The Korea Review ( v.4, no.4, Apr. 1904)

THE

KOREA REVIEW.

APRIL, 1904.

The Russo=Japanese] War.

We are evidently approaching a second crisis in the
war. It was inevitable that the scouring of the seas by
the Japanese fleet would be followed by a season of wait-
ing for that was a necessary preparation for the trans-
portation of troops to the mainland. The delay may
have been increased by the fact that the Japanese could
not have known that the sea victor}' could be so
easy.

Be that as it may, things are beginning to look
lively once more. The Japanese have driven the Russians
back across the Yalu by a series of what the Russians
themselves in then dispatches to St. Petersburg call “Tap- ^
anese reverses.” The Russians considered it a great
feather in their cap that they destroyed the two men-of-
war in Chemulpo Harbor. The Shanghai Alercury says
with the finest touch of irony that the Russians will never
•despair so long as they can do such things as these. By
whatever name we wish to call this victorious retreat of
the Russians they are now beyond the Yalu and Korean
soil is clear of them. It is not much to be regretted
when we read the telegram sent down here by the commis-
sioner who went north to bring back the body of the
•prefect whom the Russians killed because he refused to
supply provisions. The Commissioner found the bod}'
decapitated, both arms and legs cut off and the trunk

146

THE KOREA REVIEW.

frightfully mutilated. We cannot assert that the Rus-
sians mutilated the body but there is no doubt that they
killed the prefect.

Once more the old Yalu comes into notice. There are
few more historic streams than this one. For nearly
four thousand years it has seen many armies facing
each other across its waters. It is the Rubicon of Korea.
The parallel is accurate.

When the Koryu dynasty, away back in 1392, had
become so rotten that it was a disgrace to the whole
Korean people the great general Yi was ordered by the
priest-ridden king to take the army and attack China !
Gen. lTi knew it was the command of a maniac but he
had to make a “bluff’ at obedience; so he took the army
as far as an island in the middle of the Yalu and then
made a speech to them, to the effect that it was worse
than suicide to attempt the invasion of China and asked
them if they would follow him back to the capital and
engage in a little political house-cleaning. They ap-
plauded the speech and recrossed the arm of the river
and marched on the Capital, where Gen. Yi soon became
king and founded the present dynasty. Old Sindon was
the monk who had hypnotized the fallen king. One of
his tricks is worth recording. Feeling that his bluff
needed a little “upholstering” he dug a hole by night in
front of his door; at the bottom of the hole he put a
barrel of beans ; on top of the beans he put a gilded
image of Buddha so that his head would come about
two inches from the surface of the ground, and then he
filled in the dirt so that nothing could be seen. He had
taken good care to throw in a couple of pails of water
on the beans. In the morning he called the people
about him and said “By noon a gilded Buddha will
come up out of the ground in front of my door.” They
sat down to watch. The beans began to swell, and at
11:57 the gilded head broke through the surface of the
soil. They went down on their faces as if they had been
shot and Sindon’s hold was strengthened for another
year or two.

The world is waiting eagerly for news of a land

THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR.

147

fight but this is not likely to come off for several
weeks yet. The Japanese might land some troops back
of Port Arthur and attack that place by land and sea
simultaneously but the strength of Port Arthur has been
proved to lie so much less than the Russians boasted
that even the gapture of that stronghold would really
not be considered a hard blow. It is when the two
armies meet in the death clinch in Manchuria that
we shall hear of something definite. Meanwhile we
seek for evidences of strength or weakness on either side.
The frantic efforts that the Russians are making to
secure food in Manchuria and the fact that they have
had to bribe the bandits to keep them still, show that the
Siberian road is going to prove all but inadequate to
supply the army in the Far East.

Manchuria is heavily populated with people hostile
to Russia, her railroad runs so near the Arctic circle
that in winter it will be an enormous undertaking to
keep a large army in Manchuria supplied. At some sta-
tions along the road we looked carefully' at the track and,
as the train moved along, the railroad ties would sink
half or three quarters of an inch and mud would ooze
up over them. If this was the case with comparatively
light passenger cars what must it be with heavily loaded
ones ? It is probable that to keep that road in running
order and to transport what the army will need will
require an average of fifty men to the mile along the
whole 6,000 miles, or in round numbers a total of 300,000
men who must themselves be fed and provided for and
paid. We have lately heard that 100,000 more men
are asked for as guards alone for the railroad. So when
people talk about Russia’s game being a waiting game,
it is true only in case she can concentrate a large army
at Harbin or elsewhere and then push the Japanese
rapidly aud steadily out of Manchuria and Korea. If
the statement of the Japanese is true, that the war will
take two or three y'ears, we feel confident that its pro-
longation will be worse for Russia than Japan. It
may be that Japan sees that it will be necessary' to
play' the waiting game herself and attempt to drain

148

THE KOREA REVIEW.

the resoui'ces of the Russian government.* In order to
make it succeed it was necessary to have complete
command of the sea and render it impossible to feed
the Russian army by any other avenue than the Siberian
Railway. This they have done and the next step is to
keep things moving enough to make it necessary for
Russia to support an enormous army in Manchuria at
three times the cost of keeping a Japanese army there. If
the Russians want to stop the suicidal expenditure they
must drive the Japanese army off the southern point of
Korea ; but the nature of the Korean country is such
that the Russians would be constantly fighting an
uphill game with the ever present danger of a Japanese
army landing in their rear and cutting off their com-
munications. We very much doubt whether the Japanese
wish to bring the matter to the issue of a single great
battle. Japan is now paying for something like fifty
thousand men on the field while Russia is probably pay-
ing for six times that number and when we take into
account the vastly greater expense of putting Russian
troops in the field than that of putting Japanese troops
there we might be within bounds in saying that Rus-
sia’s daily expenditure is ten times as great as that of
Japan. At that rate Japan can afford to play the wait-
ing game. This looks the more likely when we notice
the satisfaction with which Japan views the restriction
of the belligerent territory and the arrangement which
she has made with Korea, for whereas it prevents Rus-
sia from drawing supplies from any Far Eastern ter-
ritory excepting Manchuria, which in a state of war
will produce comparatively little, it leaves Japan free to
draw upon the enormous agricultural resources of Korea
which, being in the southern part of the peninsula, will
be out of the area of actual hostilities at least until the
Russians have succeeded in pushing the Japanese to the
wall. And before this can be accomplished Russia will
have drained every bourse in Europe and beggared her
own people.

But even this does not exhaust the indications which
point to Japan’s intention of prolonging the war. She

A — The place where the first skirmish took place.
B— The place where the Russians took their stand.
C — The South Gate.

D — The city of Chong-ju.

H — The road from An-ju.

K — Road toward Wi-ju.

THE RUSSO-jAPANESJi WAR.

149

recently secured an extension of the fishing privileges of
the Japanese along the whole western coast of the penin-
sula and the avowed purpose was to provide another
means of supplying the Japanese army with food. This
shows that she does not expect to end the war in a single
season. We must also add to this the fact that Japan is
hastening the building of the railroad between Seoul and
Wiju which cannot possibly be finished inside of two
3rears.

General Kuropatkin’s statement that he expected to
finish the war in July probably voices the profound wish
of the Russian Government, and to realize this wish they
will depend upon the hot-headedness of the Japanese in
precipitating a general engagement. But Japan is not
out to do what Russia wants and we fully 'believe that an
entirely different policy will be adopted by the Japan-
ese leaders. A prominent Russian official has already
foreseen that Japan will adopt the tactics of the Boers.
It is an ominous' forecast for the Russians ; for with
Japan’s resources and the number of men she can put into
Manchuria it will mean the Boers with thrice their force
and backing.

The war correspondents who have been waiting so
impatiently in Tokyo have come on at last. They passed
thi'ough Chemulpo the other day on a Japanese transport.
The boat dropped anchor in the harbor at five in the
morning and left before noon for the north. Not one of
the fifteen correspondents was allowed to land and a
newspaper man here who boarded her was allowed to
stay only fifteen minutes. Mr. Jack London was wait-
ing in Seoul for that boat. He was told that it would
arrive at noon but it arrived and sailed again before that
hoiir, so he was left ; but he went north by a subsequent
boat.

To show how well Japan keeps her own secrets, I
will say that for three weeks a fleet of over forty loaded
transports lay off the Korean islands within fifty
miles of Chemulpo and yet very few in Seoul had
heard a word about it. That fleet was waiting for the
Russians to be pushed back across the Yalu and when

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THE KOREA REVIEW.

that event was in sight the time had come for this new
force to land near the mouth of the Yalu. For this rea-
son the war correspondents in Tokyo were sent forward.

This newspaper crowd, like all crowds, is made up
of all kinds. There are verterans like Burleigh, James,
London, Davis and Palmer and then there are callow
youth just out of college, whose notions of the East and
whose estimate of Russian or Japanese character is based
upon a few days observation from the deck of a steamer.
One of them called on us the other day to ask questions
about Korea, which we gladly answered ; but we found
that he had formed preconceived notions of it that were
decidedly youthful and he disputed with us at every
point. We could tell him nothing. He had learned more
about Korea in four days than we had in eighteen years.
He was like the fellow who crossed from Dover to Calais
for the first time, and seeing a redheaded man on the pier
at Calais wrote back to his friends that all Frenchmen
were redheaded. And, strange to say, this man repre-
sented one of the greatest papers in the United States.

The withdrawal of the last Russian force across the
Yalu River brings to an end one period in the war; only
a preparatory step, of course, a clearing of the decks for
action, aud yet a very definite step and one in which the
Koreans are deepW interested. It means that the war is
to be fought on other than Korean soil and only those
who have lived in territory which was the actual scene
of conflict can properly understand what a blessing this
is to the Koreans.

It will be well therefore to give a resume of what has
been done and the manner in which the advance and
retreat of the Russians was accomplished. It is evident
that the Russians never expected nor intended to at-
tempt to hold amr of the Korean territory against the
Japanese, but it was necessary that they should send for-
ward a small force to keep in touch with the Japanese
so as to be always informed of the movements of the
latter. For this purpose they made use of Koreans as
spies and through them gained some useful information
but, if reports are correct, they were often deceived by

THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR.

151

these Korean spies as to the number of the Japanese.
The passionate longing of the Koreans to see the war
carried to the other side of the Yalu evidently affected
these Korean spies and more than once their reports of
the rapid approach of strong detachments of J apanese
made the Russians decamp in haste when in truth they
could easih’- have stood their ground and caused delajr to
the enemy. The question here arises as to whether one of
the objects of the Russians was to cause serious delay to
the Japanese so as to give more time for preparation to
the military authorities in Manchuria.

The rather serious business at Chong-ju might in-
dicate that such were their orders. The little skirmishes
at Anju, when shots were exchanged across the river
and two or three on either side were killed, could not be
called serious? opposition. The Russians were looking
for the best place to take their stand and see what thej'-
could do at holding the Japanese in cheek. Thej^ maj'
have seen the futility of it, and probabK did, but an at-
tempt, at least, must be made to obey orders if only to
prove that they could not be carried out. The skirmishes
at Anju occurred about the middle of March and it was
not until nearly a fortnight later that the battle of
Chong-ju was fought, namely March 28th.

But before describing that encounter we must note
some of the movements of the Japanese that preceded
it. The Russians spread out over the southern portion
of North Pveng-an Province in a desultory sort of way.
They must have known through their scouts that the
Japanese were going north by the main road only but
the Russians scattered far to the right and left of this
road apparently bent upon forage. On March 15th they
entered Yung- by un, the capital of the province, about a
hundred strong and made a demand upon the governor
for food. He could do nothing but comply, so he gave them
orders on various prefects in the vicinity. These the
Russians took and presented at various prefectures say-
ing that the Russians were going to fight the Japanese
and that the Koreans must aid them with food. They
seem to have had the curious notion that this would be

152

THE KOREA REVIEW.

pleasing to the people, when in fact nothing could be
more distasteful. The Russians gradually came to see
their mistake when prefect after prefect announced that
orders straight from Seoul were superior to the govern-
or’s orders and that they could furnish no provisions.
The result was that the Russians had to take what they
wanted. These provisions were not paid for even though
the Russians may have offered Russian mone3r. That
mone3r was worthless to the Korean and however much
he received it could not be called pay. Jt is amply proved
that they took things without leave, for they entered the
grounds of American citizens in Sun-ch‘un and were going
to walk off with some fodder, and it was only by an ap-
peal to the head officer that the theft was prevented.

