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                                  THE

                            HISTORY OF KOREA




                  HOMER B. HULBERT, A. M., F. R. G. S.


                       Editor of THE KOREA REVIEW




                               VOLUME TWO




                              ILLUSTRATED




                              SEOUL, 1905.

                     THE METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE




                          THE HISTORY OF KOREA
                               VOLUME II




                               Chapter I.

China’s reply to the Japanese.... the Chinese army.... the Chinese
    commander interviews the King.... march on P’yŭng-yang.... Chinese
    treachery.... the new year.... Chinese help not all a blessing....
    P’yŭng-yang invested.... the Chinese force an entrance.... Japanese
    driven to bay.... how they escape.... they retreat.... they mass at
    Seoul.... Chinese stop at Song-do.... Koreans bridge the Im-jin....
    Chinese retire to P’yŭng-yang.... Korean victory in the north....
    great victory at Hăng-ju.... the Japanese sue for peace....
    conference on the Han.... Japanese evacuate Seoul.... the terrible
    condition of the city.... Chinese enter Seoul.... they prevent
    pursuit.... Japanese desecrate a royal tomb.... Chinese accused of
    bad faith.... Japanese line of camps.... Chinese reinforced.... the
    great battle of Chin-ju.... a loyal dancing-girl.... admiral Yi
    still active.... Chinese troops retire.


We must now return to the north and witness the final struggle which was
to begin the Japanese retreat from the whole north. It was not till long
after the fifty days had expired that Gen. Sim Yu-gyŭng returned from
Nanking. The Japanese had sent time and again, asking why he did not
make his appearance, but now on the sixth day of the twelfth moon he
entered the city of P’yŭng-yang, making no excuses for his tardiness but
delivering his message as follows: “I have seen the Emperor and he says
that if you wish to become vassals of China you must first give up all
the territory taken from Korea. You must also give up the two princes
whom you have captured. If you do not see fit to comply with these
demands the Emperor will send a million men and destroy you.” He then
gave to each of the Japanese leaders an ornament for the hat, from the
Emperor. This was a trick to discover how large the Japanese force might
be. It was determined that there must be about 20,000 Japanese troops in
the city. What reply the Japanese gave to the Emperor’s demands is not
told, but that it was a negative one seems sure from what followed.

The Chinese army of counter-invasion lay just beyond the Ya-lu River. It
was an enormous host and, as armies went in those days, it was a
thoroughly efficient one. In connection with this army was an official
who held the rank of “Military Adviser,” by the name of Song
Eung-ch’ang. The office carried no active power in the field but it
seems to have been a sort of check upon the commander-in-chief, for the
duties of the office were to keep the Emperor informed of what was going
on at the seat of war. The actual General-in-chief was Yi Yŭ-song. Under
him were three generals, of the right, left and center respectively. The
General of the Left was Yang Wŭn and under him were Generals Wang
Yŭ-jung, Yi Yŭ-mă, Yi Yo-o, Yang So, Sa Tă-su, Son Su-ryŭm, Yi Ryŭng and
Kal Pong-ha. The General of the Center was Yi Yŭ-băk and under him were
Generals Im Cha-yang, Yi Pang-jin, Ko Ch’ak, Chön Sŭ-jong, Ch’ŭk Keum,
Chu Hong-mo, Pang Si-whi, Ko Seung and Wang Mun. The General of the
Right was Chang Se-jak and under him were Generals Cho Seung-hun, O
Yu-ch’ung, Wang P’il-jŭk, Cho Chi-mok, Chang Eung-ch’ung, Nak Sang-ji,
Chin Pang-ch’ŭl, Kok Su and Yang Sim. The rear guard was under the
command of Gen. Pang Si-ch’an and the engineering corps was commanded by
Generals Yu Whang-sang and Wŭn Whang. The main army was composed of
43,000 troops, while in the rear was a reserve force of 8,000. This army
crossed the Ya-lu on the twenty-fifth of the twelfth moon, the dead of
winter. It is said that when on the march this army stretched along the
road a thousand li (three hundred miles and more) and that the sound of
their drums was continuous along the whole line.

General-in-chief Yi Yŭ-song, dressed in crimson robes and riding in a
crimson chair, arrived in Eui-ju and immediately sought an interview
with the king. The latter said, “I have governed this country badly. The
Emperor has been put to a great deal of trouble on my account and all
these good men have come a long, cold road to fight for us. Though I lay
open my vitals with a sword I cannot repay you all for this kindness.”
Gen. Yi smiled and said, “The Emperor’s might reaches to the heavens.
For the sake of Your Majesty’s happiness we have been sent, and all your
enemies will soon be put to flight.” To this the king rejoined, “Our
nation’s life hangs by a thread, and the result lies with you.” Gen. Yi
raised his two hands in salute and answered, “I am come at the Emperor’s
orders and life or death are all one to me. When I started out my father
said to me, ‘Fight valiantly for Korea and return victorious,’ and so
how can I do less than my best?” The Koreans say that this man’s father
was a native of Eun-san in the province of P’yŭng-an, Korea, but that
for some offence he had fled to China and together with many of his
relatives was enjoying high position under the Emperor.

Gen. Yi started for P’yŭng-yang with his whole army, 80,000 bags of rice
and 20,000 pounds of powder. His troops were not provided with muskets
but they had small cannon. The Japanese on the other hand had muskets
but no cannon. Upon the arrival of the Chinese at An-ju they were met by
the Prime Minister, Yu Sŭng-nyŭng, who laid before Gen. Yi a map showing
the roads leading to P’yŭng-yang. Gen. Yi took red ink and indicated on
the map the various routes by which he intended to lead his forces to
that city. Calling Gen. Sa Tă-su he sent him forward to deceive the
Japanese by saying that a few Chinese had come to effect a peaceful
solution of the difficulty. The Japanese were pleased at this and sent
twenty of their people to meet, as they supposed, Sim Yu-gyŭng at Su-an.
Gen. Sa feasted them there but meanwhile had the place surrounded and in
the midst of the banquet the Japanese were treacherously assaulted and
cut down, only three escaping. From these the Japanese learned of the
hostile intentions of the Chinese and were greatly disturbed, but being
forewarned they put themselves in readiness for an assault.

And so the old year died—the terrible Im-jin year which witnessed the
indescribable horrors of the ruthless invasion which swept it from end
to end; which saw, too, the gradual awakening of the dormant military
spirit of the people, until at its close the wave of invasion had not
only broken and spent itself but had left the remnant of the invaders
cut off from their home land by one of the greatest naval geniuses of
his own or any other age, surrounded on all sides and hemmed in by
forces which though perhaps unable to cope with them in the open field
in a pitched battle could yet harrass and cut them off on every side. It
must be clearly borne in mind that the Chinese did not raise a hand to
help Korea until the invasion virtually collapsed. The Koreans without
the aid of China could probably have starved the Japanese out of
P‘yŭng-yang and driven them southward, cutting them off on the left and
right till they would have been glad to take ship for home. In a sense
the Chinese counter-invasion was an extremely unfortunate thing for
Korea, for the dormant energies of the people were just rousing
themselves to action. Armies were being levied, every day saw the
Japanese forces melting away and there was a magnificent opportunity for
Korea to turn upon her devastators and drive them headlong into the sea.
It would have given a tremendous impulse to patriotism and national
self-respect, and it might have been a stepping-stone to a strong
national life; but the coming of the Chinese soldiery immediately threw
everything into Chinese hands and they reaped all the benefits of the
situation. Even the Koreans themselves did not realize how they were
playing into the hands of China. The Japanese in P‘yŭng-yang were weary
and sick, and at heart glad of any excuse for retreating if it could be
done without too great a loss of dignity. It was at just this moment
that the Koreans put the game, already won, into the hands of China to
reap all the credit and all the prizes of success. The Koreans leaned
back upon China and relapsed into their old self-complacent “fool’s
paradise.”

With the beginning of the new year Gen Yi moved southward toward
P‘yŭng-yang as far as Suk-ch‘ŭn where he intended to halt for the night,
as the winter days were short, but hearing of the massacre at Sun-an and
wishing to give as little time for preparation as possible, pushed on by
night, and in the morning planted his banners before the ancient city of
P‘yŭng-yang. The city was forthwith surrounded. The Japanese could be
seen covering the <DW72> of the hill within the wall with their blue and
white flags, and soon they opened fire on the besiegers. At the same
moment they rushed to the walls and manned them. The Chinese Generals of
the Left, Center and Right were stationed with their respective forces
before the three gates Ch’il-sŭng, Ham-gu and Po-t’ong. The
General-in-chief Yi, with a banner in one hand and a drum-stick in the
other, rode swiftly from one division to another encouraging the men.
His forces could hardly be held in check, they were so eager, in spite
of their long, cold night march, to rush at the wall and scale it. They
were not long kept from their desire, for at eight o’clock word was
given for the whole assaulting force to advance to the wall. The cannon
thundered, the fire-arrows flashed through the air, the very ground
fairly trembled with the noise of battle and the tramp of eager feet.
One of the fire-arrows alighted in the quarters of the Japanese
general-in-chief and it was soon in flames, which rapidly spread to all
the surrounding buildings. The Japanese guarded the walls with the
greatest gallantry, and with spear and arrow, hot water and stones they
made it quite impossible for the Chinese to effect an entrance. The wall
bristled with weapons, so that in the words of a native chronicler it
was “a hedge-hog’s back.” So it happened that the Chinese forces fell
back from the fierce defense of the Japanese. Many of them contemplated
a general retreat and started to leave the field, but Gen. Yi, who was
always found where most needed, saw the defection of his men and,
pursuing them, struck off the heads of a few as an example to the rest.
Then he turned and cried, “Fifty ounces of silver to the first man to
set foot upon the battlements of P’yŭng-yang.” This was doubtless a more
powerful appeal than he could have made had he called upon their
patriotism or love of glory. Immediately the tide of battle turned. A
Chinese captain, Nak Sang-ji, a man well along in years and whose
proportions were so ample that the Korean chronicler says of him that he
weighed a thousand pounds, led on a company of men and by a mighty
effort succeeded in reaching the top of the wall. He held his ground
there while others could scale the wall at his back, and so an entrance
was effected. The Japanese began to desert the wall, and soon the
Chinese entered by the Po-t’ong and Ch’il-sŭng gates, while Korean
allies entered by the Ham-gu Gate. By this time the Japanese had
entirely left the wall and had massed themselves as best they could in
various parts of the city, determined to make a desperate stand. The
Chinese infantry and cavalry both swarmed in on every side and all
Japanese stragglers were cut off, while the fight throughout the city
became general. Before the Japanese could firmly establish themselves
upon the hill and in other defensible parts of the town they lost two
captains, 2,285 men, and 45,002 weapons of various kinds, besides 1,051
Koreans whom they had held as captives.

Many of the Japanese had taken refuge in various government buildings
which they had barricaded as best they could. The Chinese went to work
systematically to burn these down, and in the few hours remaining before
the fall of night nearly half of the entire Japanese force succumbed to
the weapons of Chinese. One instance will suffice to illustrate the
method of procedure. Many of the Japanese had taken refuge in a large
building on the wall, well up on the side of the mountain and looking
directly down upon the waters of the river. Gen. Yi had it surrounded
with piles of wood, the timbers of houses and hewn logs, and these were
set on fire. The entrapped Japanese then had the choice of roasting to
death or leaping down upon the ice of the river. Hundreds chose the
latter alternative, but the ice was not strong enough to stand the
tremendous strain and they were all engulfed in the river and carried
under the ice below. As for those that remained, it is said that the
smell of burning flesh could be discerned a quarter of a mile away.

Gen. Konishi had taken refuge with a large body of troops in a building
called the Yŭn-gwang-jŭng, very near the Ta-dong Gate which opens
directly upon the water front. Night had fallen and the fight had lulled
for a time. What took place at this time may be open to some doubt. The
Korean account says that the Chinese commander sent a message to Konishi
demanding the surrender of his whole force and that Konishi replied,
“Our remaining force is small and we wish to evacuate the city and
retreat if we may be allowed to leave quietly.” It is affirmed that Gen.
Yi consented to this and left the Ta-dong Gate unguarded, and in the
dead of night the Japanese troops passed swiftly out and crossed the
river. On the face of it this statement is hardly credible, but judging
from future events the Koreans believe that Gen. Yi received a large
bribe from the Japanese as the price of this act of leniency. It is true
that future events justified the Koreans in suspecting some such thing,
but as the Japanese were immediately beside the Ta-dong Gate and, under
cover of night, might easily have forced their way out, especially as
the Chinese were exhausted by their long forced march and the fight
about the city, we may well believe that the Japanese did not need to
appeal either to the pity or the avarice of the Chinese in order to
effect their escape. It may be, too, that Gen. Yi did not wish to be
hampered with so many prisoners of war and was rather glad than
otherwise to let them get away. Of course the Koreans who had suffered
so terribly at the hands of the Japanese would have been glad to see
every one of them massacred, and their anger at seeing them escape may
have led them to impute wrong motives to Gen. Yi. Subsequent events,
however, gave some color to these suspicious, as we shall see.

This retreat from P’yŭng-yang in the dead of winter was like Napoleon’s
retreat from Moscow, on a small scale. The Japanese were without
provisions or proper clothing. Many of them threw aside their arms and
luggage and, turning from the main road, begged their way from house to
house. When at last they reached the city of Seoul and found food and
safety they were in a savage humor. Most of the Koreans who had fled
from the capital had now returned, and on them these half-famished and
wholly disappointed Japanese wreaked their vengeance. They seized
hundreds of the unoffending people and put them to the sword. Scores of
them were taken outside the South Gate and slaughtered like oxen.

Gen. Kato, who had led an expedition eastwards into Ham-gyŭng Province,
hearing of the evacuation of P’yŭng-yang, immediately put his troops in
motion and hastened down to Seoul, burning and ravaging as he came. And
in a short time all the remnants of the Japanese army were congregated
in the capital.

The Japanese retreat from P’yŭng-yang was not without its casualties. A
Korean general, Ko On-băk, met a body of the Japanese, probably a part
of the retreating army, at P’a-ju, seventy _li_ out of Seoul, and
punished them severely, taking as it is said, seventy heads; not a great
achievement when we remember that the Japanese were practically unarmed.

But by this time the Chinese Gen. Yi was on his way south from
P’yŭng-yang, rather tardily as the Koreans thought, but hearing of this
engagement of Gen. Ko, he quickened his pace. Coming to He-on Pass, some
seventy _li_ out from Seoul, his horse slipped, throwing him heavily on
his face. He was severely though not dangerously hurt. At that moment a
company of Japanese was sighted on the mountain side and Gen. Yi ordered
instant pursuit. The Japanese, probably a foraging party from Seoul,
closed with them and as the Chinese were on a marshy piece of land,
where they sank to their knees in the mud, and had no other weapons with
them but their swords, the Japanese inflicted severe punishment on them,
killing eighty of their number. Gen. Yi was so weak from loss of blood
that he did not dare to prolong the fight. So he called a retreat and
the next day went into camp at Tong-p’a, a hundred _li_ from Seoul. From
that point he immediately despatched a letter to the Emperor saying:
“There are 20,000 Japanese firmly intrenched in Seoul and with my
present force I dare not attack them. I am also ill and cannot fight. I
would be glad if you would send someone to relieve me of the command.”
Then he retreated fifty _li_ further, to Song-do, in spite of the
earnest entreaties of the Koreans. The Korean General Yi Pin said, “You
came to render aid to our country. Why is it that you now retreat?”
whereupon one of the general’s staff promptly kicked him out of the
house.

Gen. Yi ordered Gen. Sa Tă-su to go and guard the ferry at the Im-jin
river which was now partly frozen but impassable for boats and ordered
the Koreans to go to work building a bridge for the transport of the
Chinese army. Here was a piece of work that might have daunted a better
engineer than the average Korean general. But the way the Koreans went
about it and the brilliant success they achieved show what the Korean
was capable of when really in earnest. And it shows as well how
thoroughly they were determined to see chastisement inflicted upon the
Japanese. A swift broad river partly frozen, no possibility of driving
piles nor of erecting any supports from the bed of the river itself. It
must be a suspension bridge or none at all. On either side of the river
heavy timbers were planted firmly in the ground some twenty feet apart.
Behind these horizontally were laid heavy logs. Then between these
supports on either bank were stretched fifteen heavy strands of the
tough fibrous vine called _chik_ by the Koreans. It is the _pueraria
thunbergiana_. Of course these sagged in mid-stream so that they swept
the water. To remedy this, stout levers were inserted between the
strands and twisted until the cables swung clear of the water by many
feet. The foundation having thus been laid, willow branches were spread
thickly upon the cables and finally a heavy layer of earth was added and
the whole was packed down tight by the treading of many feet. And so was
completed the first suspension bridge which history records. We see that
during this war the Koreans had originated three important things,
namely the iron-clad, the mortar and bomb, and now the suspension
bridge. And on this bridge the whole Chinese army crossed in safety.

But Gen. Yi was tired of the war and was extremely anxious to get back
to China. So when he heard that Kato was crossing the peninsula he said,
“He may come to P’yŭng-yang and in that case I must hasten back to that
place and hold it against him.” So he started back toward that city,
leaving Gen Wang P’il-jŭk in charge of the forces that were advancing on
Seoul.

At this point mention must be made of the victories of Gen. Chöng Mun-bu
in Ham-gyŭng Province. In three successive fights he had defeated a
large, though not the main, body of Japanese and seems to have entirely
cut it off from forming a junction with Gen. Kato as he retreated toward
Seoul with his dwindling though still formidable army. After the
departure of the Japanese, Gen. Chöng went to the far north, even to the
far Tu-man River and inflicted severe punishment on all those who had
aided the Japanese or had sided with them in the betrayal of the two
princes. This done, he pacified the disturbed province as much as he
could and then disbanded the militia and sent them to their homes.

Kwŭn Ryŭl, the governor of Chŭl-la, of whom we have heard before, took
4000 men and marched on Seoul, not by the main road but by way of
Yang-ch’ŭn. Crossing the Han at that point he went into camp at Hăng-ju
and surrounded it with a paling of heavy logs. The Japanese in Seoul
ridiculed it but sent a strong body of troops to attack it. A long
fierce fight ensued and the result was doubtful. At last the Japanese
succeeded in setting fire to the wooden paling and had it not been for
the most strenuous efforts on the part of the Koreans they would have
been burned out. But they succeeded in quenching the flames. When their
arrows were gone their outlook was again apparently hopeless, but in the
very nick of time Admiral Yi Pin of Chŭl-la Province came up the river
by boat with 20,000 arrows and as the camp was immediately on the river
bank the Koreans were saved, and soon the Japanese were driven back.
Kwŭn Ryŭl took the bodies of the Japanese who had fallen, cut them in
pieces and impaled the fragments on the top of the stockade. The next
day the Chinese general Sa Tă-su arrived and, seeing these trophies of
victory, praised Gen. Kwŭn highly and sent him to P’a-ju to guard
against any possible northward movement of the Japanese. At the same
time small companies were sent in all directions to cut off foraging
expeditions of the enemy. In this way the Japanese in Seoul were cut off
from all supply of fuel. The Japanese general who had suffered defeat at
Hăng-ju thirsted for revenge, and he led many a fierce sally from Seoul,
but always with great loss.

In the third month confidence was so far restored in the north that the
king began to think of returning toward the capital. The first stage of
this journey was as far as Yong-yu. At this same time the Japanese sent
a letter to the Korean general Yu Sŭng-nyong saying that they wished to
conclude a treaty of peace. Gen. Yu as in duty bound sent this message
on to the Chinese Gen. Yi in P’yŭng-yang. He in turn despatched Sim
Yu-gyŭng, who had before acted as an emissary of peace between the
Japanese and the Emperor, to take charge of the negotiations and with
instructions more or less definite. When this commissioner arrived in
the vicinity of Seoul a meeting took place between him and the two
Japanese leaders, Konishi and Kato, in mid-stream off the village of
Yong-san. Gen Sim opened the conference by saying, “If you had listened
to my advice in P’yŭng-yang you would have saved yourselves all this
trouble. The Chinese, 40,000 strong, are all about you. They have gone
south to fortify the Cho-ryŭng Pass and thus cut off your retreat. The
Han River is guarded so thoroughly that you cannot cross; Gen. Yi
Yŭ-song is returning from the north with 300,000 fresh troops (an
unblushing lie) and I am prepared to offer you the only possible way of
escape. You must give up the two princes; you must leave the capital and
move south to the coast of Kyŭng-sang Province. Then and not till then
will we conclude peace and the Emperor will recognize your king as his
vassal.” The vanquished invaders saw that there was nothing to do but
comply, and so in the name of the thirty-seven Japanese generals they
engaged to evacuate Seoul on the nineteenth day of the fourth moon. It
was further agreed that they should leave untouched 20,000 bags of rice
which were stored in the government granaries. The two princes were to
accompany the Japanese as far as Fusan and were to be handed over to the
Korean authorities there.

In accordance with their promise, the Japanese evacuated the city on the
very day appointed, and Gen. Yi Yŭ-song, who seems to have recovered his
health rapidly after he found that the Japanese did not mean fight,
entered the city the following day. The condition in which he found
things is almost indescribable. The Ancestral Temple and three palaces
had been burned. Only the Nam-pyŭl-gung, which the invaders had used as
headquarters, was standing. The country all about was lying fallow and a
great famine stared the Koreans in the face. A thousand bags of rice
were hastily brought and made up into soup or gruel, mixed with pine
leaves, and a few of the starving thousands were fed. As Gen. Sa Tă-su
was passing along the street he saw a young child trying to suck milk
from the breast of its dead mother. The sight aroused his compassion and
he carried the child to his quarters and ordered it to be cared for.
Rice was so scarce that a whole piece of cotton cloth could be purchased
with about three quarts of it. A horse cost but three pecks of rice.
Famishing men fought and killed each other, the victors eating the
vanquished, sucking the marrow from the bones and then dying themselves
of surfeit. It is even said that when a drunken Chinese soldier vomited,
half starved men would crawl to the place and fight over the possession
of this horrible substitute for food. This state of things naturally
brought on an epidemic of the native fever, a species of typhus, and the
dead bodies of its victims lay all along the road, the head of one being
pillowed on the breast of another. The dead bodies in and immediately
around Seoul were gathered and piled in a heap outside the Water Mouth
Gate and it is affirmed that the pile was ten feet higher than the wall.

It was on the twentieth of the fourth moon that Gen. Yi entered Seoul.
He took up his quarters in the Nam-pyŭl-gung. He seemed to be in no
haste to pursue the Japanese, so Gen. Yu Sŭng-nyong hinted that as the
Japanese were in full flight it might be well to hurry after them and
cut them down as occasion offered. The Chinese general had no intention
of leaving his comfortable quarters that soon, but he gave consent to
the project of pursuit and detailed 10,000 men under the lead of Gen Yi
Yŭ-băk. A day or so later this doughty warrior returned saying that he
had a pain in the leg. So ended the first attempt at pursuit. Then the
Korean Gen. Kwŭn Ryŭl came in from P’a-ju and urged that there be
immediate pursuit, but for some unexplained reason the Chinese commander
forbade it, and the native accounts even add that he sent secretly and
had the boats on the Han destroyed so as to render pursuit of the
Japanese impossible.

After crossing the Han River, the retreating Japanese seem to have been
in very ill humor, for they did not confine their exhibitions of temper
to the living alone but even attacked the dead. They dug open the royal
tomb at Chung-neung a short distance the other side of the river.
Digging fifteen measures deep they found some rags and a few bones.
These they scattered about on the ground. They then filled in the hole
with rubble. Another royal tomb was opened and the casket and remains
were burned.

In the beginning of the fifth moon a letter arrived from the Military
Commissioner, Song Eung-ch’ang, in P’yŭng-yang, ordering a general
pursuit of the Japanese. The Koreans believe this to have been a mere
blind, for the Japanese had twenty days the start of them and pursuit
was of course out of the question. At this point again the Koreans make
a serious charge against the Chinese, asserting that the Japanese,
before leaving Seoul, sent large sums of money toward P’yŭng-yang for
Gen. Yi Yŭ-song and Song Eung-ch‘ang, and that by this means they
secured immunity from pursuit. The delay was a cause of great wonderment
to the Koreans and it is not unlikely that this theory of a bribe
explained for them most fully the actions of the Chinese. And it must be
confessed that there is little in the temperament or antecedents of the
Chinese on which to base a refutation of the charge. An instance is
cited to bring home the charge. A Korean who had come upon a Japanese
straggler and killed him was severely beaten by order of the Chinese
general in charge.

Finally, when all too late, Gen. Yi made a pretense of pursuit, but
after crossing Cho-ryŭng Pass and still finding himself no nearer the
enemy than before, he turned back and resumed his comfortable quarters
in Seoul. If he thought the Japanese would hasten to take boat and
return to their native land, he was much mistaken. It may be that they
wished to do so, but the terrible punishment that Admiral Yi Sun-sin had
inflicted upon the army of reinforcement made them wary of approaching
the coast, and so the Japanese forces in the south found themselves
practically entrapped. Had the Korean land forces been led at this time
by a man of the skill and bravery of old admiral Yi the country would
have been spared long years of war.

The Japanese in their flight south were brought face to face with this
stern fact, and like the soldiers that they were they set themselves to
solve the problem. They wanted to be near the sea, perhaps with a view
to taking advantage of any opportunity that might present itself of
slipping across to Japan, and yet they were so numerous that, living as
they must on forage, it would be impossible for them all to encamp at
the same place. So they adopted the plan of fortifying a long strip of
the southern coast, reaching from the harbor of So-sang in the district
of Ul-san in Kyŭng-sang Province to Sun-ch‘ŭn in Ch‘ŭl-la Province, a
distance of over two hundred and seventy miles. There were in all
between twenty and thirty camps. Being thus about ten miles apart they
had room for forage and still were near enough each other to render
assistance in case the Koreans or their allies the Chinese should
besiege them at any point. These fortified camps were all of the same
general kind, overlooking the sea from a bluff and on the land side
surrounded by a moat and earthworks. These preparations were made with
the utmost care, for there was no hope of immediate succor and the
Japanese foresaw stirring times.

In course of time the Chinese court was informed of these events and the
success of their generals in the north seems to have given them some
enthusiasm for prosecuting the war; so additional troops were sent to
the front under the command of Generals Yu Chung and Hŭ Kuk-ch‘ŭng.
These troops numbered 5,000 and were from southern China. Among them
there are said to have been many “ocean imps,” or savages from the
southern islands. These men could enter the water, it is said, and
scuttle the enemy’s ships from beneath. We are told that there were also
in this army some men of immense stature who came in carts rather than
on foot. These forces went into camp at Sŭng-ju in Kyŭng-sang Province.
At this place there was also a large Korean army under Generals Kim
Ch‘ŭn-il, Kim Sang-gön, Ch‘oé Kyŭng-whé, Ko Chong-hu, Yang San-do and Yi
Chong-in. Under them were large numbers of militia and raw recruits, and
this accounts in part for the speedy fall of the town and the terrible
slaughter that ensued. The Japanese laid siege to the place and after
nine days, during which time the Japanese made a hundred separate
assaults, the latter were reinforced and the defenders, exhausted by the
long struggle, were finally driven from the wall and the Japanese
effected an entrance. But even after they got in, the Koreans fought
desperately and sold their lives as dearly as possible. Of this most
sanguinary battle only one incident is preserved in the Korean accounts.
When the Japanese entered the city and had advanced to a point on the
wall which overlooks the waters of the Nam-gang (river), a desperate
encounter took place, in the midst of which the Korean general, Yi
Chong-in, seized two of the Japanese about the waist and, dragging them
to the brink of the precipice, threw himself and them into the water
below. Korean accounts say that in this battle the almost incredible
number of 70,000 Koreans were killed and that an equal number of the
Japanese perished. This latter must be an exaggeration, for the loss of
that number must have swept well-nigh the entire Japanese army from the
country. We must remember that the Japanese army had received
practically no reinforcements from the time it first landed on Korean
soil, and it is safe to say that what with the losses by sickness and
accident, together with the thousands who had fallen at the hands of the
Koreans and Chinese, the original force must have dwindled to 150,000 or
less; in which case the loss of 70,000 men must have put them _hors de
combat_ at once. This battle is called the greatest in the whole war, by
the Koreans, though it is not considered the most important.

An interesting story is told of a dancing-girl of this town. When the
Japanese took possession of the place she was appropriated by one of the
Japanese generals. One day while they were feasting in a summer-house on
the wall overlooking the river, she began to weep. He asked her the
reason and she replied, “You have come here and driven away our people
and our king. I do not know whether my sovereign is living, and yet I
sit here and feast. I can hardly claim to be better than the beasts, to
sit here and make merry. I must put an end to my life.” Thereupon she
threw her arms about her paramour and flung herself and him over the
edge, thus ending her weary life and helping to avenge her native land
at the same time. For this reason she was canonized at a later date and
her spirit was worshiped at this place each year by royal edict.

All this time the great Admiral Yi was in camp at Han-san Island off the
coast of Kyŭng-sang Province. His force was not large, but during his
enforced idleness he prepared for future work. He set all his men to
work making salt by evaporating sea water, and by this means he got
together a great store of provisions. Needing barracks for the soldiers,
he offered to the carpenters and workmen about a bag of salt for a day’s
work. His energy and patriotism were so contagious that many worked for
nothing, and the barracks were soon built. At this point the king
conferred upon him the admiralty of the three provinces of
Ch’ung-ch’ŭng, Chŭl-la and Kyŭng-sang.

In the ninth moon the Commissioner Song Eung-ch’ang and Gen Yi Yŭ-song
collected their forces and started back for China. They evidently
considered the back bone of the invasion broken, and so it was; but like
most spinal diseases it was destined to linger on for years before it
came to an end. When these generals set out on their homeward way they
left 10,000 Chinese soldiers in the hands of the Korean generals Yu
Chŭng and O Yu-ch’ang to act as a bodyguard for the king. In spite of
their suspicions of the corruptibility of Gen. Yi Yŭ-song, the Koreans
speak in high terms of him. They describe him as a young man of thirty,
of handsome person, broad mind and possessed of great skill in the art
of war. When he was on the eve of returning to China he bared his head
and showed the Koreans that his hair was already turning gray. He told
them it was because he had worked so hard for them, which piece of
bathos seems to have impressed them deeply.




                              Chapter I-A.

The King re-enters Seoul.... temporary palace.... a royal lament.... a
    profligate prince.... imperial rebuke.... “The Flying General”....
    uneasiness in Seoul.... revenue reform.... reforms in the army....
    King refuses to make peace with the Japanese.... the Chinese
    retire.... plot against Konishi.... Japanese envoy in Nanking....
    robbers put down.... a good man ruined.... Japanese trickery.... a
    patient envoy.... he absconds.... his flight covered by his
    second.... home-sick Japanese.... Konishi sarcastic.... Chinese
    envoy in Japan.... Korean envoy.... Japanese army leaves Korea....
    prince refuses the crown.... rebellion.... death of a loyal
    general.... envoys ill-treated in Japan.... return.... a new
    invasion determined upon.... comparison of Japan and Korea....
    Japanese scheme to get Admiral Yi into trouble.... Admiral Yi
    degraded.... second invasion.... Cho-ryŭng pass fortified....
    Chinese give aid.... Admiral Yi’s successor a failure.... great
    naval victory for the Japanese.


It was on the fourth day of the tenth moon of the year 1593 that the
king reentered the gates of Seoul after his long hard exile in the
north. But he found the city almost a desert. The palaces were burnt and
the ancestral temple was level with the ground. Under the circumstances
he decided to stop for some time in that part of the city which is
called Chong-dong, the present foreign quarter, near the West Gate. Here
there had been the grave of one of the wives of the founder of the
dynasty, but her body had long ago been disinterred and removed to a
place outside the Northeast Gate. So the king took up his quarters at
the Myŭng-ye-gung. It is the exact spot where the King of Korea lives
today. A considerable tract of land about it was surrounded by a stake
fence with a gate at the east and at the west. This royal residence was
named the Si-ö-sa or “Temporary Residence.” Here the king lived thirteen
years while the palace now known as “The Old Palace” was being built.
The king was desirous of rebuilding on the spot where his palace had
stood before, the Kyöng-bok-kung, but he was told by the geomancers that
that would be an unpropitious site. In order to build the new palace a
tax of half a piece of cotton cloth was levied upon each man throughout
the country. In some cases rice was accepted as a substitute.

After the king had entered the city, one of his first acts was to go to
the site of the ancient Confucian Temple and, standing on the melancholy
spot, utter the following lament: “The spirit of Confucius permeates
space as water permeates the soil beneath our feet. If my faithfulness
is great enough, let the spirit of Confucius rest down upon this spot.”
He noticed that none of the people were in mourning and so ordered that
all those who had lost parents in the war should assume the mourner’s
garb.

At this time a strong faction arose whose wish was to see the king lay
aside his royal prerogative in favor of his son. This prince was a son
by a concubine, for the queen had no children. He was an ambitious but
profligate fellow and had in his heart no loyalty for his father. Some
of the courtiers went so far as to memorialize the King to the effect
that it might add to the contentment of the people if the king should
put the reins of government into the hands of his son. He hesitated to
do this, for he knew the young man and how unfit he was to rule. At the
suggestion of Song Eung-ch‘ang, the emperor sent to the king appointing
the Crown Prince to the governorship of the southern provinces in
conjunction with the Chinese general, Yu Chung. The prince was delighted
at this and hastened to his post at Chŭn-ju. He practically took the
whole jurisdiction of the south out of the hands of the king and even
held the competitive examinations for literary degrees, which was an
exclusively royal prerogative.

Another of the Chinese generals accused the king before the emperor of
effeminacy and love of luxury and suggested that one of the best of the
Korean generals be elevated to the throne in his place, but Gen. Suk
Sŭng, who was very loyal to Korea, induced the emperor merely to send a
letter upbraiding the king for his love of luxury and claiming that this
was the cause of Japanese successes in the peninsula. The letter ended
with an exhortation to arouse himself, work up a competent army, and
complete the work of driving out the Japanese. The envoy bearing this
missive was met at P‘a-ju by Gen. Yu Sŭng-nyong and an escort. The
Chinaman told him that his arrival in Seoul would be the signal for some
very important disclosures. General Yu and Gen. Chŭk conferred together
about this matter and decided that the king must in any event be
prevented from abdicating, for their official heads depended upon his
retention of the reins of power. They also persuaded the envoy to their
view, so that when the king read the letter and declared his intention
to abdicate, the envoy objected that this could not be done until he had
sent a letter to the emperor and obtained his consent.

Meanwhile there was going on in the south a sort of geurilla warfare
against the Japanese. It was led principally by Kim Tŭk-nyŭng, a
self-made man who had the confidence of the prince. This man had put his
whole fortune into the cause and had himself fitted out 5,000 men. His
method was to pass from place to place with great rapidity and strike
the enemy when they were least expecting attack. In this way he earned
from the Japanese the name “The Flying General.” He is said to have been
uniformly successful.

Of another ilk were Song U-jin, Yi Neung-su and Hyŭn <DW41>. These
gathered about them bands of desperate men and went about the country
looting and burning. In Seoul there was consternation. At any moment one
of these bands might enter the city and work their will. The Crown
Prince, a cause of great uneasiness, was still at Chŭn-ju and for aught
anyone knew he might be plotting the overthrow of the government. In
fact this impression was so strong that the highwaymen dared to write to
him complaining of the king and asserting that they were going to make a
clean sweep. The implication was plain, that they intended to put the
prince upon the throne. The solicitude of the people in Seoul took form
in the rumor that Yi Tă-hyŭng himself, the Minister of War, was in
league with the rebels. For forty successive days this injured minister
went and knelt at the palace gate and begged that the king would have
him executed, as he could not endure the charge of unfaithfulness.

It was customary for the emperor to nominate an heir apparent for the
Korean throne, but at the beginning of this war it had seemed necessary
to appoint one immediately and so the king had informally promised the
prince that he should be king. The latter now demanded that this be
confirmed by the emperor and a messenger was sent to the Chinese court
for that purpose; but as the emperor had no son himself except by a
concubine and was loath to put him on the throne of China, so he was
unwilling to see this prince put on the throne of Korea. The result was
that he sent back a prompt refusal, which for the time dashed the hopes
of the ambitious prince.

It appears that the rebuke which the emperor administered to the king
was in some senses deserved. The king after all his wearisome exile in
the north, probably paid more attention to the pleasures of peace than
was for his own good or the good of the country. If so the rebuke had
its effect, for the king immediately roused himself and set to work
reorganizing the finances of the country and putting the army on a
better working basis. Hitherto the revenue had all been collected in
rice but now he allowed the revenue to be collected in any kind of
produce, and the collection of it was farmed out to various individuals,
a practice which at the time may have had its good points but which at
the same time had within itself very bad possibilities. The
reorganization of the army was a matter of great importance and the king
set himself to it with a will. Heretofore each general had had his own
following and there was no central power nor seat of authority. Each
body of troops followed the caprice of its leader with no reference to
any general plan. Before the Chinese general Yi Yŭ-song left he put into
the hands of the king a book treating of the art of war, a work written
by Ch’ŭk Kye-gwang. This book the king put into use and appointed Cho
Kyŭng and Yu Sŭng-nyong to have charge of the whole matter of military
reorganization. In order to put the new plan into operation a large
number of poor and destitute soldiers were gathered. They had to pass a
physical test which consisted in lifting a rice bag full of earth, and
of leaping over a wall as high as their heads. In ten days two thousand
men were found who endured the test. The drill consisted of three parts,
(1) firing with guns, (2) shooting with bow and arrow, (3) using the
battle axe. In time these men became the royal guard and escort. The
number gradually increased to 10,000, 2,000 being attached to each of
the government departments. The whole force was divided into two parts
and while one part was drilling in the city the other was set to work
farming in the suburbs. In this way they raised the food necessary for
the sustenance of the whole force. The plan was extended to the country,
and teachers were sent to practice the country soldiers. It became a
species of militia. From this time the quality and discipline of the
Korean army improved in a marked degree.

[Illustration: _THE LAUNDRY._]

It appears that the Koreans were not the only ones who suspected Gen. Yi
Yŭ-song of showing favors to the Japanese, for the emperor took notice
of it and deprived him of his high rank. He was supplanted by Gen. Ko
Yang-gyŭm. This new appointee advanced toward the border of Korea as far
as Liao-tung and from that point sent a letter to the king saying that
the Chinese had already lost enough men and treasure in the war and that
the king had better hasten to make friends with the Japanese and induce
them to come and do obeisance to the emperor. It appears plain that this
man wanted peace to be patched up before he should be called upon to do
active work in the field. When the king saw this letter he said, “When
the Crown Prince becomes king he can do as he pleases but as for me I
will never make peace or friendship with the Japanese.” But Yu
Sŭng-nyong urged the helplessness of Korea alone and the need of
securing China’s help at all hazards. Sŭng Hon urged the fact that the
new Chinese general had a large force in hand and he must be conciliated
at any cost. So the king reluctantly sent an envoy to China asking that
overtures of peace be made with the Japanese. Even while this envoy was
on the way, the emperor, apparently thinking the war at an end, sent an
order commanding the immediate return of Gen. Yu Chung, with all his
forces, from the province of Kyŭng-sang. The Crown Prince sent begging
him not to go. The people all about the country were in distress about
it. He was believed to be the only hope against the Japanese. The
command of the emperor however was law and the general was forced to
obey. Taking his army, together with the wives and children of those who
had been married to Korean women, he went back to Liao-tung. It is said
that over 10,000 of the Chinese took back their Korean wives to China,
but six years later they all returned to their native land.

