songdo — Guards at our
Gates — Crossing the Tai-tong — Difficulties in Finding an
Inn — Korean Launderings — An Old Man Seeks to be Rid of
Sin — Mob at an Inn — A Ruffian Bursts Open my Door —
Fight in the Inn Yard — Pat Defies the Crowd — Convenience
. of Top-knots — A Magistrate Refuses to Shelter Us — The
"Captain" to the Rescue — Pack-ponies — We Lay a Deep
Scheme — Torch Bearers — A Mountain Hamlet — Tiger Traps
— Tigers — A Band of Thirty Conspire to Attack Us — Guns
Used by Native Hunters — A Tiger Story.
We started on our trip at early dawn, turning directly
north, on the road passing under the arch, which then
marked the spot where the representatives of Korea yearly
met the Chinese ambassadors who came to receive tribute.
This custom was maintained until Korea's independence
was declared ; in honor of which the old arch was then
taken down and a finer one erected. Beyond this arch
lay the pass, a narrow, muddy and stony way, leading
through the mountain. It was crowded with oxen and
pack-ponies, going to and from Seoul. Shouting mapoos
and coolies added to the confusion, great rocks seemed
just ready to fall from above and crush the unlucky
passers, and many which had fallen from time to time im-
peded the road. Now a fine road has been made across
the hill, and the old way of danger and discomfort is
closed up. From its darkness, its fiendish noises, grue-
some odors and bad going it would not have been an unfit
image of Bunyan's Valley of the Shadow of Death. The
A KOREAN INN 39
snow still remained in sheltered places, for it was only
March, and the morning air was sharp and chill, but we
found a very fine road all the way to Songdo.
We made our first halt at noon, at a small village be-
tween Seoul and Songdo, and I had my first experience
of a native inn. The Korean inn is second only in filth,
closeness, bad odors and discomfort to those in the in-
terior of China. There is usually only one room for
women, which has from one to four or five paper-covered
doors or windows — they are nearly always the same size
and bear the same name — opening into the kitchen, the
court and the sarang. This room is often not more than
eight by ten or twelve feet large, and very low. The
paper which covers the door is commonly blackened
with dirt, so that few indeed are the rays of light which
manage to struggle in a disheartened way into these
gloomy little apartments. They boast little or no furni-
ture, perhaps a chang or Korean cabinet (most unique and
antique-looking chests, much ornamented with brass or
black iron hinges, locks, etc.) stands against the wall,
upon which are piled a great many bright-colored quilts
and pillows, not the wooden ones sometimes described
and much used, but like old-style long sofa pillows, and
very much more comfortable. At the center of the ceil-
ing, just under the roof tree, may be seen a bunch of dirty
rags, feathers and sticks, where the household Lares and
Penates are supposed to roost. A harrow or charcoal
fire-pot with a smouldering fire probably stands some-
where on the floor. This should be promptly removed,
as its presence often causes severe headache, and some-
times asphyxia, from which one of the missionaries was
only resuscitated after repeated fainting and hours of
effort on the part of a companion.
In most of the inns very picturesque tall brass or
40 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
wooden lamp-stands are seen. They consist of a rod
about two and a half feet high, on a good solid base with
a little bracket at the top for a saucer of castor oil, and
an ox horn hanging below containing the main supply of
oil. The lamp or saucer contains a small wick which
yields a very tiny light, just enough to emphasize and
make visible the darkness. Often these lamps have a
special niche, or little cupboard in the wall, where they
are enclosed during the day. Nearly always a stout bar
crosses the room about a foot from the wall, and three or
four feet from the floor, on which garments may be hung,
and as commonly there is a wide shelf running around
two or three sides of the apartment, very near the roof, on
which are sundry household utensils, winter vegetables,
very likely piles of yeast cakes for the manufacture of
beer, and, in fact, a heterogeneous collection, too numer-
ous and varied to mention. Here lies a dusty old book,
there a work basket, and further on the wooden block
and clubs used for ironing, a bottle of medicine, a pile of
rice bowls, or a box of matches.
The mats which are placed over the oiled paper, or more
likely directly on the earth floor, are full of dust and
vermin of all descriptions, which run riot everywhere.
It is best not to begin to think how many people have, in
that room and lying on these identical mats, been ill, and
died, of dysentery, small-pox, cholera or typhus fever,
since the room was even swept or the mats once shaken.
A "really truly" cleaning they are ignorant of. Fumiga-
tion and disinfection are as far beyond the flights of their
wildest imagination as the private life of the man in the
moon. The miracle over which we never cease to wonder
and admire is that so many people of clean antecedents
who travel through the interior are able to resist the
microbes, bacteria, germs and all similar enemies
HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS 41
under whatsoever name which, according to all mod-
ern science, ought to attack and destroy them in short
order.
In most of the inns, tall earthen jars, from two to three,
or rarely four feet high, and two or three feet in diameter,
in which AH Baba's cutthroat thieves could easily hide, are
ranged along the side of the wall, but more frequently in
the courtyard. They contain various kinds of grain,
pickles, beer, wine, and there are always several holding
kimchi (a sort of sauerkraut), without which they never
eat rice.
Numbers of dogs, cats, chickens, pigs and ducks are
under foot in the courtyard, oxen and ponies are noisily
feeding in the stalls, under the same roof with ourselves,
only just outside the paper door, and if one is to sleep it
must be in spite of a combined grunting, squealing, cack-
ling, blowing and barking, anything but conducive to re-
pose. Most of the hotels have, as has been said, only
one inner room, where it is proper for a woman to stay.
Our helper, chair-coolies, mapoos and other travelers
use the sarang, packed very likely like sardines in a box,
and the host's family turn out, and go to a neighbor's for
the night, unless the inn is a large one on the main road.
A large and fashionable inn in Korea would have per-
haps five, or even six, sleeping apartments — though I do
not recollect having seen so many.
Now we travel with cot-beds which roll up and slip into
heavy canvas bags, and take up very little room on the
pack. These blessings keep us off the dirty floors, which
are usually much too hot for health, unless, indeed, one
has come in wet, cold, and aching from a long tramp,
when they are a specific preventive of colds and rheuma-
tism. On that first journey, however, we had nothing of
this sort, but we sent out for some bundles of fresh clean
42 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
straw used for thatch — one thing, at least, of which there
is plenty in every village — and piled them at least a foot
high. We spread thereon our bed, to the confusion and
defeat of our little enemies, ploughing their weary way
uselessly through the mazes of that straw all night. In
this way we slept peacefully, except when the floor became
intolerably hot, and our bed correspondingly so, then we
rose, piled our straw in another place, remade our couch,
and composed ourselves again to slumber. We never did
this more than three times in one night, and it was a mere
diversion.
The situation, however, develops into something quite
beyond a joke, as was hinted in a former chapter, when
one is forced to travel in hot weather. The rice and beans
for men and animals must be cooked, which means — in
nine cases out of ten — that a fire must be built under your
room, and you must sleep on the stove, although the
thermometer is already in the seventies before it is
kindled. The room, you remember, is small and low, the
windows opening to the court probably few. You look
longingly at the open porch or maru, but there are
leopards and tigers that prowl at night, or wanting these,
no lack of rats, ferrets, and snakes ; there are foul smells
and rank poisonous vapors, pools of green water and sew-
age all about, a famous place in the damp night air to
soak a system full of malaria, more deadly than wild
beasts ; so with a sigh you turn again to your oven, pre-
pared for the worst. Up, up, steadily climbs the ther-
mometer, your pulses throb, your head snaps, you gasp
and pant for breath, and at length toward morning, when
the fire is dead, and the hot stones a little cooled, you fall
into an exhausted feverish sleep. But an early start is
necessary to make the next stage, and by four o'clock at
least a new fire is built to cook more rice, and you rush
KUGUNGERS 43
out of doors, to draw a whiff of pure air and cool your
burning temples.
So even if it were not for the rains, flooded roads, and
overflowing, unbridged rivers, we should not travel ex-
cept from dire necessity in the summer. Tents have not
been found practicable among the missionaries in the
rainy season, and their use has been followed in several in-
stances by severe and even fatal illness. One of the chief
annoyances, especially on this our first trip, at the inns
were the kugungers or sightseers. The paper doors are
speedily made available as peep-holes for the foe. From
all quarters the word "foreigner," and above all "foreign
woman," spreads like wildfire. Never did a lion or an
elephant create such excitement in an American village.
The moment we entered an inn the house was instantly
thronged, besieged, invested. Every door was full of
holes made by dampening the finger and placing it with
gentle pressure against the paper. It was dismaying,
when we fancied ourselves quite alone, to see all those
holes filled with hungry eyes. Never since have I cared
to visit a show of wild animals or human freaks. I sym-
pathize with them so fully, that there is no pleasure in the
satisfaction of curiosity at such a cost. We wished to
meet the people, but we could not talk with such a mob, in
any satisfactory way, as their frantic curiosity about us
made it impossible for them to attend to what we had to
tell until they were in some measure satisfied. But to re-
turn to our trip.
Some twenty miles this side of Songdo the road crosses
the Imgin river, where a ferry boat is in readiness to
carry the traveler and his belongings to the other side. A
story is told here of the patriotism of a nobleman who
lived in a magnificent summer house on the bluff over-
looking the river, at the time of the Hedioshi rebellion.
44 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
His king, fleeing from the Japanese, arrived here at mid-
night, and to light him and his escort to the ferry this man
set fire to his beautiful home. As a result of this, the
king crossed in safety, and escaped his enemies. In token
of his gratitude, he therefore ordered that a summer house
should be kept perpetually in memory of his loyal friend
on the site of the one which had been sacrificed, and loaded
him with honors and rewards.
The city of Songdo is one of the largest in Korea, and
from a Korean standpoint probably the most important
commercially, as well as the richest. Here is grown the
ginseng, so highly prized by Koreans, Chinese and
Japanese, and sold — the best — at forty-five dollars a
pound ; more than its weight in gold. Though Songdo
was formerly the nation's capital, a successful rebel gen-
eral, making himself king, established his seat of govern-
ment in Seoul.
We arrived in this ancient city about sundown, and
shortly afterwards met ten Christian inquirers. In a few
days we sold all our books, and medicines, which we ex-
pected would last for the entire trip, and had to send back
to Seoul for more. We were besieged by large crowds of
people during our stay, so that we were obliged to ask for
a guard at the gate. We admitted fifty at a time, and
when their curiosity had been sated, their diseases treated,
and they had bought as many books as they wanted, they
were dismissed, to make room for another pushing, strug-
gling, eagerly curious fifty. Mr. Underwood baptized no
one, but met, examined and instructed inquirers, and di-
rected and corrected his native helper's work.
Songdo is about forty-five miles from Seoul, and has
about two hundred thousand inhabitants. Thus far the
Southern Methodists are the only ones who have a station
there, though just why we other missionaries never started
TAI-TONG RIVER. PACE 45
FERRY BOAT. PAGE 43
SONGDO 45
work in so important a center it would be hard to say ; ex-
cept that it did not seem to develop there at first as promis-
ingly, shall I say, as insistently, as in some other places,
where need was so pressing we never could obtain work-
ers enough to supply the demand, far less start new
centers.
Songdo has no gates. It is said that they were re-
moved, with the privileges as well of the Quaga, because
the people of that city so persistently continued to despise
and treat with contempt the authority of Seoul. Whereas
it is the custom to speak of going .up to Seoul, they would
refer to going down to that city ; they would not measure
their grain from right to left, as in Seoul, but from left to
right; and worst of all, from having constantly referred
to the king as a pig, they came to speak of a pig by the
king's name!
From Songdo, we proceeded north, by short stages to
Pyeng Yang, which was the next place of importance,
where Mr. Underwood looked for inquirers and where
there were already a few Christians. We reached the Tai-
tong River, which lay just below the city gates between us
and it, in a driving snow storm. Long and loudly did the
various members of our party try their lungs in the effort
to obtain a boat, but at length, when patience was quite
exhausted, the ferryman, or one of them, arrived with a
great flat-bottomed boat, which accommodated us all —
ponies, packs, coolies, chair, helpers and missionaries — and
landed us in mud and safety on the other side for a few
cash. I had almost forgotten, however, to speak of the
beautiful road leading up to this ferry, with its noble
overarching trees and its variety of beautiful bushes and
flowers. Even at that bleak and wintry season it was
lovely, and a month later, when we returned, it was
charming, with its green woodland shade and its wealth
46 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
of sweet-scented blossoms. Now, alas ! it is quite shorn
of its beauty, for during the Japanese-Chinese war, the
trees were all cut down.
We were no sooner within the city gates than a very
noisy and constantly increasing crowd followed close at
our heels, growing ever more annoying and demonstra-
tive, till its dimensions and behavior were altogether too
much like a mob. Respectable and frightened inn-keep-
ers one after another turned us from their doors until the
uncomfortable possibility of being obliged to spend the
night in the streets suggested itself. However, after a
time we found a refuge, and with the aid of a policeman
from the magistracy we managed to keep the mob at bay,
seeing only a stated number at a time, as in Songdo. It
rained during most of our stay, and I could with no com-
fort or safety go out even in a chair to see the town, for
if I so much as peeped out, some one caught sight of the
foreign woman, and at once a crowd gathered which made
it impossible to move or to accomplish anything. Once
before we left I accompanied Mr. Underwood to a
pleasant spot outside the gates, which he thought would
be a good site for a sub-station, and we made a visit to the
mother of one of our Christians. She was extremely sick,
and as she recovered not long after we were very happy in
having left a good impression and a grateful family be-
hind us.
I had a practical illustration of the inconvenience of
Korean methods of laundry in this town, for giving out a
number of articles to the tender mercies of a Korean
woman, they were returned minus all the buttons. They
had pounded the garments on a stone in some stream, and
as a precaution had removed all these little conveniences
before doing so. There was no starch, no bluing, and
no ironing. Korean clothes before ironing must be ripped,
KOREAN LAUNDERING 47
and are then pounded for hours on a smooth piece of
wood until they obtain a beautiful gloss. Koreans are,
however, not without iron irons. They have quite a large
one, which holds hot charcoal, and two sorts of small ones,
not more than half an inch wide by two or three inches in
length, with a long handle, for pressing the seams of
sleeves, and of garments which it is only desirable to press
on the seam.
After a stay of about a week in Pyeng Yang, during
which time we saw a great many visitors, most of whom
came from curiosity, but none of whom went away with-
out a printed or spoken word about the gospel, we again
started out on our journey north. Oh, if one prophetic
vision might have been granted us of what was to be in
such a few years ! If we could have seen those dreary and
heart-sickening wastes of humanity transformed into
fields of rich grain waiting in harvest glory for the sickle,
if we could have seen the hundreds now gathered yearly
into the garner, how our hearts would have burned within
us ! "But the love of God is broader than the measure of
man's mind," and though we saw visions and dreamed
dreams, we hardly dared hope they would all be fulfilled.
God kept the future hidden as a sweet surprise. Just after
leaving this city an old man of seventy-six came three
miles to inquire of us "concerning the religion by which a
man could be rid of sin," one of the first fruits of that later
harvest, which God permitted us to reap.
Ernsan, one of the small villages at which we spent the
night, turned out to be a very rough sort of place. We
were obliged in many of these towns to use the Foreign
Office letter to obtain the shelter of the magistracies, as
often the inns would not receive us or would prove no
defense against the rudeness of the curious mobs, and
we had no Christian constituency to fall back upon. At
48 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
this particular place the magistrate was away, and the
"chabin duli" (roughs) were not under ordinary restraint.
In the morning, as the time for leaving drew near, a
crowd of about one hundred men and large boys assem-
bled in the little courtyard waiting for a kugung (sight)
of the two curiosities. My husband, well aware that a
woman who permits herself to be viewed by strange men
is not respected or respectable in Korea, had my chair
brought into the house, and the door closed, so that I
might be shut in there and pass out unseen. On finding
themselves thus balked of perhaps the one great oppor-
tunity of their lives tr behold these strange, wild animals,
some of the baser fellows could not restrain their curiosity,
and one of them, probably egged on by the others, broke
open the door of my bedroom. Than this, no greater
breach of law or propriety is recognized in the land, and
the guilty wretch is amenable to almost any punishment
the injured woman's friends may choose to inflict. My
husband, standing near the door, lifted his foot as the
proper member with which to express his sentiments —
the tongue being incapable of sufficient vigor and the hand
too good — and this, though only a demonstration — the
man was not touched — was sufficient encouragement to
my chair coolies, who, considering their own honor bound
up with mine for the time being, rushed forth to punish
the "vile creature" who had insulted us all.
One of them, a brawny fellow whom we called Pat,
from his resemblance to gentlemen of the nationality
which favors that name, at a bound had singled out his
prey from the midst of the crowd and dragged him forth
from his encircling friends and protectors.
He dragged him forth in the usual approved Korean
method, under such circumstances, by the top-knot, a very
convenient and effective handle, for a man once in the
PAT DEFIES THE CROWD 49
grasp of his enemy in this way is practically at his mercy.
He was soon on the ground being pummelled. But it
must be remarked that we were but a little party, four
coolies, one helper, one missionary, one woman, and they
were a hundred or more strong. Our calling and dearest
hopes forbade our using severe measures, nor would they,
even firearms, have availed for long, but would only have
served to make enemies for us on all sides, supposing we
had frightened this crowd into order. So it behooved us
to make peace, and speedily, for there were black looks
and angry and threatening murmurings as the friends of
the culprit drew near, preparing to defend him.
So Mr. Underwood rushed down into the crowd, drew
off our exasperated coolie, and quieted the rising storm.
But Patrick could not depart without giving some ex-
pression to his indignation, and waving his chair rod like
a shillalah in the air around his head, he stood at the top
of the steps, his back to the crowd (the pure Korean
method in quarrels), vociferously announcing to whom it
might concern his opinion of such actions in general, and
this one in particular, and bidding them, in the spirit of
James Fitz James" at the ford to
"Come one, come all, this rock shall fly
From its firm base as soon as I."
But my husband saw that it would be best to get away
while we could without exasperating them further, and be-
fore the temper of the crowd should change again for the
worse. A similar occurrence in either China or Japan
would almost certainly have ended very differently for us.
The Koreans do not bear malice, nor are they very re-
vengeful or cruel without great provocation. We merely
had to do with a rough crowd, who gathered thinking we
So FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
were probably a base sort of people ; and when they saw
that we behaved as quiet, decent Koreans would do, they
respected our reserve and curbed their curiosity, though a
few boys threw stones and hooted, and they all followed
us a few rods outside the village, but we soon found our-
selves peacefully alone.
Before passing on I must say a few words on the gen-
eral effectiveness of the top-knot method. It is a great
pity men do not wear their hair in this way in America.
We women who favor women's rights would soon find it
a mighty handle by which to secure them, for in the
hands of a discerning woman it is indeed an instrument of
unlimited possibilities. Who would care to wield a
scepter abroad, who could wield a top-knot at home? By
one of these well-tied arrangements have I beheld a justly
irate wife dragging home her drunken husband from the
saloon ; and firmly grasping this, I have seen more than
one indignant female administering that corporal punish-
ment which her lord and master no doubt richly deserved.
The Korean wife stands and serves her husband while he
eats, she works while he smokes, but when family affairs
come to a certain crisis, she takes the helm (that is to say,
the top-knot) in hand, and puts the ship about.
At another of our stopping places on this road we found
a magistrate who had been so long in the interior and who
was so ignorant and illiterate that he neither knew the
uses of a passport, nor could read it when presented.
This was serious, indeed, for here with a rough and
curious crowd to be refused the shelter of the magistracy
might mean our being subjected to mob violence, and
would almost certainly insure our passing the night on the
road. Here we must exchange exhausted pack-ponies for
fresh ones, here we must obtain money for the next stage,
and food and fire for our tired coolies and ourselves. So
THE "CAPTAIN" TO THE RESCUE 51
when our helper returned with the disquieting news that
the magistrate would none of us, "the captain" donned
his harness, and passport in hand, strode into the presence,
gesticulated, I am afraid, stamped, waved the passport in
the air, flung it to the ground, and by dint of noise and
vehemence succeeded in impressing the astonished little
official with a sense of the dignity and importance of the
Foreign Office passports in the hands of strenuous West-
erners.
He promptly and politely gave us rooms, money, ponies,
everything we needed, in order to rid himself of us and
our arguments, I suppose, and no doubt he still recalls us
as the most remarkable and alarming intruders who ever
disturbed his quiet and uneventful life.
But although sheltered by the magisterial walls our an-
noyances were not over. Word had been passed far and
near of the arrival of foreigners, and the crowds gathered
thicker and thicker. They were only rude and good-
naturedly curious, but curiosity is a strange passion when
really aroused, as only those who have been its victims
know. Men will travel miles, will undergo unheard-of
fatigues and surmount great difficulties, and will pay very
little regard to the convenience, comfort or even safety of
those who try to oppose them in their desires to gratify
this passion.
Aware that we were besieged, we hung shawls and rain
coats round the room, before the doors and windows,
hoping to prevent the usual peep-show made by perfo-
rating fingers, and thus fortified, seated ourselves in front
of our trunk, which served for a table, to partake of our
meal during the short respite thus gained. A smothered
titter made us look quickly around. Long slender rods had
been pushed through the peep-holes, the curtains lifted,
multitudes of eyes applied to new holes, and we were
52 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
well in view. I must honestly confess that in some
of these baffled moments, in the hot fire of the enemy's
ungenerous triumph, I have thought with glee of the
execution which could be done with a syringe well aimed
at those eye-filled holes, if we were just common travelers
and not longing to win all hearts and ready to bear all
such small annoyances with patience for the love of these
poor people, even the most annoying of them. And now
that I am more fully seasoned, I endure these rude in-
trusions into my privacy with more sang froid, excusing
and understanding it.
About this stage in our journey our provisions ran very
low, and among other things sugar gave out. Natives
do not have this article of food, but we were able to get
the Korean buckwheat honey, than which I have never
tasted any more delicious, and we found that it improved
the flavor of the finest tea.
Here in these far recesses of the interior, where we
were uncertain of the temper of the people, and where
many more than doubtful characters were known to be in
hiding, the magistrates thought it necessary to send at
least one, sometimes two, officials with us.
At the town of Huiju we found the scenery growing
quite wild, the hills rising into mountains (though not
very high ones), the road zig-zagging up and up, while a
brawling, hurrying brook ran noisily below. Here we
found the first spring flowers under the lingering snow,
and above the snow were butterflies darting about in the
sunshine, quite sure that they were in the right place,
since the Father sent them, even though it did look a
little cold and bleak; and then if one only looked up, there
was the sun. Just here in the steepest, dizziest and most
difficult part of the ascent, two of those poor little pack-
ponies which I had been pitying all along for the terrible
OUR PACK-PONIES FIGHT 53
way their relentless mapoos overloaded them, began fight-
ing (loads and all), and after kicking each other in the
liveliest fashion for some time, squealing like little fiends,
while the poor mapoos were dancing and vociferating
around them trying to bring about a truce, they finally
scampered off in different directions, and then and there
my heart hardened, and never since has pity for these
animals entered it. They are, I firmly opine, as self-willed,
spoiled, obstinate, quarrelsome, uncertain, tricky and
tough little beasts as ever carried a load.
Among many other people treated at this little village,
a woman came sixteen miles for medicine, and carried
away as well the news of the Great Physician. Thus the
mission to the body proves effective to the soul, and the
seed is scattered far and wide. How that little seed
prospered He only knows who has promised that those
who cast it upon the water shall find it after many
days.
Here, after we had eaten our supper, Mr. Underwood
and I conceived a deep scheme to escape the stuffy little
cage-like room and take a walk by moonlight in the midst
of that lovely scenery. It would of course be futile to go
out of the gate, for then the alarm would be given, and we
should be hounded by the entire able-bodied portion of
the populace. But the wall was low, and waiting till we
supposed every one had retired for the night, we stealthily
crept like a couple of criminals out of our quarters, sur-
mounted the wall, and were at last free, and for once
alone, away from staring eyes, to enjoy the sweet air and
each other's company. But alas! we had hardly gone
twenty paces when a Korean cur (than which only a
Korean pig is more detestable) espied or nosed us, and
at once set up a loud and continuous bark. We hurried
on, hoping to escape, but it was not to be ; one white form
54 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
after another appeared at the doorways, soon a quickly
swelling stream of people were in our wake, and the game
was up. We returned and retraced our steps, attended by
a long retinue, entered by the gate, and hid our discom-
fiture within the walls of our little dungeon.
From Huiju our road led up farther, over a still higher
mountain, and here we were provided, according to the
conditions of our passport, with oxen instead of ponies to
carry our loads (being stronger and surer footed), and
also, as for all travelers belated and overtaken by darkness,
torches of blazing pine knots or long grass carried by
some of the villagers to a certain distance, where it was
the business of others to meet us with new ones. The
men who provide the oxen and torches are given the use
of certain fields by the government in payment for such
services, but often they are unfaithful. The belated
traveler pounds long at their gates in vain. Some neigh-
bor appears to say the man is sick or away. At length,
when a reward has been given, and when patience has not
only ceased to be a virtue, but ceased to exist at all, he or
his wife appears and deliberately prepares the long-de-
sired torch.
On the other side of this mountain, as we descended
into the valley, we found a village which presented a very
different aspect from any we had yet seen. The houses
were not made of a basket work of twigs filled in with
mud, like the ordinary native dwellings, but of heavy logs.
The little compounds surrounding each house were en-
closed with high fences made of strong timbers, each
sharpened to a point at the top and firmly bound together,
instead of the usual hedge of blossoming bushes or tile-
covered mud wall. It all looked as if these farmers and
foresters were prepared for a siege, but from what
enemy ?
TIGER TRAPS 55
There were no Indians or wild tribes here. It was a
most picturesque place. The mountains rose grandly
above us, all around were woods, and a beautiful stream
rippled along between them and the village. It was a
glorious moonlit night, the atmosphere seemed fairly to
sparkle with brilliancy. Again, after supper, we prepared
to take a walk. Few indeed had been our opportunities
for such honeymoon observances as this, which are sup-
posed to be the peculiar privilege and bounden duty of all
the good newly married. As has been noted already, the
large crowds which watched our every movement, and
from whose observation not the smallest motion was lost,
precluded any such folly on our part, but here, far off in
the wild recesses of the woods and mountains, in a village
whose inhabitants seemed nobly exceptional in the praise-
worthy habit of keeping at home, here we might wander
at will, in the enchanting light, listening anon to the
silvery cadences of the stream. So we sauntered along in
the most approved fashion of honeymooners until a few
steps beyond the confines of the village, where woods
closed in on all sides.
We had observed here and there as we passed along
what looked like a sort of huge pen made of logs,
weighted with great stones on top, strangely constructed,
as if for the housing of some large animal. Now as we
stood on the edge of the brook trying to decide whether
to cross into the woods, a sound as of heavy and yet
stealthy footsteps on the dry leaves in the shadow of the
trees arrested our attention. An uncanny mystery seemed
to hang over everything. Slightly startled by the sound,
we awakened to the fact that the pens we had seen must
be tiger traps, that this was a famous tiger tramping
ground (they would naturally come to the brook to
drink), that the enemy against whom the village was so
56 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
strongly fortified were these beasts of prey, and that it
would be in every way profitable to us to postpone our
moonlight rambles for some more propitious time and
place. So with a less lover-like and more business-like
pace we returned to the prosaic but welcome shelter of
the huts.
Korean tiger skins are very fine when the animal has
been killed in the winter, but unfortunately the natives do
not understand the proper method of preserving them,
and those which are taken away, as well as the leopard
skins, very soon become denuded of hair. The natives
prize the claws very highly, and often remove them as
soon as the beast is killed. They are found from the
Manchurian border through the whole country, among
the mountains ; more than once have they been seen in the
capital since my arrival, and only a few months after I
landed a leopard was seen in the Russian legation com-
pound next to our house. As our homes were all bunga-
lows, and the extreme heat of summer nights necessitated
open windows, I often lay awake after this for hours
at night, certain that I heard the stealthy, heavy tread
and deep breathing of one of these creatures in my
room.
But to return to our experiences in the tiger valley,
which were not yet done. While Mr. Underwood and I
were having our evening prayers together we heard in
the valley below us the sharp report of a gun. The house
in which we were was on the side of a hill, while our
servants' quarters, and indeed most of the village, was in
the valley just below. Shortly some one came running to
tell us that a tiger had just been shot. This was slightly
exciting, but turned out later to have been a mere excuse
to quiet any alarm I might have felt on hearing the ex-
plosion of the gun.
A BAND OF ROBBERS 57
The real facts were, it seemed, that a band of some
thirty men, probably fugitives from justice, and robbers,
had conspired to visit us that night at midnight and de-
stroy the vile foreigners who had dared to intrude into the
sacred precincts of this mountain land, and thus warned,
no more strangers should trouble their shores. They had
drunk together to the success of their plot, and the leader
had rather overdone this part of it. Far gone in intoxica-
tion, he had been too much fuddled to keep to the plan,
had come several hours in advance of the time, had
loudly boasted in the little inn of their intentions, and
fired his gun in a fit of bravado. At the command of the
head of the village he was immedately seized and locked
up and his gun taken away. It was a poor old-fashioned
affair, arranged with a long fuse wound around the bear-
er's wrist, lighted when ready to fire, and inserted in an
arm held up by the trigger, the pulling of which raised and
removed a small cap which protected the priming powder
and dropped the fuse upon it, thus firing the gun. It is
with these awkward and clumsy weapons that the cool
Korean hunters face and shoot the most formidable
leopards, tigers, wild boars and bears which abound in the
mountains of Korea. The Korean nobles use tiger and
leopard skins on their carrying chairs, and the teeth and
claws for ornaments, while the bones, when ground up,
are supposed to be unrivalled as a tonic.
Many are the tiger stories told by Koreans ; their folk-
lore abounds with them. One very brief one is all I have
time to insert. Once upon a time a fierce tiger crept
stealthily into a village in search of prey. But every one
was in bed, the cattle and pigs well guarded behind pali-
saded walls, not a child, a dog, or even a chicken lingered
outside. He was about to retire in despair of finding a
supper there when he spied through the small aperture at
58 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
the bottom of a gate, such as is found in all gates for the
egress of dogs and cats, a small and trembling dog. His
majesty tried in vain to squeeze through this hole, and
finding it hopeless, took a careful survey of the wall. It
was high, it is true, and sharply spiked, but sharply set too
was the royal appetite, and he resolved to try the leap,
after carefully reckoning the height to be surmounted and
his own strength. He was a great agile fellow, and with
the exertion of all his might he jumped, barely escaping
the spikes, and landed safely inside the enclosure, quite
ready for his supper, well aware that he must snatch it
quickly and be gone ere the hunter in the cottage should
espy and shoot him. But puppy had gathered his tail be-
tween his legs, and with loud and long kiyies had slipped
through the opening to the outer side of the wall. Nothing
remained for our hungry prowler but to try another leap,
only to find that his supper had again given him the slip.
Alas, that his brains were not equal to his perseverance
and industry! I grieve to be obliged to relate that this
greedy fellow vaulted back and forth in pursuit of his
meal, his anger and appetite growing with every leap,
until he died of exhaustion and fell an ignominious prey
to his small and elusive foe, illustrating the fact that
might does not always win and that the small and weak
need not always despair in the contest with size and
strength.
In the little hamlet where we met the adventure with
the man who meant to kill us we were treated to fine veni-
son and delicious honey. All through the woods we found
anemones and other spring flowers and saw specimens of
the beautiful pink ibis, belonging to the same family as the
bird so often worshiped in Egypt. On the road hither
and all around us we saw stacked and ready for sale
cords of fine dark hard woods, of which we did not know
A LAND OF TREES 59
the names, but much of which looked like black walnut.
No one who has traveled through this part of the country
could possibly say there was a dearth of trees in Korea,
or of singing birds, or sweet-scented flowers, or gorgeous
butterflies.
CHAPTER IV
Leaving Kangai — We Choose a Short Cut — Much Goitre in the
Mountains — A Deserted Village — The Jericho Road — We are
Attacked by Robbers — A Struggle in the Inn Yard — Odds too
great — Our Attendants are Seized and Carried Off — The Kind
Inn-Keeper — Inopportune Patients — A Race for Life — A City
of Refuge — A Beautiful Custom — Safe at Last — The Magis-
trate Turns Out to be an Old Friend — The Charge to the
Hunters.
OUR next stopping place of importance was the town of
Kangai. This was a walled city of between ten and
twenty thousand inhabitants in the northern part of the
province of Pyeng An Do. Being in the center of a rather
turbulent and independent community, at least at that
time — and when were mountaineers not so? — and quite
near the Chinese border, its governor was invested with
almost provincial authority, had a large number of sol-
diers always under arms, and surrounded himself with
the greatest possible show of power and state, having a
numerous and obsequious body-guard, a gun fired when-
ever he left his office, and a great retinue of menials and
officials who constantly attended him. He told us that all
this was necessary to overawe the people and establish his
prestige and dignity. He was a relative of the queen,
and I had met him at the palace.
As we approached the city and about three miles out-
side of it, we saw in the distance a little company of sol-
diers with flying banners and sounding trumpets, await-
ing us apparently at the foot of a hill. What this might
A MILITARY ESCORT 61
portend we were at a loss to guess. It might mean fet-
ters and warder for intrusive foreigners, it might mean an
order to return, it might might mean our immediate ex-
tinction, but so kind had been our reception everywhere,
barring sightseers, that we did not entertain any serious
misgivings, although greatly puzzled as to what the
demonstration could possibly signify. However, we
marched right up, as if this martial array concerned us
not in the least. As soon as we came within saluting dis-
tance the leader of the little company made us the most
profound obeisance and announced that he had been sent
to escort us to the city. So we proceeded with this rather
cumbersome addition to our modest suite, and not only
this, for small boys are the same all the world over, and a
motley throng of them, attracted both by the soldiers and
the circus (or, shall we say, the menagerie?), closed in
around us. A mile farther on a second attachment of mili-
tary, with its inevitable corps of small boys, was awaiting
us, and on we went, the hubbub ever increasing, drums
beating, trumpets sounding, flags flying, wooden shoes
clattering over the stones, louder, it seemed to me, than all
the rest, as I cowered in the shelter of my closely cur-
tained chair.
Momentarily the formidable dimensions of the crowd
increased, while other bands of soldiers joined us at inter-
vals, for which I was devoutly thankful, for while the
crowd seemed good-natured and simply wildly curious, at
the same time we were strangers, to whom Koreans had
the reputation of being inimical. With so large a crowd
a small matter may kindle a blaze of fury, and as we were
rather inexperienced and ignorant of the character of the
people, I felt that whatever the intentions of the magis-
trate might be, the hand of the responsible official would be
gentle compared with the hands of the mob. And yet look-
62 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
ing back on it all now, in the light of all that has since oc-
curred, it was not altogether inappropriate but in a way
fitting, that the first heralds of the gospel and the advent
of Christianity to this province should be with banners,
trumpets and great acclaim. The Kingdom had come, if
only in its smallest beginnings, and had come to stay.
The wonder of it, which will grow, I think, more and
more through the eternal ages, is that God should allow
us, his poor creatures, to share with him in a work far
greater than the creation of a universe, even the founding
of an eternal and limitless kingdom of holiness, glory and
peace.
But to return to our noisy procession. Within the city
the noise and excitement ("yahdan" the Koreans would
say, and nothing expresses it so well) were far greater
than ever. Dancing girls and hoodlums of every descrip-
tion swelled the crowd, laughing, shouting, pushing, jost-
ling. High points of vantage were occupied to the last
inch with small boydom, booths or screened seats had
been rented for the use of the ladies, and the streets were
hardly passable. I shivered. I felt like a mouse in the
power of a playful tiger. It is not a pleasant thing to feel
one's self the object of desire — even if merely in a sight-
seeing way — of thousands of strange people. Many in
that crowd had come more than ten miles to behold us.
My husband to protect me from the unpleasantness, to say
the least, of falling into the hands of so large and eager a
mob, hastened to the gates of the magistracy, quickly dis-
mounted and bade the guards be ready to close them the
instant my chair had entered. This was promptly done,
the gates well bolted and guarded, and proud of our vic-
tory over the small boys, we hastily retired to our rooms.
But hark! what noise was that, like thundering of a
waterfall, or of a river dashing away its barriers ? Alack !
AN EPIDEMIC OF DISEASES 63
it was the boys. They had scaled the wall on each other's
shoulders, and were literally pouring over it into the com-
pound.
I looked around the little room for some means of
escape, like a hunted animal. Its windows and doors were
double, the inner one sliding into the wall, but both were
composed simply of a light frame of slender sticks
covered with stout paper, and already the dancing girls
and boys were tearing away the outer coat preparatory to
forcing an entrance. Suddenly I espied a small door,
which I found opened into a long dark closet, full of the
dust and dirt of unclean centuries. Hither I fled, cower-
ing in its farthest recesses. Those who looked in the win-
dows, and saw nothing of the strange animal genus Ameri-
canus, concluded she must be in some other place, and so a
short respite was granted, which Mr. Underwood and the
deputy magistrate made good use of in guarding our
house doors. The deputy himself was obliged to take his
station there, and threatening with awful penalties any
soldier who should permit the "chabin duli" (roughs and
crowd) to enter uninvited. Henceforth during my stay in
that town I was comparatively untroubled.
A very epidemic of diseases, however, seemed to have
smitten the place. Every one needed the doctor, and
old, almost forgotten complaints were resurrected and
rubbed up, or if none existed new ones were invented to
furnish an excuse for an introduction. People stood in
long rows from morning till night to see this popular
doctor, and had I been medicining for money, I might
have charged almost any price and filled high our coffers ;
but I was only too glad to be able to tell them of the great
Physician, whose unspeakable gift is without money or
price.
The magistrate treated us very kindly, and one day made
64 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
a dinner for Mr. Underwood at a little summer house out-
side the city. Here, after partaking of various Korean
dainties, he asked him a great many questions about
America and Americans. My husband had thus a fine
opportunity to enlighten the man on our own mission and
work. He of course listened politely, but the Korean
noble is very difficult to reach. He is bound so rigidly by
so many social, religious and political fetters, that he
usually will not allow himself to consider for a moment
the possibility of casting them off.
We were much disappointed at not finding here any of
the inquirers of whom we had been told so much, and to
examine and instruct whom Mr. Underwood had turned
so far aside from the main road to his final destination,
Weeju. We could only conclude that they had either been
too shy to approach us in the public quarters in which we
were located or that we had been entirely misinformed,
and we were forced very reluctantly to accept the latter as
a fact.
The magistrate sent a number of presents to us ere we
left — a box of cigars, though we were not smokers, an-
other of candied Chinese ginger, honey, flour, beef, vine-
gar and potatoes. These were articles which they found
by diligent inquiry from our attendants that we were fond
of. They scoured the country for potatoes, though except
in the mountains, where rice will not grow, few Koreans
cultivate or eat them.
On leaving Kangai we could either take a long road
around the mountains, well known and much traveled, or
a short cut through and over them, much less frequented,
but which the magistrate assured us was now quite safe,
as he had recently passed through there himself and be-
lieved that everything was now quiet and orderly. The
locality had a bad reputation, being off the main lines of
f\
AM*.
CARRIER OX. PAGE 54
THE OX-CART OR TALGOOCY. PACE 197
IN THE MOUNTAINS 65
travel in the recesses of the mountains, where escaped
criminals were wont to hide, and where a band of robbers
were said to have made their lair. But time pressed, work
was urgent, the magistrate's statements were reassuring,
and we decided to take the shorter road. We were pro-
vided with a police official and a soldier, who, our host
told us, would be respected and feared, and our entire
safety would thus be assured.
Our road on leaving Kangai passed directly over the
mountains, through a region more sparsely populated and
more wildly beautiful than anything we had yet seen.
There were a few stray farms where sparse crops of pota-
toes were raised, but the mountains hemmed us in closely
on all sides. They were covered with magnificent trees;
here and there a woodcutter was seen or heard, but the
evidences of human life were few. We had noticed with
interest through the mountain districts a large number of
people for these sparsely settled regions who were afflicted
with goitre.
At night we reached a small village of scarce a half
dozen houses, established by the government as a place of
rest for travelers, since there was no other place within
convenient marching distance. A subsidy was given in
return for which these natives were bound to provide re-
freshments, horses, oxen, or torches for those who bore
passports or official orders. But travel was rare and
they had come to consider their duty a tyrannical exaction,
their subsidy as their right ; so when we arrived an omi-
nous silence reigned over the place, and we found it had
been completely deserted and that not long since every-
thing had been dropped and the people had fled and hid-
den. This inhospitable reception was a very definite sign
of ill will, a plain refusal to give the shelter and assistance
they were so well paid to bestow. Of course it did not
66 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
auger well, but there was nothing to be done for the
present but to try to supply our needs. Fires were built,
horse provender found, and rice for coolies, mapoos and
attendants cooked, while for ourselves we fared well on
the contents of our box of stores. Some of the villagers
returned that night to their homes.
Early next morning, having paid for what we had used,
we started away. But the necessity for haste, as our
stage that day was a long one, and our want of suspicion
of any serious danger led us into making a mistake; we
divided our small party, Mr. Underwood, the soldier and
myself hurrying on ahead on what we afterwards called
the Jericho road, leaving helpers and constable with the
pack-ponies and mapoos, which traveled more slowly, to
follow at a distance of several miles. We planned to
reach our noon rest place early, and order food and pro-
vender (which it always takes an hour to cook) in advance,
so that all might be ready on their arrival and a speedy de-
parture insured. The day was a very fine one, the moun-
tain air exhilarating and delightful, and there were no
sightseers, so that Mr. Underwood and I walked together
a long distance, laughing and chatting and gathering the
pretty spring flowers, of which there were many, especially
the sweet-scented violets, which I was surprised to find
growing thus wild in the mountains. We arrived early
at the little hamlet which was our destination, and were
immediately installed in the one tiny inn the place could
boast.