On the 22nd a Russian band, twenty-five strong,
Entired Ch‘ul-san and took a hundred pecks of rice and
five bullocks. A large majority of the people had run
away leaving their houses empty. The Russians entered
these houses and took whatever they needed. It was the
same in all the towns along the main roads. The num-
ber of Koreans who fled from their homes in the north
would mount up to thousands. Where did they go with
their wives and children ? It was bitterly cold. Winter
had but just begun to break up. The imagination is tax-
ed to the utmost to form even a faint conception of the
terrible suffering those people must have endured. The
number of actual deaths among those fugitives must have
been ten times the number of Japanese and Russians who
were killed or wounded in the various small engagements.
We may smile and say that it was quite unnecessary for
them to run away from their homes, that they were them-
selves to blame for their suffering ; but we forget that
they know of war only as rapine and plunder, the loss of
property, of life and of honor more precious than life.
They know nothing of “civilized” warfare.

It was on this same day March 22nd that the Rus-
sians at Yongampo, connected with the Timber Conces-
sion, and the Chinese under them, removed to the other
side of the Yalu. Only 100 Russian soldiers and ten
Chinese remained. The Koreans sa3r that they put a

THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR.

153

large number of “boxes” into the water at that port.
The Korean's took it to be the Russian form of burial but
they learned later that these were torpedoes. We cannot
be sure as vet that the Russians actually mined the har-
bor, but these reports would lead us to suppose so. On
the next day even the 100 soldiers and the Chinese all left
hurriedly and went across the Yalu leaving everything
in the hands of the Korean interpreters.

When the Japanese crossed the river at An-ju the Rus-
sians being greatly outnumbered evidently determined to
move steadily back toward the Yalu but to leave enough
men at Chong-ju to hold the Japanese temporarily in
check and prevent an attack in the rear. That there was
no general concentration of ti'oops at Chong-ju is shown
by the fact that on the 20th 500 Russians arrived at
Kwi-sung which is almost north of Chong-ju and then in
a day or so went westward. But still better proof is
found in the report that on the 29th just one day after
the fight at Chong-ju 2,600 Russians arrived atSun-ch'un
and the following day went toward Wi-ju. These men
could not have been in the fight at Chong-ju. There was
a little brush between the Japanese and Russians at Pak-
eh'un a few days before the Chong-ju affair and it is plain
that the Japanese were hot on their trail for we -hear
from Ta-ch‘un, just north of Pak-ch‘un, that on the 26th
twenty-nine Japanese cavalry arrived and most of these
immediately hurried westward toward Kwi-sung.

It was on the morning of the 28th that the Japanese
cavalry scouts approached the walled town of Chong-ju
which is on the main road thirty -five miles beyond An-ju.
We are able to give a little sketch map of the situation of
Chong-ju, indicating the main road along which the Jap-
anese came, the lay of the land about the city, the spot
where the first firing took place and the position occupi-
ed by the Russians and from which they were driven by
the Japanese. It will be seen that a stream comes down
a valley from the northwest and flows around to the
south side of the city where it is joined by a corresponding
stream coming down from the northeast, so that the city
lies in the fork of the streams, which then flow south into

154

THE KOREA REVIEW.

the sea a few miles distant. Some of the Japanese scouts
came across the stream about half past ten in the morn-
ing and approached the south gate of the town while
others took a circuit around the eastern side of the town
to see what was going on in that direction. It soon be-
came clear that they were in touch with a considerable
body of Russians who were in the city and outside the
west gate. The scouts started back to report but the Rus-
sians seem to have followed them out of the south gate
and soon the main body of Japanese appeared and a sharp
encounter took place a hundred yards outside the south
gate. The Russians were not in force enough to hold this
position which was a poor one, so they retired, leaving, as
it is reported, two or three dead on the field, who were
afterward buried by the Japanese. When the Russians
retired they all went outside the west gate up the stream
and took their position on rising ground, evidently with
the intention of making a stand there. The Japanese
cavalry had followed close on their heels, but when it
was seen that the Russians had drawn up for business
the cavalry retired to the main body of the Japanese and
reported. Going around the south side of the city the
Japanese attacked the position of the Russians with
fifty cavalry and seventy infantry but it was two or
three hours before they were dislodged and compelled to
retire toward Wiju. If the Japanese could have pushed
on and kept up the fight the Russians would perhaps have
been more thoroughly beaten but snow was lying deep
on the ground and the cavalry alone could have effected
nothing. So the Japanese had to let the Russians off
without further loss. A few days later the Russians were
streaming through S mchYn carrying their wounded.
They were in full cry for the Yalu. This little battle in
which there were only about fifteen casualties on each
side seems to have sufficed for the Russians. No more
stops were made until Wiju was reached. The Japanese
followed steadily, welcomed everywhere by the Koreans
who had learned the difference between Japanese and
Russian treatment. When they appeared before Wiju
the Russians had already crossed to the other side of the

THE BURNING OF THE PALACE.

1 55

Yalu and Korea was rid of the Cossaek, it is to be hoped
forever.

It was on March 4th that Korean soil once more
ceased to be belligerent territory. We understand that
the Russians have taken a stand on the other side of the
river and will dispute its passage. In fact General
Kuropatkin is reported to have said that the Russians
would attempt to surround the Japanese at the Yalu.

There is little use in trying to forecast the immediate
future. General Kuropatkin is an experienced officer and
when the Japanese come in contact with him there will
be some sharp work.

The Burning of the Palace.

The night of April 14th witnessed one of the greatest
conflagrations that Korea has suffered for many years.
The new Imperial Palace called the Kvong-un was swept
out of existence in a few short hours. It will be remember-
ed that this was the palace built soon after the Emperor
took refuge in the Russian Legation in 1896. Compared
with the old time palaces it was small and insignificant
but even. so it was a huge collection of buildings, hud-
dled closely together, some purely native in stifle some
purely foreign and others still a mixture of the East and
West. It was about eleven o’clock that the alarm bells
were rung, though the fire is said to have begun some
thirty minutes sooner. The cause of this fire is not
definitely known but rumor states that it came from the
overheating of some newly made flues under the floor of a
building lately occupied by the Emperor as his private
apartment, but in order to understand where the fire
originated the reader is invited to refer to the diagram
which accompanies this article. This represents only the
most important buildings in the palace enclosure but be-
tween these and around them were hundreds of kan of
buildings; so that when the fire once caught it was sure
to sweep clear through.

156

THE KOREA REVIEW.

It was in the building numbered 20 in the diagram
that the fire started. This was the apartment of His
Majesty before the Queen Dowager died. At that time
he removed to the building numbered 11. The buildings
that he had temporarily left were being renovated. Car-
penters, masons and painters had been hard at work
upon it. It is said that there were many shavings lying
under the mam and when the workmen built a fierce fire
in the newly made fireplace some of these shavings, being
whirled about by the wind caught fire and communicated
the flames to the shavings under the mam. The newly
painted wood burned readily and when the fire was first
noticed it had already taken a firm hold. It is probable
that instant and vigorous measures would have prevent-
ed a great conflagration but in a Korean palace ordinary
rules do not work. In the first place there must be no
outcry or tumult ; in the second place the gates must all
be tightly closed and guarded. Then the Emperor must
be awakened and informed of the fact that the palace is
on fire. Then and only then can any attempt lie made
to stop it. It is quite irregular for any efforts to be
made in this direction without the express order of the
Emperor. The result is that if a fire once starts in a
palace the whole place is practically doomed. History
shows us that seditious attempts have often been begun
by starting such a fire, so that the first care must be to
close the palace gates and give access to no one.

On this occasion matters were made worse by a high
wind that was blowing from the northeast and the
building where the fire started was in the northeastern
part of the palace grounds; so that the flames were
practically sure to sweep a clean path through the
palace inclosure diagonally to the southwest corner.

Not long after the fire was perceived from the outside
the Japanese fire-bell was rung and the Japanese and
Chinese firemen hastened to the palace but found all
the gates fast closed and no answer was made to their
shouts, so they were unable to render anv assistance.
No noise was heard from the palace enclosure except the
amrrv roar of flames and the crash of fallimr roofs.

THE BURNING OF THE PALACE.

157

There was something sinister about the stillness. Fire
in the orient is always associated in the mind with
screaming crowds and frantic efforts to dam the tide of
flame, but here all was silent. Crowds surged around
the palace on the outside but what of the thousand
people or more who were within. They might all be
burned to death.

The British Legation guard turned out promptly
and armed with patent fire extinguishers attempted to
get in at the back gate and on the side near the Custom
House, but they were foiled at every point. They then
went to Mr. Chalmers’ place and secured a hand fire
engine and dragged it around to the palace in readiness
to enter if an opportunity should be afforded.

Meanwhile the fire was rapidly gaining a firmer hold
upon the closeh’ packed buildings in the palace. It leaped
from the house in which it started to the adjoining
buildings to the west, south and southwest, and it was
not long before it threatened the apartments in which
the Emperor was anxiously awaiting the issue. Within
forty minutes of the time when the fire was discovered
he hurriedly moved to building numbered 9 on the
diagram and called to him Prince Yung-ehin and Lady
Om. Of course the Crown Prince was with him all the
time. This move was made so hurriedly that His
Majesty is said to have gone out in the garments that he
wears at night. It soon became evident that the whole
palace was doomed and that there was no part of it
sufficiently safe for His Majesty to risk remaining there.
It was therefore decided to leave the palace and go to the
Library building which is just west of the American
Legation. To do th;s he must go out the small gate on
the west side of the palace, but when this was reached it
was found already open. The reason for this was as
follows : Along the west side of the palace enclosure,
inside the wall, was a row of buildings used as barracks
and magazine. The smoke drove straight in that direc-
tion and a shower of burning cinders was falling. The
soldiers were drawn up in front of their quarters and it
was plain that unless something was done and done ver\r

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THE KOREA REVIEW.

quickly they would be burned to death. They had no
mind to emulate the example of Casabianca and so made
For this west gate to gain egress from their critical posi-
tion. It was closed, barred and locked but with the
flames behind them they soon had the gate unbarred and
streamed out. A number of the American Legation
guard were there waiting for an opportunity to be of
service. The Korean soldiers told these men of the am-
munition stored in the threatened buildings and so the
Americans together with some of the Koreans made a
clash for the building and soon had the ammunition out-
side the palace where it could do no harm. If this had
not been done a very serious explosion might have oc-
curred. It was about this time, approximately 11:30,
that the Emperor, the Crown Prince, Lady Om, Prince
Yung-chin and a crowd of eunuchs, officials and palace
women came hurrying out of the gate to make their
way to the Library building.

Soon after this the British Legation guard entered
this gate, got their hose-pipe into a large well at the
northwest corner of the palace enclosure and set to
work to save the new palace building that is in course
of construction. They kept a stream of water on the
scaffolding and succeeded in preventing the fire from
spreading in that direction.

The wind was blowing strongly from the northeast
and about midnight the fire reached the great Audience
Hall called the Chung-wha-jon or “Middle Harmony
Hall." The fire went around three sides of this great build-
ing before it caught fire. The large amount of ornamental
work under its double roof made it burn with one great
roaring tide of flame. The sight from the British Legation
grounds was truty awe-inspiring. In half an hour the
enormous pillars which supported the double roof were
seen to totter and then the whole pile came with a deaf-
ening crash to the ground. Even so the debris stood sixty
feet high or more and burned as fiercely as ever. This
building alone represented an outlay of something like
half a million dollars.

Fears were felt for the safety of some of the foreigners'

THE BURNING OK THE PALACE.

159

houses to the southwest of the palace. The constant
steam of sparks and cinders which fell upon and around
them required careful watching and some of the foreigners
were busy pouring water upon the most exposed portions
of the buildings. Some gentlemen mounted the roof of
the Methodist Church, which was nearest the fire, and
kept watch for signs of fire there.

In the room occupied by His Majesty there was a
heavy chest containing a large amount of solid gold and
silverware of various kinds. As soon as His Majesty
left the apartment eight soldiers were detailed to bring
out this chest but their combined strength was in-
adequate to the demand and it had to be left. After tl e
fire the debris was removed and it was found, of course,
that the gold and silver had melted and run in all direc-
tions but the bullion was recovered. In an adjoining
room was another case containing a large number of
silver spoons and other inplements which had been pre-
sented to His Majesty as souvenirs on many festive
occasions. The cover of this was burned off and the
contents part-ially melted but many of the spoons
though blackened and twisted still retained some sem-
blance of their original shape.