Kato was desirous of meeting and having a talk with the Korean general
Kim Eung-sŭ, the general of Kyŭng-sang Province. To this end he sent a
Japanese named Yo-si-ra to arrange a meeting, and in course of time they
met at the town of Ham-an and had a conference. Kato opened the
conference as follows: “If Korea will help us to become the vassals of
China we will remove all our troops from Korea immediately and we will
also consider it a great favor.” But Gen. Kim, who knew of the enmity
which existed between Kato and Konishi, waved the main question by
asking, “Why is it that you and Konishi cannot agree? It is plain that
so long as he is here such a plan as you recommend cannot be carried
out.” Kato answered, “I have long wished to make an end of him, but can
never get a chance. If in some way we could work up a charge against him
and circulate it among the troops we might be able to get all the army
removed to Japan.” As to the further deliberations of these two men we
are not informed, but we judge from this passing glimpse that Konishi
the younger man was so firmly intrenched in the affection of his troops
that Kato despaired of making head against him until that affection was
in some way alienated. In this Kato acknowledges his virtual defeat at
the hands of his youthful rival.

The emperor was not as anxious as his generals to make peace with the
Japanese, and when he heard that his new appointee to the peninsula was
in favor of a treaty with the invaders he promptly ordered his
retirement, and Gen. Son Kwang was sent to take his place. Hardly had
this happened when the envoy Ho Ok, from the Korean court, arrived,
asking that a treaty be made with the Japanese. When his message was
delivered all the court was in favor of the plan; but the Prime Minister
said that as they had been deceived once by the Japanese general So
Sŭ-bi, who had accompanied Gen. Sim Yu gyăng from Pyŭng-yang on a
similar errand before, it would be well to test them with three
propositions. “(1) We will give the king of Japan the royal investiture.
(2) Every Japanese soldier must leave Korea. (3) The Japanese must
promise never to disturb Korea again.” This plan pleased the emperor and
Gen. So Sŭ-bi was sent for, that he might appear before the emperor and
accept these conditions. On arriving at Peking the Japanese readily
acceded to the terms and exclaimed, “We will gladly agree to this and
will swear by heaven to abide by the terms.” Thereupon Sim Yu-gyăng, who
had always had a strange leaning toward the Japanese, now exclaimed,
“Japan now evidently desires to become China’s vassal. An envoy must be
sent to invest Hideyoshi with the royal insignia, and all this trouble
will end.” But Hŭ Hong-gang had a truer estimate of the visitor and
remarked, “The Japanese are a subtle people, and all this talk of
becoming vassals of China is mere pretense. There is no use in sending
an envoy to Japan.” Gen. Sŭk Sŭng said, “This man seems to be honest in
what he says. Gen. Sim Yu-gyŭng should accompany So Sŭ-bi back to Korea
and there confer with the Japanese leaders and then arrangements can be
made for investing the king of Japan.” The emperor so ordered and at the
same time appointed Yi Chong-sŭng as envoy extraordinary to Japan to
perform the ceremony of investiture. Yang Pang-hyŭng was appointed his
second. These events all occurred in the latter part of the year 1593.

As the new year opened the political sky was dark enough. Not only were
the Japanese intrenched in the south but predatory bands infested the
country and the government troops had all they could do to hold them in
check, let alone any offensive operations against the Japanese. However,
after a hard chase a large band of the miscreants were brought to bay at
Hoe-mun Mountain and cut to pieces. At this time also the king sent
again to Nanking asking that his successor be nominated, but again he
was refused.

The career of Gen. Kim Tŭk-nyŭng whom, as we have seen, the Japanese had
dubbed “The Flying General,” affords us another example of the fatal
weakness of Korea, in the envy excited against any really successful
man; for even while Gen. Kim was successfully combatting the Japanese in
his own way, his very successes aroused the spleen of Gen. Yun Keun-su
who accused him to the king of having killed plenty of Koreans, but
never a Japanese. On the strength of this groundless charge, and without
questioning its truth, the king brought Gen. Kim to Seoul and imprisoned
him a year. And so a man of highest loyalty, of such unselfish
patriotism as to devote the whole of his private fortune to the fitting
out of soldiers to fight his country’s foes, was dragged away from a
successful field of work to languish in prison, simply because a less
successful man begrudged him his fame.

And now began an amusing comedy between the Chinese, who took the
Japanese seriously, and the latter who were merely playing off the
Chinese in order to save time.

In the fourth moon of 1395 the embassy from China to Japan arrived in
Seoul, and immediately Gen. Sim Yu-gyŭng posted southward to see Kato
and tell him that the Chinese embassy had already come and that he must
hasten to get all the Japanese troops out of the country before the
embassy should arrive at Fusan. To all this the wily Kato answered
gravely, “You had better stay here a few weeks while I take a run over
to Japan and ask Hideyoshi about it, and if he gives the order to take
the troops back, it can be done immediately.” When he came back, instead
of answering the main question he said that it would be well for a
Korean to accompany the envoy to Japan. Meanwhile the Chinese envoy Yi
Chong-sŭng, in Seoul, sent messenger after messenger urging the speedy
removal of the Japanese troops from the peninsula; but Kato kept putting
it off on one ground or another, and made no move to go. When, however,
this part of the comedy had proceeded to such a point that the Japanese
began to fear the Chinese would see that it was indeed a comedy, Kato
took a few regiments of men from Ung-ch’ŭn and Kŭ-je and made
preparations as if to depart, meanwhile sending Gen. Sim to Seoul to say
that he was waiting for the envoy and his suite to come south and
accompany the departing army to Japan. Five months had already elapsed
since the envoy had arrived in Seoul, and he therefore determined to
accept this invitation. Moving southward, he came to Nam-wŭn in Chŭl-la
Province where he stopped, fearing to go directly into the Japanese
camp. While there he gained the soubriquet of “frog-eater,” for he was
so fond of the flesh of that reptile that he compelled the people to
hunt for and procure it for him.

Gen. Son Kwang, from his comfortable quarters in Liao-tung, sent him a
letter charging him with cowardice and ordering him to proceed at once
on his way. Under this stimulus he proceeded to Fusan; but Kato would
not come to see him, saying, “I must receive instructions from Japan
before I can take you across the straits, so I will cross once more and
find out the will of my royal master in regard to the matter.” After an
absence of two months he came back and opened another act of the comedy
by asserting that he must first take Gen. Sim across to Japan and
arrange the ceremony of investiture, and that the envoy proper might
follow when all was ready. By this time, what with the fear of the
Japanese and bewilderment at the intricacy of Japanese diplomacy the
poor envoy was well-nigh distraught. When therefore, with the beginning
of the new year 1596 a Chinaman named So Hak-myŭng came from Japan and
informed him that Hideyoshi had not the remotest idea of becoming a
vassal of China and that if the Chinese envoy should cross to Japan he
would never come back again, it capped the climax, and that very night
the wretched envoy, taking only one servant and a few clothes tied up in
a cloth, made his escape from the Japanese camp and fled away northward.
He traveled by night and hid by day, until at last he arrived at Seoul.
And so the curtain drops on another act of the comedy.

When the Japanese found out that the envoy had made his escape they were
in a quandary, fearing lest they might be punished for letting him go
and so spoiling the fun. They therefore gave chase, but not being able
to overtake the light-footed envoy, they contented themselves with
surrounding the house of the vice-envoy Yang Pang-hyŭng. The latter knew
of his chief’s flight, but to draw away suspicion from himself he
pretended to sleep late that morning and claimed to know nothing about
the matter. When at last he was told of it by the Japanese general
Kuroda, he said quietly, “Well, he was a young man and a little nervous.
He should have gone to Japan long ago instead of waiting around here. It
will be of no use for you to chase him.” He then deliberately arose,
went to the room lately occupied by his chief, took possession of the
Emperor’s letter and returned to his own apartments. By his coolness and
presence of mind he allayed the excitement of the Japanese and perhaps
saved his own life.

The Japanese soldiers who had been detailed to return to Japan were of
course delighted to go back to their homes and were eager to set sail
from Fusan. They had their baggage all on board and were hoping to start
at any moment. But when they heard of the flight of the Chinese envoy
they knew there would be a long delay and they were sorely disappointed;
so much so in fact that many of them wept aloud. It is probable that
every Japanese soldier in the peninsula would have been glad of an
opportunity to return to Japan. Only the severe discipline of the
Japanese army and the lack of boats prevented them from deserting in
large numbers; at least we may gather as much from the frequent
references to the home-sickness of the Japanese soldiers.

Yang Pang-hyŭng called the weeping soldiers before him and said, “We
have waited here so long that my chief got tired and went back. But I
remain and the imperial missive is with me. He has fled only to Nam-wŭn
and if you send there you will doubtless find him.” This led them to
believe that their fond hope of returning home would soon be gratified.

All this time the young Konishi, the rival of Kato, sat disdainfully
silent watching the empty game which his unpopular rival was playing
with the Chinese. When he heard of the flight of the envoy he laughed
and said, “I knew he was no genuine envoy from the Emperor, for if he
had been he would not have dared to show his heels like this.” This
remark was intended to imply that while Kato had been trying to hoodwink
the Chinese, they, on the other hand, had hoodwinked him.

Yang Pang-hyŭng lost no time in informing the Emperor of the perfidy of
his chief, and the Emperor immediately ordered the recalcitrant official
to be caught and imprisoned. He raised Yang Pang-hyŭng to the position
of Chief of the Embassy and appointed Sim Yu-gyŭng as his second. We
will remember that Sim Yu-gyŭng had already gone to Japan with Kato,
bearing the imperial gifts, which consisted of a royal robe with the
embroidered design of a dragon, a jade belt, royal head-gear, a map of
China, a book on war and various other kinds of treasures. He there
married the daughter of a Japanese named Arima, and is said by the
Koreans to have become a thorough Japanese. This may have been part of
the game he was playing, and we may see the fruits of it later.

Kato was determined that a Korean envoy should accompany the Chinese one
to Japan and to this end he told one of the Korean officials, “If a
Korean envoy does not accompany the Chinese embassy to Japan the peace
will be only between Japan and China, and Korea will have no part in it.
This will lead to grave troubles.” Gen. Sim also sent his nephew back
from Japan to ask that a Korean envoy accompany the Chinese embassy. So
the king appointed two men, Whang Sin and Pak Hong-jang to this work,
conferring upon them the title of T’ong-sin-sa or “Faithful Messenger.”

In the fifth moon of this year 1596 Gen. Konishi massed his troops in
forty-six regiments on the southern coast and, leaving only four
regiments to guard Fusan, set sail for Japan. With him went all the
envoys, both Chinese and Korean.

Now that lasting peace seemed to be assured, the king no longer
hesitated to hand over the reins of power to the Crown Prince. He
accordingly sent the royal insignia south to him, and so doffed the
responsibilities as well as the prerogatives of royalty. But, strange to
say, the prince strenuously refused to accept them, insisting that he
had no desire to take the scepter from his father’s hand. Seven times he
sent to his father protesting his unwillingness to have the honor thrust
upon him. But the king would not listen. It was only after the courtiers
had assembled before the palace for twenty days in succession and
besought him to retain the scepter that they finally prevailed and he
consented to continue in the exercise of the royal prerogative.

Yi <DW41>-hak, an unprincipled ruffian, ignorant but ambitious, had joined
the forces of Gen. Han Hyŭn and had fought during the war. Now he
started out on an independent line. Gathering a force of over ten
thousand men he attacked and took Hong-san in Ch‘ung-ch‘ŭng Province,
and he followed it up by taking Im-ch‘ŭn, Ch‘ung-yang, Chöng-san and
Hong-ju. Yi <DW41>-hak had been deceiving his followers by saying that
Gen. Kim Tŭk-nyang was interested in this scheme. But now they found
that this same Gen. Kim was arrayed against them and they saw they had
been duped. That night every man deserted the adventurer and the next
day he fell into the hands of the loyal troops and his head was
forwarded to Seoul. This shows the extremely unsettled state of the
country, and how any unprincipled man with money and effrontery could
offer serious opposition to the government.

Here again we find a striking example of that petty jealousy which
deprived Korea of most of her capable men. This Gen. Kim Tŭk-nyŭng was a
celebrated man. He was known throughout the Korean army for his strength
and prowess. It is said of him that single-handed he would attack a
tiger and pin it to the ground with a spear. They also say that he rode
into battle with an iron mace of a hundred pounds weight in each hand
and he gave the Japanese so many hard knocks that they gave him the
name, “The General from under the Rock.” The ministers at Seoul were
suspicious of his rising fame and went their ways to have him dragged
down. They charged him with having been in league with Yi <DW41>-hak and
won the king over. He was arrested and brought to Seoul, where after a
most disgraceful trial he was put to death. The Japanese had such a high
opinion of this man’s parts that Konishi sent and had a portrait made of
him. When he saw the picture he exclaimed, “This man is indeed a
General.” When his death was announced, the Japanese held a great feast
in honor of the event. This was just on the eve of their departure for
home.

As we have seen, it was in the summer of 1596 that the Chinese and
Korean envoys crossed to Japan with the returning army of invasion. When
they were brought into the presence of Hideyoshi he treated them with
scant courtesy. When asked why he did not bow before the imperial
missive he replied that he had a sore leg and could not. He treated the
Korean envoy much worse than the Chinese, and said to him, “I sent back
the two princes as I agreed, but your king never so much as thanked me.
He has now sent as envoy a man of inferior rank on purpose to insult me.
I believe the original Chinese envoy ran away at the instigation of your
king. I will treat the Chinese envoy civilly, but as for you I shall
send another army and be avenged on you.” After this there was but one
thing to do. Both the envoys packed up their effects and started back
home. When the Chinese envoy arrived at Nanking bringing insult instead
of submission from Japan the Emperor was in a terrible rage and charged
Sim Yu-gyŭng with having betrayed his country. The chief envoy was
executed and the official who had advised the sending of an embassy was
thrown into prison and starved to death, but Sim Yu-gyŭng in some way
escaped with his head.




                              Chapter II.

A new invasion determined upon.... comparison of Japan and Korea....
    Japanese scheme to get Admiral Yi into danger.... Admiral Yi
    degraded.... second invasion.... Choryŭng Pass fortified.... Chinese
    give aid.... Admiral Yi’s successor a failure.... great naval
    victory for the Japanese.... Admiral Yi reinstated.... siege and
    fall of Nam-wŭn.... Korean naval victories.... Admiral Yi’s
    policy.... Japanese advance checked.... rejoicing in Seoul.... siege
    of Ul-san.... siege raised.... Roman Catholic missionaries.... the
    Japanese army.... the “ear and nose mound”.... number of Chinese....
    a Japanese settlement.... Chinese admirals.... Admiral Yi’s
    diplomacy.... Gen. Yang Ho recalled.... the King accused.... the
    defense.


We have now reached the halfway point between the two invasions, or
rather between the two parts of the double invasion. Hideyoshi was still
furious over the failure of his great plan of invading China, and he
must needs find some way to vent his spleen. He determined upon a second
invasion of Korea, not this time with a view to the invasion of China
but with the more modest desire to punish Korea, though what Korea had
done to deserve punishment it would be hard to say. To be sure she had
proved an obstacle to his vaulting ambition, for had Hideyoshi’s
original army sailed straight for China instead of landing at Fusan, it
probably would have overthrown the Chinese capital. We must notice the
changed conditions which existed between the two countries. Korea had
now experienced the worst possible at the hands of the Japanese and knew
what to expect. Their soldiers had felt the prick of Japanese swords and
had in turn tasted the delights of victory. That terrible glamor which
surrounded the dreaded islanders upon their first appearance had worn
off and some sort of equality had been effected between them. The
Koreans had meanwhile become possessed of firearms and were measurably
skilled in their use. They had learned never to trust themselves to open
battle when geurilla warfare was feasible. They had demonstrated their
great superiority on the sea in the person of the Admiral Yi. When
therefore we remember that the Japanese had to leave their base of
supplies and live on what they could forage in the peninsula, it appears
that in spite of their prowess they had not much advantage over the
Koreans. But before making this second descent upon the shores of Korea
it was necessary for the Japanese to get the redoubtable Admiral Yi
Sun-sin out of the way. No fleet from Japan would risk an encounter with
him in his “Tortoise Boat.” The Japanese had seen how the mutual
jealousies of the Koreans worked in their favor and they determined to
use this in getting Admiral Yi removed. So one day a Japanese named
Yo-si-ra made his appearance at the camp of Gen. Kim Eung-sŭ, saying
that he was tired of being a Japanese and that he wanted to become a
Korean. He dressed in Korean clothes and kept going back and forth
between the Japanese and Koreans, giving the latter what seemed to be
much valuable information. He seemed to be devoted to the Korean
interests. One day he came in a state of great excitement and said that
the Japanese General Kato was coming to Korea with a great fleet and
that, as he was to pass a certain island off the coast, Admiral Yi ought
to be sent to lie in wait there and drive the invading fleet back or to
sink it. So Gen. Kim wrote to the king about it and asked for orders.
The king, trusting in the prowess of Admiral Yi, gave his consent; but
when that officer received these orders he promptly replied that it was
a trick to entrap him and thus clear a way for a descent upon the
mainland of Korea. He therefore declined to run the risk, especially as
the place mentioned was studded with sunken rocks and was specially
dangerous for navigation. But the Japanese Yo-si-ra kept urging Gen. Kim
to see to it that the plan was carried out and at last the General wrote
to the king saying that Admiral Yi declined to go. As may be supposed
Admiral Yi had enemies at court who could not let such an opportunity
pass of getting him into trouble. Consequently the iniquitous decree
went forth that Admiral Yi be seized and brought to Seoul and that Wŭn
Kyun be put in his place. The king intended to put Admiral Yi to death,
but one of the officials urged his former services in palliation of his
present offense and so the punishment was commuted to loss of position
alone. So it was that Admiral Yi, the best soldier that Korea contained
and to whom the king owed his crown twice over, was degraded to the
ranks and became a common soldier. But most remarkable of all, he made
no complaint, but went quietly about his work as if nothing had
happened.

In the first moon of the year 1597 the Japanese fleet set sail from
Japan. This army was led by Kato and Konishi although the nominal
commander in chief was a lad of seventeen named Hideyaki. It is said
that it took a thousand boats to bring the army across the straits. Had
Admiral Yi Sun-sin been at his old post this fleet would never have
touched keel on the Korean coast but as it was there was no difficulty,
and the entire army landed safely at So-sang Harbor and immediately
threw up fortifications and went into camp.

The first thought of the Koreans was to fortify Cho-ryŭng Pass the one
break in the mountain chain which the Japanese must pass if they wished
to march on Seoul. Gen. Kwŭn Ryŭl with 23,000 men and other generals
with troops hastily gathered from various districts hastened to that
important pass and put the fortifications in good order, and the king
forthwith sent Kwŭn Hyŭp as envoy to Nanking to implore the intervention
of China. And now we see the evil results of Hideyoshi’s ill-treatment
of the Chinese and Korean envoys in Japan; for instead of making the
Koreans send time and again asking for help the Emperor was eager to
send troops into the peninsula to avenge himself upon the Japanese. The
Chinese army was put in charge of three men: Gen. Yang Ho with rank of
Military Commissioner, Gen. Hyöng Kă as general-in chief and Admiral Ma
Gwi as commander of all the naval forces. Under these were Generals Yang
Wŭn, O Yu-ch’ung, U Păk-yŏng, Chin U-ch’ung, So Eung-gung, Chin Hyo and
Tong Han-yu. Gen. Yang Ho came no further than P’yŭng-yang, his duties
not requiring his presence on the field of battle. Admiral Ma Kwi and
all the others came on to Seoul. From that point they branched out in
several directions, one going to Nam-wŭn in Chŭl-la province, another to
Song-ju in Kyŭng-sang Province, another to Chŭn-ju, Chŭl-la Province,
and another to Ch’ung-ju in Ch’ung-ch’ŭng Province.

Admiral Wŭn Kyun, who had supplanted Yi Sun-sin, went to Han-san where
Admiral Yi had worked so diligently to build barracks with the proceeds
of salt manufacture. His first work was to overthrow all the rules and
regulations which his predecessor had so wisely promulgated. He then
drove away all who had been at all intimate with the former admiral, who
was now a common soldier under Kwŭn Ryul. He then built a paling about
the council-hall that Yi Sun-sin had built and there he housed his harem
and spent his time in revelry and feasting. He would frequently have
innocent men called up and severely punished for mere amusement. And
thus he soon alienated the good will of all the troops stationed there.

But Kato, the astute Japanese general, through his tool Yo-si-ra, kept
at Gen. Kim, urging him to have a fleet sent to intercept a fleet of
Japanese boats. He named a day on which the Korean fleet would be sure
to intercept a fleet of the enemy. At last the order was given for
Admiral Wŭn Kyun to carry out this manoeuvre and though he had no
stomach for the enterprise he could not well demur, for this was the
very thing that had cost Admiral Yi his position. So he got his boats
together and sailed out to Chŭl-yŭng Island off Fusan. But a strong
breeze sprang up and the sea was rather rough and in the darkness of
night the Korean fleet became scattered. The next day the larger part of
them rendezvoused at Ka-dok Island where they unexpectedly met the
Japanese fleet and were vigorously attacked. Almost immediately all
Admiral Wŭn’s forces deserted him and his only recourse was flight.
Beaching his boat on Ch‘il-ch‘ŭn Island he landed and drew about him
what remnants of his force he could find. When Gen. Kwŭn Ryul heard of
this he sent a stern order demanding that the admiral come out and
fight. That valliant man first filled himself with wine then sallied
forth only to be deserted again by his men. So the doughty admiral again
ran his boat aground and took to his heels. He was so fat however that
he could not run far, so he sat down under a tree to get his breath.
There the Japanese overtook him and carried away his head in triumph.
The second in command, Yi Yŭ-geui, fled by boat after burning all the
barracks and provisions that were stored at Han-san.

When these events became known the whole country was in consternation.
Yi Hang-bok, the king’s trusted councillor, said, “Yi Sun-sin must be
reinstated in his former position.” It was a case of dire necessity and
so the king sent and conferred upon that faithful man his former office.
The trusty Yi set out on foot and rested not day nor night until he
reached his former position, Han-san. On all sides he met the scattered
and flying remnants of his former force. He rallied them about him,
promising that the Japanese should still be held in check.

But before Admiral Yi arrived on the scene of action a tremendous force
of Japanese both military and naval had landed on the southern coast.
Their objective point was Nam-wŭn, where the Chinese general Yang Wŭn
had pitched his camp. Upon the approach of the Japanese the latter
burned all the houses outside the wall to prevent their offering cover
to an attacking force; but the Japanese soon built a rough fence or
palisade about the town, from behind which they picked off the Chinese
soldiers on the wall, at leisure. The Chinese attempted to make a sortie
but in their eagerness to get out of the gate they became jammed in it
and were mown down by the long swords of the besiegers. Unfortunately
for the Chinese and Koreans the following night was full moon and the
Japanese cut down every man that attempted to escape. To the line of
stakes which they had planted about the town the Japanese fastened
swords, and when the people from the town tried to make good their
escape they found themselves impaled upon these weapons. The Chinese
commander, Yang Wŭn, rode at this barrier and his horse was so impaled,
but he succeeded in getting over and making good his escape. The
Japanese attacked the wall in its weakest point and forced an entrance.
The massacre within the town beggars description. The Korean generals
Chöng Keui-wŭn, Yi Pong-nam, O Eung-jung, Kim Kyöng-no, Sin Ho, Im Hyŭn,
Yi Tŭk-whe and Yi Wŭn-ch‘un were all killed, which indicates how
sanguinary must have been the fight.

Immediately all northern Chŭl-la was in confusion and the troops
everywhere began to fall back toward the north. In Seoul itself there
was consternation. The king called his officials about him and asked
what should be done. They all urged that the king stay in the capital.
The queen and the crown prince however were sent to Su-an in Ham-gyŭng
Province and the king prepared to move whenever it should seem
necessary.

But by this time Admiral Yi was again on the stage of action and as
alert as ever. He had as yet only ten boats under him, but he had no
lack of men, for the people all along the coast, when they heard of his
reinstatement, flocked to him. He drew up his little fleet of ten boats
in the shadow of a mountain on Chin-do (island) and sent out
reconnoitering boats which returned just at night saying that the
Japanese were approaching. As the moon dropped behind the mountain it
left the Korean fleet in complete darkness and soon the Japanese boats
came sailing along in single file. Admiral Yi deployed his boats in a
long line and suddenly they all raised a loud shout and fired point
blank at the unsuspecting Japanese. The latter thought they had run into
a powerful fleet and soon scattered in all directions. The next day
there was more serious work, however, for a fleet of several hundred
boats appeared. The Koreans were in some trepidation, but the fearless
admiral made straight for the enemy and though soon surrounded he
succeeded in sinking thirty of the enemy’s boats. The rest evidently
recognized the master hand of Admiral Yi and turned and fled. He gave
chase, and before the battle ended the Japanese commander Ma-da-si was
killed. Returning from this remarkable fight Admiral Yi proceeded to
Han-san and set to work rebuilding the barracks and making salt. It is
said that in two months time he stored away 20,000 bags of rice. His
former captains and soldiers came back to him in “clouds.” He also found
another source of revenue. The wealthy men all through the south desired
to get away from the disturbed districts and so loaded their effects
upon boats and sailed away. Admiral Yi however stood in the way and made
them pay a toll of from one to three bags of rice for each boat. From
this source alone he collected above a thousand bags of rice. He used
this revenue in the purchase of copper for the casting of cannon, and
for the building of boats. Thousands of people who feared to live on the
mainland came and built huts about his camp, until the island actually
became too small to hold more.

After the fall of Nam-wŭn the Japanese, flushed with victory, started
northward toward Seoul, thinking without doubt that they would have as
easy a victory as before. Yang Ho, hearing of the defeat of the Chinese,
came post haste from P’yŭng-yang and severely upbraided the generals and
charged them with lack of bravery. Without an hour’s delay it was
arranged that Generals Ha Sang, U Pak-yung, Yang Teung and P‘a Sa should
take a strong body of troops and move southward to Ch‘ung-ch‘ŭng
Province and intercept the Japanese. This was done and the army ambushed
at Keum-o-p‘yŭng in the district of Chik-san. Soon the Japanese came
streaming along, neglecting all precautions, for they had no idea of
meeting an enemy. When therefore the ambuscade opened fire on them it
took but a few moments to throw them into utter confusion. In the rout
which ensued an enormous number of the Japanese were killed. On the
following day the Japanese, who had mended their broken ranks as best
they could, came on to the attack, but their losses had been so great
that in spite of wonders of bravery which they showed they were again
crushed. The remnant of their force fled southward to Mok-ch‘un and
Ch‘ung-ju. This was one of the three great battles of the war and in
importance it was exceeded by none; for, though the forces engaged were
not so numerous nor the number of slain so great, it broke once for all
the self-confidence of the Japanese, and they never again had the
hardihood to attempt the approach to Seoul. By this battle the war was
definitely confined to the southern provinces. The Commissioner Yang Ho
suggested to the king that he go out and survey the battle field, and so
the royal cavalcade rode out the South Gate. One of the Chinese generals
suspected that the king was something of a coward and so, to test him,
he gave the horse the king was riding a sharp cut with a whip. The horse
leaped into the air with terror but the king held his seat and showed no
sign of fear. The Chinese were pleased at this and their respect for the
king was visibly increased.

Seoul gave itself up to universal holiday in honor of the victory, for
it was still fresh in the minds of many how Seoul had fared before at
the hands of the invaders.

In the tenth moon Gen. Konishi built a strong fort on a bluff
overlooking the sea at Ul-san in Kyŭng-sang Province. He named it
To-san. The Chinese Yang Ho determined to cut the war short by attacking
and taking this position and by so doing he expected to cut off the
right arm of the invading army. Collecting all the forces that were
within reach, he started south to attack Ul-san. The army consisted of
40,000 men and it went in three divisions. The left or eastern division
being led by Gen. Yi Pang-ch‘ŭn, the middle division by Gen. Ko Ch‘ak
and the western division by Gen. P ăng U-dŭk. Gen. Ma Kwi was sent on
ahead and acted as _avant-coureur_. Stopping a few miles from the
Japanese position he ordered Gen. P‘a Sa to go and make a preliminary
attack upon the fort to discover something as to the lay of the land,
and if possible to discover the number and equipment of the enemy. The
attack was made with fire-arrows. Almost immediately the Japanese made a
sortie, but were driven back with a loss of four hundred and sixty men.
Shortly after this the three grand army corps arrived. The Japanese were
arranged in three divisions. In the middle was the fort proper. On the
north was a fortified camp called the Pan-gu-jun and off the south was
another called the P‘a-wha-gang. It was the first business of the
Chinese and Korean allies to drive these outer divisions into the
central fort. To this end the left division of the army attacked the
Pan-gu-jun and the right division the P‘a-wha-gang. Gen. Yang Ho put on
his armor and went into the thick of the fight and urged on his men. The
air was filled with the noise of drums, musketry-fire and shouts of the
combatants, and a cloud of arrows concealed the heavens. Some of the
Japanese huts were on fire and great clouds of smoke and flame rolled
heavenward. Slowly the Japanese were forced back and finally they all
entered the gates of the main fort of To-san. This fort was set on a
rugged hill where it was difficult for an attacking force to manoeuvre,
but there was little water in the fort and the Japanese were forced to
come out secretly at night and draw water from a well nearby. Being
aware of this, Gen. Kim Eung-sŭ, a Korean, placed an ambush about the
well and caught upwards of a hundred of the enemy. They were badly
emaciated and said that surrender was a matter of only a few days. It
came on to rain, and this was followed by severe cold, as it was now the
beginning of winter. Many of the besieging army had their hands and feet
frozen. One of Gen. Konishi’s lieutenants wrote repeatedly to the Korean
general Song Yun-mun asking for terms of peace. Gen. Yang Ho answered,
“Konishi must come out and surrender and he will be treated well.” By
this time the Japanese were well-nigh exhausted. They had neither food
nor water, and every day they died in such numbers that it is said they
had “a mountain of dead.” Many a time Gen. Konishi meditated suicide but
each time was restrained by one means or another. As a last resort the
Japanese threw gold and silver over the wall to bribe the soldiers
without and keep them from making an attack.

But the tables were about to be turned. All the other Japanese forces in
the south had become aware of the desperate straits to which their
comrades were reduced at To-san. And so now at the last moment a large
fleet appeared and the hard won victory was snatched from between the
teeth of the Chinese and Korean allies. The exposure had greatly
weakened the besieging force. Their provisions were almost exhausted and
they had used up all their arrows. They were far stronger than the
beleagured Japanese but were not fit to cope with the fresh army which
was burning with zeal to avenge their starving compatriots. So it was
that Gen. Yang Ho was compelled to raise the siege and fall back toward
Seoul. During this siege the Chinese loss was fourteen hundred, though
many thousands were wounded.

From this time date the first efforts of the Roman Catholic Church to
enter Korea. Japan had already many thousands of converts to Romanism
and Hideyoshi was determined to leave no means untried to eradicate the
foreign cult. To this end he sent many of the Catholic converts to
Korea. But the most distinguished of them all was the young and vigorous
Gen. Konishi who had received baptism at the hands of the Catholics and
had received the name of Augustine Arimandano. It may have been because
of Hideyoshi’s desire to get the Catholics out of the country that Gen.
Konishi was appointed to the post in Korea. Kato was as pronounced a
Buddhist as Konishi was a Christian and this of course intensified the
hatred and rivalry between them. Gen. Konishi was desirous of having
Catholic teachers come over to the peninsula and attend to the spiritual
needs of the Christians in the army; and to this end the Vice-provincial
of the Jesuits in Japan appointed Padre Gregoris de Cespedes to this
arduous and important post. With him went a Japanese priest. The two
first went to Tsushima and finding no means of getting to the peninsula
remained there over the winter and carried on a successful mission work.
The next spring they made their way to Korea and finally reached Gen.
Konishi’s headquarters at a place that the Japanese call Comangai, which
was without doubt the fort of Ul-san. Here they worked a year but
finally, through the machinations of Gen. Kato, who worked upon the
prejudices of Hideyoshi, both the foreign and native priests were sent
back to Japan, and this had no little to do with the return of Gen.
Konishi, who went to clear himself before his master.

To anticipate a little, we might here say that many Koreans who were
carried captive to Japan from time to time during this war, became
Christians at Nagasaki and though slaves were so firm in their belief as
to be willing to suffer martyrdom during the terrible persecutions which
raged in Japan between 1610 and 1630, but with the departure of Cespedes
from Korea the distinctive work in Korea was abandoned.

Let us pause a moment here to compare the two contending armies. In this
second invasion the total number of Japanese that reached Korean soil
was 105,400, or about half as many as formed the first army of invasion.
They were led by twenty-seven generals, prominent among whom were Kato
and Konishi. As a mark of his spiteful spirit, Hideyoshi ordered that in
this second invasion the noses and ears of all Koreans killed or
captured should be cut off and sent to Japan. And so from time to time
these half-savage soldiers sent loads of Korean noses and ears, pickled
in salt, and they were buried in the monastery of Ta-bul-sa in the city
of Kyoto, there to remain to all ages a disgusting memento of the most
unprovoked and wanton cruelty that ever disgraced the annals of a great
people. Many of the Koreans who lost their noses or ears at that time
survived many years, and it cannot be wondered at that the Koreans have
never since cared to accept favors at the hands of their island
neighbors.

The total number of Chinese was 210,000. With them came 2,000,000 ounces
of silver to pay for their sustenance. From Shantung were sent by boat
200,000 bags of rice. There were also sent for the relief of the army
5,832,000 ounces of silver. And for the relief of the Korean famine
sufferers an additional 3,000,000 ounces were sent. When we consider the
vast number of men and the millions of wealth that China poured into
Korea at this time it may well be believed, as the Koreans affirm, that
China, by so doing, impoverished herself so that she became an easier
prey to the Manchus who, a few years later, wrested the scepter from
her.

Large numbers of Japanese who had been in the country for years and were
tired of the war deserted from the ranks, married Korean women and
settled down to farming in various places in the south. At Mi-ryang in
the Province of Kyŭng-sang there was a whole settlement of them. It was
called the Hang-wă or “Settlement of the Surrendered Japanese.” Some of
them were also to be found in Ham-gyŭng and P‘yŭng-an Provinces. These
had been left behind and abandoned by their fellows for one cause or
another when the Japanese retired from the north. They were all destined
to be destroyed a quarter of a century later during the rebellion of Yi
Kwal.

About this time there arose in the Chinese court a determined enemy of
Gen. Yang Ho named Chŭng Eung-t‘ă who accused Gen. Yang to the Emperor
in twenty-five specifications, five of which implicated the king of
Korea and which at a later date caused a deal of trouble.

We now enter upon a new phase of the war, the closing epoch. In the
first moon of the following year, 1598, the Emperor sent two admirals to
Korea, the one being Tong Il-wun and the other Chil Lin. The former was
to have charge of the naval operations off the coast of Chŭl-la and the
other of those off Kyŭng-sang Province. Chil Lin, under the title of
Great Admiral came up the Han River with 500 boats as far as Tong-jak,
the first village above Yong-san. The king and the court went down and
reviewed this fleet and saw it start off to join Admiral Yi Sun-sin in
the south. This admiral, Chil Lin, was a good soldier but inordinately
vain. He would take no one’s advice, and it looked as if stormy times
were in store for the plain, blunt Admiral Yi. The king told Admiral
Chil Lin that he was not sure about Admiral Yi, and this of course had
its influence with the Chinese admiral. Admiral Yi was then at Ko-geum
Island off Chŭl-la Province. When he heard that Admiral Chil Lin was
coming he showed by his first act that he was as good a diplomat as
soldier. He may or may not have known what sort of man the Chinese
admiral was but he knew that in any case it would not do to antagonize
him, and he acted accordingly. He collected a great store of fish and
game and wine and went out to meet the approaching fleet. Returning with
the Chinese admiral he spread a great feast and the whole company got
splendidly drunk and vowed that Admiral Yi was a royal good fellow.
Admiral Chil Lin himself joined in the praise. Soon after this Admiral
Yi had the good luck to take two score of Japanese heads, but instead of
claiming the honor himself he handed them over to the Chinese admiral to
forward as his own trophies. This finished Admiral Yi’s conquest of
Admiral Chil Lin’s good graces. From this time on it was Gen. Yi who
suggested and planned and it was Admiral Chil Lin who assented and
reaped the praise. This course of conduct was a master-piece of genius
on the part of Admiral Yi, for by so doing he accomplished at least
three important things. In the first place he kept himself in his
position, which he would have lost had he antagonized the Chinaman. In
the second place he saved himself to his country at a time when she
could not have spared him. He was willing to forego the praise and let
others reap the commendation if only he might ward off the enemies of
his country. In the third place he made the Chinese seem successful and
so encouraged them and got out of them for Korea all that was to be
hoped. He was willing to seem to be toadying to Admiral Chil Lin when in
reality that gentleman was, to use a pregnant Korean phrase, “in his
sleeve.” Being always near the Chinese admiral he could always see to it
that no great blunders were made. At first the Chinese soldiery
committed great excesses among the people of the country, stealing their
valuables and otherwise injuring them. Admiral Yi quietly asked that the
discipline of the army be put in his hands and from that day on the
smallest irregularity was severely punished and the most perfect order
prevailed. This did not escape the eye of Admiral Chil Lin, and he wrote
to the king that Admiral Yi was a remarkable man and that the world did
not contain another soldier like him. One day as they sat in a
summer-house overlooking the sea a fleet of Japanese boats appeared in
the distance. Admiral Chil Lin was much excited and a little nervous but
Admiral Yi laughed and said, “Sit here and watch me give those fellows a
whipping.” He got out his boats and in an hour he had forty of the
enemy’s boats on fire and the rest fled. Admiral Chil Lin could not
praise him enough after this and declared that the universe did not
contain another man who could perform the feats that Admiral Yi
apparently found easy.