I am not sure how much time elapsed before our loads
appeared, but it was not very long, and when word was
brought that they were coming my husband slipped a
small revolver (our only weapon) from our traveling-bag
into his pocket. I understood too little of the language to
know what message he had received, but he told me that
ATTACKED BY ROBBERS 67
some rough fellows were coming with our party and that
there might be trouble, in which case he might need the
revolver. He had received a message, while on the way to
the inn, that robbers had overtaken our people and were
following us. It seems that as soon as we were out of
sight a number of men had overtaken our loads and
charged one of our mapoos with theft, saying that they
had come to reclaim their stolen property. They bound
his hands, took possession of our ponies and loads, and
followed us to our inn. I peeped out through a crack
where the door stood ajar, and saw what was not re-
assuring, a party of twenty or thirty country fellows,
wilder and ruder looking than any I had yet seen, their
hair falling in matted locks around their evil faces instead
of being fastened in the usual rough top-knot, and their
angry eyes fierce and bloodshot. Each carried a short
stout club, and they were all shouting in angry tones at
once, while our mapoo, his hands bound, my husband, the
constable, soldier and helper stood in the midst of this
wild throng. The tiny place seemed filled with the men
and the hubbub, while the frightened villagers peeped in
at the gate or over the wall ; our brave chair coolies had
hidden away, for which we were later extremely thankful.
The attacking party with loud and angry voices accused
our mapoo of having stolen their money, a hat and a
bowl ; and when asked for evidence, pointed to the man's
own shabby old hat, then on his head, to a rice bowl,
placed on top of the packs (he said by their hands), and
to our own large and heavy bag of Korean cash, fastened
and sealed just as we saw it placed on the pony's back in
the morning. They refused to release the mapoo unless
these things were delivered up. Mr. Underwood told
them that the hat and money were ours, but that he would
go with them before a Korean magistrate and leave the
68 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
whole matter to his decision, only they must unbind our
mapoo. This they would not hear to and continued to
insist on our giving them the money. My husband abso-
lutely refused to do this. Meanwhile, having placed him-
self, with the brave little soldier at his side, in a narrow
space wide enough only for two, between the wall of the
compound and the house, he bade the latter cut the
mapoo's bands. The mob threatened to kill him if he did
so, but he turned to Mr. Underwood and said, "Does the
great man bid me cut?" and receiving the affirmative
reply, he at once cut the ropes which bound the mapoo.
The ruffians made a rush, but Mr. Underwood, hastily
pushing the mapoo behind him, managed with the aid of
the soldier at his side in that narrow place to push one
man back against the others and keep them off for some
time.
While his whole attention was thus engaged, however,
with those in front, some of the party found a way to the
rear, and coming up quietly behind, suddenly pinioned
his arms back and held him helpless, while the others car-
ried off our poor mapoo away outside the village, their
voices dying away in the distance. In the awful silence
that succeeded the uproar we waited what would follow.
After what seemed an age of suspense they returned with-
out the man and seized and carried off our constable.
Again that fateful silence, that agonizing suspense ; again
another raid, and our other mapoo was dragged away. If
these and our other companions had shown half the cour-
age of the little soldier and made any effort to defend
themselves and us, and especially had the chair coolies
stood by us, the ruffians would very likely have been
beaten off. As it was, we were practically helpless, the
only question was who was to be attacked next. Mr.
Underwood was very doubtful of the wisdom of pro-
A KOREAN VILLAGE
THE ROBBER BAND 69
ducing the little revolver until the very last extremity.
One by one they carried away the members of our party
till only Mr. Underwood, the little soldier and I were left.
We learned afterward that they were a set of wild men,
many of them fugitives from justice, probably an organ-
ized band of robbers, into whose hands we had fallen, and
the fear that lay like ice at my heart was that when all our
friends and defenders were one by one removed they
would carry away and murder my husband too. So I
waited, scarcely breathing, for the next return. What I
dreaded they did in fact propose to do, saying it was the
right way to treat foreigners. They said they had robbed
and killed a Japanese officer some years ago, and having
never been punished, would be quite safe in treating us in
a similar way. On our return to Seoul we found by in-
quiry that this was true, that while the government had
been forced to pay a heavy indemnity, they had never been
able to identify and punish the murderers. Had we been
overtaken before we reached the village perhaps our fate
would have been that of the Japanese ; but when the affair
reached this point the villagers interfered and forbade.
They said they had allowed them to carry off our Korean
servants and our money, but should we, foreigners, known
at the palace and carrying a passport, be killed there, their
village would have to bear the penalty, and we must be
spared. They were only a few men, but probably people
who, knowing the haunts of the criminals and able to
identify them, had them to some extent in their power.
The men therefore sullenly filed away, or at least most
of them. One or two of the fiercest and most repulsive still
hung about, and one of them walked into my room (an
insult in the eyes of all Koreans) and insolently stared
until my husband, entering, ordered him out.
The inn-keeper was a little man not five feet high,
70 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
who did all in his power to reassure and make me com-
fortable, as if such a thing were possible with our poor
friends in distress, if not dead, and our own fate only too
uncertain. It was twenty-five English miles to the nearest
magistracy, and doing our best, it would be difficult to
reach it that night ; but we knew that if any help was to be
had for the captives it must be secured at once, aside from
the fact that we had no assurance of safety with so small
a party until within the walls of the yamen. So it was de-
cided to start as soon as possible. My scared chair coolies
had sneaked out of their hiding places in a sufficiently
well-preserved condition to be able to partake of a hearty
meal, and were soon ready to start. My husband had a
Korean pony which possessed the rare virtue of kicking
and biting every one who attempted to touch him, except
his mapoo and his master; to which quality we were in-
debted for his being left us that day. One other pony we
were able to obtain, but as it of course could carry only
our rugs and bedding, the rest of our belongings we were
compelled to leave behind.
We asked the host to take them into his house and take
charge of them, to which he willingly consented. His
son, in an agony of terror, begged him not to do so, as
the robbers had threatened to come and burn down his
house if he sheltered either us or our goods. The stout-
hearted little fellow, whose soul was much too large for
his body, laughed at the threat, and bidding one of the
very men who had attacked us give a lift, he carried our
trunks into his house and said he would take good care
of them for us until we should send for them. In the
meanwhile Mr. Underwood had been urging me to eat,
which I tried in vain to do, as a large lump of something
hard had become fixed in my throat, would neither go up
or down and no food could pass that way. In fact, I may
INOPPORTUNE PATIENTS 71
as well admit I was a very much frightened woman, and
my whole desire was to run away as fast and as far as
possible from that dreadful locality. It sounds, and is,
disgraceful, but as this is a narration of facts it may as
well be confessed. My chief grief was that we must leave
our poor friends behind. That, indeed, seemed cruel and
unthinkable, yet there appeared to be no other way to
relieve or help them.
Just as we were ready to start two or three country peo-
ple came and asked for medicines for trifling complaints.
Was anything ever so ill-timed? Surely we could not
wait then, when the lives of our poor people as well as our
own perhaps depended on our speedy departure. But not
so, counseled my husband. These men and women
needed help which we could give. It was our duty to show
that we, as the servants of Jesus, had come in a spirit of
brotherhood and love, and it gave us a fine opening to de-
liver a message and to distribute the printed Word — it
would not take long, and in any case were we not in God's
hands ? So not knowing what moment the ruffians might
return to drag us away to share the unknown fate of our
attendants, perhaps death, surely torture, I prescribed.
Alas ! I hope none of my patients were poisoned ; but with
so distracted a mind did I work that it was very difficult
to fix my thoughts on afflicted eyes, ears and throats, etc.
At length all had been seen, the medicines repacked, when
another patient appeared ; again we waited, I diagnosed
and prescribed and Mr. Underwood prepared the medi-
cine ; but still another and yet another appeared, till I be-
gan to think we should not be able to leave that day at all.
At last, however, all were satisfied, and we started with
our race with time, considerably after two o'clock.
We had twenty-five English miles to travel before we
could reach the nearest magistrate, on a road leading
72 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
through and over the mountains. It was wild and ex-
ceedingly beautiful, but correspondingly rough and diffi-
cult. Sometimes it was only the narrowest foot-path,
running along a ledge of rocks overhanging the stream ;
sometimes it was almost lost among great boulders, which
must be skirted or surmounted. The loveliest wild flowers
were all around us, but for once they did not tempt us to
linger. We had barely left the confines of the village be-
fore we saw in the road before us the prostrate and ap-
parently inanimate body of a man, whom we soon recog-
nized as our constable. He proved to be not dead, but
simply fainting from the cruel beating he had received.
He soon revived a little and begged us to hurry on for aid.
He was too much exhausted and bruised to be carried on
with us, unless we abandoned our purpose of reaching the
magistracy that night, which it seemed for the best good
of all to do ; so most reluctantly we left him to the mercy
of the villagers. It was a sore alternative, but otherwise
help for the others would have been delayed many hours.
When we had proceeded two or three miles farther we
saw a line of armed men half kneeling barring the road
in front of us, with their guns aimed apparently at us. I
of course concluded that my last hour had come, but we
decided that to advance with no signs of fear or doubt was
the only course to pursue, and found a few minutes later
that our formidable-looking opponents were only some
hunters waiting game that was being driven towards them
by others. Our road steadily ascended, and was more and
more difficult. Where it was worst I walked to relieve
the tired coolies, for even with four men and a light bur-
den it is no easy matter to carry a chair up the mountain
side on a warm April afternoon. When sunset was
almost due, and we had many miles yet to go, the coolies
insisted on waiting for supper. I dreaded the possible
A RACE FOR LIFE 73
necessity of being obliged to spend a part of the night un-
sheltered in a country that seemed so hostile, added to
which the other thought of the necessity for speed made it
seem impossible and wicked to delay for such a paltry
thing as food.
Why the men who had seemed so bitter and cruel at
noon had not followed and attacked our weakened party
I have never been able to entirely explain. I can only sur-
mise that, like most Asiatics, they were firmly convinced
that Mr. Underwood, in common with all foreigners, al-
ways went heavily though secretly armed, and that any
attempt to injure our persons would result in awful
calamity. In addition, our passport and the well-known
fact that we were on very friendly relations with the
palace may have made them fear the consequence of harm-
ing us, even though they were more than half resolved to
do so. More than this, the villagers who forbade them to
touch us probably knew their haunts and would be able to
hunt them out; and lastly, the fact that Mr. Underwood
stoutly resisted them and showed no signs of fear un-
doubtedly had a marked effect upon their treatment of us.
Witness the fact that even the little soldier, the only man
of our native party who fought them and showed no fear,
was the only one of the Koreans who escaped unhurt. If
we had at any moment shown ourselves afraid of them
they would have taken it as sure proof that we were de-
fenseless. Had they seen our little revolver, and known
it for our only weapon, they would have counted us, as we
were, practically helpless, and our fate might have been
decided very differently.
At the time I felt certain they were not through with
us, but having weakened our party, they would attack us
in the lonely road, far away from the friendly village, and
finish their work.
74 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
We could scarcely hope to distance them, handicapped
as we were, but I felt we could not put too much space
between them and us, and many a backward glance I cast,
expecting to see them emerge any moment from some rock
or tree. Good for man or woman it is to feel one's self
cast utterly on God's mercy, and entirely in his hands, to
know one's self beyond all human aid, with him alone to
look to for succor. As I turned to my husband that day
and said, "Well, there's nothing left to do but to trust the
Lord," it flashed over us both how commonly we only
trust him when there is nothing else to do, as if his help
were the last we should ever invoke, a last forlorn hope.
How far, far too much, we fall into the habit of trusting in
an arm of flesh and all the frail little human makeshifts
with which we encompass ourselves and fancy we are
safe. But how near he seems, how strong the uplift of
the "everlasting arms," when the soul is left alone to
him.
We were forced to wait some time while our tired
coolies fed, the darkness meanwhile coming on rapidly.
At length, rather than waste any more time, I started,
walking in advance and leaving the coolies to follow ; eat
1 could not. Soon the road divided into two, one a short
cut over the mountain, the other a much longer one
around it ; we decided to take the shorter road, which also
leading through the woods became extremely dark, so that
in a short time we were obliged to call for torches, the
road too turning out to be very bad. It was barely a foot-
hold, circling and twisting down the precipitous mountain
side. Mr. Underwood soon concluded that he would
rather trust his own feet than his pony's, as we heard the
displaced stones go rattling down into depths far below ;
but as for me, though I would have much preferred to de-
scend from my chair, which had some time before over-
A CITY OF REFUGE 75
taken us, I was now so tired that it would have delayed
us too much and added nothing to my safety.
Still it was rather an uncomfortable thing to be carried
along on the brink of a precipice, down a slippery, uncer-
tain path, in a darkness which was scarcely relieved, only
made visible, by the flickering torchlights, especially as
they invariably burned out before the next came up, and
we were obliged at times to proceed a quarter of a mile or
more — it always seemed more — in total darkness ; and yet
worse than this is probably often experienced by people
traveling in the mountains for pleasure. At last, how-
ever, after nine o'clock, Mr. Underwood came to the chair
and bade me look up. There above us on a hill in relief
against the starlit sky stood the walls and gate of the little
city. A city of refuge indeed, and we realized that night,
a little at least, of the joy of the hunted, who, closely pur-
sued by the avenger of blood, found himself safe within
protecting walls. The gates were hospitably open as our
messenger had arrived, and we were expected.
We were told that it was a custom in many towns in
the north to set a lamp in each doorway as a token of
welcome to expected guests who for any reason were per-
sons of importance. As we passed down the street and
saw these bright little beacons before each door our hearts
were deeply touched. Although it was too late for a
formal audience, and the gate of the magistracy was
closed, my husband insisted on being admitted at once.
The request was granted and he hurried in and began the
usual ceremony of introducing himself, when a familiar
voice exclaimed, "And don't you know me?" Then for
the first he looked closely into the face of the official be-
fore him, and found that he was an old friend from
Seoul, who had often been entertained at our house.
All was now easy. The events of the morning were
76 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
carefully related, with the request that the police should be
sent at once to rescue and bring back our people, reclaim
our goods and arrest, if possible, the criminals. This he
promised to do at once, and in fulfillment, immediately
ordered up the hunters, a guild of brave men who know
the woods and mountains for miles around, and who fear
nothing. His spokesman then called out to them in loud
tones, which thrilled through the clear starlit night, the
order to go at once, find and arrest the robbers, and bring
safely our attendants and goods in three days' time, or
lose their heads. To which they replied in a sort of chant
in a minor key that they would so arrest, reclaim, and
bring back in three days' time or would lose their heads.
The last syllable long drawn, rolled, rippled, and re-echoed,
seeming to die away somewhere among the stars. The
condition about the loss of their heads was, of course,
merely for rhetorical effect, or very likely the echo of an
old custom, the address and reply being probably a form
hundreds of years old. At any rate, though they returned
after three days had passed, their mission not fully accom-
plished, there was no talk of beheading, or thought of it in
any quarter.
It may be noted that not much has been told in this
chapter of Christian work and its results, but it must be
remembered that conditions were somewhat unfavorable.
Owing to the fears of our American minister, Mr. Under-
wood had been forbidden to preach in the country at this
time, so that his work was limited to studying the country
and the people and their possibilities, laying plans for
future work, examining, instructing and encouraging con-
verts and supervising and testing the work of native
helpers. As for me, the effort to make a favorable im-
pression through the treatment of the sick and the distri-
bution of tracts was the limit of my usefulness.
CHAPTER V
Our Stay in Wewon — We Give a Dinner — Our Guests — Magis-
trates Propose that we Travel with a Chain-Gang — Our Trip
down the Yalu — The Rapids — Contrast between Korean and
Chinese Shores — We Enter Weju — The Drunken Magistrate
— Presents and Punishments — Unpleasant Experiences with
Insincere People — Rice Christians — The Scheming Colporter
— The Men Baptized in Weju — The Lost Passport — Another
Audience at the Palace — Queen's Dress and Ornaments —
Korean Summer House — The Pocket Dictionary — Our
Homes.
HERE, then, in the hospitable little town of Wewon we
rested, made friends whom we hoped to draw into the
friendship of our Leader, and ministered to sick bodies
and souls, as opportunity was given. Here in a few days
were brought our boxes and a few of the men who had
attacked us. Still later, for they were unable to travel for
some time, came our poor attendants, who had twice been
cruelly beaten with clubs and left tied up all night in a
painful and agonizing position. The mapoo's arm was
broken, and our helper never entirely recovered from the
injury his back had suffered. Those of the criminals who
were found were sent up to the provincial capital to be
punished by the governor.
Before leaving Wewon we gave a dinner to the magis-
trate in order to gratify his curiosity and that of his
friends. We wished to show in some way our apprecia-
tion of his kindness and hospitality, and Mr. Underwood,
78 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
who had considerable experience and much skill in camp
and bachelor cooking, undertook, in the face of some odds,
to manage the matter; and we found our ingenuity well
taxed in evolving a feast from the now scanty remnants of
our larder and the few obtainable native articles out of
which a foreign meal could be manufactured. However,
we prided ourselves that we did quite well, with some six
courses, including soup, fish, a bewitching little roast pig,
well decorated with wreaths and berries, served with apple
sauce and stuffed with potatoes, chestnuts and onions.
Our dessert, marmalade spread on crackers, was suffi-
ciently light to please the most aesthetic, and we introduced
a novelty, coffee sweetened with honey, never whispering
that our sugar was gone. The magistrate came with a
huge crowd of retainers, who filled our tiny room and
flowed over into the kitchen, peered into and fingered
everything, and nearly wrecked the courses, which our
overtried servant was attempting under many difficulties
to serve. With nothing but a bowl of charcoal in lieu of
a stove, and no proper kitchen utensils, it was by no means
easy to achieve such a feat of culinary art in the far in-
terior of the hermit kingdom, but we did not stop to con-
sider a little inconvenience or bother, nor regret a little
extra work where we could thereby make or strengthen
friendship with Koreans. Trifling as it may look for mis-
sionaries to be planning menus and giving dinners to
country magistrates, there are more ways of furthering
the cause than preaching only. The hearts of the people
must be won, and he who wins most friends wins the
readiest and most attentive audience, one inclined in ad-
vance to favor and accept what he has to teach, and noth-
ing is trifling which helps.
After the return of our men and belongings, and as
soon as the former were able to travel, we felt we must
A CHAIN-GANG 7f
hurry on to Weju. The magistrate of Wewon proposed
that when we departed, the eight criminals who had been
captured should be chained together, two and two, and led
in advance of our company during the rest of our journey.
Thus should we march through the land like conquerors,
instilling awe and terror in all hearts, and none who
looked on this tableau would ever again dare assail a
foreigner. Now this was of course exactly the impression
that we wished to produce as missionaries ! We pictured
ourselves going about preaching the cross, with such an
object lesson as this, trying to win the hearts of the people,
while driving their compatriots before us in chains, and
we enjoyed the vision hugely. It would hardly have been
possible to have obtained the relief of our Koreans with-
out the arrest of the criminals, several of whom were
identified as notorious men, whose seizure was necessary
to the peace and safety of the community. But we never
would have had them punished on our own account or to
gratify revenge, so we politely thanked the magistrate for
his tactful suggestion, but begged to be excused.
We found the town of Chosan, where we stopped on the
evening after leaving Wewon, quite a unique and inter-
esting little place. It is situated near the Yalu, or, as the
Chinese call it, the Amno River, which forms the boun-
dary line between Korea and China. Two "kisus," a sort
of soldier police, were sent out three miles to meet us, and
preceded us into the town, blowing trumpets all the way,
to our helpless annoyance and disgust, for they either
could not or would not understand that this sort of demon-
stration was most distasteful to us both.
As at Kangai, more and more soldiers met us at inter-
vals. There were flags, music, crowds, and again we
entered the town like a circus. The crowds, however,
were kept well back, the place was much smaller, and we
80 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
were undisturbed at the magistracy. As soon as we
entered the house a small tray was brought, with cups of
hot ginger tea, most restful and refreshing, the kind
thought of the magistrate, who, unlike others, did not
force himself at once upon us, but considerately waited
until we were a little rested and refreshed. We found
here a custom which we had not met elsewhere, that of
sounding a bell every morning at a certain hour, when all
morning fires must be extinguished, not to be relit until
late in the afternoon.
We were compelled to go on some miles farther to ob-
tain a boat for our short trip down the Yalu. In rainy
weather the rapids between this point and Weju are rather
dangerous, but at this time it was only a swift current,
which made the trip the pleasanter. We found a Korean
junk, which served our purpose as well as any that were
to be had, which was flat-bottomed, and thirty feet long
by three wide. This would carry our attendants, our
packs, two or three boatmen and ourselves. Some mats
were rigged on bamboo poles above us for an awning, and
others stretched across the middle of the boat for a parti-
tion, which left one half for the use of the natives, while
we reserved the other for ourselves. Here we spent three
days and nights ; during the latter, however, we always an-
chored near the shore. Provisions in plenty were obtained
from the villages we passed, when a great many people
came out to kugung ; but here we had the advantage, and
while quite able to talk to them from the boat, were not
forced to permit more than we liked to examine us and
our belongings.
One night we were wakened with the cry of "Pull,
pull !" "Fire, fire!" and found the boat was on fire. Some
one had fallen asleep while smoking and dropped hot
ashes among combustibles ; but we were close to the shore,
OUR TRIP DOWN THE YALU 81
there was plenty of water and people to use it. The blaze
was soon out, and nothing thrilling came to pass. Thus
was it ever with our adventures. While danger in one
form or another made itself known, as if to prove beyond
a doubt our Father's care, we were kept as safe and un-
harmed as a child in its mother's arms ; and were we not
with the everlasting arms underneath us?
As we drifted down the Amno those lovely spring days,
with China lying on one side of us and Korea on the other,
the contrast was wonderfully marked, almost as much, in-
deed, as if the two nations had been separated by oceans
rather than a river. This difference too was almost as
marked in the physical features of the country as in na-
tional customs. On the Korean shore the trees were
mostly of pine ; on the China side, of oaks and other de-
ciduous varieties. The Korean peasants' huts were of
mud, straw thatched ; the Chinese houses of brick or stone,
roofed with tile. Koreans dressed in white were plow-
ing with oxen; Chinese farmers in blue were plowing
with horses. Rhododendrons gave a lovely roseate tinge
to the rocks and hills on either side. It was easy for the
passing traveler to see which country bore the greater ap-
pearance of prosperity and thrift.
On the evening of the 27th of April we reached Weju.
Fortunately no official notice had gone before, and there
were no trumpets, drums, harps, sackbuts, psalteries and
all kinds of music at hand to make our lives a burden. A
chair was hired for Mr. Underwood, and in the kindly
protection of the deepening twilight we surreptitiously en-
tered these conveyances and were carried into the city as
quietly and unobtrusively as happy common folks.
And now, to return a little, soon after leaving Pyeng
Yang we had met a Mr. Yi, of Weju, an agent of the Bible
Society, then on his way to Seoul; but when he heard
82 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
where we were going he concluded to return with us. Mr.
Underwood was at that time trying to decide whether
Weju or Pyeng Yang would be the better place for a sub-
station, with a half-formed plan to purchase a house, to
which we could go when itinerating, in charge of which
we might place a care-taker, who would also be helper, in-
tending to select from among the converts in that region,
if possible, one of the most capable and earnest. This plan
was in part communicated to Mr. Yi, and seemed to strike
him most favorably. He shortly proposed to precede us
to Weju and select such a place. Mr. Underwood, how-
ever, told him plainly that he must on no account purchase
or promise to purchase any such house for us ; that, as our
plans were indefinite, we could not buy until we had seen
the city and the Christians, and, in a word, until we had
some data by which to decide whether we needed such a
house there at all. And even then the locality and the
house must first be seen by us.
We, however, consented that he should go in advance
and arrange at some inn or Christian home for our enter-
tainment, so that we could be quietly and quickly housed
on entering the town. We also consented that some in-
quiries should be made as to what houses in localities con-
venient for work were purchasable, and at what price, so
that we might have something definite to consider on
reaching there. Accordingly he left us before we reached
Kangai and hurried on to Weju. When we arrived, there-
fore, he met us and conducted us with much eclat to a very
commodious and nice bungalow, which he said was his
own. Here we were introduced to his consumptive wife,
his aged father, and his little children.
According to custom, we sent our passport to the magis-
trate as soon as we arrived. This scarcely reached his
office before an order was sent out for the arrest of our
A BUTCHER SHOP
BASKET SHOP
A DRUNKEN MAGISTRATE 83
servants and helper, who were forthwith dragged off to
the yamen, beaten and locked up. We had hardly received
this disconcerting news when it was announced that some
messengers had arrived from his excellency with a very
generous present of chickens, eggs, nuts, fruit and other
edibles. These articles again had barely been received and
the messengers not well out of sight when officers arrived
with orders to arrest our host and have him beaten. This
very contradictory conduct was certainly disquieting, and
we were at a loss to conjecture what it meant.
However, we had not long to wait. The deputy or
vice-magistrate was shortly afterwards announced, and
before he left, he gave Mr. Underwood to understand that
his honor the magistrate had been imbibing rather freely
and was not altogether responsible for his honorable (?)
conduct, and that he, the deputy, hoped, therefore, that we
would overlook his slight playfulness in arresting and
beating our poor innocent people. These little aberrations
were, he said, quite frequent, and of course when once we
understood what was to be expected and the reason, no
concern need be felt. We were, of course, immensely com-
forted and soothed by this explanation, and rested with
quiet minds in the happy consciousness that it was entirely
uncertain what sort of magisterial and honorable earth-
quake or cyclone might strike us next; assured it would
be all right, as he intended no harm in his sane moments.
The poor deputy, in a strait betwixt two (the magistrate
near at hand, and the Foreign Office in Seoul, represented
by our passport), had been trying to smooth over the
magistrate's uncivil reception of the passported foreigners,
by offerings of said chickens, eggs, etc., and this was the
explanation of the strange combination of presents and
punishments.
Drunkenness is, I am sorry to say, very common in
84 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
Korea. The people do not, as in Japan and China, raise
tea, and even the wealthiest have apparently only recently
learned the use of either tea or coffee, which the common
people are far too poor to buy. Milk, strange to say, they
have never used, and they are therefore without a harm-
less beverage which they can offer their friends on con-
vivial occasions. As it is, they resort only too generally to
wines and some very strong alcoholic drinks, which they
make themselves.
We had had Christian workers at Weju for some
months, one of whom Mr. Underwood had appointed and
two who had constituted themselves such, of whom we
were doubtful then, and later had cause to be more so, and
who now hoped to prove themselves so useful to us that
we would give them some good-paying position in the
mission. Several of our experiences at Weju were very
bitter and disappointing to us, for the insincerity of men
whom we trusted was made clear, and yet at the same time
they were instructive, for they taught us to be very slow
and cautious in investing men with responsibility, and to
be very guarded both in receiving converts and in using
money, and helped to strengthen us in those ideas of rigid
self-support which Mr. Underwood had already, from the
study of Dr. Nevius' book, begun to consider deeply and
to some extent follow. One of the self-appointed begged
us to start a Christian school in a place where as yet there
was no opening for it, and to put him in as teacher with a
good salary. "But," Mr. Underwood objected, "we are
not yet ready for such a school, and I cannot start a school
merely to give you a living." Such unconcern for his
material interest grieved him sorely. Long he pleaded his
need and begged with great naivete that we would then
inform him how he was to subsist, with refreshing guile-
lessness rolling the whole of the responsibility of his ex-
A SCHEMING COLPORTER 85
istence upon us. We were obliged to tell him with some
emphasis that we were not here to provide incomes for
indolent men, but to further the gospel.
Another man whom we had trusted had given us
altogether exaggerated, and we feared intentionally false,
accounts of the interest in Kangai, of which we had failed
to find any signs. He did not suppose we would go there
to verify the reports which were to accrue to his credit.
But another and still more annoying experience awaited
us. The agent Yi told us that the house we were in be-
longed to us, that in spite of our repeated injunctions he
had bought it for us, and had sold his own little home in
part payment and installed his family here. This was now
the only shelter of his aged father, his sick wife and his
helpless little ones. The scheming fellow had indeed
placed us in a serious predicament. To turn these weak
and helpless people into the street for the sins of this man
was not to be thought of ; to allow the man to profit by his
dishonest trick would be to encourage every covetous
hypocrite who sought to make gain out of the church and
to misuse consecrated funds. Fortunately within ten days
after a sale the money or deeds may be demanded back,
and so we made him ask back his own house and return
the one we had used, with a slight extra payment, to the
original owner. It is due to the British Bible Society to
say that they were of course deceived in this man, as we
are all liable to be at times, no matter how careful. The
distance from his employers at which he was working
made supervision almost impossible.
We were visited by a great many people, mostly men,
who seemed deeply interested in Christianity and eager
for baptism. Over one hundred such applicants presented
themselves. Mr. Underwood examined them with great
care, and found that all had studied the Scriptures and
86 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
tracts with great assiduity, and nearly all were well in-
formed in the cardinal truths of the gospel. One man was
quite a phenomenon of a rather useless kind of Biblical
erudition. He knew the number of chapters and verses in
the Old and New Testament (Chinese, of course), the num-
ber of characters, the number of times the name of God
and Christ occur, and a variety of similar facts, showing
he had an extremely facile memory, but proving nothing
with regard to his conversion. I could not help regarding
the poor man with compassion. It seemed too bad that
he should have taken so much pains and spent so many
hours of toil to gain non-essentials when the sweet bread
of life and honey out of the rock might have been had so
simply and easily, had he only really wanted them, had
he learned enough of their wondrous value to desire them.
I am afraid that this man and some of the others that we
questioned had no inkling of what Christianity really is,
but supposed it was a philosophy, fine and good, no doubt,
which if adopted would bring them in touch with rich and
influential foreigners, and find them speedy employment
as teachers, helpers and what not.
What we anxiously, longingly sought for in these appli-
cants were the signs of a sincere change of heart, of a
real love for the God who was crucified to save them, and
of the fruit of this belief in a change of life and character.
Out of the hundred applicants we selected thirty-three, not
those who answered most glibly or showed the greatest
information, but those who gave almost unmistakable evi-
dence of sincerity of heart and true knowledge of Jesus.
I say almost, for it is well-nigh impossible not to make
mistakes at times.
We had been forbidden to baptize in Korea, under our
passport, and we all crossed the river into China, and there
held a communion service, a very solemn and deeply felt
SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD 87
occasion to us, and Mr. Underwood baptized these men,
the only ones baptized during the whole trip, a larger num-
ber than he ever received before, or after that, for some
years. These numbers, rather large so early in the history
of the mission, were afterward much exaggerated by ru-
mor. No one was able to visit this little company of new-
born souls for two years. No response from the church at
home to urgent pleas for help ; exacting demands of work
in Seoul, sickness which took us to America, made it im-
possible for any one to go and strengthen, encourage and
uphold them. With no pastor, few books but Chinese,
they were sadly neglected, and humanly speaking, it
would hardly be surprising if they were scattered and lost
as sheep without a shepherd. We had hoped to visit them
at least once a year, but had no idea how the work near
home would grow and how impossible it would be to leave.
These men were not of the city of Weju, but from some
little hamlets at some distance, some of them fifteen or
twenty miles away. Several of the men were already
well known to Mr. Underwood and had been under in-
struction for more than a year, and some had been re-
ported ready for baptism by Mr. Saw, who had been em-
ployed by Mr. Ross when he came to Seoul three years
before.
This is to show that a horde of new professors, of whom
we knew nothing, were not rashly baptized in zeal to in-
crease the list of church-members, as was stated by per-
sons who were ignorant of the real facts. All were rigidly
examined, all had been long prepared, and although two
missionaries who paid a visit to Weju on their way to
China two years later, and one who made a long stay eight
or nine years later, said they found none of these Chris-
tians, we believe God was able to keep his own. It would
not be easy, knowing neither the names of the men nor
88 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
the villages where they lived, to find them, especially when
we remember the roving, almost nomadic character of the
people, most of whom had probably moved quite away,
the Japanese war having worked marvelous changes.
More than half of the population of Weju and vicinity
seemed to melt away during that disastrous war.
When our work in Weju was done we started on our
return trip to many waiting duties in the capital. The
magistrate had not restored our passport, so we sent for
it, but it was not forthcoming. We waited some time, and
again meekly requested it; still it was withheld, and at
length we learned that on the night of our arrival the
magistrate had been in such an irresponsible condition
that he had no recollection to whose care he had confided
it, and, in fact, the passport was lost. This was indeed a
serious state of affairs ! To travel without one would in-
volve great risk, to wait for another from Seoul would
take more time than we could afford to spare. And, in-
deed, whether we should believe that it was really lost, or
that this was only the excuse of an inimical magistrate
who meant to detain us there for some dark purpose, was
a question. After some annoying delay, however, it was
found and duly returned, and with sad farewells from our
friends, but with the hope and intention of returning soon
to feed these lambs of God's fold we left Weju, to which
we have never as yet been permitted to go back.
Mr. Underwood and I discussed long and earnestly on
our return trip the comparative merits of Pyeng Yang
and Weju for the establishment of a sub-station. In the
one the opening was more hopeful, the other held the more
advantageous position. We at length concluded to leave
the matter open and allow future events to decide where
we should start our station. We returned to Seoul by the
main road, with as few delays as possible, and had an un-
ANOTHER AUDIENCE AT THE PALACE 89
eventful trip, troubled by no mobs or robbers. The season
was somewhat advanced and the inns were very hot, but
the country was beautiful, with many varieties of the love-
liest flowers. Lilies of the valley we found growing in
masses not ten feet from the roadside, lilacs, eglantine,
sweet violets and quantities of other sweet-scented flowers
filled my chair. We found ourselves safely at home near
the middle of May, having been absent over two months,
traveled more than a thousand miles, treated over six
hundred patients, and talked with many times that
number.
We were dismayed to find on our return that one of the
too loyal missionaries had, in supposed obedience to the
edict, closed the little room, where services had been held
with the natives, and they were worshiping secretly in
one or another of their own little homes. We at once
threw open our own house and regularly gathered the
Christians there, till all the mission were willing to use the
little chapel again.
Shortly after our return the queen invited me to a
private audience, in order to give me a very unique pair of
gold bracelets, which she had ordered made for a wedding
present, and which had not been ready before we went to
the country. She also gave a ring set with a beautiful
pearl for my husband. She kindly asked about our trip,
and was, as usual, all that was friendly and considerate.
I wish I could give the public a true picture of the queen
as she appeared at her best, but this would be impossible,
even had she permitted a photograph to be taken, for her
charming play of expression while in conversation, the
character and intellect which were then revealed, were
only half seen when the face was in repose. She wore her
hair like all Korean ladies, parted in the center, drawn
tightly and very smoothly away from the face and knotted
QO FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
rather low at the back of the head. A small ornament
(indicating her rank, I suppose, as I have never seen any
other woman wear one) was worn on the top of the head,
fastened by a narrow black band. One or two very orna-
mental long hairpins of gold filigree set with coral, pearls
or jewels were stuck through the knot of hair at the back.
She usually wore a yellow silk chogerie, or jacket waist,
like those worn by all Korean women, fastened with a
pearl or amber button and a very long flowing blue silk
skirt. All her garments were of silk, exquisitely dainty.
Her majesty seemed to care little for ornaments, and
wore very few. No Korean women wear earrings (ex-
cept young girls in the north, who wear a large silver
hoop), and the queen was no exception, nor have I ever
seen her wear a necklace, a brooch, or a bracelet. She
must have had many rings, but I never saw her wear more
than one or two of European manufacture, set with not so
many nor so large diamonds as numbers of American
women of moderate means and station often display. She
had any number of beautiful watches, which she never
wore. According to Korean custom, she carried a number
of filigree gold ornaments decorated with long silk tassels
fastened at her side. So simple, so perfectly refined were
all her tastes in dress, it is difficult to think of her as be-
longing to a nation called half civilized.
On the occasion of this visit she gave me a fresh proof
of her thoughtful kindness. I was wearing my wedding
dress and very thin satin slippers, and as I was leaving
it suddenly began to rain. My chair was nearly half a mile
distant, waiting outside the gate, according to rule. The
queen, whom nothing escaped, noted the rain, and my diffi-
culty. She came in person to the window and imperatively
ordered word to be sent to the gate for my chair to be
brought to the waiting room.
KOREAN SUMMER HOUSE 91
But this was too much. The officials who attended me
there said that such an exception as this in my favor would
awaken bitter criticism and jealousy, that one of the
highest officials in the land was at that moment waiting
at the gate for the shower to pass so that he could attend
at an audience, and would be obliged to walk through the
rain. They therefore begged that I would wave the ful-
filment of the queen's order and walk to my chair. I saw
the reason and the good sense in their protest, and of
course at once consented, as much comforted by the
queen's kind intention as if my slippers and silk gown had
been well protected. This rule for the exclusion of chair
coolies was changed soon after, and my chair was brought
close to the royal apartments.
That summer was passed on a high bluff on the banks
of the river, in a Korean summer house, which belonged to
the king, which their majesties had allowed our mission to
use a previous year, and which favor was now extended to
us. It was situated on the rocks about fifty feet above the
water, and was one of those charming, cool and pictu-
resque summer refuges which Koreans understand build-
ing to perfection. Its roof, with artistically upward curv-
ing corners, was supported on several stout pillars, but its
walls were all windows of light wood, in fancy open-work
designs, which were covered with paper on one side, and
which, being made to swing out and hook to the roof,
formed a very effective awning. Here with a breeze al-
ways sweeping through, effectively screened from the sun,
with a perfect view of the mountains and the Han River,
with its lovely green valley, Mr. Underwood worked
nearly all summer on his small dictionary, Mr. Gale or
Mr. Hulbert giving him much useful help at times. My
husband had been at work on a larger dictionary, which he
planned to make a very full and complete one, for nearly
92 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
three years, and had already many thousands of defini-
tions of words with synonyms. It was to be both Korean-
English and English-Korean, not like the French, merely
the Korean into the foreign tongue. It was a darling
scheme of his heart, on which he was putting all the time
that could be spared from direct mission work ; but per-
suaded by his brethren that something was sorely needed
immediately by missionaries now beginning to arrive, he
laid his magnus opus aside for the present, not without
regret, but without a backward look, and working without
cessation from early dawn into the night hours all that
long summer, prepared and finished the small dictionary,
for the convenience at the present indigent moment of
those who were struggling with the language.
The following fall, the loved secretary, Dr. Mitchell,
and Mrs. Mitchell visited our mission and gave us all
much advice and help, for which we were most grateful.
We were not then quite so well housed as now. Our
homes were mud-walled and rather damp, often leaking
badly in rainy season and admitting much frosty air
through numerous cracks in the winter. Many of our
windows were not glazed, but merely covered with paper.
During the doctor's visit there came one night a heavy
storm of wind and rain, which beat against the window
near our bed, and thoroughly demolished it, the rain pour-
ing in on the floor. The roof leaked over us, but with
umbrellas and waterproofs we kept quite dry. In the
morning, however, at the sight of the flooded floor and the
paper windows hanging in shreds, Dr. Mitchell gave us a
severe reprimand for our carelessness, warning us that
missionaries are far too expensive commodities to be so
ill protected. A lesson it were well for all young mission-
aries to learn, but which, as a rule, alas ! they are too slow
to heed.
CHAPTER VI
An Audience at the Palace — Dancing Girls — Entertainment
Given after the Audience — Printing the Dictionary and
Grammar — A Korean in Japan — Fasting to Feast — Death
of Mr. Davies — Dr. Heron's Sickness — Mrs. Heron's Mid-
night Ride — Dr. Heron's Death — Difficulty in Getting a
Cemetery Concession — Forced Return to America — Com-
pensations— Chemulpo in Summer — The "Term Question"
in China, Korea and Japan — Difficulties in the Work.
EARLY in the fall of 1889 I was invited to another audi-
ence at the palace, with some of the foreign state officials
and their wives. After the audience a dinner was served,
and later, a performance by dancing girls was given.
And right here I must say, that although on several occa-
sions at the palace I have seen dancing girls in these
entertainments, I have never beheld anything at such
times in their actions that was improper or even undigni-
fied. Their motions are graceful, usually slow, circling
around hand in hand or in various combinations of pretty
figures. They wear high-necked and long-sleeved jackets
or coats, and long skirts, the figure quite concealed by the
fashion of the dress. And yet, thus to appear in public,
allowing their faces to be seen by strangers, is the gravest
breach of propriety in the eyes of all Koreans, and these
girls are, alas ! as depraved as women can be. Like those
of their class in all countries, they are the most pitiable
and hopeless of women, but unlike those who have thrown
themselves away, they deserve small blame mixed with
the compassion one feels for them, for these poor girls
94 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
have been sold by their parents into their awful lives, and
were given no choice of their destiny. Many a poor little
Korean child is sold into slavery for a few bags of rice,
to be trained as a dancing girl, used as a common drudge,
or married to a man she has never seen, while she is hardly
larger than our little ones playing with their dolls in the
nursery.
But to return to our palace entertainment, from which
I have made a rather long digression. The guests were
seated on the veranda, or "maru," in front of the dining
hall, and in the grounds before us appeared a pretty boat
with wide spread sails, in which were seated some gaily
dressed girls. Others now appeared, dancing to slow
native music, a stately figure, almost in minuet fashion,
with waving of flowing sleeves and banners. They were
evidently the spirits of the wind, and the boat was wait-
ing the favoring breeze. The music grew quicker, while
faster and faster stepped the dancers, more and more
swiftly fanning the sails with sleeves, skirts and scarfs, till
at last the boat slowly moved forward, and with its at-
tendants moved out of sight. When the boat had been
thus gracefully fanned away, a couple of mammoth lotus
plants were brought out, with great closed blossoms seen
among the leaves.
Following them came a pair of gigantic storks, ex-
tremely well simulated. The birds came forward slowly,
advancing, retreating, sideling, mincing, waiving their
heads and long bills about, all in tune to the music, waver-
ing and uncertain, yet evidently with some definite, not to
be resisted, purpose in mind. At length, after long hesi-
tation, one of them plucked up courage and gave a vigor-
ous peck at a lotus bud, which forthwith burst open and
released a pretty little child, who had been curled up at its
heart. The other stork, with similar good fortune, dis-
95
covered another little one. I was much interested to find
this stork and baby myth here in Korea, centuries old ; but
those hoary nations of the East are ever reaching down
into the apparently limitless depths of their remote past,
and dragging forth some fresh surprise whereby to con-
vince us there is nothing new under the sun.
Late in November of the same year we went to Japan
to publish Mr. Underwood's grammar and dictionary, as
there were no means of printing such books in Seoul. In
Japan we were forced to wait while type was made, and
during this delay Mr. Underwood perfected the grammar,
adding what is now the first part. A Korean teacher or
scholar accompanied us, but great was his distaste for
Japan and all her ways, and herculean our toils and
efforts, as each steamer sailed to prevent his returning to
Korea.