It would be a mistake to suppose that all the build-
ings were burned or that all the occupants of the palace
buildings had to leave. There were seven or eight build-
ings on the north, northeast and east sides of the
enclosure that were not burned and many of the palace
women, clerks and others remained in them until
morning.

Many valuable books and documents were burned
in the cabinet council house numbered in the sketch.
These books were histories, secret documents, ceremonial
laws and a large number of foreign books. In the house
occupied by His Majesty a large amount of Japanese
paper money was burned. The furniture of some build-
ings was hastily carried out and piled up in the road or
passage-way and in some instances this was burned,
although the building from which it was taken escaped.
In the buildings surrounding the great Audience Hall

160

THE KOREA REVIEW.

were stored the uniforms and instruments of the native
musicians. These were all destroyed. Many jinrickshas
that had been prepared for use in the jubilee celebration,
that was so many times postponed, were also burned.
The number of screens, silver utensils, rolls of silk, vases,
and other valuables is unknown but the aggregate value
must have been very great indeed.

The morning after the fire inquiries were immediately set
on foot to discover the parties responsible for the calamity.
It was found that the cause was as we have stated
already ; so the men who had charge of the repairs, and
to whose carelessness the fire was due, were immediately
arrested and lodged in jail at the Law Department. It
is said that these men will be banished nominally for a
term of years but that they will be soon reprieved. The
matter of the place of the Emperor’s residence was taken
up immediately. The various functions of the House-
hold were temporarily lodged in buildings owned by the
government in the vicinity of the palace but this could
not continue long. Rumors were abroad that His Majestj^
would go to the Chang-dok Palace, called “The Old
Palace” by foreigners. Others said he would lease the
Russian Legation while others still believed that he would
stay in the Library building until sufficient repairs could
be effected on the site of the burned palace to make it
habitable. Of these three the last was b}r far the most
congenial to His Majesty and inquiries were set on foot
to find out what such repairs could be effected for. An
estimate was made that it would require Y 9,000,000
to put the whole palace in the condition it was before
the fire. This, being nearly equivalent to a }rear’s
revenue for the whole country, was of course out
of the question ; but 300,000 dollars were appropriated
for temporary repairs and carpenters and other work-
men were ordered to be in readiness to begin the
work. Most of the leading officials and the Japanese
Minister advised that the Court be moved to the
“Old Palace” but this was very distasteful to His
Majesty so the matter was not pressed. But as the days
passed it became more and more evident that this would

S3 II I

'Ur "" North.

I . — - . < 7 y i Jv

1. Audience Hall.

2. Chung-wha Gate.

3. Viaduct.

4. Electric Plant.

5. Pyung-sung Gate.

6. New Unfinished Palace.

7. Kitchens.

8. Emperors Portrait House

9. Emperors Occasional Apartment.

10. Former Custom House.

11. Building occupied by Emperor ut time of

fire.

12 Building on the site of building where King
Sun-jo lived for fourteen years after Jap*
an ese invasion 1592.

13. Telephone Office.

14. Late Queens Tablet House.

15. Foreign Reception Hall.

16. Cho-wun Gate.

17. Dining Hall-

18. Recreation Hall.

19. Ceremonial Office.

20. Former Imperial Apartments where fire

began.

21. Connected with Apartments.

22. Eunuchs' House.

23. Late Queen Dowagers House.

24. Crown Prince's Aparttn nts.

25. Cabinet Meeting House.

26. Lady Om’s Apartments.

27. Business Offices.

28. Imperial Cabinet Apartments.

29. Household Department.

30. Board of Generals.

31. Barracks.

32. Ta-an Gate.

33. Pyung-jung Gate.

34. Po-tong Gate.

35. Sang-yang Gate.

36. Wlie-geuk Gate

37. Store-house and Barracks.

THE BURNING OF THE PALACE.

161

be the outeome of the matter for the government treas-
ury ean ill-afford the tremendous strain and, in addition
to this, the “Old Palaee” has lately been renovated and
put in order so that a very slight expenditure will make
it habitable. Strong pressure was again brought to bear
upon the eourt and at the present writing, April 25, it
has been practically deeided that the eourt will remove
to that palace. It is by all odds the finest situation in
the city and much more commensurate with the dignity
of an imperial eourt than the cramped quarters in
Chong-dong which are elbowed on every side by foreign
legations and other foreign properties. Of course it will
mean that we shall be able to have no more of those
delightful picnics in the “Old Palace’’ grounds where one
can imagine himself for a time transported far away
from the sights and sounds of the city.

In connection with this fire there is an amusing pro-
phecy said to have been unearthed. Some one posted an
anonymous statement at Chongno, the center of the city,
saying that such a prophecy had been found and that it
reads as follows :

^ H J & % ft ~M f S I £ # IF ft M uj

The curious thing about it is that this inscription
was posted at the beginning of the year. The literal
translation is as follows: “The pine forest will suffer a
calamity ; at first hide in the tiger’s tail ; green dragon of
ancient times; superior will be attached to twenty.” This
means absolutely nothing as it stands but it is one of
those curious oriental conundrums in which the Korean
delights. It depends upon a clever juggling with the
Chinese characters. The first four characters are said
to foretell the burning of the palace, as the thousands of
posts used in its construction may be called a “forest of
pines.” The next four characters are interpreted gener-
ally to refer to the fact that the Emperor took refuge in
the Library building which, being a sort of annex to the
palace, may by a stretch of the imagination be called a
“tail.” The use of the word tiger describes the Library
building more perfectly, for the tiger is the animal that

162

THE KOREA REVIEW.

corresponds to “West” even as rat corresponds to north,
dragon to east, and bird to south. The third combina-
tion, the green dragon, refers to the present year, for each
year of the sixty year cycle has its own “animal name”
and this year, being the kap-chin year, may be also called
the green dragon year. But the character for dragon
also means the third moon of the year, for each moon is
presided over by some animal. Then the last character,
meaning “ancient” is made up of the characters meaning
twenty-first daj^. So the whole of this third line gives
the exact year, month and day in which the idea in the
last line will be carried out. The day here specified is the
sixth of May. The enigmatical meaning of the last line
is “The superior will be attached to the dotdule sun"
now the character su?i is and if two be put together
the two characters for day 0 come together one above
the other and this is the character ^ , c/iang, which is the
name of the “Old Palace.” So the whole is interpreted
as follows : In 1904 a disaster will overtake the palace.

Its inmates will find refuge in a building to the west of
the palace and on the fifth of May the}1- will remove to
the “Old Palace.” When this poster was discovered in
the morning by the police it was instantly torn down
and taken to the Police Headquarters. If the author
could be found he would suffer capital punishment. But
many people saw and copied it and it appeared in the
native papers a few days since. To say the very least it
is a curious coincidence. It will be rather interesting to
note whether the last line of the prophecy" is fulfilled. If
the interpretation of the lines is the right one the only
rational explanation would be that the conflagration
was incendiary in its origin and that the last line is a
clever effort to force its own accomplishment by making
the individuals to which it refers hesitate not to follow it
lest worse evils befall. It will be noticed that the fifth of
May is a lucky day and one on which a moving can be
accomplished without fear of the spirits taking offence.
If there is anything in this, it gives us just a glimpse into
the workings of the oriental mind.

At last advices the plan to rebuild five of the build-

THE INTERNAL CONDITION OF AFFAIRS IN KOREA. 163

ings has been changed and two only will be built. The
two buildings in the diagram marked with a cross are
the ones to be rebuilt.

The Internal Condition of Affairs
in Korea.

In such a country as this it is rather difficult to gauge
the feelings of the people, but everybody who knows
anything about them must admit that the whole coun-
try is in a very unsettled mental state. The people do
not know whether the tide of war will turn and they may
be called upon to entertain a Russian army. They do
not know just to what extent the Japanese will assume
the direction of affairs here. They do not know what the
Home Office will do about the prefects throughout the
land. They do not know how much or how little the
talk of the Tong-haks and other disintegrating factions
may amount to. They do not know where the multi-
plication of robber bands is going to stop. The outlook
is not as promising as it might be. Two of the highest
officials in the so-called reconstructed government are
having a violent quarrel over the appointment of the
county prefects. Each has brought in a list of appoint-
ees and each insists that his list shall be adopted. This
is very suspicious on the face of it, for it looks as if it was
a clear case of that same partisanship which has been
the bane of good government in- Korea ever since the
middle of the sixteenth century. This uncertainty at
Seoul is thoroughly understood in the country and in-
creases the feeling of insecurity there. The depredations
of the bandits, especially in the south, has reached a point
.where steps must soon be taken to put them down or
the people will feel that the only way to be secure is to
become robbers themselves. One morning not long ago
a band of five armed men entered a town in southern
Korea and forced the people to point out all the houses

1G4

THE KOREA REVIEW.

of well-to-do citizens. They said that a large number of
beggars were on their way north and would soon be
passing this town, and the people were warned to feed
these tramps or the}7 would suffer for it. The crowd of
tramps arrived, a veritable Coxey’s Army, and the people
took them in and fed them. As soon as the eating was
over these tramps each produced a short sword and
began looting the town. They took away some 30,000
dollars with them.

We have received from Dr. W. B. McGill some notes
on observations he made recently in Kong-ju, about a
hundred miles south of Seoul. He sa\7s that about five
miles from that place there are some fanatics who have
formed a new religion. He went out to the place and
saw their antics. He found that they called their cult
-jj lit M or the Sound, Influence, Dance Doctrine. They
believe that if they chant the five sounds of the ancient
Chinese gamut, the j*j ffj ffft and dance with all
their might, God will be pleased, the Holy Spirit will
descend and all evil will be taken away. They call
God their Father and say that Jesus being fixed in the
heavens forms a cross. They say that Christ will come
to earth again together with Confucius and Mencius,
and that the time is at hand. They dance so hard that
the “trees, men and mountains seem to be leaping in
unison with them” and the elements seem to be dissolv-
ing. The ignorant on-looker is tempted to join in the
intoxicating dance. Dr. McGill says that the local
“Dowie” approached him and waved over his head some
paper on which were written in red certain meaningless
characters, apparently trying to hypnotize him. We
fancy he was not a very docile subject. These people in
the excess of their frenzy have hemorrhages of the lungs
and believe that the evil goes out of them with the blood
and that renewed spiritual life comes with the renewed
flesh. They claim that they and the Christians belong
to the same family and believe the same things. They
read the “Great Learning” and the “Little Learning”
and believe that their doctrine came from Confucius, and
that the scholars have forgotten the true doctrine of

THE INTERNAL CONDITION OF AFFAIRS IN KOREA. 165

Confucius. They allow women to follw the docrine
equally with men.

One day he was walking through the town and he
saw acrowd of beggar boys huddled around some object.
He approached and found them seated in a circle about
a smouldering fire eating a dead dog that they had
found in the sewer. They had made a little fire, enough
to burn the hair off and singe the flesh a little. It was
a very sad sight to see the little fellows fight for the
possession of the only knife in order to cut off a piece of
the meat. One little fellow had secured the head of the
dog as his share and looked up at the Doctor and smiled
and said “I have the best part of all.-” The next day he
saw five of these boys crowded into a single fireplace at
the local butcher shop. After the fire is out, ten of these
beggar boys crawl in and sleep. Some, of course, go clear
in out of sight. Several cases brought to him werd boys
who had been burned by contact with the hot stones on
the sides of these fireplaces.