In the seventh moon of this year the enemies of Gen. Yang Ho in Nanking
were successful and he was called from Korea, much to the regret of the
king who vainly sent an envoy to the Chinese court specially to plead
that the decree be not carried out. Gen. Yang had been the best of all
the generals that China had sent and his departure was a great loss to
Korea. When he went, the king and a large number of the people
accompanied him beyond the Peking Pass, and a stone tablet was raised
there in his honour. All of this of course made Gen. Yang’s enemies hate
the king as well, and so that official named Chung Eung-t’a fabricated
some astonishing stories about him. He claimed that while he had been in
Korea he had found a manuscript which proved that the king had received
investiture from Japan. He also charged the Koreans with showing
disloyalty to China by prefixing the word _ta_ (great) to the posthumous
titles of their kings. He also claimed that the first coming of the
Japanese was with a secret understanding with the king of Korea that
they would attack Liao-tung together. To these he added many minor
charges. The Emperor apparently believed these things and immediately
despatched an envoy, So Kwal-lan, to investigate the matter and report.
When the king was informed of these charges he was dumbfounded. All his
scrupulous care of the interests of his Chinese suzerain and the
extremes of hardship which he and his people had endured, rather than
grant the Japanese a free passage through Korea to strike China—all this
was thrown back upon him and his devotion was counted treachery. He left
his palace and took up his abode in a straw hut for one whole month as
penance for having been even suspected of such baseness. The whole
country was stirred to its depths by these unnatural and evidently
baseless charges. The king immediately sent his most trusted councillors
Yi Hang-bok and Yi Chung-gwi to Nanking with the following memorable
reply to the charges which had been preferred:

“These charges which have been made against me are very grave and if
they are true I deserve death. In order to answer them I must repeat
them, even though it defile my mouth. In the first place the origin of
the Japanese is far in the eastern sea. The way thither by boat is
exceeding far. They are such barbarians that heaven has separated them
far from other men. They have always been bad neighbors, for they live
by piracy; they come like a flash and are gone as suddenly. Since the
time of the fall of the Koryŭ dynasty great uneasiness has prevailed in
Japan. Law has been in abeyance and bands of freebooters have been
allowed to devastate our southern shores until nothing but weeds and
briers grow there. The founder of our present dynasty drove them out for
a time but they grew bold again and continued their depredations. The
natives of Tsushima liked to come and trade with us and we permitted it
at their request; then Japanese from the more distant islands came in
flocks like birds. Our people never liked them, but we permitted the
trade, as it was mutually profitable. We gave them rice to eat and
treated them kindly. We built a house in Seoul for the reception of
their envoys. In the days of king Se-jong they asked us to send an envoy
to Japan and we did so, primarily to spy out the land and discover
whether the country was rich or poor, strong or weak. The envoy obtained
the information and we immediately reported the matter to China. We
could not well refuse to send an envoy to Japan, but it does not argue
relations of friendship, much less of intimacy. In the days of the
Emperor Chong-t’ong the Japanese started to ravage a certain part of the
Chinese coast and took Quelpart on the way, but we attacked and drove
them out and sent their leader alive to China to be dealt with. Also in
the time of King Chung-jong the Japanese attacked the China coast at
Yong P’a-bu. They killed the Chinese general and then made off, but we
caught them and sent them to the Chinese authorities. Since that time we
have twice prevented Japanese attacks on the China coast. Not once nor
twice have we received high commendation from the Chinese Emperor for
our firm loyalty. We have always used our wits and our strength in the
interests of China. This was the duty of a vassal and this we have done.
We let the Japanese live in the three harbors of Ch’e-p’o, Pu-san-p’o
and Yŭm-p’o but we prescribed limits of five or ten _li_ beyond which
they could not go. On the whole then is seems plain that the charge that
we called in the Japanese and asked them for troops must be a pure
fabrication. Again the book which Chung Eung-t’a claims to have found is
an actual book and is named the Ha-dong Keui-ryak. It was written by Sin
Suk-ju the envoy to Japan, on his return from that country, and it deals
with the laws and manners of the Japanese. It contains a map of Japan, a
genealogy and also the rules of etiquette to be observed toward the
Japanese envoy. This book our accuser seized upon as a sure sign of our
leaning toward Japan, and he twisted its meaning to correspond to his
theory. The Japanese have a different name for the year from that which
we use, and the writer of this book put the Chinese name beneath the
Japanese name as a sort of commentary, so that the reader could
understand what year was referred to. In a Japanese book one must put
the Japanese name of the year and if he wants to make plain the meaning
he must put the Chinese name underneath or in the margin. As to the
charge that we gave too high a title to our deceased kings we can only
say that we live beyond the sea and are ignorant and secluded. From the
days of Sil-la until now we have been accustomed to name our dead kings
in this way. The founder of the dynasty was scrupulously careful not to
overstep the recognized limits of his authority as a vassal of China and
we never for a moment have forgotten the gap which separates a vassal
king from his suzerain. The custom of giving these posthumous titles
dates from the days of Sil-la, so how could we be expected to know that
it was wrong, especially as it has never been called in question before?
If we are blamed for ignorance and boorishness we cry guilty, but if for
lack of loyalty, we humbly deny it. We have our calendar, our official
dress and writing all from China. This alone should speak for our
loyalty. The year before the beginning of the present war Hideyoshi
murdered his master and usurped his throne. Burning with a desire to
spring at the throat of China he sent us letters inviting us to join in
an invasion of that country. We sent his letter back with contumely. In
all this we advanced solely the interests of China. This is as clear as
day. When the invading army came it seemed as if all Japan had alighted
upon our shores. They covered our whole eight provinces and ravaged
them. They seized our three capitals and desecrated two royal tombs.
They burned our ancestral temple and other sacred places and then swept
northward to P’yŭng Yang. We were unable to hold them in check or save
our capital from their hands. We were driven to the verge of desperation
and were about to cross into the parent land to die. Is it conceivable
that if we had the least friendship for Hideyoshi we would have suffered
all this at his hands? If we look at nature do we find any analogy for
such a thing? If this charge is true why did our forces join with yours
in striking the invaders and why have we been hanging on their flanks
and harassing them for years? Let the Emperor know that there is a
reason why we have suffered this slander at the mouth of Chung Eung-t’a.
It is because we took Gen. Yang Ho’s part when Chung Eung-t’a desired
his recall from Korea in disgrace. Gen. Yang Ho was with us a long time
and he was a true friend of Korea. We all had the utmost confidence in
him and it was a great pity that so good a man should have met the
reward he did. It is a cause of poignant grief to us. We are a small
people and our destruction is a matter of small consequence, but for a
general of China to be treated in this manner is a serious matter. We
are an outside people and we have never had the pleasure of visiting the
Emperor’s court, and so there is no one to plead our cause for us, but
the Emperor will be able to judge our case without further plea. Chung
Eung-t’a has called me a traitor, and I would rather die than live with
such a charge upon me, even though it be untrue. Let the Emperor take
this letter and sit in judgment on the case and if it appears that I am
guilty let my head pay the penalty, but if not then let the Emperor
acquit me before the world and I shall again be able to endure the light
of day.”

This letter is clear, logical and to the point, and it breathes a spirit
of self-respect which does credit to the king. It shows not a servile
dependence but a true self-respecting loyalty, and in the firm denial of
the charges and the final demand for condemnation or public acquital
there is the ring of genuine manhood which would do honor to any man in
any age.

When the Emperor read this letter his judicial mind found in it the ring
of conscious rectitude and like the man he was he instantly acknowledged
his error. He ordered the letter to be printed by the thousands and tens
of thousands and scattered broadcast over his empire, for he apparently
felt it a personal honor to have so true and genuine a man for a vassal.
He answered the letter in the following terms:

“I believed the words of slander spoken by that small man Chung
Eung-t‘a, and doubted in my mind as to the loyalty of the king of Korea.
I cannot now be oblivious to the unmerited sufferings of Gen. Yang Ho.
Chung Eung-t‘a is a radically bad man. I was on the brink of a
disastrous mistake. I will now deprive him of rank and make him one of
the common herd. Let him appear before me at once.”

When Chung Eung-t‘a arrived in Nanking he was cut in two at the waist.




                              Chapter III.

Japanese mix with Koreans.... Chinese and Korean advance.... Japanese
    victory.... attempts at bribery.... Admiral Yi Sun sin’s last
    fight.... a young Korean captive.... Hideyoshi poisoned.... his
    character.... Japanese recalled.... a Korean teacher in Japan.... a
    memorial temple.... party changes.... Japanese envoy.... posthumous
    honors.... factional strife.... revenue.... envoy to Japan.... a
    welcome heir.... negotiations with Japan.... a dark outlook....
    Chinese commissioner duped.... treaty with Japan.... reign of
    terror.... the young prince murdered.


By this time the Japanese were becoming mixed with the Korean people
among whom and near whom their camps were placed. They were probably
good customers and the people doubtless felt that it was not their
business to fight them; so all up and down the coast for a distance of
three hundred miles the Japanese lived in their “holes” as the Koreans
called them, and in many cases they took wives from among the women of
the country and devoted themselves to farming, except at such times as
the Korean or Chinese forces came into their vicinity. There were three
Japanese military centers. One was at Ul-san on the eastern coast, held
by Konishi. In the west was Sun-ch‘ŭn in Chŭl-la Province where Kato had
his headquarters, while half way between these two in the town of
Sa-ch‘un on the Si-jin River a third station was held by Gen. Sok
Mang-ja. These three stations kept up regular communication with each
other, and in case of need rendered each other assistance.

We now enter the last campaign of this eventful war. We are not informed
as to the numbers of the Japanese at this time but it probably fell
short of 100,000 men. The Chinese had assembled again in force at Seoul
and in the ninth moon of 1598 a grand move was made against the
invaders. The Chinese forces were led by Generals Hyöng Kă and Man
Se-dŭk. The whole army was divided into four grand army corps. Gen. Ma
Kwi led the eastern division southward to attack Ul-san. Under him were
eleven other generals and 24,000 men.

The central division, of 13,000 men, was led by Gen. Tong Il-wŭn under
whom were eight other generals. The western division was led by Gen. Yu
Chung and six other generals with a force of 13,000 men. The admiral of
this campaign was Chil Lin who was already in the south with eight other
commanders handling 13,200 men. It is said that the entire expedition
numbered 142,700 men, but the above items sum up to less than half that
and we must conclude that there were something less than 100,000 men in
all.

On the last day of the ninth moon, already well on toward winter, the
three divisions deployed before the walls of Ul-san. Kato had not been
idle all this time; after the terrible scenes of the last siege he had
made the best of preparations. He had accumulated an abundance of food,
increased the garrison, strengthened the defenses, and he could laugh at
any force that should try to sit out the winter before him. The Chinese
soon discovered this and turned aside to work that promised better
success. Gen. Tong Il-wŭn took a powerful force and advanced on Sa-chŭn,
the central station of the Japanese. It is probable that the garrison
here was smaller than those under either Kato or Konishi, for when its
commander saw the force that was brought to bear upon him he hastily
evacuated the place and crossed over to the island of Pom-neut and
fortified it. Gen. Tong was over-confident and pressed after him. The
Japanese craftily drew him on and on until his force was immediately
under the wall, when a mine was exploded which, though it killed but a
few hundred men, threw the whole attacking body into such confusion that
the Japanese rushed out and found them an easy prey. The Chinese lay in
heaps where they had been cut down. Gen. Tong barely escaped with his
life and fled to Sam-gă, being chased as far as the Nam-gang (river)
where the Japanese contented themselves with making way with 12,000 bags
of rice belonging to the Chinese commissariat.

Gen. Yu Chung was commissioned to take a strong body of men and attack
the fortress at Sun-ch‘ŭn in Chŭl-la Province. Arriving at the
neighboring village of Wă-gyo he determined to overcome the old veteran
Kato by treachery. He sent to that general a proposition to make peace.
Kato was now an old man and the war in Korea was bringing him neither
fame nor advancement, so he was ready to give up the contest, now that
it had been demonstrated that the Japanese arms could not penetrate the
north. He gladly assented and sent Gen. Yu a present of two handsome
swords. It was agreed that they should meet at a certain point,
accompanied by only 3000 men each; but Gen. Yu secretly placed an ambush
in such wise that when the Japanese force should come out it could be
cut off from return to the fort. A whistle was to be sounded as a signal
when the Japanese came out. But Kato was too old a bird to be caught by
such a child’s trick. He had seen two or three of the Chinese lurking
about in the vicinity of the gate and so delayed his coming out. By
mistake the signal was given and the Chinese ambuscade rushed out only
to become an object of ridicule to the Japanese. But even as it was some
eighty or ninety Japanese stragglers were cut off and taken by the
Chinese. Gen. Yu then surrounded the stronghold and at the same time
sent an urgent letter to Admiral Chil Lin to come that very night and
join in an attack on the Japanese. The admiral obeyed the summons and
hurried up with his fleet. Not knowing about the tides and supposing
that the shouts that he heard were the shouts of battle, he sailed
straight up under the walls of the fortress. But he found that there was
no fight on for Gen. Yu had failed to connect, and the ebbing tide left
the astonished Admiral high and dry on the mud flats under the very
noses of the enemy. In the morning the Japanese trooped out and burned
forty-eight of the stranded ships and killed most of the men. Admiral
Chil escaped in the early morning by boat and hurried to the camp of his
tardy compatriot, Gen. Yu. In a rage he tore down with his own hands
that general’s flag and rent it in pieces, meanwhile heaping upon him
every species of abuse for having gotten him into such a plight. Gen. Yu
was exceedingly ashamed and his face, they say, was “the color of dirt.”
He beat upon his breast and acknowledged that he deserved death. So Chil
Lin went back to his decimated camp to nurse his wrath.

But Gen. Yu knew that Kato really desired to put an end to the war, and
so he sent another messenger saying, “This time I really mean peace. If
you will take all your forces and depart I will give you a clear path to
escape. Our army numbers 140,000 men and you cannot hope to face that
number.” To this proposition Kato assented and began immediately to
embark his soldiers to send them back to Japan. But as it happened they
had to pass the position of Admiral Chil Lin who naturally sallied out
and gave fight, sinking or burning a dozen or more of Kato’s boats. The
rest put back in haste to the starting place and Kato blamed Gen. Yu for
having deceived him; but the latter claimed that he had merely forgotten
to inform Admiral Chil Lin of the agreement and that he would do so. At
the same time he advised Kato to send Admiral Chil a slight testimonial
of regard, which he did in the shape of a hundred ounces of silver and
forty-five swords. So Admiral Chil acquiesced. Again the Japanese fleet
set out and succeeded in getting by Admiral Chil Lin’s place; but they
had not reckoned upon Admiral Yi Sun-sin and his faithful warriors. Kato
was again obliged to turn back and go to work to bribe that doughty
leader. He sent him guns and swords in large numbers but the old
gentleman remarked that as for weapons he was already pretty well
supplied, and sent them back. He was then approached with an offer of
1,000 ounces of silver if he would wink at Kato’s passage. This he
likewise refused.

The Japanese were all embarked and it was determined to try and slip by
the terrible Admiral in the gray of morning; but he was well aware of
the intentions of the enemy, and before break of day he massed all the
ships at his command and came down upon the Japanese fleet as it lay at
anchor before the fortress of Sun-ch’ŭn. As he approached he is said to
have uttered the following prayer to his gods: “To-day I am to die. Give
me but one more victory over these Japanese and I shall die content.” He
well knew that he had enemies at court who would eventually secure his
downfall and so he determined to make an end in one last desperate
struggle. The fight was short and fierce and when the morning breeze
swept the smoke of battle away it disclosed fifty of the Japanese boats
in flames and the water filled with struggling forms. The old veteran
had taken upwards of two thousand heads in that brief time. But Gen.
Kato had slipped away in a small boat and made his escape. The work
however was only begun. The sea was covered with boats frantically
endeavoring to escape from the dreaded arm of the merciless Admiral Yi.
The good work went on and every hour added to the score that Admiral Yi
had sworn to made before the night should fall. Notice reached him that
a fresh Japanese fleet had come and was attacking Admiral Chil Lin’s
fleet. Hurrying thither he found that it was indeed true. He now changed
his tactics and without coming to a hand to hand fight he circled round
and round the Japanese fleet driving them closer and closer together.
When all was ready he began playing upon them with a new machine of his
own manufacture called the pun-t’ong or “spraying tube.” What this was
we can not exactly discover, but in a short time it sufficed to set the
Japanese fleet on fire. A wind sprang up and fanned the flame and ere
long the Japanese fleet was one mass of fire. Hundreds of boats were
consumed with all their occupants. After seeing this well under way
Admiral Yi turned his attention to the fugitive craft that were striving
to make their escape. Standing in the prow of his boat in an exposed
position he urged on the chase. While he stood in the midst of one of
the grandest victories of the war, he was pierced by a bullet. They
caught him as he fell, and his last words were, “Do not let the rest
know that I am dead, for it will spoil the fight.” Then he expired—the
man who may well be called the NELSON of Korea.

Yi Wan, the nephew of the fallen Admiral, still urged on the battle; but
the work was almost done. The fugitive boats became fewer and fewer.
Admiral Chil Lin happened to come near the boat of the dead admiral and
noticing that the sailors in it were quarrelling over some Japanese
heads he exclaimed, “The Admiral must be dead.” He entered the boat and
found it even so. Throwing himself three times at full length on the
deck he uttered this lament: “I thought that he would save me and still
live, but here he lies dead and there is no soldier now left in Korea.”

We have now come to the end of actual hostilities in the peninsula but
we must cross to Japan and inquire into the immediate causes which led
to the final recall of all the Japanese troops. The Korean account of
these events is very remarkable and faith is to be put in it only
in-so-far as it is not directly antagonized by the Japanese account. For
events that transpired in Korea the Korean account must be taken as the
standard, but for events that transpired in Japan the Japanese account
must of course be accepted as the more trustworthy. The Korean account
is as follows.

[Illustration: _THE FARRIER._]

When the Japanese first invaded Korea, in the year 1592, it so happened
that a young Korean boy named Yang Pu-ha, a native of Tong-nă, became
attached to the Japanese army as a slave, and was eventually taken to
Tsushima. From there he made his way to the mainland of Japan and at
last reached the court of Hideyoshi. That observant man spied him out
and said, “Korean and Japanese boys resemble each other strongly. Take
this boy and teach him Japanese, and if he does not learn well cut off
his head.” With this incentive it would be strange if a less intelligent
boy than Yang Pu-ha would not learn rapidly. In the space of three
months he could converse creditably in Japanese, and Hideyoshi as reward
made him one of his body-servants. For some years the boy performed the
duties of this position, until at last the Chinaman Sim Yu-gyŭng
arrived. That official was kept practically in confinement at the court
of Hideyoshi. One day the Korean servant asked his master to be allowed
to see Sim Yu-gyŭng. Permission was granted and the young man found the
Chinese envoy in great perplexity, in fact in tears. This excited the
pity of the young man and he secured the release of the Chinaman, who
from that time was often called into the presence of Hideyoshi, with
whom he soon became on familiar terms. One day as he sat with the great
Taiko he took out a pill and swallowed it. He did the same on several
days in succession until at last the curiosity of Hideyoshi was excited
and he asked what it was. The Chinaman answered that it was an antidote
to indigestion and that by eating it the strength and vigor of the body
was preserved intact. Hideyoshi took one in his hand and eyed it
suspiciously. On one side of the pill was written the Chinese character
_so_ meaning “hot.” The Japanese deliberately took a knife and cut the
pill in two and handing half to Sim said, “You eat half and I will eat
half.” Its immediate effects were stimulating and pleasant but in the
end it proved a deadly poison for it slowly dried up the blood. Each day
Sim shared one with his captor but upon retiring to his room swallowed a
potion which entirely neutralized the effect of the poison. Before long
Hideyoshi’s hands began to grow hard and dry and one day when he
happened to cut his hand he was astonished to find that no blood
followed. He called for a moxa and applied it to his hand and yet no
blood came. Then he laughed aloud and cried, “I am a dead man. When I
cease to breathe take out my bowels and sew my body up again with
horse-hair; and then preserve my body in wine and do not let the
outsiders know that I am dead.” He wanted to have the fact concealed for
he feared it would have a dispiriting effect upon the troops in Korea.
Shortly after this he died and his orders were minutely carried out. For
two months no one outside the palace knew of his decease, but at last
the stench became so great that they confessed that the great Hideyoshi
had passed away. Such is the Korean story.

The Koreans sum up his character as follows: He was a crafty and cunning
man, and by his talk, now sharp, now suave, now sarcastic, now bullying,
he managed to sway the minds of all who came near him. He managed all
his generals like puppets. He liked to take boys and girls under his
patronage and see them grow up together and marry them to each other and
thus have them completely under his control. His two most powerful
generals were Whi Wŭn and Ka Kang. They hated him and would have been
glad of an opportunity to overthrow him, but it was out of the question.
He knew them well, and for fear they might combine against him he made
one of them governor of the east and the other of the west and ordered
them to keep watch of each other. By thus pitting them against each
other he made himself safe. He loved intrigue and diplomacy and had a
most restless temperament. He was ever on the lookout for some kind of
excitement. Gen. Ka Kang was with him when he died, and, fearing lest
rebellion should break out, he filled the body with salt and so
preserved it. He made a wooden form which would hold the body stiff in a
sitting position and placing it in a place where the light was not very
bright with the eyes wide open, the people saw him sitting there day
after day and supposed of course he was alive. It was in the eighth moon
when the odor was so strong that the truth could no longer be concealed.
Thereupon Gen. Ka Kang took the son of Hideyoshi and made him Shogun. He
then threw into prison the wives and children of Generals Kato and
Konishi and sent a messenger ordering them to collect all their troops
and return immediately to Japan. The order was obeyed willingly and all
that was left of the Japanese army of invasion set sail from Fusan, and
the great invasion was a thing of the past.

The Korean annalists say that when the invasion began the Japanese arms
were far superior to those of Korea; also that the Japanese displayed
tiger skins, pheasant feathers, gilded masks and plumes; all which
glitter and show terrified the Koreans. Thus at first the Japanese had
an easy victory, but toward the last it was not so. The Koreans had
improved their arms and had learned not to fear the grand rush of the
Japanese in their hideous masks which made them look more like demons
than men.

At the time of the second invasion a Korean named Kang Han was caught
and sent to Japan and, being unable to escape, he set to work learning
Japanese. He became a teacher of Chinese and had a large following of
students who treated him very well and supported him in comfortable
style. At the end of the war they clubbed together and bought a boat
into which they put this man with all his goods and sent him back to
Korea. On his return he wrote a book entitled Kang yang-rok or “Relation
of Adventures among Sheep,” a sarcastic pleasantry.

The Chinese arms in Korea did not move till the following spring, and
then the king sent to the Emperor asking that Generals Man Se-dok, Ta
Cham and Yi Sung-hun be allowed to remain in Korea for a time until
things should become thoroughly settled.

In the early centuries of the Christian era there was a celebrated
Chinese general named Kwan U. He was of gigantic size and had a fiery
red face, rode a powerful red horse, could walk a thousand li a day (!)
and carried a sword that weighed 800 pounds (!!). It is said that while
the Japanese were occupying Seoul the spirit of this great man appeared
repeatedly near the South and East Gates and struck terror to the hearts
of the Japanese. Now, as the Chinese generals were about to leave for
China, Admiral Chil Lin built a shrine to this same Kwan U outside the
South Gate. In the thirty-third year of King Sun-jo, namely 1600 A. D.,
the Emperor sent four million cash to build a temple to this Kwan U and
the present temple outside the South Gate was erected. The Emperor at
the same time ordered another to be built by the Koreans outside the
East Gate, and it was done. The two temples are exactly alike. When the
king asked the Emperor to name the temple he said “Call it the
Hyöng-nyung-so dok-kwan-gong” which means “The great and bright
appearance of the spirit of Kwan.” The king also built shrines to him in
Song-ju and An-dong of Kyŭng-sang Province, and at Nam-wŭn in Chŭl-la
Province.

We have already seen that factious fights had been a great cause of
weakness all through the years of the invasion, and from this time on
party strife was destined to grow more and more fierce and determined
until it brought the country to the very verge of anarchy a century
later. We must note here briefly the changes which had taken place in
the parties. We will remember that at first there were two parties, the
Tong-in and the Sŭ-in. During the war the court favorite was Yu
Sŭng-nyŭng who gave office to so many men from Kyŭng-sang Province that
the name of Nam-in or “South Men” sprang up and a party by that name
quickly became organized, but their opponents in order to preserve the
political equilibrium instantly seized upon the name Puk-in or “North
Men.” At the close of the war the leader of the opposition, namely of
the Puk-in, memorialized the king against Yu Sŭng-nyŭng the favorite,
charging him with having desired to make peace with the Japanese,
contrary to the honor of the country. The king listened to this and
banished Yu, but his supporters turned the tables by a counter-memorial
in which the charges were more than answered and Yu was restored to all
his honors. With the rise of the Nam-in and Puk-in parties the old party
lines of the Tong-in and Sŭ-in had not been broken up or lost. During
the latter years of the invasion the Nam-in party lost its powerful grip
and the Puk-in were often in power, but from the end of the invasion
until far into the following reign the Tong-in held the power, and after
that for a period of fifty years the Sŭ-in had control of affairs. It
may be asked what principles underlay these parties, what settled
policies they had that differentiated them either in domestic or foreign
matters. We answer that the various parties had but one plank in their
platforms, one settled plan of action, and that was to get the ear of
the king and seize upon the office-making power and put in every
position one’s own partisans. It was the spoils system sublimated, for
there was absolutely no admixture of any other element.

Now that the war was over the Japanese on Tsushima desired to open again
commercial relations with Korea, which had always been mutually
profitable; and so in the following year, 1601, an envoy, Kuroda, came
from that island bringing with him three hundred men and women who had
been carried away captive during the war. This envoy asked that there
might be reciprocity of trade. The king referred the matter to Nanking
and the reply seems to have been in the affirmative, for we find that
soon after this an envoy was sent over to Tsushima with credentials; but
after all the Japanese petition was not at this time granted. At the
same time the Emperor gave orders for the return to China of all the
remaining troops, but at the earnest request of the king 8000 men were
left to help guard the southern provinces. Posthumous honors were heaped
upon Admiral Yi Sun-sin who had been the very salvation of Korea, but
who had sought death in battle, knowing that if he lived his detractors
would drag him down. Yi Hang-bok and eighty-five others received high
commendation and additional honors also. The year ended with the
unsuccessful attempt of an insurrectionary party in the south which was
nipped in the bud, the ring-leader being forwarded to Seoul to be
beheaded.

An unscrupulous man named Yu Yong-gyŭng was the court favorite at this
time and upon him devolved the task of appointing and dismissing
officials; consequently he was the recipient of countless presents, and
on one occasion two men to whom he had sold the same office met at his
gate and quarrelled over the matter, to the scandal of the court. The
state of affairs at the capital was anything but satisfactory, the
reason being that the strife of parties rendered honesty and fairness
impossible. It was a constant fight to gain the king’s ear and, having
gained it, to turn out all enemies and put in personal adherents. About
this time a remeasurement of all the arable land of the country was
ordered and it was discovered that the total revenue of the country was
1,515,500 _kyul_ of rice, each _kyul_ being about 120 pecks of rice, or
over two hundred pounds. It also included 300,000 bags of other grains.

In the year 1605 the Japanese again asked that a treaty be made and that
Korea send an envoy to the Japanese court. The king complied and sent
the same monk, Yu Chung, ordering him to look carefully into the matter
of the military strength of the Island Empire and the distance by boat.
He returned the following year bringing with him, it is said, three
thousand Koreans who had been taken to Japan from time to time during
the invasion. The Korean accounts tell us nothing of the booty that the
Japanese carried away to Japan during the war, nor of the transportation
of Korean artisans and their employment in Japan in teaching the making
of pottery and other works of use and art, but we may well believe the
Japanese reports, that assert that immense amounts of treasure were
carried away and that the making of the beautiful Satsuma ware was an
outcome of the teaching of Korean artisans.

This year was also signalized by a fierce conflict between the savage
tribe of Hol-cha-on, north of the Tu-man River, and the government
troops under Gen. Song U-gil. The latter crossed the river by night and
attacked the main settlement of the tribe and utterly destroyed it, and
effectually broke up the tribe. Great quantities of goods which had been
stolen from the border settlements were also recovered.

We are now on the threshold of events which led up to a very painful
period in Korean history. It will be remembered that the king had no
heir by the queen and had therefore nominated to the throne his heir by
a concubine, the Prince Kwang-hŭ. This was a man of violent temper, bad
instincts, corrupt, selfish, careless of the pubic good. When therefore
the king, in the fortieth year of his reign, was presented with a son by
his queen, his delight was as great as was the chagrin of the heir
apparent. According to law it was impossible to set aside the man
already nominated, but now that the king finally got the boy he had been
looking for so long, his feelings got the better of his judgment and he
was bent upon having the child receive all the honors due to the future
wearer of the crown. So he sent out the order that officials should come
to the palace, and do obeisance as when an heir to the throne is born.
This was the most impolitic thing he could have done, for it aroused all
the hatred there was in the Prince Kwang-hŭ, who had for so many years
looked upon his eventual occupancy of the throne as fully assured, and
who saw in these demonstrations of affection on the part of the king a
latent desire to change the decree which had already gone forth. If the
king really desired to set aside that decree he should have sent to
Nanking and had the Emperor do it, but it was not so to be, and the
infant boy entered the world with one deadly enemy ranged against him,
whose first act would be to put him out of the way. Nor was it the boy
alone who gained the hatred of this prince. The queen herself became the
object of his special hatred, and the official who sent forth the order
that honor should be done to the infant.

The Japanese kept urging their point, that relations of mutual benefit
be resumed, and kept protesting their good intentions toward Korea. The
king had just received an envoy bringing gifts and a congratulatory
letter from the king of the Liu Kiu Islands, in which grave doubts were
cast upon the intentions of the Japanese, and an offer of assistance was
made in case of another invasion. But the king seems not to have put
faith in these doubts, and replied, to the reiterated request of the
Japanese, that an envoy would be sent to Japan, when the men who
desecrated the royal graves beyond the Han River should be sent to the
Korean Capital for punishment. The Japanese went home, but returned late
in the fall bringing two men bound, whom they delivered over as being
the ones demanded. But these were mere boys who themselves urged the
fact that they were still babes in arms when the deeds of which they
were charged had been committed. The Prime Minister urged the king to
send them back to Japan, but the favorite, Yu, persuaded the king to
have them beheaded, after which Yö U-gil, Kyong Sŭn and Chung Ho-gwan
were sent as an embassy to Japan. Meanwhile Iyeyasu in Japan had deposed
the son of Hideyoshi and usurped his place. So when the embassy arrived
in Japan they were received with the utmost coldness, and the usurper
said, “Who asked that envoys might be exchanged between Japan and Korea?
But now that you are here we will receive you.” The treatment that they
received was bad almost beyond description. As a sample of the way the
Japanese baited them it is related that the Japanese brought a dish
filled with ordure sprinkled with something the color of gold-dust, and
when the Koreans innocently put their hands in the dish, supposing that
it was some form of food, the Japanese had a good laugh at their
expense. The Koreans did not appreciate this sort of practical joke, and
forthwith returned to Korea.

Late in the autumn the aged king was taken sick and all knew that the
end was near. The conditions were not propitious. The young prince was
only two years old and Prince Kwang-hă was fierce in his resentments and
jealous of anyone who should attempt to block his path to the throne.
The people were in a very uneasy frame of mind. The king had gone either
too far or not far enough in the advocacy of the infant prince, and now
he felt that he was leaving the child to the tender mercies of a
relentless enemy. He therefore called in the Prime Minister and said,
“Everything looks dark ahead and I am dying. I suppose the Prince
Kwang-hă must become king?” But the Prime Minister dared not answer the
question as the king wanted it answered, and hung back. By so doing he
sealed his own fate. There were only two things for him to do, either to
boldly advocate the claims of the child or else boldly advocate those of
Prince Kwang-hă. By doing neither he made an enemy of the one and
spoiled the chances of the other, and thus signed his own death warrant.
As it happened, Prince Kwang-hŭ had an elder brother, but why he had not
been nominated to the throne we are not told. This prince, named Im-hŭ,
was now induced to make the attempt to wrest the reins of power from his
brother so as to save the people from what they feared at the hands of
Prince Kwang-hă, but the latter got wind of the plot and the elder
prince was summarily banished, together with all his coadjutors.

So matters went on until one day in early spring of the following year,
1608, when a servant came from the king’s private rooms saying that he
was dying. All the officials assembled at the palace. It is said that
Prince Kwang-hă had become impatient at the tenacity of life shown by
the aged king and had assisted nature in taking him off, but this, we
may surmise, is rather a general deduction from the character of the man
than a proved charge, and this prince has so much else to answer for
that we may well give him the benefit of the doubt and conclude that the
king reached his end by natural causes alone. The assembled noblemen sat
in the room adjoining the one in which the king lay dying. Presently a
eunuch brought out a note which read thus, “When I am dead let Prince
Kwang-hă be kind to the infant boy.” When the ministers had read it they
sent it to the prince. Soon another note came from the sick room, “To
the seven ministers of state; I am dying. I have but one cause of
anxiety; the boy is young and I shall not be here to see him come to
manhood. Let him be tenderly cared for.” This was the end. The king
turned to the wall and expired.

Upon hearing the welcome news the Prince Kwang-hă hastened to assume the
position he had coveted so long. His first act was to send the Prime
Minister Yu Yöng-gyŭng into banishment. Then he sent an embassy to China
to announce his accession to the throne. The Emperor replied, “Why is
not the elder son, Prince Im-hă, made king?” and sent a commission to
inquire into the matter. Prince Im was brought from Kyo-dong Island to
which place he had been banished. One of the creatures of the newly
crowned king advised that the head only of Prince Im be brought, but the
aged Yi Hang-bok opposed it so strongly that the king dare not follow
his inclination; but when Prince Im was brought he was “made up” for the
occasion. He was unkempt and filthy, his clothes were in rags and the
very sight of him decided the unsuspicious commissioner and he ordered
the wretched man to be sent back to his place of banishment at once. For
fear of further complications and to satisfy his vengeful nature, the
king sent a secret messenger to the prefect of Kyo-dong and had Prince
Im poisoned in prison. He next proceeded to kill the banished Prime
Minister, and then had his body brought to the center of the capital and
cut in half lengthwise.

The Japanese had for several years been pressing for the resumption of
the old-time relations, half diplomatic and half commercial, which had
been carried on through the southern port of Fusan. Now in the first
year of the reign of Kwang-hă, consent was gained and Yi Chi-wan for
Korea and Gensho and Yoshinao for Japan met and worked out a plan for a
treaty. The Japanese insisted that all three of the ports which had
formerly been open should again be opened, but this was peremptorily
refused and only Fusan was opened. The number of boats that could come
annually was reduced to twenty. Great diplomatic agents from the Shogun
were allowed to stay in Korea one hundred and ten days. The agents from
any daimyo of Japan could stay eighty-five days and special agents could
stay fifty-five days. The strictness with which the Koreans bound down
the Japanese as to number of ships and men and length of stay, and the
refusal to open three ports, show that Korea was doing this all more as
a favor than by demand, and history shows that at any time she felt at
liberty to withdraw support from them. The amount of rice and other food
that Korea granted was hardly more than enough to support the embassy
when it came.

It will be remembered that the king was the son of a concubine and not
of the queen. He now went to work to depose the queen and set up his
mother, though now dead, as real queen. He gave his mother the
posthumous title of Kong-söng Wang-ho and sent the deposed queen into
semi-banishment to the Myŭng-ye Palace in Chong-dong, where the king now
resides. This act was looked upon as utterly unfilial and godless by the
officials, and they almost unanimously censured his harsh treatment of
this woman.

The next three years were spent in killing off all who had been
specially favored under the last king, excepting the venerable Yi
Hang-bok, who stood so high in the esteem of the people that even the
wicked king did not dare to lay hands upon him. One method of getting
rid of objectionable people was to promise release to some criminal if
he would swear that he had heard the men conspiring against the king;
but the king’s thirst for blood could not be quenched so long as the
young prince was living. The latter was now six or seven years old. No
one dared to make a move against him openly, but the officials knew that
if they wanted to become favorites with the king it could be done only
by suggesting some plan whereby the boy could be killed without bringing
on a general insurrection. It was accomplished as follows. Pak Eung-sŭ,
a well-known resident of Yŭ-ju became a highwayman. He was captured and
taken to Seoul for trial. After he had been condemned, Yi I-ch‘ŭm the
court favorite sent to him in prison and said, “You are to die
to-morrow, but if you will declare that you and several other men have
conspired to depose the king and place the young prince on the throne
you will not only be released but rewarded as well.” When therefore the
king received the written confession of the wretch he feigned surprise
but instantly caught and executed the principals named. His satellites
also urged that he must kill the young prince and his mother, for they
must surely be privy to the plot. And her father too must be beheaded.
The king did not dare to go to these lengths all at once, but he began
by beheading the queen’s father, and banishing the boy to Kang-wha. When
the men came to take him he hid beneath his mother’s skirt but the
brutal captors pushed her over and dragged the lad away. These acts
enraged the people almost beyond endurance and memorials poured in upon
the king from people who preferred death itself to permitting such acts
to go unchallenged. The king however answered them one and all by
killing the writers or stripping them of rank and banishing them.

As the boy had been separated from his mother and banished to Kang-wha,
he could be dealt with at pleasure. His death would remain unknown for a
time, and the matter would pass by unnoticed. So in the following year,
at the instigation of Yi I-ch’ŭm, the magistrate of Kang wha put the boy
in a small room, built a roaring fire under it and suffocated him, an
extreme of barbarity which the world can hardly parallel. The news soon
spread among the officials. Scores of memorials poured in upon the king
who answered them as before by banishment and death.




                              Chapter IV.

The king insulted.... the “Mulberry Palace”.... plot against the Queen
    Dowager.... her indictment.... she is degraded.... inception of the
    Manchu power.... China summons Korea to her aid.... troops
    despatched.... first battle with the Manchus.... Korean
    treachery.... Koreans make friends with the Manchus.... the Manchu
    court.... a Manchu letter to the king.... its answer.... Manchu
    rejoinder.... message to Nanking.... Chinese refugees.... a Korean
    renegade.... the Queen intercedes for China.... Chinese victory....
    Manchu cruelty.... offices sold.... plot against the king.... king
    dethroned.... Queen Dowager reinstated.... reforms.... a thorough
    cleaning out.

With the opening of the year 1615 the king further revealed his hatred
of the deposed and degraded queen by publishing broadcast the statement
that she had gone to the grave of his mother and there, by practicing
sorcery against him, had tried to bring evil upon him. This also brought
out a loud protest from all honest men, and banishment followed. Even
the children on the street spoke insultingly of the tyrant saying that
he was afraid of the imps at the Myŭng-ye Palace, but had let his mother
stay there with them though he himself would not go near the place. The
king feared everyone that was honest and upright even though they had
nothing to say. His own cousin, Prince Neung-ch’ang, whose younger
brother afterward became king, was a perfectly peaceable and harmless
man, but the king feared him and could not rest satisfied until he had
gotten his satellites to accuse him of sedition and had suffocated him
in a heated chamber on Kyo-dong Island. About this time a monk, named
Seung-ji; gained the confidence of the superstitious king and induced
him to build the In-gyŭng Palace which is commonly known among
foreigners as the “Mulberry Palace.” To do this, thousands of the houses
of the common people were razed and heavy taxes were levied throughout
the country; and yet there was not enough money. So the king began to
sell the public offices. Some were paid for in gold, others in silver,
others in iron, and still others in wood, stone or salt. The people
derisively called it the _O-hăng_, referring to the “Five Rules of
Conduct” of the Confucian Code. The boys also made up a popular song
which ran as follows, “Did you give gold, or silver, or wood for yours?”
and they put the officials to shame by shouting it at them as they
passed along the street.