Rice is the staple article of food in China, Korea and
Japan, but it is cooked and eaten differently in all three
countries, and no one of either will, except under dire
necessity, eat the rice prepared by one of the other
nationalities. Our literary assistant was of the Yang-
ban, or noble class, he had never soiled his hands in
labor, or cooked anything for himself, but after enduring
a Japanese hotel with many and doleful complaints for a
very short time, he begged us to find him a room and let
him keep house for himself. That a Yangban should
make a proposition like this showed to what straits he had
been brought, so we at once complied with his request, and
from that time on he prepared his rice with his own
gentlemanly hands. He was a Chinese scholar of fine at-
tainments, and his learning was much respected in high
Japanese circles. He was often invited out, and was dis-
tinguished by an invitation to the house of the governor
of the city.
96 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
Now, when Koreans attend a feast, they expect to finish
an incredible amount of food on the spot (nor is it
altogether unusual, in addition, to carry away as much in
their sleeves and hands as strength will permit). Some-
times they fast for several days previous in order to do full
justice to the entertainment, and generally, I believe, quan-
tity is considered of far more import than quality. Not so
with the Japanese, among whom our teacher visited. If
his word was to be believed, they had developed the
aesthetic idea quite to the other extreme, and provided a
few tiny cups and dishes of supposedly delicate and rare
viands for their guests. So on this occasion to which I
refer, it was almost pathetic, the poor Korean fasting to
feast, with visions of quarts of rice and vermicelli soup,
pounds of hot rice bread, nuts, fruits, fresh, dried and can-
died ; meats with plenty of hot sauce, "kimchi," or sauer-
kraut, etc., etc. Alack the day ! A few microscopic cups
of tea, a few tiny dishes of articles which knew not Korea
(among them no doubt raw fish), and for the rest, a feast
of reason and flow of soul. Next day, a wiser and a
thinner man, he sadly told Mr. Underwood that he now
understood why Japanese prospered, while Koreans grew
poor. "Koreans," said he, "earn a hundred cash a day
and eat a thousand cash worth, while Japanese, on the con-
trary, earn a thousand cash a day and eat a hundred cash
worth." Never were truer words spoken, with regard to
the Japanese at least. If these people have a virtue, which
their worst enemies cannot gainsay, it is their industry
and thrift.
Just what is the ordinary number of slight earthquakes
in Japan per month or year, I do not know, but during
the six months of our stay they averaged one every three
days. During one twenty-four hours of our experience
there were eleven. They were not, of course, severe, but
DR. NEVIUS VISITS KOREA 97
sufficient to swing doors, set chandeliers clattering and
rocking chairs in motion, and to convince me more than
once that the house was on the point of tumbling about
our ears.
Just before we returned to Korea we were shocked to
hear of the sudden death by smallpox of Rev. Mr. Davies,
a brother greatly beloved in the Lord, who had arrived
early the previous summer and had made phenomenal
progress in the language, whose gifts and learning were
unusual, but were all excelled by his spirituality and con-
secration. His zeal never permitted him to spare himself
in the least. He seemed to link himself at once, heart
to heart, with Mr. Underwood, and together they planned,
studied, worked and prayed for the salvation of the people.
It was as if death had entered our own family when news
came of his loss, and a black pall seemed to lie across our
path. We knew God does all things well, and his ways
are not our ways, nor his thoughts ours, and yet in the
weakness of the flesh, which cannot see, with all those un-
saved millions dying around us, we felt we could not spare
Mr. Davies, and to us, to whom he had been confidant,
sympathizer, counselor and friend, the personal loss was
bitter. But we have learned that often when we think, or
come in any way to feel that his cause depends on a man,
God removes him, to teach us that his cause depends on no
man, that he can bless the efforts of the weakest and poor-
est and feed five thousand from the basket of a little boy.
On April 26, 1890, the books were finished, and we
started at once for Korea, reaching here in May. Soon
after our return from Japan we were visited by Dr. and
Mrs. Nevius. We all recognized Dr. Nevius as a king
among men, with a mind so clear and broad, a spirit so
genial, a heart so full of charity and with a record of such
long years of faithful labor that we were glad to sit at his
98 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
feet. The sense of ignorance, incompetence, inexperience,
combined with a realization of awful responsibility, is
almost overwhelming to the young missionary on a new
field, and it is only by constantly leaning on the almighty
arm that he is kept from despondence and despair. At
such times the advice of such an elder brother is invalu-
able.
The little missions had by this time been reinforced by
several arrivals, and the following summer, which was
very warm, many of them went to Namhan (Southern
fortress) to spend the hot months. Seoul lies in a basin,
encircled by mountains, and is extremely unhealthy in
summer, its festering pools and ditches overflowing with
filth, steaming a very witches brew of evils upon the sick-
ened air, with odors unspeakable and undreamed of in
civilized lands. Namhan is about seventeen miles distant
from Seoul, on top of a mountain, not quite two thousand
feet high. It lies on the further side of the Han River,
but is fairly easy of access, reached by a steep road wind-
ing up the mountain.
Dr. Heron had taken his family there, and frequently
traveled back and forth to his duties in Seoul, which was
doubtless too much for his strength in those hot and
humid days. He was soon attacked by dysentery, which
did not at first seem serious, and was consequently ignored
too long. It finally developed into the most malignant
form of the disease, which resisted every effort of the phy-
sicians, Drs. Scranton and MacGill, who were unremitting
in the struggle in which they were steadily worsted. As
soon as the symptoms began to look grave Mrs. Heron
was sent for. In great distress and alarm, she set off that
very evening, in a terrible storm of rain and wind, a very
carnival, no torch or lantern could be kept alive, the wind
howling around the frail chair as if to tear it from its
GATE IN THE WALL OF NAMHAN. PAGE 98
MRS. HERON'S MIDNIGHT RIDE 99
bearers' hands. The roads, steep and difficult in pleasant
weather, were really dangerous when slippery with mud
and water, in darkness so absolute that not one step in ad-
vance could be seen, while in the woods and valleys the
coolies were sometimes up to their waists in water.
Drenched to the skin, this poor afflicted young wife ar-
rived at her home near morning, after traveling all night
in this terrible storm, to find her husband fatally ill. After
a little more than three weeks' sickness and great suffer-
ing, Dr. Heron passed away, to the grief and loss of the
whole foreign community, as well as that of the Koreans
(and they were many) with whom he had come in contact,
to all of whom he had endeared himself by untiring kind-
ness.
The government had never set aside any land for a for-
eign cemetery near Seoul, although in accordance with the
treaty they should have done so long before. A strong
superstition and very rigid law forbid the burial of the
dead within the city walls, and hitherto the few Europeans
who had died had been buried in the cemetery near
Chemulpo. But to carry remains thirty miles in the heat
of July, to the port, with no conveyances but chairs, to be
forced to bury our dead so far away, was unnecessary, in-
convenient and expensive, as well as an additional trial to
hearts already sore. As soon, therefore, as Dr. Heron's
death seemed inevitable, a request was made that the gov-
ernment would set apart a place near the city for this pur-
pose. This, with characteristic procrastination, they failed
to do.
On the day of Dr. Heron's death they offered a place
which we found altogether impossible, beyond the sand
beds across the river, a long distance off, in very low
ground. It was then decided that as something immediate
must be done, we would make a temporary resting place on
ioo FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
a piece of ground belonging to our mission, where there
was a small house, occupied just then by Mr. Underwood's
and Dr. Heron's literary helpers. As soon as they heard
of this plan they objected most strongly, saying it was
against the law, and as the body must be carried through
the streets to reach there, there would probably be a good
deal of excitement and trouble.
We then ordered the grave dug on Dr. Heron's com-
pound, back of his house, sending word to the Foreign
Office that as they had provided no other place, we were
forced temporarily at least to make this disposal of the
remains. The time for the funeral was set for three
o'clock, and about a half hour before the literary helpers
again came to us in a state of the wildest excitement and
terror, tearing their hair, weeping and trembling. They
averred that the people in that quarter were planning to
mob us all, to burn down their house, beat and kill them,
and very likely kill us too, if the body was buried within
the walls.
It seemed cruel that no place could be found where we
could lay our dead. Our hearts were torn with grief for
the poor burdened sister, who ought to have been able to
claim a quiet and decent burial for her dear one's re-
mains, as well as the sympathy of every one, that she must
be refused a place for his repose, and assailed by all this
wrangling and confusion. We were hotly indignant with
the teachers, who we thought ought to have risen above
heathen superstition on their own part and kept the secret
from the people. It was now uncertain where Dr. Heron's
remains could be laid, and they were therefore embalmed
and hermetically sealed. The Foreign Office, however, on
hearing that it was our intention to bury on the compound,
at once came to terms and gave us a large field on a fine
bluff overlooking the river, about five miles from Seoul.
FORCED RETURN TO AMERICA 101
This was obtained through the indefatigable efforts of Dr.
Allen of the United States legation, who besieged the
foreign office and insisted on this concession.
During all these months the work was steadily going
forward ; more than we had dared to hope were added to
the number of believers and inquirers ; a Bible translating
committee, of which Dr. W. B. Scranton of the M. E.
Mission and Mr. Underwood were members, had been ap-
pointed ; a girls' school in each of the two missions had
been started long before, and both were steadily growing
(though the Methodists were far in advance here), the
boys' orphanage had been changed to a boys' school, and
hospital and dispensary work in both missions was flour-
ishing ; with an increase of confidence of the people in our
friendship and trustworthiness.
In the early fall a new member of the mission appeared
in our family, making life richer, in a measure absurdly
disproportionate to his dimensions and weight. Some
months after this, sickness, growing more and more threat-
ening and intractable, followed, until the doctors' verdict
was that a return to America was the only condition, and
(that a doubtful one) on which life could be saved. The
kindness and goodness of the whole community shown to
me were beyond expression. Here in the East, where the
ordinary conveniences of large cities are not to be had for
money, where we are very dependent on each other's kind
offices, mutual love and service draw and bind us very
closely together.
I was nursed, and friends and neighbors helped my
husband pack away our goods, for a year's absence means
that everything must be nailed or locked or sealed up from
mildew, moth, rust, rats and robbers. Furniture must be
compactly stowed away so that the house may be occupied
by other homeless missionaries waiting for an appropria-
102 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
tion for a house. They sewed for baby and me, and
spared neither pains nor trouble to help us. Two of the
ladies, Mrs. Bunker and Miss Rothweiler, went with us to
Chemulpo, a journey which I made, carried by six coolies
to ensure steadiness, on a long steamer chair, stopping
over night, half way, at a primitive Japanese hotel.
I can never tell with what regret, shame and pain I
left Korea. I had looked forward with pleasure to a re-
turn after a long period of years, when the work had been
well begun and the appointed time had come, when some-
thing had been accomplished, but to go now, a failure, to
leave my work scarcely begun, perhaps never to return,
was bitter. But more bitter still was the thought that I was
dragging my husband, in the freshness of his health and
vigor, back from a life of usefulness, where workers were
pitiably few and calls for help from all sides were many
and loud. Christian tracts and hymn books were needed,
the Bible, as yet not translated, the dictionary not half
finished, schools to be established, a fast growing band of
Christians to be nourished and taught, and when I thought
of it all, it looked dark.
But God brought a blessing out of it, as he always does
from every seeming misfortune, for through that return
to America several missionaries were obtained, a new
mission established and greater interest in Korea aroused
in the minds of American, Canadian and English Chris-
tians.
"Man's weakness waiting upon God its end can never miss,
For man on earth no work can do more angel-like than this.
He always wins who sides with God — to him no chance is lost;
God's will is sweetest to him when it triumphs at his cost.
Ill that he blesses is our good, and unless good is ill,
And all is right that seems most wrong, if it be His sweet will."
On our return to Korea most of the summer was spent
CHEMULPO IN SUMMER 103
at Chemulpo, as our baby was very sick. We stopped in a
so-called "hotel," kept by Chinamen. The long hot nights
were rendered almost intolerable by the noise and odors
of such a place. From early in the evening till past mid-
night we were tortured by the high falsetto singing of the
actors in a Chinese theatre across the street. The sailors
returning to the gunboats in the bay kept the dogs in fats
of frenzied barking, which would have effectually mur-
dered sleep had it ever ventured near. By the time the
dogs had begun to regain their composure, the Japanese
venders of vegetables, fish, etc., with a devotion to business
which under any circumstances ought to have won high
praise, began with loud strident voices to call their wares
under my window until it was time to rise and face a new
day.
All day I brooded over my starving little son with an
aching heart, looking out across the long reaches of dreary
mud flats to the sea, watching for the steamer that was
bringing the only food that he could digest, and prayed it
might not come too late. Day by day the little life trem-
bled in the balance, but at last the ship came in, and never
was argosy from the Indies laden with gems and treasures
untold half so welcome. Never could ship come to me
with half so precious a cargo as that which brought my
baby strength and life.
In the meanwhile Mr. Underwood toiled in the city,
overseeing the repairs on our house, for we must be build-
ers, contractors, carpenters, gardeners and jack of all
trades, and throughout the summer working unremittingly
on a hymn book which the little church now greatly
needed.
The "term question" is a vexed problem which as yet
has failed to find a solution that secures the assent of all
missionaries. This question relates to the proper word to
104 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
be used for God. China, Japan and Korea alike use the
Chinese characters and have words which mean "gods,"
or things worshiped, but they do not have either a definite
article or capitals, such as those by which in English we
can change "gods" into "the God" or "God." They also
have names (quite a different matter) signifying the chief
god of heaven (Sangchai or Hannanim), the god of earth
(Tangnim) and others.
Some missionaries hold that by using this name of the
chief god of heaven and explaining it by instructing the
people in the character and attributes of him whom they
ignorantly worship, they will more easily understand and
more readily accept our teaching. Many also believe that
the name really refers to the great God of heaven, al-
though of course it is impossible to claim that it refers
to the one only God, since all the heathen who worship
this one also worship countless other smaller deities.
On the other hand are those who conscientiously believe
that the personal name of a heathen deity should not in
any way be applied to the Eternal Jehovah, that such a
course is in direct conflict with God's own word. Then
aside from their convictions on this matter they believe
that the use of a heathen cognomen of one of these gods,
be he of heaven or earth, applied to the great "I am" may,
in addition to being forbidden, lead to dangerous mis-
takes in the minds of the members of the infant native
church. They believe, in short, that a false thing can
never be right, and that to address Jehovah by a name not
his, but another's, cannot be right or result well in the
end. This view has been adopted by missionaries of all
creeds in Japan, a large minority of Protestants, and all
Romanists in China, and by all the Episcopalians and
Romanists in Korea. They use the name Jehovah for
God.
DIFFICULTIES IN THE WORK 105
Almost the entire body of the Presbyterian and
Methodist missionaries in Korea, and a majority of them
in China, belong to the other party, although quite essen-
tially different words are used by the Chinese missionaries
from those used in Korea. The Chinese use Sangchai;
the Koreans, Hannanim.
It is with no controversial intent that this matter is re-
ferred to here. It is indeed a vexed question, but one
whose satisfactory settlement is to be devoutly hoped for.
No little feeling has been awakened, because it is a ques-
tion which has involved in the minds of many some very
deep principles.
The only reason for referring to this matter is that men
and women in Christian lands may gain a little glimpse
of some of the difficult and perplexing problems which
confront the workers in some of the mission fields. These
problems vary in different countries, but they all have
their difficulties.
Immediately after our return Mr. James Gale's Gram-
matical Forms was published, and about a year later his
Korean-English dictionary, so that the mission was now
supplied with several language helps. Much stress had
been laid from the first upon securing a thorough mastery
of Korean, and each missionary was required to pass three
very rigid annual examinations. A course of study for
first, second and third grades was made out for each year,
to assist students, and members of the examination com-
mittee and others were appointed to oversee and aid the
language study of the newcomers.
CHAPTER VII
The Mission in 1893 — "The Shelter" — Opening of Japanese War
— Seoul Populace Panic Stricken — Dr. and Mrs. Hall in
Pyeng Yang — Heroic Conduct of Native Christians — Con-
dition of Pyeng Yang after the War — Dr. Hall's Death —
Preaching the Gospel at the Palace — The Queen Seeks to
Strengthen Friendly Relations with Europeans — Her Maj-
esty's Generosity — A Little Child at the Palace — The Slaves
of the Ring — A Christmas Tree at the Palace — The Queen's
Beneficent Plans— The Post Office Emeute of 1884— A
Haunted Palace — The Murder of Kim Oh Kiun.
IN the fall of 1893 we moved too early into a house re-
cently repaired and not yet completed, with wet mud walls
and no windows fitted in some of the rooms. It seemed a
necessity, but resulted in continued sickness through the
entire winter for the little one and myself, so that I was
largely debarred from the good work going on among the
Koreans. Many of the middle and lower classes were
coming into the church, men's and women's meetings were
well attended, and even the little boys in the school seemed
full of Christlike zeal, and spent some of their holiday and
play hours in telling the good tidings and distributing
tracts. One of our missionaries, Dr. Moffett, had been ap-
pointed to Pyeng Yang, other appointments of Presby-
terians to the same place soon following, as well as that of
Dr. and Mrs. Hall from the Methodist Mission.
On my own part, a little, very interrupted medical work
was done, and women's meetings were begun and carried
on with great difficulty on account of deficient knowledge
of the language, but little by little, in trying ever so lamely
to use what I had, I rapidly gained more and more, so that
"THE SHELTER" 107
I could soon talk and pray with freedom, if not always
with perfect elegance and correctness, and as my chief aim
was to be understood by the Koreans, not to display my-
self as an accomplished linguist, I was satisfied and happy
when I had proof of this. Other women by this time were
prepared to do this work well, in all three missions ; and
our poor native sisters were being reached in various
quarters. I had been invited to the palace several times,
my child was also asked there, and petted and loaded with
kindness.
The Bible translating committee had been enlarged and
now included Rev. H. G. Appenzeller (M. E.) and Mr.
James S. Gale (Presby.), in addition to Dr. Scranton
and Mr. Underwood. Lesson leaves were prepared for
our Bible classes, and a number of tracts were being
translated by various missionaries. Before our return to
America in 1891, and for some years after, it was the
cruel custom among wealthy natives to put servants, de-
pendents or strangers at once on the street, if afflicted
with any infectious disease, and it was the commonest oc-
currence to find poor people lying by the roadside, either
exposed to the bitterest blasts of winter or the blazing heat
of midsummer. Sometimes a friend or relative had
erected a rude hut of thatch over the sufferer, sometimes a
whole family together occupied such a hut, the dead and
living lying together. It was our heart's desire to obtain
in some way the means to buy or build a hospital for such
cases. While we were in America small sums were put at
odd times into our hands "for the work," and as these
sums increased we decided to use the money for this long-
cherished purpose.
Soon after our return, we were able, at a very low price,
to buy a beautiful piece of ground on a breezy hillside,
covered with fine trees and with a good tiled house having
io8 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
six or seven rooms. This was large enough for our
present purpose, and money in hand was not sufficient to
build the sort of hospital of which we dreamed. So we
repaired the old building and added a caretaker's quarters.
We made the institution undenominational, arranging that
any one might place cases of infectious disease there,
which should be attended by any doctor desired. At the
same time a little dispensary, given in memory of her only
son by Mrs. Hugh O'Neil, of New York, was opened not
far from the "Shelter," as it was called, on the main road
to the north. Here, in addition to medical work in a small
way, women's Bible classes were held, men's and women's
evening prayer meetings, and often Sabbath morning ser-
vices. July of 1894 saw the beginning of the China-
Japan war in Korea, and the capture of Seoul by the
Japanese. We were awakened one morning by the sound
of firing, and soon learned that the palace was in pos-
session of the Japanese. Excitement rose quite high
among both foreigners and natives.
All the legations ordered up troops from the port where
our gunboats lay, for our protection, although it is diffi-
cult to see how, in a case of serious danger, such small
numbers would be of any service. There were fifty Rus-
sians, forty Americans, forty English and nine German
marines. The natives, high and low, were in a state of
panic. The nobility fled from their homes in large num-
bers and in all sort of disguises, and sought refuge at the
foreign legations, or in the country; and to the country
the common people started en masse. Every shop was
closed, the city had the look of a plague-infested place. A
solemn procession of men, women, chairs, pack-ponies, a
continuous throng, in dead silence, with rapid steps, and
set, terror-stricken faces, poured through the main
thoroughfares and out of the gates. Many pathetic little
THE CHINA-JAPAN WAR 109
groups were to be seen; little children, whose parents in
wild fear had deserted or lost them in the crowd, trotting
along with tear-stained faces, alone; women with babies
on their backs and babies hanging at their skirts; men
carrying all their worldly goods on their shoulders, here
and there coolies with the chair of some frightened rich
man or fine lady, shoving aside the crowd. High and
low, rich and poor, hurrying away from the dreaded
Japanese, the ancient enemy of their nation. How it made
one realize the great multitude of unsaved peoples, push-
ing its way along the broad road and through the wide
gate that leads to destruction. "And when he beheld the
multitudes he had compassion on them as sheep having no
shepherd." The servants in every family gave notice;
they dared not stay, they said, since to remain would be to
be killed by Chinese or Japanese. We reminded them that
we were neither afraid nor making any preparations for
flight, and at last only persuaded some of them to remain
by promising that we would never go and leave them,
which we had fully decided upon on account of the native
Christians.
Some very exciting and trying events had in the mean-
while been taking place in Pyeng Yang. In the previous
May Dr. William James Hall of the M. E. Mission took
his wife and baby to that city to start a station, and to take
up a permanent residence. They were almost mobbed by
the curious throngs, whom they were unable to control.
No police could be obtained from the governor, who in ad-
dition, on the second or third day after their arrival, ar-
rested and threw into jail Dr. Hall's helper and the man
from whom he had bought his house. This is the approved
method of forcing a man to give up a house or piece of
ground to which he holds a good title, but which Korean
officials object, for any reason, to his keeping.
no FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
Dr. Hall had selected this property because it was in a
thickly populated part of the town, where he believed he
could do most good, but he had positively refused to pay a
tax, which former owners had always paid to a certain
devil-worship and sorceress house in the vicinity.
Dr. Moffett's helper and the former owner of his house
were also cast in jail, and his native Christians cruelly
beaten, at the time when Dr. Hall's men were seized. It
was evident missionaries were not to be tolerated in Pyeng
Yang. One or two other M. E. native Christians were
then also arrested and beaten. Dr. Moffett was in the
capital, and the Halls were quite alone in this large town,
among many enemies, several days' journey from Seoul
and help. The situation was grim. Dr. Hall was obliged
to leave his helpless wife and baby alone in the unprotected
house while he visited the governor, or the Chinese tele-
graph office (both long distances away), or in trying to
relieve or help the Christians in the jail.
As soon as his first message arrived in Seoul, a general
meeting of all the missionaries was called at our house
for united prayer for the Halls and our poor tortured na-
tive brethren. Dr. Scranton, Dr. Moffett and Mr. Under-
wood at once hastened to the American and English lega-
tions, and obtained through them an order from the For-
eign Office to the governor, to release the Christians and
pay damages for the injured property. Although this was
wired at once to Pyeng Yang, the only apparent result was
that the natives were more cruelly beaten and water-car-
riers forbidden to take water to the Halls, their house
stoned and the walls torn down. The natives bore their
cruel treatment heroically, and refused to give up their
faith ; they were then removed to the death cell, and the
governor sent them word of his intention to execute them.
Two despatches from Seoul had been received by the gov-
PERSECUTIONS AT PYENG YANG in
ernor, but still no signs of change. In the meanwhile it
was decided that some of the missionaries from Seoul
should go to Dr. Hall's help. Mr. Moffett claimed the
right to go, as his native Christians were there in trouble,
and Mr. McKenzie, from Canada, was allowed to accom-
pany him, being an unmarried man, although several
others stoutly urged the best reasons why they should go,
like boys begging for a holiday rather than men going to
face a very serious and doubtful situation.
We all feared that Dr. and Mrs. Hall, as well as the
Christians' lives, would be sacrificed to the malice of the
mob and the governor before sufficient influence could be
brought to bear by our legations through the Foreign
Office to save them. By the time the two men from Seoul
had arrived there, however, five days later, the Christians
had been released, after being again badly beaten and
stoned. Dr. and Mrs. Hall for a month following treated
patients and preached the Word, but when war seemed
imminent they were ordered back to Seoul, where they
returned, as well as Mr. McKenzie, Dr. Moffett follow-
ing somewhat later, having lingered as long as possible to
encourage and hearten the Christians. Pyeng Yang was
now in the hands of the Chinese, and Seoul in those of the
Japanese. The summer was a very hot and unhealthy one,
and there was scarce a family among the foreigners where
there was not one or more cases of severe and prostrating
sickness. Two little ones died, and there were long hours
of agonized watching, when dear lives seemed for hours
to be slipping over the brink. None of us could leave the
city to seek for purer air or water, no pure milk could be
had, and one poor young father, whose little child was
literally starving for digestible nourishing food, re-
membering his father's farm with its good milk cows,
remarked pathetically, "In my father's house there
H2 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
is food enough and to spare, while I perish with
hunger."
On the first of October, after the defeat of the Chinese,
the Presbyterian missionaries and Dr. Hall returned to
Pyeng Yang to look after the interests of the stations left
so long, in a city which had passed through such a hard
experience.
Pyeng Yang was in a fearfully unhealthy condition.
One of the missionaries wrote, "The decaying bodies of
men, horses and cattle were so numerous, that no matter
whatever direction we went we came across them con-
stantly, so that the atmosphere was foul beyond ex-
pression." Another wrote, "In one place I counted over
twenty bodies, literally piled one on top of another, lying
just as they had been shot down. ... In another place,
where a body of Manchurian cavalry ran into an ambush
of Japanese infantry, the carnage was frightful, several
hundred bodies of men and horses lying just as they
had fallen made a swath of bodies nearly a quarter
of a mile long and several yards wide. It was three
weeks after the battle and the bodies were all there un-
molested."
According to a native superstition that the city is a boat,
and to dig wells would sink the boat, there were no wells
in Pyeng Yang ; but a large number of bodies of men and
horses were lying in the river, polluting for weeks the only
water supply. In this dreadful situation our brave mis-
sionaries remained and worked, and on October I7th
Dr. Hall wrote the following cheerful words, "We have
very interesting services, the hymns of praise that less
than a year ago brought cursing and stones are now list-
ened to with delight, and carry with them a feeling of
security similar to the sound of a policeman's whistle in
New York. Comparatively few of the Koreans have re-
THE DEATH OF A HERO 113
turned to their homes, but every day brings fresh addi-
tions. Every day numbers of those who have returned
and those from the surrounding villages and towns visit
us. They buy our books and seem far more interested in
the gospel than I have ever seen them before."
Very soon after writing these words Dr. Hall returned
to Seoul; the boat on which he came was full of sick
Japanese soldiers. There were cases of typhus fever and
army dysentery, the water was doubtless poisoned, and he
reached Seoul, after numerous most trying vicissitudes,
fatally ill with typhus fever. Quite early, articulation be-
came very difficult, but every halting sentence spoke of
perfect peace and joy, and almost his last words were,
"I'm sweeping through the gates." Tears dim my eyes
while I write, for we all not only loved, but reverenced
Dr. Hall, and we felt that he possessed a larger share of
the Master's spirit than most of us. His very entrance
into a room seemed to bring the Lord nearer, and his
looks, words and conduct unexceptionally revealed the
power and beauty of Christ. No one ever heard Dr. Hall
speak a harsh or bitter word, no one ever heard him
criticise a brother Christian, no one, to the best of my in-
formation, ever knew of him anything that was not noble,
true, faithful and Christlike. His face beamed with a
celestial light, and without his ever assuming to be in any
way better than others, we all felt he was a holy man.
Europeans and natives alike testified to the same impres-
sions of him, the same love for him, his sweet spirit drew
all hearts to him, so that he was both universally loved and
honored.
While we who were in Seoul had all suffered more or
less from ill health, everything was quiet and orderly,
and the Japanese deserve great credit for the fine disci-
pline of the army, and the good order and comfort of na-
ii4 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
tives and foreigners in a city entirely at the mercy of the
victorious troops of an Eastern nation.
During the fall and winter of 1894 and 1895 the queen
sent for me very often, asking many questions about for-
eign countries and their customs, and chatting most
affably. Frequently we dispensed altogether with the for-
mality of an interpreter, and the king and crown prince,
who were often present, were quite as frequently else-
where, so with her majesty so friendly and kind, I at times
almost forgot that I was not having a tete a tete with an
intimate friend. I of course felt my great responsibility
heavily, and was overwhelmed at times with the thought
of my duty and inefficiency. At length I asked the prayers
of the missionaries that an opportunity to speak to the
queen about Christ might be given me, and that I might
realize it and make the best use of it. And now my
anxiety and trouble of mind passed away and a restful
contentedness took its place. I felt sure that I was to be
guided and led at the right time.
On the day before Christmas the queen sent for me and
asked me to tell her about our great festival, its origin
and meaning, and how celebrated. Could any one ask
clearer guidance or a better opportunity ? It would be im-
possible not to tell the gospel story under such circum-
stances, and so I told her of the angels' song, and the star,
and the little babe that was laid in a manger, of the lost
world to be redeemed, of the one God who so loved the
world, and the Redeemer who came to save his people
from their sins.
She listened intently, and with deep interest, turning
from time to time and repeating it in a most animated and
sympathetic way to the king and prince, who did not
understand my accent so well.
A few days later, after asking many questions about
THE QUEEN DEEPLY MOVED 115
my own country, she said rather sadly, "Oh, that Korea
were as happy, as free and as powerful as America!"
Here was another opportunity which I tried to improve
by saying, that America, though rich and powerful, was
not the greatest or the best, attempting to picture that
better land without sin, pain or tears; a land of endless
glory, goodness and joy. "Ah!" exclaimed the queen,
with unspeakable pathos, "how good it would be if the
king, the prince and myself might all go there!"
Poor queen ! her kingdom threatened on all sides, at that
time in the hands of an ancient foe, traitors and relentless
enemies among her own people and kindred, and some of
the men whom she had raised and advanced ready and
plotting then to betray her to death. No wonder she
sighed for that haven of peace and rest. But I was forced
to tell her very sadly, that no sinners might enter there.
"No sinners !" Her face fell, the bright look faded, for
she knew, accustomed though she was to almost divine
honors, that she was a sinner. Then as silence fell in the
room, I told her the good tidings, that all who would trust
in Jesus were forgiven and purified through him, and so
made holy and fit for that country. She listened very
thoughtfully, and though no other opportunity came to
talk further on this subject, I was unspeakably thankful
that I had been permitted on these occasions to point out
clearly the way of salvation.
I think that in this time, when her nation's helplessness
and weakness were emphasized, the queen sought to
strengthen friendly relations with European and Ameri-
cans. She gave several formal audiences to European
and American ladies, and all who met her felt her power-
ful magnetic charm and became at once her friends and
well-wishers. Twice during that winter the queen bade
me ask all my friends to skate on the pond in the palace
u6 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
gardens, graciously asking me to act as hostess in her
place and serve tea in the little pavilion near-by.
On Christmas day her majesty sent a beautiful sedan-
chair, which had been her own, covered with blue velvet
and lined with Chinese brocaded silk, and with it any
number of screens, mats, rolls of cloth and interesting and
curious articles of Korean manufacture, with great quan-
tities of eggs, pheasants, fish, nuts and dates, and on the
Korean New Year's day five hundred yen, which the
queen requested me to use in the purchase of pearls, or
something similar, for myself, and a gift as well for my
little son.
He was then between four and five years of age, and
the palace women were constantly urging me to bring him
with me to the palace. This, of course, I would not do
without a special request from their majesties, and at
length one day the queen asked why I had never
brought him, expressed surprise that I considered an in-
vitation necessary, and bade me bring him next day. I
therefore took him to the palace, and no sooner had the
coolies lowered my chair than the women, who were evi-
dently on the watch for us, clutched him up and bore him
away in triumph, I, his mother, knew not whither. Some
few minutes elapsed before I was asked to go from the
waiting room to the audience, during which I employed
my time in lively conjectures as to what was happening
to my kidnapped son. When I was called for a little later
I found him with the royal party, the center of an admir-
ing circle.
Both the king and queen have always shown a passion-
ate fondness for children. Only a few months ago the
king spent nearly four hundred thousand dollars on sor-
cerers and temples in trying to mollify the smallpox god,
which had attacked the youngest son, a boy of about six.
A LITTLE CHILD AT THE PALACE 117
So no wonder they were kind to the small American.
The queen ordered nuts and candies brought in, and in-
sisted on his eating then and there, although, knowing that
it was bad form in the eyes of Koreans as well as of for-
eigners to eat in the royal presence, and fearing for his
health as well (for he had never as yet eaten nuts), I
begged her majesty to allow this treat to be postponed.
His looks and actions were praised far beyond their de-
serts, and every expression noted and remarked upon.
The queen drew the child to her side in a motherly
fashion, placing her hand on his forehead, remarked anx-
iously that it was too hot.
When we were ready to go, the king, to my amazement,
actually knelt down in front of the baby, and with his own
"jade" fingers buttoned on the little coat and made a brave
attempt to tie the cap strings, one of which, I blush to con-
fess, in the unfamiliar tug was quite torn from its moor-
ings. Of course I was overwhelmed with confusion over
the bad conduct of the ribbon on such an occasion, but the
king overlooked it, and farewells were said and again the
child was spirited swiftly away by the palace women. I
found him in the women's quarters handed round like a
curio from one to another, petted, caressed, discussed,
half- frightened, but demure.
Poor palace women ! with no homes or children, living
such an aimless, shut-in life, a child in their midst was
a godsend indeed. But all Koreans are extremely fond of
children. A child is an open sesame to their hearts and
homes at all times. God blesses the missionary babies, and
these little preachers open doors that yield to no other
touch than their little dimpled fingers. From palace to
hovel I never found a woman whose heart would not
soften, whose eyes would not brighten, whose interest
could not at once be enlisted by the sight of a child.
ii8 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
That evening as we returned home through the narrow
and winding streets of Seoul we were quite an imposing
procession. A number of palace lantern bearers accom-
panied us, each carrying the gayly-colored silk official lan-
terns of their majesties, and preceding us were a train of
servants, carrying on their heads great trays of oranges,
nuts, dried persimmons and candies. It took little imagi-
nation, looking at those men in their Eastern attire, at the
lanterns and streets, and even our own chair with its
oriental splendor, to transport ourselves into the middle of
a chapter of the Arabian nights, with a little Aladdin sit-
ting in my lap and the slaves of the ring attending us
home.
Soon after Christmas I dressed a Christmas tree for the
royal family, but to my great vexation, the effect was
quite spoiled because their majesties were too impatient to
wait till dark to view it, and one cannot lock the doors on
kings and queens and forbid them to do as they will in
their own palaces. There were no heavy hangings or
means of darkening the room, and so the poor little
candles flickered in a sickly way in the glaring daylight,
and I felt that Western customs were lightly esteemed in
the critical eyes of the East.
Indeed, in our superb self-satisfaction we often deceive
ourselves in fancying that Orientals view with open-
mouthed admiration everything European or American.
I am reminded of a Korean nobleman, who, on being
asked, after his return to Seoul from America, how he
liked New York, replied, "Oh, very well, except the dirt
and the smells, which were horrible" Another similar in-
stance was that of one of the Koreans who went with us
to Chemulpo and Fusan, who saw the two-story houses,
the ships in the harbor and various wonders of civiliza-
tion, and exclaimed, "Poor Korea, poor Korea;" but when
THE QUEEN'S BENEFICENT PLANS 119
he heard a foreign band play at the Japanese consulate,
remarked with delight, "At least there is one thing in
which Japan cannot rival or compare with us, our music !"
Through the whole winter I was at the palace very
often, as were the ladies of the American and Russian
legations, and Dr. Avison of our mission, who was phy-
sician to the king, was frequently consulted, and the re-
cipient also personally of many royal favors. In the
spring the prime minister came, saying the queen had sent
him to ask Mr. Underwood to draw up plans and estimate
the cost of a school for the sons of the nobility. The site
selected was between the east and west palaces. Her
majesty proposed to erect dwellings for the teachers,
whom my husband was asked to recommend and send for
to America. The queen was prepared, the minister said,
to give at once thirty thousand dollars for the school, and
twenty or thirty thousand dollars a year for the running
expenses.
Mr. Underwood drew up the first plans and made esti-
mates, which were sent for her majesty's criticism and ap-
proval. These were again referred to Mr. Underwood,
the final plans were being prepared, and only two weeks
before they were to be sent for the queen's approval the
great blow fell which put an end to all her beneficent and
enlightened schemes for the advancement of her people.
Before proceeding further I must go back a few years
and recall one or two events which occurred before my ar-
rival, in 1884, in order that my readers may understand
more clearly some of the events which are to be related in
the next two or three chapters.
In that year the progressive or reform party in Korean
politics was led by a man called Kim Ok Kiun, but they
were continually foiled in all their attempts towards ad-
vance and reform by the conservatives, and at length re-
120 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
ceived reliable information (so they claimed) that a plan
had been formed to murder all their prominent leaders at
midnight, on December the fourth. On this evening a
banquet was to be given in honor of the opening of the
Korean post-office, and the progressives resolved to fore-
stall the plans of their opponents, and just before the
dinner they cut down Min Yung Ik, the queen's cousin,
and the most influential man in the kingdom. He would
have died had it not been for the prompt assistance given
by Dr. Allen, then of our mission. The other conservative
leaders were then ordered to the palace, as they supposed,
by royal command, but were there (five of them) assas-
sinated by the progressive party, who, headed by Kim
Ok Kiun, then seized the palace. The post-office was
burned on the same night, and with it the new stamps
which had been used only once.
The Japanese minister and other foreign officials were
now invited to the palace, which invitation was accepted
only by the former, who brought one hundred and forty
soldiers. Here the Japanese and the progressive party
were attacked by three thousand Koreans and between
two and three thousand Chinese. As the event grew more »
than doubtful, the king was allowed to go over to the other
party, in the belief that if he was released the fighting
would cease. Although this was not the case, the little
party of Japanese fired a mine, dispersed a large number of
the allies, and then forming a square, with the progressive
leaders and the Japanese minister in the center, fought
their way through the enemy, and the hostile streets, first
to the Japanese legation, and after that to the river, with
the loss of only five men. After much difficulty in obtain-
ing boats, they crossed the river, made their way to Che-
mulpo, and from there escaped safely to Japan.
The picturesque palace, with the remarkably beautiful
A HAUNTED PALACE 121
park which surrounds it, was not occupied again by the
queen. Her majesty averred that it was impossible to
sleep there at night for the mournful wailing of the voices
of her murdered friends, which she heard continually cry-
ing, "Why was I killed, why was I killed?" So now the
wind whistles and moans through the deserted rooms,
grass and weeds push their way through the crevices of
the beautiful marble steps, green mould grows thick on the
once lovely lotus pond, and the charming little summer
pavilions are falling to ruins, while snakes and lizards
slide about the stone seats. The wide reaches of lawn are
overgrown with long grass, and tigers and leopards are
said to make their lairs in the noble woods and grottoes.
The gateways fashioned in various charming designs to
form frames as it were for the beautiful vistas beyond, are
choked with a wild overgrowth of vines and weeds.
Fancy has not to look far, or listen long, to read in all this
deserted and neglected beauty the story of that one night
of blood and horror, and to hear in every chilled whisper
of shuddering foliage the word "haunted."
Ten years had passed, the refugees were still in Japan,
but Eastern vengeance does not tire or sleep, least of all
forget. A man named Hong, probably employed by the
government, went to Japan, ingratiated himself with Kim
Ok Kiun, decoyed him to Shanghai, and there murdered
him, and on April the I2th, 1894, a Chinese gunboat
brought the assassin and his victim's remains to Chemul-
po. Arrived in Korea, the body of the murdered man was
divided and sent through the eight provinces. Two of
the other refugees had gone to America, and one Pak
Yung Ho remained in Japan. All three are to be heard
from again. While we all shuddered at and deplored this
revolting deed, a stain upon any government, it must be
remembered that the man was a political criminal of the
122 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
blackest dye, and that while any nation would under
similar circumstances, if possible, have executed him as a
traitor and assassin, the Korean government was that of
unenlightened Eastern people who have not learned that
revenge has no place in just punishment.
CHAPTER VIII
Mr. McKenzie — The First Church Built by Natives — Mr.
McKenzie's Sickness — His Death — Warning to New Mis-
sionaries— The Tonghaks — Mr. Underwood's Trip to Sorai
in Summer — Native Churches — Our Use of Helpers — Chris-
tians in Seoul Build their Own Church — Epidemic of
Cholera — Unhygienic Practices — Unsanitary Condition of
City.
IN the meanwhile, in the fall of 1894, Mr. McKenzie,
who had arrived from Canada in the winter of 1893, and,
as we have said, had gone to Dr. Hall's relief, after his
return decided to go to the interior, the better to learn
the language and people, and to live there as much as
possible in every way like a native. Mr. Underwood ad-
vised him to go to the village of Sorai, or Song Chun,
then under his care, where he had baptized almost the first
converts ever received in the Korean church. Here he
found a few Christians who received him as a brother.
He made his home with one of them, and at once began to
preach Christ by example. Long before the people under-
stood his broken Korean they read his beautiful life, and
little by little a change came over the whole community.
We all thought of him often in his loneliness in that far-
off hamlet, where, though he was a great light to the peo-
ple, there was no real companionship for him. At Christ-
mas we sent him a box of home-made bread, plumb-
cake, canned fruits and vegetables, tea and milk and sugar,
for we knew he had no foreign food and that he was living
solely on Korean diet, but we did not know that it con-
124 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
sisted of rice chiefly, with a chicken once a week, and oc-
casionally a few eggs.
When our box reached him, he handed the contents all
over to the Koreans. He wrote that he dared not taste
them, knowing that if he did it would be impossible to go
back to native food. Meanwhile one and another of the
villagers and people in the vicinity were giving up their
old heathen idols and turning to Christ.