One day he was startled by his boy who came in to
say that four men and one woman had just been hanged.
The next day he saw three of the bodies hanging from a
willow tree just outside the town. There were two
other broken ropes showing where the others had been
hung. The woman and a boy had been cut down during
the night. It was said the woman was a murderess. She
had fed her husband lamprey eels in his rice and so
poisoned him. When he was dead she tore his face off so
that he could not be recognized. The Doctor says —

“I went to the prison and talked through a hole in
the door with those inside. Some were thieves and
others murderers. There were thirty-seven in all. One of
them seemed to show some signs of contrition. He said
that he and three others got into a fight on the way
home from a funeral and one of them was killed. They
were all drunk at the time. Most of these thirty-seven
were hanged within a week. I knew of some forty-five
who were hanged within a month. From a distance I
witnessed nine of them being hung to a single branch, so
close to each other that their faces touched. They had

166

THE KOREA REVIEW.

their hands tied behind them with straw rope and they
walked to the tree with the constable holding them by
the arm, and put their heads in the noose without any
attempt at resistance. They seemed to die without the
least struggle. One of the prisoners was sent up the tree
to tie the straw ropes. The man to be hanged was held
up off the ground a foot or so while the rope was being
tied to the limb and then he was dropped and slowly
strangled. The first victim was so heavy that the
.straw rope broke three times, and he looked up and curs-
ed the man in the tree for not tying the rope properly.
Death usually followed in three or four minutes. Two
little boys stood near me crying. 1 asked them what the
matter was and the\r said, “That is our father.” Two
or three days later these bodies were taken down. Some
were thrown into the ditch and some were half buried, so
that a hand, a foot or a top-knot showed above the sur-
face. The dogs had been helping themselves. In that
same place there were many skulls and other portions of
the human skeleton. It was said that a few years ago a
large number of tong/iaks were placed in a group and a
huge fire built around them. I went to the prison again
and this time gained admission. There were thirteen
inmates, three of whom were in the stocks. The keeper’s
house was in front of the outer door of the prison and a
meaner face I do not care to see. As I was going home
after witnessing the hanging described above, I met an
old woman with a grass-hook or sickle in her hand and I
asked her where she was going. She said she was going
to cut down her son who had been hanged. I also met
another old woman arid two younger ones with some
children going for the same pui'pose. The ajun told me
that there were about forty more to be hanged soon.
My servant was going along the road at dusk and near-
ed a village. There were nine policemen just behind him.
The door of an inn opened and the first of the policemen
fell pierced by a shot. The other policemen scattered in
all directions. Three thieves had stopped there to eat
and did not propose to be disturbed.

“It isn’t safe to accuse the wrong man in this country,

THE INTERNAL CONDITION OF AFFAIRS IN KOREA. 107

though. Once a man was brought to my dispensary
with both eyes hanging down on his cheeks. He had lain
hands on the wrong man for the thief, and as a penalty
had his eyes gouged out.”

“Oh yes, he lived.”

It is no pleasure to record these horrors, but they
give us just a glimpse at native life in Korea. The
cruelty', the brutality', the cheapness of human life are
appalling, and such things occur not in Kong-ju only but
all over the country.

We are sorry' to note that native Protestant Chris-
tians in the south near Mokpo are suffering severe per-
secutions at the hands of the populace. Dr. Owen writes
under date of April 4th that he has brought the matter
twice to the attention of the governor who seems to be
prejudiced and unwilling to investigate but later he put
the matter into the hands of the Kavini of Mokpo who
immediately took active steps to have the ringleaders ar-
rested. Two of the native Christians had been imprison-
ed, several beaten, and others had been robbed of their
books. Kwang-ju and Na-ju are said to be hot-beds of
the tonghaks and pu/iaks. A later notice says that the
police sent by' the Kamni secured four out of six of the
ringleaders of the persecution and were bringing them to
Mokpo. But after the police had started on their return
trip a company of ruffians came and seized some fifty'
men, women and children connected with the Christian
work. It is not known yet what was done to them, but
the Kamni immediately telegraphed the governor and the
Foreign Minister in Seoul and sent a man post haste to
the governor to secure the release of these people. The
man mainly responsible for the trouble is wealthy' and
this may be the reason why justice is so slow.

It looks as if the unsettled state of things in Seoul
was being reflected in the actions of the people in the
country'. This delicate barometric relation between the
politics of Seoul and the actions of the country people is
one of those things which no one not native born will
ever get to understand. These poor deluded people suf-
fering under an incubus of ignorance, of poverty, of hope-

THE KOREA REVIEW.

168

lessness are a heart-breaking spectacle. The time must
come when this government will see that education is
more necessar}' than an army.

Both in the north and south, the tong ha k are much in
evidence. The country about Pyeng-vang swarms with
them. They are pratieally nothing but organized robbers
but the name they have assumed invests them with a
sort of dignity in the eyes of the Koreans. It is an at-
tempt to veil sedition under a religious name. In the
south also the country is rife with the same sort of thing.
It is all based on the desire to get something for nothing.
Many of the gentry have turned robbers. The reason for
this as given by competent Korean witnesses is that a
great change has been effected in the attitude of the com-
mon people toward the gentry. In former times the gen-
try were a genuinely superior class whose education and
manners commanded and received respect. They were
respected by the common people and found no difficulty
in requisitioning whatever of the necessities and luxuries
of life they might want; but all this is changed now be-
cause of a double movement in society. The upper class
have ceased studying and have dropped to a point but
little above the common people while the latter have
slowly but surely had their eyes opened to facts of which
they were before ignorant. The}' now despise the yang;-
ban who while preserving all his former pride has lost his
former claim to consideration. Once he had only to sug-
gest what he wanted and it was forthcoming ; now when
he demands it the people seize and beat him or else pass
by with a disdainful smile. The power of the yangban is
gone. Some will regret the passing of this old time social
condition but there can be no doubt whatever that it is a
distinct advance in genuine civilization.

Editorial Comment.

We have heard a great deal of late years about the
deteriorating effect of yellow journalism. The aim seems
to be to provide something startling even if not true.

EDITOKAL COMMENT.

169

Tlie appetite grows with what it feeds on and the degree
of “haifbreadthness” must be constantly increased or the
pampered appetite of the public will reject it. All this we
have had dinned into our ears but we had fondly thought
the Editor of the Kobe Chronicle was proof against such
things. We described a journey of some missionaries
through a section of the belligerent country in northern
Korea and stated that one cold night when the little
party, consisting of one foreign gentleman and three
ladies with a few coolies, came to a mountain village and
applied at the local inn for lodgings they found it was a
tonghak village, and it was well known that the tonghaks
had lately vowed to massacre the foreigners and clear the
land of them. The little party was refused lodgings and
ordered to leave the town on pain of death. In spite of
fatigue and cold they were compelled to push on through
the night over a snowy road to a distant village. This
is what we said, but the Editor of the Kobe Chronicle can
see nothing exciting about it. He does not understand
why we call it an exciting trip. He says that in a really
exciting trip he would have expected to hear of various
dangerous experiences, but that this one was very tame.
Who would have thought that the “yellow” fever would
have claimed our worthy contemporary as its victim ?
The following is doubtless the sort of thing he would
look for in a genuinely exciting trip :

It was a wintry night and all the world had gone to sleep in that
lone wilderness, except a little band of Americans who wound their way
over the hills and through the darksome forests, far from home and
surrounded by unknown dangers. The cold, unpitying stars looked
down upon them from above and the ladies glanced repeatedly from
side to side ever on the lookout for lurking danger. The footsore but
courageous coolies trudged stolidly along and in front strode the only
foreign gentleman in the party, his alert bearing and set jaw proclaim-
ing his determination to win through or die at his post.

Hark ! what was that ?

The party came to a sudden halt ; the ladies’ faces blanched, the
coolies muttered incantations against the spirits of the air. The leader
stood in a tense, listening attitude with his finger on the trigger.

Again the ominous sound !

It was the barking of a dog in a village near by. Their approach
had been detected and now there was nothing to do but push forward

170

THE KOREA REVIEW.

and brave the imminent peril. The leader drew his belt tighter, set
his jaw a little more firmly, glanced back at the ladies, laid his finger
on his lip in sign of caution and then they silently struggled forward in
the gloom of night. What might they not be approaching? Was it
safety or was it death ?

They came to the outskirts of the village. There it lay, bathed in
the moonlight, but not a soul was visible. Only the ominous howling
of the dog broke the starry stillness of the night. The hardy leader
put on a bold front though fear had laid its icy fingers on his heart. He
approached a door and gave it a sounding blow with the butt of his
revolver and at the same time called out with masterful voice.

“Chu-in-ah!”

There was in his tone the masterfulness of the West but the house
rang hollow to his touch. Again he struck louder than before and
again the same wierd cry came from his throat.

It was all in vain!

An impatient coolie muttered, “Break it down,” but this was
beneath the dignity of our hero. At last by dint of shouting and
pounding the inmates of the place were awakened, but no sooner
had they seen that the party was composed of foreigners than they
raised a wild cry which instantly aroused the entire hamlet. Men came
pouring forth from every house, each with a weapon in his hand. The
leader of the party felt the crucial moment had come. He stood
boldly forth as daring them to attack him. Fierce, blood-shot faces
were pressed close to his own, eyes that betokened murder glared upon
him from every side. One of the blood-thirsty crew raised a great
bludgeon above his head and with a wild yell was about to

But we draw the veil over the harrowing scene
without even so much as a “Continued in our next’’ to
cheer our able contemporary. We would be pleased to
learn whether this style would make the trip really
exciting to him or whether it would be necessary to have
the ladies dragged about by the hair and the hero beaten
“to a pulp” in order to raise the responsive thrill in his
breast. If he will let us know what degree of yellowness
is necessaiw perhaps we might manage to evolve some-
thing that would be more exciting than a plain state-
ment like the one we gave in our last issue.

The Vanguard.

The Vanguard , by Rev. Jas. S Gale. Fleming H. Co.,
Chicago, Publishers. 8vo. pp. 320; $1.50. Illustrated.

THE VANGUARD.

171

We have lately received a copy of this book and have
examined it carefully. The author has adopted a most
novel and interesting method of depicting the life and
experiences of the modern missionary. It is a distinctly
new departure though “The Bishop’s Conversion” and
one or two other books may be said to border on the
same field. Mr. Gale has brought to this work all the
necessary qualifications for a successful book. In the
first place he knows Korea and the Korean mind as
intimately as they can well be known by a foreigner.
The experiences and incidents he relates are at least the
counterpart of those which have come under his own
observation. The characters are drawn in some sense
from actual life though it cannot be said that there is
anything “personal” about the actors in the story. It is
inevitable that shrewd guesses will be made, but these
guesses may or may not be true ; and in any case the
characters are all handled with a kindliness of manner
and a charitableness of touch which would disarm criti-
cism. And last but not least the author has brought to
this work a fascinating style which makes the book well
worth reading simply for its diction. All these things
together make it quite certain, even before we open the
book, that it will be good reading, but we must add to
this the fact that there is, underlying it, a deep purpose.
It was not thrown off as a mere literary pastime. It is a
serious and successful attempt to lay open the inner life
of the missionary. There is no attempt to minimize the
difficulties of the work nor the human limitations of the
missionary. His faults and failures are frankly granted
and yet the story is instinct with the spirit which makes
possible the accomplishment of mighty things even by
the use of such imperfect instruments. No one can write
a successful book about an individual or a system unless
he has appreciation and sympathy. These two qualities
shine out from every page of this book. As to the style,
the word that best describes it is suggestiveness, the
subtle power that tells more in a simple word, perhaps,
than most people can tell in a whole sentence.

Another thing we like about the book is that there is

172

THE KOREA REVIEW.

no attempt to conceal its real motive and purpose. On
every page you read between the lines these words

If all you get out of this is an interesting story , to while away
an idle hour , it is a failure.

There is no room in the world to-day for any apol-
ogies for Christianity. In the parlance of ordinary busi-
ness, it is a “going concern,” and the author places this
book before the general public as confidently as you
would place 'before it the annual statement of any other
business that is paying a handsome interest on the
investment. We are simply asked to take a look at the
inner life of a successful missionary enterprise. It is an
arra}’ of facts, more conclusive than statistics.

We do not propose to spoil it for the reader by giving
an outline of the story but we can only say that the man
or woman who fails to read it will miss the best thing
that has yet appeared on Korea.

News Calendar.

On the 7th itist. the soldiers of the British Legation guard gave a
concert at the barracks on the Legation Compound. It took the form
of a farewell entertainment in honor of Dr. and Mrs. Baldock who
were about to leave Korea permanently. The concert was a distinct
success in all respects. The room was amply large for the audience.
The stage was very gracefully draped with the British Japanese and
American flags. The songs were repeatedly encored and the choruses
were rendered in fine shape. The singers were fortunate in having
such an exceptionally fine accompanyist in the person of Mr. Ferguson
who was as much at home on the piano stool as Private Cursons
claimed to be not at home on horse-back. Private Deluhery gave free
rein to his exceptional genius at comedy and kept the house going
from one' convulsion of laughter into another. During the intermission
the men presented Dr. and Mrs. Baldock with a large framed photo-
graph of the guard and officers, and accompanied it with some very
appreciative words which the recipients will value even more highly
than the memento.

On the evening of the 22nd inst. the members of the American and
British Legation Guards gave a concert for the benefit of the local
Y. M. C A. By the kindness of Dr. Brown they were given the use of
a fine hall in one of the customs buildings just inside the Little West
Gate. The soldiers were assisted on the program by some of the civili-

NEWS CALENDAR.