Yi I-ch’ŭm, the favorite, could not rest until he had carried out his
master’s wish and had invented some way to destroy the degraded Queen.
Finding no other way to accomplish this, he at last descended to the
following trick. He instructed a man named Hŭ Kyun to write a letter to
the imprisoned queen purporting to be from some party in the country,
proposing a scheme for deposing the king. This letter was thrown over
the wall of the queen’s enclosure and there found by the servants of the
crafty plotter. The king was ready to believe anything against her and
this letter fanned his hatred into flame. Yi I-ch’ŭm followed it up by
joining with scores of others in memorials urging the king to put to
death the hated Queen Dowager. The Prime Minister, Keui Cha-hön, stood
in the way, however, and it became necessary to banish him to the far
north. In the eleventh moon the king finally decided to drive the woman
from Seoul, and made all the officials give their opinion about it in
writing. Nine hundred and thirty officials and a hundred and seventy of
the king’s relatives advised to do so, but the aged Yi Hang-bok with
eight others utterly refused their sanction of the iniquitous plan; and
so these nine men, the last of those upright men who had stood about the
late king, were sent into banishment.

The year thus closed in gloom and the new one opened with a memorial
from the Prime Minister Ha Hyo-san enumerating ten charges against the
Queen Dowager: (1) that she had had the officials do obeisance to the
young prince although the successor to the throne had already been
appointed; (2) when the king was dying she asked him to set aside Prince
Kwang-hă in favor of the young prince; (3) she prevented, as long as
possible, the king from handing over the scepter to Prince Kwang-hă; (4)
she wrote the letters purporting to be from the dying king asking that
the young prince be carefully nurtured; (5) she instigated her father to
conspire against the king; (6) she sacrificed in the palace and prayed
for the death of Prince Kwang-hă; (7) she prayed for the same at the
grave of his mother; (8) she corresponded with outside parties with a
view to raising an insurrection; (9) she sent to the Emperor asking to
have Prince Kwang-ă set aside, (10) she sent to Japan asking that an
army be sent to overthrow the government.

The king feigned to be very loath to believe all these charges and to
act upon them; he called heaven to witness that the very thought of it
was terrible to him and averred that he would rather be banished to some
distant shore than even to mention such a thing. But after a great deal
of urging he was prevailed upon, and said he could no longer be deaf to
the entreaties of his subjects and the welfare of the country. So he
took away her title of Tă-bi and decreed that she should be called
Sŭ-gung “West Palace,” and that she should receive no part of the
government revenue, that officials should no more do homage to her, that
her marriage certificate be burned and that all her wedding garments be
taken from her. He determined also that in the event of her death no one
should assume mourning, that her name should be inscribed in no
ancestral temple, and that she should be shut up in her own apartments
and strictly guarded.

And now there appeared in the northwest a cloud which was destined to
overspread the whole of Korea, and China as well. Norach‘i was chief of
the Manchu tribes. He was from the wild tribe of Kön-ju which, as we
have seen, was broken up by a Korean military expedition. His
grandfather’s name was Kyu-sang and his father’s name was Hapsiri. These
had both been put to death by a Chinese general, A-t‘ă, and to the
unquenchable hatred caused by this must be ascribed the terrible
reprisals the young Norach‘i made on China, where his descendants occupy
the imperial throne to this day. At the time of his father’s death he
had fled eastward beyond the reach of China’s arm but gradually gaining
power he crept slowly westward again until he had a footing on the great
Manchu plains. But he was not yet ready to carry out his plans against
China, and when the Mongol, Hapuigeukosip, entered the great wall and
overthrew the Chinese general Yu Pu, Norach‘i caught him and sent his
head to Nanking. The Emperor was pleased at this and gave him the rank
of “Dragon Tiger General.” Having thus disarmed suspicion, the hardy
northman began gathering and training troops until there stood about him
10,000 skillful archers. Some years before this he had killed his
younger brother for fear of complications and now in the year of the
events of which we are writing he had overcome the three great Chinese
generals Yi Yong-bang, Chang Seung-yun and Yang Yö-gwi. The ruling
dynasty of the Ming in China became well aware of the gravity of the
situation and saw that it was necessary to square themselves for a
desperate fight with the great Manchu leader. The first act of the
Emperor was to send a summons to the King of Korea ordering him to send
generals and troops at once to join the Chinese forces against Norach‘i.
The king responded by sending a man to find out the exact state of
affairs, whether China was weak or strong and whether it would pay to
help her in the coming struggle. This was paying China back in kind for
her delay in sending aid when the Japanese invaded the peninsula, but
Korea was thoroughly loyal to the Ming power. She may be criticised in
many ways but there was never shown a deeper loyalty or devotion than
Korea showed the Mings during the years of struggle against the Manchus,
a devotion that always worked against her own selfish interests.

The Chinese general Yang Ho sent back to the king and said, “When we ask
for aid do you merely send a spy to find out how matters stand? This war
is as much in your interests as ours, so you had best send an army at
once to form a junction with us in Liao-tung.” However little stomach
the king had for the war this appeal was too strong to be set aside.
Even this base king could not overlook the tremendous obligation under
which Korea lay on account of aid rendered by China against the
Japanese. He therefore appointed generals Kang Hong-rip and Kim Kyöng-sŭ
as first and second in command and under them three other generals,
Chŭng Ho-sŭ, Yi Chung-nam and Chŭng Eung-jŭng. These men were put in
command of 20,000 troops drawn from the five provinces of P‘yŭng-an,
Ham-gyŭng, Kyŭng-keui, Ch‘ung-ch‘ŭng and Chul-la, and they were ordered
to the northern border. This was toward the close of the year, but
before its end the Chinese sent a messenger to hurry forward the Korean
troops, as it was intended to make a grand demonstration with the
opening of the new year.

In the first month of 1619 the troops went forward to the seat of war.
It was in the middle of winter and most of the soldiers were going from
a comparatively warm climate into the rigors of a semi-arctic region.
The Chinese Gen. Yang Ho was advancing upon the Manchu position by four
different roads. The whole army rendezvoused at Sim-ha in Liao-tung not
far from the Korean border town of Eui-ju. The combined forces were led
by four generals, Yang Ho, Yu Chŭng, Kyo Il-geui and the Korean Kang
Hong-rip. Meeting a smallÖö body of five hundred Manchu troops they
drove them back into the hills with considerable slaughter, and fondly
supposed that all the Manchus could be put to flight as easily. In this
preliminary skirmish the Koreans took a leading part, and one general
was killed and another was wounded in the hand. The next day the whole
force advanced to a place called Pu-go. The right and left flanks of the
army were composed of Chinese and the center was held by Gen. Kang
Hong-rip with his Korean troops. Suddenly, almost without warning, ten
thousand Manchu horsemen swept down upon the right flank. The
impetuosity of the charge carried everything before it, and almost
instantly the whole right wing was thrown into confusion and took to
precipitate flight, in which both Gen. Yu Chŭng and Gen. Yang Ho were
killed. Then the Manchu chief Kwi Yŭng-ga with 30,000 men came across
the Ka-hap Pass and fell upon the left flank, and that too was routed in
short order. The center under Gen. Kang had not yet been attacked and
stood unmoved by, and not unlikely unconscious of, the terrible
destruction being meted out to their allies to the right and left. Now,
Gen. Kang had been instructed by the king to watch the turn of events
and if the Chinese could not hold their own to go over to the Manchus
and make friends with them. This indeed does not look much like loyalty
to China, but it must be remembered that we are dealing now not with the
Korean sentiment as a whole but with the wretch who occupied the throne
at the moment, and who had no more real loyalty toward China than he had
love for his own country.

Gen. Kang followed his instructions and sent to the Manchu leader and
said, “We are not enemies. There is no cause for hostilities between us.
We have been forced into this unpleasant position against our wills. As
the Chinese showed us favors during the Japanese invasion we have had to
make some show of interest in order to reciprocate the favor, but as
things have turned out we should be glad to make friends with you.”

The Manchu chieftain was willing enough to come to this agreement and so
the whole Korean contingent went over _en masse_ to the Manchus. Gen.
Yang was brought before Norach‘i to make his obeisance. That powerful
man was seated upon a throne, clothed in yellow silk, and on either side
were many young women with jewelled pendants in their ears. Gen. Kang
was told to stand some distance away and bow, but he said that in his
own country his rank was sufficiently high to warrant a nearer approach.
So he was led nearer. He then made only a slight genuflection. This did
not please the choleric Norach‘i and the general was compelled to make a
proper obeisance. Gen. Kim Kyöng-sŭ likewise went through this
humiliating ceremony.

It appears that Gen. Kang had decided that it was to his interests to
join himself permanently to the Manchus, for when soon after this Gen.
Kim tried to despatch a letter to the king, giving a carefully detailed
account of the Manchus and their strength, the letter was intercepted by
Gen. Kang who gave it to Norach‘i and advised that Gen. Kim be killed.
This was immediately done.

Three months later the Manchu chief sent a letter to the Korean king,
couched in the following terms, “I have seven causes for hating the Ming
dynasty and it is impossible for me to keep my hands off them. Now you
and I are not enemies. To be sure you have injured us more or less in
the past, but we will waive all that. It will be necessary for you
however to break off all connection with China and stop aiding her in
any way.” Gen. Kang also wrote at the same time saying, “The Manchus are
training all their youth to war, and soon they will have the whole of
Liao-tung.” When the king received these letters he referred them to the
governor of P’yŭng-an Province to answer. The answer ran as follows,
“For two hundred years both you and we have been the subjects of the
Ming power and now that trouble has arisen between you and the
authorities at Nanking it will be bad for you and us as well. China is
like a parent to us and how can we refuse to aid her? We cannot listen
to your demand and abstain from helping her. If you will make peace with
us and clearly define our boundaries and abstain from conquest, China
will not be only glad but will reward us both with gifts.” To this the
Manchu replied, “If you think that China will give presents you have
been grievously deceived by her. They are all liars and cheats and I
hate them. Put away this idea and stand shoulder to shoulder with us. We
must take an oath and sacrifice a white horse to heaven and a black
bullock to the earth. After that I will send back all your generals and
soldiers. Let there be no more weapons used between us, but only
horse-whips.” This latter refers to friendly intercourse by means of
horses. Gen. Kang also wrote, “Norach’i has taken Puk-kwan and Gen. Kim
T’ă-sŭk is dead. Păk Yang-go has surrendered. Norach’i has joined the
Mongol forces to his own and is advancing on Yo-gwang. His two sons
Mangoda and Hongtasi advise him to first seize Liao-tung. Every day
there are long debates to discuss whether it were better to strike
Liao-tung or Korea first. This is a secret but I am sure of what I say.
They are making great numbers of ladders and I am sure they are
intending to invade Korea first.”

This letter troubled the King, for it interfered with his own personal
comfort. So he sent a swift messenger to Nanking begging the Emperor to
send a large force to “guard your eastern territory” which meant that
the king wanted China to stand between him and this Manchurian scourge.

The relatives of Gen. Kang were kept informed by him of the state of
affairs in the north, and they sent large sums of money to Norach’i to
buy him off and prevent him from invading Korea; and it may be that it
was this, at least in part, that delayed it for some time. The king’s
messengers found the road to Nanking blocked by the Manchus and so had
to turn back. The king thereupon sent envoys one after another by boat,
but as the Koreans were poor sailors, they failed to land at the right
place and fell into the hands of the Manchus or were wrecked by storms.

The Manchus now, in 1621, held the whole of Liao-tung and the Chinese
residents were fleeing in all directions. Thousands of them crossed into
Korea and many crossed over to the islands of Ok-kang and In-san near
the mouth of the Yalu River and there, huddled together in wretchedness
and want, bewailed their pitiable condition.

The prefect of Eui-ju implored the king to forward troops to hold the
Manchus in check and the Chinese Gen. Wang wrote the king demanding a
contingent of Korean troops to oppose the wild horde that threatened the
Ming power. But the king was utterly incompetent, and all Seoul was in a
ferment. The king thought only of himself, and looked to it that a
comfortable place was arranged for him on the island of Kang-wha, in
case it should become necessary for him to leave Seoul. In the early
summer a Korean named Yi Yöng-bang, who had gone over to the Manchus
body and soul, and had become son-in-law to Norach’i, took a body of
Manchu cavalry, crossed over to the islands of Ok-kang and In-san and
massacred all the Chinese refugees he could lay hands on. This again
struck terror to the heart of the king, and it threw Seoul into a fever
of excitement. The king collected nine thousand troops from the southern
provinces and stationed them at Su-wŭn, but there was no one whom he
could appoint general-in-chief; so he had to recall from banishment Han
Chun-gyŭm and confer this honor upon him. Han Myŭng-yŭn was made second
in command. He was a man of low extraction but had acquired a certain
amount of fame in the Japanese invasion.

In the following year, 1622, the Manchus entered China and were
everywhere victorious. They wanted to make a treaty with Korea, but the
king could decide neither one way nor the other. His envoys had not
reached China and he had no word from the Emperor. The queen
memorialized the king in the native script and said, “Those northern
savages want to make peace with us, not because of any feeling of
friendship for us but because they think they cannot handle China and
Korea both at once. So they do this to keep us quiet until they finish
with China. The king should make up his mind one way or the other and
act. Think of what the Chinese did for us during the late invasion! We
were on the very edge of destruction and they succored us. Both king and
people should be of one mind and hasten to send soldiers to oppose this
common enemy. Even if we do not succeed we shall have clear consciences,
for we shall know that we have done what we could to aid China in the
hour of her distress.” In the third moon a letter arrived from the
Manchu headquarters which read as follows, “You say that you are the
child and China is the parent. Well, I am now striking your parent, but
you seem not to be able to help her. There is no use in trying to do
so.” In answer to this grim pleasantry the craven king sent an envoy
with gifts to the Manchu camp, but the gifts and envoy were both spurned
with insults.

The Chinese general Mo Mun-nyŭng fled from Liao-tung by boat and landed
at Yong-ch’ŭn in Korea. Finding there many Chinese fugitives, and among
them not a few soldiers, he organized a little army and marched against
the Manchus. In his first fight he was quite successful, coming from the
field with the head of the Manchu general, T’ung Yang-jöng. He then made
his headquarters at Ch’ŭl-san. With the approach of winter the Manchus
crossed the Ya-lu in force and he was outnumbered and had to flee. He
sent a letter to the king saying, “I am now here in your territory with
a small force, let us unite and drive back this Manchu horde.” But
nothing came of it.

The Manchus were exceedingly cruel toward their captives. Having
collected a large number they made them sit down in rows and then the
Manchu braves went along the line and shot arrows into their victims. If
the wound was not instantly mortal the victim was compelled to pluck out
the arrow with his own hands and give it back to his executioner.

Meanwhile Korea was going from bad to worse. For many years all official
positions had been sold to the highest bidder. Governors and generals
paid 30,000 cash, prefects 20,000 and clerks paid 3,000. No office could
be procured without an immediate cash payment. The price put upon the
office of Prime Minister was so great that for many years no one could
afford to take it, and so the place remained vacant, perhaps to the
benefit of the people. The king was ruled by a favorite concubine and
she made use of her power to enrich her relatives and those attached to
her. She and other concubines sent men to the country to peddle offices.
Half the money they kept themselves and the other half went to the
pockets of the concubines. Such was the desperate condition of affairs
when the year 1622 came in; and we must now record the downfall of this
wretched parody of a king.

A man by the name of Yi Kwi had desired for a long time to find some way
of ridding the land of the desperate tyrant, and at last he found five
men who were willing to engage with him in the good cause. They were Sim
Kyöng-jin, Sim Keui-wŭn, Kim Cha-jŭm, Ch‘oe Myŭng-gil, Kim Nyu. After
thinking the matter over and discussing it, they decided that if their
plan succeeded they would put on the throne the grandson of Sŭn-jo
Tă-wang. Kim Nyu was made the leader in this plot. Collecting money they
fitted out a small but select body of soldiers and put Gen. Yi Heung-ip
at their head, and the day for the event was set. But one of the men
connected with the plot turned traitor and told the king the whole plan.
The conspirators learned of it immediately and decided to carry out
their program in spite of all. As it happened, the king was in a drunken
carouse at the time this interesting bit of information was given him
and he forgot all about it. That very night the band of conspirators met
at the appointed rendezvous beyond the Peking Pass. But there was
trouble, because some soldiers who were expected from Chang-dan had not
yet arrived; so a swift messenger was sent to find them. They were met
twenty _li_ out and hurried forward. Yi Kwal, with several other
generals, went to meet these troops beyond the pass and lead them into
the city. They found several hundred soldiers ready for the enterprise;
but a man named Chang Yu came in haste from the city and said, “The king
has been told. The government troops are coming out to seize us.” Yi Kwi
seized Yi Kwal by the hand and said, “Kim Nyu who was to lead us has not
arrived and you must be our leader.” So he consented. He gave each
soldier a piece of paper to fasten to the back of his collar so that
they would be able to recognize each other and not be thrown into
confusion. At the last moment Kim Nyu arrived and then there was a
quarrel between him and Yi Kwal as to the leadership; but as day was
about to dawn they let Kim Nyu take charge.

Having heard that the government troops were coming out of the West Gate
they hastened around the mountain and entered the Northwest Gate. When
the government troops learned by the great noise and tumult in the city
that they had been outwitted, they returned only to find the
insurrectionary troops before the palace. They had cut their way through
the gates with axes and were setting fire to everything inside. As they
entered the king’s apartments he slipped out the back door and scaling
the back wall found refuge in a monk’s room. From that place he made his
way to the house of one An Kuk-sin where he secured a suit of mourner’s
clothes and then went to the house of a physician, Chöng Nam-su. This
man however informed the new government as to his whereabouts and he was
seized. This occurred in the year 1622.

Prince Neung-yang, the nephew of the deposed king, was elevated to the
royal position and crowds of people came and bowed to him as he sat in
state before the palace. His posthumous title is In-jo Tă-wang.

His first act was to send a chair to bring back the queen dowager, from
the Myŭng-ye Palace; but she, thinking that it might perhaps be a trick
on the part of the wicked king, refused to go. She said, “The king
himself must come and take me out.” So he came and showed her that the
good news was indeed true. She sat on the throne just as she had done in
the days of King Sŭn-jo, and when the new king came in he prostrated
himself before her and wept; but she said, “Do not weep; this is a day
of deliverance, and you should rather rejoice.” Then they brought in the
depraved and fallen creature who had tried to play at king but had made
a lamentable failure. The queen dowager exclaimed, “This arch-traitor
and bloody man has come, and he must be judged here and now or I cannot
leave this place. For ten years I have been imprisoned here. Day before
yesterday I dreamed that the aged king Sŭn-jo came and said, ‘In a few
days you will be delivered.’” The eunuchs brought the royal seals and
the insignia of royalty and gave them to the newly appointed king. He
banished the deposed king to Kang-wha and his son to Kyo-dong Island. He
then gave posthumous honors to Princes Im-hă, Neung-chang, Yŭn-heung,
Pu-wön and Yöng-ch‘ang whom the tyrant had caused to be murdered. He
also called the queen dowager’s mother from exile on the island of
Quelpart.

He found the government in a profoundly wretched condition and he
forthwith began a systematic house-cleaning. He appointed new ministers
to the six departments and a proclamation was sent to the eight
provinces saying that every prefect who had bought his place should be
driven from office and that all the land that had been stolen from the
people should be returned to them; also that every prefectural clerk
should pay up the arrears of revenue which he had withheld from the
government. He drew up a company of soldiers at Chong-no, the center of
the city, and there executed the former favorite Yi I-ch‘ŭm and
seventeen other men who had aided and abetted the deposed king in his
monstrosities. Sixty more were banished to distant places where they
were confined in small enclosures surrounded with brier hedges, and
their food was handed them through small holes in the hedges. Pang Yŭp,
the governor of P‘yŭng-an Province, and two others in the country, were
executed by special messengers sent down to the country for the purpose.
This Pang Yŭp was a most desperate villain. As he had something of a
body-guard, resistance was anticipated, but the special messenger of
death managed to draw off the guard on some pretext or other and then
the work was done swiftly and surely. This governor was so detested by
the people that they cut his body into small pieces and each man carried
away a small piece “to remember him by.”

The king made Yi Kwi General-in-chief, conferred upon his father the
title of Prince Chong-wŭn and upon his mother that of Pu-pu-in and gave
her a palace to live in where the government hospital now stands. He
drove out from the palace all vile women, all musical instruments, and
he burned at Chong-no the wooden semblance of a mountain which the
former king had caused to be made and which was always carried in his
procession. This “mountain” was covered with growing shrubs and
flowering plants. He made Gen. Chang Man commander of all the provincial
forces, with his headquarters at P’yŭng-yang. He beheaded the brother of
the deposed queen and also the prefect who had suffocated the young
prince at Kang-wha. Spies were sent throughout the country to ascertain
the actual state of affairs.

This king was a deadly enemy of Buddhism, and he it was who ordered that
no monk should set foot inside the gates of Seoul. The law was
promulgated that whenever a common person entered the gates of Seoul he
must dismount from his horse. Sacrifices were offered by the king in
person at the tomb of Ki-ja and at the blood-marked stone at Song-do,
the spot where Chöng <DW41>-ju had been murdered when the dynasty was
founded. It was decreed that revenue should be collected to the extent
of a tithe of the grain, which was much less than before, but was
collected more regularly. We cannot but sympathize with the wife of the
son of the deposed king, who had been banished to Kyo-dong Island. She
followed him into exile and attempted to secure his escape by digging
with her own tender hands a tunnel seventy feet long. She had no other
implement than a piece of iron resembling a common fire-poker. At the
very moment of his escape the plot was discovered and the poor wife
hanged herself out of grief and disappointment. When the king heard of
this he ordered that honorable burial be given her remains and he put
the young man out of misery by administering poison. That same year the
deposed queen died and the king gave her the burial honors of a
princess. She had been a devoted Buddhist and had endowed many
monasteries with wooden or clay images. But she was not happy as queen
and prayed that when, according to the Buddhist doctrine, she should
take on another life it might not be that of a queen.




                               Chapter V.

Yi Kwal’s grievance.... he raises an insurrection.... civil war....
    rebels victorious.... the king leaves Seoul.... the rebels enter the
    capital.... fight outside the West Gate.... Yi Kwal flees.... and is
    slain.... the king returns to Seoul.... a royal proclamation....
    tiled houses in P’yŭng-yang.... sons of concubines.... the Manchus
    again.... an unsuccessful envoy.... death of Norach‘i.... Nam-han
    completed.... the Manchus enter Korea.... efforts at resistance....
    fall of Anju.... the king retires to Kang-wha.... Manchu
    conditions.... panic in Seoul.... an interesting game of chess....
    Korean hostage and tribute.... oath at the altar.... Koreans firm in
    their loyalty to China.... the Manchus praise them.... Manchu
    cruelties.... the Manchu garrisons.... opposed by the Koreans....
    sound argument.... Japanese assistance declined.


The story of Yi Kwal’s rebellion shows how great a matter a little fire
kindles. The king wished to honor in a special manner the men who had
been instrumental in putting him on the throne. Among them were two
especially deserving men, Kim Nyu and Yi Kwal. Kim was from a higher
family than Yi but was less deserving of praise in this affair. When all
knelt before the king and Yi Kwal found that he was given second place,
he was enraged and refused to kneel, but stood glaring about him. He was
pacified, but was still very sore at heart. He was given the position of
governor of P’yŭng-an where there was a considerable force of soldiers;
among them three hundred Japanese, who had become naturalized and who
where excellent swordsmen. With the opening of the new year Gen. Yi Kwi,
who knew the calibre of Yi Kwal, obtained the post of military
instructor at Song-do. This he sought that he might have an opportunity
to stand between the king and any treachery that Yi Kwal might attempt.
A courtier, Mun Whe, told the king that Yi Kwal was gathering an army
with bad intent, and the king hastily called a council. Kim Nyu did not
believe it possible that Yi Kwal should revolt, but Ch’oe Myŭng-gil
insisted that it was true, and in the high words that followed Kim Nyu
was charged with being privy to the plot. But the remark passed
unnoticed. We shall see however that Kim had little to do in putting
down the insurrection. Perhaps it was because of a lurking suspicion
that he might be implicated. A large number of men known to be intimate
with the disaffected general were arrested and thrown into prison. Two
executioners were sent to kill Han Myŭng-yŭn who was said to be in
league with Yi Kwal, and to catch Yi Kwal’s son. Arriving in P’yŭng-yang
the messengers went boldly into the presence of Yi Kwal and announced
their message. As Yi was already on the point of marching on Seoul he
answered by taking off the heads of the messengers. Hastily summoning
all the neighboring prefects he addressed them as follows: “The king is
surrounded by bad men and I propose to go up to Seoul and clean things
out a little.” Then putting in motion his 20,000 troops with the
Japanese swordsmen at their head, he marched toward the capital. The
whole country instantly burst into a flame of excitement. The king
appointed Gen. Yi Wŭn-ik to lead an army in defense of the capital, and
he put Yi Si-bal second in command. Yi Su-il became general of P’yŭng-an
Province, and the combined forces marched northward to block the rebel’s
path. Gen. Wan P’ung-gun fortified Song-do in preparation for an attack.
O Yong-su fortified the banks of the Im-jin River at the ferry. The
eight provinces were all requisitioned for troops. Kang Kak was placed
at Su-an with militia from Su-an and Sö-heung to check the advance of
the enemy. Gen. Chöng Ch’ung-sin who had been stationed at An-ju north
of P’yŭng-yang, together with other leaders, moved southward on the
rebellious city, to take Yi Kwal in the rear. Chang Man asked him what
he thought were the chances of Yi Kwal’s success, and he answered, “If
Yi Kwal goes straight to Seoul and the king stays there till he arrives
the result will be doubtful, but if he delays a while in Whang-hă
Province, or if the king retreats southward and Yi Kwal delays in Seoul
we will kill him like a dog.”

Gen. Chang Man then called about him all the forces within reach, led by
fifteen captains and prefects. When he saw how small his army was
compared with that of Yi Kwal he despaired of doing anything, but
some-one said, “Many of those under Yi Kwal are not faithful to him. Let
us send and call out the loyal ones from among his army.” So they sent a
slave of Gen. Yi Yun-sŭ, who followed Yi Kwal, and told him to go and
bring his master out of the rebel ranks. They offered him a hundred
thousand cash but he refused it saying “I will go and save him from
rebellion if I can, and if I succeed it will be time enough to reward
me.” The slave entered the rebel ranks and that night the sentries heard
the voice of Gen. Yi Yun-sŭ calling aloud from outside the lines saying,
“I am going over to the side of the king.” Arriving at the camp of Chang
Man, the penitent general burst into tears at the thought of how near he
had come to being a traitor. Yi Kwal sent eight assassins to kill Chang
Man but they were caught and brought before their intended victim, who,
instead of punishing them, gave them a good dinner and sent them away.
Yi Kwal himself was so fearful of assassination that he not only slept
in a different tent each night but moved from one tent to another
several times during a single night.

Gen. Chang Man started for Seoul, the advance guard being led by
Chöng-sin, the skirmish line by Pak Yöng-sŭ, the right and left flanks
by Yu Hyo-gŭl and Chang Tŭn, the sappers by Ch’o‘e, while the
commissariat was in charge of An <DW41>-yun. The whole force consisted of
1800 men. The first day was spent in getting the army across the Ta-dong
River. The next three days brought them to Whang-ju, where they fell in
with part of the rebel army. After a brisk skirmish, two companies of
cavalry were seen riding out from the rebel ranks as if to surrender,
but when they had come close to Gen. Chang Man’s forces they made a
sudden charge which threw the loyal forces into confusion and soon the
entire army was routed. Turning from this complete victory, Yi Kwal led
his forces to Su-an. It was his intention to approach Seoul by way of
Sak-wŭn but as the government had a strong force there he changed his
plan and came by Keui-rin which is an exceedingly rough road. Meanwhile
Gen. Chang Man had collected the scattered remnants of his army and
followed as far Sö-heung where he was joined by Gen. Yi Su-il and
together they proceeded southward to P‘yŭng-san. There they were joined
by 800 more troops. On the sixth of the moon Yi Kwal arrived at the
Cho-t‘an ford and found it guarded by a royal force under Yi Chung-ho
and Yi Tŭk-bu. Yi Kwal forced the passage and put the government troops
to flight, taking the heads of both the generals. A day or so later,
being met by more loyal troops, he sent them the two heads as warning.
They did not heed it and in the fight that followed their leaders too
lost their heads.

Meanwhile interesting events were happening in Seoul. The king put to
death forty-nine men who were suspected of being privy to the plot,
though many of them were doubtless innocent. Yi Kwi begged him to spare
some of them, but he was obdurate. Gen. Yi Sö took 2,000 men and went to
the gate on the main road a few miles beyond Song-do and tried to hold
it against the insurgent army. Yi Kwal attacked at night and found
little difficulty in breaking through the barrier. But instead of
advancing on Song-do he made a circuit and thereby avoided both Song-do
and the force which was set to guard the passage of the Im-jin River. He
effected a crossing by a ford higher up that stream. Learning of this,
Pak Hyo-rip who was holding the ferry hastened back to Seoul where he
arrived at dusk and announced that the king had not a moment to lose but
must take to flight that very night. Without an hour’s delay the king
mounted his steed and fled by way of the South Gate, leaving the city in
a perfect frenzy of fear. He arrived at Han-gang in the dark and found
that the ferrymen had taken all their boats to the other side for
safety. They peremptorily refused to obey any summons, and at last U
Sang-jung was obliged to throw off his clothes and swim the stream. He
succeeded in getting six boats. It took all the rest of the night to get
the royal cavalcade across the river. It was on the ninth of the moon
when the king arrived at Sa-p‘yŭng just beyond the river. He had nothing
to eat till noon that day, when Sin Chun brought him a bowl of gruel and
a few dried persimmons. Night found him at Su-wŭn completely tired out.
After a rest of a few days he passed on to Kong-ju the provincial
capital and there he was made comfortable for the first time since his
flight from the capital. The governors of Ch‘ung ch‘ŭng and Chŭl-la
Provinces met him there. A strong guard was placed along the southern
bank of the Keum River.

At noon of the day following the king’s flight, thirty followers of Yi
Kwal entered the city and announced that there was no need for fear, as
a new king had arisen. The next day Yi Kwal entered the town. Many small
officials and a great crowd of people went out to meet him and scattered
red earth along the road in front of him, which is a special prerogative
of royalty. Entering the city he pitched his camp where the Kyöng-bok
Palace now stands. Even the king’s own uncle went over to Yi Kwal,
perhaps through fear, or perhaps because the revolution was a success.
This uncle was proclaimed king and posters were sent out to quiet the
people. Thousands of adventurers and low fellows sought and obtained
official appointments under the new regime.

But what had been going on in the north? Chang Man, arriving at P‘a-ju,
learned that the king had fled, and immediately called a council of war.
It was decided that, as the people of Seoul were not largely in favor of
Yi Kwal, it would be a good thing to make a demonstration at once lest
the people should come to recognize the government. So one body of
troops was sent to watch the road outside the East Gate and to cut off
supplies. Another guarded the roads outside the South Gate. Gen. Chöng
Ch‘ung-sin said that they must encamp on the hills immediately outside
the West Gate and then Yi Kwal would be forced to fight. In order to do
this Kim Yang-ön took cavalry and surprised the signal fire station
beside the Peking Pass and so prevented any signal being given. That
night Chang Man and all his forces came around the hills and stationed
themselves behind the hill just back of Mo-wha-gwan. This movement was
further favored by a strong east wind that carried the sound away so
that all Seoul was ignorant of the extreme proximity of the enemy. At
the same time Yi Whak with two hundred troops secreted himself outside
the Northwest Gate, to enter the city when the insurgent troops should
go out the West Gate to attack Chang Man’s forces. The latter also sent
thousands of slips of paper into the city and had them distributed among
the people saying, “Tomorrow, anyone who refuses to stand by Yi Kwal and
remains loyal to the king, let him present one of these slips and he
shall receive a reward.”

In the morning Yi Kwal spied a small band of soldiers on the hill
outside the gate, for most of the force was concealed behind it, in
order to deceive the rebels. Some of Yi Kwal’s followers said, “They are
so few we had better go outside the Northwest Gate and so surround them;
but the enemy seemed so insignificant that Yi Kwal marched straight at
them. All Seoul was on the walls watching the fight with breathless
interest. Han Myŭng-yŭn, Yi Kwal’s right hand man, took the Japanese
contingent and moved up the steep hillside, and Yi followed with the
main body. The strong east wind that was blowing materially aided the
attacking force, for it lent speed to their arrows and they had the wind
at their backs instead of in their faces. The loyal forces were forced
to give way a little and their leaders had to strike down some in order
to prevent a general stampede. At this critical juncture the wind
suddenly veered to the west and drove the sand and dust into the eyes of
the attacking party. This was the turning point in the battle. Yi Kwal
was forced to give ground. Han Myŭng-yŭn himself was wounded by an
arrow. Gen. Chang Man fought fiercely for two hours, gaining ground all
the time. At this time the standard-bearer of Yi Kwal turned and fled.
The cry arose, “Yi Kwal is on the run,” and in less that a minute the
whole force was thrown into confusion and every man took to his heels,
including Yi Kwal himself, who hastened back toward the West Gate. But
the citizens on the wall had not been idle, and he found the gate locked
and barred. Turning aside he hastened along under the wall till he
reached the South Gate which he entered. Gen. Chang Man said, “Let us
not chase him, for his men might turn on us and beat us after all. Let
him go; the people will bring his head in soon enough.” So Yi Kwal with
a small band of followers fled out the Water Mouth Gate, crossed the Han
at Song-p‘a, killed the prefect of Kwang-ju, scaled Yi-bu-jă Pass and
fled away eastward. Gen. Chöng Ch‘ung-sin chased him as far as Kyöng-an.
By that time the traitor’s band had dwindled to twenty-eight men. He
fled by night as far as Muk-pangi in the prefecture of I-ch‘ŭn and there
two of his followers, seeing that the game had been played to a finish
and hoping to save their own lives, went into his room by night and
severed his head from the body. His son was treated in the same way, as
were also Han Myŭng-yŭn and six others. They carried the heads to Kongju
and laid them before the king. The king’s uncle who had been set up as
king fled to Kwang-ju, where he was caught and turned over to Gen. Chang
Man, who imprisoned him and waited the orders of the king. But another
man, Sim Keui-wŭn, said, “No, he is a traitor,” and slew him with his
own hand. When the king returned to Seoul this man Sim was imprisoned
for a few days as nominal punishment for having killed a relative of the
king.

On the twenty-second of the month the king returned to Seoul. Gen. Chang
Man went to the river and escorted him in with a large retinue, but Gen.
Chöng Ch‘ung-sin did not go and bow before the king, for he said, “I did
not stop the traitor, but let him drive the king from the capital.” So
he went up to P’yŭng-yang without seeing the king. When the latter heard
of this he sent for him and gave him a present of gold and made him
governor of P‘yŭng-an. It is said by some, in extenuation of Yi Kwal’s
conduct, that he understood that the king had driven the former king
from the throne and was a usurper. This must be false, for Yi Kwal was
one of the principal actors in those events and must have known the
truth about them. He was simply jealous and, having a strong force,
thought to avenge himself. However that may be, the report was spread
that it was patriotism that prompted the revolt, and to dispel any such
idea the king made proclamation saying, “Kwang-hă, the former ruler, was
a wicked and undutiful man. He killed his father and elder brother and
imprisoned his mother. The country was on the verge of destruction and
so I could not but attempt to drive him out. It was not because I wanted
to usurp the royal honors, but it was for the sake of the line. Yi
Kwal’s raid was prompted by idle rumors gotten up by certain of
Kwang-hă’s men, but let all the people know surely that I have done this
for the sole purpose of saving the kingdom.”

In the ninth moon another revolt was attempted, with the object of
putting Prince In-sŭng, the king’s younger brother, on the throne. It
was discovered in time and the principal movers were killed and the
prince was banished to Kan-sŭng in Kang-wŭn Province.

On account of the frequent conflagrations in the city of P’yŭng-yang,
the governor petitioned the king to promulgate a law requiring all
houses in that town to be tiled instead of thatched. The king not only
complied but gave money for the purchase of tiles. That law has not been
abrogated to this day.

[Illustration: _THE SHIP-YARD._]

The year 1625 opened with warlike preparations. Gen. Yi Sö collected a
band of strong, stalwart men, the pick of the land, formed them into
companies and regiments and drilled them at the Hun-yŭn-wŭn, inside the
East Gate, and also at Mo-wha-kwan outside the West Gate. Near the close
of the year the king promulgated a most important law, sweeping away the
disabilities of sons by concubines and giving them the right to become
officials. One must know the prevalence of concubinage in Korea in order
to understand how vitally this law must have affected the whole body of
the people, of all ranks and classes. This was the more true from the
fact that concubines are commonly taken because of the lack of an heir.
Eligibility to office on the part of sons of of concubines worked
therefore in two directions. It elevated the position of the concubine
and at the same time made the position of the barren wife more
endurable.

We have already given a sketch of the beginnings of the Manchu
convulsion which was about to shake the whole of eastern Asia. During
the interval occupied by the events narrated above, the Manchus were
quietly preparing for the future. Gen. Kang Hong-rip, the Korean
renegade, was still with them. Another Korean went over to the Manchus.
It was Han Yun who fled to Kwi-sŭng in northern P‘yŭng-an, from which
place he crossed the Ya-lu and found Gen. Kang among the Manchus. To him
he said, “My relatives have now all been destroyed by the king and I am
an outcast. Let us get an army together and go and be avenged on the
Koreans.” Gen. Kang gave his hearty consent and together they sought the
throne of the Manchu chief to lay their plan before him.

Sŏ U-sin, the Ming governor of Liao-tung, heard of this plan and
despatched a messenger to the King of Korea setting him on his guard
against these two men. The king did not believe that Gen. Kang was
irrecoverably lost, for he appointed his son to go to the Manchus as
envoy. Had this young man succeeded in reaching his destination he might
have induced his father to remain faithful to Korea, but just beyond the
border he encountered Manchu soldiers who did not understand him and
would not let him pass. So he was compelled to return with his mission
unaccomplished. It is probable that there would have been an invasion of
Korea by the Manchus at that time had it not been for the arrival in
Liao-tung of the great Chinese general Wŭn Sung-whan. He was so skillful
in the handling of soldiers that superhuman powers were ascribed to him.
The Manchus could make no headway against him, and it is said that
Norach’i’s chagrin at having failed to storm a town held by this famous
general aggravated an illness caused by a carbuncle on his back and
brought about his death. Upon his decease his second son Hongt’asi took
the reins of government and carried to completion the ambitious plans
made by his illustrious father.

It is apparent that the Korean court was well awake to the dangers
confronting them, for we learn that in the seventh moon of this year
1626 the wall of Nam-han was completed. This is the great mountain
fortress about twenty miles to the south-east of Seoul. It was formerly
the site of one of the capitals of Păkje.