Some years before the Christians of that village had
asked Mr. Underwood to give them a church, but, like the
young man who came to Jesus, they went away sorrowful,
when told they must build it themselves. Now, however,
they again took up the idea in a different spirit. Near the
village was a rising piece of ground on which stood a
little grove, in midst of which had been for many years the
shrine where the village deities were worshiped. This had
long been neglected and destroyed, and here it was de-
cided to build the new church. Every one gave as the
Lord had prospered him, gladly, enthusiastically, and a
heathen master builder undertook to direct the erection of
the building on half pay, because it was for the great
"chief God of heaven," as he understood. Very likely he
knew little enough of the one only God for whose service
it was raised, but not very long after he learned both to
know and love him.
The little meeting house was not a very imposing or
lofty structure. It could boast nothing of the magnifi-
cence of our American churches, no doubt it would blush
to be called a church at all in such a stately company, so
I will call it a chapel, and even then it was an humble and
unpretentious one, but it was the best building in the place.
The poor people put into it their best wood, stones and
tiles, the loving labor of their own hands, with fervent
prayer. When it was finished no debt hung over it, and
PARTY STARTING OUT IN MORNING FROM THATCHED INN. PAGE 199
CHURCH AT SORAI. PAGE 124
A WARNING TO NEW MISSIONARIES 125
God, who does not see as man sees, blessed and honored
it by filling it to overflowing with simple-minded, sincere,
earnest people, who came with hearts ready to receive with
meekness his word.
In the early summer of 1895, Mr. McKenzie wrote, ask-
ing Mr. Underwood to go and dedicate the church and re-
ceive a number of applicants for baptism. This he
promised to do, but just before he was to start, one sad
day in July, when a number of us had met to hold a day
of fasting and prayer, a messenger came with the news
of the deadly illness of our dear brother, Mr. McKenzie.
The pitiful letter, written with his own trembling fingers,
showing in every sentence the evidence of terrible suffer-
ing and of a mind already unhinged, was followed imme-
diately by the shocking news of his death. The blow fell
like a thunderbolt. Such zeal, consecration and usefulness
cut short so soon !
It was strange, and yet there was a lesson in it for the
noblest class of missionaries. And here let me say just a
few words of warning to some who may have the foreign
field in view, and to some who are perhaps already on the
field. There are men and women, who, being John the
Baptist sort of people, enter the work with such zeal and
enthusiasm and allow themselves to become so over-
whelmed with the awful responsibility for these dying
millions (which indeed every true missionary feels only
too heavily), that they forget the just demands of the body
of this death. They forget that a solitary life gradually
unseats the intellect, and that a body which has reached
maturity, fed on plenty of nutritious food, cannot sudden-
ly be shifted to a meagre, unaccustomed and distasteful
diet of foreign concoction, and retain its power to resist
disease, and to accomplish the heavy work they mercilessly
exact from it, like Egyptian taskmasters demanding brick
126 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
without straw. They forget that the spirit cannot remain
united to the body unless the claims of the latter (in which
are included those of the brain) are satisfied, and so they
drop, one by one, our noblest and most needed laborers.
But even so, they do not die entirely in vain, they leave an
example of Christlikeness and devotion which preaches
eloquently, and is an inspiration to all their brethren.
And yet if they could only have gone on living and
preaching, as they might, had they been able to mix with
their enthusiasm and consecration, wisdom and temper-
ance! During my short experience I have seen several
illustrations of what Mr. McKenzie's death brought home
so startlingly to us all. We learned afterwards that he had
been sick for some weeks, his mind had been somewhat
affected early in the history of the disease, the progress of
which had not been very rapid, but as he had no com-
panion who could observe the danger signals, and no
doctor to help, his invaluable life was lost.
The more intelligent natives urged him to send for a
doctor, but he hesitated to call others from their work to
undertake a long difficult trip in the unhealthy summer
season, lest it should prove to be only a passing temporary
ailment. And so he went on doctoring himself (just as
any missionary alone in the interior is tempted to do), de-
laying to call for help, from his very unselfishness and
conscientious fear of giving trouble.
"Take care of your head. Don't work too long in the
sun," he said to an old woman by the roadside, "or you
may lose your mind as I have."
He related to his friend, the Korean leader, accounts of
long nights of anguished struggle with Satan, and then
again of hours of ecstatic joy with his Saviour. The intol-
erable agony in his head grew steadily worse, until the
end. The Koreans felt the terrible blow deeply, but they
THE TONGHAKS 127
have never ceased to love and revere Mr. McKenzie's
memory. They cannot speak of him now after a lapse of
several years without tears. Their loving hands prepared
him for the grave and covered his bier with flowers.
They held a funeral service as best they knew, after our
custom, with prayers and hymns, and laid his loved re-
mains in a quiet place, not far from the little church which
he had been the instrument in God's hands of building.
His influence is still felt in the village and for miles
around. He lived Christ and laid the foundations of that
church on a rock. He had a reputation for great courage
and prowess, and it is said that his presence alone saved
Sorai from invasions of Tonghaks.
This society played a conspicuous part in the opening
of the China- Japan war, its name means literally Eastern
doctrine, and its aim was in brief, "the East for Eastern-
ers," or "Korea for Koreans." They declared their de-
sire and intention to down all Westerners, Western ideas,
reforms and changes, and to restore and re-establish old
laws and customs. The sudden organization and wonder-
ful popularity of this society was doubtless caused by the
outrageous conduct of many corrupt officials, who ground
down the people mercilessly with unjust taxation and
brought about a general feeling of unrest and bitter dis-
content.
They were in many respects like the Boxers of China,
and believed they had immunity from death and could not
be hurt by bullets. They soon spread all over the land,
a terror to officials, and the Korean government was
powerless to stop them. They gave up the worship of all
minor deities and honored only the Lord of the heavens.
They forced people everywhere to join their ranks and
subscribe for their support, levying taxes on small and
great. Starting like many other movements, in a good
128 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
and patriotic determination to do away with abuses and in-
stitute reforms, it grew into a great evil and terror in the
whole land. Bad and unprincipled men, of whom there
are plenty in all climes, who are restless and ready to
throw themselves into anything which promises a change,
knowing that no change can be for the worse for them,
joined in large numbers, and many companies of Tong-
haks differed only in name from bands of robbers. As has
been said, the government could make no headway against
them, and whether or not the aid of China was officially
sought, I am not prepared to say, but the fact that China
did send troops to Korea, nominally to control this up-
rising, was used by the Japanese, who claimed that a
mutual agreement existed between Japan and China that
neither should introduce troops into Korea without the
consent of the other, as a casus belli, and they forthwith
sent an army to Korea, seized the palace, and sunk a
transport bringing Chinamen to Chemulpo.
So much for a brief explanation of the Tonghaks.
Large companies of these men threatened on three dif-
ferent occasions to raid Sorai while Mr. McKenzie was
there. To show that he leaned on no earthly defense, but
only on the arm of the almighty God, he took his gun all
to pieces when he heard of their approach. They were
told of this, and were deeply impressed ; and were so thor-
oughly convinced that if he was leaning on some mys-
terious power with such strong confidence, it would be
useless and worse to attack him, that they gave up their
plan. The third time they decided to attack the place they
were said to be ten thousand strong, but after coming part
way, they turned back, and never again threatened Sorai,
which was the only village in that section which was never
raided.
One day Mr. McKenzie heard that a tiger was prowling
BOYS PEDDLING
WAITING IN SUSPENSE 129
around in the vicinity, and started out with his shotgun
to hunt the beast, but fortunately did not have a chance to
try conclusions with that weapon, which, however useful
in killing partridges, would not be likely to do more than
tease a tiger. As soon as we received news of his death,
Mr. Underwood and Dr. Wells started that very day for
Sorai, to arrange his effects, make sure the death had been
as reported, and comfort and encourage the native Chris-
tians. Before they returned, Mr. Underwood dedicated
the little church, which was packed almost to suffocation,
with crowds standing around the doors and windows. He
baptized on that day quite a little company, as well as ad-
mitted a large number of catechumens and held a
memorial service for Mr. McKenzie.
Mr. Underwood was kept longer than I expected on this
trip, and there were no means of postal or telegraphic com-
munication. We women, whose husbands go hundreds of
miles into the interior, realize that we must take strong
hold on God, and learn patience and faith. When the time
for Mr. Underwood's return had passed, and no news
came, I remembered flooded rivers, bands of Tonghaks,
the various forms of deadly disease that may attack the
man who travels in the country in July or August, and
the waiting and suspense grew harder every day.
Every morning I looked up the road, where it curves
around the hill, to see if he were coming. Every evening
when the hateful twilight hurried into darkness, I strained
my aching vision along the awful emptiness of that road,
and all night long I listened for the plash of oars on the
river, or almost fancied I heard his voice as the boats
rounded the point, for he might come in a boat. Some-
times I saw Japanese coming in the distance, and deceived
by their dark clothes, thought it was he. Once a native
chair came up the road near the house, and they told me
130 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
he had come, but it was only a stranger, and the chair
passed on. Yet my case was not harder than that of many
women in the homelands who must all learn what anxious
suspense and long vigils mean, but at length, fearing he
was seriously sick, I concluded that I would go and find
him.
To do this secrecy was necessary, for none of my for-
eign friends would allow me to go at that season, if they
were informed of my intention. So I called up Mr.
Underwood's trusted literary assistant, and arranged with
him to hire ponies. I planned to start from our house
in Seoul (we were then at the river cottage), and as nearly
every one was out of town, expected to be able to get
away without any one's knowledge. But on the very day,
word came that he had already started, and was well on
his way home, his ponies had returned, and he, coming by
water, was almost due. No use to go now, and in a day or
two he was safe among us again, and again in contrition I
heard the gentle rebuke, "Oh ye of little faith, wherefore
did ye doubt?"
The church in Sorai was the first built and paid for by
the natives, was in fact the first Presbyterian church built
in Korea. The Christian natives in Seoul had met in a
little guest-house on our place, and in similar rooms in
other sub-stations. So, Sorai in the van set the marching
order, and all others, with almost no exceptions (in the
Presbyterian missions), have followed in their lead.
Paid pastors none of them have, but all the stronger
ones employ evangelists, whom they often pay in rice or
fields or wood, to systematically carry the gospel to their
heathen neighbors. It is our custom to select in each
church the most earnest and intelligent of the Christians
as a leader, who takes charge of the services, and oversight
of the flock, and reports progress to the missionary in
charge. The leaders are gathered once a year, at the time
when farmers have most leisure, at some central place, and
instructed in the doctrines of the Bible, church govern-
ment and history, and careful exegetical Bible study.
They are carefully trained in conducting religious services
and in preparing illustrated Bible readings. In every way
possible the missionary tries to fit these men for their
duties. Mr. Underwood is accustomed to hold one of
these classes in the city for those who live near enough,
and one in the country for those who are at too great a
distance to attend the city class, and I believe nearly all
the others do the same.
Such is the interest felt in the gatherings and the thirst
for more light, that many who are not invited, and who
hold no office in the church, travel many miles, bringing
their own rice, to attend these classes, which are often
crowded to overflowing. The church leaders are rarely
paid any salary, even by the natives. Each missionary
engaged in evangelistic work is allowed one paid helper, at
five dollars a month. This man employs his whole time in
this way, and some missionaries who have a large field
under their care are allowed two such assistants.
Mr. Underwood has always had a good many men,
who freely gave the greater part of their time to the work,
or who were paid by the native Christians, or were pro-
vided by him with some means of gaining their living
which would admit of their giving much time to the work.
Some would peddle quinine, at sufficient profit to make a
good living. Each bottle is wrapped with a tract, and
pains were taken to insure only the best article being
placed in the hands of these dealers. Some of these men
are placed in charge of little book shops, without any
salary, some in charge of a chapel or dispensary, the
privilege of occupying the house their only pay. There
132 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
are always a number of young men around him glad and
proud to be asked to serve on a special mission here or
there, and the young men's missionary societies band
themselves together for systematic gospel work, so that
they each week visit some village, distributing tracts and
preaching. All these, with the leaders, who are always at
his disposal for work in their own vicinity, form a valuable
corps of helpers. This plan, or something like it, I believe,
is carried out by all the evangelistic missionaries in the
Presbyterian missions. Mr. Underwood, also, copying
from the Methodists, established a circle of class meetings
among the Christians under his care in and around Seoul.
The class leaders meet with him once a week, each
bringing his book, make a report of attendances, absences,
sickness, removals, backslidings, deaths and conversions.
The class leader, being, as far as we know, the best man
in his class, and in a way responsible for it, becomes again
a very useful helper.
During the spring of 1895 the Presbyterian church in
Chong Dong, Seoul, decided to build themselves a place of
worship. The people were all of them poor, even accord-
ing to Korean ideas, paper-hangers, carpenters, small re-
tail shopkeepers, farmers, policemen, soldiers, interpreters,
writers, copyists, even chair coolies, gardeners and
peddlers, the richest of them rarely earning more than five
dollars in gold a month. So we missionaries decided to
raise the most of the two thousand yen necessary among
ourselves, encouraging the natives to give as much as they
could.
Mr. Underwood, however, in trying to impress them
with the duty of supporting the Lord's work liberally, was
met one day with the remark, that this was called a for-
eign religion, and so it was difficult to convince natives
that foreigners should not pay its way. "And so it will
AN EPIDEMIC OF CHOLERA 133
continue to be regarded, "said my husband, "just as long as
you allow foreign money to be used in carrying it forward.
When you build and own your churches, send out your
own evangelists, and support your own schools, then both
you and others will feel and realize it is not a foreign
affair, but your own."
"Then," said the deacon, "we will build the Chong
Dong church ourselves." Mr. Underwood was astonished.
"How can you build such a church?" said he. The deacon
replied, "Does the pastor ask such a question of what re-
lates to God's work? With God all things are possible."
Nothing, of course, remained to be said. The missionaries
decided that it would be wiser for them to own the land,
in case of possible political complications, but the building
itself would cost the whole of one thousand yen. The peo-
ple went to work with a will, the pastor and one or two
other missionaries took off their coats and lent a hand at
the work, boys hauled stones, Korean gentlemen, scholars,
and teachers who had never lifted anything heavier than
a pen, set themselves to work on the building, carpenters
gave their skilled labor every alternate day, working for
their own living only one out of every two, women saved a
little rice from each bowl prepared for the family until
enough was laid aside to be sold, and gave the money thus
earned, and so in manifold ways the money came in and
the work grew. At length, however, there were no more
funds and the building came to a standstill. No one was
willing to go into debt, even to borrow of the missionaries,
and it was decided to wait until the way opened.
Just when everything seemed hopelessly blocked, the
epidemic of Asiatic cholera broke out. Why Koreans do
not have this every summer raging through the whole
country is one of the unsolved problems. All sewage runs
into filthy, narrow ditches, which are frequently stopped up
134 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
with refuse, so as to overflow into the streets, green slimy
pools of water lie undisturbed in courtyards and along
the side of the road, wells are polluted with drainage from
soiled apparel washed close by, quantities of decaying
vegetable matter are thrown out and left to rot on the
thoroughfares and under the windows of the houses.
Every imaginable practice which comes under the defini-
tion of unhygienic or unsanitary is common. Even young
children in arms eat raw and green cucumbers, unpeeled,
acrid berries and heavy soggy hot bread. They bolt quan-
tities of hot or cold rice, with a tough, indigestible cab-
bage, washed in ditch water, prepared with turnips and
flavored with salt and red pepper. Green fruit of every
kind is eaten with perfect recklessness of all the laws of
nature, and with impunity (and I must say, an average
immunity from disastrous consequence) which makes a
Westerner stand aghast. Any of us would surely die
promptly and deservedly if we presumed to venture one-
tenth of the impertinences and liberties with Dame Nature
which a Korean smilingly and unconcernedly takes for
granted as his common right.
The only solution I have ever reached, and that I hold
but weakly, is, that in accordance with the law of the sur-
vival of the fittest, none but exceptionally hardy specimens
ever reach adolescence, or even early childhood, and that
having survived the awful tests of infancy, they are able
to endure most trials which befall later.
But even these, so to speak, galvanized-iron interiors are
not always proof. It takes time, but every five or six
years, by great care and industry, a bacillus develops itself,
so hardened, so well armed, so deeply toxic, that even Ko-
reans must succumb, and then there is an epidemic of
cholera. Eight years before, in 1887, the plague swept
through the land, and thousands fell. Christians, both
UNSANITARY CONDITIONS 135
missionaries and natives, united in prayers that God would
stay the scourge. Physicians pronounced it contrary to
the laws of nature that it should stop before frost came to
kill the bacilli, but, in wonderful justification of faith, the
ravages of the plague were abruptly checked in the midst
of the terrible heat of the last days of August and the first
of September.
CHAPTER IX
Difficulty of Enforcing Quarantine Regulations — Greedy Officials
"Eat" Relief Funds — Americans Stand Alone to Face the
Foe — The Emergency Cholera Hospital — The Inspection
Officers— We Decide to Use the Shelter— A Pathetic Case
— The Jesus Man — Gratitude of the Koreans — The New
Church — The Murder of the Queen — Testimony of Foreign-
ers—The Official Report.
AND now again the rod was to fall. The disease began
with terrible violence, men in full vigor in the morning
were corpses at noon, several members of the same family
often dying the same day. It cropped out in one neigh-
borhood after another with a steadily marked increase
every day, that was frightful in its unrelenting, unswerv-
ing ferocity. The Japanese and many of the more en-
lightened Koreans took the alarm early, and seeking the
counsel of European and American physicians planned to
establish quarantine and sanitary regulations for the
whole country, but as an astute young Korean sadly re-
marked, "It is easy enough to make the laws, it is more
than doubtful whether they can be enforced."
If officials and soldiers are sent to enforce quarantine,
there is little doubt among those who know customs and
people that only too many of them will be susceptible to a
very small bribe. When the necessity for quarantining
Seoul from Chemulpo was mentioned, the high officials
themselves said it would be impossible on account of the
importance of the trade between the two places. One in-
OFFICIAL CORRUPTION 137
stance will show the hopelessness of the attempt to carry
out sanitary regulations.
In the effort to prevent the enormous and insane con-
sumption of green apples, melons and cucumbers, the sale
of these articles was forbidden with a penalty for buyer
and seller, and notices of the law posted everywhere. And
yet, soon after, my husband passed a stand where they
were being sold in large numbers, over which one of these
very notices was hung, and several policemen among the
buyers were munching the forbidden fruit with a calm
relish, edifying to behold. It is due to the government to
say that they seemed thoroughly awakened to the situation
and were doing all in their power, but were handicapped
by the deplorable corruption of many officials. Twenty
thousand yen (ten thousand dollars) were granted to fix
up a temporary emergency cholera hospital, enforce sani-
tary laws and prevent the advance of the plague, but this
money was, to use a common Korean phrase, "eaten" by
greedy underlings on all hands. In the preparation of the
hospital, more than twice the number of carpenters needed
were employed, and these men passed their time making
little articles for private sale, or in standing about doing
nothing. A number of petty officials were hired to do
little, and improved on their commission by doing nothing
but receive their pay.
At a general meeting of the physicians then in the city,
European, American and Japanese, Dr. Avison having
been chosen by vote director of this emergency hospital
and the sanitary work, the Japanese all withdrew, saying
they did not care to work under a Westerner, and in the
end the Americans only were left to face the foe.
After many discouragements and hindrances an old bar-
racks building was roughly prepared to receive patients,
and a corps of nurses and doctors, composed of quite a
138 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
number of missionaries (Methodists, Baptists and Presby-
terians, with the assistance of hired Koreans) was
formed. The building was very poorly fitted up for such
an exigency, the haste with which it was necessary to get
it ready, and the character of the place, precluded the pos-
sibility of making it very suitable for the purpose. It was
open, damp and chilly, with no means of warming or
secluding the patients. It was only scantily furnished
with such absolute necessities as could be had at short
notice in the city. And think not, Oh civilized medical
community in America! that "necessities" according to
your ideas are synonomous with "necessities" according
to our possibilities in Asia. Perhaps you have a fossilized
idea that beds and sheets and pillows are necessities. By
no means. Our patients lay on the floor, covered with
small cotton wool rugs, and back-breaking business it was
to nurse them.
But the discouragements connected with our work was
not merely the lack of conveniences and almost dire
necessities, or the want of proper inforcement of sanitary
regulations and of co-operation, and although Dr. Avison
and the foreign staff under him worked heroically, and
with unwearied devotion, it was an unequal struggle.
The majority of natives are not willing to go to hospitals,
and it would have been dangerous to try to force them,
while many will not permit foreign doctors to treat them
even in their homes, or else use Korean medicines with
ours. But alas ! in many cases the disease is so violent as
to defy all that science, aided by every advantage, can do.
It is the most desperately, deadly thing I ever saw, and
often medicines seem useless to do more than slightly
defer the ultimate result. The poison attacks the nerve
centers at once, and every organ is affected. Terrible
cramps contract the muscles, the heart fails, the extremi-
THE INSPECTION OFFICERS 139
ties grow cold, the pulse becomes imperceptible, the mind
wanders, or suddenly, without previous symptoms, the
victim falls and dies at once. Or, after the most violent
symptoms of the disease have disappeared, vomiting and
pain have ceased, the pulse has become almost normal and
the patient nearly ready to be discharged, a mysterious
change comes, and the poor victim dies of pneumonia,
uraemic convulsions, or some of the other sequellse of this
frightful disease.
Mr. Underwood vas placed in charge of inspection
offices, which were opened in different districts over the
whole city, and all cases reported there received imme-
diate attention. Several of his young Christians were
trained by him to carry on this work, he himself at first
going out with them, hunting up infected localities, using
disinfectants, and teaching the helpers and residents how
to purify the premises. These young men worked inde-
fatigably, with intelligence, enthusiasm and courage.
The inspectors and all the doctors and nurses wore a
badge, consisting of the red cross over the Korean flag, so
that even in heathen Korea the sign of the cross was car-
ried everywhere, and dominated the emblem of the Korean
government.
The people picked up the idea that lime was a mys-
terious agent in preventing disease, so it was not un-
common to see a handful of it scattered, a few grains here
and there, along the edges of some of the filthiest ditches,
or a gourd whitewashed with lime hanging by the door
as a sort of charm to drive away cholera.
Koreans call it "the rat disease," believing that cramps
are rats gnawing and crawling inside the legs, going up
till the heart is reached ; so they offer prayers to the spirit
of the cat, hang a paper cat on the house door, and rub
their cramps with a cat's skin. They offered prayers and
140 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
sacrifices in various high places to the heavens — Hananim
— and some of the streets in infected districts were almost
impassable on account of ropes stretched across, about
five feet high, at intervals of about every twenty-five feet,
to which paper prayers were attached. As my coolies,
trying to pass along with my chair, broke one of these, I
could not help admonishing the owner who came to its
rescue, "Better put them up a little higher."
Aye, put them up higher, poor Korean brother, they
are far too near the earth! One of the most pathetic
sights in connection with this plague were these poor,
wind-torn, rain-bedraggled, paper prayers, hanging help-
lessly everywhere, the offering of blind superstition to
useless dumb gods who can neither pity nor hear.
"They reach lame hands of faith and grope
And gather dust and chaff."
Early in August it was decided, as the plague seemed on
the increase, to fill the "Shelter" with cholera patients,
and Dr. Avison assigned to Dr. Wells, Mr. Underwood
and myself the supervision and care of this place.
The "Shelter," situated on a good high site outside the
walls, with a number of comfortable rooms, with the pos-
sibility of hot floors (which proved an unspeakable benefit
to the poor cold, pulseless sick), seemed an ideal place for
the purpose. It was not very large, it is true, but as most
of our patients were either quickly cured or quickly suc-
cumbed, we were able to receive a goodly number.
Mr. Underwood and Dr. Wells worked indefatigably,
stocking it with everything obtainable which could be of
use.
My husband arranged for a corps of voluntary native
nurses. As the only missionaries available were at work
VOLUNTEER NATIVE NURSES 141
elsewhere, and we had seen too much of hired native offi-
cial nurses, he decided to ask some of his Christian helpers
to do this service for the love of Christ. Cholera is a
loathsome disease, only love makes it easy to nurse faith-
fully and tenderly these poor afflicted creatures, without
overwhelming disgust.
Some of the men thus approached belonged to the
scholar and gentlemen class, who had never done manual
work of any kind, and at first they hesitated. However,
they at last decided to undertake the task, and with will-
ing hands and a little training, they turned out to be very
satisfactory nurses, faithful and devoted, never shirking
the most difficult and repelling work. Every evening a
service of prayer and song was held in the central court
of the Shelter, where all who were conscious could hear,
and we believe that the blessing on that work came in an-
swer to these united prayers, and the public acknowledg-
ment of absolute dependence in God. Here, too, the
workers gained new enthusiasm and the strength born of
faith and hope.
Dr. Wells' brilliant management deserves the highest
praise. The necessity of caring for my little one, lying
sick five miles away, allowed me only alternate nights of
service at the hospital, so the labor for the other two mem-
bers of our trio was severe, but while the need lasted
strength was given.
Unspeakably pathetic were many of the scenes we were
forced to witness. One poor woman, only that day
widowed, with three little ones to care for, was brought in
cold and almost pulseless. We spent the night trying to
save this poor mother. Early in the morning her eldest,
a dear little fellow of eleven, came to watch with and take
care of her. To see the anxious little face (a child's face
in the shadow of a great sorrow is the saddest thing on
142 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
earth) as he chafed her hands and affirmed, half interrog-
atively, how much warmer they were now than before,
and as he looked eagerly to us, every time we entered say-
ing, "Will she live, will she live?" was enough to make
one ready to die for that life. We felt that woman must
live. And yet — . After a long contest the pulse revived,
the extremities grew warm, nearly all untoward symptoms
disappeared, we all dared to hope. "She will live now,"
joyfully said the child. "Oh, if I could live, it would be
good !" said the now conscious mother. But alas ! next
day the three little ones were motherless and fatherless,
and another sad funeral, with one drooping little mourner,
joined the awful procession, which nightly filed through
the city gates, and covered the surrounding hills with new-
made graves. One poor old father watched and tended
his boy of fourteen with agonized devotion. The only one
left to his old age of what was a few days before a large
family. We all worked over the lad with strong hopes, so
young, and many of the old had recovered, so much
needed, surely he would be spared, but at length the cold
young form grew a little colder, the tired little pulse ceased
to flutter, and a broken old man followed his last hope to
the grave.
And yet we had great cause for devout thankfulness
that so many of our patients were spared. Sixty-five per
cent of recoveries is almost unheard of, and yet this was
our record at the Shelter.
Under God we ascribed this large percentage of cures,
mainly to the three following causes : The use of salol as
early and in as large doses as possible. Keeping the pa-
tients on the very hot floor till warmth returned and cir-
culation improved. And the conscientious and untiring
nursing by the native Christians.
Of course this is not the place, nor have I the time, to
THE TREATMENT OF CHOLERA 143
go into a minute description of the various remedies and
forms of treatment used. We believed we were reaching
the case with salol, but various other remedies also were
used to control the symptoms. In fact, everything we
knew was done, and all must be done quickly or not at all.
Many of the cases brought to us were in a state of col-
lapse when they arrived. Often the pulse was not per-
ceptible, and yet repeatedly, where we felt that treatment
was hopeless, the hot floor and vigorous charing, with
hypodermic administration of stimulants, brought about
sufficient reanimation to make it possible to take the salol,
and this seemed to act miraculously. It was in obedience
to Dr. Wells' suggestion that we tried this drug which
proved such a blessing. In one case, that of a young man
of high rank, his family despaired of his life from the first,
and finally went home to prepare his grave clothes, but
on returning with them in the morning, found him, to
their joy and amazement, quite out of danger. Another
striking case was that of an old lady nearly seventy years
of age. Her son and daughter, as a last resort, but quite
hopelessly, brought her to us. She was far gone, uncon-
scious, and almost pulseless. We rubbed her cold ex-
tremities with alcohol, keeping her quite warm on a fine
hot floor (she lay practically on a stove all night), and to
the astonishment of all, after a few hours, steady improve-
ment began and she was soon restored to her delighted
friends.
I insert here our medical record, for the benefit of medi-
cal readers, giving all the uninterested the privilege of
skipping. We received altogether 173 patients, of whom
61 died; of those received, 18 arrived dying or dead; 95
were taken in rigid, of whom only 42 died ; 35 were verg-
ing on collapse, of whom 2 died ; 4 were in partial collapse,
of whom none died ; 20 were in the first stage, of whom
144 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
none died. Of those who died, 25 never reacted, 2 had
puerperal complications, 2 were already affected with
tuberculosis, 3 developed cerebral meningitis, i complica-
tion of chronic cystitis, i chronic nephritis, and 2 received
no salol.
All these recoveries made no little stir in the city,
especially as elsewhere nearly two-thirds of those affected
died. Proclamations were posted on the walls, telling peo-
ple there was no need for them to die when they might
go to the Christian hospital and live. People who watched
missionaries working over the sick night after night said
to each other, "How these foreigners love us, would we
do as much for one of our own kin as they do for
strangers ?" Some men who saw Mr. Underwood hurry-
ing along the road in the gray twilight of a summer morn-
ing remarked, "There goes the Jesus man, he works all
night and all day with the sick without resting." "Why
does he do it?" said another. "Because he loves us," was
the reply. What sweeter reward could be had than that
the people should see the Lord in our service. Surely the
plague was not all evil when it served to bring the Lord
more clearly to the view of the souls he died to save.
A tolerably fair count of the deaths inside the walls each
day was possible, since all the dead are carried through
two or three gates. The numbers rose gradually to some-
thing over three hundred a day and then gradually de-
clined, the plague lasting not quite six weeks. The extra-
mural population is probably as large as the intra-mural,
including the people within the two miles radius outside
the walls. All taken together there are between three
and four hundred thousand people.
When the plague was nearly over the following very
grateful letter of thanks from the Korean office of Foreign
Affairs was sent through the American minister.
OFFICIAL EXPRESSION OF THANKS 145
THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
504th Year, 7th Moon, 3d Day.
August 22d, 1895.
Kim, Minister of Foreign Affairs,
to Mr. Sill, United States Minister.
SIR: I have the honor to say that my government is deeply
grateful to — and his friends who have
spent a great deal of money for medicines and labored in the
management of cholera, resulting in the cure of many sick peo-
ple. I trust your excellency will kindly convey an expression
of thanks to them on behalf of my government. I am, etc., etc.
(Signed) KIM YUN SIR.
Gifts were sent to the missionaries, who had assisted
at the hospitals, of rolls of silk, fans, little silver inkstands,
having the name of the Home Office and the recipient en-
graved upon them, and most interesting of all, a kind of
mosaic mats made of a peculiar sort of reeds grown for the
purpose at the island of Kang Wha. These mats have
bits of the reeds of different colors skilfully inlaid to form
the pattern, and that on those which were given to us was
at one end the national emblem, at the other the red cross
and the name of the Home Office.
This was of course extremely gratifying. No, more, it
was a thing for which to be profoundly grateful that gov-
ernment and people recognized that we, the representa-
tives of our Lord (however inefficient and unworthy),
were their friends, and, as far as in us lay, their helpers.
The best, however, was to come. The names of the
Koreans who had nursed and served at the Shelter and in-
spection offices were asked for, and the intention to pay
them stated. We told them that the men had done this
with no expectation of pay, but to this they would not
listen and insisted on rewarding them handsomely. On
the receipt of this unexpected, and, for them, large sum,
almost all the Christians (quite voluntarily, and to our
surprise) put it all into the fund for the new church, con-
I46 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
sidering it a gift of God, specially sent in answer to
prayer, to help them in the enterprise undertaken in faith.
They were, therefore, now able to go on and finish the
church, which accommodates, with crowding, two hun-
dred people. It is an unpretentious building, entirely
native, substantial as possible with mud walls, tiled roof
and paper windows, yet built and finished much in the
style of the best Korean houses, none of which knew, at
that time, what it was to boast of a pane of glass, or brick
or stone walls. Into it the little congregation flocked,
and with glad hearts dedicated to God the work of their
hands, which through sacrifice, love, faith and prayer
was more costly and precious in his sight than gold or
ivory, which had not been so sanctified.
Not long after the cholera epidemic, and the events
connected with it, occurred the tragedy at the palace — the
murder of the brilliant and progressive queen, the friend
of progress, civilization and reform.
Her majesty was a brilliant diplomatist, and usually
worsted her opponents. The Japanese, after the war, had
indeed proclaimed the independence of Korea, yet seemed
in practice to desire to establish a sort of protectorate and
to direct her policy at home and abroad. Many public
offices were filled with citizens of Japan, or Japanese sym-
pathizers as far as possible, and a large body of the
Korean troops were drilled by and under the command
of Japanese officers.
Realizing that in the patriotic and brilliant queen they
had to meet one who would not readily submit to their
plans for the Japanizing of Korea, they objected to her
participation at all in the affairs of government, and
were promised, under compulsion we were told, that these
orders should be obeyed. Naturally this was not done,
and the queen continued to be a source of confusion and
THE MURDER OF THE QUEEN 147
rock of offense to them and their plans. Finally a
decided change was made in the personnel of the Japanese
embassy. Count Inoye, who, in the name of his govern-
ment, had hitherto promised to the queen the support and
protection of Japan was recalled. He was replaced by
Count Miura, who was a man of very different tendencies.
Count Miura was a very strong Buddhist, and passion-
ately devoted to the supposed interests of Japan as against
those of any other nation.
One morning, the 8th of October, 1895, we heard firing
at the palace. This was in time of peace, and such sounds
we knew must be portents of evil. All was confusion,
nothing definite could be learned, except that certain
Japanese troops had arrived at about three in the morn-
ing, escorting the Tai Won Kun (the king's father and
the queen's bitter enemy), and had driven out the native
royal guard under General Dye (an American) and were
now guarding the palace gates. The air was full of
ominous suspicions and whispers, but nothing more defi-
nite could we learn till afternoon, when meeting a Korean
noble, he told us with face all aghast, that it was currently
reported that the queen had been murdered.
In a few hours this news was confirmed with par-
ticulars. The Tai Won Kun was at that time under
guard, in exile from the court, at his country house, for
conspiracy against the king in favor of his grandson, and
he of course readily consented to become the leader of the
plotters against the queen, to. enter the palace at the head
of their troops and take possession of the persons of their
majesties (and the government incidently), necessarily,
of course, doing away with the queen. The troops there-
fore marched with the old man in his chair to the palace
gates, where all had been made ready. Ammunition had
been secretly removed, native troops trained by Americans
148 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
had been mostly exchanged for those trained by Japanese,
and after a few shots, and scarcely a pretence of resist-
ance, the attacking party entered. It was some distance
to the royal apartments, and the rumor of disturbance
reached there some time before the attacking party. Her
majesty was alarmed. She was a brave woman, but she
knew she had bitter, powerful and treacherous foes,
and that, like Damocles, a sword suspended by only too
slight a thread hung over her life.
The king's second son, Prince Oui-wha, begged her to
escape with him by a little gate which yet remained un-
guarded, through which they might pass disguised to
friends in the city. The dowager queen, however, was
too old to go, and her majesty nobly refused to leave her
alone to the terror which occupation of the palace by
foreigners would insure, trusting no doubt to the positive
assurances of protection that had been made to her
through Count Inoye, and the more so, as one of the
courtiers in waiting, a man by the name of Chung Pung
Ha, had assured her that whatever happened she might
rest confident that the persons of their majesties would be
perfectly safe. This man was a creature of low origin,
whom the queen had raised and bestowed many favors
upon, and in whom she placed great reliance. He advised
her not to hide, and kept himself informed of all her
movements. With no code of honor wider or higher than
his pocket, he of course became a ready tool of the
assassins, and there is much evidence to show he was a
party to the conspiracy.
The queen therefore remained in a good deal of un-
easiness and anxiety, but only when the Tai Won Kun
and the hired assassins rushed in, calling for the queen,
did she attempt, alas ! too late, to hide.
There was some confusion, in the numerous verbal re-
TESTIMONY CONCERNING THE MURDER 149
ports which reached us, but two foreigners, a Russian,
Mr. Sabbatin, and an American, General Dye, who were
eye-witnesses of nearly all that occurred, both agreed in
the statement, that Japanese troops under Japanese offi-
cers surrounded the courtyard and buildings where the
royal party were, and that the Japanese officers were in
the courtyard, and saw the outrages which were com-
mitted, and knew all that was done by the Japanese soshi
or professional cutthroats. About thirty of these assassins
rushed into the royal apartments crying, "The queen, the
queen, where is the queen ?"
Then began a mad and brutal hunt for their prey, more
like wild beasts than men, seizing the palace women,*
dragging them about by their hair and beating them, try-
ing to force them to tell where the queen was. Mr. Sab-
batin was himself questioned and threatened with death.
The soshi and officers who wore the Japanese uniform
passed through the room where his majesty stood trying
to divert attention from the queen. "One of the Japanese
caught him by the shoulder and pulled him about, and Yi
Kiung Chick, the minister of the royal household, was
killed by the Japanese in his majesty's presence. His royal
highness, the crown prince, was seized, his hat torn off
and broken, and he was pulled about by the hair, the soshi
threatening him with their swords while demanding
where the queen was."f At length they hunted the poor
queen down, and killed her with their swords. They then
covered her body, and bringing in various palace women,
suddenly displayed the corpse, when the women shrieked
with horror, "The queen, the queen !" This was enough ;
by this ruse the assassins made sure they had felled the
right victim.
* "Korean Repository," 1894.
t From official report of "Korean Repository."
ISO FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
Soon after, the remains were taken to a grove of trees
not far off, kerosene oil poured over them, and they were
burned, only a few bones remaining.
Later developments all went to prove that the mur-
derers were actually guilty of the inconceivable folly of
imagining that by this means it would be possible to con-
ceal the crime and their share in it.
Stories of all sorts were circulated, as that her majesty
had escaped and was lying concealed, or that she had
simply been removed for a time by the Japanese, who
could bring her back at any moment. In the official account
of the murder, and of the trial of Count Miura and the
soshi, held in Hiroshima, Japan, for which I am indebted
to "The Korean Repository" for 1895, the following
words occur: "The accused Miura Gow assumed his
official duties ... on September i, 1895. According to
his observation, things in Korea were tending in the
wrong direction, the court was daily growing more and
more arbitrary, and attempting wanton interference with
the conduct of State affairs. Disorder and confusion were
in this way introduced into the system of administration
that had just been reorganized under the guidance and
advice of the Imperial government. The court went so far
in turning its back upon Japan that a project was mooted
for disbanding the Kurentai troops (Koreans under Jap-
anese officers) and punishing their officers. Moreover, a
report came to the said Miura that the court had under
contemplation a scheme for usurping all political power
by degrading some and killing others of the cabinet min-
isters suspected of devotion to the cause of progress and
independence. Under these circumstances he was greatly
perturbed, inasmuch as he thought that the attitude
assumed by the court not only showed remarkable in-
gratitude towards this country, which had spent labor and
THE OFFICIAL REPORT 151
money for the sake of Korea, but was also calculated to
thwart the work of internal reform and 'jeopardize the in-
dependence of the kingdom.' "
The report then proceeds to state that the accused felt it
necessary to apply a remedy which would on the one hand
"secure the independence of the Korean kingdom, and on
the other maintain the prestige of this empire in that coun-
try!" The report further proceeds to state, that confer-
ences were held with the Tai Won Kun and with Japanese
officials, at one of which, October 3rd, "The decision ar-
rived at on that occasion was that assistance should be
rendered to the Tai Won Kun's entry into the palace by
making use of the Kurentai, who, being hated by the
court, felt themselves in danger, and of the young men
who deeply lamented the course of events, and also by
causing the Japanese troops stationed in Seoul to offer
their support to the enterprise. It was further resolved
that this opportunity should be availed of for taking the
life of the queen, who exercised overwhelming influence
in the court."
After further particulars in the completion of the plan
the Japanese document continues : "Miura told them
(the men who were to escort the Tai Won Kun) that on
the success of the enterprise depended the eradication of
the evils that had done so much mischief to the kingdom
for the past twenty years, and instigated them to despatch
the queen when they entered the palace." The report then
goes on at some length, describing the various steps taken
in carrying out the conspiracy, and continues : "Then
slowly proceeding toward Seoul the party met the Kuren-
tai troops outside the west gate of the capital, where they
waited some time for the Japanese troops. . . . About
dawn the whole party entered the palace through the
Kwang-hwa gate, and at once proceeded to the inner
152 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
chambers. Notwithstanding these facts there is no suffi-
cient evidence to prove that any of the accused actually
committed the crime originally meditated by them. . . .
For these reasons, the accused, each and all, are hereby
discharged. . . . The documents and other articles seized
in connection with this case are restored to their respective
owners.
Given at Hiroshima local court by
YOSHIDA YOSHIDA,
Judge of Preliminary inquiry,
TAMURA YOSHIHARU,
Clerk of the court.
Dated 2Oth day of the first month of the twenty-ninth
year of Yeiji.
This copy has been taken from the original text.
Clerk of the local court of Hiroshima."
This document needs no comment. Count Miura was
recently restored to all his titles and dignities which had
been temporarily removed.
CHAPTER X
The Palace after the Murder — Panic — Attitude of Foreign Lega-
tions— The King's Life in Hourly Danger — Noble Refugees
— Americans on Guard — Mistakes of the New Government —
Objectionable Sumptuary Laws — A Plan to Rescue the
King — One Night at the Palace — Forcing an Entrance — Our
Little Drama — Escape of General Yun.
IN the meantime the king and crown prince were held
prisoners in their own palace by a cabinet composed of
Koreans who were favorable to the Japanese government.
Immediately after the death of the queen, before the sol-
diers and assassins had dispersed, the Japanese minister
had come to the palace and requested an audience. Ac-
cording to the official report, Count Miura, with his sec-
retary, Mr. Sugimma,* the Tai Won Kun, and a Japanese,
who had led the soshi, were all present at this audience,
and presented three papers to the king for signature, one
being that the cabinet should henceforth manage the
affairs of the country, one that Prince Yi Chai Miun
should be minister of the royal household, and the other
appointing a vice-minister of the household. The king
shaken by the events of the night, and helpless in the
hands of his enemies, signed all three. Then the Japanese
troops were withdrawn, and the Kurentai alone left on
guard. Soon after the ministers of war and police depart-
ments were changed for pro- Japanese, "so that all the
* See "Korean Repository" official account of the murder of
the queen.
154 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
armed forces of the government, and even the personal at-
tendants of his majesty" were under the control of the
opponents of the royal person and family.