173

ails of Seoul but most of the program was very successfully filled by the
soldiers themselves. It was divided into three parts, the first and third
of which were general and the second a Minstrel performance in which
the end men did themselves proud. The singing was a distinct success
throughout and many of the choruses were specialty fine. We under"
stand that the net proceeds were upwards of Yen 150. Special thanks
are due to the British Marines who worked so assiduously and success-
fully on the decorations, and to Mr. Gillett, on whom the responsibility
for the whole affair rested. The hall was well filled and the frequent
encores showed that the performance was enjoyed to the full.

A good deal of news was crowded out of our March number by the
press of other matter but we shall try to include it in the present num-
ber by the issue of supplementary pages.

On March 10th a new Japanese daily newspaper was established in
Chemulpo under the name of the Tai-han Il-bo meaning The Korean
Daily Record. It is a little larger than the other dailies in Korea. It
purports to be published in the interests of the Korean government
and people. His Majesty, the Emperor, was pleased to donate Yen
1,000 as a present to the new venture.

Cho Min-heui the Minister to Japan arrived at Tokyo on March
1 ith.

About seven men who have been long imprisoned on account of
their connection with the sometime Independence Club were finally
released on March 12th. Yi Seung-man was not among those released.

On March 24, the birthday of the Prince Imperial, there were no
special festivities because the court was in mourning for the Queen
Dowager.

O11 March 24th the Emperor sent a present to the Japanese sol-
diers, consisting of twenty bottles of champagne, fifty boxes of cigars,
fifty boxes of cigarettes, thirty bottles of sake, fifty bullocks, 300
boxes of Japanese cigars ; and to the naval men he sent 30,000
cigarettes.

One of the Japanese native dailies in Seoul published a statement
about the 23rd ult. praising some Korean students in Japan who had
been charged by their own government with sedition. The Che-guk
copied the statement, with the result that Chang Chi-yun the editor
of the IVhang-sung was arrested by mistake.' When he challenged his
captors to show where he had published it they were unable to do so,
so he was liberated and the editor of the Che-guk , Yi Chong-il, was
arrested. He said he had not originated the article in question but had
only copied it, but he was told that this was itself a seditious act and he
was lodged in prison where he still remains, and with no immediate
prospect of release.

While Marquis Ito was in Seoul he had the honor of sitting at the
table with His Majesty at a dinner on March 25th.

U Keui-wun, a teacher in the German Language School, has been
appointed to succeed Hong Hyun-sik the secretary who committed
suicide at Berlin.

174

THE KOREA REVIEW.

The Japanese in constructing the Seoul Fusan Railway are said to
have struck a rich deposit of copper about 170 li from Fusan. A little
further on they came across a fine vein of coal.

Vi Chi-yong was appointed special envoy to Japan to return the
the visit made by Marquis Ito. lie left Chemulpo on the 14th and
arrived in Tokyo on April 23rd.

The. Koreau Emperor conferred the highest decoration in his gift
upon Prince Henry of Germany on March 20th.

The American Minister received from the Emperor the first class
decoration of the Tai-geuk on March 20th. Mr. Hayashi also received
the same decoration and many other Japanese received decorations of
various grades.

On March 26th twenty Koreans departed for the Hawaiian Islands
to engage in work.

Special efforts are being made to check the use of opium by Koreans.
Some <3f the people who smoke opium have been punished by tying to
their l,acks the opium pipes and marching them about the streets to be
jeered at by the people. Gambling, too, is being punished. Even the
son of Han Kyu-sul, lately Minister of Law, was recently given twenty
blows fcr gambling.

The Law Office recently sent out a notice that any Korean either
official or private who joins with any foreigner and does anything
derogatory to the dignity of the government will be punished. This
refers to recent arrangements in which private parties attempt to put
through various schemes by which the government is compromised.
We need not go into particulars. Punishment will follow even though
the effort be unsuccessful. Some specific forms of this offence are
specified. (ij Going to any foreign legation and asking them to
render aid to the Korean Government. (2) Disclosing any Govern-
ment secret to any foreigner. (3) Asking the loan of soldiers or money
from any foreign source ; or offering any kind of mining, timber or
railroad concession to any foreigner. (4) Making any contract with a
foreign firm for war vessels or material or any machinery ; or making
an}- arrangement or promise of a position as adviser or assistant in any
department of the government. (5) Attempting to secure office be-
cause of services rendered as go-between for any foreigner and a Ko-
rean official. (6) Starting absurd rumors that tend to unsettle the pub-
lic mind. (7) Selling or in any way alienating any land to a foreign-
er, outside the treaty ports. (8) Becoming naturalized in any foreign
country without the consent of the Korean government.

A special court for Seoul has been established separate from the
Supreme court. It has been housed in the buildings used by the former
Surveying Bureau, which has been attached to the Finance Depart-
ment.

Yi Han-yiing resigned the War portpolio and Hyfin Yung-un was
appointed on March 31st. He was the man who acted as confidential
interpreter between Marquis Ito and the Korean Emperor.

The prefect of Ch‘ung-ju neglected his business and spent a good

NEWS CALENDAR.

175

deal of his time praying to the great rock Buddha at Ung-jin. So the
governor of the province locked up the prefect’s house and relieved him
of his position.

Sin Tii-hyu, the Chief of Police had begun a vigorous campaign
against certain evils in the social life of Korea. He has posted in con-
spicuous places the list of his proposed changes and commands the
people to observe the new regulations. Many of these an really im-
portant and strike at genuine evils. Some of them are as follows:

(i) Ordinary notes of land, payable at sight shall not be considered
negotiable but must be cashed immediately. (2) Any man who comes up
to Seoul and tries to buy office or anyone who helps him will lie
severely handled; (3) Any one who obtains a loan on false pretenses will
be punished, (4) It is forbidden for any policeman to use his office as a
. means for extorting money. (5) Children shall not go about the streets
soliciting money. (The government has undertaken to feed them);
(6) Servants of officials shall not be allowtd to take what they wish
from shops or stalls without payment.

On April 3th 700 Japanese troops arrived in Seoul and on the same
day eighty-six who were on the sick-list returned to Japan.

About the beginning of the month many counterfeit notes of the
Japanese Bank were issued. The Y. 5 denomination were so well made
as almost to defy detection. Two Japanese were arrested and imprison-
ed for a term of two years for this offence,.

Early in April a number of special taxes and imports were remitted
namely those on fire-wood, charcoal, tobacco, and on river boats.
There were also many lesser ones.

The Dai Ichi Ginko bank notes have now reached a circulation of
some Y 1,300,000.

Su Chung-suu the Governor of South Ham-gyung arrested two
Tonghak leaders and had them shot.

The foreigners in Kuusan desire to express, through the columns of
of this Review, their thanks for the generous manner in which the
friends in Seoul responded to their request for garden seeds. Unlike
us in the Capital they are wholly dependent on their own gardens for
vegetables and when the steamship companies refused to bring freight
from San Fracisco the loss of garden seeds was a serious inconvenience.

It is reported that the Japauese are building temporary barracks in
Chong-ju, Un-san, Kwak san, Sun-ch'im and Yung-byun. It is not very
creditable to the Koreans that the prefect of each of these places is at-
tending to “important business” in Seoul. The Governor and the
people are sending urgent requests that the prefects be sent down.

The native papers state that advices from the island of Kd-je at
Masampo indicate that the Japanese are actively engaged in fortifying
the place, building barracks and erecting batteries.

The native papers say that a French citizen who made a secret
engagement with the Government to superintend some building opera-
tions had failed for some months to receive his salary. He went to
the private residence of Min Pyung-stik the Minister of the Household

176

THE KOREA REVIEW.

and found that he had gone to the country. He therefore declared that
as his salary was not forthcoming he would seize the house and hold it as
security. The Foreign Office communicated with the French authorities
objecting to this method of procedure and said that while the salary
would he paid, the government would expect the gentleman in question
to he dealt with somewhat strenuously by the French authorities.'

On the 23rd inst. about seventy of the American Legation Guard
were withdrawn from Seoul and sailed for Manila. Forty men volun-
teered to remain here but as only twenty-eight were needed they could
not all stay. This would indicate that Seoul has not proved an alto-
gether unpleasant berth. Many of them expressed themselves as
highly pleased at the hospitable way in which they had been treated
by the American residents of Seoul.

A great monastery in Mi-ryang near Fusan has been destroyed by
fire. It is said it had several hundred inmates.

Col Chang Tal-heun stationed at Puk-ch'ung in the northeast
near Sung-jin has been charged by the Japanese with sympathizing
with the Russians and working against the interests of Japan and they
suggested that his services be dispensed with. The government im-
mediately complied with this request.

When it was decided to send the Pyeng-yang regiment north Col.
Kim Wun-gye told the soldiers that those who wished to go might go
and those who did not care to go might stay in Seoul. So out of a
thousand men 600 elected to go. It is a curious method to adopt in
time of war and the Colonel has been subjected to severe criticism.
Soldiers are supposed to obey orders during the term of enlistment and
to allow them to choose whether the}- will go or stay seems to be a
serious breach of discipline.

The laying of the Seoul-Wiju Railway is proceeding apace. Notices
from Song-do indicate that we shall soon be able to go 10 that city by
rail.

About the beginning of April one of the Japanese soldiers had a
quarrel with a Korean merchant in S >-heung and the latter was killed
The Japanese authorities promptly arrested the soldier and sent him
back to Chemulpo to be sent back to Japan for punishment.

The 600 Korean troops who were sent to the northeast thought bet-
ter of the proposition before they reached Wonsan and about a third of
them deserted on the way. This is not surprising when we remember
that they were given the option whether to go or not.

We regret to learn that on the 8th inst. a part of the buildings be-
longing to Townsend & Co., Chemulpo, were destroyed by fire.

The prospect of an exciting tennis contest between Seoul and
Chemulpo this season has been somewhat lessened by the departure
from Seoul of Dr. Baldock and from Chemulpo of Mr. Wallace and Mr.
Sabattin. The remaining devotees of the racquet should pull themselves
together and practice all the harder to make up for these serious losses.

Supplement.

April 29.

On the morning of April 25 at nine o’clock the little
Japanese merchant steamship Koyo Maru dropped anchor
in the harbor of Wonsan. The last thing that her cap-
tain or agent would have thought of was danger from
the Russians. The preliminary formalities were finished
and she was about to unload her cargo, when at eleven
o’clock the people on shore sa w four men-of-war and two
torpedo-boats outside the harbor. No one even then had
any fears as to their identity — Japanese war vessels
appear and disappear without giving warning. The busy
life of the settlement went on, buying and selling, marry-
ing and giving in marriage as usual. But as it happened
this peaceful scene was destined to be disturbed in a
very informal manner. The four men-of-war remained
outside but the two waspish looking torpdo-boats came
gliding into the harbor, and approached the unsuspicions
Koyo. When they were well within hailing distance a
Russian officer appeared on board one of the torpedo-
boats and called out to the people on board the Koyo to
take to tfibir small boats and leave immediately as the
Koyo was about to be torpedoed. This was like light-
ning from a clear sky and, like lightning, it was sure to be
followed by a clap of thunder, so the people on board the
merchant vessel made for the gangway and got away
from her as fast as oars would take them. Before the}'
reached the shore a torpedo was launched at the side of
the helpless ship and a terrific explosion followed which
needed no further explanation. The little steamer gave
a lurch to port and sank like lead.

Meanwhile the watchers on shore were beginning to
grasp the situation and the business portion of the town
awoke to strenuous life like a bee-hive struck with a club.
“Then there was hurrying to and fro” and a general

2

THE KOREA REVIEW.

panic among the Japanese civilians who had no reason to
doubt that the Russians might throw a few torpedoes into
the town. The steamer was an inoffensive merchantman
and if they would destroy her why not the Japanese pro-
perty ashore. The Japanese gathered together what
they could take in their hands and sought places of
safety. Many of them are said to have hidden in Korean
houses in the native town.

But this agitation proved to be unnecessary, for the
Russians soon steamed out of the harbor and left for
parts unknown, and then the Japanese came back to
their homes. Of course no exception can be taken to this
act on the part of the Russians for the Japanese set the ex-
ample at Chemulpo, but it shows rather conclusively that
Russia no longer puts any stock in the fiction of Korean
neutrality. We have not learned yet what the foreigners
in Wonsan thought of this little by-play but we suppose
the}'- had the pleasure of a little excitement to vary the
monotony of life in that rather isolated port.