The year 1627 no sooner opened that the long dreaded event took place.
On the fifth moon 30,000 Manchu soldiers crossed the Yalu River and a
few days later stood before the city of Eui-ju. Approaching the gate a
herald cried, “The second king of the great Golden Kingdom is now laying
his heavy hand on Korea. If you do not come out and surrender we will
raze your town to the level of the ground.” Unfortunately for the good
name of Korea the prefect was at that moment sleeping off the effects of
a drunken debauch in the house of a dancing girl. He came forth and
tried to get the garrison together, but it was too late, for already the
traitor Han Yun had entered the town in Korean clothes and had thrown
the gates open to the ruthless invaders. The prefect and his whole
garrison were set up in line and shot down by the savage Manchus, after
which they boiled the body of the prefect in a kettle and sacrificed to
heaven with the flesh. They then sent a letter to the king couched in
the following terms: “You have committed four crimes. (1) You did not
send an envoy to commiserate with us on the death of the great Norach’i.
(2) You have never thanked us for sparing your army when we beat you and
the Chinese together. (3) You afforded asylum to our enemy, Mo
Mun-nyŏng. (4) Your people have killed many of the residents of
Liao-tung in cold blood. It is for these reasons that our wrath is
kindled against you.” And so the invading army moved southward, forcing
the Koreans to cut their hair and compelling them to act as guides. But
they did not come unopposed. They were met at Yong-ch’ŭn by its prefect
at the head of 2,000 men, but a small official turned traitor and opened
the gates to the Manchus. On the seventeenth they arrived at Kwak-san
where they were told by the Korean garrison that death was preferable to
surrender; the Koreans found it so, for they were soon overpowered and
massacred. Two prefects whose wives had been confiscated by the Manchus
thought to save themselves and recover their wives by going over to the
enemy but when they did so they found their wives still held as
concubines while they themselves were compelled to hold the bridles of
the men who brutally refused to give back the women.

Seoul was meanwhile going through one of those periodical eruptions
which she was destined to suffer for many years to come. Gen. Chang Man
became general-in-chief, with Chöng Ch’ung Sin as second They
immediately took all the available forces and marched northward. Gen.
Sin was placed at the Im-jin River to block the approach of the enemy
Gen. Kim went south to collect troops in Ch’ung-ch’ŭng Province, and
others went in other directions. A call was made to all the eight
provinces for men. Gen. Yi Sö was put in command of Nam-han. The king
recalled many men from banishment, probably with a view to bringing into
harmony all the different elements and securing unanimity among all
classes.

On the twenty-first the Manchus arrived before Au-ju. They cried, “Come
out and surrender,” and received the answer, “We are here to fight and
not to surrender.” The next day at dawn in a heavy fog they approached
the wall. They had an enormous ladder mounted in some way on the backs
of camels. This was placed against the wall and the enemy swarmed over,
armed only with short swords and knives; but these they used with such
good effect that they soon gained a foothold. The commandant of the
town, Nam Yi-heung, stood by the gate and shot many of the Manchus with
his good bow and when his arrows were all gone he ordered bags of powder
to be brought, and by exploding these he killed many of the enemy but
was himself killed in the process.

P’yŭng-yang now being practically without defense, the prefect fled
southward to the capital and told the king what had happened. The Crown
Prince was immediately sent into the south for safety and the king
himself with the ancestral tablets and with his court hastened to the
island of Kang-wha, leaving the city of Seoul in a condition better
imagined than described.

One of Gen. Kang’s grievances against Korea was that he thought the king
had killed his son, but when he learned that this was not only not true
but that the king had sent that son as envoy, though unsuccessfully, to
the Manchus, there was a strong revulsion of feeling in his mind and he
expressed his sorrow at the invasion but said that it was now too late
to stop it. He however advised the king to send gifts to the Manchu
chief and sue for peace.

When the Manchus arrived at Whang-ju they sent a letter forward to the
king on Kang-wha saying, “There are three conditions on which we will
conclude a peace with you. (1) You must hand over to us the person of Mo
Mun-nyŭng. (2) You must give us 10,000 soldiers to help invade China.
(3) You must give up the two northern provinces of P’yŭng-an and
Ham-gyŭng.” On the ninth of the moon the envoy bearing this letter,
accompanied by the Korean renegade Gen. Kang, took boat from Song-do for
Kang-wha. The next day the king gave them audience and the envoy bowed
before him, but the king did not bow in return. This made the envoy very
angry, but the king said through an interpreter, “Tell him not to be
angry, for I did not know the custom.”

The king sent one Kang-In to Whang-ju ostensibly to sue for peace but in
reality to find out what the Manchus were doing there. Not long after
this the Manchu envoy returned to the same place but Gen. Kang remained
on Kang-wha. When the enemy had advanced as far as P’yŭng-san, only a
hundred _li_ from Kang-wha, the whole court urged the king to make peace
on any terms, as all the soldiers had run away and the enemy were so
near. When Gen. Kim, who had been left to guard Seoul, learned of the
proximity of the Manchus, he fired all the government treasure and
provisions and made good his escape. This was the signal for a general
exodus of the people who swarmed out of the city and scattered in all
directions seeking safety among the mountains or in remote provinces.

Yun Hŭn had been imprisoned for having fled from P’yŭng-yang without so
much as attempting its defense, and many of the officials begged the
king to pardon him; but they overdid it, and so many petitions came in
that the king thought he was dangerously popular and ordered his
execution. When the messenger of death reached the doomed man he found
him playing a game of chess. The man with whom he was playing burst out
crying, but he said, “What are you crying about? I am the man who am
going to die, not you. Let us finish the game.” So they finished the
game, after which Yun Hŭn quietly submitted to his fate. This is a
sample of _sang froid_ which never fails to elicit the applause of the
Korean.

On the twentieth the Manchu general Yu Hă left P’yŭng-san and went to
Kang-wha to have an audience with the king. He advised the king to
discard the Chinese calendar and use the Manchu one instead and he also
said the king must send his son to the north as hostage. The king
answered that his son was too young, but that he would send his younger
brother. Accordingly he sent Wŭn Ch’ang-yŭng, not his brother but a
distant relative. At the same time he sent 30,000 pieces of cotton, 300
pieces of white linen, 100 tiger skins and 100 leopard skins. Gen. Yu Hă
was pleased at this and said that he wished to have Korea at peace but
that it would first be absolutely necessary for the king to take a
solemn oath of fealty to the Manchus. And he said it must be done
immediately, before the Manchus should enter Seoul.

The next day a letter came from the Manchu Prince Yi Wan urging that a
treaty be made and the solemn oath be sworn, and he added, “Either there
must be such a treaty or we must fight.” He ordered that the king have
an altar made at once, on which to slay the animals and swear the oath.
The Koreans hung back and said, “Have we not sent gifts and hostages to
the north? Why then should we be compelled to take this oath?” In a rage
the Manchu messenger rode away toward P’yŭng-san. This sudden departure
was ominous and it frightened the Koreans, so that they hastened to set
about building the altar. When, therefore, a few days later the Manchu
generals Kang Hong-rip and Yu Hă came with an escort and demanded that a
treaty should be ratified at once, the Koreans hastened to comply. The
king went with Gen. Yu Hă to the altar and the king was ordered to
plunge the knife into the victims, a white horse and a black bullock
which signified the heavens and the earth respectively. At this the
courtiers all exclaimed, “The king cannot do it. It must be done by
deputy.” The king replied. “It makes no difference now. We have eaten
their insults and the people are all about to perish. I will do it.” But
still they opposed it so strongly that at last Yi Chŭng-gwi was
appointed as substitute for the king.

It was on the third day of the third moon of 1627 when the ceremony was
performed outside the West Gate of the fortress of Kang-wha. They killed
the white horse and black bullock and sacrificed to heaven. The Manchu
oath ran as follows: “The second king of the Manchus makes a treaty with
the king of Korea. From this day we have but one mind and one thought.
If Korea breaks this oath may heaven send a curse upon her. If the
Manchus break it may they likewise be punished. The two kings will have
an equal regard for truth and they will govern according to the
principles of religion. May heaven help us and give us blessings.” The
Korean oath was as follows: “This day Korea takes oath and forms a
treaty with the Keum (Kin) Kingdom. We too swear by this sacrifice that
each shall dwell secure in the possession of his own lands. If either
hates and injures the other may heaven send punishment upon the
offending party. These two kings have minds regardful of truth. Each
must be at peace with the other.” The next day the three highest Korean
officials went to the Manchu camp to settle the details of the treaty.
They said, “As we have made a treaty with you, of course you will not
let your troops advance on Seoul. It will be best for you to move
backward at once. Now you are the ‘elder brother’ and we the ‘younger
brother,’ so you will see the propriety of staying on the other side of
the Yalu River. The Ming dynasty of China has been as a parent to us for
two hundred years and our kings have always received investiture from
the Emperor. We have made a treaty now with you, but that does not
require us to cast off the suzerainty of China.” This raised a storm
about the Koreans’ ears, and for days they disputed over the point with
the Korean commission, but could not move them a hair’s breadth from
this position. At last in astonishment Gen. Yu Hă sat down, folded his
hands and said “The Kingdom of Korea is like a small island or like a
hair, and if we should but raise our foot it would be destroyed, and yet
though destruction stares them in the face they will not forswear their
fealty to China. This is greatness. Such righteousness and faithfulness
are admirable. If the Manchu king consents, you shall do as you please
in this respect.” They sent to the Manchu Prince who was with the army
at P‘yŭng-san and he gave his consent. Gen. Yu Hă then put in the Manchu
claim for yearly tribute. It was an enormous amount but the Koreans
decided they would send at least a small part of what was demanded.

The Manchu army then moved northward beyond P’yŭng-yang to An-ju, being
opposed there by Gen. Chöng Ch‘ung-sin they told him that they had made
a treaty with Korea and were on their way back to Manchuria. He thought
they were retreating and were trying to deceive him, so he said, “I have
received no intimation of all this from headquarters, so you will have
to wait here until I get word from the king.”

The Manchu army on its way north through Whang-hă Province had stolen
right and left, oxen, horses and women. They bored holes through the
hands of children and fastened them together with cords and drove them
north to make slaves of them. In the province of P‘yŭng-an they did not
commit these outrages, for there was a large sprinkling of Manchus among
the people. When they left P’yŭng-yang they burned it to the ground.
North of that place they put a garrison in every large town, namely
An-ju, Chöng-ju, Sŭn-ch‘ŭn and Eui-ju. Strangely enough Koreans were put
at the head of these garrisons. Of course these bodies of troops had to
live off the people, and it seems that they did not scruple to plunder
and confiscate in a wholesale manner. This is indicated by the fact that
Chöng Pang-su the prefect of Chŭn-san got out of patience and said it
could no longer be borne. So gathering about him as many soldiers as
possible, he began to make war on the Manchu garrisons wherever
encountered. The Manchus were cut down by hundreds, as the country was
being scoured by small bands of foragers who fell into this prefect’s
hands. Three of the Manchu captains joined their forces and tried to
make headway against this Korean combination, but they were all killed
and their forces cut to pieces. The king, when he heard of these
actions, was loud in praise of the Koreans who so successfully opposed
the unlawful acts of the Manchu garrisons.

Not long after this a letter came from the Manchu headquarters saying,
“Having made a treaty of peace with us, why do you now set upon and kill
our people?” To which the Koreans boldly replied. “It was one of the
conditions of that treaty that all Manchus should move beyond the Yalu.
If they had done so, there would have been no trouble. But many of your
people stopped in P‘yŭng-an Province and stole our cattle and our women.
The people could not endure it and so revolted. But it was not at our
instigation. It is evident that the trouble began with you. It would be
well if you would send back the 2,000 people you have carried away
captive to Manchuria.” The argument was conclusive, as the Manchus
acknowledged by sending back the captive Koreans. When the Japanese
heard that the Koreans had been successfully opposing the Manchus they
sent a present of 300 muskets, 300 swords and 300 pounds of powder, but
the Koreans wisely declined the gifts and sent them back to Japan.




                              Chapter VI.

The king returns to Seoul.... military reforms.... message from
    China.... Manchu familiarities.... conspiracies frustrated....
    Manchu complaints.... pacified.... Japanese offers.... a naval
    station.... a lawless Chinaman.... beheaded.... factional fights....
    courier system.... a disloyal Chinaman.... envoy to China meets
    Roman Catholics.... quarrel with the Manchus.... tribute.... Chinese
    renegades.... two great Manchu generals.... a stirring memorial....
    a frightened envoy.... war inevitable.... omen.... Emperor
    congratulates the king.... divided counsels.... fatal mistake....
    panic in Seoul.... the king takes refuge in Nam-han.


On the tenth of the fourth moon the king started back towards Seoul,
which he entered two days later. He was now fully awake to the need of a
well drilled army, and he set to work in earnest drilling one. He
stationed a general at Kang-wha permanently and instituted the custom of
requiring military duty of every citizen under forty years of age and
over fifteen. Some were sent to Seoul to drill for three years. The
first year was spent in learning the methods of guarding gates and
walls, the second in musket practice, and the third in swordsmanship and
archery. When they had been thoroughly drilled they were sent to the
country to drill the militia. In this way an available force of 700,000
men is said to have been trained. If this is the estimate of the number
of able-bodied men between fifteen and forty it gives a valuable clue to
the entire population of the country at the time. At this time the
custom was revived of having the men stand in squads of ten, five in
front and five behind. When the front rank had discharged their pieces
they fell back and the rear line stepped forward and discharged theirs,
while the others reloaded. A Chinese envoy was sent from Nanking with a
message to the king but refused to come further than Ka-do Island, from
which place he forwarded his message, which ran, “How does it happen
that you have made peace with the Manchus?” The king made reply, “The
Manchus overwhelmed us with their vast numbers and it meant either a
treaty or our extinction. We had no time to send and explain matters to
the Emperor.” The Emperor sent a reply to this saying, “I have received
your reply and I am truly sorry for you. You are in no wise to blame.
Now hoard your wealth and by-and-bye you and I will rise and strike
these Manchus to the earth.”

It will be remembered that the king had sent one of his relatives as
hostage to the Manchus, but now, according to the stipulations of the
treaty, he came back, escorted by the Manchu general Yu Hă. The king
sent high officials to meet them outside the South Gate, but this did
not satisfy the Manchu, who was angry that the king did not come in
person. So the king had to go out and meet them and give a feast to the
returning party. When Gen. Yu Hă met the king he wanted to kiss him,
saying that it was a custom by which he showed friendship and a
demonstration that the oath still held firm between them; but the king
refused the osculatory salute and so the general compromised by patting
him on the back.

Late in this year two dangerous conspiracies were made against the
government. The first was by Yi In-jo a former official living in
Kang-wŭn Province. He had a goodly following among the people and made
bold to liberate all the criminals. After looting several towns he went
into camp on a mountain top. The government troops, however, surrounded
him and finally captured him and sent him up to the capital where he was
beheaded together with his two sons. The other attempt was of a
different nature. Yu Hyo-rip, an exile in Che-ch‘ŭn, a relative of the
deposed king’s wife, decided to work up an insurrection. He sent his son
up to Seoul in disguise to make arrangements with a disloyal eunuch.
Soldiers also came disguised as merchants, but all armed to the teeth.
The palace was to be seized on the fourth day of the new year. As
fortune would have it. Hŭ Chŭk, a relative of one of the conspirators,
learned of the plot in time, but only just in time, to inform the Prime
Minister. So when the attack was made the whole party was seized and
with them Yu Hyo-rip himself, who had come up to Seoul in woman’s
clothes and in a woman’s chair. Being questioned about the affair he
testified that he was not the prime mover in the matter but that he had
been set on by the queen dowager, who wanted to put the king’s uncle on
the throne. That aged and respectable woman indignantly denied any
knowledge of the plot and as proof of her innocence she urged that the
said uncle be put to death. All united in this request and it was
finally granted, though against the better instincts of the king who
believed him innocent. We shall see later that the king was right.

The Manchus were still fretful. A letter came post haste from the north
saying, “We have now sent back many captives and you agreed to pay for
the rest, but when they got across the border and were lost to us we
never saw the money. Not a year has passed since the treaty was ratified
and yet you break it with impunity. When the Chinese acted thus we
retaliated by seizing twenty-four of their districts. Now you must send
those men straight back to us.” Among all the courtiers there was but
one dissenting voice, that of Chang Yu, who said, “The government is for
the people and if it gives up any of the people thus, from that hour it
ceases to be a government. Sooner should we let the Manchus destroy the
government outright than comply with such a demand.” This carried the
day, and an envoy was sent north bearing a present of a magnificent
sword, 300 pounds of ginseng, seventy sable skins, but only five of the
men demanded. The Manchus were highly pleased and forgave all that had
been done to displease them. The Japanese hearing of this again sent an
envoy saying, “Those Manchus are a bold lot. They have made a treaty
with you but they do not treat you well. Just say the word and we will
come and whip them for you.” This frightened the king and he wanted to
forward the message to the Manchus but Kim Sin-guk said, “If you do that
you will get the Manchus and the Japanese to fighting each other on
Korean soil and we will be the little fish between two whales.” This
argument carried the day.

In the year 1629 the king established a naval station on Kyo-dong Island
and placed there an admiral to guard that island and Kang-wha from
attack from the seaward side. This was with the expectation that the
court might again find it necessary to seek asylum on the island of
Kang-wha.

A Chinese general. Mo Mun-nyŭng, had been stationed by the Emperor on
Ka-do Island near the mouth of the Yalu, to withstand the Manchus, but
this man was not loyal to China, and had a leaning himself toward the
Manchus. He could see that the Manchus were destined to become masters
of the situation. He was very angry when Korea made a treaty with the
Manchus for he feared that they would try to hurt his reputation with
them. When the Manchus attacked the Chinese in the neighboring mainland
of Liao-tung he never raised a hand in their defense, though it is said,
perhaps wrongly, that he had an army of 300,000 (!) men. On the other
hand he vented his spite against Korea by harrying her northern shores
and killing many captives on their way home from the Manchu territory.
The Emperor tried to call him to account for this but received no reply.
Meanwhile this Gen. Mo Mun-nyŭng styled himself “Son of Heaven beyond
the Sea.” As he thus showed his hand, the question as to his disloyalty
was settled, and Gen. Wŭn Sung-han came from China to call him to
account, a thing he had not foreseen. When Gen. Wŭn approached and
called on him to come and report to him, he dared not refuse, fearing
that the troops under him would not be willing to attack their
fellow-countrymen under Gen. Wŭn. As may be surmised he lost his head as
soon as he arrived in the camp of the latter.

In spite of her military activity Korea was anything but strong. The two
leading parties, the _Noron_ and _Soron_ were quarrelling like cats and
dogs together. There was one constant succession of banishments and
recalls, as one party or another obtained temporary control of the
government. There was no sort of harmony or unanimity in the discharge
of the public business and it had to look out for itself, while those
who should have been attending to it were wrangling. There was a high
honorary title called Chŭl-lang, and the leading men quarrelled so much
over it that the king was at last compelled to abolish it altogether.
And yet in the midst of this strife the king found opportunity to
establish the Mu-hak, a body of 200 men to act as swift couriers. It is
said they could cover 300 _li_ a day, or 100 miles.

The Manchu Gen. Yu Hă, of whom we have spoken, was originally a Chinaman
living in Liao-tung, but had gone over to the Manchus. The Emperor was
furious at this and offered a reward of 1,000 ounces of silver and high
position to anyone who should apprehend him. For a time he went under an
assumed name, but finally with his three brothers he came to Gen. Mo
Mun-nyŭng whom he knew to be secretly disloyal to China. When Gen. Mo
had been executed Gen. Yu came of course under the jurisdiction of Gen.
Wŭn. Shortly after this Gen. Yu was killed in a battle but his three
brothers decided to rise up against the loyal Chinaman. In the midst of
the funeral obsequies of their brother they rose and killed Gen. Chin
who had been left in charge of the Chinese forces, and they tried to
kill the Koreans as well, but in this they were unsuccessful and shortly
afterward were driven out by the Korean forces. When the Emperor heard
of this he was highly pleased and praised the Koreans.

The Manchus naturally considered this occupation of Ka-do as a menace to
them and they sent a force of 20,000 men to attack the Chinese, at the
same time demanding boats of the Koreans whereby to transport their
troops. This was not granted, but the Koreans, in order to avoid the
effects of a too evident leaning towards the Chinese, gave the Manchus
200 bags of rice. But the Chinese did not wait for the Manchus to cross
to the island. They crossed to the mainland and attacked the Manchus
unexpectedly, killing 400 and putting the rest to flight.

During this year, 1631, an envoy to China, Chong Tu-wŭn, while in
Nanking, fell in with an aged Roman Catholic priest named Jean Niouk,
who engaged the attention of the envoy because of his venerable and
almost saint-like appearance. This man was one of the companions of the
celebrated P. Ricci. From him the envoy received some volumes on
science, a pair of pistols, a telescope and some other articles. The
mention of a cannon in the native records is probably a mistake of some
copyist who wrote the word cannon in place of pistol.

The king was told by his officials that the Manchus were sure to invade
Korea again before long and so the island of Kang-wha was well
provisioned and arms were prepared. He was urged to form a junction with
the Chinese on Ka-do Island and make an attack on the Manchus. The
fortresses of Ch’ŭl-san and Un-san in P‘yŭng-an Province were built at
this time and every effort was made to put the country in a state of
defense against the northern hordes. A fortress was also built near
Eui-ju, which was the equivalent of a declaration of war against the
Manchus. The result was soon apparent. A Manchu envoy made his
appearance bearing a missive which said, “Korea has seen fit to break
her treaty with us and she is no longer to be called ‘younger brother,’
but a vassal state. She shall pay us annually a tribute of 10,000 ounces
of gold, 10,000 ounces of silver, 10,000,000 pieces of linen.” The king
replied that he had no gold but that he would give some tiger skins.
These the envoy scornfully refused and returned to the north. The king
was somewhat disturbed by this and ordered an envoy to go to Manchuria
with gifts, but they were all returned untouched. At this the king was
furious and ordered an envoy to go and say that Korea would never again
send tribute nor make peace with the Manchus. Kim Si-yang expostulated
with the king and told him that such a message would be suicidal, but he
was banished on the spot. It is probable the message never reached the
Manchu camp, for we learn that with the opening of new year the king had
come to his senses and sent tribute to the north to the extent of 800
pieces of silk, 800 pieces of linen, 800 pieces of grass cloth, 800
pieces of cotton, 60 tiger skins, 300 sea-otter skins and 800 quires of
heavy paper.

The Korean territory became the asylum for several renegade Chinese
generals who demanded sustenance, and what between these and the Manchus
it became well-nigh impossible to keep on good terms either with the
Emperor or with the Manchus. The latter were continually ravaging the
northern border and were, apparently losing all their former feeling of
friendship. This cannot be wondered at, for the king was openly siding
with the Chinese.

In the spring of 1636 the king ordered a remeasurement of all the arable
land in the three southern provinces. It seems that the people were
thriving and the margin of cultivation was broadening so that a
remeasurement became necessary for a re-estimate of the revenue. At the
same time he despatched two envoys to the Manchu court at Mukden. The
Manchus had just begun to style their empire the Ch’ing or “clear.” And
now for the first time we meet the names of the two great Manchu
generals who were destined to play such a prominent part in the invasion
of Korea. They were called Yonggoldă and Mabudă. These two men came to
the Yalu River and received the king’s missive addressed to the son of
the Ch’ing Emperor. The two envoys were brought into the Manchu
Emperor’s presence, where they were ordered to bow, but refused. They
were forced to a stooping position, but resisted, whereupon they were
stripped, beaten and driven away.

The Manchus were now fully determined to invade Korea and bring her to
her knees once more. In preparation for this the two generals above
named were sent to Seoul as envoys, but in reality to spy out the land
and learn the roads. The officials almost with one voice urged the king
to burn the letters brought by these envoys and to kill the men
themselves. To show the extent of the infatuation of the Koreans it is
necessary to subjoin a memorial which was presented the king at this
time. It said “Since I was born I have never heard of two emperors. How
can these wild savages claim imperial power? Once before a rebel
(referring to Kang Hong-rip) came with these robbers and the king was
compelled to flee to Kang-wha. If at that time we had only cut off the
traitor’s head it would have been to our honor and it would have shone
like the sun and moon. These Manchu robbers are wolves and tigers. How
can we think of casting off our allegiance to China? All our troubles
have arisen because we did not kill Gen. Kang. This news about the
Manchus rends my heart, for, though we live in a distant corner of the
world, we have manners. From King T’ă-jo’s time till now we have been
loyal to the Ming power. Now that the northern savages are growing
strong and we, through fear, are compelled to follow them, we may for a
time escape harm, but in the end the world will scorn us. It was a
mistake for the government to give those envoys a polite reception, and
now the officials sit still while the king is being insulted by
outsiders. Our situation is not only dangerous, it is pitiable. Here we
sit and do nothing to prevent the enemy entering our territory. I see
what the Manchus want. They know we are weak, and they want to hold us
in their hand and make a boast of us. If they want to play at empire why
do they not do it among themselves and not come to us with it? They do
it so as to be able to say that they have Korea in their train. Now let
us be men and cut off these envoys’ heads and put them in a box along
with their insulting letter and send the whole back to their so-called
emperor. If the king does not like my advice let him cut off my head and
send it. I cannot live to see and hear the insults of these savages. The
people of the northern provinces grind their teeth at them and swear
that they cannot live with them. Today must decide the continued
existence or the destruction of this kingdom. The king should send out a
proclamation far and wide for the people to flock to the support of the
royal banners. Then would we all rejoice to die, if need be, for our
country.” This speech is probably an exact expression of the feeling of
the vast majority of the officials and people at that time, but most of
them had the good sense to keep still, for such talk was sure to bring
swift retribution. It is evident the king thought so, for he answered
this warm appeal by saying, “You have spoken very well but it is a
little premature for us to go to cutting off the heads of envoys from a
neighboring power; we will consider the matter however.”

The Manchu envoys had with them some Mongol soldiers to prove to the
Koreans that the Mongols had actually surrendered to the Manchu power.
The envoys asked that these be treated well, but the king had them
treated as slaves. The object of the embassy was nominally to attend the
funeral of the king’s grandmother, but the king deceived them by sending
them to an enclosure in the place where a screen was closely drawn
around. The envoys supposed this was the obsequies and began their
genuflections, but a violent gust of wind blew the screens over and they
saw that they had been duped. They immediately were seized with fear
lest they be foully dealt with and rushing out they mounted their steeds
and fled by way of the South Gate. The boys pelted them with stones as
they passed. The people knew that this was a serious matter and
messenger after messenger was sent after the fleeing envoys pleading
with them to come back, but of course without avail.

The Prime Minister told the king that war was now inevitable and that it
was necessary to call the people to arms at once. The king consented and
the proclamation went forth saying. “Ten years ago we made a treaty with
these Manchus, but their nature is so bad and they are so insulting that
we never before were so ashamed. From the king, down to the lowest
subject all must unite in wiping out this disgrace. They now claim to be
an empire and that we are their vassal. Such insolence cannot be borne.
It may mean the overthrow of our kingdom but we could do no less than
drive the envoys away. All the people saw them go. Of course it means
immediate war and all the people must now come up to their
responsibilities and swear to be avenged on the Manchus even at the cost
of life itself.”

The Manchu envoys delayed on Korean soil long enough to secure a copy of
the proclamation and, armed with this, they crossed the border and made
their way to the Manchu headquarters.

In Seoul there were various counsels. One side argued that the palace at
Kang-wha should be burned so that the king’s mind might not turn toward
that as an asylum. Others said that the king should go to P‘yung-yang
and lead the army in person. We are told that there were many omens of
impending danger at this time. They are of course fictitious, but they
show the bent of the Korean mind. They say that at one place large
stones moved from place to place of their own accord. In another place
ducks fought on the water and killed each other. In another place a
great flock of storks congregated in one place and made a “camp.”
Outside the South Gate there was a great fight among the frogs. In the
south, toads came out and hopped about in mid-winter. A pond in the
palace became red like blood. In summer the river rose so high that it
lapped the foundations of the East Gate. At twenty-seven different
places in Seoul the land rose and fell. Such are some of the popular
superstitions.

The Chinese general in charge of troops on Ka-do Island sent word to the
Emperor that Korea had broken with the Manchus, whereupon the Emperor
sent a letter congratulating the king and praising his boldness. The
Chinese envoy further said, “I came to bring the letter of praise from
the Emperor but at the same time he recognises the great danger in which
you are and he grants permission for you to conclude a peace with them
if you so wish.” But the king had decided on the arbitrament of war and
this pointed hint was not taken.

The king had now collected an army in P’yŭng-yang and he gave each
soldier a present of cotton cloth. The whole number of the army is not
given, but we are told that there were 10,234 skillful archers and 700
musketeers. It seems that the review did not satisfy all, for one of the
leading officials said, “If we take this final step and go to war we
shall all perish, so it might be well to send an envoy and try to patch
up matters with them.” To this another replied hotly, “All the people
are bent on war and are determined to rid themselves of these savages.
You are a traitor to your country to talk of sending an envoy. You are
insulting the king. You are over-riding the will of the great majority.”
But the other answered calmly, “We have no army that can stand before
them an hour and some fine morning we shall all he found dead in bed.
There is no place to take the ancestral tablets, so my advice is to send
generals to P’yŭng-yang and have soldiers well drilled, and at the same
time send an envoy to the Manchus to see how they talk. It may be that
things may be so arranged that we can go along quietly as before. At any
rate it will give us time to prepare. If worse comes to worst and we
have to defend the Yalu we will do our best, but it is evident that if
they once cross we will necessarily become supplicants.” This was too
good logic to be withstood and yet it was worse than nothing, for it was
either just too strong or just too weak, and it threw the whole court
into a fatal uncertainty.

In the tenth moon the Manchu general Mabudă, appeared on the west bank
of the Yalu and sent word to the prefect of Eui-ju saying. “On the
twenty-sixth of the next moon our armies are to move on Korea, but if
within that time you send an envoy we will desist, even though it be at
the last moment.” Gen. Kim Nyu told the king this and urged that the
envoy be sent, but only an interpreter was sent with a letter to the
Manchu chief. When the Manchus saw this man they said “Go back and tell
the king that if he does not send his son and the Prime Minister and
another high official to perform the treaty ceremony before the twenty
fifth of the next moon, our armies will instantly be put in motion.”
Yonggoldă brought out the copy of the proclamation he had brought with
him from Korea and said, “Look at this. It cannot be said that it was we
who broke the treaty first.” A letter was given the messenger for the
king in which was written, “They say you are building many forts. Is it
to block my way to your capital? They say you are building a palace on
Kang-wha to find refuge in. When I have taken your eight provinces will
Kang-wha be of any use to you? Can your councillors overcome me with a
writing-brush?”

When this ominous letter reached Seoul the king and the highest of the
officials wanted to make terms with the Manchus at once, but they were
opposed stoutly by the whole mass of the lesser officials. At last
however a man was dispatched to convey the acceptance by Korea of the
Manchu terms; but the fatal day had passed, and when the messenger met
the Manchus advancing upon Eui-ju, he was seized. As war was now beyond
peradventure Generals Kim Nyu and Kim Cha-jŭm advised that the
prefectural towns along the route that the Manchus would come be moved
back from the main road. This was ordered and the prefectures of Eui-ju,
P’yŭng-yang and Whang-ju were moved from ten to a hundred _li_ back. All
the towns along the way were deserted by their inhabitants.

Gen. Kim Cha-jŭm forced the people at the point of the sword to rebuild
the fortress at Chöng-bang Mountain, but he did not attempt to guard the
Yalu, for he was possessed by the the infatuation that the Manchus would
not come after all. There was a line of fire-signal mountains from
Eui-ju all the way to Seoul but he ordered the fires to be lighted only
as far as his quarters, in case of war, as it would cause great
consternation in the capital. His criminal incredulity and carelessness
were so great that when in the twelfth moon the double fires gleamed
forth along the line from the north telling of the approach of an
invading army, he still averred that it was nothing more nor less than
the envoy heralding his return. He sent no messages nor warnings to
Seoul. He sent a messenger north to discover where the Manchus were.
This man came running back and announced that the north was full of
them. Still the general would not believe it and wanted to kill the man
for deceiving him. The report was however confirmed by so many
eye-witnesses that he was at last compelled to believe it and sent word
to Seoul that the Manchus had come. On the twelfth a letter from the
prefect of Eui-ju announced in Seoul that the Manchus had crossed the
river 140,000 strong. The next day a letter from the tardy Kim announced
that the Manchus had already traversed the province of P‘yŭng-an. This
news was like a thunder-bolt from a clear sky to the people of the
capital. They were thrown into a panic and are described as having
resembled boiling water. The roads were choked with fugitives from the
city. The king said, “Liberate all the captives and prisoners and grant
an amnesty to all who have been banished.” All prefects who had not gone
to their posts were sent forthwith. The king desired to start at once
for Kang-wha, and he appointed Kim Kyŭng-jeung to have military control
there with Yi Min-gu as second. An aged Minister Yun Pang together with
Kim Sang-yong took the ancestral tablets and went ahead to that island.
Then followed the Queen and the Princes, Finally the king appointed Sin
Keui-wŭn to guard the capital.

On the fourteenth the Manchu army entered Whang-hă Province and almost
immediately the news came that they had arrived at Chang-dan only 120
_li_ from Seoul. There they caught the prefect, cut off his hair,
dressed him in Manchu clothes and forced him to act as guide. At noon
the next day the king and the Crown Prince passed out the South Gate on
their way to Kang-wha, when suddenly messengers came hurrying up saying
that the Manchu horsemen had already arrived at Yang-wha-jin on the
river and that the road to Kang-wha was consequently blocked. The king
and his immediate followers went up into the pavilion above the gate and
conferred together. The native chronicler says that “their faces were
white and their voices were like the croaking of country frogs.” And
well they might be. Chi Yö-hă said, “They have come down from the border
in five days and must be very tired. I will take 500 men and go out and
hold them in check until the king can get to Kang-wha.” But Ch’oe
Myŭng-gil said, “We must decide immediately, for the enemy is at our
very doors. We cannot fight them, but I will go out the gate and parley
with them and meantime the king can escape to Nam-han.” To this the king
eagerly assented and Ch’oe took ten cattle and ten tubs of wine and went
out to meet the enemy. All the gates on the south side of Seoul were
closed and the king and his suite started for the East Gate. The crown
prince’s groom ran away and the prince was compelled to hold the bridle
himself. The people crowded around the royal party so closely that it
was almost impossible to move, but finally the gate was passed and the
party hurried forward. At seven o’clock that night the royal cavalcade
entered the welcome gate of Nam-han. So rapid had been the pace that
only six men in the king’s retinue remained until they arrived at their
destination. The rest arrived some time before midnight. They all urged
the king to start at day light and reach Kang-wha by a circuitous route.
This was determined upon, but a storm of sleet and rain came on, which
rendered the roads so slippery that the king was compelled to dismount
and walk. It soon became evident that this would not do. The king was
very cold and the progress was hopelessly slow. So they placed him in a
litter hastily extemporised and brought him back to the fortress. It
turned out that this was fortunate, for the Manchus had guarded every
approach to Kang-wha so carefully that the king never would have been
able to get through. Gen. Ch’oe, who had gone to parley with the enemy,
went beyond the Peking Pass and met Gen. Mabudă and said, “We made a
treaty with you some time since, but now you come down upon us with this
great array. How is this?” The Manchu answered. “It is not we who have
broken the treaty but you, and we have come to learn from the king the
reason of it.” Gen. Ch’oe replied, “Well, you cannot see him. He has
gone to the fortress of Nam-han.”

Together they entered Seoul and there the Manchu general had Gen. Ch’oe
send a letter to the king as follows, “The Manchu general has come to
make a treaty with us, but he says we are all afraid of him and that
even the king has fled. He says that if the king wants to make peace he
must send his son and the prime minister together with the man who
advised the king to break the treaty. They demand an immediate answer.”
That night no answer came and Mabudă charged Gen. Ch’oe with having
deceived him and wanted to kill him on the spot, but the rest dissuaded
him saying “Let us go to Nam-han ourselves.” They made Gen. Ch’oe act as
guide and soon they stood before that renowned fortress. Gen. Ch’oe went
ahead and entered alone. The king seized his hand and said, “You are
come to save us.” But the general said “The Manchu general was
exceedingly angry because you did not answer my letter last night, so he
has now come with a third of his whole force. In order to pacify him we
cannot but comply with his three conditions.” The king replied, “You are
deceived by him. Do you think he has come all this way to be satisfied
so easily as that?”




                              Chapter VII.

Manchu camps.... the garrison of Nam-han.... a trick.... divided
    counsels.... the king determines to fight it out.... Koreans eager
    to fight.... the garrison put on half rations.... terrible cold....
    message to the provinces.... successful sallies.... the king’s
    kindness.... the Manchu fence.... the gift refused.... help from the
    outside....unsuccessful venture.... plenty and want.... imperial
    edict.... the answer.... a night attack.... relief party
    defeated.... other attempts to relieve the king.... a cowardly
    general.... a clever trick.... Korean defeat.... mutual
    recriminations.... a ghastly trick.... desperate straits....
    correspondence.... a starving garrison.... a heroic answer.... king
    wants to surrender.... Manchu demands.... fighting continued.


The Manchu army encamped along the southern side of the city from
Mo-wha-gwan to the South Gate and outside the East Gate, and the air
resounded with the sound of music and drums. At first the soldiers
committed no excesses beyond the theft of a few cattle and an occasional
woman, but now that it was learned that the king had run away to Nam-han
the license became unbounded and men and women were killed in large
numbers. The royal treasure houses were looted and nothing was too
sacred to be dragged about the streets. That same night a band of the
Manchus completely encircled Nam-han, which must be well-nigh ten miles
around.

The king set a strong guard all about the wall, appointing Gen. Sin
Kyöng-jin to guard the East Gate, Gen. Ku Kweng the South Gate, Gen. Yi
Sö the North Gate and Gen. Yi Si-băk the West Gate. Generals Wŭn
Tu-p‘yo, Ku In-hu, Han Whe-il and Pak Whan went all about the wall with
strong bodies of troops, to prevent the entrance of any scaling party.
The whole number of troops in the fortress was about 12,000. Gen. Nam
An-gap held the important position of Commissariat Chief. The king’s
retinue and court consisted of 200 officials, 200 of his relatives, 100
clerks, and 300 servants of different degrees. All these received their
salary in rice. Officials of the first and second grades were allowed to
have three servants and two horses, those of the third, fourth and fifth
grades could have two servants and one horse, while those below these
could have but one servant and one horse, The commander-in-chief was
Gen. Kim Nyu. His advice to the king was to send the crown prince and
the prime minister at once and make the best terms possible. It was
decided to deceive the enemy if possible, so Neung Pong-su, a distant
relative of the king, assumed the name of the king’s younger brother,
and Sim Chip assumed the role of crown prince. Together they sallied out
to try their hand on the Manchus. When they came before Mabudă, that
hardheaded warrior looked them over, turned them inside out and sent
them back to the king with the curt reply that, “As you have been trying
to play a trick on us we will now consent to treat with no one whatever
except the crown prince himself. If you will send him we will talk with
you.” This they demanded in spite of the statements of the messengers
that the crown prince was still in mourning for his mother.