Mr. Waeber, the Russian minister, and Dr. Allen,
Charge d'Affaires of the United States, having heard the
firing, arrived at the palace, while the Japanese minister
was still there, and were made acquainted by the king to
some extent concerning the occurrences which had just
taken place. The poor king was in a state of shock
amounting to almost complete prostration, which was
pitiable to behold, after the awful experiences of the night
and the brutal murder of his idolized queen.
The friends and connections of the royal family, offi-
cials, soldiers, servants and hangers on about the palace,
of whom there were several thousands, were all in the
wildest panic. Every one was rushing in mad haste to
escape from the confines of the palace grounds, and uni-
forms or anything that could distinguish men as belong-
ing to the court were recklessly torn off and thrown away.
The American, Russian and English legations were
thronged with people, anxious for shelter from the hands
of those who composed the band of Korean traitors. The
foreign representatives felt and showed much indignation
over the cruel assassination of her majesty and sympathy
for the king.
For some time they visited the palace every day. As
they refused to recognize the rebel government, they
probably felt obliged to see his majesty personally, in
order to know his wishes and policy, and it is also most
likely that, feeling much uncertainty as to the intentions
of the persons in whose hands the king was, they wished
to keep themselves informed, and perhaps to keep in check
any plans of violence toward the remaining members of
the royal family. Mr. Underwood was requested to ac-
THE KING'S PERIL 155
company the United States minister as interpreter, while
the French bishop acted in the same capacity for the
representative of France, since none of the native inter-
preters could be trusted under such circumstances.
And right here I would stop to ask, why is it that in
matters of such extreme importance as the affairs of state
between our own government and Eastern nations, there
have been up to this time no trained American interpre-
ters, and our highest officials are obliged to depend upon
the more than doubtful native interpreters, who even when
not wilfully for their own purposes, or through their
own cowardice, misrepresenting communications of the
greatest importance, may through incapability entirely
misconceive the idea to be expressed, or through careless-
ness omit the most significant part of the whole sentence ?
The king was to be seen only under the strictest sur-
veillance of the cabinet, and apparently was under ex-
treme coercion, so that he did not consider it expedient to
say anything contrary to their orders and policy. On rare
occasions, when their attention was called for a few mo-
ments by some of the visiting party, his majesty con-
trived to convey to Mr. Underwood a whispered message,
a sign, a tiny note slipped in his palm, by which he briefly
communicated his desires, or plans, or his real replies to
questions which had already been answered publicly in ac-
cordance with the views of his enemies. As the king stood
in hourly fear of poison, and not without reason, since his
unscrupulous and unnatural father, the Tai Won Kun,
was most desirous to replace him by his grandson,
through another son, and as so many of the conspirators
surrounding the king had now so much at stake, were
in so dangerous a position, and were men who had already
proved they would stop at nothing where their own inter-
est was concerned, he would take no food for some time
156 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
but condensed milk brought in sealed cans and opened in
his presence, or eggs cooked in the shells. Hearing of
this, and glad to take advantage of an opportunity how-
ever small to show our sympathy, the ladies from one of
the European legations and myself alternated in sending
specially prepared dishes, such articles as contained the
greatest amount of nourishment, as well as of agreeable
taste.
They were sent in a tin box, provided with a Yale lock.
Mr. Underwood, who was now going as interpreter and
messenger between the legations and palace, sometimes
twice a day, carried the key, and placed it in the king's
own hand, while the box was carried in at any convenient
time by the ordinary officials. It was only a small service,
but it was to some extent a relief to be allowed to do any-
thing for those who had a claim upon our loyalty, and who
had been so shockingly outraged.
One day as Mr. Underwood was going in to his majesty
he met the old Tai Won Kun, who said, "Why do you take
all that good food in to him? He doesn't need it. I am
old, my teeth are gone, I need it far more than he." The
crafty and cruel old human tiger's teeth and claws were
still only too serviceable, alas ! For a long time after the
death of the queen, nearly seven weeks, Americans, one or
two at a time, were asked to be at the palace every night,
as it was thought that with foreigners there as witnesses,
the conspirators, whoever they might be, would hesitate
to commit any further outrages. There is little doubt that
had they thought it necessary to commit regicide, the lives
of the witnesses would have been sacrificed as well, but
Easterners stand in considerable fear of the wrath of the
Western nations, when their citizens are killed, and no
doubt the chances of violence to his majesty and the
crown prince were somewhat diminished by the presence
THE LEGATIONS FULL OF REFUGEES 157
of the missionaries, who night after night, two and two,
left the congenial task of preaching the gospel of peace to
insure the continuance of it (or that small fraction which
at that time was left to poor Korea).
We wives at home, keeping lonely vigil, while our hus-
bands sentineled the palace, listened with sharpened ears
for sounds of ill-omen from that direction. But both they
and we were glad of this service, rejoicing to prove that
we were the friends of the people and the rightful ruler,
from highest to lowest, and we were specially glad that
those who had been called disloyal, because they refused
to obey the decree which forbade preaching the gospel,
were now able to show themselves the most active and un-
wearied in serving the king.
The day after the assassination, the king's second son,
Prince Oui-wha, sent to ask refuge in our house, where,
this being American property, he would be safe from ar-
rest. The legations were all full of refugees of high rank,
and several were staying in our Korean sarang or guest
room. We were, of course, delighted to receive the young
prince, and also to have this further opportunity to prove
our regard for him. In consequence of the presence of
these refugees we were honored by being kept under con-
tinual espionage by the pseudo-government, our com-
pound constantly watched by spies at all exits, by day and
night. It seemed monstrous to me, who had never known
any of the class whose movements are watched by detec-
tives, nor ever dreamed of coming in any way into colli-
sion with any government (much less of being of suffi-
cient importance to do so), but perhaps it was the spirit
of revolutionary forefathers which made me believe, that
if governments were wrong, right-minded people must
oppose them, and that if sheltering the friends of the just
and lawful ruler from a company of conspirators and
158 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
traitors was standing in an attitude of hostility to the
powers that be, it was both right and our unavoidable
duty to do what we could to shield them from violence
and death.
In the meanwhile the new government was appointing
new officials, trying, torturing and executing innocent
people as the accused murderers of the queen, in order to
shield themselves — useless crimes which deceived no one
— making a number of new offices and placing Japanese
in them on large salaries, and making new and farcical, as
well as injurious and objectionable, laws. Women were
not to be allowed to go on the street with covered faces,
pipes must be of a certain length, sleeves must be
shortened and narrowed, coats must be of a particular
color, and hat brims a certain width. This was called
"Kaiwha" or reform. Large numbers of Japanese flocked
to this country and made their way to the capital or into
the interior, in the industrious pursuit of wealth, which
we were informed was not always limited to legitimate
measures, or the possession of sinecures.
Missionaries returning from the interior reported that
they had heard lamentable tales on all hands, of farmers
strung up by the thumbs, for the extortion of money or
deeds of lands and of women dealt with brutally. The
poor country people were like sheep in the midst of
wolves, their shepherd gone, their fold broken down.
One of the measures taken by the pro- Japanese govern-
ment, which excited great feeling and probably did more
than anything else to arouse protest, because so cruelly
calculated to wound the desolate and stricken king,
was a decree sent through the whole land in the king's
name declaring the queen a wicked woman and degrading
her to the lowest rank. This they asked the king to sign
and seal, but shaken as he was, he absolutely refused
PLANS FOR THE KING'S RESCUE 159
so to insult his dead consort, and the cabinet were obliged
to forge his signature, and seal the paper themselves.
This act bore the stamp of the Tai Won Kun, whose
insatiable hate was not satisfied with the murder of the
queen, but followed her with insults to the grave.
In the midst of these days of confusion and excitement,
the loyalist party, or at least some of them, made an at-
tempt to rescue the king. This all his friends ardently de-
sired, but it was very difficult to accomplish, as his
majesty was surrounded constantly by spies and guards,
whose interest as well as whose business it was to keep
him under the strictest surveillance.
Numbers of Koreans came to my husband with various
schemes for the accomplishment of the king's release,
seeking his advice and aid, but while he was very willing
to express his sympathy with their object and his disap-
proval of the rebel government, he did not consent to any
part in any of their projects, partly because he did not
know whom to trust, and partly because none were such as
he, a missionary, could take part in or support. I do not
doubt, however, that if he could have seen a way to do so,
he would gladly have sacrificed much to have assisted the
king to escape to a place of safety, where he could estab-
lish his own government without fear of the combinations
formed against him.
The plans of the rescue party were made very secretly,
so that none of the missionaries at least knew anything of
them, though two of the leaders, General Yun and an-
other, were in our house till a late hour the previous
night, and perhaps to this fact was due the conviction
which a number of people entertained that my husband
was concerned in the loyal but unfortunate plot. The ene-
mies of the king, however, got wind of the plans of his
friends, and through spies and treachery ferreted it all out,
160 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
and prepared themselves fully. One of the traitors, an
army officer, who pretended to be ready to open the gates
and assist the rescue party from within, really disclosed
everything to the false cabinet, and was prepared with
troops to receive and repel the loyalists. On the evening
set for the rescue of the king, just before my husband's
return from the palace, where he had been all the after-
noon, he found Dr. Avison, of our mission, here at his
home, with news that the Koreans were preparing to at-
tack the palace that very night, as he had just learned
from one of the party. Mr. Underwood was hardly will-
ing to credit the idea, sure that all his feelings and sym-
pathies were so well understood, he would have been in-
formed had this been the case ; but while Dr. Avison was
still in the house, the secretary of the American legation
called, at the request of the American minister, to say that
they had authoritative information of the same thing, and
as the king would no doubt be much alarmed, and would
be in great danger from the traitors, should the attack suc-
ceed, the American minister asked that Mr. Underwood
would spend the night near the king's person.
As the gate would probably be closed and admittance
refused to every one, the minister had sent his card for
Mr. Underwood to present in order to gain admission. It
was of course understood that this was only a suggestion,
and that Mr. Underwood was perfectly at liberty to refuse,
but he was really glad to go, and felt honored in being
selected for this service, so he at once consented, and asked
Mr. Hulbert, now of the government school, to accompany
him. Dr. Avison having been called for professionally,
also joined them, and the three men met at the palace
gates, where the guard at once refused to admit them,
positive orders having been sent forbidding the entrance
of any one. Our minister's card was shown to no appar-
GUARDING THE KING 161
ent effect, except that the officer on guard offered to go up
to the palace with it and obtain permission. This Mr.
Underwood knew would be futile, for the cabinet would
almost certainly refuse, so he replied, "No, I must be ad-
mitted at once and without delay, I came at the request of
the United States minister, and if you choose to refuse his
card, and his messenger, you must take the responsibility ;
I shall return at once and give him your reply." As an
officer had been severely punished only a few days before
for refusing entrance to a foreign diplomat, who had left
the palace gates in awful wrath, the men now on guard
hesitated. "Decide, and at once," said Mr. Underwood
sternly. This conquered, and the Americans hurried in.
They went directly to the king, and making known that
they had come for the night, asked his wishes, and were
requested to wait in General Dye's rooms, close at hand, to
be ready on the first alarm to take their places near his
person.
The three guardsmen then repaired to the general's
room to await developments, where Mr. Underwood had
some conversation with General Dye, and the traitorous
Korean officer, who even then suspecting that Mr. Under-
wood had some part in the friendly plot, tried to entrap
him and to induce him to betray himself and the others.
But as my husband knew nothing of the persons engaged,
or any of their plans, and was himself quite innocent of
any complicity in their scheme, it was impossible for any
information to be elicited from him. Suddenly at twelve
o'clock the report of a gun was heard, springing up, he ran
to the king's apartments, followed closely by the other
two. A line of soldiers was drawn up, standing shoulder
to shoulder along the path, who called "Halt," sharply, as
he approached; paying no attention he ran swiftly past
them, and before they had time to realize, or to decide
162 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
what to do, Dr. Avison and Mr. Hulbert had followed.
At the door just beyond stood a couple of officers with
drawn swords crossed. Mr. Underwood struck the
swords up with his revolver and rushed through, the other
two men entering immediately behind him, just as they
heard the king calling, "Where are the foreigners, call the
foreigners." "Here, your majesty. Here we are," re-
plied the three men, entering the room, where the king
grasped them by the hand, and kept them on either side of
him the whole night.
As for the poor half-armed party of the king's friends,
they were allowed to proceed until well within the pre-
pared ambush, and when they discovered the trap, it was
almost impossible to escape. Many were captured, some
killed, the rest fled in all directions. This of course
seated more firmly in power the rebels whose position had
till now been more than questionable. Many arrests were
made, and executions and the severest punishments meted
out to those who were convicted of having dared to at-
tempt the restoration of the king.
While Mr. Underwood was at the palace we were
having our own little drama at home. A new missionary,
a tall Westerner, had undertaken the protection of the
household, and armed wilth a big six-shooter, we doubted
not, he was more than equal to any ordinary emergency.
Our chief source of anxiety (as far as our home was con-
cerned) was the safety of the prince, who with one atten-
dant only, occupied a room in an ell at the further end of
the house, distant from our apartments. What if when all
attention was concentrated upon the palace, he should be
carried away or murdered in our home, by the enemies of
the country! We felt we were a lamentably small party
of defense, still we hoped our nervous fears were ground-
less.
AN ANXIOUS NIGHT 163
Just as we were about to retire, however, at about ten
thirty, a sharp rap came at the door of our missionary
guest's room, which opened to the garden. This was evi-
dently some stranger, as any of our acquaintances would
have come to the main entrance. I was called at once,
with the added information that a Japanese officer was
waiting to see me !
I found a fully armed Japanese in uniform, who asked
for the prince. My suspicions were of course aroused,
especially as I could only conjecture how many battalions
he might have concealed around the corner of the house.
I inquired who he was and why he came at that hour to
see the prince. He replied in good Korean, that he was
his particular friend, and gave me a name which was that
of a Korean whom I knew to be a friend of our guest,
adding that he had dined at our house that day, handing
me a card engraved with Chinese characters. This was
palpably false, as the friend of the prince had long hair,
done in a top-knot, with a Korean hat above it, this man's
hair was cut short like a Japanese. The Korean wore
white silk garments, this man was from head to foot a
Japanese soldier.
"This card is Chinese, I cannot read it," I replied coldly.
"You are a Japanese officer whom I have never seen be-
fore, you cannot see the prince at this hour, you must go
away and return in the morning if you have business with
him." The man, however, was very insistent on seeing
the prince then, in fact he seemed determined to take no
denials, and the more he persisted, the more I became con-
vinced that once acquainted with the prince's whereabouts
in our house, he would call up his concealed assassins and
arrest or kill him. With the strengthening of suspicion,
my temper rose, and my verbs took on lower and lower
endings, until I finally ordered him with the most degrad-
164 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
ing terminations in the grammar, to leave on short order.
All through this conversation our Westerner, who under-
stood no Korean, had been repeating at intervals, "Shall I
shoot, Mrs. Underwood? If you say so, I'll shoot,"
brandishing his big revolver in an excited way, dangerous
to all concerned. So at last our visitor considering his at-
tempt to find the prince hopeless, reluctantly went away.
We felt we had won a great victory, and covered our-
selves with glory, in thus dispersing the enemy.
In the meanwhile the prince, whose door opened also
in the garden, just opposite the one where we stood, heard
the arrival, the long conference, the clash of a sword
against the steps, and stood guarding his chamber door,
while his attendant with drawn sword guarded that of the
closet, which happening to be locked they supposed also
opened on the garden. Next morning, when I showed the
prince the card, he recognized with high glee the name of
his Korean friend, and shortly afterwards the individual
himself appeared. He had for purposes of disguise cut
his hair that very day, and had donned garments which
completely changed his appearance. It was owing to the
success of this disguise that he had been ordered from our
door with most injurious verb endings. I did not apolo-
gize very abjectly, however, for aside from the fright he
had put me in, he had robbed me of all my glory, and the
occasion of all its romance, and dropped it to the level of
low comedy, and while the laughter of the family was
ringing in my ears, I felt I could not forgive him.
The morning after the attack on the palace found Gen-
eral Yun, the leader and promoter, in our sarang, whither
he had fled for shelter, well knowing it would be worse
than useless to go to his own, or any Korean house. He
inquired who had been captured, and on learning how
many there were, remarked, "Then I am a dead man," well
THE ESCAPE OF GENERAL YUN 165
knowing the most merciless torture would be used to ex-
tract from the prisoners the names of all concerned, and if
his whereabouts were known, the American minister
would be compelled to give search warrants to the police.
He was an old friend of my husband, who promised to
conceal him as long as possible, and get him out of the
country soon. The Russian minister, who espoused the
king's cause as warmly as any of us, and who had refused
to recognize the new government, was consulted, and a
plan was formed to get General Yun to China. Next to
our house lay that of another Presbyterian missionary,
and adjoining that the Russian legation, just beyond
which is a kind of diplomatic club-house, and only a few
steps further one of the smaller city gates.
So Mr. Yun was lodged in the Rev. Mr. M 's gate-
quarters (between his house and ours), and that night Mr.
Underwood shaved and dressed the general and his friend
in Mr. M 's and his own clothes, a fur cap well drawn
down concealed his face. Mr. Underwood conducted the
two men thus disguised through the Russian legation, the
club grounds and then through the gates, where they were
never suspected to be other than what they looked. A
short distance beyond the gates chairs were in waiting.
Mr. M and a Bible Society agent met them and
escorted them to Chemulpo, where they were met by a
guard from a Russian gunboat, on which they were con-
veyed to Chefoo, and there transhipped, and finally landed
safe in Shanghai, where they were gladly received and
hospitably entertained in the house of a M. E. missionary,
until the king was restored to power.
Mr. Underwood was bitterly accused in Japanese news-
papers of having promoted, and even led the harmless at-
tack on the palace, and though as he was not only abso-
lutely innocent, but ignorant of it, and not one particle of
166 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
evidence could be found, he was obliged to endure a
great deal of slander, which he would not have considered
worth a second thought had it not been made to reflect on
his profession and the cause he lives only to forward. The
two facts that General Yun was at our house the night be-
fore, and that Mr. Underwood, at the request of our min-
ister and the king, was at the palace on the eventful night,
were used to give a show of probability to stories widely
circulated, and allowed to remain uncontradicted by those
who knew the facts.
The conspirators having defeated the restoration party,
now carried things with a high hand indeed, and among
the other obnoxious and tyrannical sumptuary laws, which
they proclaimed as furthering "Kaiwha," they ordered the
summary removal of all top-knots, from the palace to the
hovel, and it was reported that even the highest person-
ages were compelled, in spite of useless protests, to under-
go this humiliating treatment, and certain it is that the at-
tempt was made to shear every sheep in the flock. The ex-
planation of what this meant must be reserved for an-
other chapter.
A KOREAN TOP-KNOT. PAGE 167
CHAPTER XI
Customs Centering around the Top-Knot — Christians Sacri-
ficing their Top-Knots — A Cruel Blow — Beginning of Chris-
tian Work in Koksan — A Pathetic Appeal — People Baptize
Themselves — Hard-hearted Cho — The King's Escape — Peo-
ple Rally around Him — Two Americans in the Interior —
In the Midst of a Mob — Mob Fury — Korea in the Arms of
Russia — Celebrating the King's Birthday — Patriotic Hymns
— Lord's Prayer in Korean.
MANY of the most revered, common, and firmly
settled of the customs and superstitions of the people of
Korea are, as it were, woven, braided, coiled and pinned
into their top-knots, on which, like a hairy keystone, seem
to hang, and round which are centered society, religion
and politics. The pigtail of China is nothing like as im-
portant, for it is really a mark of servitude, or was such
in its origin, a badge laid on the conquered by the conquer-
ing race. But not so the top-knot, which is many centuries
old, and which, according to ancient histories, pictures,
pottery and embroideries, goes as far back as the existence
of the nation.
When a boy becomes engaged, or is on the point of be-
ing married, a solemn ceremony is performed. In the pres-
ence of proper witnesses, and at the hands of proper func-
tionaries (among whom are astrologers or soothsayers),
the hair, which has hitherto been parted like a girl's and
worn in a long braid down the back, is shaved from a small
circular spot on the top of his head, and the remaining
long locks combed smoothly upward, and tied very tightly
i68 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
over the shaved place. They are then twisted and coiled
into a small compact knot, between two and three inches
high and about one in diameter. An amber, coral, silver,
or even gold or jewelled pin is usually fastened through
it. The Mangan, a band of net, bound with ribbon, is
then fastened on round the head below the top-knot and
above the ears, holding all stray hairs neatly in place
(when a man obtains rank a small open horse-hair cap is
placed over the top-knot), and over all the hat, which (be-
ing also of open work, bamboo splints, silk or horsehair)
permits it to be seen. Fine new clothes are then donned,
especially a long coat, and the boy has become a man ! A
feast is made, and he goes forth to call upon and be con-
gratulated by his father's friends. Either on that day or
the following he is married, although, as has been said,
some boys have their hair put up when they become en-
gaged.
No matter how old one is, without a top-knot he is never
considered a man, addressed with high endings, or treated
with respect. After assuming the top-knot, no matter how
young, he is invested with the dignities and duties of a man
of the family, takes his share in making the offerings and
prayers at the ancestral shrines, and is recognized by his
ancestors' spirits as one of the family who is to do them
honor, and whom they are to protect and bless. And right
here, to digress a little, it is interesting io note that so
intimately is this custom concerned with their religion
that many of the Christian converts are now cutting off
their top-knots when they become converted, regarding
that as the one step (after destroying their idols) which
most effectually cuts off 'the old life and its superstitions,
and marks them as having come out from their family and
acquaintances as men set apart.
They have begun doing this quite of their own accord,
TOP-KNOTS 169
with no suggestion from the missionaries, and in some
cases in opposition to the advice of some of us, who dis-
like to see them laying aside old customs needlessly. But
it is growing more and more general among new believers
to sacrifice this dear object of pride and veneration, and
one young fellow told my husband it was impossible to
break away from his old evil associates until he cut his
hair. They then believed he was in earnest and let him
alone. But it costs much, and in these cases is done quite
voluntarily, not in forced obedience to the mandates of
conquerors and traitors, which is a very different
matter.
Again, far down in the social scale, lower than the boy
with the pigtail, whom every one snubs, ranking next to
the despised butcher, who daily defiles his hands with
blood and gore, and with the touch of dead bodies, is the
Buddhist priest who wears his hair shaved, a creature so
low, that he was not at that time allowed to defile the capi-
tal city by entering its gates. To this grade were all the
sons of Korea now to be reduced. Tender associations of
early manhood, honored family traditions, ghostly super-
stition, the anger and disgust of ancestral spirits, the iron
grip of long custom, the loathing of the effeminate, sen-
sual and despised Buddhist priests, all forbade this dese-
cration. Their pride, self-respect and dignity were all
assailed and crushed under foot. Sullen angry faces were
seen everywhere, sounds of wailing and woe were heard
continually in every house, for the women took it even
harder than the men. Farmers and carriers of food and
fuel refused to bring their produce to market, for guards
stood at the gates, and cut off with their swords every
top-knot as it came through. Men were stationed also in
all the principal streets, cutting off every top-knot that
passed, and all public officials and soldiers were at once
i;o FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
shaved. There was a voice heard, lamentation and
mourning and great weeping.
It was a cruel blow at personal liberty, which Anglo-
Saxons would die rather than suffer, and which the help-
lessness of this weak nation made the more pitiful and in-
excusable. It was struck shrewdly too, at one of the
specially distinguishing marks of Koreans, setting them
apart from Japanese and Chinese, designed, we could not
help thinking, as one of the first and important parts of a
scheme to blot out Korea's national identity, and merge
her into one with Japan; but if this was the intention,
never was anything more mistakenly planned. It was
hotly resented to the very heart of the country, and added
still deeper dye and bitter flavor to the long-nourished
hatred Koreans felt for their ancient conqueror and foe.
As for us (some of us), we put ourselves in the Korean's
place, recalled our national experience and harbored num-
bers of Koreans on our place, protecting them from the
knife as long as possible. The cup of iniquity was nearly
full. The queen, looked upon as the mother of her people,
had been murdered, the king virtually imprisoned, the
country ruled by the dictum of conspirators and tools of
her conquerors, and now this last blow at every 'family in
the nation was too much. A deep spirit of anger and re-
volt stirred the whole country ; yet they had no leaders,
no arms, no organization and knew not what to do, a
poor down-trodden simple folk, who knew not on whom
to lean for help, and who had not learned to cry to him
who hears, defends and takes up the cause of the poor
and needy.
Bands of Tonghaks again ranged the country, insurrec-
tions broke out in various localities, some of the shaved
magistrates who went to the country were sent back by
the mobs, who refused to receive them as rulers, some
THE GOSPELS IN KOKSAN 171
were actually killed, and the magistracies destroyed, the
soldiers were powerless to subdue the disturbances, and
things seemed to be growing from bad to worse.
Marines were ordered to the legations from Chemulpo
(where there were many foreign gunboats and war
vessels), and no one knew what next to expect, when sud-
denly an entire change in the whole situation took place.
But now I must return for a while to other matters. In
the district of Koksan, in northern Whang Hai Do (Yel-
low Sea Province), about two hundred miles north from
Seoul, a very interesting Christian work had started, as
so much of our work has, through God's own direct deal-
ings with the people, by his word and Spirit. A man from
that place having come up to Seoul on business, and re-
ceiving some small kindness from Mr. Underwood, which
he desired to acknowledge, felt that he could do nothing
more delicately complimentary and grateful than to make
a show of interest in his "doctrine," and so bought four
gospels in Chinese, which he took home in his pack, and
forthwith shelved unread. Here they remained for
months, I am not sure how long.
Finally one day, a friend noticed them, took them down,
all grimy with dust, and asked what they were and whence
they came. The owner replied that he had never read
them, but that they were books containing a new doctrine
taught by foreigners in Seoul. Dr. Cho's curiosity was
aroused, he borrowed, took them home and fell to reading
with more and more avidity the further he proceeded. I
would not give up the priceless heritage of Christian an-
cestry, the struggles, prayers and victories of godly fore-
fathers, and all that Christian training from one genera-
tion to another for centuries means, but yet I would give
much to have been able once to read the four gospels as
that heathen read them, with no preconceived opinions,
172 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
no discolorations of red, green or even blue theological
glasses, no criticisms or commentaries of "Worldly Wise-
men," or bigoted fanatics, reading their own ideas between
the lines, but with an absolutely unbiased mind so as to be
able to receive that wonderful revelation as a sweet glad
surprise ; sentence after sentence, truth after truth bloom-
ing into sudden glory, where the darkness of ignorance
had reigned.
One almost envies that heathen his compensations. He
received the word with joy, wondered and adored. Here
was a man well read in the philosophical teachings, the
empty husks of Confucianism and Buddhism, but who had
never heard one word from any Christian teacher. Here
was a mind free from prejudice, and this was the result of
contact with God's Word. He believed and accepted it for
God's truth with all his heart, and gave himself unre-
servedly to Christ, turning completely away from his old
superstitions and systems of philosophy. Quickly the
good news spread, not more from his glad telling of his
new-found joy than from the wonderful change in the
man himself.
Others also soon believed, and an appeal was sent to
Seoul for some one to come and teach them more, lest
something should remain misunderstood, or unfulfilled of
their dear Lord's commands. But in Seoul, and else-
where, workers were few, hands were reaching out from
all directions for help, the Macedonian cry was ringing
pathetically from many quarters, the harvest great, the
laborers few. The Bible must be translated, work already
started must be cared for and watched, in a word, there
was no one who could go. Again and again came that
call, and at last a letter which brought tears to our eyes.
"Why," said they," will no one come to help us, is no one
willing to teach us, have we so far sunk in sin that God
RUSSIAN LEGATION HOUSE. PAGE 174
INDEPENDENCE ARCH. PACE 38
A PATHETIC APPEAL 173
will not allow us to have salvation?" Mr. Underwood
started almost at once, with Dr. Avison, about one month
after the promulgation of the laws for cutting the top-
knots. The excitement had somewhat abated in the city,
and the call from Koksan admitted of no delay. Making
short stops along the road for medical and evangelistic
work, going on foot, they reached Koksan about three
weeks after leaving Seoul.
They found a little company of earnest simple-hearted
believers, who had thrown away their idols, ceased their
ancestor worship, and were in all things, as far as they
knew, obeying the Lord. But "the washing rite," as bap-
tism was translated, puzzled them. "He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved." What then was this?
They pondered and studied. God showed them it was in
some way a sign of washing from sin, and when after long
waiting, no teacher came, they agreed that each going to
his own home should wash himself in the name of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, praying for himself
and his brethren, that if in anything they had sinned in
this rite, God would forgive them. And so the mission-
aries found them, and though for the sake of due order
they were baptized in the prescribed way, it was felt that
in God's sight it had already been done.
When for the first time they all sat down to com-
memorate the Lord's death in the service of bread and
wine, there was not a dry eye in the room. Tears
streamed from the face of Dr. Cho, and later one of his
neighbors said, when speaking in an experience meeting,
"Old Cho, known as 'hard-hearted Cho,' who as a boy
never uttered a cry when his father flogged him, who
never wept when he laid his aged mother in the grave,
whose eyes never moistened when his beloved wife died,
or when he buried his eldest son, on whose cheek man
174 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
never saw a tear, Cho weeps. What miracle has brought
tears to his eyes?"
While Dr. Avison and Mr. Underwood were in Koksan,
wondering and worshiping over the proofs of how God
blesses his word, applied to simple hearts, startling things
were taking place in Seoul. The king, who had now been
four months helpless in the hands of his enemies, suddenly
made good his escape to the Russian legation !
The story, as we heard it from one near the king, was
as follows : Wearied and sick at heart of affairs of state,
his majesty retired to the women's apartments, where he
spent his entire time, escaping thus to some extent the de-
testable espionage of his enemies, who delegated two
elderly women, one the wife of the Tai Won Kun, and an-
other, whose duty it was to watch his majesty in turn, one
by day, the other by night. Their vigilance was, however,
in some way sufficiently eluded, so that a plan for
the royal prisoner's escape was arranged with two of the
palace women, which was successfully carried out as
follows :
On a certain birthday festival, both of the duennas who,
as was said, took turns, watching and sleeping, were in-
vited to celebrate with the king, and to partake of a great
feast, with plenty of wine and prolonged amusements.
All night the king's watchers revelled, both falling into a
heavy sleep before dawn. This is the story, but I like to
think that as one of the women was probably the king's
mother, her heart was tender toward her unhappy son, and
that she purposely relaxed her watch. It would gild a
little the long dark tale of all that preceded to find a
touch of sweet human affection right here. At any rate,
when every one in the palace was off guard, supposing the
king and crown prince asleep, they entered a couple of
women's chairs which were waiting. The bearers of these
THE KING'S ESCAPE 175
chairs had been specially selected and paid with a view to
their carrying two, and thought nothing of it, as the
palace women often went out to their homes in this way.
So in each chair a woman sat in front of its royal occu-
pant, screening him from view should any one glance in.
The sentinels at the gate had been provided with hot re-
freshments and plenty of strong drink, and were so fully
occupied that the chairs with their valuable burden passed
out unnoticed and unhindered. They were expected at the
Russian legation, where one hundred and sixty marines
from the port had just been called up, and there they
speedily made their way, arriving at about seven or eight
in the morning of February n, 1896.
This meant the downfall of the usurpers. With the
king's person went all their claim to authority and power,
and it also meant that Japanese influence in Korean affairs
was over for a time, and that the country had been almost
thrown into the arms of Russia, by the short-sighted
policy of the minister, who had desired to "establish the
prestige of Japan."
As our compound was very close to the Russian lega-
tion, and fronting on the same street, we were soon aware
that something very unusual had occurred. The whole
road, as far as the eye could reach, was filled with a surg-
ing mob of soldiers, commoners, and the chairs and re-
tainers of the nobility. Guards and sentinels were
stationed every few paces along our street, and there was
a loud and almost terrifying babel of shouting voices, in
the din and confusion of which it was impossible to dis-
tinguish anything. I sent at once for one or two of Mr.
Underwood's writers and literary helpers, who told me
that the king had arrived a short while before at the Rus-
sian legation, and had assumed the reins of government,
and that the army, officials and people were rallying
176 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
around him, each anxious to precede the other in protes-
tations of loyalty and devotion.
Then I thought rather busily for a few seconds. My
first reflection of course was, "How will this affect the ab-
sent missionaries?" How would it affect Japanese (now
distrusted) and through them all foreigners in the in-
terior? Would the people in the country not be likely to
wreak the vessels of their wrath upon them, and would
they discriminate between them and others wearing
similar clothing? I feared not, and that the probabilities
were that Dr. Avison and Mr. Underwood might be in
considerable danger, as soon as the news of the king's
escape, and the fall of the pro- Japanese party became
known. Word must then be sent, and soon, in order if
possible to reach them before the news reached the na-
tives. I sent a letter to our very kind friend, the Russian
minister, with a message to his majesty, inquiring
whether anything could be done for the protection and
safe return of the two missionaries. I knew an imme-
diate reply could hardly be expected, such was the rush of
business, and the number of visitors and claimants on
their time, so, to leave no means untried, I called up one
of the copyists, informed him of the necessity for speed,
and had the satisfaction of seeing him start that very hour
with a letter and warning message to my husband. A
short time after, fearing that something might occur to
detain one messenger, I sent another by a different road.
The second man was stopped by Tonghaks, looking for
foreigners, who for some reason suspected him, searched
him, ripped open his clothes, where they found my letter
(which of course they could not read), and forced him
to go back to Seoul.
On the day following that on which my messengers had
started, a kind letter from the Russian legation came, say-
IN THE MIDST OF A MOB 177
ing that the king would at once send a guard to Koksan
to bring back the two Americans, and at about the same
time, a wealthy nobleman in Songdo, a friend of both,
and brother-in-law of General Yun, knowing where they
were, and fearing for them, also sent a special posse of
men to see them safely home.
Having done all that I could, the most difficult of all
tasks, that of waiting, remained, but I remembered that I
had a sister in the same situation, only that she probably
was not quite as well informed as myself of the exact state
of affairs, and did not know that any word had been sent
to our husbands. The street running in front of our house
was packed with excited people, but I decided to make my
way through them in my chair and go down to Mrs. Avi-
son, where she was living at a long distance from the rest
of us, and try to set her mind at rest by telling her what
measures had been taken for the safety of the absentees,
and of what was happening at our end of the town. I
soon passed the crowd in our neighborhood, who were in
no way concerned with me, and in a little while reached
the great street, which runs toward the palace, and crosses
that on which the hospital and Dr. Avison's home stood.
As we reached the corner, I saw a great mob of the
roughest and wildest looking men, with flushed faces and
dishevelled hair. They came tearing towards us shout-
ing to each other, "The Japanese soldiers are coming, they
are firing. Run, run, run !" I did not fancy the company
of these gentlemen any more than their looks, nor did I
care to be a target for Japanese troops, who were sup-
posed to be chasing them. So I also adjured my chair
coolies with some emphasis to "run." The whole mob
came sweeping round the corner, into the thoroughfare
on which we were. It was not a dignified or desirable
situation, a Presbyterian missionary in the midst of a wild
178 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
scramble, and with a panic-stricken crowd of roughs
escaping for dear life, from the avengers of justice, but
there was no help for it. My coolies needed no urging,
they were as anxious to get away as any of us, but they
certainly deserved great credit, that under the circum-
stances they did not leave me to my fate, and try to save
only themselves. A few moments running brought us to
the hospital gates, where we turned in hastily, and were
safe. It was not cold, and yet I found myself shivering
like an aspen. Strange !
Mrs. Avison and I were soon laughing, however, over
my late escapade, and as soon as my errand was finished I
hurried home another way, none too soon, for the streets
were full of angry-looking men, some of whom scowled at
me, and muttered, "foreigner." That night we learned
that two of the pro-Japanese cabinet had been killed on the
street and torn to pieces by the mob; that mob which,
having finished its awful work, accompanied me down the
street that afternoon. A young Japanese was also stoned
to death on the street that day. In a few days Dr. Avison
and Mr. Underwood were with us quite safe. My faithful
and fleet-footed messenger had taken a short cut, and
reached Koksan in an amazingly short time.
The news filled our husbands with anxiety for us, not
knowing how far mob violence might go, and they made
the distance of near two hundred miles in sixty hours,
walking nearly all the way (the pack-ponies go much too
slow), sleeping only an hour or so at night, and eating as
they walked. They missed both the king's guard and the
posse from Songdo, which had taken a different road, but
met many poor frightened natives along the road, who
knew not where to turn or to whom to look for protection,
with Tonghaks on the one hand and pro- Japanese on the
other. Later we heard of many sad tales of Japanese citi-
THE KING IN THE RUSSIAN LEGATION 179
zens, overtaken in the country, who were very summarily
dealt with by the exasperated people. Japanese troops
were sent by their minister to bring back all who could be
found, and large sums were demanded from the Korean
government in payment for the lives thus sacrificed. To
which demand, it has been suggested, the reply might have
been made, "Who is to indemnify Korea for the life of her
queen ?"
Thus ended for a time the unhappy reign of the
Japanese, which, after their victories over the Chinese, had
seemed to begin so auspiciously, and which, had they been
contented with a temperate and conciliating policy, would
probably have grown stronger and stronger.
The king remained for a year at the Russian legation,
where he was treated with the truest courtesy, for instead
of being in any way coerced or influenced for the benefit
of Russian interests, he was allowed the most perfect
liberty and interfered with in no particular. To such an
extent did the true gentleman who acted as the king's host
carry his scruples, that he refused to advise his majesty in
any way even when requested to do so. On the occasion
of the king's birthday, which came in September, it oc-
curred to my husband that it would be a good opportunity
to give the Christians a chance to express their loyalty,
and at the same time advertise Christianity more widely
than ever before at one time. The idea did not occur until
a day or two before the time when we were reminded that
the royal birthday was close at hand.
The time was short, but permission was obtained to use
a large government building near the Independence Arch,
which would hold over one thousand people, and adver-
tised widely that a meeting of prayer and praise would be
held there by the Christians to celebrate the king's birth-
day. A platform was erected, the building draped with
i8o FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
flags, and speakers obtained, among whom were members
of the cabinet, several gifted Koreans, and foreign mis-
sionaries.
He sat up all night preparing tracts, of which thousands
were printed at the M. E. Mission Press for that special
occasion, and also a hymn, to be set to the tune "America."
I.
For my dear country's weal,
O God to Thee I pray,
Graciously hear.
Without Thy mighty aid
Our land will low be laid.
Strengthen Thou this dear land,
Most gracious Lord.
II.
Long may our great king live,
This is our prayer to-day
With one accord.
His precious body guard,
Keep it from every ill.
Heavenly Lord and King,
Grant him Thy grace.
III.
By Thy almighty power,
Our royal emperor
Has been enthroned.
Thy Holy Spirit grant
Our nation never fail.
Long live our emperor,
Upheld by Thee.
IV.
For this Thy gracious gift,
Our independence, Lord,
Bless we thy name.
THE LORD'S PRAYER IN KOREAN 181
This never ceasing be,
While as a people we,
Nobles and commons all,
United pray.
V.
To Thee, the only Lord,
Maker and King Divine,
We offer praise.
When all shall worship Thee,
Happy our land shall be,
Powerful, rich and free,
Beneath Thy smile.
Early in the day Christian men and boys were distribut-
ing copies of the tract and hymns throughout the whole
city, and long before the hour of meeting men of all
classes began flocking toward that vicinity, and when the
speakers and missionaries arrived it was almost impossible
to obtain access. The building was soon packed with a
solid mass of standing people, and all the wide exits were
thronged, the steps and the immediate vicinity.
The services were opened with prayer, addresses
(mainly religious) were made, hymns were sung, and
finally were closed by the Lord's prayer, repeated in con-
cert. It was thrilling to hear those words repeated rever-
ently by so large a number of people.
I will give an interlinear translation of the prayer, so
that readers may know just what are the words used by
Korean Christians:
182 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
"Hanalau Kaysin oori abbachi-sin jah yeh, Ihrahme keruk
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed
hahsime natanah op se myh, narahhe im haopse myh, tutse
be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
Hanalaya-saw chirum dahaysoh deh iroyohgeita, onal nal
will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give \
oori ai gay il young hal yang sik eul, choo apsego, oori ga
us this day our daily bread. And
oorigay teuk chay ban charal, sah hayah choonan kot
forgive us our debts as
katchi, oori chayral, sah hayah chu up se myh. Oori ga
we forgive our debtors, and lead
seeheumay teul jee mal kay hah up seego, tahman, ooriral,
us not into temptation, but
heung ak ay saw, ku ha ap soh soh. Tai kay, nara wha,
deliver us from evil, for Thine
quansay wha, eing guanqhi, choo kay, eng wani it
is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
sa-ap-nay-ita Amen.
for ever. Amen.
CHAPTER XII
A Korean Christian Starts Work in Haing Ju — Changed Lives
of Believers — A Reformed Saloon-ke:per — The Conversion
of a Sorceress — Best of Friends — A Pleasant Night on the
Water — Evidence of Christian Living — Our Visit in Sorai —
A Korean Woman's Work — How a Kang Acts at Times —
Applicants for Baptism — Two Tonghaks — In a Strait betwixt
Two — Midnight Alarms — Miss Jacobson's Death.
IN the late fall of the same year Mr. Underwood and I
started again on a trip to the interior, the first we had
made together since our wedding journey, but now we
were accompanied by our child, six years old, and a native
woman, who acted as cook, nurse and general assistant.
She rode in a native "pokyo" or chair with the child, I in
another, while Mr. Underwood walked or rode his bicycle,
as opportunity permitted. Our first destination was
Haing Ju, a dirty little fishing village on the river, about
ten miles from the capital. Work had started here just
after the cholera in the fall of 1895 through the teaching
of a native named Shin Wha Suni, a poor fellow who had,
according to his own confession, been hanging around us
for some time, pretending to be interested in Christianity,
in the hope of getting some lucrative employment in con-
nection with church work.
After the cholera hospital was opened, he was there on
several occasions, and was much surprised to find that for-
eign women would spend whole nights nursing sick Ko-
rean coolies. When he chanced to see one weeping over a
poor man, whom all her efforts had failed to save, he
184 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
went away astonished and impressed with the idea that
"there is something in that religion that makes them love
us like that, something that forgets self, something that I
have never dreamed of before, something mysterious,
glorious, oh, that it were mine !"