It is very difficult to get any reliable information
from the front. The Japanese know their business and
they probably feel that until they are ready to strike
decisive blows an\r information from the front will give
the enemy a basis for guessing at future movements.
We hear that Korean couriers from the north are stopped
somewhere along the line. There must be some good
reason for it and if this extreme reticence on the part of
the Japanese will be of genuine benefit to their cause,
those who wish them well should be willing to put up
with the tiresome delay without grumbling. Japan has
to fight against the modern newspaper as well as against
the Russian, for there can be no doubt that if the war
correspondents had their way there would not be a single
movement of Japanese troops or boats that would not
be made public to the world within twenty-four hours.
One of the war correspondents told us the other day that
if Japan did not modify a little this extreme sensitiveness
to publicity the newspapers would recall their highly-
paid men and depend for news upon one or two leading
news agencies, the inference being that this would be an

NEWS CALENDAR.

3

injury to Japan. We venture to surmise that such a
solution of the difficulty would be eminently satisfactory
to the Japanese authorities.

There have been all sorts of rumors from the north,
most of which have come from Russian sources, but it is
very unlikely that there has been any serious fighting on
the Yalu as y^et. It seems to be sure that the Japanese
are throwing a pontoon bridge across the river without
special opposition from the Russians. Whether the Rus-
sians will concentrate near that stream and offer deter-
mined resistance to the Japanese or whether they will
draw the Japanese on in the hope of bringing about a
great general engagement we do not profess even to
guess. We will find out in time — and no sooner. A large
number of war correspondents have gone to the front but
where they are and what they are doing we know no
more than if they had started for the moon. It is report-
ed that on April 10 some Russians in Chinese clothes at-
tempted to come to Yongampo but were detected by
Japanese and fled. Two of them were killed and the rest
escaped. Then again we are told that on the 12th about
forty Russians crossed the Yalu below Wiju but were at-
tacked by the Japanese who killed one captain and about
twenty of the men. Other skirmishes have been reported
from Russian sources but they are not of great con-
sequence. All we know is that the two armies are close
to each other and that the Japanese attitude is distinctly
aggressive.

News Calendar.

A new Japanese daily paper printed in mixed script has begun
publication in Seoul. The name is the Great Eastern Daily Record.
This makes seven daily papers published in Seoul and Chemulpo.

It is stated that enterprising Japanese are about to establish an
Agricultural and Industrial Bank in Chemulpo and that the capital will
amount to three million yen .

Sixty houses in On-yang were burned by robbers about the middle
of March.

The number of police in Seoul has been increased by sixty men.

The Government contemplates establishing a large business and
industrial school and for this purpose the Finance Department has been
drawn upon for an initial sum of 27,000 dollars.

On the night of the 14th inst the palace occupied by the Emperor
was almost completely destroyed by fire. We have described this more
fully elsewhere in this issue. The last advices as we go to press leave it
quite undecided whether His Majesty will go to the “Old Palace” or
remain where he is until repairs have been effected.

4

THE KOREA REVIEW.

At Yong-san, so the native papers say, a man fell into the water and
was about to drown when another man jumped in and saved him. The
latter was arrested and asked why he had thrown the man into the
water. The people who witnessed the incident testified in his favor but
he has not yet been released. The people declare that hereafter if a
man is drowning they will let him drown.

The government has appropriated 30,000 dollars for replacing the
musicians’ uniforms and instruments that were destroyed in the recent
fire.

It is said that the war has thrown a large number of men out of
work on the northeast coast and that man}- of them want to go to
Hawaii.

The Dai Ichi Ginko is preparing an issue of 50 cent, 20 cent and 10
cent bank notes for circulation in Korea. We understand that they
will be issued the first of May.

After the disbanding of the Peddlars in Seoul that organization
continued its operations in Kangwha but the prefect caught them and
took away their certificates of membership in the society, which put an
end to their active operations.

The authorities of the Seoul Fusan Railway asked for the temporary
use of some Crown lands outside the South Gate but the Minister of the
Household replied that it could not be granted.

Yun Yung-sun, Pak Chong-yang and Min Pyung-suk were ap-
pointed directors of the work of rebuilding the palace. The estimate for
complete reconstruction amouted to 9,000,000 dollars but as this was out
of the question 300,000 dollars were appropriated for the erection of the
two most important buildings. His Majesty ordered that the Imperial
residence be completed within twenty nays.

Several of the treaty powers sent to His Majesty notes of con-
dolence regarding the burning of the palace.

Taiku must be getting to be a rather lively place as there are up-
wards of 1,000 Japanese there.

The contract of M. Cremanzy as adviser to the Law Department
has been extended one year.

An old woman was accidentally killed on the railway outside the
South Gate on the 18th inst. She was walking on the path beside the
track as the train was passing and she slipped and fell so that her head
was severed from her body.

Yi Ha-yunB s appointed Foreign Minister on the 19th inst.

The work of .obbers in the south has resulted in the burning
of houses as follows, Pu-yu twenty-seven, Chungyang forty, Chun
eui ten.

On Apin 1 6th thirty Russian cavalrymen entered Sung-jin . The
Japanese had been warned of their approach and had left the place but
one foreigner remained at the Custom house and two Canadian mis-
sionaries in the suburbs. The Russians burned the Japanese post office,
shops and g. downs. They are said to have taken some papers from
the Customs. They smashed the telegraph instruments and cut the
lines. They did not remain long but having accomplished their pur-
pose left for Puk-chung.

The Emperor has ordered that the rebuilding of the Audience Hall
be delayed until next Autumn.

A police regulation has been published which commands that
young men of low grade shall alight from jinrickshas when they pass
the chair of a minister of state on the street.

Yi Keun-gyo has been appointed governor of Kyung-geui Province
and Chu Sung-myun governor of Kang-wmi Province.

Severe penalties have been threatened against soldiers who pawn
their uniforms and against those who accept them.

The Japanese bank at Sung-jin has been removed to Wonsan.

MODKKN KORKA.

I77

KOREAN HISTORY.

These troops came, it can hardly be doubted, at the request
of the conservative party. These troops encamped all about
the capital, some at Pii-o-ga outside the West Gate and some
at the Ha-do-gam just inside the East Gate.

Some of the soldiers who had been most active in creat-
ing the disturbance lived at Wang-sim-yi three miles outside
the East Gate. The Chinese made it their first work to seize
these men by night. Ten of them were court-martialed and
were torn to pieces by bullocks.

The Chinese general O Jang-gyuug was told that the ex-
Regent was at the bottom of the etneute, and he sent a letter
informing the Emperor of this fact. The latter ordered him
to seize the person of the offending party and bring him to
China. The Chinese general thereupon visited the palace
where the Prince Tai wan was in full control and invited him
to visit Yong-san on the river, where he said there was some-
thing important for him to see. Having once gotten him on
board a Chinese boat there, under pretext of showing him
over it, the anchor was quickly raised and the baffled Prince
found himself on his way to China. When he arrived at
Tientsin he was refused audience with Li Hung-chaug but
was banished by imperial decree to a place not far from
Tientsin, where he was well cared for ui'<‘;1' his return to
Korea three years later. 'r

After this deus, ex macliina had spirited the ex-Regent
away, an official, So Sang-jo, memorialized the thione stating
that the Queen was still alive and ought to be brought back
to the capital. It is said that Yi Yung-ik covered the space
between the capital and her place of hiding, sixty-three
miles? in a single day, carrying the message of recall. A
large retinue of officials and soldiers were sent southward
and brought the Queen back to Seoul where she arrived on
the first day of the eighth moon. The people immediately
doffed their mourning garb.

Toward the close of 1882 a Foreign Office was established
in the capital and Kim Yun-sik was made Minister of Foreign

173

KOREAN HISTORY.

Affairs. He invited -P. G. von Mollendorf, a member of the
customs staff of China, to act as adviser, and the Chinese
generals Wang Suk-ch’ang and Ma Kun-saug were made at-
taches of the new department.

The year 1883 witnessed more advance in Korea than
any year before or since. In May Gen Foote, the first United
States Minister, arrived and on the nineteenth of that month
the treaty which had been drawn up at Chemulpo between
Commodore Shufeldt and the Korean Commissioners was rati-
fied. After this was done Gen. Foote left Korea to make
preparations for the establishment of a legation in Seoul.

Kim Ok-kyuu, one of the leading members of the pro-
gressive party was made “Whale Catching Commissioner’’
and departed for Japan to fit out an expedition to car^y on
this lucrative government monopoly along the Korean coast.
He was selected for this work because of his intimate ac-
quaintance with the Japanese. It wras a move looking to-
ward the development of Korea’s resources and was there-
fore in direct line with the wishes and plans of the progres-
sionists. Ataboutthe same time a powder-mill was built out-
side the Northwest Gate, and a foreign mint was erected in-
side the Little West Gate. This was done with the aid of
Japanese experts at a great and, as it proved, useless ex-
pense to the government. An office was founded for the
printing and dissemination of useful literature on the subjects
of agriculture, forestry, stock-raising and the like. The
ports of Chemulpo and Wun-san were opened to foreign trade
according to the stipulation of the Japanese and American
treaties. In contrast to the progressive moves we find that
eight men who were suspected of complicacy with the ex-
Regetit in the emeute of the preceding year were executed by
poison. Of like character was the building of the Kwan-
wang temple, devoted to the interests of sorceresses and
exorcists who enjoyed the patronage of the Queen. *

In the summer of 1883 Min Yung-ik was made special
envoy to the United States. His second was Hong Yung-
sik. Among his suite were Su Kwang-boin, Pak Un aud
others, all of whom were members of the progressive party
or at least well affected toward it. This same summer the
king founded the American Farm some ten miles east of

MODERN KOREA.

179

Seoul and stocked it with foreign seeds and cattle, with the
idea of providing Korean farmers with a sort of object-lesson
in farming, and to provide seeds for distribution among the
people. The United States Department of Agriculture sent
a large stock of seeds by the hand of the special embassy of
which Min Yung-ik formed the head.

Late in the autumn 'the German representative arrived
and concluded a treat}' on behalf of his government. A
month later a treaty was ratified with Great Britain and a
Consulate General was founded in Seoul.

With the opening of 1884 the state of affairs in the pen-
insula wTas something as follows. The progressive and con-
servative elements in the government were clearly different-
iated. The innovations effected by the progressives had
raised in them the hope of being able to speedily reorganize
the government on a foreign basis, aud the degree of their
success marked the increasing suspicion and oppositou of the
conservative element. The latter were strengthened in
their position by the presence and active support of the
Chinese generals and troops, and the influence of the foreign
adviser von Mollendorf was always on the side of Chinese in-
terests. The ex- Regent was for the time being out of the
war and a great stumbling-block to the Min faction was thus
removed. The king and queen were bo*h favorably inclined
toward a progressive policy but the latter was gradually be-
ing drawn back into line with the conservative element of
which the Min family was the leading representative. Min
Yung-ik was still true to his better instincts and was an
ardent supporter of the progressionist- view’s but his return
from America was the sign for a vigorous attack upon his en-
lightened views by the members of his family and he was be-
ing rapidly alienated from the party whose interests he had
tentatively espoused. It u?as not, however, till later in the
year that he broke aw’ay entirely from the progressive follow’-
ing.

The spring of 1884 saw the arrival of Ensign Geo. C.
Foulk as naval attache of the American Legation. He rapid-
ly became acquainted with the leading officials and it was
through his advice and aid that several reformatory measures
were promulgated. Iu the sixth tnoou the influence of the

iSo

KOREAN HISTORY.

progressive party secured the position of Mayor of Seoul for
Pak Yung-hyo, one of the most ardeut of the reform party,
and he immediately set to work at sanitary reforms and
municipal improvements. He began by tearing down houses
that had encroached upon the main road between the East and
the West Gates. He had not proceeded far in this good work
before he was blocked by the influence of the opposingfaction.
His next move was in the direction of dress reform and he
succeed in putting through a law prohibiting the nse of the
long sleeves, long hat-strings and long girdle strings. In
these efforts he was seconded to a certain extent by Min
Yung-ik, but at this point terminates the latter’s active in-
terest in reforms, and from about this time the progressive
leaders began to louk upon him as a traitor to their cause.
Here again personal interest came to injure a cause which,
while good in itself, was discredited by the means used to ef-
fect its end. One sign of advance was the establishment of a
school for the training of interpreters in English, under the
charge of a competent foreign instructor.