When this ultimatum was delivered to the king there was a division of
opinion. Gen. Kim Nyu and several others averred that there was nothing
to do but comply with the demands But the king said, “I will die first.”
Kim Sang-hön took the other side and said, “Whoever talks of
surrendering so tamely is a traitor.” On the seventeenth the king sent
Hong Sö-bong to the Manchu camp and said, “I am willing to send my
second or third son to you but they are all in Kang-wha.” They answered
as before, “We will see no one but the crown prince.” When the crown
prince expressed his willingness to go, a courtier said, “We have a good
strong garrison and shall we tamely surrender and send our future king
into the clutches of these highwaymen? If he goes I shall strangle
myself with my own bridle.” Another said, “Let us fight them. We are
men, not straw manikins.” So the king made up his mind that it would be
war and not surrender and he so proclaimed, “We shall fight to the
bitter end. Let no one expect or hope for peace.” He then despatched a
letter to Kim Cha-jŭm in P’yŭng-yang, saying “We are hemmed in here and
our forces are small and food scarce, but we have determined to fight it
out even though it ends the dynasty. So hasten and come to our aid with
all the forces at your command.” The next day the guard of the North
Gate made a successful sally, returning with six Manchu heads. This
excited the soldiers almost to frenzy, and they were eager to rush out
and engage the besiegers. Unfortunately all the rice that had been
stored at the river for the provisioning of Nam-han had been seized by
the Manchus, but the arms and ammunition were safe within the walls. The
king took advantage of the elation of the soldiers over this successful
sally to make them a little speech, in which he remarked, “Shall we
surrender or fight? It is for you to say.” Sim Kwang-su answered grimly
for them all and said “Show us the head of the man who advised to
surrender.” This referred to Gen. Ch’oe Myŭng-gil, but the rest did not
dare to second the request. From that time the walls were guarded with
renewed vigilance. Day after day the smoke of the Manchu camps went up
to heaven round about the beleagured fortress. On the nineteenth the
king sacrificed at the tomb of On-jo, the founder of the ancient kingdom
of Păk-je of which Nam-han was for many years the capital. On the same
day Gen. Ku Kweng made a sally from the West Gate and took twenty Manchu
heads. This again excited the garrison almost beyond control. The
following day a renegade Korean who had gone over to the Manchus came
near the gate and parleyed with the guard, urging that the king
surrender and make peace; but when the king heard of it he ordered that
if the man came again he should not be met at the gate but that the
guard should only talk down at him from the top of the wall.

The matter of provisions was one of prime importance, and the king
called the chief of commissariat and asked him how many days’ rations
there were remaining in the store-houses. He replied that there were
enough provisions to last sixty days, but that if great economy were
exercised it might last seventy days. He said the horses could have but
one measure of beans a day and the servants must get along as best they
could, on barley and oats. Someone suggested that as there were a large
number of people present who held no important position, the king ought
not to feel obliged to support them, but the king vetoed this by saying,
“They came here trusting in me and now shall I deprive them of food? No,
we will all eat or go hungry together.” The weather was very cold and
the men exposed upon the wall suffered severely. Their cheeks, being
frost-bitten, cracked open in a very painful manner. In view of this the
king ordered that night guards be dispensed with and that no old or
feeble men should be put on picket duty in these exposed positions.

The king again sent out a letter to the governors of the different
provinces saying, “We are here hemmed in; our life hangs by a thread.
Let all loyal men rally to our support, and march against the besieging
force.” To Kim Cha-jŭm he wrote, “For seven days we have now been
immured and we have come to the brink of destruction. Come immediately
to our aid.”

On the twenty-first there were two simultaneous sallies, from the East
and West Gates respectively, and each resulted in the securing of a few
trophies. For the encouragement of the soldiers Kim Sin-guk suggested
that a schedule of rates be issued offering prizes for Manchu heads. The
king’s intention not to surrender was still unshaken, for when a
courtier memorialized him urging surrender he burned the document in
anger. On the twenty-second a Manchu messenger rode up to the gate and
asked if the king were ready to surrender yet. The answer came in the
shape of fierce sallies on the South and East sides in which forty heads
were taken and in which Gen. Yi Chi-wŭn, with an iron club, killed two
mounted generals. The soldiers were so elated by these successes, which
of course could make no difference in the strength of the besieging
force, that on the following day they made simultaneous attacks on
several sides, in each of which the Koreans had some advantage. The
Koreans lost but twenty men while the Manchu loss was much greater. As
the Manchus carried their dead from the field, however, the exact amount
of their loss is not known. The king celebrated the victory by making a
circuit of the wall. The next day was wet and foggy and the cold was
even harder to endure than when the weather was clear. Both the king and
the crown prince came out in the rain to encourage the soldiers and they
and many of the officials gave mats and blankets and the mud-guards of
their saddles to help the soldiers to keep dry. The inmates of Han-heung
Monastery, inside the fortress, presented the king with forty quires of
paper, and several bags of vegetables, but the king distributed them all
among the soldiers. Other monks presented three large bowls of honey,
for which the king thanked them and gave presents in return.

On the twenty-fifth the Manchus completed a wattle fence completely
encircling the fortress. It was thirty miles long and twice the height
of a man. Some idea can be formed of the numbers in the Manchu army when
we know that this was completed in seven days. Every eighty paces a bell
was attached in such a way that if anyone attempted to break through,
warning would be given to the sentinels.

There were those outside who sincerely desired to give succor to the
king and the court. Gen. Kwŭn Chöng-gil, of Wŭn-ju, gathered a small
force and camped on Kŭm-dan mountain in plain sight of Nam-han, and the
king was greatly encouraged, hoping that the Koreans were rallying to
his support. When this loyal band attacked the Manchus they were
immediately overwhelmed and cut to pieces.

The Manchus caught every Korean they could lay hands on. The more
vigorous of these they forced into their ranks, the old men were made
hewers of wood and drawers of water, the young women were made
concubines and the older women were compelled to cook and wash.

On the twenty-eighth the king sent a present of a bullock and ten
bottles of wine to the Manchu headquarters, but received the reply,
“Heaven has given us all Korea and we have no need of these things. Take
them back to your starving soldiers.”

Chöng Se-gyu, the governor of Ch’ung-ch’ŭng Province, was consumed with
grief on hearing that the king was reduced to two side-dishes with his
rice; so he gave a monk two pheasants and told him to effect an entrance
in some way or other and give them to the king. The governor himself
came with a handful of men to Ma-heui-ch’ŭn, only forty _li_ from the
beleaguered fortress, and there he was attacked in the rear by the
enemy. His whole force was annihilated, though he himself escaped by
leaping into a deep gorge, intending to commit suicide. But the fall was
not fatal. Nam Yang, also, the prefect of Yun-gye, wanted to do what he
could, and when he learned of the distress of the king, he arose even on
his wedding night and started for the seat of war. His little force was
surrounded and he was ordered to surrender, and then it was that he made
that memorable reply, “You can conquer my neck but never my knees.” His
tongue was cut out and his body was dismembered.

Gen. Kim Nyu had the idea that the Manchu force was weakest on the south
and that if a sudden, determined attack were made the line might be
broken through. So on the twenty-ninth he called all the generals and
gave his orders. They all disagreed with him and considered the project
hopeless, but would not show insubordination. A considerable body,
therefore, emerged from the South Gate, hastened down the valley against
the surrounding line of besiegers. These men had no faith in the plan,
however, and were prevented from turning back only by the sword of Gen.
Kim Nyu which he used on a few as a warning to the rest. Gen. Sin said,
“This is actual suicide. Let me take my company and go out here and show
you at the cost of my life that this cannot be done.” He pushed rapidly
forward and was soon surrounded by the Manchus who had lain concealed in
a bend of the hills, and he and his men were all cut down. When the
ammunition of his men was gone they clubbed their muskets and fought to
the bitter end. Two hundred Koreans fell in this rash adventure and Gen.
Kim returned crest-fallen and ashamed. Having no excuse, he tried to lay
the blame on others, claiming that they did not support him properly. He
also told the king that only forty men had been killed.

Sim Keui-wŭn who had been left as guardian of Seoul sent a letter to the
king saying that he had made a fierce attack on the Manchus encamped at
A-o-gă outside the West Gate, but the king afterwards learned that this
was false, and that Sim had fled incontinently from before the face of
the foe.

When the last day of the year 1636 arrived it found the relative
position of the Koreans and Manchus as follows: The Manchu camps were
filled with plunder and with women which the soldiers had captured; but
what of the children? These the soldiery did not want, and so they were
killed and their bodies thrown outside the camps. There they lay in
piles and a pestilence was prevented only by the intense cold of winter.
In Nam-han the greatest distress prevailed. The provisions had not held
out as had been hoped. Food was all but exhausted and horses and cattle
were dying of starvation. The king slept in his ordinary clothes, for he
had given all his blankets to the soldiers. All he had to eat with his
rice was the leg or wing of a chicken. On that last day of the year some
magpies gathered and began building a nest in a tree near the king’s
quarters. This was hailed as a hopeful omen. It shows to what straits
the garrison was reduced that it should have pinned its faith to this
childish superstition. It was the sole subject of conversation for some
time, but it did the caged Korean king no good.

The next day was new years day of 1637 and the king sent Kim Sin-guk and
Yi Kyŭng-jik to the Manchu camp to offer the compliments of the season.
They were there informed that the emperor’s son had arrived and had
inspected the army and the forts. Consequently on the following day Hong
Sö-bong, Kim Sin-guk and Yi Kyŭng-jik hastened to his headquarters and
were met, not by the emperor’s son but by a general who said, “You have
called us slaves and thieves but our course has been straight and
consistent throughout.” He then laid before them an edict of the emperor
written on yellow paper, and they were ordered to bow before it. Its
contents were as follows:

“The great, the good, the wise, the kind Emperor to the king of Korea.
As you preferred allegiance to the Ming Emperor rather than to us and,
not content with throwing us over, despised and insulted us, you now
have an opportunity to see the fruits of your choice. Of a truth you
acted wickedly in breaking your oath, in throwing off the Manchu yoke
and in offering us armed opposition. I have now brought an immense army
and have surrounded your eight provinces. How can you longer hope to
render assistance to your “father,” the Ming Emperor? The Mings are now
hung up by the heels, as it were.”

On the next day the king sent his answer couched in the following terms:
“The great, the glorious, the righteous Emperor. The little country has
indeed sinned against the great one and has drawn upon herself this
trouble which lies hard by the door of destruction. We have long wanted
to write thus but we have been so surrounded and hemmed in that it
seemed well-nigh impossible to get a letter through the lines; but now
that the Emperor’s son himself has come, we rejoice, and yet we tremble.
The Ming Emperor is no longer our suzerain. In this we have completely
reformed. The people on the border have acted badly in ill-treating the
Manchu envoys. We are truly on the brink of destruction and we confess
all our sin. It is for us to confess and for the Emperor to forgive.
From this day forth we wash from our mind all other thought of
allegiance and enter upon a new line of conduct. If the Emperor will not
forgive, we can only bow the head and die.”

When this abject document was read before the court, before sending it,
some thought it too humble, but the leaders said it was the only course
left; so it was forwarded to the Manchu camp. Answer was returned that
the Emperor’s son had not yet arrived but that when he came he would
reply. Strange to say no truce was made and the Manchu soldiers, fearing
perhaps that a truce might rob them of the pleasure of scaling those
walls that had defied them so long, approached the wall that very night
and with scaling ladders a considerable number effected an entrance. But
they had underestimated the determination and courage of the defenders,
and those who got in were quickly dispersed by Gen. Yi Si-băk. Many
Manchus fell in this desperate assault. Almost at the same hour a
similar attack was made on the south side but there also the Manchus
were check-mated by the watchful guard.

And now a diversion occurred. Generals Hŏ Wan and Min Yöng from the
provinces approached with a force of 40,000 men and seriously threatened
the Manchu flank. They were stationed on two opposite hills with a line
of sharpshooters between. In the fight which ensued the Koreans held
their ground gallantly and at first even made the invaders retreat; but
this exhausted their ammunition and when the enemy reformed his lines
and came on again to the attack there was nothing to do but retreat. The
retreat became a rout and large numbers of Koreans were cut down,
including Gen. Hŏ Wan. The other part of the army under Gen. Min Yöng
held out a little longer but an unfortunate accident occurred which
threw his troops into confusion. A large quantity of powder which was
being paid out to the soldiers suddenly exploded killing a large number
of men and depriving the rest of means for continuing the fight. So they
met the same fate as the others. Those that the Manchus killed they
stripped and burned but many fugitives likewise died of exposure and
fatigue.

Gen. Sim Yun had been fortifying Cho-ryŭng (Pass) but when he heard of
the rout of the 40,000 men he took fright and retreated precipitately,
telling all he met that there was no use in attempting to do anything.
Gen. Kim Chun-yong, however, had more perseverance and came and encamped
twenty miles from Nam-han, occupying a position that was specially
annoying to the enemy. A fight was the result, in which the Koreans were
at first successful, but during the night the Manchus were reinforced
and cannon were brought to bear upon the Koreans. All the next day the
Koreans fought desperately. Night put an end to the battle and the
Koreans finding that all their ammunition was gone, silently separated,
burning all bridges as they went.

The admiral of Chŭl-la Province desired to render aid to the king and so
getting together a little fleet of boats he came north to Kang-wha and
joined the royal forces there. The governor of Kang-wŭn Province excused
himself from taking active part in the relief of Nam-han on the score of
scarcity of food. For this he was afterward banished.

Singular events were happening in the north where Gen. Yang Keun lay
with a considerable force a short distance north of Seoul. He was
however a coward and dared not move hand or foot. Two other generals
felt that they might get into trouble if they did do not something, and
they had the happy thought that they ought to report to their superior,
Gen. Yang Keun, for they knew he would do nothing, and thus they would
be safe, for their responsibility would cease. So they went to him and
urged him to advance against the Manchus. But he declined to do so, and
even gave them a written statement to that effect. Armed with that they
felt quite safe. So there they lay a month till they heard at last of
the fall of Nam-han.

Of another stamp was Gen. Yu Rim. He was on the road between Seoul and
P’yŭng-yang and, being attacked by the Manchus, he and his little band
defended themselves with such good effect that the Manchu camp resounded
all night with wailings for their dead. The Koreans, finding that their
ammunition was almost exhausted, then planned an ingenious retreat.
Loading their muskets they tied them to trees, attached fuses of
different lengths and then silently retreated. The guns kept going off
all night and so the enemy knew nothing of the retreat until it was
discovered in the morning.

Another effort that was made about this time was that of Generals Kim
Cha-jŭm and Yŏk-dal who had a following of some 7,000 men. Starting from
the north they came down to the vicinity of Song-do. Unfortunately they
had no scouts out and suddenly falling in with a Manchu force in the
narrow passage a few miles beyond Song-do, they were thrown into a panic
and it is said that 5,000 men were killed, though it seems almost
incredible that only 2,000 men survived out of 7,000. Gen. Kim escaped
by scaling the steep mountain side but his second was caught and bound.
The two thousand survivors rallied and attacked the Manchus with such
fury that they were forced back and the captured general was rescued.
Gen. Kim Cha-jŭm then made his way to where Gen. Yang Keun was idling
away his time, and together they awaited the surrender of the king. We
may anticipate a few months and say that after peace was made these two
generals were banished to distant places for their criminal cowardice.

Gen. Sin Kyöng-wan, stationed at Ong-jin in Whang-hă Province, was
surrounded by the enemy, but the place was so difficult of approach,
owing to the roughness of the ground, that they could not reduce it; so,
hoping to draw out the garrison they feigned retreat. Gen. Sin was not
to be caught thus, and sent out one of his lieutenants to reconnoitre.
That man happened to be just recovering from a wound, and so he did not
go far, but spent the night in a neighboring inn. He came back in the
morning and reported the enemy gone. Gen. Sin then led out his troops to
take them to the vicinity of Seoul; but the Manchus, who were lying
concealed in the vicinity, rushed out upon him and captured him. He was
released only after peace had been declared.

At Nam-han a severe mental struggle was going on. They well knew that
surrender and humiliation were inevitable but their pride revolted at
the thought, and each tried to throw the blame on the other. This may be
illustrated by a single case which will show how mutual recriminations
were being made in the very presence of the siege-weary king. Yu
Păk-jeung memorialized the king in these words: “Gen. Kim Nyu who holds
the rank of General-in-chief is a man of no military skill, a man of
jealous, vindictive temperament and his house is full of bribes. When
the king came to Nam-han it was almost without retinue, but he,
forsooth, must bring sixty horsemen at his back. And the females of his
household came in litters. He it was who urged the king to give up the
crown prince to the tender mercies of the Manchu wolves. He it was who
compassed the humiliation of the king by advising him to send that
self-effacing letter which, though so humble, was rejected. This is all
the work of Kim Nyu.” Here as elsewhere we see that personal spite has
always been the rock on which the interests of Korea have been wrecked.

The emperor knew that he had the king secure, and he determined to delay
the ratification of a treaty until his captive was reduced to the last
crust, in order to brand upon the memory of all Koreans the indubitable
fact of their vassalage and to teach them a lesson that they should
never forget. And so the days slipped by.

On the sixth of the moon Korean messengers succeeded in getting through
the Manchu lines and brought the king letters from his two sons on the
island of Kang-wha, but the Manchus were aware of this and redoubled
their diligence in guarding the approaches, and so the king was
completely cut off from the outside. A few days later a costly joke was
played by the Korean Gen. Kim On-yun. He led a small party outside the
West Gate and soon returned with two heads. The king praised him and
gave him presents of silk. The heads were raised on pikes, but behold,
no blood came from them. A soldier in the ranks cried out, “Why is my
brother killed twice?” The truth is that the General had beheaded two
corpses of Koreans whereby to obtain praise and favor from the king. The
king replaced the heads by those of the general and his second.

On the twelfth the king’s emissaries went into the Manchu camp bearing a
letter from the king. They were told that a great Manchu general was
about to arrive and that they must come again the next day. The people
in Nam-han were in desperate straits. All who had advocated continued
resistance now urged surrender, excepting Kim Sang-hön and Chong On, who
said, “Not till every soldier is dead, and all the common people as
well, will it be time to think of giving in.”

The next day the messengers presented themselves in the Manchu camp as
ordered. The general who received them said, “You broke your former
treaty with us. Are you prepared to keep it if we make another?” The
messengers beat upon their breasts and cried, “It was our fault and not
the fault of the king. We are willing to prove this with our lives.”
“But why do you not come out and fight?” “We are an insignificant power
and how can we hope to cope with you?” was the humble reply. The Manchu
then broke the seal of the king’s letter and read, “When we signed the
former treaty you were the elder brother and we the younger brother.
When a younger brother does wrong it is for the older brother to correct
him, but if it is done too severely a principle of righteousness is
broken, and the Supreme Being will be offended. We are dwellers in a
corner of the sea. We know nothing but books. We are no warriors. We are
weak and must bow before superior force. So we accept the clemency of
the Manchus, and we are now vassals and you are our suzerain. When the
Japanese invaded our land and we were on the verge of destruction, China
sent her hosts and saved us. Our gratitude to them lives in the very
fiber of our bones. Even at the risk of incurring your anger we could
not bear to cast them off. If now the Manchu power shows us kindness and
goes back across the Yalu, our gratitude toward them will be the same.
We have been a long time imprisoned here and we are tired and cramped.
If you consent to overlook our faults we will engage to treat the Manchu
power rightly. These sentiments are engraved on our very hearts and we
surrender ourselves to the clemency of the Manchu emperor.”

Food was now practically gone. The officials themselves were put on half
rations and even the king’s daily supply was diminished by one third. At
the very most there was enough to last but twenty days more. At this
time the Manchus burned the buildings in connection with the royal tombs
outside the east Gate, and also those near Nam-han. The smoke of the
burning went up to heaven. These acts of vandalism must have been a
bitter drop in the cup that was being put to the king’s lips. On the
sixteenth Hong Sö-bong again went to the Manchu camp and asked why no
answer was sent. The truth is that the Manchus had determined to first
send and reduce the Island of Kang-wha. They answered, “Gen. Kong Yu-dŭk
has gone with 70,000 men to take Kang-wha. We must wait till he
returns.” The next day they sent the king an insulting letter saying,
“Why do you not come out and fight? We thought we would get at least a
little fight out of you. Have not your soldiers learned to load and
fire? China is your good friend; why does she not send and help you? Now
you are starving and yet you have the impudence to talk about
righteousness. Heaven helps the good and punishes the evil. Those who
trust us we aid, those who oppose we decapitate. As we have become your
enemies you see us here in force. If you will come back to your
allegiance we will treat you as a brother. If you wish to live, come out
and surrender; if you will come out and fight so much the better. Heaven
will decide between us.” This received from the Koreans, starving though
they were, the following memorable reply, “We will die and rot here in
our fortress before we will surrender thus. Then there will be no one to
answer your insulting summons.”

On the eighteenth a Manchu general came near the South Gate and demanded
that the king should come out and surrender or else come out and fight.
The king thereupon sent a letter to the Manchu headquarters saying that
he wanted to come out and surrender but that he did not dare to do so
while the Manchu soldiers were prowling about the wall. As the king
handed this letter to the messenger Kim Sang-hön snatched it from the
messenger’s hand and tore it in fragments saying, “How can you bear to
send such a letter. Heaven will still favor us if we are patient, but if
we send this we are truly undone.” Then followed a scene in which the
courtiers almost came to blows. Ch’oe Myŭng-gil took the fragments of
the letter and pasted them together and the next day in company with
another general took it to the Manchus. They were met with the gruff
reply, “We do not want your letters. We want your king to come out and
surrender.” That night the Manchus scaled the wall on the east side and
a great panic followed, but Gen. Yi Keui-ch’uk, with a body of picked
men succeeded in driving back the enemy. On the twentieth an answer was
received from the emperor who said, “The reason why we demand that you
come out and surrender is that we may have a visible proof of your
sincerity. If we depart now leaving you still king of Korea all will be
well. Why should I deceive you since I am conquering the whole world
besides? Need I use guile? I desire to punish only those who advised you
to cleave to China and prove untrue to us. Before surrendering you must
send those men bound to me. I shall kill them but the rest of you will
be safe. One thing is certain. I will read no more of your letters.”
When the king saw this he cried, “I cannot send those men bound to him.”
In spite of the ominous closing words of the emperor’s letter the king
again wrote saying, “Korea to the worshipful, glorious, puissant,
merciful emperor, greeting. We are narrow and provincial people and very
deficient in manners but the contrast between our present mental
attitude and that of a few months ago is surprising. Among our
councillors some argued one way and some argued another but now
starvation has brought us all to the same point and we know that we must
become subjects of the Manchu power. But since the days of Silla there
has never been seen such a thing as a king going out from his fortress
to surrender. We cannot do it in that way. If you insist upon it you
will soon have nothing left but a fortress full of dead. I have
signified my willingness to surrender but if I should go out to you the
people would never again recognize me as king and anarchy will result. I
long ago banished the men who opposed the making of peace with the
Manchus, so I cannot send them to you, but the emperor must now be
gracious and forgive our mistake.” When the Manchu general was about to
send this scornfully back Yi Hong-ju told him that it was written by the
officials and that nothing more was possible; and that if anyone
suggested to the king the advisability of coming out it would mean
instant death. But the Manchu drove them away in a rage. One official
named Chöng On violently opposed all these attempts at securing a
cessation of hostilities and said it would be better to sit there and
rot than to surrender. He urged that the fighting be continued.




                             Chapter VIII.

The refugees on Kang-wha.... crossing the ferry.... the Princess blames
    the commander.... grain saved.... cross-purposes.... Manchu
    rafts.... Manchus gain a footing on Kang-wha.... Gen. Kim’s
    flight.... Koreans massacred.... royal captives.... suicide....
    ancestral tablets dishonored.... list of the dead.... from Kang-wha
    to Nam-han.... fierce attacks.... bombardment.... the king learns of
    the fall of Kang-wha..... Manchu victims sent.... arrangements for
    the surrender.... the Manchu conditions.... the king comes out of
    Nam-han.... the ceremony.... disgraceful scramble.... the king
    enters Seoul.... condition of the capital.... Manchu army
    retires.... a high-priced captive.... king and Crown Prince part....
    rewards and punishments.... the island of Ko-do taken.... an
    unselfish act.


We must leave the king and his court, facing starvation on the one hand
and the deep humiliation of surrender on the other, and see how it fared
with the people on Kang-wha. This island had earned the reputation of
being impregnable, because of the failure of the Mongols to take it when
the king of Koryo found refuge there. Kim Kyŭng-jeung was the commander
of the garrison there and Im In-gu was second in command. Chang Sin had
charge of the naval defenses. When the king sent the Crown Princess, the
royal concubines, the second and third princes and the aged officials
and their wives to Kang-wha a few days before his flight to Nam-han they
were under the escort of Gen. Kim Kyŭng-jeung, who was also taking his
wife and mother to the same place for safety. It was a long cavalcade,
stretching miles along the road. Arriving at the ferry which was to take
the party across the narrow channel to the island, Gen. Kim deliberately
began by filling the boats with the members of his own family and fifty
horse-loads of furniture which they had brought along, and the Princess
and the other royal fugitives had to wait. For two whole days the Crown
Princess was obliged to stay on the farther side in imminent danger of
seizure by the Manchus. At last she summoned Gen. Kim and said, “Are not
these boats the property of the king? Why then do you use them only for
your relatives and friends while we wait here in danger?” As there was
no possible excuse for his conduct he was obliged to accede to the
demand, but only just in time; for, though there were thousands of
people still waiting to cross, a foraging band of Manchus arrived on the
scene and the terrified multitude rushed headlong into the water, “like
leaves driven by the wind,” and multitudes were drowned. Large store of
government rice was lying at Kim-p’o and Tong-jin, and as the Manchus
had not as yet discovered it, Gen. Kim was able to get it across to the
island; but no one excepting the members of his own family and following
were allowed to have any part of it. He had such faith in the
impregnability of Kang-wha that he set no guards and spent his time in
feasting and playing chess. Prince Pong-im suggested that it would be
well to keep a good lookout, but the general replied sharply. “Who is in
command of this place, you or I?” This Gen. Kim was the son of Gen. Kim
Nyu who had charge of the defence of Nam-han and between them they
managed things about as they pleased. There was a running fire of
dispute between Gen Kim and the other leaders on Kang-wha and anything
but good order and concerted action prevailed among the forces set for
the defence of the people there. The Manchus, although without boats,
had no intention to leave the island untaken, and so they pulled down
houses far and near and made rafts with the timbers.

As it was in the dead of winter there was much ice on either bank of the
estuary, and as the tide rises some thirty feet there the crossing was a
difficult feat, even though the actual distance was small. Soon the
message came from the ferry guards that the Manchus had finished their
rafts and would soon be attempting the passage. Gen. Kim called them
fools for thinking the Manchus would dare to cross in the face of such
obstacles, but when it was announced that they had actually embarked in
their improvised craft he bestirred himself. He sent a force under Yun
Sin-ji to guard the upper ferry, Yu Chŭng-nyang took charge of the
middle ferry, Yu Sŭng-jeung guarded the lower ferry and Yi Hyŭng was on
guard at Ma-ri-san, still lower down. Gen. Kim stationed himself at the
middle ferry. There was a great lack of arms, but as there were plenty
in the Kang-wha arsenal the soldiers demanded them; but Gen. Kim
refused. It was the intention of the Manchus to cross under fire of
certain huge cannon which they had planted on the opposite bank. When
the shot from these began kicking up the dust about Gen. Kim he found he
was urgently needed elsewhere and was hardly restrained by the indignant
outcry of his lieutenants. The Manchus were then seen boarding their
strange craft and in the very fore front came a raft with seventeen men
who held shields in one hand while they paddled with the other. Admiral
Chang Sin was lower down with a fleet of boats and he made desperate
efforts to come to the place where this crossing was taking place, but
the tide which runs there like a mill-race was against him and he could
make no headway at all. He simply stood in his boat and beat his breast
with anger and chagrin. Kang Sin-sŭk was farther up the estuary with
other boats and he hastened to come down; but it was too late. The first
raft full of Manchus had gained a foothold on the island. The Koreans
found their powder wet and the arrows exhausted. As a consequence the
whole force, numbering about two hundred men, turned and fled before
seventeen Manchus. These men paced up and down the shore waiting for
reinforcements, for which they had signalled. Gen. Kim had already fled
in a small boat, which finally landed him far down the coast. Then the
whole Manchu army made its way across, some on rafts and some in boats
which were sent from the island. The Crown Princess wanted to make her
escape with her little two year old boy, but the Manchu soldiers at the
gate of the fortress would not let her come out. She then gave the boy
to Kim In and he managed to get through the lines and escape to the main
land with the child, which he took to Tang-jin in Ch’ung-ch’ŭng
Province. The Princess attempted suicide with a knife but did not
succeed. The Manchus called out to Minister Yun Pang and said, “We will
occupy the right side of the fortress and you and the royal personages
and other persons of high degree can occupy the other side.” They then
took all the common people outside the North Gate of the fortress and
set them in long lines. These people were all wondering what was about
to happen, when out came a standard bearer carrying a red flag and
behind him came a soldier with a bared sword. Walking along the lines
they cut down every one of these innocent, unoffending people. The
Manchus issued passes to the Koreans in the fortress and no one could go
in or out without showing his credentials. All the people living in the
vicinity who did not run away were massacred.

Having thoroughly subdued the island, the next move of the victors was
to rejoin the main army encamped before Nam-han. As a preparatory
measure they burned all the government buildings on the island and put
to death all the people they could find, that had not already perished.
Then taking the Crown Princess and her retinue, and all the officials,
they crossed the ferry and marched toward Nam-han. The Princess was
treated with all deference, as befitted her exalted station. As the
company was about to leave the fortress of Kang-wha on their way to
Nam-han, the aged Minister Kim Sang-yong was so deeply moved that he
determined to end his life. He entered the pavilion above the South Gate
where he found a box containing powder. Yun Pang also accompanied him,
saying that he too was weary of life, but Minister Kim said to him, “You
are in charge of the ancestral tablets, you must not prove recreant to
that sacred trust.” So Yun Pang sadly went about that task. Divesting
himself of his outer garments the Minister gave them to an attendant and
told him to bury them in place of his body. Then lighting his pipe with
flint and steel he thrust it into the box of powder. The explosion which
followed blew the whole gate to fragments and Minister Kim Sang-yong and
Kim Ik-kyŭm and Kwŭn Sun-jang and the minister’s little grandson,
thirteen years old, were blown to atoms. In order to convey the
ancestral tablets in safety to Nam-han, Yun Pang put them in a bag, but
the Manchus, who did not care to be burdened with such impedimenta,
threw the whole thing into a ditch. Yun recovered them and cleaned them
off as well as he could, and managed to carry them along. Perhaps it was
only because the Manchus wished to show an indignity toward these most
sacred of all the royal treasures. The following are the names of the
most noted men killed in the taking of Kang-wha. Sim Hyŭn, Yi Sang-gil,
Yi Si-jik, Song Si-hyŭng, Yun Chŭn, Chöng Păk-hyŭng, Kim Su-nam, Kang
Wi-bing, Yi Ton-o, Yi Ka-sang, and the following ladies of rank were
killed: The wives of Sim Pyŭn, Yun Sŭn-gŏ, Yi Sang-gyu, Han O-sang, Kwŏn
Sun-jang, Yi Ton-o, Hong Myŭng-il and the mother of Kim Kyŭng-jeung.
These people died, some by the sword, some by strangling and some by
drowning. There were darker crimes than murder too, for the Manchus did
not hesitate to seize and insult many honorable women, and even to this
day a slight taint clings to one family of the nobility because the wife
and daughter-in-law were subjected to indignities than which death were
preferable. From among the women taken there, the daughter of Whe Wŭn, a
relative of the king, became sixth wife to the Manchu Emperor, but
shortly afterward he gave her to one of his favorites as a present. And
so we leave this long line of captives wending their way eastward, and
find ourselves again within the grim walls of Nam-han.

The ravages of hunger were beginning to make the Manchu proposition seem
more feasible. The council came to the conclusion that the men whom the
Manchus demanded must be bound and sent to their fate. When the Crown
Prince heard of this he said, “I have a son and several brothers and
there is no reason why I should not go myself.” Then Chöng On said “I am
the one who have most strenuously opposed the Manchu claims. Let me go.”
Kim Sang-hon exclaimed, “Who opposed them more than I? I am surely the
one to send.” Yun Whang, Yun Chip and O Tal-ch’e all offered to go and
immolate themselves on the altar of Manchu vengeance. While the council
was going on many of the soldiers came down from the wall and looked in
at the doors and shouted, “As the Manchus have demanded these men why do
you not send them rather than let us come thus to skin and bone?” It was
with difficulty that they were sent back to their places. It was
remarked that the soldiers under Gen. Yi Si-băk did not participate in
this unruly demonstration. That night at nine o’clock a party of Manchus
approached the West Gate and one of them actually scaled the wall before
the guard was aware of it. He was speedily driven back with a
battle-club, and stones and other missiles were rained down upon the
assaulting party. Gen. Yi Si-băk was twice wounded but did not make it
known until the skirmish was over. At the same time an assault was
successfully warded off on the eastern side by Gen. Sin Kyŭng-jin who,
not content with simply driving off the attacking party, sallied out and
killed their leader and many of his followers.

[Illustration: _TORTURING A WITNESS._]

The Manchus next tried to reduce the fortress by bombardment, and it is
said that the projectiles came over the wall with such force as to bury
themselves twenty inches in the earth.

On the morning of the twenty-fifth the Manchus sounded a parley at the
West Gate and three of the officials accompanied them to the camp of the
enemy. There they were told, “The Emperor is very angry because you do
not surrender, and has ordered the destruction of the kingdom. He is to
leave tomorrow and then you will have no opportunity to surrender,
though you should wish.” The bombardment was renewed and many breaches
were made in the wall and many of the garrison were killed, but the
survivors quickly piled bags of sand in the breaches and poured water
over them. This instantly froze and made a good substitute for a wall.
But the soldiers were discouraged and came to the king in crowds
demanding that the men whom the Manchus had called for be sent. It was
evident that something must be done at once, and Hong Sö-bong undertook
another visit to the enemy’s camp, where he said, “Tomorrow the Crown
Prince and the other men that you have demanded will come out to you.”
But they answered, “We do no want to see the Crown Prince, but the king
himself.” To emphasize this, letters were shown proving that Kang-wha
had fallen into Manchu hands, and a letter was delivered to them from
one of the captive princes to the king. They were likewise told, “The
Crown Prince and one of his brothers must go to Manchuria as hostages.
The king must understand that there is nothing to fear in coming out.
The kingdom will in that way be preserved.” So they took the prince’s
letter and wended their way back to the fortress. When the letter was
opened and read a great cry of sorrow arose from the whole court.
Someone suggested that the Manchus were trying to deceive them, but the
king answered, “No, this is my son’s own hand,” and he added, “As
Kang-wha is taken of course the ancestral tablets have been destroyed.
There is then no longer any need to delay our surrender.” As a
preliminary to that final act the king ordered that all documents in
which the Manchus were spoken of slightingly be collected and burned.

The next day a letter from the king was taken to the Manchu
headquarters, wherein he said, “As the emperor is about to return to the
north, I must see him before he goes. If not, harm will result. If evil
befalls me in this step it were better that I take a sword and end my
life here. I pray you make some way whereby I can surrender without
endangering my kingdom.” The messenger explained that the king feared
that the Manchu soldiers might fall upon him when he came down from the
fortress. The Manchu general answered, “Wait till you get orders from
me; then come down.” Kim Sang-hön could not endure the thought of
surrender and so attempted to take his own life by hanging, but someone
cut him down. Chöng On likewise after an apostrophe to his “frosty
sword” plunged it into his bowels, but the wound did not prove fatal and
the king had him well cared for.

On the next day, the twenty-eighth, two men who had most strenuously
opposed the Manchus, O Tal-ch’e and Yun Chip, were made ready to send to
the Manchu camp to meet their fate. Before setting out they were brought
in before the king who wept and said, “Is it possible that we have come
to this? I am ashamed to look you in the face.” But they answered
cheerfully, “There is no cause for mourning on our account. It is our
own fault.” The king then made them sit while a eunuch brought wine and
poured it out. This was the greatest honor the king could show them.
Then he said, “I will see to it that your families are well cared for.”
Then they set out to meet their fate. The emperor was pleased at this
sign of submission and gave Ch’oe Myŭng-gil a fur robe and a cup of
wine. Calling the two men before him the emperor asked them why they had
always opposed the Manchu rule. They answered that after so many
centuries of adherence to the Ming dynasty they found it impossible to
give it up or to advise to do so. The emperor then ordered them to be
loosed but to be kept in the camp under strict surveillance.

The next day Hong Sö-bong, Ch‘oe Myŭng-gil and Kim Sin-guk repaired to
the Manchu camp and said they had come to complete arrangements for the
surrender. They were told that an altar had already been prepared at
Song-p‘a and that the ceremony must take place on the morrow. The Manchu
general said, “We have a special form of ceremony for surrender. First,
the one who surrenders is placed in a coffin; but as this is rather
humiliating we will waive it this time and begin with the second
article.” Ch‘oe asked, “Shall the king come out in his royal robes?” “By
no means. He must come out dressed in blue.” This was because blue is
the color corresponding to east, and was therefore appropriate for
Korea, which has always been called the “East Country.” “Shall he come
out the South Gate?” was the next question asked. “No, how can one who
has done wrong come out the South Gate? He must come by way of the West
Gate. After the surrender he will proceed to Seoul and he need fear no
danger, for we have recalled all our foraging parties and no one will
offer to molest him. We will send back all the Koreans that we have
taken to Manchuria and we will have a new royal seal cut for the king.”
That night the Manchu general Yonggolda brought the king a letter from
the emperor saying, “Are you indeed afraid to obey the command to come
out and surrender? You may rest assured of your safety, and not only so
but I will make it to your great advantage to come. I will put you back
on your throne, I will forgive the past, I will make a firm and binding
agreement with you as between vassal and suzerain. If you would have
your son and your grandson reign after you, you must receive a new seal
of office from us. You must stop sending embassies to China and you must
discard the Chinese calendar and adopt ours. The Crown Prince, the Prime
Minister and the latter’s son must go with us as hostages. When you die
I will send the Crown Prince to rule in your stead. I am about to invade
China and you must give us boats and troops. I must first take the
Island of Ka-do and to this end you must furnish us fifty boats and
sailors to man them, and you must give us bows and arrows. Before our
troops leave this place you must feast them. Hereafter you must observe
the birthdays of the Manchu empress and Crown Prince. You must treat our
envoys exactly as you have been accustomed to treat Chinese envoys. I
will send back across the Yalu all our Korean captives but you must pay
for them. Your people must intermarry with ours. You must release and
return all Manchu captives that you hold in your border fortresses along
the Tu-man River. As for commerce with Japan you may do as you please. I
make no law about that. You must build no more fortresses. Now, behold.
I lift you as it were from the very dead. I have recreated your Kingdom.
Do not forget my great kindness and mercy. Beware of harboring guile in
your heart. Every year you must send tribute; one hundred ounces of
gold, a thousand ounces of silver, ten thousand bags of white rice, two
thousand pieces of silk, three hundred pieces of white grass-cloth, ten
thousand pieces of  cotton, four hundred pieces of fine linen,
one thousand pieces of coarse linen, one thousand quires of fine paper,
one thousand quires of common paper, two hundred bows made of sea-cow’s
horns, twenty-six swords the length of a man’s stature, four fine window
screens, forty mats with red flowers, twenty common swords, two hundred
pounds of dye-wood, ten pecks of black pepper, one thousand packages of
tea, one hundred tiger skins, one hundred deer skins, four hundred otter
skins, two hundred squirrel skins. You will commence sending this
tribute three years from now. As I have taken one of the king’s
relatives to wife I will remit nine thousand of the bags of rice.”

Such were the conditions on which the Manchus proposed to give the
kingdom of Korea a new lease of life. The demand for tribute was so
enormous that the Koreans never seem to have taken it seriously, and
they never once attempted to fulfill more than the merest fraction of
the demand.