He hungered and God fed him. He sought and found
the Saviour, and when he had found him, he set forth
at once to tell the good news to others. Taking a jikay,
the frame which Koreans wear on their backs to facilitate
the carrying of heavy loads, and which all native carriers
use, he started forth to the country to earn his living in
this humble way while chandohaoing or "passing on the
Word." He went as far as Haing Ju, and there on the
sand of the river bank he talked to scoffing people all day.
At night, when it was dark, one of the men who had
seemed to treat his message lightly, came and asked him
to come to his house and talk the matter over at more
length. He went, and soon another believer was gained.
"Oh, it was good, the taste of a soul saved," said the new
preacher. "Now it seemed to me I could never be satisfied
with anything else; could never rest until I had more."
The man who had been converted offered the use of his
house as a preaching place. The men gathered in one
room, the women in another, and Shin read the gospels
and the tracts and taught them the catechism and hymns.
The number of Christians grew from week to week, and
the little meeting place became too small and had to be en-
larged. The whole tone of the village gradually changed,
and from being known as one of the hardest and most dis-
reputable places on the river, it now became a model of
decency and respectability.
Testimony to this effect was offered by some farmers,
who appeared one day in my husband's study and asked
him if he had anything to do with the Christians in Haing
A REFORMED SALOON-KEEPER 185
Ju. He replied in the affirmative, half afraid the people
had come with some charge against them. "Well," the
strangers said, "we should like to buy the books which
teach the doctrine they are practicing there, we want to
learn that doctrine in our village too."
Their village, Sam Oui, was not quite three miles away,
and in former times they had been much troubled by the
brawls and bad character of Haing Ju. Their vegetables
had been stolen from the fields, their fruit and chestnuts
from the trees, "but now," said they, "the people not only
do not climb the trees for the nuts, but the boys leave
those on the ground untouched."
Here was power in a faith which kept hungry boys
from carrying off even nuts lying temptingly in reach.
This was something the like of which they had never seen
or heard ; they had been taught not to steal, especially if
likely to be discovered, but a power that could prevent
men and boys from wishing to steal was miraculous. One
of the saloon-keepers of Haing Ju, a man whose only
source of livelihood was in this trade, became thoroughly
converted, and at once realized that he could no longer
sell drink to his neighbors, nor could he conscientiously
dispose of his stock in trade at wholesale to other dealers,
so he emptied it all on the street. He was able to obtain
a little work now and then, but he was not strong enough
for coolie labor. He had no trade and no farm, and at
times his need was great, and often the family were on the
verge of starvation, but the man's faith never failed, he
never gave up his hold on God. Finally sickness attacked
him, he became very lame, and hearing of the hospital in
Seoul, managed to be conveyed thither, and while there we
heard his story, and as I needed just then a caretaker for
my dispensary, we engaged him and his wife to live on
the place and do the light work necessary. His leg did
i86 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
not improve much at the hospital, nor did the doctor
give him much hope, but this, too, he made a subject of
prayer and faith, and erelong rejoiced in a complete re-
covery.
This is the character of the faith of these hardy fisher-
men and farmers on the river. As we approached the
village we were astonished to hear the strains of a Chris-
tian hymn, "Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed
my sins away." It was a band of little boys whom Shin
had been training, and who had come out to meet us. We
spent two or three days in this place, women and men
crowding into the little building to every meeting. Mr.
Underwood baptized thirty-eight people, a young couple
were married, one hundred and thirteen catechumens were
received, and some babies baptized.
Speaking of babies reminds me of a sad little incident
which occurred while I was holding the first meeting there
with the women. Hoping to win their interest, knowing
how many little dead babies are carried away from Korean
homes, I told them of the Saviour's love for little ones,
that he held them in his arms and caressed them when on
earth, and had said that the spirits of these little ones do
always behold the face of the Father ; so that would they
only believe and give their hearts to him, they should see
their little ones again in heaven.
A great sob broke from one of the women who com-
menced passionately weeping. As soon as she could
speak, she told me, her voice broken with violent emotion,
that she had been a sorceress, and in a moment of frenzy
had dashed her only child, a baby, to the floor and killed
it. She, a mother, had killed her child, and could she ever
be happy again, could God forgive such as she, could she
ever be permitted to see her murdered child again ? She
feared she was too wicked. All of us wept with her, and
DOWN THE RIVER IN A KOREAN JUNK 187
she was told of the great mercy and pardoning love of
God, and found peace in Christ.
Mr. Underwood also visited Sam Oui, the village which
had learned of Christ through the example of Haing Ju,
and baptized a handful of Christians there, enrolling a
number of catechumens. When people do not seem quite
ripe for baptism, yet have put away idolatry, keeping the
Sabbath, putting away concubines, and living a life of ap-
parent conformity with the ten commandments, they are
enrolled in this class of catechumens. While I was en-
gaged during the morning with the women, the "amah"
was charged to take care of our little boy, but when the
service was over, as he was nowhere to be seen, we started
out to find him. As we walked down the lane we saw
coming toward us a row of some seven or eight boys of his
age (the dirtiest in the town, I am sure), he in the center,
an arm around one on either side, all chatting and laugh-
ing together in the merriest mood possible. How could
we help laughing, how help being half pleased, even while
horrified at what such contact might portend, how many
varieties of microbes, not to mention other things.
From Haing Ju we took a Korean junk down the river
to Pai Chun. We went on board at night, and as it was
bitterly cold, we were told we must go down under the
deck, as there was absolutely no sheltered place above,
where we could sleep. The hole to which we were rele-
gated was not attractive. There were odors of fish ages
old, the space was not high enough even to sit upright in,
and barely wide enough for Mr. Underwood, our child,
our "amah" and myself to lie packed side by side (no
turning or moving about) in the stern.
A lantern glimmered at the other end, it looked very far.
There was water there, and perhaps rats, and certainly
great water beetles and cockroaches, and sometimes, hours
:88 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
and hours after we had been packed in that gruesome
place, a boatman came and crawled over us, and dipped
out buckets of water. Men were tramping back and forth
over our heads all night. I felt sure that some of them
would come through, and there seemed to be enough
racket to indicate a storm at sea, a collision or a fire — at
times I was almost convinced it was all three. If it had
been, we certainly could never have made our escape from
the trap in which we were wedged like sardines. How-
ever, as we were merely sailing down a broad, but not very
deep river, and could easily have neared the shore before
sinking in most circumstances, things were not so bad
as they seemed, and next morning when we emerged into
the bright sunlight what had been a night fraught with
awful probabilities was now simply an amusing epi-
sode.
All day Sunday we sat on the deck in the sun, singing
and enjoying the brilliant atmosphere. From Pai Chun we
proceeded on foot or in chairs to Hai Ju, and thence to
Sorai, where a theological leader's class was waiting for
Mr. Underwood. Everywhere the warm-hearted welcome
which awaited us was a delightful surprise to me. People,
even women and children, came out miles to meet us, and
followed us in crowds when we left, as if they could not
bear to let us go.
There were only a few beginnings of work in Hai Ju
at that time. It is the capital of the province and rather
a demoralized town, even in a heathen country, full of
hangers-on of government officials, people accustomed
to getting a living out of the people through fraud, brib-
ery, oppression, "squeezing," and all sorts of political
dirty work and corruption; evil men and still more evil
women spreading the cancerous disease through the little
town, until every one appears to be steeped in "the lust of
•
KOREAN WOMEN AT WORK. PAGE
EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIAN LIVING 189
the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life," and
worshipers of the god of this world.
As a special day had been set for the beginning of the
class in Sorai, and people were coming from all direc-
tions to meet us there, we hastened on to be in time.
Walking along the main road thither, Mr. Underwood
overtook a young farmer, with whom he opened conver-
sation in a friendly way, and asked if he had heard of the
Jesus religion. "Yayso Kyo?" "Oh, yes," was the reply,
"I have heard much of it, many people in this province do
that doctrine, it is very good." "Do you believe also?"
said my husband. "Oh, no, I cannot be a believer," re-
plied the man. "These Christians spend their time and
money doing good to others, I must do for myself, I can-
not afford to practise this doctrine." This was uninten-
tional witness borne to the fair fruit of Christianity in the
man's believing friends and neighbors. A little further
on, as my chair was set down to rest the coolies, an old
woman ran out of a neighboring shanty to kngung the
foreigner. I told her who I was and why I had come,
and asked if she knew of this doctrine. "Oh, yes, it was
good, very good." "Then why do you not believe?"
"Oh, I sell liquor, that is my business. I cannot do that
and be a Christian." Another involuntary testimony to
the lives of the Christians of Whang Hai, and to the
sincerity of those who had been taught that the way
must be made straight and clean for the coming of the
Lord.
When we arrived at Sorai I found the Christian women
all gathered to meet me in the house of one whom I had
known before in Seoul. They offered refreshments of
their best, persimmons, pears, chestnuts and eggs, and ex-
pressed their pleasure over our coming in the most cor-
dial and heart-warming way. Most of them I had never
igo FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
seen before, but we seemed to love each other at first sight,
for the bond in Christ is a very strong one.
Mr. Kim Yun O, the wealthy man of the village, one
who had been a great sinner but was now one of the
strongest and most earnest of the leaders, had invited us to
occupy his new sarang or guest room. It was quite a
commodious sunny room, and we were pleased to find it
was quite new, so we need fear few of our little enemies.
While Mr. Underwood was holding his classes with the
men in the church all day, patients of all kinds came to
me in the mornings for several hours. Then I taught the
girls and boys how to sing the hymns, for they had never
known what it means to sing, and though they made a joy-
ful noise to the Lord, it was not joyful to the fleshly ear
at all, but a most awful combination of discords, flats and
sharps, mixed up in the most hopeless confusion, whole
bunches of keys on one string, meanings, groanings,
sounds of woe as if all the contents of the pit had come
forth before the time, or all the evil spirits exorcised from
the village had returned to spoil their praise.
The young people were the most hopeful to begin with,
and were soon doing remarkably well. Every afternoon
we women had a Bible class together. Most of those who
came were baptized Christians or catechumens, though
some unbelievers were always present. About twenty-five
crowded into Mr. Kim's anpang each day. It is delightful
to be allowed to teach such women, so hungry for truth,
so eager to learn, so full of humble loving interest in every
word, with such a spirit of childlike faith.
Mrs. Kim, in whose house we were staying, was a busy
woman, and her life was not an easy one. She was small
and frail, with two children, her husband and old mother
to work for, with one servant to help. The preparation of
food for her own family and many Korean guests (for a
A KOREAN WOMAN'S WORK 191
Korean gentleman's guest house is always well filled at
meal time) was in itself no light matter. The rice comes
in very rough, only partly husked, and must be pounded a
long while in a great wooden vessel, with a heavy club,
larger at either end, which is almost all that a woman can
lift (a fine exercise for athletic women's clubs). Water
is usually brought in on the head from quite a distance,
brass bowls and spoons kept bright, garments must be
washed and smoothed, with what pains I have already de-
scribed, animals cared for. fires made.
But the country women work in the fields, too, helping
to sow the cotton, tobacco, rice and barley. When the cot-
ton is ripe they pick and prepare it, and only after much
toil is it ready for use. Then they weave their own cloth
and make up their own garments, in the 'dark little rooms
in which the women live and work. They prepare and dry
certain vegetables for winter's use, and with much labor,
themselves press out the castor oil which they use in their
tiny lamps. In the fall they make their kimchi for the
whole year.
Timely hints dropped now and then, and the example
of a Christian husband's care for his wife, have done
wonders among the native Christian homes, and much
lightened the hard lot of the women. Of course we did
our own cooking in all these little villages, our personal
entertainment adding nothing to the work of the poor
house wife. The people at Sorai are extremely generous
and were constantly bringing us presents of chickens,
eggs, persimmons, etc. We were much embarrassed by all
this bounty, for we knew the people were poor and that
such gifts cost a large sacrifice on their part.
When one's wages are not more than ten cents a day a
chicken means quite a good deal of money. Yet we could
not refuse their offerings, for when we tried to do so they
192 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
felt so hurt we found it was impossible. The people al-
ready at that time were paying the running expenses of a
Christian day school, which they had endowed, by setting
apart the income from certain fields for this purpose, and
if the crop was poor and the income insufficient, they
made it up to the required amount.
While here in Sorai we had a new and rather unpleasant
experience with the working of the Korean kang, which
we thought we knew well. In the midst of winter the
wind suddenly turned in the wrong direction for our fires.
The fire being built at one side of the house and the chim-
ney opening at the other, we made the very chilling dis-
covery, that when the wind blows into the smoke vent a
fire cannot be coaxed to light. Our room was bitterly
cold, and it is surprising how a floor, 'which can become
intolerably hot, can also under the proper circumstances
become so cold and damp. I was obliged to wrap my
rheumatic frame in furs and rugs, while they brought in a
great bowl or wharrow full of glowing charcoal fire, with
which I was comparatively unacquainted. However, that
night the room began dancing about in the giddiest kind
of way, all grew dark — and my 'husband spent several
hours with me in the cold night air outside our room, in
the effort to ward off successive fainting attacks. When
our child, too, complained of headache and giddiness, we
no longer questioned the cause, and henceforth preferred
pure cold air to carbon dioxide.
It was interesting in the cold, sleety, snowy weather to
see how the Christians managed to attend church, even
from long distances. The women would fold up their
clean skirts and put them with their shoes and stockings
on their heads, roll up their pajies or divided skirts quite
high out of the reach of wet, and with a thin cotton apron,
or no outer wrap at all over their heads and shoulders,
SCHOOL BOYS. 8
GIRLS SEWING AND WRITING WITH NATIVE TEACHER. PAGE
APPLICANTS FOR BAPTISM 193
trudge miles through snow and mud, facing a cutting
wind. Quite a number of people were examined for bap-
tism while we were there. One old woman, whose case
seemed rather doubtful on account of her ignorance, was
asked what was her dearest wish. "That I may be with
Jesus always" was the reply. ''And how do you know you
will always be with him?" "Because I am holding close
to him now, and will hold close all the way." She had
at least learned that Jesus supplies the soul's whole need/
that to be in his felt presence is heaven, and that to hold
and be held by him is the only way to reach and be kept
there. Surely she had the end and aim of all theology in
a nutshell.
I will copy a few notes from my diary on the testimony
given by some of the people who applied for baptism at
this time.
No. 15, Mrs. Kim: Said her relatives and friends had
all been trying to induce her to believe, but her heart had
grown harder and harder, and she had determined she
would not be a Christian ; but suddenly one night she saw
herself with awful clearness, a great sinner, had that mo-
ment yielded her heart, almost involuntarily (so irresistible
was the impulse), to Christ, and from that time had had
perfect peace and blessedness. Asked if she had spoken
on this subject to unbelievers, replied in affirmative. Has
now been trusting Christ a year and three months. This
woman has done since then much devoted voluntary ser-
vice for her Master.
Another : At a time when those who wished for prayer
were asked to raise their hands, she says she raised hers,
and at that moment felt as it were a knife through her
heart. From that time she has felt that she belonged to
Christ, and since then her mind has been at peace. She
prays regularly three times a day, but is praying all the
194 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
time in her heart. While she is praying she never falls
into sin, but if through some inadvertence and lack of
prayer she sinsz she asks God to pardon, knowing that he
will.
Another, No. 5: "Why do you believe?" "Because
Jesus forgave me and died for me." "How do you know
you are forgiven?" "Because the Bible says he will for-
give all that come to him." Said he used to have a wicked
heart and worshiped devils, but now his heart and mind
were quite changed. Asked what repentance is, replied
that it "was mending one's conduct and eating a new
mind." Asked if he had told the good news to others, said
he had, but no one in his neighborhood yet believes. He
cannot read, and asked who Jesus is, says he is God's only
son. Asked why he died for us, says he doesn't know.
"Do your neighbors know that you do not sacrifice any
more ?" "Yes." "Do you know you cannot have a concu-
bine?" "Yes." Have you suffered anything for Christ ?"
"They abuse me behind my back." (He was the richest
and chief man of his district.) "If you have to suffer
severely what will you do?" "I will bear it, God will help
me." He pays the expenses of well-taught Christians to go
to his home and preach to his neighbors. He comes a long
distance to Sorai to church and seems anxious about his
neighbors' souls. He came to the class bringing his own
rice.
No. 6 : Says he trusts Jesus because he knows he has
forgiven his sins. Knows they are forgiven because his
heart is changed, his old covetousness is all gone, it is
now easy to do what Jesus commands. "Do you ever
forget Jesus ?" "How could I forget him ? How could I
forget my Lord ?"
Another : Says that since spring, when Christ came into
her heart, all has been at peace. Asked, "Who is Jesus?"
A CONVERTED TONGHAtf 195
Replies, "God's only son." "What is he to you ?" "We are
brethren since we have one Father." "How is God your
Father?" "All believers are now his children." "Are
your sins forgiven ?" "Entirely forgiven." "How do you
know it?" "My mind is now at peace. I am entirely
happy." "Are you not sad since your husband died?"
"Since after death we shall all live again at God's right
hand I feel no anxiety." "What if difficulties should
arise?" "/ don't know about the future, but Go'd takes
care of me now, and I think he will continue to do so. I'll
tell Jesus and ask his help." "Do you commit sins now ?"
"On account of the flesh I cannot escape from sin, I cannot
say I do no sin." Her father-in-law is not a believer, but
though she lives in his house she keeps the Sabbath and
attends worship regularly.
No. 37 was a Tonghak, rebel and robber. Has be-
lieved nearly two years. "Who is Jesus ?" "He is God's
son." "What has he done for us ?" "He died on the cross,
and through his precious blood my sins are forgiven."
"Do you know this ?" "I know it." "How do you know
it ?" "I cannot read the Bible, but as I was a criminal, and
Jesus has made me live, I know I am forgiven." "Where
is Jesus?" "At God's right hand." "Anywhere else?"
"There is no place where he is not." "What is Jesus doing
for us?" "I don't know, I only know I am saved."
"Have you told others about Jesus?" "I am always say-
ing, Here was I a criminal, and Jesus forgave me, and
saved me from punishment, and gave me peace of mind,
how can I help but believe."
This man comes ten miles to church in all weather.
Even when twenty miles away at work, he would come in
late Saturday night to be at church, stay all day, without
his food, and go back at night over a high mountain pass.
He was one of two rebels, who came to the leader and said
lg6 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
they wanted to be followers of Christ and be baptized,
The leader said that if they were sincere Christians they
must make restitution by giving themselves up to justice.
One of the two then went to the Romanists, and is now
one of the most notorious of the gang of robbers and des-
perados under the lead of Father Wilhelm. The other,
this applicant, gave himself up, was thrown into jail and
condemned to death. While in jail he astounded the
jailers and prisoners by continually singing hymns of joy
and praise. The prisoners declared he was mad, as no one
could sing like that in such a case. While he was in jail
the king escaped to the Russian legation, all prisoners
were set free and he was released. He has been a happy,
consistent Christian ever since.
Another is a young man of nineteen, has only lately
begun to trust in Christ. His father is a believer, his
mother and wife are not. Baptism, he says, is a sign of
faith in Christ. He thinks it would never do not to be
baptized, but insists he is saved now. Says he knows and
feels it in his heart. He has destroyed all idols, and keeps
the Sabbath. He goes over the mountain three miles to
church and allows no laborers to work for him on Sunday,
though he is obliged to pay them for the day's work as
though they had. He comes at his own expense to attend
the class.
The above are given merely as a few specimens of the
kind of questions and replies commonly heard at these ex-
aminations. Only those whose changed lives were wit-
nessed to by leading Christians who know them were bap-
tized. After a delightful stay with these simple-hearted
Christians, where the world and all its evils seemed'far re-
moved, and God very near, we were obliged at the close of
the class to start back to the capital. Our three tempo-
rarily hired coolies had forsaken us, disliking to wait so
A NIGHT OF ANXIETY 197
long (about three weeks) without work, and it was an im-
possibility to replace them in that neighborhood, where
nobody ever rides in a chair.
So we had to hire an ox-cart or talgoogy, the most
primitive of all possible wheeled conveyances, and in it,
with our loads tucked in with all our mattresses, quilts,
rugs and pillows, was placed our little treasure, our only
child, with the woman servant.
With great difficulty a man was found who consented
to help my own servant carry my chair. But soon an un-
looked-for difficulty arose. I found the ox-cart had gone
by a different road from that on which I had come in my
chair, for the former could not cross the narrow bridges
(mere footpaths for one) over the rivers, but must take
the fords, far too long a distance for the chair coolies.
Nor could the cart take the narrow paths over precipitous
passes, which the chair must follow to shorten the road
for the carriers. I was assured that all would be well, the
helpers and Christians were with the child, and was forced
to submit to what could not now be helped. Mr. Under-
wood, after seeing me well started, paced at a flying rate
across to the other road to see that all was well with the
boy, and then back again to the wife.
At about five o'clock we reached a place where the
two roads meet, but no signs of the talgoogy. It was fast
growing dark, a mountain pass lay yet before us, the road
was wild and lonely, we wished our little one was with us.
At length we went on to the village just beyond the pass
and waited. Time passed, but no tidings of the cart and
its precious contents. Darkness fell, the cold was bitter.
Koreans were sent out with lanterns to light the way for
the belated, or render any needed help. Still no word.
At length Mr. Underwood himself, unable to wait longer,
jvent out to look for the party. And now with them both
ig8 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
in the lonely mountain, and night upon us, I had double
need to trust in God. One always knows that all will be
well, will be for the best, but as one cannot see whether
that best means God's rod or his staff, the heart will flut-
ter in dread of the pain. Just to wait without fear upon
him, takes a calm, strong soul, and a full measure of
grace.
At last, thank God, they both came back quite un-
harmed, only hungry and cold, but the thought of tigers,
leopards and robbers, that might have met them, only
made me realize more fully the mercy which brought them
safe to my arms.
That night we slept in a small Korean inn quite like all
the rest, only a little smaller and dirtier than most, with
domestic animals and fowls of all sorts quartered round
us, the paper door of our room only separating between
them and us. Suddenly, about two or three in the morn-
ing, we were startled out of our sleep by the most terrific
roaring, and the sounds of a general panic in the inn ; the
excited shouts of men, women shrieking, and such a
chorus of barking, yelping, cackling, squealing as cannot
be described. But the awful roaring, and a stamping and
hustling distinguishable above all, made it seem probable
that one or more wild animals of some sort had invaded
the hostel. Mr. Underwood hastily extinguished our light,
which shining through our door, might attract notice, and
went out to discover the cause of the uproar. He soon
came back, saying that a couple of oxen, usually so meek
and tractable, had been fighting, had pulled themselves
loose from their stalls, and had now escaped, one chasing
the other out of the inn. They are enormous creatures, at
times like this as dangerous as any wild beast, and it was
remarkable that no one in the inn was seriously hurt, as
they could hardly have escaped being, had the oxen re-
KOREAN STREET. PAGE IS
HORSES IN AN INN YARD. PAGE K
TREATING CROUP UNDER DIFFICULTIES 199
mained fighting in the cramped confines of that little
place.
Nothing worthy of note occurred during the remainder
of our return trip, except one night, when camped in the
tiniest and most comfortless little room, we were again
wakened by an awful roaring. The sort of roar that every
mother hears with a quaking heart, and knows right well
what it imports. She knows it comes from a wild beast
in her child's throat, and jumps to the rescue. Croup in a
hut with paper doors and windows full of cracks and
holes, where the wind steals in on all sides, many miles
from home, is not too easily defied. But we soon had a
wharrow fire and hot water, a croupy child's mother al-
ways has ipecac and flannels close at hand, and while we
changed hot applications for an hour or so, we were
forced to draw on our benumbed inventive faculties for
novel stories to interest the half -suffocated child. The
following day we were obliged to continue our journey,
for exposure and discomfort there exceeded what must be
met on the road, but the child, usually slow in rallying
from those attacks, on this occasion made an especially
quick and favorable recovery.
In April of this year, 1896, Dr. J. McLeavy Brown, of
the English Custom's Service, was placed in charge of the
nation's finance by a royal decree, a post which he con-
tinued to fill for a long time to the benefit of all con-
cerned, except the squeezing officials, who, now that their
opportunities in that line were curtailed, proceeded to
squeal lustily instead.
In the summer of 1896, Miss Jacobson, an enthusiastic
young missionary nurse, who had learned the language
with wonderful quickness, and won the hearts of Koreans
on all sides, was very ill with dysentery for several weeks.
She recovered apparently and returned to her work, but
200 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
was soon attacked by violent fever, which refused to yield
to the usual remedies, until at length the existence of a
local organic disease was developed, which in spite of
every effort carried our dear sister away. But her death-
bed was a place of rejoicing rather than mourning. More
than one exclaimed it was good to be there. Bitterly as
we knew we should feel the loss of so helpful and sympa-
thetic a sister later, we could but enter into her joy at that
hour. Her bedroom seemed like the ante-room to the
throne-room itself. Her face was wreathed in smiles, and
a look of unearthly glory lay upon it. Her words were all
of joy and hope, and full of the rapture the realized pres-
ence of the Lord only can give.
We felt we had no right to make place for selfish
mourning there, she was so manifestly happy, and to de-
part was so far, far better. When her remains were taken
to the cemetery, now becoming rich with much precious
dust, her casket was carried on the shoulders of the native
Christians, who sang joyful songs of the better land all
the way. It was like the return of a conqueror, and the
country people, as they saw and heard, asked what kind of
death or funeral was this, all triumph and joy? Where
were the signs and sounds of despair that follow a heathen
corpse ?
To carry a dead body is looked upon as very degrading.
So the fact that the native Christians insisted on doing
this, and would not allow hired bearers to touch the dear
form, showed how they all loved and honored Miss Jacob-
son ; and I have told it to show the kind of feeling which
exists between the people and their foreign teachers, as
well as to lay a little tribute to the memory of a noble and
devoted fellow-worker.
CHAPTER XIII
Our Mission to Japan — Spies — One Korean Summer — The
Queen's Funeral — The Procession — The Burial by Star-
light— The Independents — The Pusaings — The Independents
Crushed.
IN the following spring Mr. Underwood was asked to
go to Japan, with instructions to assist his highness, the
second prince, to leave for America.
It was thought best that he should there, under Chris-
tian tutors, prepare for college, or a military training, and
my husband, realizing of what immense importance this
plan well carried out might be to Korea in the future,
gladly consented to accept the mission. All arrangements
were made by the government in Seoul, and Mr. Under-
wood was instructed exactly as to the wishes of his
majesty. To our combined amusement and indignation,
we soon discovered we were followed everywhere by spies
from the day we left home. Mr. Underwood's letters to
gentlemen in Tokyo, although mailed with care and
secrecy, were read by others before they reached the hands
of those to whom they were addressed. We were
shadowed everywhere, and even had the creepy pleasure
of knowing that a detective slept on the landing just below
our room.
Thus for the second time in our lives were we honored
by being made the special objects of espial, connected in
the respectable mind with criminal courts, jails and all
sorts of ill odors and combinations of the unutterable.
202 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
However, as we had nothing on our consciences, I believe
we rather enjoyed our detectives, aside from a slight in-
dignant sense of insult. We certainly took a mischievous
pleasure in the hunt. There were undoubtedly those who
considered it to their interest to keep the prince in Japan,
but when the king's commands were fully understood, no
further difficulty was made, and the long-desired end was
gained, as far as a departure for America was concerned,
but as through influence beyond our control, and without
our knowledge till later, a Romanist interpreter was sent
with him, the plans and hopes for his royal highness in
America were destined to disappointment.
In the following summer sickness entered our home, a
debilitating fever which would not yield to treatment kept
my husband week after week confined to his bed. His
strength of course steadily failed, he became extremely
emaciated and unable to retain nourishment in any form.
We were at the river Han, in a house on a bluff, where we
usually spend the hot and rainy season ; but it was several
miles distant from the city, advisers and remedies. It was
lonely work, not knowing what turn the disease might
take, with friends and helpers so far away.
At length, one night my trials seemed to reach a climax.
The rain poured down, more like a foe with iron blows
besieging a fort than water from the clouds. The wind
blew with almost hurricane fury and the lightning was
constantly accompanied by terrific claps of thunder. My
husband was too ill to notice and in a heavy stupor. Soon,
however, the poor thatched roof began leaking like a sieve,
while water flowed in around the window and door case-
ments.
The invalid lay in a heavy bed, extremely difficult at any
time to move, still more so with his weight and the neces-
sity of moving it as gently as possible. Our cousin, a lady
STRUGGLING WITH SICKNESS 203
of no great size or strength, and I managed by exerting all
our combined force to shove the lumbering piece of furni-
ture to a place where water did not drip on it and the in-
valid ; and then ran to find pieces of sacking, bath towels,
sheets, waterproofs, etc., to soak up the flood that was
constantly pouring in everywhere and dripping through
from the second floor to the first.
The kitchen was almost emptied of utensils, which were
placed under the waterfalls all over the house. While
every now and then my husband's bed must be pushed or
dragged to a new place. The frail house rocked as if it
must surely fall before the fury of the storm. It was one
of those occasions which probably every one experiences,
once or twice in a lifetime, when inanimate nature seems
to join with untoward circumstance, and even God himself
seems to have hidden his face, and all the seen and unseen
powers of the universe to have combined against body and
soul. But he who has drunk the very dregs of every bit-
terness we ever taste never forsakes us no matter how
dark things look, and I knew on that awful night we were
not as desolate as we seemed.
In the morning Dr. Avison came out from the city and
kindly invited me to have Mr. Underwood taken there to
his home, which was on a hill with plenty of breeze, and
where I should have advice and medicines close at hand.
So our sick man, placed on a long cane chair with
poles attached to each side, covered with waterproofs,
blankets and umbrellas, and carried by eight coolies, was
taken back to Seoul.
Not more than a week later our little one was stricken
with the same fever. Both father and child were desper-
ately sick for another fortnight, but both were spared, and
after weeks of prostration moved about like pale skeletons,
whom nobody found it easy to recognize.
204 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
About this time a great deal of uneasiness was begin-
ning to be felt among certain classes over the king's long
stay in a foreign legation, especially by all pro-Japanese,
and in October, 1896, the king was formally requested by
a Council of State to change his residence. In the fol-
lowing February, at about the time when Mr. Waeber was
leaving the country and another Russian representative
coming to take his place, the royal household was removed
to the Chong Dong palace, near the English consulate and
American legation. Russian officers were in charge of all
Korean troops, and Russian influence predominant.
In October of 1897 the king assumed the title of em-
peror, and immediately after the dead queen's rank was
raised to that of empress. In the following November,
her imperial highness' funeral took place. It is common
among people of high rank to keep the honored remains
embalmed and sealed for months, or even years, until a
suitable time and place for burial has been pronounced by
soothsayers, and so two years after decease, after repeated
consultations with these costly and ghostly advisers, who
repeatedly changed their directions, a grave site was
finally decided upon and prepared and a day set.
Two weeks before this, daily sacrifices were offered in
Kyeng-won palace, and on the first and fifteenth of each
month since her death special sacrifices had been offered.
All court officials wore heavy mourning and all citizens
wore half mourning.
The grounds selected for the grave site were about
three or four miles from the east gate outside the city,
and many acres in extent. Money flowed like water, and
no pains or expense were spared to make the service and
everything connected with it as magnificent and stately as
the queen's rank and the king's devotion to her memory
required. The grave was prepared of solid masonry at
THE QUEEN'S FUNERAL 205
the summit of a mound fifty feet high, a costly temple for
the temporary shelter of the remains, where the last rites
were to be performed, was erected near its foot, and a
number of other buildings were put up for the accom-
modation of the court, the foreign legations and other
invited guests, for the funeral was to be held at night.
Refreshments and entertainment was provided for Ko-
reans and foreigners, officials, friends, soldiers and ser-
vants to the number of several thousands.
A courteous invitation was sent from the Foreign Office
to the legations, inviting the private residents (foreigners)
of Seoul to share this hospitality. The casket in a cata-
falque was carried from the palace at eight o'clock on the
morning of the 2ist of November, attended by five thou-
sand soldiers, four thousand lantern bearers, six hundred
and fifty police, and civil and military dignitaries of in-
numerable grades. The scene was one of extreme and
varied interest. Thousands of people crowded the streets,
arches were erected over the road at intervals. There
were numberless scrolls recounting the queen's virtues,
magnificent silk banners, beautiful small chairs, wooden
horses (for use in the spirit world), which, with all the
varied accoutrements of ancient and modern arms, and the
immense variety in the dress and livery of court and other
officials, retainers, menials, chair coolies and mapoos, made
a scene quite beyond description.
The emperor and crown prince did not follow the bier
until one o'clock in the afternoon. His majesty had sent
us a special invitation to be present and go in the pro-
cession, but we preferred to go quietly later, as humble
private mourners for a loved and deeply lamented friend,
in a spirit which had nothing in common with the brilliant
procession.
When we arrived at nearly eight o'clock in the evening,
206 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
we found the extensive grounds lighted by red and yellow
(the royal and imperial colors) native lanterns, not two
feet apart, in double rows, along a winding and circling
road for a distance of three miles. Brilliant banners
streamed forth on the air, and here and there all over the
field were brightly blazing fires of fagots, where groups
of soldiers stood warming themselves, for it was bitterly
cold. It was a starlit night of crystal, sparkling clearness.
There is much that is fitting in this custom of holding
funerals in these calm and holy hours of night, when
things of time and sense dwindle and look insignificant,
when the world's bustle is all hushed, when the unsym-
pathetic glare of happy day is veiled, and only the sooth-
ing balm of the quiet and darkness in harmony with the
sorrow-stricken heart is to be felt. In that hour the di-
vine presence seems to be most imminent, or more fully
realized, and eternity and the spirit world close around us.
After six sets of prayers and sacrifices, and a final cere-
mony of farewell, the remains were to be interred. At
three o'clock A.M. everything was in readiness. A
beautiful yellow silk imperial carrying-chair, for the use
of the royal spirit, was first taken up the hill in great state,
by the appointed bearers. Then followed another of green
silk, and lastly the royal casket on its bier. Long ropes
were attached to the latter, held by men standing as closely
as possible to each other, along the whole length, in order
to insure the greatest steadiness. In addition, of course,
were the regular bearers, while one stood on the front of
the bier directing and guiding all. Everything was done
with beautiful precision, there was not a misstep nor a jar.
It is said that on such occasions a bowl filled to the brim
with water is placed on the bier, and if a drop overflows
severe punishment and disgrace falls upon the carriers.
A solemn and stately procession of soldiers and re-
AN IMPRESSIVE PROCESSION 207
tainers, bearing banners and lanterns of alternate red
and yellow, accompanied and followed the casket, march-
ing in double file on either side and in close ranks, all
uttering in unison a low and measured wailing as they ad-
vanced. Thus all that remained of our brilliant queen was
carried to its rest.
Nothing could be more impressive, solemn and beauti-
ful than this procession, circling up the hill, beneath the
clear faithful watch of the stars and the fathomless depths
of limitless space, in that dark hour just before day. After
the bier followed the king and prince, who personally
superintended the lowering of the precious remains into
the tomb, even entering the crypt to see that the casket
was well rolled back under the great block of granite
which covered it.
Sacrifices and prayers were again offered, the gigantic
wooden horses were burned, and the mourners retired.
An audience given to all the diplomats and invited guests,
for the expression of farewells and condolences, ended the
ceremonies at about eight o'clock in the morning.
For some time before and after the removal of the king
to his own palace in Chong Dong, a growing feeling of
anxiety and distrust was felt over the preponderance of
Russian influence, which found expression in the formal
request made to the king to leave the legation.
While his majesty was still residing there, and before
the uneasiness with regard to Russia had arisen, the "In-
dependent Club" had been organized by Mr. So Jay Peel,
with the consent of the king, to emphasize Korea's inde-
pendence of China. The old columns, where tribute col-
lectors from that nation were received, were pulled down
and a new Independence Arch erected, as well as a large
building for the official business of the club, called Inde-
pendence Hall. The crown prince contributed a thousand
208 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
dollars for this purpose. The club was immensely popular
with all classes and many of the nobility as well as the
commoners were members. But the real object of the club
was to keep Korea independent of all foreign powers in
general, and of Russia and Japan, as well as China, in par-
ticular; to protest against, and prevent, if possible, the
usurpation of office and influence by foreigners, to stand
for the rights of the people, the autonomy of the nation,
its gospel being in a word, "Korea for the Koreans."
So that now, when the menace seemed to shift its
quarters from the west to the north, the Independence
Club began to make itself heard against Russia.
A word with regard to one or two of its leaders may
be of interest. Mr. So Jay Peel had previously belonged
to the progressive party, and had been obliged to flee to
Japan, where after a short residence he went to America.
He was of very high rank and a wealthy family, but his
property having been confiscated he worked his own way,
graduating from a first-class college with highest honors.
Then taking a civil service examination, he had become an
American citizen. He obtained a government position,
which gave him light work with sufficient salary to enable
him to take a course in medicine, after which he received a
very fine government medical appointment, on a competi-
tive examination.
But his heart turned to his country, and after the
Japanese war and the establishment of Japanese prestige,
he returned to Korea, where he became adviser to the
king, and soon after started a newspaper called the "Inde-
pendent," which was printed half in English and half in
the native character. Mr. So proved himself a gifted, bril-
liant and eloquent man, full of enthusiastic devotion to the
emancipation and welfare of his country, perhaps too im-
patient and precipitate in trying to hasten the accomplish-
THE INDEPENDENTS 209
ment of these great ends, a fault common with young and
ardent patriots. Mr. So was the first president of the club,
and was succeeded by Mr. Yun Chee Ho, a son of Gen-
eral Yun, who had led the attack on the palace for the
rescue of the king. Like Mr. So, he had been for some
years away from Korea, having been educated partly in
China in an American Methodist Mission school, and
partly under the same auspices in America. Both he and
Mr. So are members of American Protestant churches.
Mr. Yun, who, however, still retains his Korean citizen-
ship, is also both a fine writer and speaker, and an en-
thusiastic patriot and progressionist. He afterwards suc-
ceeded Mr. So in the editorship of the "Independent."
Their following consisted quite largely of impulsive, eager
young men, many of them Christians, very many of them
students, and probably included the majority of the bril-
liant, energetic, and sincerely patriotic young men of the
capital.
As has been said, after Mr. Waeber's removal and the
king's departure from the Russian legation, and a new
Russian minister had arrived, Korea became more than
ever subject to Russian influence. Russians swarmed in
the palace, the army and the treasury were completely in
their hands, and their absolute supremacy seemed only a
question of a few brief weeks or months.
At this time, February, 1898, the Independence Club
offered a petition to the king asking the removal of all
Russians from the army and government offices. The
Russian minister requested the king to state his wish in
this matter, and soon after, being informed in the affirma-
tive, the Russians were all withdrawn for the time. April
12, 1898, coincident with this, Port Arthur was ceded to
the Russians by Japan, a fact which it was thought by
many had much to do with the retirement from Korea. It
2io FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
is most improbable that the action of Russia was in this
case out of consideration for the preferences of Koreans.
The Independence Club now grew more and more
popular and held frequent loud and clamorous meetings,
at which public affairs were discussed with great freedom,
the wrong doings of high officials severely censured and
held up to public scorn, and unpopular laws sharply criti-
cised and bitterly inveighed against. They were full of
hope and patriotism, their aim and expectation seeming to
be to have all wrongs righted, all abuses done away with,
and Korea remade in a day a free government and people.
The Independence Club held large mass meetings. The
shops were closed, the whole population was stirred, and
even women held meetings, incredible as it may seem.
As a result of which a written petition was sent to the gov-
ernment, asking for seven reforms, abolishing torture and
other objectionable customs, and granting more liberties.
The cabinet approved the request, the king added six
more new rules for reform, and Yun Chee Ho was made
vice-president of the Privy Council. At once another gen-
eral meeting of the public was held, and a committee ap-
pointed by them printed tens of thousands of copies of the
new laws, and distributed them everywhere. Among the
thirteen new rules, it was suggested and consented to that
there should be established a sort of popular congress, a
law-making body, with powers advisory (certainly very
limited), composed of one hundred people, fifty of whom
were to be elected by the popular vote, and fifty to be ap-
pointed by the king. But now the government began to
take the alarm and to realize that they had opened the
sluice gates of a flood which threatened to overwhelm
them.
The night before the first election to this body was
to have taken place at Independence Hall, seventeen lead-
POLITICAL DISTURBANCES 211
ing members of the club were arrested. It was the inten-
tion of the minister of law to put these people to death, but
the populace rose en masse, crowded and excited meetings
were held everywhere, and so much feeling shown, that
the decision was changed, and they were sentenced to ban-
ishment instead. But the populace continued to rage.
Large masses of people, who, while they did not arm them-
selves or resort to violence, were angry and threatening,
gathered in front of the government offices in all public
places, demanding the release of the seventeen or that they
themselves should be arrested. At length, after five days'
of threatening demonstrations and angry mobs, the seven-
teen were released. Now, indeed, the Independents felt
they had gained a victory, the government had been de-
feated, and the people henceforth could accomplish any-
thing.
The demand for the fulfilment of the king's still unful-
filled promises of thirteen reforms was again renewed. On
this the officials in person presented themselves before the
crowds, commanding them to disperse and promising
everything that was asked if they would do so, as a result
of which the people quietly dispersed.
After long and patient waiting, without result, no
promises kept or reforms instituted, and on the contrary,
the bad officials who had been put out of office again re-
instated, the people assembled again one month later at
Chong No (the great thoroughfare) to renew their de-
mands. The police were then called up by their chief and
told to go to Chong No, and regardless of consequences
draw their swords and put to death all of the unarmed
multitude who would not disperse. Almost to a man, the
police began throwing off their official badges, saying they
were one with the people, and absolutely refusing to obey
such orders.
212 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
The soldiers were then called out, large bodies of troops
stationed in the main thoroughfares, and the crowds dis-
persed at the point of the bayonet.
The Independents then asserted it must be bad officials,
and not the king, who were thus oppressing them, and that
their petitions could never have reached his majesty. They,
therefore, according to long-established custom with peti-
tions for royal favors, all convened in front of the palace.
Thousands of men sat there quietly, night and day, for
fourteen days waiting to be heard.
It was a thrilling and impressive sight. There was
nothing laughable about those rows of silent, patient, de-
termined citizens. Many had their food brought to them,
some had little booths or tents where they prepared meals
or slept, while others watched and waited, a few went
away to take food, only to return as speedily as possible.