In the autumn of this year 1884 twelve of the young
men who had been sent to Japan to study military tactics re-
turned to Seoul, among them being Su Cha p'il, known in later
years as Dr. Philip Jaisohn, who though still a youth of about
twenty years began to take an active part in the plans of the
liberal or progressive party. By this time Min Yung-ik had
practically taken his stand with the conservatives, and this
tended in no small measure to draw away from the progres-
sives the sympathy and support of the queen. It was becom-
ing evident that the hopes of the liberals were to be dashed
to the ground. Yuan, the Chinese commissioner, was staying
at the barracks in front of the palace and was active in the
interests of bis own government, which meant that he urged
on the conservative party in their oppostion to reforms. It
can hardly be wondered at then that the progressives looked
more and more to the Japanese from whom they had imbibed
their ideas of progress. Japan had recognized the independence
of Korea and this naturally carried with it a-desire to see Korea
progress along the same lines that had raised Japan out of the
rut of centuries to the more satisfactory plane of enlightened
government.

MODERN KOREA,

1 8 1

How to stem the tide that had set so strongly against
them was a difficult problem for the progressionist leaders to
solve. From time immemorial the method of effecting changes
in the Korea government had been to make an uprising,
secure the person of the king and banish or excute the lead-
ers of the opposition. It must be remembered that at that
time, so far as the mass of the people was concerned, the pro-
gressive party had little or no backing. On the other hand
the conservatives had the ear of the king and were backed by
a Chinese army. It was evidently necessary to secure tnili*
tary backing, and for this Japan alone was available. But it
was manifestly impossible for Japan to come in and attempt
to effect the change. It must be at the request of the Korean
government, or at least of the king. It seemed that the only
thing to do was to hasten a crisis, obtain possession of the
person of the king and then see to it that Japan be invited to
loan troops to preserve the new status.

Instead of waiting patiently and suffering temporary de-
feat with the hope of ultimate success, the progressive leaders
determined to have recourse to the old method, and in so do-
ing they made a fatal blunder. Even had they been success-
ful the means they employed would have fatally discredited
them in the eves of all enlightened people.

It is generally accepted as true that the progressive lead-
ers had a distinct understanding with the Japanese. A Jap-
anese man-of-war was on the way to Chemulpo and was ex-
pected to arrive on the fifth or sixth of December and the
uprising was set for the seventh of that month. The leaders
in this movement had not been able to keep it entirely a se-
cret, for some of them talked about it in a very excited man-
ner of the Naval Attache of the American Legation and it
came to the ears of the British Consul-general, who, meeting
Yun T’a-jun ou December fourth, asked him if he had heard
that there was trouble in the air. That gentleman who was
himself a strong convervative and a close friend of Min T’a-
ho, hastened to the house of the latter and reported what he
had heard. Min advised him to hasten to the house of one of
the relatives of one of the pregressionists and secure informa-
tion if possible. He did so, and there happened to meet one
of the leaders of the progressive party and intimated to him

I 82

KOREAN HISTORV.

lhat he had heard that trouble was brewing. This man denied
all knowledge of any such plan but the minute his caller had
gone he hastened to the other progressionist leaders and told
them that all was lost unless instant action were taken. News
had just arrived that the Japanese gun-boat that was expect-
ed at Chemulpo had broken down and could not coma. There
were only a few hundred Japanese troops in Seoul at the
time. But it seemed to these men that it would be better to
risk the whole venture on a single cast than to wait passively
and see the destruction of all their hopes and plans. The
seventh of December was the appointed day but as this was a
matter of kill or be killed it was decided to proceed at once to
business. Hong Yung-sik had been made Post-master Gen-
eral and on this very night he was to give a banquet at the
new post-office which was situated in that part of the city
called Kyo-dong. It was decided to start the ball rolling at
this point. The evening came and the guests assembled to
the dinner. They were the Chinese leaders Yuan, Chin and
Wang, United States Minister Foote and his secretary Mr.
vScudder, the British Consul-general Aston, the Foreign Of-
fice Adviser von Mollendorf, the Koreans Hong Yung-sik,
Kim Ok-kyun, Min Yung-ik, Pak Yung-ho, Su Kwang-bom,
Kim Hung-jip, Han Kyu-jik, Pak Chong-yang, O Yun-jung
and a few others. The Japanese Minister had excused him-
self on the plea of ill-health. It was noticed that Kim Ok-
kyun rose and left the table several times and went out into
the court-yard but no special significance was attached to
this. The dinner began at an early hour, not far from six
o’clock, and about seven o’clock an alarm of fire was sound-
ed. A house immediately in front of the Post Office was in
flames. Min Yung-ik, being ('tie of the officialswho.se duty it
was to superintend the extinguishing of conflagrations, rose
from the table and hastened out, calling to his servants to
follow. As he passed out of the inner gate, a man dressed in
Japanese clothes leaped out of the shadow of the gate-way and
struck at him savagely with a sword, wounding him severely
in the head and in other parts of the body. He fell heavily
to the ground and in the confusion that ensued the would-be
assassin made good his escape. Von Mollendorf was not far
behiud, and seeing what had happened he hastened forward,

MODERN KOREA.

<83

lifted the wounded man in his arms and carried him back
into the dining-room. The Koreans who were present fled
precipitately making their exit not by the door but by way of
the back wall.

The wounded man was conveyed to the residence of von
Mollendorf which was in the vicinity, where Dr. H. N. Allen
of the American Presbyterian Mission was soon in attend-
ance.

The die had now been cast and there was no retreat.
The leaders of the conspiracy, Kim Ok-kyun, Sfi Kwatig bom,
Pak Yung-hyo, Hong Yung-sik and Su Cha-p il, hrstened im-
mediately to the palace known ro us as “The Old Palace”
where the king had resided since the insurrection of 1882.
Entering the royal presence they announced that the Chinese
were coming to take possession of the king’s person and that
he must hasten to a place of safety. The king did not believe
this report but as they insisted he had no recourse but to sub-
mit. The little company hastened along under the west wall
of the palace until the}7 came to a small gate leading into
Kvong-u Palace which adjoins the ‘‘Old Palace” on the west.
As they proceeded Kim Ok-kyun asked the king to send to
the Japanese Minister asking for a body-guard, but he refused.
Thereupon Su Kwang-bom drew out a piece of foreign note-
paper and a pencil and wrote in Chinese the words “Let
the Japanese Minister come and give me his help.” This
was immediately despatched by a servant. That it was a
mere matter of form was evident when the little company
passed into the Kyong-u Palace, for there they found the Jap-
anese Minister and his interpreter already in attendance and
with them some two hundred troops drawn up in line. When
the ki ng appeared they saluted. There were present also the
twelve students who had been in Japan. Word was immediately
sent to Sin Keui-sun, Pak Yung-hyo and O Yuu-jung to come
and receive office under the reconstructed government. With-
in half an hour they were in attendance, excepting O Yuu‘
jung who happened to be away in the country at the time.

Very early in the morning a royal messenger was sent
with the myovgp'a or “summoning tablet” to the houses of
Min T‘a-ho, Min Yung-mok and Cho Ryuug-ha, ordering
them to appear at once before the king. They complied and

.84

KOREAN HISTORY.

hastened to the palace but no sooner had they entered the
palace gate than they were seized and cut down in cold
blood. Then the sumraos was sent to Han Kyu-jik, Yi Cho-
yun and Yuu T‘a jun. They too were assassinated as soon as
they entered the palace. A eunuch named Yu Cha-hyuu was
also put to death. It is useless to ask by whose hand these
men fell. Whowever wielded the brutal sword, the leaders of
the so-called progressive party were wholly responsible. The
twelve young men who had returned from Japan were all fully
armed and it is more than probable that they took an active
part in the bloody work. Not only was not the king consult-
ed in regard to these murders but in the case of the eunuch it
was done in spite of his entreaties and remonstrances.

These seven men who thus went to their doom were not
entirely unconscious of what awaited them. When Cho Ryfing-
ha received the summons the inmates of his house pleaded
with him not to go, but as it was the king's summons he
would not disobey even though he knew it meant death.

Just at daylight the king was removed to the house of
his cousin Yi Cha-wun, escorted by the Japanese soldiers who
surrounded him four deep. Kim Ok-kyuu gave passes to
those who were to be allowed to go in and out and only such
had access to the premises. After remaining there some three
hours the whole company returned to the “Old Palace.’’ In
the reconstructed government Yi Cha wun and Hong Yung-
sik were made Prime Ministers, Pak Yung-hyo was made
General-in chief. Su Kwaug-bom was made Minister of For-
eign Affairs, Kim Ok-kyun Minister of Finance and Su Cha-
p‘il Lieutenant-general. The rest of the young men who had
studied in Japan were also given official position.

Before Yun T'a-jun, Yi Cho-yuu and Han Kyu-jik went
to the palaceand met their fatethey sent wordtoYuan warning
him of the state of affairs and asking help, but he made no
immediate move. As the morning broke thousands of Koreans
came to him and said that the Japauese held the king a
prisoner in the palace and begged him to interfere. Yuan re-
plied by sending a messenger to the Japauese Minister demand-
ing why he had surrounded the king with soldiers and had
killed the ministers, and demanding that he immediately
evacuate the place. Three hours passed and still no answer

MODKRN KORKA.

came; and at last Yuan and the two other Chinese leaders
took a strong; body of Chinese troops and several hundred
Korean troops and proceeded to the palace. Entering by way
of t lie Sun-in Gate and passing through the Ch‘ang-kyung
Palace they approached the Po-t'ong Gate which gave en-
trance to the “Old Palace,’’ but they found it strongly guarded
by Ja panese. Here a sharp encounter took place which lasted
an hour, beginning about three o’clock in the afternoon.
About ten each of the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans fell in
this assault. As the darkness came on the Japanese began to
fall back and taking the king and the newly appointed minis-
ters they made their way to the extreme northeasterly, portion
of the palace grounds, not far from the Hong-wha Gate. The
royal party took refuge in a summer house there and the Jap-
anese stationed themselves behind trees and guarded the
place, keeping up a lively fusillade with the Chinese who had
followed them. Meanwhile the Crown Priuce, the Queen and
the king’s foster-mother had escaped in small closed chairs
out the Sun-in Gate and had found refuge in the house of Yi
Pom-jin in the village af No-wf.n, twenty li outside the East
Gate.

The chances of success for the Japanese were becoming
smaller and smaller and the king was anxiously looking for
an opportunity of escaping from them and making his way to
the Chinese side. At last, taking advantage of the extreme
disorder that prevailed, he made his way to the Puk-chang
Gate at the extreme northeastern part of the palace enclosure.
Outside there was a crowd of Korean soldiers who wished to
gain entrance and rescue the king from his captors. Wheu
the latter made his presence known inside the gate these
soldiers effected an entrance and lifting His Majesty ou their
shoulders carried him in triumph to the North Temple just
inside the Northeast Gate. Seeing that all hope of immediate
success was gone, Pak Yuug-hyo, Kim Ok-kyuu, S11 Kwaug-
bom Su Cha-p'il and a part of thecotnpany of militarj^ students
accompanied the Japanese troops out the front gate of the
palace to the Japanese Legation which was then situated in
Kyo-dong. This was accomplished in the midst of great ex-
citement.

Meanwhile Hong Yung-sik, Pak Yung-kyo, Sin Keui-sun

1 86

KOREAN HISTORY.

and seven of the military students had followed the fortunes of
the king. But no sooner did the party arrive at the North
Temple than the people fell upon Hong Yuug-sik and Pak
Yung-kyo and hacked them to pieces before the king’s eyes.
Hong Yung-sik attempted to hide in a closet behind His
Majesty but the latter indicated by a nod of the head that he
was concealed there and the people dragged him out and dis-
patched him on the spot. The seven students tried to effect
their escape but were pursued and killed, one below Choug-no,
and another at Yun-mot-kol.

No sooner had the morning dawned than the Japanese Min-
ister formed his little company in a hollow square, placed the
Korean refugees and the Japanese women and children in the
center, fired the legation buildings and marched out through
the city on their way to Chemulpo, shooting at any7 Koreans
whom they happened to see in their way. They found the
West Gate locked but they soon forced it and hurried away
to the port. All the Japanese in Seoul did not escape thus,
for there were a few living in Chin-go-ga. That same day
the Koreans mobbed them and killed them all, men women and
children.

A Japanese merchant vessel happened to be lying at
Chemulpo and the Minister with all his company boarded her,
carrying the Koreans with them. The latter were hidden in
the hold.