It was on the last day of the first moon of the year 1637 that at last,
having exhausted all other means, having endured the rigors of a winter
siege in a fortress but half prepared for the emergency, having seen his
faithful soldiers die about him from hunger and exposure, the king was
driven to surrender to the Manchu power. The day broke with a great bank
of fog enveloping everything. The West Gate of the fortress swung open
and the royal cavalcade appeared, bearing manifest signs of the long
confinement. The king and Crown Prince, according to the directions of
the victors, were clad in blue. Behind them came the hollow-cheeked, but
loyal, soldiers who would have stayed and defended the walls to the
bitter end had the king but given the word. As the royal party descended
the winding road to the valley below, they came upon long lines of
heavy-armed Manchu cavalry drawn up on either side of the road. The king
was startled, and anxiously asked what it meant, but was told that it
was simply in honor of the coming of the king. Soon the party met the
two Manchu generals, Yonggolda and Mabuda. The king dismounted and the
proper salutations took place between them. Then they sat down and went
through a formal interchange of civilities, seated so as to face east
and west according to the proper rule of etiquette. When these
formalities were completed, they escorted the king to the place where
anciently the town of Kwang-ju stood, at which point there was a short
pause. The king’s immediate staff consisted of three ministers of state,
five officials of the second rank, five of the rank of royal scribe and
one or two others. Besides these there were only the Crown Prince and
his tutor. In front, and at a considerable distance, was a raised
platform covered with a yellow silk awning, under which the emperor sat
upon a throne. In front were drawn up a company of trumpeters. General
Yonggolda and the king dismounted and the former led the king toward the
imperial dais. Upon reaching the eastern entrance to the imperial
presence they bowed three times and struck the hand on the back of the
head. Then they entered and bowed on a mat before the emperor. The king
was then told to ascend the platform. The emperor sat facing the south
and the king sat on his left facing the west. To the left of the king
and also facing the west sat the emperor’s three sons, and finally the
king’s sons who had been brought up from Kang-wha. Below the platform
sat the Korean officials and at a distance the common people. The
emperor’s gilded throne sat on a dais raised nine inches above the
platform, beneath a yellow silk umbrella and the “plume banner.” The
emperor sat twirling an arrow in his hand. A cup of tea was handed the
king. Then the emperor said to the Korean Prime Minister through an
interpreter “Now we are inmates of one house, let us try our skill at
archery.” The Minister answered, perhaps with a shade of irony, “We know
letters, but we are not skilled in archery.” Food was brought in and
placed before the king, the same in quality and amount as that placed
before the emperor. Each drank three cups of wine and then the food was
carried away. This was simply a formality, intended to put the king at
his ease. A servant then brought in the emperor’s dogs and with his own
hand he cut meat and threw it into the air for the animals to catch.
Descending from the platform the king had the pleasure of meeting the
Crown Princess. Their brief conversation was interrupted by General
Yonggolda who came up with a magnificent horse sumptuously caparisoned,
and with a splendid sable robe. These he announced were a gift from the
emperor, but at the same time he asked why the king had not brought the
royal insignia that had been given by the Chinese emperor, that it might
be destroyed. The answer was that it had been lost at the time of the
making of the former treaty with the Manchus, but that it would be
hunted up and handed over to the Manchu general. General Yonggolda also
presented each of the ministers about the king with a sable robe. At
five o‘clock in the afternoon, as night was coming on, the emperor gave
word that the king might proceed to Seoul. It will be remembered that
the Crown Prince and Princess, together with Prince Pong-im, were to be
taken away to Manchuria as hostages. Before starting for Seoul the king
bade them adieu and then with a heavy heart turned toward his capital.

The retinue that followed the king was so numerous that when they came
to the ferry at Song-p‘a and found there were too few boats to convey
them all, there was a disgraceful scramble for first place, and the king
was hustled and dragged about in a most unbecoming manner. Finally the
crossing was effected and as the cavalcade proceeded toward Seoul they
saw the Manchu camps along the way crowded with Korean women, some of
whom were wailing as if their hearts would break, while others were
making merry over the prospect of being carried away to the north.

The Manchu soldiery had been ordered out of Seoul to make room for the
king and so the royal party found the way blocked by an immense crowd of
Manchu soldiers loaded down with booty and leading hundreds of captives.
As the king passed by, these miserable beings cried out to him to save
them, but their captors urged them on with word and lash. The crowd was
so dense, and the out-going stream of men pressed so closely against
those entering, that many in the king’s retinue were taken for captives
and were seized and carried away. Even some men of noble blood were
thus, in the darkness and confusion, spirited away and never heard of
again.

It was seven o’clock when the king entered the gate of Seoul. The city
was almost deserted. Dead men lay in heaps along the streets. The houses
on both sides of the street were in ashes. All the poultry and pigs were
gone and only dogs remained, and these had been transformed into wolves
and were gorging themselves on the dead bodies along the way. As the
Ch‘ang-gyöng Palace was nearest the East Gate the royal party went there
to spend the night. All night long, in spite of the Emperor’s orders,
Manchu soldiers scoured the streets, burning and pillaging and working
their terrible will for the last time on the deserted capital.

Two days later the Manchu army was to start on its long journey to the
north and the king went three miles outside the East Gate to bid adieu
to the emperor, for it was determined to pass around Seoul on the east
and so strike northward. It took thirteen days for the whole army to get
on the move. There were 120,000 men in all. Thirty thousand of these
were Mongols and they took the road to the east through Ham-gyŭng
Province and crossed the Tu-man River. There were 70,000 Manchus and
20,000 Chinese from Liao-tung. Generals Kong Yu-dŭk and Kyöng Myŭng-jung
with 20,000 men took boat at Yong-san and sailed north to strike Ka-do
Island.

The day following that on which the king took leave of the Emperor, the
generals Yonggolda and Mabuda came to the palace to confer with the
king. The Minister Kim Nyu, as if to anticipate them, said “The relation
between us now is that of son and father. We stand ready to fulfill our
obligations on that basis even though you ask for soldiers to help on
the invasion of China and the seizure of Nanking.” Hong Sö-bong asked
that in view of the scarcity of gold in Korea part of the tribute be
remitted, but it was not granted. Kim Nyu’s daughter had been carried
away captive to Manchuria and he had plead with the two generals and the
king himself had aided him but without avail. He now offered a thousand
ounces of silver for her ransom. It was accepted but the result was
disastrous to others for it set a precedent, and a like sum was asked
for each of the high-born captives, with the result that few of them
were ever ransomed.

The Emperor’s ninth brother had charge of all the captives, and on the
fifth day of the second moon the crown prince was allowed to go to the
king to say farewell. He was accompanied by a guard of six Manchus who
cut the interview very short and hurried him away to the camp outside
the East Gate. On the seventh the king and his court went out to this
camp to say good-bye, and the Manchus set out a fine banquet, at which
some of the Koreans ate greedily while others would not touch a morsel.
The next day the order was given to start on the long march into
Manchuria. The royal hostages were accompanied by fifteen high
officials. The king and his court accompanied the party twenty _li_ out,
as far as Chang-neung, where with many tears the final separation took
place.

The work of reconstruction was now to be commenced, and of course the
first work was to punish those who had proved unfaithful and to reward
those who had proved loyal. First Gen. Kim Cha-jŭm, who had lain so long
at Yang-geun and would not move to help the king, was banished and with
him Sim Keui-wŭn, Sin Kyöng-wan and the governor of Kang-wŭn Province
who had hesitated to throw away their lives and those of their men in
the perfectly hopeless task of breaking up the siege of Nam-han. Admiral
Chang Sin, who had been prevented by the swift outflowing tide from
opposing the crossing of the Manchus to Kang-wha was killed by
strangulation outside the Little West Gate. Kim Chyŭng-jeung who had
been in command of Kang-wha, and his lieutenant Yi Min-gu were both
banished to distant points. The king gave a great feast at Mo-wha-gwan
to those who had aided him while besieged, both nobleman and common
soldier. The four most prominent generals each received the gift of a
horse. All the courtiers were advanced one step in the ladder of
officialdom. Other gifts and positions were distributed. Those who had
deserted the royal party when on that hard ride to Nam-han were seized
and imprisoned. Sim Chip, who had refused to lie about his companion who
went to the Manchu camp to personate the king’s brother, was banished to
a distant point. Kim Sang-hön had fled to the country when the king came
out of Nam-han to surrender. Being now included in those who received
marks of royal favor, he wrote declaring that the could not receive
them, for in the first place he had urged the king not to surrender and
in the second place had run away and had also torn to pieces the letter
written by the king. “But,” he added “though weak and forced to
surrender, the king must always keep these things in mind and seek for
means to be avenged on the Manchus.”

The king had sent Generals Yu Rim and Im Kyöng-ŭp to aid in the taking
of Ka-do Island in the north. In the third moon Gen. Mabuda took fifty
boats and crossed over from the mainland to the west side of these
islands, which the Chinese garrison had left unprotected. Landing his
force he ascended at night a hill to the rear of the Chinese camp. With
the morning dawn he made a sudden and fierce attack. Meanwhile the
Korean general Im Kyöng-ŭp had arrived with forty boats and had
disembarked on the eastern shore. The Chinese, thrown into confusion,
rushed down to the shore and tumbled into these forty boats that they
found unguarded. But the crowd was so great that only a small fraction
could be accommodated. As a consequence they swamped most of the boats
and hundreds perished. The Chinese commander, seeing that all was lost,
committed suicide. There were still great numbers of Chinese among the
mountains fighting desperately. These were all cut down. It is said that
in this short campaign between forty and fifty thousand Chinese were
killed. During the unequal battle the Chinese kept calling out, “What
cause for enmity is there between Korea and China?” This was of course
addressed to the Koreans who fought with the Manchus. After the battle
the Manchu general Kong Yu-dŭk gave generals Im and Yu a present of 250
Chinese captives, but the former said, “I do not care for these men.
Exchange them for a like number of Korean captives who are going into
Manchuria as slaves.” This was done, and Gen. Im’s name has come down to
posterity fragrant with the odor of this unselfish deed.




                              Chapter IX.

The Manchu tablet.... the inscription.... the Manchu claim to suzerainty
    valid.... Japanese proposition.... a contumacious Korean.... other
    victims.... spirits of the dead.... Chinese Emperor commiserates
    with the king.... introduction of tobacco.... Korean contingent for
    the Manchu army.... Koreans secretly aid the Chinese.... Koreans
    sent home.... reconstruction.... a Manchu court of inquiry....
    Japanese ask for the enlargement of settlement at Fusan.... Prince
    Kwang-hă dies.... a plotter punished.... Japanese ancestral
    temple.... a Korean betrays to the Manchus the king’s dealings with
    China.... the Manchus take revenge.... The Ming dynasty falls.... a
    Korean adventurer.... royal hostages return.... quarrel over the
    succession.... a curious custom.... palace intrigue.... the new
    king.... Korea accused of disloyalty.... the death fetich.... wise
    legislation.... Westerners in China.... Hendrik Hamel....
    preparations for war.... dress reform


It was during the year 1637 that the stone tablet was set up beside the
road to Nam-han, commemorating the Manchu victory. It had been sent
thither by the Emperor, but was not immediately set up. A Manchu envoy
came to superintend its erection. It is said that there were two stones,
one of which was set up; the other, remaining on the bank of the river,
was finally washed into the stream. The envoy announced that he had come
to erect the monument at the point where the surrender had taken place.
A solid foundation was built, with an ascent of several steps. The stone
was put in place and over it a pavilion was built to protect it from the
weather. On one side the inscription was in Chinese and on the other
side in Manchu. The inscription is as follows:

“The Emperor Ch‘ung Té’ of the Great Ch‘ing Empire, in the twelfth year
of his reign, learned that we had broken our treaty with him and he was
angry. He gathered his forces and entered our territory. He marched
through it, for there was none to say him nay. We, a weak and
insignificant king, fled perforce to Nam-han. Our fear was like that of
one who walks on ice in spring-time. We sojourned there fifty days. Our
soldiers from the east and south fled before the Emperor’s troops. Those
of the north and west hid among their mountains and could lift neither
hand not foot. Famine stared us in the face. If the Emperor had stormed
our fortress then we would have been like the leaves in autumn, or like
hair in flames. But the Emperor did not wish to destroy us. He said
‘Come out and I will be your helper. If not I will destroy you.’
Generals Yonggoldă and Mabudă and other great men were in constant
communication with us. Our councillors, civil and military, assembled,
and we said to them ‘For ten years have we been at peace, and now we
have been blind and foolish to bring all this upon ourselves. Our people
have become like meat or fish beneath the chopping-knife. We alone are
to blame for it all’. The Emperor was patient and did not destroy us
utterly but told us to surrender. How could we refuse, for by so doing
we saved our people. All the courtiers were agreed. With a score of
horsemen we went forth from the fortress to the Emperor’s camp and there
confessed our faults. He treated us with kindness and by his goodness
calmed our agitated minds. When we beheld him our heart went out to him.
The Emperor’s goodness extended even to our courtiers. He then sent us
back to the capital and recalled the Manchu cavalry who were scouring
the south. Our people, who had been scattered like pheasants, now
returned. All things became as they had been. Snow and frost were gone
and spring smiled forth again. After the drought showers fell. All that
had been destroyed revived again. Things that had been broken grew
together. Here beside the Han at San-jun-do where the great Emperor
rested, here is the altar and the enclosure. Here we, a weak king,
through our Minister of Public Works, have made the altar higher and
broader than before and have placed this monument to keep alive in the
minds of generations yet unborn the memory of these events, to show that
the goodness of the Emperor is as high as heaven itself. Not that we
alone have seen it, for all Manchuria as well was witness to it.
Throughout the world that gracious voice cannot be resisted. Though we
write with characters as broad as the very earth and as clear as the sun
and moon we could never describe his greatness and his glory. For such
cause is it written here. Frost and dew are both from heaven. One kills
the other vivifies. Thus it is that the Emperor shows goodness in the
midst of terror. The Emperor came with over 100,000 soldiers. Many of
them were like the tiger and the dragon. Before them, brandishing their
spears, went the savages from the far north and the distant west.
Fearsome men! But the Emperor’s gracious words came down in a letter in
ten lines clear and beautiful, whereby our blinded minds were
enlightened. The Emperor’s words are luminous and precise, and we, a
small king, confessed and surrendered; not so much because we feared his
terror as because we delighted in his graciousness. He treated us
kindly, paying all attention to the ceremonies and the rites. Then we
were glad and laughed, and every weapon sought its sheath. Then we
donned the garment of peace. The people of Seoul, both men and women,
burst into singing and said that the Emperor had given us back to our
palace. The Emperor pitied the distress of the people and encouraged
them to till the fields again. To the dead roots of the tree was brought
back spring-time. This stone is lofty and it stands here at the head of
the river to show forth the Emperor’s goodness to the Sam-han.”

Such was the statement that the Manchus put into the mouth of Korea and
until recent years they have claimed Korea as their vassal state. The
claim originally was perfectly good. Never did a country make herself
more abject in her acceptance of a vassal’s position. And the only line
of argument that can be used to prove that that condition did not hold
till the treaty of Shimonoseki was signed in 1895, is in China’s
occasional disavowal of it, to shield herself from responsibility for
Korea’s acts.

The Japanese had been keeping watch of events that were transpiring
during these troublesome times, and at this juncture an envoy came from
the island empire announcing, as between friends, the name of the new
Japanese year. This letter was not received by the king, who asked what
use it would be to him. The Japanese replied, “You have given up China
and are now a masterless dog. Why is our name not good as any?” It shows
how pride had been crushed out of the Koreans to find that Ch‘oé
Myŭng-gil himself said, “We have done wrong to surrender to the Manchus.
Now let us make friendly advances toward Japan.” From that time on it
was customary to receive politely the annual message from Japan, but
there seems to have been no more _rapport_ between the two countries
than this.

As the Manchu emperor passed north through P‘yŭng-an province he gave
orders to the prefect of Cheung-san to seize and deliver up to him the
person of Hong Ik-han who had been especially virulent in his opposition
to the Manchus. It was done, and the man was carried captive to the
Manchu capital at Sim-yang (Mukden). There he was decently lodged in a
house of detention called the Pyŭl-gwan, until a certain day when he was
called before the emperor, who sat in state surrounded by soldiery.
Being asked why he had opposed the Manchu influence he replied in
writing. “All men within the four seas are brothers but there can be but
one father. From the first the king of Korea acted uprightly and
mannerly. In Korea we have censors who chide and correct him. Last year,
being censor, I heard that you, who held to us the relation of elder
brother, had styled yourself emperor and by so doing had ruptured the
actual relations subsisting between us. From the earliest times we have
owed allegience to China and how could we then advise the king to hold
to a false relation? This is the reason I advised the king to stand out
against you. This war and all its attendant miseries are my work alone
and I would that you might decapitate me ten thousand times.” The
emperor, who seems to have cherished the idea that he had overawed the
man, was thrown into a great rage by this brave avowal and instantly
threw the man into a dismal dungeon where he doubtless starved to death,
for nothing more is heard of him.

The two men who had been delivered up by the king in Nam-han were also
carried north. They were also arraigned before the dreaded chieftain
Yonggoldă who attempted to flatter them into making a complete surrender
to the Manchus and taking up their abode permanently in Manchuria; but
they utterly refused and asked to be killed at once. The Manchu chief
argued, urged and threatened, but the men were not to be moved. Being
ordered to execution they looked the chieftain in the face and cursed
him. Chöng No-gyŭng, an attendant of the Crown Prince, begged for their
bodies that he might carry them back and bury them on Korean soil, but
the favor was not granted.

That summer the people of Seoul and of the country immediately to the
south, were thrown into a panic by the antics of what they call
ch‘ăk-ch‘ăk, a species of imp or demon which appeared nightly in various
places and terrified the people. The Koreans are peculiarly subject to
such hallucinations. They said they were the spirits of those who had
died at the hands of the Manchus and the popular fears were not
alleviated until the king had ordered a monstrous sacrifice in their
behalf at two places near Nam-han, called Ma-heui-ch‘ŭn and Sang-nyŭng.

The king despatched an envoy to China in the ninth moon to inform the
Chinese emperor that he had been forced to surrender, but he assured his
former suzerain that the act was by no means voluntary. To this the
emperor replied in a tone of commiseration, attaching no blame to the
king’s enforced allegiance to the Manchus. He himself was destined ere
long to feel the full weight of the Manchu arm.

We have at this point an account of the first general use of tobacco in
Korea. It is stated that tobacco was first brought to Japan by the
Nam-man or “southern barbarians” and from there was brought to Korea,
thirty years before the date of which we are now writing. It was first
used by a man named Chang Yu who was closely connected with the royal
family, being the father of a Crown Princess. It was called _tam-p‘agwe_
which is the Korean pronunciation of certain Chinese characters which
were used to translate into Chinese the Japanese words for tobacco,
which is _ta-ba-ko_. It is commonly supposed that the Japanese took
their word from the occidentals, but we here have the word embedded in
Korean history back in the very first years of the seventeenth century
before it had even yet firmly established itself in European countries.
It seems almost incredible that the spread of its use should have been
so rapid as to have arrived in Korea within ten years of the beginning
of its common use in Europe, but it may have been so. Portugese traders
came in large numbers to Japan and the fragrant weed was probably
brought by them. At the time of which we are writing, namely the end of
the Manchu invasion, its use had become common. It was supposed to
possess valuable peptic qualities and was recommended especially to
those who ate much meat. The Manchus had become much addicted to the
habit, but so many conflagrations were the result that the Manchu
emperor attempted to interdict its use. It is needless to say that he
failed. When first introduced, it cost ten thousand cash for half a
pound but merchants obtained seed and it soon became common.

In accordance with the demands of the Manchus, the king sent 5,000
troops to accompany them in their invasion of China, but as they arrived
a month later than the set time they were sent back home by the angry
Manchus. Early in the following year, however, Generals Yi Wan and Im
Kyöng-ŭp started with 5,000 troops and joined the Manchu army. The plan
was to attack Teung-nă on the Shantung promontory; whether by land or
sea is not clear, but probably by land. This being known to the Koreans,
three boats were secretly despatched to the threatened place, giving
warning of the attack, and stating that the Koreans joined in the attack
with the Manchus because forced to do so. It was suggested that whenever
feasibly the Chinese and Korean forces should use only blank charges
against each other. This was gladly agreed to and in a battle at
Puk-sin-gu, which followed, not one man was killed among the Chinese
forces that were brought in contact with the Korean contingent, and the
latter suffered as little. The Chinese general managed to get a letter
to the Koreans saying “The emperor reminds you of the vital aid he gave
Korea at the time of the Japanese invasion and he now offers the half of
his kingdom to anyone who will seize and deliver to him the Manchu
general in command.” This reveals in a striking manner the desperate
straits to which the Chinese had been brought by the Manchus. The Korean
generals did not see their way to accede to this but they kept the
Chinese informed of every movement of the Manchus, where they were weak
and where they were strong, where they were likely to attack and where
they might be successfully attacked. In this way the Manchus were
continually thwarted and the Chinese encouraged.

It was proposed that there be a combined Manchu and Korean attack upon
Kon-ju-wi near the point of the Shantung promontory, the Manchus to
attack by land and the Koreans by sea; but the latter said they had no
provisions and their boats were in very bad order. The Manchus replied
“Then you had better go home,” an injunction that they were by no means
loath to obey.

Meanwhile the king had been doing what he could to mitigate the
sufferings consequent upon the invasion. He ordered all the eight
provinces to give rice to help the poor, the widows and the orphans, and
to provide proper burial for those who had no near relatives who could
afford the expense. He likewise gave strong encouragement to the
Confucian School in the capital. He sent spies throughout the land to
discover whether the prefects were attending to their duties well.
Fearing that the guard along the Tu-man River might be suffering, he
made them a grant of 4,000 pieces of cotton. He likewise gave money to
repair the ancient altar on the top of Ma-ri-san (Mountain) on the
island of Kang-wha. This altar is said to have been used by the Tan-gun
two thousand years before Christ, and may well be believed it to be the
oldest monument in Korea.

This period of rest and recuperation was broken in upon by the
appearance, on the northern border, of Manchu troops under Yonggoldă and
Omokdo. Rumors had again reached Manchuria that certain Korean officials
had been advising against the Manchu power. As a result of this, four
prominent officials were sent captive to the north. Early the following
year King Chilga, the emperor’s brother, came to try these men, and held
a proper court at which the Korean Crown Prince was present. Each of the
accused men was brought in turn and questioned, and each had some
plausible excuse to give. The result was sure from the beginning. They
were all condemned and were thrown into a dungeon with a door in the
top, a sort of Black Hole of Calcutta, where they all languished with
cold, hunger and disease. They even excited the pity of their jailors,
and when the Crown Prince plead for them before the emperor, they were
ordered sent to Eui-ju, but heavily guarded.

In 1640 the Japanese who had settled at Fusan complained that the harbor
was too small, for it did not include the whole bay, but only that part
directly in front of the settlement, which was about half way between
the present Japanese town and the Korean town of Pu-san. The harbor was
called Tu-mo Harbor. Consent to the enlargement of the harbor was
refused.

In 1641 Prince Kwang-hă, the deposed and banished wretch, died on the
island of Quelpart. So great is the respect for royalty in the abstract,
in Korea, that the king fasted four days, had the body brought up to
Yang-ju and buried it with royal honors. To the one surviving daughter
the king gave a comfortable house and an annuity.

The next year a seditious movement was made by Ch‘oé Hyo-il of P‘yŭng-an
Province, and two accomplices. They took boat for China, being provided
with funds by the prefect of Eui-ju. Arriving at Teung-nă they joined
the Chinese forces, received commissions in the Chinese army and
despatched a letter to the prefect of Eui-ju asking him to gather a
force and with them make a combined attack upon the Manchus. As fate
would have it the Manchu Yonggoldă was at Eui-ju when this letter
arrived, and it fell into his hands. He immediately sent to the king
demanding the seizure and execution of all the men implicated in the
plot. In spite of the expostulations of the Prime Minister, who wished
to see only the prime movers punished, eleven men in Eui-ju and
elsewhere were seized and met their fate before the palace gate in
Seoul.

That Japan and Korea had not forgotten each other is evinced by the fact
that the Japanese emperor sent to the king asking him to suggest a name
for an ancestral temple that he was erecting. The king declined but
allowed his uncle to do it. The name suggested was “The Illustrious
Place at Il-gwang Mountain.”

One more sacrifice was necessary before the last remnant of opposition
to the Manchus should be extinguished. It was now six years since the
surrender. Soon after that surrender the king had sent to China
explaining that it was a hard fate and not his own inclination which had
forced the surrender from him. Not knowing whether the letter had ever
reached the Chinese capital he sent another letter two years later by a
monk, Tok-po, who had come from China to ascertain whether Korea had
really surrendered or not. Arriving at P’yŭng-yang he had been received
by Gen. Im Kyŭng-ŭp who sent him on to Ch‘oé Myŭng-gil the Prime
Minister. He was handsomely treated and was provided with a new vessel
and a complete outfit of clothes and provisions for the return journey.
He carried a letter from the king stating his excuses as above narrated.
Four years passed and at last in the year under review the emperor’s
answer was forwarded by way of Chefoo. In it he exhonerates Korea from
all blame and mourns the fact that he cannot come to her aid as when the
Japanese invaded the peninsula. The bearer of this missive was feasted
and treated with the most flattering attentions by the governor of
P‘yŭng-an. This would have amounted to nothing had it not been known to
Yi Kyu the prefect of Sŭn-ch‘ŭn who was carrying on trade with China by
junk across the Yellow Sea. He was seized by the Manchus and carried
north. Fearing the worst, he offered to tell his captors an important
secret as the price of his life. He thereupon unfolded the whole
transaction between Seoul and Nanking. The Manchus were furious and sent
a demand to the king for the persons of Ch‘oé Myŭng-gil, Im Kyöng-ŭp, Yi
Kyöng-yo and Yi Myŭng-han, all leading men. There was nothing to do but
comply, and as these men went the king wept and gave Ch‘oé Myŭng-gil 500
ounces of silver for traveling expenses. Arriving at Pong-whang Fortress
beyond the Yalu they were taken in hand by Generals Yonggoldă and
Mabudă. Ch‘oé asserted strongly that he alone was to blame for the whole
transaction. When the emperor had looked over the evidence he sent word
that fines should be accepted from the others, but that Ch‘oé be sent in
a cangue and hand-cuffs to Puk-kwan goal. And there he leaves the stage
of history, on which he had played no mean part. The traitor Yi Kyu
plumed himself on his newly acquired Manchu citizenship and presumed on
his services to write the emperor a memorial under twelve heads; but the
emperor in fine contempt exclaimed that a man who was not true to his
own king must be a rascal at heart and ordered him bound and sent back
to Korea where we may well believe the axe did its work without delay.

The next few years of the reign witnessed the return of many captives
taken by the Japanese during the years of the invasion; they beheld the
promulgation of the law that no one could marry during the three years
of mourning for a parent; also a scourge of cholera so terrible as to
cause the king to send and sacrifice upon the eight high mountains of
Korea. A powerful conspiracy, led by the prime minister, Sim Keui-wŭn,
came near overthrowing the dynasty, but the alarm was given in the very
nick of time and he and his fellow conspirators were seized and
executed.

The twenty-first year of the reign, 1643, beheld the fall of the Ming
dynasty in China. The pretext given by the Manchus for marching on
Nanking was the revolt of Yi Cha-sung who burned Nanking and drove the
emperor to suicide. Then, terrified at his own deed, he fled and the
Manchus stepped in. When Nanking fell, a letter was despatched to Korea
saying “I am the greatest of rulers. You have long been my vassal and I
will now show you a favor by returning your hostage, the Crown Prince.”

A word is necessary as to the fate of Im Kyöng-ŭp, one of the men who
had been sent to Manchuria with Ch‘oé Myŭng-gil. He succeeded in making
his escape before the party reached the Yalu and in the disguise of a
monk made his way in a merchant boat to Teung-nă where he attached
himself to Gen. Whang Chong-ye and made himself very useful. It is said
that he made himself famous by capturing a notorious pirate. He sailed
straight for the island on which the pirate had his headquarters and
having gotten the pirate and his crew drunk with wine he bound and
brought them safely to the Chinese camp. Later he fell into the hands of
the Manchus through treachery but was so steadfast in his refusal to do
obeisance to them that he excited their unbounded admiration, and they
let him go back to Korea. This was an unfortunate move for him, for in
the meantime Kim Cha-jŭm had been recalled from banishment and had
become court favorite. As these men were deadly enemies the returning
general was immediately seized and put to death. This same year saw the
publication of the historical work named the Tong-sa Po-byŭn.

In the following year the Crown Prince and his brother returned from
China but the Crown Prince soon after sickened and died. It had been
customary heretofore for the king and queen to assume mourning for three
years for a Crown Prince but now an innovation was made and thirteen
months was the limit set. Of course the succession fell to the infant
son of the dead prince, but, the wife of prince Pong-im, the second son
of the king, was extremely ambitious to become queen, and so she went
about to gain the desired end. By every means in her power she brought
pressure to bear upon the king to induce him to set aside the infant
prince and nominate her husband as heir to the throne. She was partially
successful and the following year the king called his courtiers together
and consulted as to the advisability of the plan. He urged that the real
heir was but a babe in arms and that he himself was old and about to go
the way of all the earth. It was evident that he desired to put Prince
Pong-im on the throne, and a very animated discussion followed. Most of
the leading ministers and officials argued against the plan saying that
it was contrary to the best traditions of the land and that the people
all looked to the young prince as their future ruler. To all these
arguments the king opposed counter arguments which revealed plainly that
he had already made up his mind as to his course, and that he was merely
seeking for confirmation of his views. Kim Nyu then said, “If the king
has already made up his mind let him speak out and put an end to this
useless discussion.” The king then announced that Prince Pong-im was to
be his successor.

About this time a dangerous rebellion broke out in Kong-ju the capital
of Ch‘ung-ch‘ŭng Province, but by the prompt action of the troops from
the South it was put down. This is worthy of mention only as it
illustrates a curious custom in Korea. On account of this rebellion the
name of Kong ju was for many years changed to Kong-san and the province
of Ch‘ung-ch‘ŭng to that of Hong-ch’ŭng.

The Prince Pong-im, though now by royal edict in full view of the
throne, feared that by some turn of fortune’s wheel he might fall short
of that goal and so he much desired to have the infant prince and his
mother taken from his path. The aged king had entered upon a period of
mental semi-decrepitude and was easily managed by the wife of Prince
Pong-im. Six palace women were accused of poisoning the king’s food and
were summarily put to death. The king then summoned the courtiers and
accused the wife of the deceased Crown Prince of having assumed the
garments of royalty while in Manchuria, of having used disrespectful
language to him on her return and of having instigated the palace women
to poison him. He said she must be killed. All agreed that some positive
proof of guilt must be produced but the king insisted upon her immediate
execution which was accomplished by the use of poison. Her two brothers
were likewise beaten to death. Three of the leading men who had advised
against the nomination of Prince Pong-im were also banished.

The next year passed quietly, but the official corruption had become so
prevalent and the people were ground down by the prefects to such an
extent that the king made the law that each prefect must have three
bondsmen who would be liable to punishment in case of his malfeasance.

The next year saw the introduction on the field of politics of a noted
man, Song Si-ryŭl, who was destined to be a leading spirit for many a
year. He was a celebrated scholar and the king induced him to come to
Seoul only after repeated invitation.

The very last year of his life this king cherished a bitter enmity
toward the Manchu power and in the twenty-seventh year of his reign,
selecting generals and planning to equip an army, he hoped to throw off
the hated yoke; but it was not to be, for in the early summer of 1649
the aged monarch breathed his last and the heir assumed the reins of
power. He is known in history as Hyo-jŭng Ta-wang.

The accession of a new king was the signal for the combined attack of
all the officials upon Kim Cha-jŭm who had been so long the practical
autocrat. He was deposed, but the king would not have him executed,
because of his former services. Song Si-ryŭl also took offense at the
king because of a supposed slight and departed to the country in anger,
after publishing three accusations against him.

The reign began with a storm. Kim Cha-jŭm who had retired to the country
in disgrace, took advantage of the fact that the Japanese had made a
proposition to the prefect of Tong-nă to come over and join the Koreans
in an invasion of China, and sent a detailed account of it to China,
adding that the Korean government was preparing for war and had
discarded the Manchu calendar. This news caused tremendous excitement in
China and the veteran generals Yonggoldă and Mabudă were sent forward to
the Yalu with a powerful force. Six envoys were sent to Seoul one
following the other at intervals of only two days. These six arrived at
Eui-ju, stopped there and sent forward letters demanding what it all
meant. Of course this was like thunder from a clear sky to the court at
Seoul, and Minister Yi Kyöng-sŭk rode in person to Eui-ju and met the
envoys. He invited them to Seoul and after a long discussion and a
present of a thousand ounces of silver and the promise of a princess to
go to China to wed one of the Manchu princes and the banishment of a few
of the officials, it was found that no blame was attached to the king.
Thus began an eventful reign of ten years. The first years were
signalized by severe famines in the north and the government had to
bring large quantities of grain from the south to relieve the suffering.
Corruption had crept even into the system of examinations and it was
found necessary to preserve the incognito of the candidates by having
each one write his name on the margin of his examination paper and than
have this portion of the paper cut off through the middle of a stamp so
that at last when the papers were examined and the successful ones
selected, the writers’ names could not be known until they had been
matched on, and found to fit.

An unsuccessful attempt at rebellion was made by the notorious Kim
Cha-jŭm and Kim Sik, son-in-law to the late king. They persuaded the
latter’s wife to place a fetich under the floor of the king’s sleeping
apartment. This is supposed to bring about the speedy death of the
person so cursed, but someone found it out and divulged the plan. The
three leaders were beheaded, the woman poisoned and her brothers
banished. Some wanted the king to move because the palace had been
defiled by the fetich, which consisted of a dead rat with the king’s
name written on its belly, but it was voted down because it would tend
to confirm the people in their belief in this foolish superstition.

This king inherited much of his father’s hatred of the Manchu power and
we find him building a palace at Kang-wha and storing provisions there
in case of a break in the peaceful relations then existing. He
instituted some useful reforms also, forbidding the cruel practice of
beating criminals to death. He likewise legislated in the interests of
the people when he forbade the exacting of rent for water drawn from the
government reservoirs for their rice fields.

Twenty-two years before this, Kim Hyŭk, one of the envoys to China, had
there met a Westerner who is known in Korean history as Tang-yak-măng.
This was one of the Jesuit priests. He came first to Canton as a
missionary but his great talents were recognized in Nanking and the
emperor called him to the capital and questioned him about his religion,
and employed him as court astronomer. There the Koreans saw the calendar
called Si-hön-yŭk. When the Ming dynasty fell the Manchus urged the
Westerner to remain and they allowed him a regular salary. Kim Hyŭk
brought back a book from Peking which is probably a copy or abstract of
the celebrated book above mentioned. For these twenty-two years a
scholar, Kim Sang-bŭm, had been studying this book, and at last having
mastered its secrets, he came out with a calendar of his own. It is
stated that the Westerners Yi Ma-du and Sa Su-sin had already been many
years in China when Kim Hyŭk visited Nanking. (These are Ricci and
Schaal).

It was discovered that the country people were evading the revenue laws
by cultivating the hill sides above the margin of cultivation set by
law. Commissioners were sent out to remeasure the taxable land and to
set limits to hillside cultivation, for it was feared that the
cultivation of the hillsides would diminish the fuel supply too much. It
was in this same year that the ill-fated sailing vessel Sparwehr sailed
from Holland with Hendrik Hamel as super-cargo. There seem to have been
sixty-four men on board, and when she went to pieces on the island of
Quelpart only thirty-six of them reached shore in safety. They were
taken to Seoul by the authorities and for fourteen years lived, now on
the royal bounty, now by the work of their own hands, and at times they
were even compelled to beg for food. At last however the remnant of them
made good their escape by night and finally reached Nagasaki. Hamel
afterwards wrote an account of his captivity in Korea.

In the year 1654 the hostility of the king toward his suzerain took more
definite shape. He appointed Yi Wan, a brilliant young general, to have
charge of all military matters, and he sent military instructors all
through the south where the great mass of the population lived, to drill
the people in the science of war. He likewise built fortresses at
Sŭng-jin in Ham-gyŭng Province and at Yi-bam-keum-sŭng and at Kyŭk-p‘o
in the south. He appointed four generals to be stationed about Seoul to
guard its approaches, and he collected great quantities of grain, much
of which he massed at Wha-ryang near Chemulpo to be in readiness to ship
to Tientsin when he should invade China. He provisioned Kang-wha
thoroughly and built a monster store-house at Chang-san in Whang-hă
Province, because of the difficulty experienced by the boats in rounding
the exposed point of that province; he founded a school for the training
of military officers and twenty of the best men were detailed for study
there. Any sign of indolence insured a prompt dismissal.

This sovereign was an ardent advocate of dress reform. At first he made
the soldiers wear shorter sleeves and skirts and for the sake of
lightness they were often made of silk. From that he made a more general
application of his ideas. He found the hats too broad of brim and the
flowing sleeves very inconvenient in the breeze. These points were
ordered to be changed and the palace hat as seen today was introduced.
It was first invented by the celebrated Chöng <DW41>-ju whose blood still
marks the stone bridge at Song-do. It was he too that introduced the
hyŭng-p‘ă or embroidered storks to be worn on the breasts of civil
officers, and the tigers to be worn by military officers.




                               Chapter X.

The king dies.... seeds of discord sown.... the new king.... extensive
    reforms.... party changes.... strife.... a great reformer.... the
    ajuns checked.... abuses remedied.... a convent broken up....
    various reforms.... revenue.... forestry.... memorialists
    rebuked.... honest examinations.... the people cared for.... the
    census.... numerous reforms.... qualities of a good prefect.... the
    king dies.... a noble record.... the new king.... a bad outlook....
    party strife.... census.... Japanese settlement at Fusan....
    ceaseless quarrels.... a minister falls.... wholesale execution....
    plot and counter-plot.... reforms in the navy.... calamities....
    reign of terror.... Roman Catholics.... trouble brewing.... change
    of party.... unutterable cruelty.... the queen deposed.... concubine
    made queen.... a great statesman dies of poison.


In the tenth year of his reign, 1659, having exposed himself to the sun
and rain while sacrificing to heaven to secure the cessation of a great
famine that was on the land, the king was taken ill, an abscess broke
out on his temple and after a short illness he expired. In connection
with his death arose a contention that was destined to cause the death
of many men. The mother of the dead king was still living. She had worn
mourning for three years after the death of her elder son, and now the
question was whether she should assume it for an equal length of time
for this her second son. Song Si-ryŭl and Song Chun-gil argued that one
year only was sufficient. The other side was taken by Yun Hyu and the
debate was fierce and long. The classics were ransacked for proof texts
in support of either contention. The Prime Minister decided in favor of
the shorter term and the Queen Mother wore mourning for but a year. Song
Si-ryŭl also laid up wrath against himself by neglecting to have the
king’s body wrapped tightly in bandages, until it had swollen so that it
required two planks joined together to form the bottom of his coffin.
This was considered a great misfortune and ere a year had passed Song
was obliged to retire precipitately to the country to avoid being mobbed
for the offense.