The people had come to the palace to stay, until an an-
swer could be had from the king.
After the Independents had been camped for some days
thus in front of the palace, the "Pusaings" or "Peddlers
Guild," gathered and camped in another part of the city,
with the avowed intention of attacking them.
The "Pusaings" are, as their name indicates, a guild of
peddlers, bound together as a secret society for mutual
benefit and protection. They have connections and
branches all over the country, and are sworn to render
each other assistance whenever needed. Like the Masons,
they have secret passwords and signs, by which they make
themselves known to each other, and any member of this
great guild meeting another, even for the first time, is
bound to help him to the full extent of his ability. In this
way they soon become extremely powerful, and feared by
high and low, rich and poor. They could assemble a for-
midable army at short notice, and their reputation as a
THE PUSAINGS 213
ruffianly body of men has long been established. During
the reign of the Tai Won Kun, that crafty and astute old
politician decided to make friends of this dangerous guild,
rather than antagonize them, and accordingly granted
them a number of special privileges, one of which was
the right to collect taxes of certain kinds of merchandise,
in return for which they were to be regularly organized by
the government and to place themselves under the con-
trol of governors of provinces and other officials, holding
themselves ready for service at any time. They wear a
peculiar straw hat and a somewhat different dress from
other Koreans, so that they are easily recognized where-
ever seen.
On the appearance of this large body of "Pusaings" the
king sent word to the people, in order to calm their sus-
picions, that they need have no fear of the Peddlers, as the
police should be ordered to keep them back, and a cordon
of police was therefore drawn around the petitioners. At
length, however, the "Pusaings" made an attack one day
at an early hour in the morning, when some of the Inde-
pendents, who had retired during the night or had gone to
their breakfast, were away, and the number considerably
reduced. The police were immediately withdrawn, and
the whole assemblage of Independents were driven away,
and many of them seriously injured. When they attempted
to return the way was barricaded by soldiers, and their
enemies, the "Pusaings," were being feasted with food
sent out from the palace. The populace then assembled in
large numbers, with the determination to drive away the
Peddlers, which they did, wounding and killing a few.
Shortly after, however, a second battle was fought, in
which the people were forced to retreat and one of the In-
dependents was killed.
The people's party then again assembled at Chong No,
2i4 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
when the king again sent, promising he would give all
they asked if they would disperse, which they accordingly
did once more. Ten days later the king called them to
meet before the palace. On that occasion he came out to
them, standing on a platform built for the purpose, with
his officials around him, and the members of the foreign
legations occupying a tent at one side, and a large number
of other foreigners also present. This was indeed a new
thing in the history of so hoary a nation for the king to
come out to confer with the populace on matters of state.
The president of the Independents at that time, Kung
Yung Kun, and the ex-president, Yun Chee Ho, were
called up and presented by the king with a document
printed on yellow imperial paper, in which he solemnly
promised the establishment of the thirteen reforms.
The meeting then dispersed, and the people waited an-
other thirty days, but nothing came to pass. With wonder-
ful determination and persistence, worthy of success like
the widow in our Lord's parable, who waited long on the
unjust judge till by continual coming she wearied him and
obtained her desire, they again assembled at Chong No
and renewed their demands.
Had they only possessed a Hampton, a Cromwell, a
Washington, or a Roland, history might have repeated
itself once more. And yet perhaps it was no more the
want of leaders of the right fearless stamp, than the need
of thousands of such determined dauntless, unconquer-
able souls as those who stood back of Cromwell and Wash-
ington.
They, however, renewed their requests, and insisted
they would allow no government business to be done until
the king's promises were fulfilled. Soldiers were sent out
from time to time and dispersed them, but they gathered
again and again.
THE INDEPENDENTS CRUSHED 215
At length the government accused them of scheming to
establish a republic and elect a president, and bodies of sol-
diers and police were placed all over the city. Wholesale
arrests were made, little groups of even three or four were
dispersed by the use of detectives and a very wide system
of espionage, meetings were prevented, the Independents
crushed, and their buildings and property confiscated.
Thus, for the time at least, ended what looked like the be-
ginnings of a revolution, but the people were not ready
and the time not ripe.
CHAPTER XIV
Itineration Incidents — Kaiwha — Christian Evidences — Buying
Christian Books instead of an Office — Seed Sowing —
Moxa's Boy in the Well — Kugungers Again — Pung Chung
— Pyeng Yang — The Needs of the Women.
ANOTHER long trip into the interior was taken the
following year, some newly arrived missionaries from
Canada who wished to study methods and people accom-
panying us. Just before this Mr. Underwood had re-
visited the river villages where there were Christians
under his oversight, and found as usual a steady growth
everywhere, not that there are no drawbacks, none who
have backslidden or proved insincere, but that such in-
stances are marvelously rare, and that the encouragements
far exceed the discouragements, that the little groups are
steadily growing in numbers, in enlightenment and the
home life is vastly higher in tone. At Haing Ju a commo-
dious new chapel had been built, a fact which the people
had kept as a surprise for the missionary. As usual he
found new groups of believers which had sprung into life
since his previous visit.
The beginning of one of these at Kimpo, as related by
Mr. Shin, was very interesting. Mr. Shin said that one
night as he lay asleep he thought he saw the Moxa come
up to him, with the long walking-stick in his hand which
he uses on his country trips. Prodding the sleeper vigor-
ously with it, he said, "Come, come, why don't you go to
work ; get up and go over there (pointing across the river
PROGRESS OF THE WORK 217
to Kimpo) and pass on the Word." Shin woke up, but
fell asleep again, and again the Moxa came back and even
more urgently bade him get up, and go and carry the gos-
pel to Kimpo. Again he awoke, and the third time fell
asleep, and dreamed as before. He knew no one at Kimpo
and had no reason to think there was any more hopeful
opening there than elsewhere, but the dream impressed
him so strongly, that he felt he must go. When he reached
there, he found one or two families whose interest had be-
come awakened through some books, and who were long-
ing for some one to come and teach them more. One man,
once a burly and notorious prize-fighter, is now the leader
among the Christians in that vicinity, and one of the shin-
ing lights among the river villages, and this same Kimpo
is one of the most promising centers of work.
The training class, the instruction of which was part of
Mr. Underwood's business in the interior that fall, was
to be held in Hai Ju. The class was taught five hours each
day, and women who would come were met and taught by
me in my room. One hour after the men's class in the
afternoon was given to street preaching, our Canadian
friends, Dr. Grierson and Mr. McRae, helping immensely
with music and singing and in the distribution of tracts.
A general meeting for prayer and Bible study was held in
the class room every evening.
When the class had adjourned, we proceeded to make
the usual circuit of the part of the province under our
care. As on the river, so here along the sea and in the
mountains, the numbers of new centers of gospel growth
were amazing. "It springeth up he knoweth not how."
In one place a couple of old men, travelling along rather
weary, sat down by the roadside and as they rested sang a
hymn. A farmer whose house was near, overhearing the
strange words of the song, came and questioned, and ere
218 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
long became a believer, with his family. From this house-
hold the blessing overflowed for neighbors and friends. In
another case a young bride made a strong stand for Christ
in the heathen family into which she had married, until she
had won over the entire family to the same faith, and they
again had brought others. These are only a couple of ex-
amples that were paralleled in many communities.
Some of the answers of these poor half-taught people
when catechised were given in a previous chapter, another
that of an old woman I thought significant and touching.
When asked where Jesus was, she said promptly, "He's
right here with me all the time." "Yes, but where else is
he?" Confused and troubled that she could not satisfy
the Moxa, she said, "I'm only a poor ignorant old woman,
I don't know where else he is, but I know he is right here
in my house all the time." The devotion of the people to
us, because through our hands had come the bread of life,
was to me exceedingly affecting, and everywhere the re-
lation existing between the people and their Moxas is a
peculiarly close and tender one. When one of the mis-
sionaries was sick for some time, the women in the coun-
try villages through a large section held united daily
prayer for her for several weeks. This without her knowl-
edge, quite spontaneously, and without prearrangement
among the different localities.
The following year I was providentially hindered from
making the trip to the country with my husband, but in
1900, with Dr. Whiting, Mr. Underwood and our little
son, I was again able to go to Whang Hai province. We
started in February, and as there was now a little steamer
which had begun to ply between Hai Ju and Chemulpo,
we decided to profit by it, as this would be both easier and
cheaper than the old way. Kaiwha (as they call prog-
ress) had "twessocd" (become) considerably since our
:ANDY BOY.
KOREAN PROGRESS 219
last trip. A railroad had been laid between Seoul and
Chemulpo, with trains traveling about fifteen miles an
hour. The steamers referred to are a marvel also as speci-
mens of said kaiwha. About the size of an ordinary de-
spatch boat, or small tug, they are not too commodious.
There are two cabins, neither of which is high enough
for tall people to stand erect in, one of which, with hardly
room for three or four to occupy it with comfort, is
packed with the unhappy second-class passengers. The
other is somewhat larger, about twelve feet long by six
wide. This room contains a table and six chairs, and in it
are often stowed from ten to twenty first-class passengers.
Here one meets "the world." Korean officials, Korean,
Chinese or Japanese merchants, French Romanist priests,
strolling acrobats, singers, dancing girls, and Protestant
missionaries. All except the latter smoke until the air
will slice nicely, and many of them indulge in native or
foreign liquor till their society is almost past endurance.
The boat follows the river northward past the histori-
cal island of Kangwha, with its picturesque walls and
gates, till it flows into the sea, an arm of which our course
crosses at this point to reach the shore on which lies the
little village which is the port for the city of Hai Ju. On
the day in question, when we profited for the first by all
these contrivances of kaiwha, the ice was still in the river,
ours being only the second trip made since it began to
break. Nothing could be seen on all sides but great
blocks of ice, much larger than our little craft, and all in
a conspiracy apparently to prevent our advance, banging
and pushing us, now on one side and now on the other.
With much panting and puffing, occasionally sustaining a
pretty severe shock but quickly gaining advantage lost and
shoving aside her clumsy opponents, our boat steadily
forced her passage onward and gradually gained the clear
220 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
waters of the sea. This trip lasted only sixteen hours,
while it would have taken three days overland.
We landed at half past eight on the edge of a long
stretch of mud flats, covered with slimy boulders and
stones, all of which now lay under a foot of half frozen
snow, which hid the rocks and made the going very pre-
carious in the darkness. There was only one warm room
to be had and no food, while the "warm room" was only
a little less cold than out of doors. Thoroughly chilled,
tired and hungry, and somewhat dispirited, as hungry
folks are apt to be, we all retired to the floor, to rest finely,
and waken in a better mind next morning, none the worse
for our seafaring.
At Hai Ju the believers gathered around us with the
warmest welcome. They were all mourning the loss of a
beloved leader who had died a short time before. We of
course held meetings with them during the two days,
which were all we could spare at that time, saw and talked
with all who would come, trying to strengthen and com-
fort the believers, and promising if possible to remain
longer with them on our return. One poor young
wife whose husband had given up Christianity and gone
back to the his old life, and whose heathen mother-in-law
was persecuting her cruelly, excited our pity. Pale, emaci-
ated and tearful, she came begging our advice and help.
From Hai Ju we proceeded to Chang Yun Eub, where
the training class of leaders was to be held this year, and
where Dr. Whiting and I had planned to hold a somewhat
similar class for women. On the way a stranger, seeing
my husband was an American, asked if he knew "a certain
'Un Moxa' (Preacher Underwood) who sometimes came
down that way and taught people to be good and kind to
each other," showing that he had been reading from the
book of native Christian practice. All along this road,
ITINERATING 221
where only a few years before there was absolute igno-
rance of the gospel, we found evidences of the dawning
light. Here and there in a wayside inn we found a Chris-
tian book, or a family half timidly beginning to believe.
Everywhere they had heard of "the doctrine," and heard
well of it.
Everywhere there was a pleasant welcome for us and a
ready ear for our story. At Chang Yun Eub, quite a
number of Christian women had gathered to meet and
welcome us. One or two days after reaching there I took
a ten-mile ride in a bitter wind to visit a sick woman,
which resulted in severe influenza and bronchitis, which,
though I managed to fight off for five days, at length con-
fined me to my room and bed for three long weeks. Many
of the women had come from five to twenty miles on foot
to study with us, so it was bitterly disappointing, but Dr.
Whiting did her own part and mine, too, nobly. Nearly
all the villages in that district were represented by the
local leaders and pastors at Mr. Underwood's class. They
at this time organized a missionary society, which they
themselves originated and planned in part, before our ar-
rival. They perfected their scheme with Mr. Underwood's
advice.
Taking a map of the district, they arranged to work in
couples, and to each man was assigned four heathen vil-
lages, each to be visited once a month, each man pledging
himself to do this work every Sunday during the year.
Two superintendents were appointed to oversee the gen-
eral work, advise and help these missionaries, and report
to Mr. Underwood. All were to go at their own expense.
By the time the class was over I was able to be carried
along the road in my chair, and only one who has been
shut in for three weeks, in a tiny room not eight feet high,
without a pane of glass in it, quite alone most of the time,
222 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
can realize how glad I was to be released into the fresh,
sweet air and sunshine. Before leaving Chang Yun we
bade a long farewell to one of the Christian women, who
with a smile and the sweet words, "It's all grace, it's all
love," fell gently asleep in Jesus. Dr. Whiting, in accord-
ance with previous plans, did not go with us further, but
returned to Seoul. After leaving Chang Yun, our first stop
was made at the village of On Chang, where we met quite
a little handful of believers. One of these, a woman who
was the first convert in that place, had been much troubled
and burdened with a sense of guilt. At length she heard
that in Chang Yun there were people that could tell her
of One who could forgive sins. She went forthwith and
learned of Jesus and found peace and pardon, and came
back to spread the good tidings and "pass on the word"
to her neighbors.
One of these women was a peddler, a class who have to
make some sacrifices to keep the Sabbath. Nearly all their
business is done at the little fairs or market days, which
take place every five days at one or another of the hamlets
in a certain curcuit. Quite often one of these days falls on
a Sunday, and so a whole five days' profit is lost. But
this makes no difference, the day is cheerfully kept ; an-
other who kept an inn as cheerfully decided to sell no more
liquor, her chief source of profit.
Our next stopping place was at Cho Chun, and as soon
as we neared the vicinity, we were met by men, women
and children, who had walked out to meet us and conduct
us to the home of the leader, in this case the richest and
chief man of the whole neighborhood. People professing
Christianity gathered here from several small villages,
were examined and many baptized. It seemed too hard
that we had only so short a time to stay in these places
where we were needed so much. Most of the women
NATIVE KINDNESS 223
actually wept when we were obliged to say farewell, and
the men and boys followed us miles, sometimes to the next
stage in our journey. They are touchingly grateful for
the little we do for them, while we thank God for allowing
us to learn from them, their simple childlike faith and en-
tire dependence on him.
Mrs. Ha, the wife of the leader, was the only one in the
village who could read, and she taught the other women
beautifully. Calm, strong, intelligent, she seemed to me a
rare type of a Korean woman, and one who was destined
to be very useful if she were only better instructed. She
was well acquainted with the Gospels and Acts, the only
Scriptures till quite lately in their hands, and with nearly
all the hymns. But her opportunities for study and in-
struction were also very few.
After leaving Cho Chun nearly twelve miles distant was
our next destination, a little country town of about two
thousand people, which we reached after a few hours'
travel. Here we lodged in a neat and comfortable little
building consisting of two rooms, with a lean-to kitchen,
which the natives had built for us near to the church, half
at their own expense. The steps by which we ascended
to our rooms were the family ancestral worship stones,
which the Christians had once greatly treasured, but for
which they had no further use. The women flocked in to
greet me, and next day I had the larger room, sixteen by
twenty-four feet, crowded with heathen women who came
to see the foreign woman and child, but were willing to
hear about Christ. Gifts of candies, fruits and other food
poured in as usual.
Many were examined for baptism, and gave most satis-
factory evidence of conversion, but among them all one
deaf old woman interested me most. She was very deaf
and stupid. It seemed almost impossible for even the Ko-
224 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
rean leader to make her hear or understand the questions.
She was most anxious to be baptized, but how to learn
whether she knew enough of the gospel, we were at a loss
to discover.
At last a question seemed to reach her, "Where are you
going when you die?" Her face brightened and the an-
swer came, "I'm going to Jesus." Mark, not heaven, but
Jesus. This is the keynote that is always struck, Jesus,
their stay now, and hope hereafter, their wisdom, right-
eousness, and sanctification.
The first news of the gospel was brought here to Eul
Yul by a man of high family, considerable wealth and offi-
cial connections, who went to Seoul with the intention of
buying an office. He heard about Christ, however, while
there, and instead of an office, bought a donkey load of
books, which he took back to Eul Yul, and there dis-
tributed among his neighbors. About the same time a cer-
tain magistrate, just appointed, and going down there to
his office, who was a friend of my husband's, invited him
to visit him at Eul Yul when in the country. Mr. Under-
wood thanked him, but replied, "You know if I go it will
be only with the one purpose of preaching." "Certainly,
come and preach," was the answer.
So Mr. Underwood promised he would do so if his
friend, the magistrate, would see that a large and con-
venient official building was placed at his disposal for ser-
vices while there. This was willingly promised at once,
so the class was appointed to be held there that year, and
with the rally of Christian leaders, and the earnest pre-
paratory work of the man who had preferred Christ to an
office (of which Mr. U. had not previously been in-
formed), Christianity in Eul Yul began most auspiciously.
Up to the present time, however, he who had been so
earnest in preaching the gospel, and so generous in sup-
SEED SOWING 225
porting it, had never been baptized. The difficulty was
that he had two wives, with neither of whom could he
bring himself to part. These concubines have a strong
hold, and justly so, on the men who had made them part of
their family, and on whom they are dependent. All a
man's magnanimity, generosity and tenderness are ap-
pealed to on behalf of these women, who, unlike the danc-
ing girls, have in the eyes of the community a certain share
of respectability, and are usually not bad or unprincipled,
but have been taught to look with toleration and com-
plaisance on such a life, the common custom.
However, now, at last, he decided while we were there
to take the step and put away the second wife, providing
her with a home and fields enough to give her a good in-
come. So he and his wife and baby, and his grown son
with his wife and little one, in company with a number of
others, were baptized. The people of Eul Yul had built
their own church, as well as one-half of the guest house,
for their missionary. When we left, every believer who
could walk came to bid us farewell, "Pyeng anikasio"
(Go in peace). We had a last prayer and praise service,
and parted with mutual good wishes and regrets, a long
train of men and boys as usual streaming out along the
road, with and behind us.
Our next station was Pak Chun, six miles away (the
distances used to be twenty and thirty miles, now six,
eight or twelve), but before we reached there we must
stop and meet a little band of Christians at a farm where
seed had been dropped by passing believers and where a
whole family had been converted. Here we met a young
bride from another hamlet not far distant, who with her
husband had lately become a believer. At Pak Chun we
were received with the usual hearty welcome. Here I
found Mrs. Kim of Sorai like a ministering angel going
226 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
her rounds of self-appointed, unpaid ministration of the
Word, teaching the gospel to these poor women, not one
of whom could read. A good many from neighboring
villages were examined here, and we held a baptismal and
communion service just before leaving. The church was
as yet unfinished and extremely damp and cold, as well as
uncomfortably crowded, so I sent our little son out of
doors to play until we should finish. But scarcely had the
meeting well begun when word came that "the Moxa's
child had fallen in the well." Mr. Underwood rushed to
the rescue, giving out a long hymn as he started, to keep
the crowd occupied. However, by the time we reached the
scene he had emerged from his cold bath and been taken
to our room.
The ox-cart with all our packs was standing at the door,
just about to start for the next place. It was the work of
a few moments to pull down the whole load, open our
trunks, and get out dry garments, only too thankful that it
had not already trundled several miles on. I found a
dripping, shivering little animal awaiting me as I rushed
into our quarters, but no harm was done, he was soon
quite dry and warm, his wet apparel dangling from the
ox-cart acting as an excellent road sprinkler. Just before
leaving I saw a child quite naked, covered with smallpox
pustules in full bloom, standing near our door. I asked
one of the natives if there was much of that disease in the
village at present. "In every house," was the concise re-
ply. "Why there is none in the house we are in," said I,
with confidence. "Oh, no, they took the child out the day
you came in order to give you the room," was the re-
assuring answer. We had eaten and slept in that infected
little room, our blankets all spread out there, our trunks
opened, everything we had exposed. We had even used
their cooking utensils and spoons and bowls before our
"DIVERS DISEASES" 227
own packs had arrived. For ourselves we had been often
exposed, and believed ourselves perfectly immune. Mr.
Underwood had nursed a case of the most malignant type,
and I had been in contact with it among my patients, but
our child ! So we sent a swift messenger with a despatch
to the nearest telegraph station, twenty-four hours away,
to Dr. Wells, in Pyeng Yang. He at once put a tube of
virus into the hands of a speedy runner, who arrived with
it a week later.
We found the country full of smallpox, measles, and
whooping cough, and added to our smallpox experience,
an exactly similar one with measles. The record of one of
these little villages is much like another. At Pung Chun, a
place with a magistracy, we found the crowds almost un-
bearable, especially as the magistrate was away and his
substitute unwilling to help us. No foreign woman or
child had ever yet been there, and we were fairly besieged
by people who after any fashion, lawful or otherwise, were
determined to see the curiosities. Too tired that night to
do more than hold a brief meeting with the few Christians
who lived there, we barred, barricaded and curtained our-
selves in. How often under such circumstances I have
been able to sympathize as never before with our blessed
Lord, who was forced to withdraw to the mountains and
desert places for a little rest and quiet from the impor-
tunity of the eager selfish crowds, who thronged him and
followed him even there in thousands. We read "They had
no leisure as much as to eat," and that he forbade the peo-
ple he healed to spread the news abroad. Quite uselessly.
What weariness, what longing he must at times have felt
for a few hours of quiet and peace, only the hunted can
realize, yet how patient, gentle and compassionate he was !
The next day I talked to a room packed full of heathen
women, those who could not force an entrance crowding
228 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
around the doors and windows, as many as could get a
view or hearing. They listened with interest and atten-
tion for more than an hour, asking intelligent questions
occasionally, and treating me with perfect respect.
In the afternoon I had another and smaller company of
those whom Mrs. Kim of Sorai had culled from among
those she had been visiting and teaching as the most hope-
ful cases. With these we talked, sang and prayed, trying
as usual to make the most of the few hours we could be
with them. A few people were examined and two or three
baptized of those who had been believing for some time.
From Pung Chun we passed through a lovely valley and
over a beautiful mountain pass to a village nestled right
up in the mountains. Here the interest had extended to
two villages of hardy mountaineers, all of which had been
started by an old woman from Sorai. She cannot read, but
she continually preaches Christ to every one whom she
meets. Her son is the local leader, and his family are all
Christians.
Thus far Mr. Underwood had during our circuit ex-
amined one hundred and fifty people and baptized seventy-
five. About half of the other seventy-five were received as
catechumens. At Pung Chun we were greatly interested
to learn that the Koreans have a custom of sprinkling
blood on the door posts, and above the door of the home to
drive away evil spirits. When I told my class at Chang
Yun how the Jews did this before leaving Egypt, and
what it meant, they looked at each other and exclaimed
with surprise, "Why, that is our custom, too." But at
Pung Chun we found that it had only recently been done
at the very inn where we stopped, and were told that it
was quite a common custom in that part of the country.
The natives also have a cold rice festival, much like the
feast of unleavened bread.
BUSY DAYS 229
The scenery from Chil Pong to Won Tong is very
beautiful. The road winds through the mountains, accom-
panied by a charming little river most of the way. There
is a wonderful restfulness in the quiet of these mountains,
where no rattle of the world intrudes to break the divine
silences, or to interrupt the voices of nature, which only
emphasize the peacefulness that envelops one. One
feels God near and communion with him easy. The heart
lifts itself with no effort in scenes like these.
From Won Tong we passed to Sorai or Song Chun, to
which reference has already been often made in these
pages. We were lodged in the school room next the
church, a sunny, pleasant apartment. This Sorai school
was already famed through all the country round, and
Christians were sending their boys from other villages to
obtain the advantage of Christian teaching. Next morn-
ing early a company of little girls and boys were waiting
outside my door, dressed in new clean garments of the
brightest possible colors (starched, dyed, and pounded to
a miraculous crispness, gloss and glory of tint, chiefly
scarlet, green and yellow), especially for this occasion. We
had a singing class with them every morning after that,
and a Bible story was told and explained, too. The
women's class was held immediately after the children's,
but many women came to the children's class, and most of
the children came to that held for the women. In the
afternoon the women came again for another Bible lesson,
and in the evening men, women and children met for
united prayer, praise and Bible study with Mr. Under-
wood.
I was again taken very sick here at Sorai, but recovered
when that result seemed most unlikely, through God's
answer to the prayers of our native Christians, one of
whom, Mrs. Kim, spent the whole night in prayer for me.
230 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
Such love and devotion makes the tie between pastor and
people very strong.
As soon as I was able to travel we hurried back to Hai
Ju and Seoul, for word had come, bringing the sad news
of the death of Mr. Gifford in one of the country villages
about sixty miles from Seoul. He had gone alone with a
Korean helper, and after a brief illness had passed away
suddenly at night, probably scarcely aware that he was
seriously ill. He was loved by all the Koreans, who could
not fail to recognize his spirituality and consecration.
Mrs. Gifford was then in an extremely weak state, having
never recovered her strength after a violent attack of
Asiatic dysentery the preceding summer. She had just
begun to improve a little, and we to hope that at last we
might look for her return to perfect health.
A native messenger, all unannounced, rushed into her
presence and told her that her husband was dead. She
never saw his face again, or had the sad comfort of a mes-
sage, or one of these little souvenirs which women prize
and console their aching hearts withal. She wilted like
a lily, rudely snapped from the stem. When the first shock
was over and her mind became a little composed, several
days later, after friends had left her for a peaceful sooth-
ing night's rest, a Korean servant entered the room and
told her that her husband had been neglected and slighted
in his last illness, and had died alone quite uncared for.
She never rallied from this blow. Sweet, calm, uncom-
plaining, she grew weaker and weaker, and only one
month after her beloved husband passed away her gentle
spirit followed. They had been extremely congenial and
well suited, and it seemed a gracious providence that they
were so soon reunited.
Mrs. Gifford was a woman greatly beloved by every
one, and one of the most effective and consecrated women
CHANGES AT PYENG YANG 231
workers on the field, with a modest unassuming quiet
spirit, but with untiring devotion and self-effacement.
She worked here ten years for Christ. The Koreans,
whom she had loved so well and served so faithfully, bore
her to her grave and laid her beside her husband. We all
felt that the loss to the work was beyond expression, and
from a human view point irreparable.
In the following fall we visited Pyeng Yang for the first
time since our wedding journey in 1889. The annual
meeting of all the mission (now grown quite extensive)
for the discussion and settlement of plans for work for the
coming year was to be held there ; so we all risked our lives
on a crazy little steamer, which, however, contrary to
probabilities, landed us safely not far from our destination.
Great were the changes we beheld. Missionaries in
comfortable pleasant homes, a large church (paid for with
native money), newly built, able to accommodate nearly
two thousand people, and great gatherings of simple
earnest farmer folk, which it did one's soul good to see
and hear. To us, who on our last visit looked on that
great waste of heathenism, and discussed the advisability,
or otherwise, of starting a sub-station there, it was almost
overwhelming. To us, one of whom at least had come to
the country in the very beginning of the history of our
Protestant missions, and to whom in the light of the
records of work in other fields the task looked so stupen-
dous, so overwhelming, to find here in the far interior the
wonderful evidences of the power and goodness of God
filled our hearts with joy and awe. How could we ever
shrink or doubt, or fear again, or do aught but ascribe
"glory and honor, dominion and power, to him who sits
upon the throne and to the lamb for ever."
I regret that I have not personally seen more of the
work of God in northern Whang Hai and in Pyeng Yang
232 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
provinces, so that I might give interesting incidents which
would put my readers more in touch with the Christians
there, but I copy from the reports of Pyeng Yang and
Syen Chyun stations for the year 1901 and 1902 the fol-
lowing :
"In the whole territory covered by this station, Pyeng
Yang, there are 3,100 baptized adults, 3,737 catechumens
enrolled, and over 12,000 who attend more or less regu-
larly and in various ways come in touch with the gospel.
The total number baptized this year is 642, and the num-
ber of catechumens received 1,363. There are in the Pyeng
Yang city church 1,153 members and catechumens, with a
congregation of from i ,200 to i ,600 on the Sabbath.
"There are besides this eight country circuits, including
Ool Yul circuit, in the Seoul station work, and 184 out-sta-
tions, with 5,684 members and catechumens.
"There are 40 primary schools, one academy and 42
teachers — 37 men and 5 women — with an attendance of
740 pupils. Thirteen schools were organized this year.
All the country schools but one are self-supporting, and
that nearly so. There were 9,094 persons in attendance at
the hospital, also a medical class consisting of 4 members.
"Apart from those held in Pyeng Yang, 107 special
Bible classes were held, bringing about 2,300 under in-
struction ; 20 were taught by the missionaries, 87 by native
helpers and leaders. All these classes were carried on at
the expense of the Koreans.
"There are now 136 chapels, 21 having been built this
year, at a cost of 5,367 nyang contributed by the Christians
unaided.
"The total native contributions for all purposes (ex-
cluding the hospital) amount to 43,949 nyang, about 5,860
yen (or $2,930 United States gold).
"The working force to look after and carry on this work
SOME INTERESTING FIGURES 233
consists of 7 ordained missionaries (one on furlough and
one newly arrived on the field), one medical missionary, 4
single lady missionaries and 7 wives of missionaries.
"There are also 21 unordained native preachers or help-
ers, 7 Bible women and 15 colporters and other assistants
doing evangelistic work."
From the general report of the Syen Chyun station for
1901-2 I also quote, "We now have organized groups in
15 of the 21 counties of the province, and believers in at
least 4 more of the other 6. The groups that have been
organized by a missionary's visit, and organized with a
separate roll and church officers, number 44, but there are
at least 8 other places where Christians gather for worship
every Sabbath, and where the helpers visit regularly.
"The number of persons baptized during the year, July
to July, was 267, which is the largest ingathering we have
yet been permitted to see in one year. All of these 267,
with the possible exception of 3 or 4 old persons, had been
catechumens on probation for at least a year. The harvest
would have been much larger had it been possible to visit
the western Eui Ju Circuit this spring, where a very large
number of candidates are waiting for baptism.
"The number of infants baptized was 15. The number
of catechumens received amounted to 696. All of these
had been believers at least for two months, and in most
cases for a very much longer time, and were received only
after a very careful examination, under which, at the very
lowest estimate, 150 candidates were deferred. During
the same time 5 church members were suspended and 5
excommunicated, and 16 catechumens dropped.
"July first, therefore, there were on the church rolls 677
church members, 25 baptized infants and 1,340 catechu-
mens, or a total of 2,042 enrolled Christians, who with the
unenrolled believers make a total of 3,429 adherents in all.
234 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
But of the above church members, n are under suspen-
sion, and 8 more, unless they show signs of repentance,
will be disciplined when the missionary next visits their
groups. These 19 amount to 2.8 per cent of the church
membership. Amongst the 1,340 catechumens there are
109, or 8.1 per cent, whose names are retained on the
books, although at present they have lost their interest in
Christianity. Experience has taught us that it is well to
retain such for at least three years, unless they have been
guilty of some grave sin whereby the church is brought
into disrepute, as many of them coming under some new
influences are often won back to a Christian life."
The above quotations show how the church is growing,
and, especially the Pyeng Yang report, how well they are
giving both in labor and money for the support of the
gospel, and for its advancement among their heathen
neighbors. I will also insert a paragraph taken from the
above report for the same year, on the subject of self-
support.
"Just as soon as the native church produces ordained
pastors she must support them. For this the church is
being prepared. In this station but one helper is entirely
supported with foreign money, and four or five receive a
part only; all the rest of our unordained preachers or
helpers are entirely supported by the native church. With
a single exception, all of the thirty-five country schools
are entirely supported by the native groups where such
schools are carried on. It has long since been the rule for
the native Christians to provide their own house of wor-
ship, the only exception being a few cases where a little
help seemed wise. Every possible means is being em-
ployed to develop the same idea in the academy, thus put-
ting the highest possible value upon education, creating
the sentiment that it is an acquirement for which the
NATIVES APPEAL FOR TEACHERS 235
student may well labor or pay. It is being appreciated, too,
so far as it has been acquired at a respectable cost. Even
the hospital is on a fair way to become self-supporting to
the extent of paying for medicines and treatment.
"In every way the Korean Christians have shown them-
selves not only able, even during a famine year, but also
willing to bear their share along the line of support. They
have not only borne the running expenses of the various
groups, supported their own country primary schools, con-
tributed to the academy, paid the salaries of the unor-
dained preachers, sent representatives to the training
classes at Pyeng Yangr and delegates to the council at
Seoul, but have given a considerable amount to help the
poor and contributed liberally to the Committee of Mis-
sions."
One more extract from these reports, that of Miss
Chase of Syen Chyun, I feel must not be omitted. It
ought to touch the heart of every Christian woman who
reads it. It is as follows :
"There are 199 baptized and 588 catechumen women,
and as a conservative estimate 1,200 Christian women, in
north Pyeng An province. I have been able to go to the
merest fraction of this number. Those whom I have met
are much that we desire to have them be, and much not to
be desired, but as I think of them individually and collec-
tively, every other thought is eclipsed by the deep impres-
sions they have made upon me by their yearning to be
taught. The need for another for this field speaks for it-
self. We request the mission to consider the urgent need.
In some places there has been manifest murmuring among
the people. They say they have waited long for a visit
from their pastor, they have waited long to receive the ex-
amination for the catechumenate, they have waited long
for a woman to teach them. Every time that women come
236 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
in from distant places they beseech me to promise to visit
their groups the next time I leave Syen Chyun.
"Many a woman who has attended my classes has said
with tear-stained face, 'As for believing, I believe. I am
clinging to Christ for salvation. I have no desire for any
trust but in him, but I am so ignorant. I know so little
about my Bible. I know not how to read its thoughts with
my dark mind. I know so little about the great Jesus
doctrine. How can God be pleased to call me his child,
when I know not how to glorify him ?' They say the men
stand out far on the other side of the curtain* and teach
great and wonderful things which they cannot compre-
hend, but a woman can sit in their midst and listen to all
of their unlearned questions, and they are not ashamed to
let a patient woman see how little they know ! It is not
easy to hear these heart-felt burdens and be helpless to
meet their need in any adequate manner."
* Churches are divided by a curtain down the center, with
men on one side and women on the other. The preacher can
see both sides.
CHAPTER XV
Another Itineration — Christians in Eul Yul — A Ride in an Ox-
Cart — Keeping the Cow in the Kitchen — Ox-Carts and
Mountain Roads — The Island of White Wing — A Midnight
Meeting — Thanksgiving Day in Sorai — The Circular Orders
— New Testament Finished — All in the Day's Work — The
Korean Noble — Meetings of the Nobility.
WE left Pyeng Yang about the 26th of September, 1900,
by one of the toy Japanese steamers, and reached Chi-
nampo, a half- Japanese, half-Korean port, at night. We
were accompanied by three young ladies, one of whom, a
new arrival, wished to study methods ; one who needed the
bracing effect of out-of-door country life in the north for a
few weeks ; and one who had previously arranged with me
to carry on a women's training class in Eul Yul that fall.
We were obliged to spend the night in Chinampo, but ar-
riving late, we did not know where to find an inn, till we
met an old friend, Rev. Mr. Smart, of the Church of Eng-
land mission, who kindly found us a Japanese hotel. Here,
after telling them our nationality, our ages, our condition,
past lives and future intentions, and having been forced in
spite of all protests to remove our shoes, they conde-
scended to receive us as guests, at an outrageous price.
We must not use our own camp beds, but the mats which
had served no one knew whom before us ; nor might we
have water in our rooms, but must perform all our ablu-
tions in the public hall on the lower floor.
Next morning we gladly bade our too particular hosts
farewell, and crossed the river in a wretched old junk,
238 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
which looked as if it were on the brink of dissolution.
Fortunately, the weather was fine and mild, and the river
calm, else I am sure we should all have been dipped, for
even I had never yet beheld so dilapidated a craft. We
were all day on the river, only able to land after dark,
thanks partly to the nature of our vessel and partly to the
tides, for which we were forced to wait before landing.
The following night was hot, the inns nothing more or
less than ovens, and morning found us all in an unusually
wilted condition, and to add to the general misery, the
young ladies of our party had made important additions to
their luggage, which threw us all four into the utmost con-
sternation. That evening we reached Eul Yul, where both
men's and women's classes were to be held. As usual the
people crowded in to meet us as soon as we arrived. Al-
though harvesting was on and it was one of the busiest
times of the year, quite a number of women came to study
with us. They were so bright and receptive, it was a
pleasure to teach them. I had some very interesting visits
with the women in their own homes, and was edified to see
the bright and practical way in which the Christian who
accompanied us talked with some of the unbelievers. One
woman was hesitating, fearing she was too ignorant or too
wicked to receive salvation, to which our native friend
said, "Why, if you are hungry, and a bowl of rice is set be-
fore you, you eat right then, and just so if you want sal-
vation, you have only to take and eat."
The listener's eyes filled with tears, it seemed too good.
All the time we were talking, another Christian woman sat
with bowed head asking God's blessing on the word. In
the examination of applicants for baptism, I was much in-
terested to see how carefully our native leaders questioned
them. ''You say you sin daily, but ask God to forgive, and
so have a happy and calm mind. Is it then no matter that
CHRISTIANS IN EUL YUL 239
you sin ?" Again, to a woman who said her past sins were
forgiven, and her present sins were confessed every day,
he said, "Well, then, what sin have you committed to-
day?" She could or would only speak in a general way,
and after various questions, mentioned nothing in par-
ticular. "But," said Kim, "is that honoring God, to go and
confess you have sinned, and ask him to forgive you know
not what?" On Sunday twenty people were baptized.
During the communion service all eyes were streaming,
and some sobbed like children at the thought of what the
Lord had suffered for them.
In the afternoon our native elder, Mr. Saw, gave us a
delightful illustrated Bible lesson on the Christian armor,
with illustrations drawn and colored by himself, and with
most appropriate references. The native Christian was
first represented in ordinary dress all unarmed, and in suc-
ceeding pictures, one after another of the needed articles,
helmet, shield, sandals, breastplate and sword were added.
These illustrations were unique to the last degree and ex-
tremely well drawn. In the evening an experience meet-
ing was held, when one after another told what the Lord
had done for them. Some had been the slaves of drink,
and had fallen again and again after repeated attempts to
resist, in their own strength, but now for years had been
free men in Christ, and were looked upon as miracles of
grace by their friends and neighbors.
One man told something of his home life. He had been
a dissolute gambling fellow, whose reputation was well
known through all the surrounding counties. When he
went home at night, after days of absence and dissipation,
his angry wife would scold and reproach him, and he in
return would beat and maltreat the poor little woman. "It
was all misery and discomfort, but now, all peace and
love." A neighbor who came in often remarked on this
240 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
exceptionally happy home life, wishing hopelessly for
something like it in her lot. She could not believe the
happy wife when she told her it had once been so different,
and that all this came through Jesus.
Then Mrs. Kim called in her husband and bade him
tell if this was true. "Why," said he, "I'll do more, I'll
give my bond for it, bring paper and pen and I'll write a
bond to any amount you choose to name, that if Jesus
comes into your home there'll be peace there." "Why,"
said he, "people say if the Lord were only here now to do
some of his miracles every one would believe, but I tell you
the Lord is doing greater miracles now than he ever did
on earth when he takes a vile wretch like me and changes
his heart." One man had been afflicted with an apparently
incurable disease for over forty years, and now the Lord
had healed him ; and one had been such a liar that no one
believed his honest statements, and yet now was implicitly
trusted by every one.
It was decided before we left Eul Yul that the native
Christians of that district should employ two helpers or
evangelists to work among the ignorant believers of that
vicinity, and that twelve Bible or training classes should
be held in the different districts in that province during
the year, six to be in charge of Mr. Saw, and six taught by
Mr. Kim Yun Oh, our most intelligent leader. From Eul
Yul we went to Pung Chun, while Mr. Underwood visited
several smaller places more difficult of access. Miss
Chase and I divided the meetings, and were most thought-
fully and attentively heard, the little room being packed
whenever we announced a service.
Our quarters were not of the best, as the only place as-
signed us for preparing our food was a little corner of
the cow's stable. We have heard of people who "keep the
pig in the kitchen," but to keep the cow there was certainly
THE COW IN THE KITCHEN 241
a degree worse than our flightiest fancy, and we at length
rebelled, with the result that a more sanitary place was
found for our culinary performances.
After Mr. Underwood arrived, eleven people were bap-
tized here. The first public service for all was held in a
hired room in the largest inn in the place. The chief man,
after listening to all that had been said, arose and spoke
to the crowd as follows : "We all know that what we have
heard is true, there is nothing left for us to say but that
from to-day on we will believe." Some of the men who
attended this meeting remained outside the door at first,
unwilling to be seen in such company, as they were re-
spectable gentlemen. After listening awhile they conde-
scended to step inside, and before the service was over
they had seated themselves in the front row, and admitted
it was very good.
Aside from our kitchen arrangements, and a little
anxiety lest the cow should conclude to visit us in our
bedroom at night, and the persistent cock crowing at my
head from two in the morning, we had a lovely time at
Pung Chun.
Again at one of the little villages up in the mountains
some of our chair coolies deserted us, and there was
nothing left for it but for our two young ladies to ride in
an ox-cart. They were a little doubtful about this new
mode of procedure, but the Koreans assured us it was
quite safe, and as our little son had traveled miles that
way, we encouraged them to try it, especially as it was a
last resort. So with many misgivings they perched them-
selves on top of the loads, and the ox, a great spirited ani-
mal, was brought up. When Miss Chase asked if he was
to be trusted, they assured her with the statement that he
could fight any ox in the country. It was supposed a good
deal of harnessing would follow, but when a noose was
242 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
merely slipped over a hook, and with no warning the steed
literally galloped off, we were all somewhat startled, and
the young ladies gave themselves up, with such a team
running away.