That same day, later in the afternoon, the king made his
way to the Ha-do gam where the Chinese had camped, and
put himself under their protection. Cho Pyung-ho was sent
to Chemulpo to ask the Japanese Minister not to leave, and to
effect the arrest of the fugitives. In neither quest was he
successful.

An anxious month passed by and at last the Japanese,
Count Inouye, came with a guard of 600 troops and took up
his quarters at the governor’s place outside the West Gate.
Negotiations were at once begun and as a result the Korean
Government agreed to pay an indemnity of 600,000 yen. Su
Sang-u and P. G. von Mollendorf were sent as commissioners
to Japan to arrange suitable terms for the renewal of friendly
relations. To make good their protestations of regret at
the killing of defenseless Japanese in Seoul four men who took

MODERN KOREA..

187

part in that work were arrested and put to death. At the same
time Yi Ch'aug-gyu, Su Cha-Ch‘ang, Kim Pong-jnng and five
others who had been charged with complicacy in the plot were
seized and executed.

On January ninth 1885 Kim Hong-Jip, Special Korean
Commissioner, signed with Count Inouye a convention regard-
ing the trouble of the preceeding month, by the terms of
which the government agreed to apologize to the Japanese
emperor, to pay an indemnity of 110,000 yen, to execute the
murderer of Lieut. Isobayachi, to give a site for a new Lega-
tion and 20,000 yen for its construction and to set aside a site
for barracks for the Japanese guard. Early in the Spring the
Japanese Legation was built, being the first foreign building
in Seoul.

The year 1885 beheld many events of importance. The
government hospital was founded under royal patronage by
Dr. H. N. Allen of the American Presbyterian Mission. It
beheld also the arrival of that great vanguard of civilization
the Protestant Missionary. Dr. Allen had arrived in the
previous year but now the Presbyterian and Methodist
Churches of America sent a number of representatives into
Seoul to secure property and begin preparations for the found-
ing of regular evangelistic and educational work. In April
the Chinese and Japanese signed the celebrated Tientsin Con-
vention by the terms of which they both agreed to evacuate
Korea and not to send troops there without previously notifj’’-
ing each other. It was the breaking of this convention by
China which was one of the immediate causes of the Japan -
China war. At this same time, England, fearing the occupa-
tion of Port Hamilton by Russia, sent a fleet of war vessels
and occupied the place herself. She was finally induced to
leave, but only after China had guaranteed to secure it against
occupation by. any other power. In October the treaty with
Russia was signed and a Legation was established in Seoul.
The ex-Regent was still in China, but the Chinese govern-
ment now deemed it safe to send him back to the peninsula,
and Min Chung-muk was sent to act as his escort.

Since the day when the Regent threw the finances of the
country into confusion by the debasement of the currency and
since the officials had learned how much the people would

i88

KOREAN HISTORY.

endure of unjust taxation, in the days when every means was
adopted to wring from them the funds for the erection of the
palace, official indirection had been on the rapid increase.
The people were being imposed upon more and more. All the
money that dishonest men paid to corrupt officials to purchase
office had to be drawn from the people later by dishonest
means. The main qualification of a successful prefect was
the ability^ to judge when he had reached the limit of the
people’s endurance. The year 1885 beheld a serious revolt in
Yo-ju where the prefect had overstepped the dead-line of the
peoples’ patience. He was driven Put and his ajun or clerk
was killed. The prefect of Wun-ju also escaped death only by
flight, while an ajun was killed. «

Not the least important event of 1885 was the completion
under Chinese patronage of the Seoul-Pekiug telegraph line
by' which Korea was for the first time put into quick com-
munication with the rest of the world. At the dictation of
China a commissioner, Yi Chung-ha was sent north to meet a
Chinese commissioner and determine the exact boundary be-
tween Korean and Chinese territory along the Tu-man
River.

A customs service had been begun by von Molleniorf on
an independent basis but in July' of 1SS5 he was dismissed
from service in the Foreign Office and two months later he
was relieved of work in the Customs because of unwarrantable
schemes into which he had drawn that department of the
government. The whole service was thereupon put under the
management of Sir Robert Hirt the Inspector General of the
Chinese Customs. An entirely' newstaff of men wassent from
China. H. N. Merrill was made Chief Commissioner and
Chemulpo, Fusan and Wunsan were put in charge of men
directly' from the Chinese Customs staff. This was a guarantee
of excellent management but it proved to be the strongest
lever China had in the carrying out her ambitious plans in the
peninsula. Before the close of the year Gen. Foote without
giving specific reasons retired from the United States Legation
and returned to America, Ensign Geo. C. Foulk becoming
Charge d’Affaires.

In the early months of 1X.86 Yi To-ja, Sin Keui-sun, Hong
Chin-yu, An Chung su and Ky d.ig Kwang-guk were banished to

MODERN’ KOREA, 189

distant islands for complicacy in the plot which led to the
emeute of 1884.

In February the king by royal edict abolished the hered-
itary transmission of slaves and the use of slave labor by the
guilds in the work on the palaces This was a measure of
far-reaching import had it been carried out in full ; but we
find that it had to be re-enacted in 1894.

The government desired to secure the services of a foreign
expert as adviser to the Home and Foreign Offices and with
the sanction of Li Hnng chang, the Chinese Viceroy, Judge O.
N. Denny, ex-Consnl-general of U. S. to China, was called and
he arrived in the spring of 1886 just in time to be present at
the signing of the treaty with France. He had for some years
been on rather intimate terms with the Great Viceroy and it
is probable that the latter hoped to use the Judge in forward-
ing Chinese interests in Korea. If so he found himself
grievously mistaken for the United States as well as Japan
and France, had recognized the independence of Korea, and
Judge Denny devoted his energies to the maintenance of that
independence. Yuan the Chinese commissior had taken up
his residence in Seoul and had dubbed himself “Resident” in
opposition to the Korean claim to independence. The Peking
government, forgetting or "ignoring the fact that whenever
Korea had gotten into trouble she (China) had always dis-
avowed responsibility and had practically disclaimed suzera-
inty. now began to bolster up her claims and to use every
means to make good her pretensions. The dominant partv
which had ridden into power on the shoulders of the Chinese
put no obstacles in the way and thus Judge Denny found him-
self blocked in his efforts to better the condition of the
country.

It was generally understood that the right of Japanese
and Western foreigners to reside in Seoul was based on the
most favored nation clause in the treaties and that if the Chin-
ese removed from Seoul the others could be compelled to do
likewise. The Chinese, therefore, hoping, it is said, tosecure
more exclusive power in the capital by the removal of other
foreigners began to agitate the question of removing all their
nationals to Yong-san near the river three miles from Seoul.
For a time it appeared as if this might be done but the large

i go

KOREAN HISTORY.

vested rights of the Japanese in the'capital as well as the in-
terests of others caused a counter agitation which frustrated

the scheme.

Geo. C Foulk, Ensign in the U. S. Navy, had long been
in connection with the Legation in Seoul. Early in i88| he
had suggested to the government the advisability of founding
a school for the instruction of young Koreans in Western lan-
guages and sciences, and consequently the United States
Secretary of State was requested by the Korean government
to secure three men as instructors; but the emeute of that
year had deferred the matter. In 1886 it was again brought
up and in July three men who had been selected by the U. S.
Commissioner of Education arrived at the Korean Capital. A
terrible epidemic of cholera devastated the city that summer
and as many as seven or eight hundred deaths occurred dailj\
It was in September that the Royal English School was opened.

Chinese claims to suzerainty emboldened the Chinese
merchants to attempt to evade the customs regulations and
the result was a serious affray in Chemulpo when the Chinese
tried to evade the export on ginseng. The Chinese Commis-
sioner tried to uphold them in it but a vigorous protest to Li
Hung-ehang righted the matter and the offenders were de-
ported and the Customs Service was vindicated.

It was in this year that the trading station Whe-ryutig on
the Tu-man River was established for convenience of trade
with Russia but it was not made an open port. About this
time the school founded by the American Methodist Mission
received royal recognition and the king conferred upon it
the name Pai Chai Hak Tang or “Hill for the Rearing of
Useful Men.”

Contrary to the wishes of the Chinese a Korean Minister
to America was appointed in the person of Pak Chong-yang,
but in attempting to start for America he was intercepted by
the Chinese just outside the South Gate and compelled to re-
turn. Two months later, however, he succeeded in getting
away. He was received in Washington with all the punctili-
ousness due to a Minister from any sovereign power. This
helped in a certain way to forward Korea's claim to indepen-
dence but America’s well-known policy of non-interferance in
foreign matters largely neutralized its effect.

MODERN KOREA.

191

The year 1888 beheld what is known as the “Baby War.”
The report was spread abroad that the Europeans and Ameri-
cans were stealing children and boiling them in kettles for
food. It was also generally believed that the foreigners
caught women and cut off their breasts in order to extract
from them the condensed milk which was so commonly m-ed
among the foreign residents. The Koreans knew that the
foreigners had no cows and they could explaiu the use of
milk onl)^ on the above theory. The modus operandi was said
to be as follows. The foreigners were possessed of a peculiar
drug which became a powerful gas when introduced into the
mouth. Approaching a Korean paper covered lattice door at
the dead of night the operator would make a tiny hole in the
paper and applying his mouth to it w'ould blow the gas into
the room. The effect would be that if there were a woman in
the room she would waken and be seized with an uncontrol-
able desire to go outside. Once without the door, the for-
eigner would seize her, cut off her breasts and return to his
home. It was believed that they had paid agents among the
people to whom they taught the secret and whom they sent
about the country to secure women’s breasts. Two suspici-
ous looking men were set upon in Hong-chTm charged with
being breast-hunters. They narrowly escaped with their
lives. For a short time there was imminent danger of an
uprising but a royal proclamation couched in trenchant lang-
uage did much to calm the excitement and the danger sub-
sided as suddenly as it had arisen. In Eui-ju there was a
most destructive flood in which 300 lives were lost and 1927
houses were swept away.

Chapter XVII.

Corruption ...edicts of reform .... trouble with Japan .. .envoy to
Europe. . . death of Queen Cho. . . .the fisheries dispute . . oppres-
sion . .retrogression .... excessive taxation .. .insurrections. .. .for-
eigners threatened . . .on the verge of anarchy. . . .prefects punished
. . revolt in Song-do. . . .Tong-hak manifesto. . . .government help-
less .. .Japan uneasy Kim Ok-kyun murdered... revolting bar-

barity... the fall of Chun-ju. .. .Korea asks China for help ...Chin-

KOKKAN HISTORY.

1 92

ese troops arrive . Japanese movements ...the other powers in-
terfere Japanese demands proposed reforms . . the palace
taken by the Japanese . . .the sinking of the Kowshing. . . .war de-
clared Korea breaks with China .... Japan promises to leave
Shanghai alone Japanese ki Shanghai. . . .battle of Asau. . . .bat-
tle of P‘yi<ng-yang . . .battle of the Yalu.

At this time the administration of the government was
anything but exemplary. The selling of the same office at
such short intervals increased the burden on the people to an
almost unbearable point, so that there were frequent uprisings
in country districts. In Korea the people form the court of
final appeal. If a prefect oversteps the line which marks the
limit of the people's endurance and they drive him from the
place the government ordinarily accepts it as final.

The following year the government was obliged to take
notice of this state of things and the king sent out a proclama-
tion saying that the taking of bribes and the extortion of
money in the provinces would be severely punished. He took
this ’opportunity also to speak about robbery and gambling,
which had begun to run rife in the land. The people were
forbidden to dress in silk, excepting those over fifty years of
age.

The year 1890 opened with serious trouble in Ham-gyung
Province. Cbo Pyung-sik, a man of indomitable will and one
whose unbridled temper had more than once gotten him into
serious trouble, was governor in that province. The people
had mortgaged their bean crop to the Japanese exporters, of
Wun-san, and had received some $176,000 therefor. But when
the beaus had been harvested and were ready for shipment
the governor forbade its delivery. He wanted the Japanese to
sell it back to the people, as it was a year of scarcity, but this
they refused to do; and the beaus rotted where they lay. The
Japanese promptly took the matter up and demanded an in-
demnity. The Foreign Office at once recognised the validity
of the claim but the king ordered Clio Pyung-sik to pay the
bill himself, since he had 'acted throughout without orders
from Seoul. The unhappy governor was obliged to part with
all his patrimony and several of his relatives had to do like-
wise. As this was not enough to settle the bill the govern-
ment paid the balance.