The ox-cart is extremely primitive, its two wheels have
only the clumsiest attempt at heavy wooden tires. The
soft mud roads are full of deep ruts, so that under the
most favorable circumstances the bumping and jolting are
unspeakable. When therefore their mettlesome animal
was at length of a mind to pause a little in his mad career,
they lost no time in the order of their descent from that
vehicle, and started off at a brisk pace, evidently decided to
walk all the way back to Seoul rather than jeopardize
their lives in such a contrivance and behind such a creature
again. However, the way was long, and before night they
changed their minds and resigned themselves to the ox-
cart, when his bovine spirits were a little subdued by his
journey, and he was somewhat less light and frisky than
in the morning.
We arrived at Chil Pong, one of the villages perched
up in the mountains, early in the evening, but not so our
loads, which the country people manage in some miracu-
lous way to drag up the steep mountain roads on the ox-
carts.
It turned out that the ox-cart in use that day was a
very weak one and gave out entirely, breaking down half
way up the mountain. Another had to be brought from a
distance, and long delays ensued, where the average speed
is a snail's pace, in spite of the experience with the lively
animal the day before. Fortunately by this time we had
obtained more coolies for the young ladies, so that our
party were all together ; the little son having become such
a walker that he seldom patronized either chair or cart,
and often walked twenty miles a day. One of the helpers,
THE BEAUTIES OF THE MOUNTAINS 243
Mr. Shin, said, as he came up with the loads, supperless
and quite tired out, at twelve o'clock that night, that had it
not been that he was determined the pastor's wife must
not go without her bed and pillows, the cart would not
have arrived at all. So tenderly do the people care for the
needs of their teachers.
We found the mountains more beautiful, if possible,
than ever. It was October, and hills that in the previous
spring were rosy with rhododendrons and peach blossoms,
were now scarlet, gold and purple with the magnificence
of autumn foliage, asters and golden-rod. There was dis-
played on all sides some of the most brilliant coloring I
ever saw. There were quantities of bitter-sweet wreath-
ing all over trees and rocks, berries of many varieties, and
bushes reminding me of that which Moses saw in Horeb,
burning but not consumed. And though in a different
way, still I too felt that the ground was holy with the un-
seen but felt presence, and that it would be well to re-
move one's worldly shoes, which figuratively I did.
A few days later we crossed a mountain pass at over two
thousand feet elevation, where we found the scenery more
and more beautiful and wild. The gallant and unwearied
"Captain" almost carried the rheumatic partner of his
travels up the last steep ascent. The alternative was to sit
in a chair and trust one's self to a couple of tired coolies,
who might stumble and dash one to atoms ; or with chi-
pangi (alpenstock) in hand, slowly drag one's self up
and then down over the rocks and steep slippery road.
Arriving at the foot on the other side, we were once again
in dear Sorai, where a good hot floor soon took out all the
pain and weariness.
It had been decided that from Sorai we were to visit a
certain island called Pang Yeng, or "White Wing," where
quite a number of people were believing through the teach-
244 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
ing of some of the natives. The story is worth telling. A
man, who had been banished to this island for a political
offense, had received a Christian book from his nephew, a
Methodist, just before his departure. The young man
told his uncle that this religion was the basis of all civil
liberty and civilization, so that the banished man in his
loneliness proceeded to read it, and to publish and teach
its doctrines among the islanders. He had been informed
that on the opposite shore at Sorai lived people who could
further explain the book and its doctrines, so one of the
natives, the oldest and most honorable in the village, made
a trip to Sorai, and begged Elder Saw to return with him
and teach them.
They were lamentably ignorant, and while believing in
Jesus were still carrying on heathen worship ; they were as
blind people only partly restored, who saw men as trees
walking. Saw was not able to go at once, but after some
time, when he visited them, he found the whole village as-
sembled with all preparations made for offering their
heathen sacrifices. He talked to them very earnestly and
faithfully, and they then at once gave up all their idola-
trous worship, and in a body promised only to serve the
one true God.
The elder could not, however, remain long, and several
months later, when Mrs. Kim, the indefatigable voluntary
evangelist, visited them, she found that many of them
seemed to have fallen back almost completely into old
practices and beliefs. At first no one would receive her in
their homes, but she talked to the women outside the
houses so sweetly and winningly, that they at length in-
vited her in, and gathered around her to listen. A great
change was wrought through her teaching.
We made the trip in a little Korean sailing junk, which
was rather small and uncomfortable for bad weather, but
THE ISLAND OF WHITE WING 245
not at all out of the way on such a day as that on which we
started, with blue sky above, blue and sparkling water be-
low, and charming islands studding the sea like jewels.
We found that White Wing measured about twenty
miles round the coast line and was nine miles long, with a
capital and several hamlets. It is extremely beautiful and
fertile, well fortified by bold picturesque cliffs along the
coast, with delightful valleys and gently rolling country
snugly nestled behind them. The people are all farmers,
living in the simplest and most primitive way. Money is
rarely seen, there is indeed no need for it, with no fairs or
stores. Their wants are few, they raise what they need
for food, clothing, warmth and light on their little farms,
bartering among each other to supply such simple articles
as their own labor has not provided.
All appeared to have plenty of rice and firewood, and to
be quite content. Drunkenness and dishonesty are almost
unknown. The magistrate told us they rarely needed even
the slightest punishment, but were as they seemed to us,
a gentle, kindly, simple, honest farmer and fisher folk.
We found a small church built on the hillside, and a
little company of believers, who were waiting for exami-
nation and baptism. Although very ignorant, they were
most anxious to be taught, and Mrs. Kim, who had gone
with me from Sorai, and I were kept busy instructing the
women. Like the women everywhere in Korea, they
especially enjoyed the hymns, and were most eager to
learn them. The words were comparatively easy, but the
tunes were quite another matter. We realized the ad-
vantage in their learning them, both as a means of fixing
divine truth and publishing it to others.
We were to leave very early in the morning to catch the
tide, and the night before we had a farewell service in the
little church. When this was over, and good-byes said, I
246 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
went to the tiny room to pack our belongings, and Mr.
Underwood to one of the Christian houses to give last di-
rections and counsel with the leaders. About ten o'clock
Mrs. Kim came to my door with one of the women, asking
very humbly if I would go to one of their homes and teach
them a little more this one last time, though it was late.
"We are so ignorant and have none to guide and teach
us," said they pathetically. Of course I was delighted to
go, and followed them to a farmer's thatched cottage. It
was one of the poorest and rudest of the native homes ; in
one corner a farm hand was lying asleep, in another a tiny
wick burning in a saucer of oil was the only light in the
room. We sat down under this, and the poor, rough,
hard-working women clustered round us as closely as
possible. Their faces and hands bore the marks of care,
toil, hard lives and few joys, but they were lighted with a
glorious hope which transformed them, and this with the
awakening desire for knowledge had banished the look of
wooden stolidity, which so many Korean women wear.
While we talked of our Lord and his teachings and
conned again and again the hymns, a cough was heard at
the door, and it was found that a number of "the brethren"
were standing out there in the cold, frosty air of the
November night, listening to such scraps of good words as
they could catch. So when one of the women asked if they
might come in, although generally out of regard for Ko-
rean custom and prejudice, I not only teach no men, but
keep as much out of sight as possible, there were on this
occasion no two ways about it, they must come, and in
they thronged. It was a picture which I shall never for-
get, the dark eager faces, every one leaning forward in
eager attitude, all seeking more knowledge of divine truth,
hungering and thirsting after righteousness. A little
dim humble room, and only such a poor feeble wick to
A MIDNIGHT MEETING 247
light them all. Such a poor feeble wick was I, and all
were looking to me for God's light. "Feed my lambs,"
was his last command, and yet in many a hut and hamlet
his hungry little ones are starving.
Next morning at the first streak of dawn they again
came, and with tears streaming down their faces, begged
me to come soon again. "Oh, we are so ignorant, and so
weak, how can we escape the snares of Satan, with no one
here to lead and teach us !" they exclaimed.
Our return trip was very different from our first cross-
ing. A severe storm of wind and rain came up, the little
ship was tossed about on the waves like a plaything, and
Mrs. Kim and I were miserably sick, not to mention being
drenched with rain. It was impossible to make our port,
and we were obliged to attempt the nearest coast, which
offered no shelter from the wind, in addition to which, the
tide being out, our boat was bumped about mercilessly on
the rocks and stones with no chance of a landing for some
hours.
However, all things come to an end sometime, and we at
length effected a safe landing, and were soon dried,
warmed and fed in a fishing village at hand, and reached
Sorai next day. Before we left Sorai, the Christians held
their annual Thinksgiving service. The church being too
small to hold all the people, a tent was spread outside.
After thanking God for their bountiful harvests and grow-
ing prosperity, they offered thanks for the spiritual har-
vest he had given.
During the year over two hundred and fifty people of
the neighboring villages had been baptized through the
missions and labors of this one little church, not counting
a much larger number of catechumens received. They had
enlarged and repaired their church and school rooms, built
a house for their school teacher, one for their evangelist
248 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
and another for the entertainment of strangers, who come
from a distance to the Sabbath services.
They are an open-handed people, and when they read
of the famine in India they took up a collection, amounting
to fifty yen. As their daily wage rarely amounts to more
than ten cents gold, and as the community is small, this
was a large gift. Several of the women who had no
money put their heavy silver rings in the plate. These
rings are in many cases their only ornaments, and are
most highly prized, so that when they were given, we
knew that our people were giving till they felt it deeply.
In the famine so severe in many counties last year,
Sorai, which was more blessed, helped many of its sister
communities. On our return to Hai Ju we had some in-
teresting visits with the women both in their own homes
and at our rooms. We were allowed to help prepare the
"dock," or bread, which we found them making in one of
the houses, for a prospective wedding. They were having
a "bee," a number of friends had come in to help, and
they seemed much amused and pleased when we asked to
be allowed to assist. We were very clumsy and awkward,
but we gained our end by making them feel we were one
with them. Later we were invited to the wedding, and
forced to swallow an amount of indigestible food, which at
other times we should consider as simply suicidal. But
when it is a duty, one simply shuts one's eyes to conse-
quences, takes all risks, and comes through with an im-
munity which I verily believe is miraculous.
One old woman, who attended the meetings very regu-
larly and was very devout, is quite a character. With a
loud strong voice, but not the remotest glimmering of a
notion of harmony, time or tune, she shouts away several
lines and bars before or behind the rest, no consequence
which, and quite often, if the hymn chosen is not in her
AN ALARMING EDICT 249
book or according to her mind, she chooses another and
proceeds as zealously as ever. When gently remon-
strated with, she replies, "Oh, that is no matter, I'm not
following you, I'm singing (?) by myself."
We had only been in Hai Ju a few days when a fleet-
footed messenger from Eul Yul arrived with a letter con-
taining the news that a secret royal edict was being sent
round to the various magistracies in that province, com-
manding all Confucianists to gather at night on the second
of the next month (about fifteen days later), each at his
nearest worshiping place in his district, and from thence to
go in a body and kill all Westerners and followers of
Western doctrine, and destroy their houses, churches and
schools. A friend in the magistrate's office, holding some
petty position, happened to be present when this arrived,
noted the excitement and agitation which the official
evinced on reading it and the care with which it was
guarded, and determined to learn its contents. He con-
trived an opportunity to read it unseen, and as some of his
near relatives were Christians, he at once communicated
the terrible news to them. One of the same family, a
young man who was a fleet-footed runner, was instantly
sent to us with a copy of the edict.
No words can express our state of mind on receiving
the news. Thought flew back to one peaceful little com-
munity after another, which we had so lately visited, all
rejoicing in the beautiful new life, all growing up toward
Christ, like flowers reaching up to the sun, with the light
of a glad hope in their faces, happy, harmless, kindly peo-
ple, the aged, the little toddling children, helpless women,
unsuspecting farmers, all consigned to utter destruction.
As for ourselves, we were in one of the worst of Korean
cities, it was impossible to make the slightest movement
without attracting the notice of every one, for we were
250 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
constantly the center of the observation of the whole town.
It would be impossible to make our escape if any one
wished to detain us. To make matters much worse, we
had two young ladies and a child in our party. Probably
little danger threatened us personally, as the governor
was friendly, but our first duty was to send word to the
American minister in Seoul, and it must be done quickly.
To send a dispatch in any Eastern or European language
would be futile, as, if suspicion was aroused, there were
means of interpreting any of them. We at length con-
cluded to send a Latin message, not to our minister, but
to one of our mission, as less likely to attract attention
either in Hai Ju or Seoul. This was done, and the mes-
sage was at once carried to the American legation.
The news was at first received with incredulity, so
friendly had the attitude of the government always been,
but when it was remembered that recent Boxer disturb-
ances in China might have suggested a similar course here,
and that there were strong Buddhists high in influence at
the palace who might have caused this strange measure,
and when at the Foreign Office, through admissions and
contradictions, it was made evident that the circulation of
such an edict was not unknown to them, all doubt was
over. Not long after it developed that from similar
sources (that is, friends of Christians or of missionaries)
the news had been carried to missionaries in Kang Wha
and in Pyeng Yang. That it was unadvisedly done, and
speedily repented, was proved by the fact that a few days
later another edict rescinding the first was sent every-
where. Nevertheless and notwithstanding, I breathed
freely and slept well for the first time since hearing the
bad news, when I found myself on the little Japanese
steamer well started on my way back to Seoul. The sup-
posed authors of the order were put under arrest, and I
THE NEW TESTAMENT IN KOREAN 251
believe punished, the Korean officials vigorously protest-
ing that it was all a mistake and sent without the knowl-
edge of the king or the government.
These trips to Whang Hai province usually occupied
six or eight weeks of our time, and full of delightful inci-
dents and experiences as they always were, did not repre-
sent more than a fraction of the work. In the fall of 1900
the whole New Testament was given to the people. To
celebrate this event a large meeting was held in the Metho-
dist church, the largest audience hall in Seoul, composed
of as many natives and Christians as could be packed with-
in its walls. A suitable thanksgiving service was held,
and the board of translators and their native literary
helpers were presented by the American minister with
copies of the book, with very kind remarks on their work.
The board now consisted of Rev. H. G. Appenzeller, Dr.
Scranton, Rev. W. D. Reynolds, Rev. James S. Gale and
Mr. Underwood.
In addition to the editorship of a weekly religious
newspaper, Bible translation, preparation of tracts and
hymns, city training classes, weekly religious services and
meetings, supervision of schools and language class for
missionaries, Mr. Underwood felt that a special effort
ought to be made for the nobility and gentry, the hardest
people in the country to reach with the gospel. This is
the case, partly because officials who would retain office
must go at regular intervals and offer certain prayers and
sacrifices at royal shrines,, partly that the ideas of caste
are so strong that the nobility are unwilling to seat them-
selves on the floor in our churches among farmers, ped-
dlers, coolies, merchants or even scholars, to listen to the
gospel ; and in addition, that their family life is grounded
and interwoven on and in the concubine system. All of
them have two or more families, some of them many.
252 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
These numerous wives, their parents and progeny would
make life intolerable should the husband put them aside.
His friends and relatives would look upon him as too evil
to live should he neglect to worship the ancestral tablets,
and the spirits of his ancestors themselves would follow
him like harpies, with all sorts of misfortunes and dis-
eases.
Each man, too, looks forward with great complacency
to being honored in his time as he has honored his dead
parents, and seems to be overwhelmed with something
like terror at the idea of having no one to worship his
memory and offer sacrifices before his tablets, so that
childless men usually adopt sons to keep their memory
green. The ladies of this class, the first wives, are, as I
think I have said before, very closely secluded, and are
never seen except in their own apartments or the anpang
of their kin, whither they are carried in closely covered
chairs.
In such a state of affairs it is not strange that men
should hesitate to listen to the doctrines of a religion
which would turn their whole social world upside down,
wreck their homes, cast upon them the blackest stigma,
turn them outside the pale of court and official life, rob
them of their income, and rank them with the common
people. Knowing that it was almost impossible to induce
them to attend church, an invitation was therefore issued,
asking a large number of them to come to our house to
talk over religious matters. To our surprise the call was
most heartily responded to, and two large rooms were
crowded with high Korean gentlemen, all of whom came
no doubt from politeness or curiosity.
There were princes, generals, members of the cabinet,
all men of the highest rank and birth. All listened with
the closest attention, many of them asking thoughtful
A REMARKABLE PROPOSITION 253
questions, which showed their real interest in what was
said by the missionaries who came to assist Mr. Under-
wood in receiving and talking with them. Some asked
for books, and many came repeatedly to talk over these
matters in private. Meetings were held regularly Sun-
day afternoons, and a stereopticon exhibition was given,
showing a series of scenes from the life of Christ.
One result of these meetings was that Mr. Underwood
was approached with the suggestion that he should estab-
lish a Presbyterian state church. We were told that a
large number of officials would prefer (if they were to be
forced into giving up their own religion and joining a for-
eign church, as at that time seemed likely) to make it one
of their own choosing, and connected with Americans
rather than Russians. They were, of course, informed
that we could not organize churches in that way, nor bap-
tize men for state and political purposes. The suggestion
was not official, but if we had been willing to use oppor-
tunities of this sort, the roll-call among the high class of
nominal members might have been greatly swelled.
CHAPTER XVI
Furloughs — Chong Dong Church — Romanists in Whang Hai —
Missionaries to the Rescue — Romanists Annoy and Hinder
the Judge — Results — Interview between Governor and
Priest — The Inspector's Report — Women's Work in Hai Ju
— Deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Miller —
The End.
IN 1901 we took another furlough, during which we
were brought in touch with American Christians in nearly
every large city in the country, and thus were able to
make the church aware of God's wonderful dealings in
Korea and to enlighten the public on the needs of this
country. On our return, we missed among the faces of
dear old friends who came to welcome us that of our
work-fellow and beloved brother, Rev. H. G. Appenzeller.
Mr. Appenzeller, the first evangelistic worker of his mis-
sion, had labored with my husband, heart and hand, for
over sixteen years, and they had taken their earliest itiner-
ations to the country in company. The loss fell heavily
upon both native and foreign community, and seems to
grow, as we feel the need of the enthusiastic and ready
service everywhere. On our return our first attention was
given to our dear Chong Dong (city) church, the mem-
bers of which have from the first been marked as ener-
getic, generous and full of faith. With a membership, as
has been said, of two hundred and nineteen, they carry on
five missions near the city, within a radius of five miles.
These are places where chapels have been built — but they
have also several other missions in districts where services
THE CHONG DONG CHURCH 255
are held in private dwellings. The church members con-
duct and take charge of all these services. They have
contributed during the past year (1:902- 1903), reckoned
in gold dollars :
For their school $75-8o
Church running expenses 75-4°
Evangelistic work 45-82
Charity 20.66
Gifts of City Mission Society 5O-5O
Total $268.18
This total, however, is not a complete report, not in-
cluding the gifts of the largest mission, that of Chandari,
a (from a Korean standpoint) prosperous little farming
community outside the city. For the women and girls,
beside Sabbath services and regular prayer meetings, six
weekly Bible classes are held in different neighborhoods,
all but two of which are well attended. There are a num-
ber of these women well fitted for Christian teaching, and
one or another of them has repeatedly gone off on a six-
weeks' trip, with some of the lady missionaries, asking
nothing more than her bare expenses. They often go
away on evangelistic trips quite at their own instance,
visiting village after village, distributing tracts which they
themselves have bought for the purpose, and teaching the
country women who cannot read.
Very soon after our return to Korea my husband was
requested by the American minister and the members of
our mission to visit Hai Ju, in the province of Whang Hai,
on a mission of very serious importance. We were sent to
Hai Ju in February, and since the preceding September, it
had come to be a matter of common report that the native
Romanists (of whom there are said to be twenty thousand
256 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
in that province) had, under the lead of the French priests,
been robbing, torturing and blackmailing the poor people
of the province "for money to build churches," resisting
with arms, maiming, beating and even imprisoning officers
of the law sent to stop them, and establishing a veritable
reign of terror through the whole district ; so that the
weaker magistrates dared not lift a finger against any
criminal favored by the priests, or belonging to that
church, and fairly trembled for fear of them, obeying with
the alertness of terror their slightest behest.
The state of affairs grew so bad at length that the gov-
ernor sent a manifesto to Seoul, saying he could no longer
carry on the government of the province in such a state of
insurrection and anarchy. The following is a translation,
made for the Korea Review, of the official copy of a part
of the governor's complaint :
"In the counties of Sin-ch'un, Cha-ryung, An-ak,
Chang-yun, Pong-san, Whang- ju, and Su-heung, disturb-
ances created by the Roman Catholics are many in num-
ber, and petitions and complaints are coming in from all
quarters.
"In some cases it is a question of building churches and
collecting funds from the villages about. If any refuse to
pay, they are bound and beaten and rendered helpless.
When certain ones, in answer to petition, have been
ordered arrested, the police have been mobbed and the offi-
cers of the law have been unable to resist it. While in-
vestigating a case on behalf of the people, I sent police to
arrest Catholics in Cha-ryung. They raised a band of fol-
lowers, beat off the police, arrested them, and dismissed
them with orders not to return. Then I sent a secretary.
to remonstrate with them. At that the Sin-ch'un Catho-
lics, a score or more of them, armed with guns, arrested
the secretary, insulted him, etc,"
TROUBLE WITH ROMANISTS 257
One of the priests, who is apparently most influential
and has been most notorious, whose Korean name is Hong,
and who is known among foreigners as Father Wilhelm,
told my husband that the native Romanists were not to be
blamed for all this, for they had only obeyed his orders.
Mr. Underwood had had a slight acquaintance with this
priest for some years, meeting him occasionally and
knowing little of his life, but supposing he was doing an
earnest if mistaken work of self-sacrifice, he was unable to
believe that the priest was cognizant of all that was being
done by his followers, until he had both written and had
a personal interview with him, when he was sorrowfully
forced to see that rumor had not misrepresented his con-
duct.
This sad condition of things might have gone on, no one
knows how long, but some of the people so robbed and tor-
tured were Presbyterian Christians, and there is some-
thing about Protestant Christianity that resists oppression
and favors a growth of sturdy independence and a love of
freedom and fair play. One of these men was a particu-
larly determined fellow who had been persistently seeking
justice ever since, and would not be discouraged or
daunted. He first went to the missionaries, who told him
to take the matter to the Korean courts, but as the pro-
vincial courts were quite helpless against such a giant evil,
he went up to the capital. The officials at the capital,
probably in awe of the French, dared not interfere. He
and his companion, another sturdy farmer like himself,
went from one missionary to another in Seoul, all of whom
put them off, disliking to take up native quarrels, and on
principle opposed to using influence with Korean officials,
and none of them realizing to what threatening dimensions
the affair had grown.
These poor men were not eloquent, they could only
258 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
tell a plain, simple story, but they knew that they and
thousands of others were deeply wronged and were able
to do one thing well, namely, to persist. Persist they did
with unwearied resolution.
Failing to obtain any help or satisfaction, they at length
decided to go directly to the French legation and seek
justice and relief there. They were received, attentively
heard, carefully questioned, given a promise of redress,
and sent politely away. They waited long and patiently,
but no redress came, nor any sign of it. Again and again
they sought the fulfilment of the promises of the represen-
tative of France, only to be put off repeatedly with fair
words and indefinite assurances.
So at length they published their whole story in the
leading Korean newspaper in Seoul. Then the French
minister did indeed begin to act. He immediately re-
quested the Korean Foreign Office to have the men beaten
and imprisoned, on the ground that conduct like theirs
had caused the Boxer trouble in China.
When affairs came to this crisis, the Protestant mission-
aries awoke to the situation. Rev. Mr. Gale and Mr.
Underwood went to the office of Foreign Affairs and pled
for the men, and also laid the matter before the American
minister, Dr. Allen. He gave it his careful attention and
succeeded in having a commission appointed by the Ko-
rean government to go to Hai Ju and investigate the
charges. Dr. Moffett, of Pyeng Yang, and Mr. Under-
wood were also requested to be present and attend the
trials. From the beginning to the end of this attempt to
bring the truth to light, the French priests by every art in
their power tried to block and delay the proceedings of the
judge, to annoy and overawe him in Hai Ju, and (we were
informed) by letters, special messengers and telegrams,
to limit his power, hinder his plans, and undermine him in
Seoul.
THE PRIEST'S TACTICS 259
He was a sturdy, clear-headed, determined man, who
had had long intercourse with Europeans in his post in the
Foreign Office, and held his own with much self-posses-
sion and sang-froid. It was said of him that he carried on
the trials more fairly and more in accordance with equity
than had ever been seen before in Korea.
The priests arrested and tortured a policeman who had
been sent to bring some of the accused to the court,
hanging him by his wrists. They used all the influence
they possessed in Seoul, through the French, to force the
Korean government to order the commission to yield to
their demands for the release of prisoners already in the
hands of the law, and for the remittance of punishment as
they should dictate.
They induced the commissioner to promise that he
would not try to arrest any one for a week, on the solemn
assurance that they would themselves bring all the ac-
cused to court, and then, although they had two of the
most notorious malefactors in their house for several days
before the week expired, they allowed them to escape.
They forced themselves into the commissioner's pres-
ence and with bluff and reiterated demands wearied him
into sending his resignation to Seoul, which, however, the
king refused to accept.
"Father Wilhelm's" church is in a valley about ten miles
from Hai Ju, entirely surrounded by high hills. The en-
trance to the valley at that time was guarded by sentinels,
and the points of vantage on the hill tops were occupied
in the same way. When any one is seen approaching, a
signal is given, and the people (for the village is full of
fugitives from justice) flee into the church, which it will
be seen serves the triple purpose of a court with torture
chamber, a citadel, and a place of worship.
When police were sent there with warrants of arrest for
260 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
some of the worst miscreants, Father Wilhelm met them
at the door with a revolver, demanding what they wanted.
When told, he requested to see the warrants, denied that
any such persons were there, would not allow them to
enter, nor would he return the warrants, but with threats
bade them begone. On more than one occasion posses of
armed men were sent by him to rescue criminals who had
been seized.
The crudest forms of torture, such as are used only by
Korean officials in cases of murder and treason, were used
by the priests in their churches to force poor peasants to
give over their money or the deeds of their houses and
farms. Mr. Underwood and Dr. Moffett spent some
weeks in Hai Ju, carefully studying these matters and in
close attendance at the trials. In addition to the above
facts they discovered that this was not a persecution
waged upon Protestants by Catholics, but a system of
blackmail laid on the whole community, and that the num-
ber of complaints brought in by non-Christian natives
were, compared to those from Christians, as twenty to one.
Again, that the French priests were (in the present in-
stance, at least) demanding, as in China, a right to sit with
a judge in a court of justice and modify sentences. We
learned further that the people were tormented to the
verge of insurrection, and had planned to rise on a cer-
tain day, when the news that a commission had been ap-
pointed, and that the missionaries had come down to see
fair play at the investigations, calmed and decided them to
await further developments.
The results of the trials were very unsatisfactory. With
the small force of men at his command, with the priests
foiling every effort to make arrests, few men were appre-
hended. Those who were brought to trial, by their own
admissions and self-contradictions, and by the consistent
THE OFFICIAL REPORT 261
and overwhelming testimony of many witnesses, were all
proved guilty of the charges laid against them. The
priests, and by far the majority of the miscreants, includ-
ing the ringleaders, who could not be caught, went scot
free. The commissioner made a report to the Korean gov-
ernment, asking for the deportation of the two priests,
Wilhelm and Le Gac, which the Korean government did
not ask, but which it would have been thought should
hardly have been necessary. Were not the Koreans long
suffering to a remarkable degree, as well as a feeble
power, they would long since have risen and cast out all
foreigners from their desecrated shores. In the light of
what we have seen and heard here, the cause of the Boxer
troubles in China is not far to seek. Thus is national senti-
ment aroused against us ; for long persistence in conduct
similar to this was foreign blood spilled like water there,
and for such reasons are the gates of Thibet barred to the
gospel.
The following official report of the interview between
the priest and the governor of Whang Hai province,
in the presence of the inspector sent by the king, will show
what a state of affairs existed.
"Translation of the official report of the interview held
between the governor of Whang Hai Do and Father Wil-
helm, in the presence of the Inspector Yi Eung Ik. Eighth
day 2d Moon Koang Mu.
"In the seventh year of Quang Mo in the second moon
and eighth day, the governor of Whang Hai Do, Yi Yung
Chick, and the French teacher, Hong Sok Ku (Mons.
Wilhelm), conferred. Hong Sok Ku said, "The contro-
versy between the governor and myself arose from the
governor's not appeasing my wrath by arresting Mr. Pak
Chang Mou of Whang Ju, and punishing him. This Pak,
at night after dark, had thrown stones at the church of
262 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
Han Sinpu (a native Korean priest), and I therefore had
spoken to the local magistrate of Whang Ju and asked to
have him arrested and imprisoned, but Pak, through his
local influence, had returned undisturbed to his home, and
as there seemed no other means of having him punished, I
wrote a letter to the governor, asking that he would have
Pak brought up to the provincial town of Hai Ju and
severely punished. The governor replied that he could
not have the people of local magistracies brought up to
Hai Ju, and I therefore supposed that the governor had
no power to arrest the people of outside local magistracies,
and when I learned to my surprise that there was an order
for the arrest of some of the Christians (Romanist) of
Shinampo by the governor, feeling sure that it was a false
order, I released by force all those whom the police were
arresting, and at once ordered all my Christians, if any
one came out to arrest them again, to resist it utterly."
The governor replied : "As for the business of Pak of
Whang Ju, since he had been already arrested and im-
prisoned in Whang Ju, and there was therefore no reason
why he should be brought up to Hai Ju, I did not do so as
you had asked, and as for my reply in my former letter,
that I could not arrest him, it was in accordance with the
Chibang Cheido (Book of Laws) in regard to local and
provincial jurisdiction, and the reason why, after1 my peo-
ple have appealed, I can order them arrested to try the
case, is in accordance with the Chaipan Chang Chung,
or book of rules for courts of justice, and if you had any
doubts about the earlier or later affair, while it would not
have been out of the way to have asked a question, is it
right with your followers to gather a crowd and organ-
ize a band to arrest and carry off policemen, to release and
set free those who have broken the laws, and to order
your followers to resist authority, so making your people
THE INTERVIEW 263
fall into sin, and making it impossible for the appointed
authorities to administer justice ?
"Desirous of instructing these ignorant people, I sent
one of the Chusas (high official next to the governor) at-
tached to this governorship, but you sent out a company
of men with firearms, twelve miles, and after dark seized
and carried off this official. A Chusa is a national govern-
ment officer, military arms are outrageous things ; leaning
upon what authority did you do such things as these, and
by whose authority do you arrest and carry off Koreans
and try to administer justice?"
Mons. Wilhelm replied: "I myself know that these
things are not right, and did them purposely. As far as
the book Chaipan Chang Chung is concerned, I know
nothing about it, but I simply relied upon the previous
letter which you had sent. I desired to understand the
matter, and sent you another letter, and because you sent
my letter back to me I still feel very angry."
The governor replied : "But your saying that you only
recognized my first letter shows you simply know one
thing and cannot know two ; as for your letter and my re-
turning it without an answer, it was because, after the ar-
rest of my Chusa, I had sent by special messenger a letter
to you, and you had given no answer and sent the man
back emptyhanded, I was indignant. As I had no reply
to my letter to you in regard to the Chang Yung affair,
why should I only answer letters? Because I thought it
would be wrong for me to keep your letter that I did not
answer, I returned it."
Father Wilhelm replied: "Because in the governor's
last letter on the envelope he had written Saham I did not
answer the letter." Saham is written outside of letters
which are replies from one slightly superior in rank.
The governor replied : "Is it right to allow questions to
264 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
go unanswered ; is it because you have nothing to say that
you fail to answer all these questions ?"
Father Wilhelm replied : "When Pak Chang Mou's
wrong-doings had not yet been punished, is it right that
he should have been made one of the tax collectors?
When you have arrested and brought him to Hai Ju and
severely punished him, then only will my wrath be ap-
peased."
The governor then said : "In the eighth moon of last
year when I went to Whang Ju, I looked carefully into
this affair of Pak's. Although it was stated that he had
thrown stones, there was no sure proof, and yet he had
been locked up in the local jail and had been punished,
during the investigation, how, then, can you say that he
has gone unpunished? How can you claim that giving
him a petty office several months later is an injustice?
Then, too, you took this man to your church and there
beat him, and still claim that your wrath has not been ap-
peased. Would you have me arrest him, bring him here
and make him and the complainants face each other?"
Pere Wilhelm answered : "Although I did have him
beaten with ten strokes, it was not a punishment for his
main crime, but because when his magistrate sent Pak to
confess his sins he was on the contrary impudent, and
therefore I punished him, but his former offence still ex-
isted."
The governor replied : "When you are not a Korean
official, is it right that you should arrest and beat Ko-
reans ?"
Father Wilhelm said: "It is because if I did not beat
them I could not hold my position as superior that I do it."
The governor answered : "You, a private citizen, arrest-
ing and beating Koreans and doing wrong, and your writ-
ten orders to your people, have caused them to break the
CHARGES AGAINST ROMANISTS 265
laws in eight different ways. They resist the authority of
the government, beat the underlings, and refuse to pay
their taxes.
"In addition, at their churches and meeting places they
establish courts of justice.
"Still further, without order, in companies they rush
into the presence of magistrates to terrify them.
"Still again, of their own accord they arrest, beat and
imprison the people.
"Again, calling it money for the building of churches,
they extort contributions by force from the people.
"Furthermore, at their own desire they cut down trees
used for Korean spirit worship, they organize bands to
forcibly bury the dead and move graves ; and still further,
they force people, who have no desire to do so, to enter
their church."
Father Wilhelm replied: "I will with great care stop
these eight offences and will not allow them to do as be-
fore ; have no fear."
Thus ends the report of this unique interview between
the governor of one of the most populous provinces of
Korea and the French missionary. It is to be regretted,
however, that his ready promise in regard to nearly all the
eight offenses was repeatedly broken within a very short
time after it was made. I will add one or two other tran-
scriptions from the official documents, which came directly
from the commissioner's office to our hands, and which
translations appeared in the Korea Review, March, 1903.
The first report of the imperial inspector to the govern-
ment:
"I have looked carefully into the disturbances among
the people in the different counties, and the various
crimes up to this date noted in the public records are only
one or two in hundreds. Outside of two or three counties,
266 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
all the magistrates have been under this oppression, and
with folded hands, are unable to stir. The poor helpless
people sit waiting for doom to overtake them. Receiving
imperial orders to look into the matter, I have under-
taken the task, and daily crowds with petitions fill the
court. There are no words to express the sights one sees,
the stories one hears. Depending on the influence of for-
eigners (French), the Catholics' issuing of orders to ar-
rest is of daily occurrence ; their runners are fiercer than
leopards, and the torture they inflict is that reserved
for only thieves and robbers ; life is ground out of the
people, goods and livelihood are gone. Unless this kind
of thing is put down with strong hand, thousands of lives
will be lost in the end.
"A French priest by the name of Wilhelm, living in
Chang-ke-dong in Sin-ch-un, a retired spot among the
hills, has gathered about him a mob of lawless people.
Their houses number several hundred. Many of them
carry foreign guns, so that country people are afraid, and
dare not take action. A number of those already arrested
have been set free by this priest. Most of those who have
slipped the net have escaped there, and now form a band
of robbers. There is no knowing where trouble will next
arise, and it is a time of special anxiety. Those who
assemble there at the 'call of the whistle' (bandit) are
outlaws, and must be arrested. They may, however, make
use of dangerous weapons, so we cannot do otherwise
than be prepared for them. This is my report. Look care-
fully into it. Send word to the office of generals. Wire
me permission to use soldiers, and as occasion offers lend
me a helping hand."
While this painful business was on, and my husband
was daily attending the trials and listening to the harrow-
ing tales of the poor, tortured and robbed people, and see-
A DEVOTED WORKER 267
ing heartrending evidences of the cruelties inflicted upon
them, I was holding meetings with the Christian women
who came every morning to study the Bible. One visit
only was made to a small village a short distance outside
the city, where there were quite a number of Christian
families.
All the Christian women quickly assembled at the house
of my hostess, a wholesome farmer's wife, who came out
to the road to welcome me, took both my hands in hers
with a long gentle pressure, and a look of gladness as
bright as if I had been a radiant angel from heaven, or a
returned apostle. Her small rooms were soon filled with
Christians and others, who listened while we held a ser-
vice and talked of the things concerning the kingdom.
Then they, with bounteous hospitality, brought in a
store of the best their homes contained of dainties. They
feasted my two native companions and myself and all the
visitors, both Christians and mere sightseers, and even my
chair coolies were given as much as they could eat, which
is no mean amount.
One woman said that her eldest son had just returned
from Sorai and was urging his father to sell his good
farm and home and move there with his family, so that he
and his brothers might attend that school and church and
learn more about God and his will.
The work in this hamlet all started through the in-
strumentality of a young girl in Hai Ju, not seventeen
years old, who, having formerly lived here, after her mar-
riage into a Christian household in the city, and after her
conversion, often returned to her old home and begged her
family to believe and accept Christ.
Though they scoffed and reviled at first, after a while
they began to listen, and finally one, then another, yielded
their hearts. After the manner of Korean Christians,
268 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
they "passed on the word," and so at length seven families
were trusting Christ.
After seven weeks in Hai Ju we returned to Seoul,
having done all that was possible in the matters we had
been sent there to look after, and having made it plain that
Americans would not stand by and see the natives perse-
cuted and wronged without a strong protest ; for while we
try not to interfere between them and their rulers (and this
is at times extremely difficult), we do not feel the same
obligation in the case of French priests. Our hope now is
that these outrages will henceforth be somewhat restricted
and that Protestants will at least remain unmolested, as
the mere advertisement and bringing to the light of the
evil would do much to prevent its repetition, the children
of darkness having an ancient dislike of the light.
Before we returned from Hai Ju we learned of the
death by smallpox of our dear brother, Mr. W. V. John-
son, who had arrived early in February of that year, his
consecrated young wife having died on the way to the
field, in Kobe, Japan.
We all felt the sweet devoted spirit of the earnest young
brother, and knew that these two valuable lives were not
given in vain, but that God has accepted their sacrifice
as if they had done all they planned, and has chosen to
call them to reward a little earlier, because they will better
so fulfil his purpose, for, through and in them. Again,
only a few months later, we were all called to part with
a dear sister, Mrs. F. S. Miller, whose loving sympathy
and patient endurance of sickness and pain had endeared
her to missionaries and native Christians alike. Not a
month before her own death, her hands prepared the
casket for the cold little form of one of the dear little mis-
sionary babies, of whom so many are now in heaven. And
so, as was said at the time of her release, "Korea seems a
GREAT OPPORTUNITIES 269
gate to heaven." Sure it is good to go from service to the
vision of the King.
This little chain of reminiscences is now at an end. Its
object has simply been to interest Christian people in this
most interesting country, and to show what God is work-
ing here.
It has been necessarily limited, mainly to the experience
of one pair of missionaries, because the writer has neither
the knowledge nor the liberty to speak freely of the lives
and work of all, and neither the ability nor the space to
write a complete history of mission work in Korea. It is
hoped that although so restricted, as to be a mere glimpse
of a small fraction of what is being done, it will serve to
make plain what grand opportunities are theirs (at
present) who would lead a nation out of bondage into
liberty, the only liberty worth calling the name, or that
sinful mortals can use, "the liberty of Christ."
Korea, lying as she does so close to China (whose
future is fraught with such mighty possibilities of good
or evil to the whole world), with such close affinities and
wide sympathies for that people, is, we hope, to be a
polished shaft in God's quiver in conquering that great
nation for his kingdom. But whatever his eternal purpose
may be, there is no doubt as to our present privilege and
"power to the last particle is duty."
If in these pages you have seen much that leads you to
think the land is a difficult one in which to live, if you
have read of political unrest, bad government, riots, rob-
bers and plagues; if you have learned that missionaries
have died of typhus fever, smallpox, dysentery and other
violent forms of disease, this will only serve to remind you
that the more valuable the prize to be won, the greater the
difficulty and cost. If you desire to share in the joy of this
great harvest, and are worthy, you will fear no danger,
270 FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS
shrink from no obstacles, either for yourselves or for your
loved ones, whom you are asked to give to the work.
God placed an angel with a flaming sword which turned
every way at the gate of paradise. Is the kingdom still
thus guarded? Must we all who would enter follow him
who was made perfect through suffering ? What was our
Lord's meaning when he said, "The kingdom of heaven
suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." Some
of us are ready to pray that God would place another such
flaming sword at the gate of our mission fields, so that no
man or woman who could or would not brave such bap-
tism of fire should enter. There is no more place on the
mission field for the fearful and unbelieving than in
heaven itself. Like Gideon's army, let the applicants be re-
duced till only the resolute, the consecrated, those who be-
lieve in God, the people and themselves, are accepted for
this mighty privilege, this high calling.
Let it only be remembered by all who would enter the
Lord's army to wrest the kingdom of heaven from the
rulers of darkness, that he, whose we are, and whom we
serve, he who never faltered on the thorny road that led to
Calvary, who trod the wine press alone, who came with
dyed garments through the conflict to victory, has bidden
those who profess to love him, as one of his last com-
mands, thrice repeated, feed his sheep.
"Lovest them me? Feed my sheep."
"Lovest them me? Feed my sheep."
"Lovest them me? Feed my lambs."
I.
Oh, never swear them lovest me,
Who lovest not my sheep ;
For he who would my servant be
My treasured flock will keep.
THE END 271
II.
Oh, never vow thou lovest me,
As follower leal and true,
Who shrinkest in my paths to be,
Or fearest my will to do.
III.
Oh, never weep thou lovest me,
My lambs who feedest not;
Who wouldst my crowning glory see,
But hast the cross forgot?
IV.
Nay, if thou lovest, feed my sheep,
On desert moors astray;
The charge I gave thee surely keep,
Until the final day.
V.
Yea, if thou lovest me, thy Lord,
My feeble lambs feed thou ;
They wander o'er the world abroad,
Many lie fainting now.
VI.
Then never swear thou lovest me,
Who loves not these of mine;
Who would my true disciple be,
Shall prove his love divine.
THE END.
JOHN MARK;
OR,
The Making of a Saint
By Ret. JAMES D. HUNTER, D.D.
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