The new king entered upon the duties of his exalted position as a mere
lad, in 1660. His posthumous title is Hyon-jong Tă-wang. His first duty
was to give his father burial. The geomancers said he ought to be buried
on a site near the town of Su-wŭn, but the courtiers thought that was
too near the main road, so a place was selected outside the East Gate.
This first year was one of reform. The penalties for murder were too
small. If a high class man committed murder he could get off with a
hundred blows and ineligibility for office for a short time, but now the
king, with the advice of the court, made all high class murderers
permanently ineligible for office. It must be borne in mind that the
demarcation between the upper and lower classes was much more distinct
in those days than it is at present.

Looking carefully into the condition of things, the king found many
abuses that required correction. He ordered that the army be better
clothed; he examined into the cases of many of the prisoners of state
and liberated not a few; he remitted the tax on hemp and ginseng in
Ham-gyŭng Province; he remitted the tax on the gold mines at Tan-ch‘ŭn
which had amounted to a thousand ounces a year; he lowered the land tax
in Ch’ung-ch’ŭng Province. These voluntary retrenchments called for
economy at the capital and the king discontinued the royal stables, to
meet the falling off in revenue.

A word is necessary here as to the complexion of the political parties.
The old Tong-in had gone to pieces and in its place we find the Nam-in,
the So-ron and the Sŭ-buk parties. We have in all then the

              Nam-in    with  Hŭ Mok          as  leader
              So-ron     ”    Yun Cheung       ”     ”
              No-ron     ”    Song Si-ryŭl     ”     ”
              Sŭ-buk     ”    Yu Yöng-gyŭng    ”     ”

Among these the names of the Nam-in and No-ron were the most prominent
and their leaders, Hŭ Mok and Song Si-ryŭl were deadly enemies of each
other. There was no intermarriage between these different parties. Each
had its separate color. The Nam-in was red, the So-ron blue, the No-ron
white and the Sŭ-buk black. It was not the men but the women who wore
these distinctive colors and even to this day it is common to see the
party colors in the collars of women’s coats. The men were distinguished
by the shape of the coat collar. The No-rons and Nam-ins had a collar
cut square at the bottom; the So-rons had a bulging curve at the bottom
and the Sŭ-buk had a plain curve. These things sound childish but in
those days they meant life and death. The number of men who have been
sacrificed upon the altar of party strife mounts up into the hundreds of
thousands. The violent and unreasonable strife between them prevented
anything like concerted action when the country was threatened from
without. They made it impossible for any man to be judged according to
his true merits. They effectually blocked the efforts put forth by
honest men to secure a clean and honest government. There is nothing
more despicable in political life than the continued excitement of
fierce passions when there is no principle at stake and when personal
aggrandisement is the only goal.

But at the time of which we write the No-ron party, with Song Si-ryŭl at
its head, was so overwhelmingly predominant that party strife was for a
time almost held in abeyance. The remarkable character of this reign is
largely due to his efforts. The reign from beginning to end was one
grand march of progress, reform following reform with such rapidity that
the reign fairly scintillates with them. To realise how great a part
Song Si-ryŭl played in these movements it is necessary to know the
enormous power wielded by a Prime Minister in Korea, especially when he
enjoys the entire confidence of the king. His power to keep the king
informed or misinformed makes him practically the ruler of the land.
That Song Si-ryŭl was a real reformer is shown by the frequency with
which, during many a decade after his death, statesmen would break out
in panegyrics on his memory. It is shown also in the passionate hatred
of political enemies who saw in him a successful rival. We have little
evidence that this man ever lowered himself to the plane of common party
politics. Let us then review the fifteen years of this reign and see the
stamp of his great personality upon it.

We have already mentioned some of the reforms inaugurated. First he
gained a signal victory over his rival Hŭ Mok who tried to have him
degraded because of his position in regard to the period of the queen’s
mourning. Song Si-ryŭl went over the whole ground again, cited history
in support of his views and silenced by a simple and conclusive argument
the captious criticism of his detractors, but he showed his greatness in
not using his power to have his enemies killed, an act of generosity
which later cost him his life. The following are some of the reforms
instituted, and we give them here in full, for they afford a deep
insight into the condition of the people.

It had been very common for men to leave their families and go off to
some monastery and become monks. Now, the Buddhist monasteries are the
poor-houses of Korea. Beggary is uncommon, but often, when a man has no
visible means of support, he will shave his head, don the garb of a monk
and spend part of the year at some monastery and the remainder in
receiving donations from the people in the shape of rice or money. To do
this they necessarily desert their families. To counteract this evil the
king sent forth an edict that no more men with family ties should desert
them in this way, and furthermore that all monks who had families living
should doff their religious garb and come back to the world and support
their families like honest men.

The _ajun_ is a peculiar excrescence on the body politic of Korea. He
is the prefect’s clerk, or factor, or agent, or pimp, or
jack-of-all-trades. He is in a large sense the incarnation of all his
master’s vices, to which he adds many of his own. A royal edict was
promulgated which brought a host of these men to justice and compelled
them to disgorge much of their illgotten gains, which were given back,
so far as possible, to the people from whom they had been extorted. In
this case the reform was notable because of the limit which was put to
it. Ordinarily in Korea, when a man is caught and made a public
example of in this way, the law extends the punishment to the near and
remote relatives of the culprit, and many innocent men suffer with the
guilty; but in this case only actual offenders were punished. It was
strictly forbidden to call to account any man’s relative because of
his fault.

For many years all the salt factories and fisheries had been groaning
under a heavy tax which went to support an almost unlimited number of
the king’s relatives; but now these taxes were entirely remitted. We are
not told what the relatives did. Let us hope they went to work.

It had become customary for the tax collectors to demand a poll tax not
only from grown men, who alone were taxable according to law, but from
children as well. This abuse was likewise remedied.

The king gave up entirely the wild project of assaulting China, which
had been a pet scheme of his father, and he likewise found no cause for
supporting such a large military retinue about his person, and they were
discharged.

There was a flourishing Buddhist convent just west of the Kyöng-bok
Palace, in Chá-kol. The king wished to do away with it, but some
objected on the ground that it formed an asylum for aged palace women,
and because there were many royal tablets stored there. We may well
imagine the consternation of these objectors when the king said
concerning the tablets, “Well, dig a hole and bury the whole lot.”

The useless custom of having masked dancers accompany the royal
procession when returning from the ancestral temple was done away. The
king put an end to the custom of taking girls by force and compelling
them to become palace women. It must be only with the free consent of
the girl’s father. He consented to send men to various places where
sulphur was mined to see that the people of the surrounding country were
not ill-used. At the same time he ordered that no more sulphur should be
dug at Tal-sŭng-wi-gung inside the South Gate. He ordered that the tombs
of the king of Koryŭ should be kept in good repair. He quelled a great
popular excitement in the south, which arose from the rumor that various
Buddhas in the monasteries were sweating, by showing that it was caused
by the frost bringing out the moisture which had been absorbed during
the rainy season. The rumor was probably false, but how politic it was
to take it for granted and turn it off by giving some natural cause
rather than merely to deny the rumor. He added however the command that
as these Buddhas had caused such a disturbance they must be burned.

At that time the province of Chŭl-la contained about 190,855 _kyul_ of
land, a _kyul_ being supposed to produce forty bags of rice. The revenue
was set at thirteen pecks of rice from each _kyul_. The revenue from
24,084 _kyul_ was set aside for the support of the king’s relatives,
royal grave-keepers and for men whom the king particularly desired to
honor because of distinguished services. The revenue from the remaining
169,771 _kyul_, amounted to 147,134 bags of rice, 69,280 of which came
up to the capital and 85,916 were stored for use by officials in the
country. A certain amount of forest land was customarily set aside for
fuel supply for the different palaces, but through maladministration
these palaces each had much more forest land that it was entitled to,
and as a consequence the people had to suffer. So the king ordered a
redistribution of the forest lands and a correction of the fuel bill. He
sent twenty bags of cotton seed into Ham-gyŭng Province, for he desired
to see this useful plant grown in every one of the eight provinces. The
island of Quelpart being still very wild and the people uncultivated,
the king, for the first time in the history of the peninsula, made an
attempt to civilize them, by offering them government offices and by
establishing schools for them. He also did the same for the river towns
along the Yalu. As the wild tribes of Sŏl-han and Pyŭl-hă frequently
came across the border and looted the people’s houses at and near
Chang-jin, a general was sent to take care of Korean interests. When
1403 scholars from the country came to the capital and memorialized the
king against Song Si-ryŭl they were told that they were engaged in a
mere party strife and had not the interests of the country at heart, and
that if scholars meddled with the affairs of government they would be
severely handled. Along the Tuman River the people were utterly
ignorant, and scarcely knew whether there was a king at all; so men were
sent to found schools among them and teach. Nepotism existed to such an
extent, especially in connection with the government examinations, that
the king decided that no relative of any of the examiners should be a
candidate for honors. He established a criminal court in Seoul and took
all criminal cases out of the hands of the prefects, as they often
judged from prejudice rather than from the facts. He lessened by half
the tax that had been levied for the making of arms. The government
seized all common prostitutes and made them government slaves. Being a
devout Confucianist the king commanded that the names of Confucius’ four
disciples be never pronounced aloud. He diminished the garrison of
Su-wŭn from 6000 to 4000 on the plea of economy. He gave presents of
money to all unmarried women over thirty years of age, as some
compensation for what, in Korea, is considered the hardest of hard lots.
He was so affected by distress which he saw in the country during one of
his frequent trips to the hot springs, that when he returned to the
capital he laid aside many of the luxuries both of his wardrobe and his
table. He made camps for the poor who flocked to Seoul because of utter
want in the east country. One was outside the Water Mouth Gate, and the
other at A-o-gă. He likewise furnished them food and medicine. When a
boatload of Chinese belonging to the Ming dynasty, which had fled
southward, was driven by a storm on Quelpart the king promptly forwarded
them to Peking rather than lay himself open to any possible charge of
bad faith toward the Manchu power.

When some one tried to evade the payment of revenue by claiming that the
boat that was bringing it was wrecked, he decided that if this happened
again the owner should be decapitated. The king restored the copper
types which had been destroyed at the time of the Japanese occupation of
Seoul. He built a shrine to the unfortunate Tan-jong Tă-wang. He
remeasured the lands in the southern provinces for a proper adjustment
of revenue. He decreed that though a traitor’s family must be punished
with him, married daughters should be exempt from punishment. He
acquiesced in the suggestion of the minister of war that the scaling of
the city wall be made a capital offense, but when the courtiers
represented that if such a small crime deserved death everybody would be
a candidate for the executioner’s sword, he recalled the edict.

One of this king’s most interesting edicts was in connection with the
census. Having ordered a numbering of the people, he found that
objections were raised, because it would mean a more systematic and
thorough collection of taxes. So he put forth the edict that whenever
murder occurred, if the murdered man’s name was not on the list of tax
payers, the murderer would be immediately pardoned. Of course everybody
hastened to get their names on the books and to let it be known.

He forbade marriage between people of the same family name. A commission
was appointed to go and break off the point of dangerous rocks that
obstructed the channels along the coast and among the islands. No
governor was allowed to appoint any relative of his own to any position
in the province. A man who came up from the south and charged Song
Si-ryŭl with treason, but could give no evidence to substantiate the
charge, was put to death.

It was customary to expose infants born of incest, and they were allowed
to die in the streets. The king ordered that the government pay the
expense of the rearing of such unfortunates. He gave decent burial to
those who died in the mat sheds outside the wall, where contagious cases
were carried and left to die. He named nine kinds of men who would make
good prefects. (1) Men of good life and conduct. (2) Good scholars. (3)
Skillful men and those who fostered trade. (4) Natural leaders. (5)
Fearless men. (6) Students of human nature. (7) Men without an itching
palm. (8) Men renowned for filial piety. (9) Good authors.

In the fifteenth year of his reign, 1674, he was taken ill. The death of
his mother worked upon his spirits and aggravated his disease, and death
ensued. He needs no encomiums except the bare list of the great things
that were done during his reign. They will go down to posterity as his
lasting monument. His genius coupled with that of his great adviser,
Song Si-ryŭl, ranged through every phase of political and social life,
revenue, finance, political economy, agriculture, mining, official
rectitude, civil service, social ethics, sanitation, education, internal
improvement, the army, popular superstition, slavery, penalties, foreign
relations, border police, famine relief, consanguineous marriage,
publication; these and many other important topics demanded and secured
from him careful attention. He put down party strife with a heavy hand,
and only once or twice during the whole period of his reign does it
raise its malignant head.

His son succeeded to the throne, known by his posthumous title Suk-jŏng
Tă-wang. Party spirit had not been dead but only in abeyance during his
father’s strong reign. It now broke out again. Memorials poured in upon
the young king urging the evil practices of Song Si-ryŭl, and the young
king thought there must be some truth in them because of their very
numbers. He became the center of a very storm of charge and
counter-charge, of attack and defense. Being but fourteen years old and
of a naturally vacillating temperament, he was first the tool of one
party and then of another. His whole reign, which covered a period of
forty-six years, was one maelstrom of party strife and was fruitful of
more startling than useful events. His leading characteristic was
capriciousness. Again and again he turned from one party to another,
each turn being accompanied by numberless deaths. But we must not
anticipate.

It will be noticed that when his reign began in 1675 the Nam-in party
was in power with Hŭ Jŭk at its head. The strife over Song Si-ryŭl had
resulted in his banishment to Wŭn-san. He was the Bismarck of Korea in
that when his master died the aged councillor found in the son the same
gratitude that the Iron Chancellor did. It would be an endless as well
as a fruitless task to describe the party fights that took place. It
will be enough to say that the reign was one long fight from beginning
to end. During the early part of the reign, in 1677, a complete census
of the country was made. It was probably the conclusion of work begun by
the former king. It was found that in the whole country there were
1,234,512 houses, containing 4,703,505 people.

Some excitement was caused when it was found that Chinese histories were
claiming that Prince Kwang-hă was a good man, and that In-jo Tă-wang had
revolted against him. After a sharp party fight the king decided to send
an envoy and request the emperor to have the mistake corrected.

In 1678 the Japanese again insisted that their quarters in Fusan be
enlarged. Consent was given to move the settlement seven _li_ to the
south, to the town of Cho-hyang. This is the present site of the town of
Fusan. From east to west its length was 372 _tsubo_ and 4 feet. From
north to south it was 256 _tsubo_. Two official reception halls were
built, one called the East Hall and the other the West Hall. The houses
were all built by Japanese carpenters from Tsushima and the work covered
a period of three years. The Korean government gave 9000 bags of rice
and 6000 ounces of silver to cover the expense, and undertook to keep
the place in repair. That this colony was kept up in good style is shown
by the fact that Korea made repairs on these buildings in 1721, 1724,
1748, 1765, 1780, 1786, 1794, 1801, 1813, 1822, 1831, 1836, 1850, 1853,
1857, 1864.

The most trivial matters were made occasions for party fights. A storm
occurred on a day when the king was to go out, and the No-ron party
claimed that it was a dispensation of providence to spoil a plot of the
Nam-ins to revolt and seize the reins of power. Whoever took a firm
position on any point found later that it became the basis for an
accusation and a cause for death. So it was with the Prime Minister Hŭ
Jŭk who advised the building of a fortress near Song-do. This later
caused his death. The courtiers accused each other in the royal presence
about the most trivial matters, such as quarrels between their
concubines, the cutting of fuel timber, the profligacy of the Prime
Minister’s son, and such like, while great matters of state seem to have
taken care of themselves.

And so we arrive at the year 1680. The Nam-in are still in full power
and Hŭ Jŭk is still master of the situation. But see how small a thing
accomplishes his downfall. The day arrived for ancestral worship in Hŭ
Jŭk’s house, but it was very rainy. The king thoughtfully ordered the
eunuchs to get out the palace awning of oiled paper and carry it to the
Minister’s house and let him use it during the ceremony. The eunuch
replied that Hŭ Jŭk had already taken it. Instantly the king’s kindly
feeling was changed to anger and hatred by the insolence of the Minister
in thus appropriating the awning. He sent a messenger and discovered
that a crowd of the adherents of the Nam-in party had congregated at Hŭ
Jŭk’s house. They were immediately denounced as traitors. The generals
were called and the house was surrounded with troops. All the leading
men in the Nam-in party were killed on the spot. The names of the killed
are Hŭ Jŭk, Hŭ Kyŭn, Yu Hyŭk-yŭn, Yi Wŭn-jŭng, O Chŭng-ch’ang, Yi
T’ă-sö, Chöng Wŭn-no, Kang Man-ch’ŭl, Yi Wŭn-sŭng and Yun Hyu. The
king’s two cousins, Princes Pok-sun and Pak-pyŭn, and eight others were
banished. The No-ron party were then called back to power. The king
brought back from exile the great Song Si ryŭl and also Kim Su-han, whom
he made Prime Minister. In twenty-four hours a trusted minister and
party were totally overthrown and every place was filled with a member
of the opposition. The next few months were spent in hunting down the
remaining leaders of the Nam-in party and securing their execution. Some
were hung, some poisoned and some decapitated. One instance of this will
suffice. Hŭ Să and Hŭ Yŭng, two influential men lived at Yong-san. There
was no valid charge against them, so Kim Sŭk-ju told the king he would
find one. To this end he sent one Kim Whan-go to Yong-san and gave him
money to build a fine house adjoining that of the prospective victims.
Before long he had them involved in treasonable plans and as soon as
enough evidence was collected the two men were seized and put to death,
and with them a large number of their immediate friends. Man-hunting was
not so much a public necessity as a private pastime.

The newly installed general-in-chief found great abuses in the army and
thousands of names on the rolls, of men long since dead. Taxes were
being collected in an utterly lawless way. These abuses were done away
and others probably as bad or worse took their places, for as power
meant spoils the newly victorious party was not likely to forego any of
its privileges. We are borne out in this supposition by the fact that
about this time the king began the custom of making an annual visit to
the temple of heaven to pray for good crops. This indicates that the
people were being badly governed. He paid considerable attention to the
navy and appointed An-ju, Suk-ch‘ŭn, Sun-an, Yöng-yu, Cheung-san,
P’yŭng-yang, Yong-yang, Kang sö, Sam-wha, Ham-jong and No-gang in
P‘yŭng-an Province and Chang-nyŭn, Eun-yul, P‘ung-ch‘ŭn, Hŭ-sa and An-ak
in Whang-hă Province to be naval stations. It was only at this late date
that the second king of the dynasty received the posthumous title of
Chöng-jong Tă-wang.

Attention was paid to the border forts along the Yalu, expenses were
curtailed and garrisons were supported out of the land tax of the
adjoining districts. It was a time of many severe calamities. A fire in
P’yŭng-yang burned 344 houses and a flood in Ham-gyŭng Province
destroyed 906 more with great loss of life. Song Si-ryŭl had not
forgotten his old master, now some ten years dead, and he suggested to
the king that Hyo-jong Tă-wang be honored with the _Se-sil_, that is,
that his tablet be not removed from the ancestral temple after the
fourth generation, as was customary, but should remain there
permanently. It caused a great commotion, but the aged minister carried
the day. It is true that few monarchs of the line better deserved that
honor than did Hyo-jong Tă-wang.

The year 1684 beheld a sort of “reign of terror.” It arose in the
following manner. A messenger from the Japanese on Tsushima came post
haste announcing that a large band of Chinese pirates was about to land
on Korean soil. A panic followed in Seoul and thousands fled
precipitately to the country. Bands of thieves took advantage of the
confusion to commit many lawless acts. They formed a sort of secret
society and their principles were anarchistic. They made it an object to
raid houses where money was to be found. They seized ladies as they were
passing along the streets in covered chairs, and violated them. They
seized officials whom they hated, and put them to death. The government
found one of their books and in it was written their oath of membership.
Three cardinal principles were set forth; (1) To kill as many noblemen
as possible, (2) To violate as many women as possible, (3) To steal as
much personal property as possible. Seven men who had carried away and
ravished a widow of Kong-ju were caught and decapitated. One of them was
her own cousin and he belonged to the so-called “knife gang.” After a
time the disturbance was suppressed.

One incident of a peculiarly Korean character deserves mention. Some
money was stolen from the strong room of a fortress near Song-do. The
store-house keeper was suspected but there was no evidence. So the
commandant secretly questioned the keeper’s little son and found that
the suspicion was correct. The keeper was punished but the commandant
was also cashiered from the fact that he had induced a boy to
incriminate his own father.

The native records say that in the twelfth year of this sovereign, in
1686, Roman Catholicism entered Korea for the first time. Certain
foreigners entered the country and preached the new doctrine. We are not
told of what nationality these men were but it was long before any
European attempted to enter Korea. We are told that the new doctrine
spread rapidly and that some of the highest officials asked the king to
send the foreigners out of the country. Whether this was done cannot now
be learned. Nothing is said of this in the French work on the Roman
Catholic Mission in Korea, and it is somewhat difficult to understand.
It would hardly be found in the records, however, were there not some
ground for the statement.

                  *       *       *       *       *

The following year beheld events that were to result in another violent
revolution and in the driving from the seat of power the No-ron party
and the reinstatement of the Nam-in. It all grew from the king’s taking
a concubine, Chang, who soon gained complete ascendency over him. A
rumor arose that the queen was to be deposed and when Han Söng-u
expostulated with the king, the latter flew into a passion and drove him
away. The following year the concubine presented the king with a son,
the most unfortunate thing that could have happened, for, the queen
being as yet childless, it served to put the king more entirely under
the influence of the concubine. Trouble followed immediately. The king
said “I am now forty years old and have no son by the queen. The people
are getting uneasy. As I have gotten a son by a concubine I intend to
make him Crown Prince, and anyone may object at his peril.” In this way
he threw as it were a torch into a powder magazine. The No-ron party who
were in power, were in arms at once for they knew that the opposition
had been using the concubine to undermine their influence. Memorials
poured in from all sides reminding the king that he was still young,
that there was no need of haste in appointing the queen a successor.
These memorials the king answered by banishing the senders. Even Song
Si-ryŭl who had entered a mild protest, was stripped of rank and sent
outside the city. The Nam-in party then stepped once more into power.
From the Prime Minister down all offices were again turned over to them.
Song Si-ryŭl was banished to Quelpart, but the Nam-in were not content
with that, and demanded his death. So he was summoned back to Seoul.
Posthumous honors were given to many of the Nam-ins whom the king had
ordered killed at the house of Hŭ Jŭk.

Not long after this the king began to make preparations to put away his
queen. To this end he made the following statement. “For a long time I
have been aware of the queen’s jealous disposition and evil mind, and I
have borne with it patiently but now I can endure it no longer. Since I
have taken the concubine Chang it has been still more unendurable. The
queen and the concubine Kim have been putting their heads together in an
attempt to frighten me into putting away Chang, but I saw through the
plan. Now what shall we do?” Time and again the officials came pleading
for the queen, but the king was utterly deaf to all they had to say. He
piled unjust accusations upon her without deigning to give a single
proof. Large numbers where banished and a few killed outright because of
their intercessions with the king. The most notorious case was that of
Pak T‘ă-bo whose name has passed into a proverb. He with two others
memorialized the king begging him to drive away the concubine and retain
the queen. The king’s rage knew no bounds. He came out and took his seat
in front of the In-jŭng Gate of the Chang-dŭk Palace and had the man
brought before him. When asked why he had written the memorial he
answered, “Because of the treatment the queen has received.” The king
then ordered red hot plates to be passed along his limbs. Still he would
not express sorrow. Then bowls were broken into small pieces and the
fragments were piled up on the mans already burned limbs, a plank was
placed across them and men stood on either end of it and jumped up and
down. The pieces of pottery were of course ground into the man’s legs.
As he still remained firm he was tied with a rope and hoisted to the top
of a high pole in a cruelly painful position. As he still remained
unmoved he was banished to the south. His aged father accompanied him as
far as the river and there he died of his wounds. This, so far from
stopping the flood of petitions, only increased it, for immediately
16,000 men with Chöng To-gyŭng at their head sent in an appeal and
likewise all the country scholars and all the students of the Confucian
school. But every petition was returned by the passion-blinded king.

In the fifth moon of the year, 1689, the king deposed the queen,
stripped her of all her titles, degraded her to the level of the common
people and sent her back to her father’s house, not by way of the great
gate of the palace but by a side gate, in a white sedan chair, the badge
of a criminal. Concubine Chang was proclaimed queen and her father
became a prince. We will remember that the aged Song Si-ryŭl had been
ordered back from Quelpart to meet his fate at the capital, but even the
popular sympathy which a public execution at Seoul would have aroused
was denied him, for the king sent a draught of poison to be administered
on the way, and so in an obscure country village the grand old man drank
the deadly potion and passed away. Some of his followers who afterwards
memorialized the king in regard to him were killed or banished, together
with the deposed queen’s relatives. The following year the son of the
newly appointed queen was made Crown Prince.




                              Chapter XI.

Heavy tax remitted.... a _tendens_ novel.... the wheel of fortune
    turns.... the queen restored..... sorcery.... Puk-han built....
    mourning.... a weak king.... a lucid interval.... terrible
    reprisals.... a desecrated tomb.... contact with the West.... king’s
    suspicious death.... enemies killed.... party strife put down....
    seals for Japanese.... prohibition of manufacture and sale of
    wine.... a powerful conspiracy.... preparations for defense....
    Ch’ung-ju falls.... rebellion put down with a heavy hand.... honors
    distributed.... mining prohibited.... incipient rebellion....
    reforms.... reservoirs.... use of wine interdicted.... bureau of
    agriculture.... important secret service.... dress reform.... cruel
    punishments stopped.... a new war vessel.... honest measurement....
    imperial tombs.... monument to the dead political parties....
    musical instruments.


Each year a large Chinese embassy visited Seoul, and it was customary to
feed them from silver dishes, which were given them as presents when
they returned to their own land. This expense was met by a tax on the
people of Song-do. While the king was making a small tour in the country
he arrived at Song-do and there he asked about this tax. The people
replied that they had to sell their very children to meet it, for it
amounted to 1,200 bags of rice, 900,000 cash, 3,000 bags of other grain,
3,000 pieces of cloth as well as other things. The king listened to
their petition and remitted the tax.

Only five years elapse before we find the king making another complete
change in his household, by driving out the new queen, who had been the
concubine Chang, and reinstating the old queen in her rightful place
again. These sudden and complete changes of face in the king would have
been amusing had they not been accompanied by the shedding of so much
innocent blood. The king had tired of his new queen. He seems to have
been one of those men who require a periodical outbreak of some kind,
but who in the intervals are perfectly quiet. The time had come for such
an outbreak and Kim Ch‘un-t‘ăk was the instrument by which it was
brought about. He had bought himself into the good graces of the palace
women, and as a first step toward the accomplishment of his plans he
wrote a book in which was illustrated, in romance form, the evils of
putting away the true wife for a concubine. The copy of this book which
was given to the king materially hastened the catastrophe. The Nam-in
were in power but they looked with concern upon the king’s growing
antipathy toward them and they urged him to put the too bold novelist
out of the way; but the leaders of the No-ron party, knowing that all
depended on a quick, decisive blow, went in a body to the king at night
and urged him to follow the evident bent of his inclinations. This he
proceeded to do by banishing the brother of queen Chang, and with him
the leaders of the Nam-in party. Then once more the No-ron stepped to
the front and prepared to enjoy the good things. High posthumous honors
were given to Song Si-ryŭl and to the deposed queen’s father and to many
others of the No-rons who had perished during the last outbreak. The
king, to save his “face,” called the deposed queen back little by
little. He first put her in a little palace in An-dong; then he
transferred her to the “Mulberry Palace,” and finally brought her to the
palace proper. The woman Chang was again reduced to her former place and
a stringent law was made that henceforth no royal concubine should ever
be raised to the position of queen. The martyr Pak T‘ă-bo was given
posthumously the title of Prime Minister. The reinstated party tried to
induce the king to kill the concubine, but, as she was the mother of the
heir apparent to the throne, he could not consent. A slave of this
concubine’s resorted to a clever trick in order to turn the tables on
the No-ron party. Enticing to his house a slave of one of the leaders of
the No-ron party, he got him intoxicated and then stole from him his
name tag, a piece of wood which each person was supposed to carry and on
which his name was written. This he took and dropped beside the grave of
the father of the concubine where it was discovered that a fetich had
been buried. This was to show that a No-ron leader had resorted to the
black art to win back his way to power. The king, however, looked into
the matter, discovered the fraud and killed the prime mover in the plot,
a Nam-in leader. Many others were also banished.

Four years passed without any events of importance, and then the queen
became afflicted with boils and expired. The records tell us that that
night the king dreamed that the dead queen came to him with her garments
covered with blood. To his enquiries she made no answer except to point
toward the apartments of the concubine Chang. The king arose and went in
that direction, and his ears were greeted with the sound of laughter and
merriment. Wetting his finger in his mouth he applied it to the paper
window and soon made a peep-hole. There he beheld the concubine and a
large company of sorceresses engaged in shooting arrows into an effigy
of the queen and making merry over having done her to death by placing a
fetich under her room. This was the signal for another of the king’s
periodical outbreaks. In spite of her being the mother of the Crown
Prince, he poisoned her and killed all her sorceress companions. A host
of the Nam-in party also met their death. The almost incredible number
of 1,700 people are said to have met their death as a result of this
disturbance. There must have been in connection with it a sort of “star
chamber,” or secret tribunal where many went in but none came out, for
we are told that a few years later a secret prison in the palace was
abolished.

The year 1711 was marked by the building of the great mountain fortress
of Puk-han among the mountains immediately behind Seoul. There had been
a fortress there in the ancient days of Păk-je. It is an almost ideal
place for a place of retreat, being surrounded with very steep
mountains.

When this king died in 1720 the custom was first inaugurated of having
the whole people put on mourning clothes, and wearing them for three
years in honor of the dead king.

The new king, known by his posthumous title of Kyöng-jong Tă-wang, was
the son of the disgraced and executed concubine Chang. By this time the
so-called Nam-in party had practically passed off the stage of history;
its leading men had all been killed and it had left the field to its two
great rivals the No-ron and So-ron, although as we have before said the
No-ron was overwhelmingly predominant.

King Kyöng-jong was a man of feeble intellect and he took no interest in
the affairs of government. He merely served as a center about which
factional fights went on. It is said that his mother, the concubine
Chang, when about to be led to execution, said to him, “If I am to die
you must die with me,” and at that she struck at him with an improvised
weapon, a piece of wood. She succeeded only in wounding him, but it was
in a portion of the body that rendered it impossible for him ever to
have an heir. He swung like a pendulum back and forth between the Noron
and Soron parties, agreeing with whichever happened for the moment to
gain his ear. This caused the Noron party some uneasiness and they
desired to see the reins of government in more responsible hands. They
warmly favored the king’s brother as a candidate for the throne. The
king was always ailing, for he never thoroughly recovered from the wound
which his mother had inflicted, and he was unable to perform the
ancestral rites. He was also afflicted with sores on his head, so that
for months at a time he was unable to wear the headband which is such a
distinctive mark of the Korean. The Noron leaders induced someone to
memorialize the king asking him to make his brother his heir. They all
added their advice of the same tenor, and finally induced him to consult
the Queen Mother about it. She entered heartily into the plan and the
decree went forth that the king’s brother was heir apparent. This was
like a thunder-bolt among the Soron ranks. The whole transaction had
been carefully concealed from them, and now a man who could not, under
the circumstances, be other than a warm friend of the Noron party was
heir to the throne, and every Soron was in danger. They stormed and
protested and memorialized but to no avail. The appointment of an heir
was like the laws of the Medes and Persians, unalterable. But the Noron
people knew the weakness of the king and they feared what might take
place in some unguarded hour when the enemy might get the king’s ear,
and so they played a bolder game still. They asked the king to resign in
favor of the heir. He promised to do so, but the unguarded hour which
the Norons feared came, and the promise was not kept. Not only so, but
when it was whispered in the king’s ear that the Norons were trying to
usurp the power the worst fears of that party were realized. They were
driven from power and the Sorons came up smiling. But the king who liked
quiet and repose had one lucid interval when he said, “There is no love
of country in all this; it is simple party prejudice and thirst for
blood.”

At the head of the triumphant party were Cho T’ă gu, Ch’oé Kyu-sŭ and
Ch’oé Sŭk-hang. They began the performance of their official duties by
bribing the palace women and eunuchs to kill the heir to the throne. The
plan was to shoot him “by mistake” while pretending to hunt for a white
fox which they said was haunting the palace. The heir was informed
however and took measures to insure his own safety. He asked to have two
of the palace women killed and two of the eunuchs, but the king himself
was in mortal fear of the Sorons, whom he had brought back to power, and
he dared not do so. Thereupon the heir said “I will resign and go out
from the palace and become one of the common people.”

The Noron party were not idle. They knew that the Sorons would soon be
hunting their heads, and so they attempted to take the offensive by
assassinating the king; but, as usually happened, they were betrayed,
and terrible reprisals followed. Twelve of the Noron leaders were
beheaded and hundreds were beaten to death or banished. It is gravely
stated that in this one connection eighteen hundred men lost their
lives.

The close of the king’s second year witnessed a severe famine on the
island of Quelpart and the king sent thither 7,000 bags of grain and
remitted the tax of horses, for which that island has been from time
immemorial celebrated.

The desperate state of affairs at this juncture is well illustrated by
two incidents. First, the king was so enamored of the Soron party that
he took Mok Ho-ryong, their leader, outside the gate one night and
sacrificed a white horse and, tasting its blood, swore that until time’s
end Mok Ho-ryong’s descendants should hold high office under the
government. Second, the Soron officials went to the shrine of the great
Song Si-ryŭl and tearing the tablet from its place, dragged it through
the filth of a dung-hill. Meanwhile we hear nothing about the people and
the country. The government was not for them and they probably cared as
little for it as it did for them.

But even these sanguinary scenes could not entirely stop the march of
enlightenment, for we learn that at this very time foreign clocks,
barometers and water-hose were being brought into Korea from Peking
where they had been introduced by foreigners. This was done by the envoy
Yi I-myŭng who met missionaries in Peking. He had a conversation with
them on the subject of religion and professed to find great similarity
between Christian doctrines and those of the Chinese classics.

The fourth year of this unfortunate king, 1724, opened with a reform
that augured well. It consisted in the destruction of all the convents
outside the city gates, especially outside the West Gate which was at
that time about half a mile west of the present New Gate. The reasons
are not specifically given, but these convents had obviously become
dangerous to the morals of the people, and hot-beds of sedition. But the
king was not permitted to continue his reforms, for he died in the
eighth moon, of poison, it is said, administered in a shrimp salad. It
is further alleged that it was the work of his brother, probably on the
principle that he was the one to gain most by the king’s death. But we
may well doubt the truth of the rumor, for nothing that is told of that
brother indicates that he would commit such an act, and in the second
place a man who will eat shrimps in mid-summer, that have been brought
thirty miles from the sea without ice might expect to die. Of course all
the Soron officials were willing to believe the heir did it and one of
them advised that a silver knife be stuck into the king’s dead body, for
it is popularly believed that poison in the system will tarnish silver;
but it was not done. There was no way to prevent the hated heir assuming
his royal prerogative, which he did the same year, 1724.

The new king, known by his posthumous title of Yŭng-jong Tă-wang, now
entered upon the longest and one of the most brilliant reigns in the
annals of the present dynasty; a reign which proves, so far as
circumstantial evidence can prove, that he was not guilty of the murder
of his brother. As may be surmised, his deadly enemies, the Sorons, were
driven from office and the Norons reinstated. It is probable that the
king found it impossible to restrain the Norons from taking revenge upon
their enemies and we are told that a thousand men were killed each year
for some years. That this was done in spite of the king, rather than by
him, will be seen from the strenuous efforts which he made to destroy
the lines of party demarcation.

He began his reign with a statement of his inability to rule the people
rightly, and blaming himself for the sufferings of the people from
famine and plague. He immediately proclaimed his son crown prince, so
that from the very first there might be no question as to the
succession. He had to give way to the importunities of his councillors
and decapitate Kim Il-gyŭng who had charged him with the murder of his
brother.

On the very first day of the new year he proclaimed that all party
strife must cease; that men must think and plan for the good of the
whole country rather than for a particular party. As he was returning
one day from a royal tomb a man beside the road shouted “There goes the
man who poisoned his predecessor with shrimps.” Recognizing in this
nothing but an attempt to keep open the old party sore, the king handled
the man severely together with certain others of the Soron party who had
instigated him to the outrage.

From that day to this the Noron party has been uniformly in power. Party
strife practically ceased, not by the dissolution of the other parties
but because one party obtained such an overwhelming ascendency that the
others died of starvation. Several things led to this result. A series
of unsuccessful conspiracies on the part of the Soron party, each of
which weakened it to the point of exhaustion; and secondly the extreme
length of the reign, during which, with one short interval, the king
held firmly to the Noron party. The closing act of his first year was a
reform which he forced in the government dispensary. It had long been a
rich morsel for conscienceless officials to fatten upon, but now the
whole personnel of the institution was changed and it again performed
its normal function of dispensing medicines for the public health. The
king’s forbearance is seen in the fact that when a thief was caught,
bearing upon his person a letter from two of the palace women asking him
to procure for them a deadly poison, the king executed the thief but
refused to proceed against the women, on the ground that they had no
possible cause for wishing his death.

We here meet the curious statement, not mentioned heretofore, that from
the earliest times the Lords of Tsushima received seals from the king of
Korea. At this time the daimyo of that island sent and asked the king to
renew the custom, which had probably been discontinued for a short space
of time. The king complied with the request and had the seal cut and
sent. It is not possible to conclude from this that the daimyo of
Tsushima considered himself a vassal of Korea, for it is not mentioned
elsewhere in the Korean annals. We can form but one theory that will
account for it. This seal may have been only for the purpose of
identification to vouch for the authenticity of letters that might pass
between Korea and Tsushima. The time may come when, in the light of
facts not yet discovered, this incident may throw light on the early
relations between Korea and Japan.

A striking feature of this king’s reign was the promulgation and
enforcement of the principle of the prohibition of the manufacture and
use of spirituous liquors. We venture to affirm that this king was the
first in history, if not the only one, to boldly assert and rigidly
enforce the principle of total abstinence from the use of wines and
liquors. His three commands were (1) Party strife must cease. (2) Luxury
must be curtailed. (3) The making, selling or drinking of fermented
wines or distilled liquors is a capital offense.

But this and other reforms were about to be eclipsed by the great
upheaval of 1727, after the relation of which we will return to them.
The Norons made such desperate attempts to induce the king to continue
the persecution of the Soron party that he underwent a revulsion of
feeling and for a short time punished the Norons by calling back into
power many of the opposition. It may be that this short respite awoke
the slumbering ambition of the Soron party so that when they found it
was but partial and temporary their chagrin drove them into sedition.
There appeared at Nam-wŭn in Chŭl-la Province an insulting circular
asserting that the king had killed his brother and that the whole Noron
party were traitors. It called upon all good men to oppose the
government in every way possible. The governor sent a copy to the king
who simply said “Burn it up.” But he greatly miscalculated the amount of
sentiment that lay behind that circular, and his enemies took advantage
of his unsuspiciousness to work up a wide-spread and powerful conspiracy
against the government. It was headed by Kim Yŭng-hă.

This conspiracy was headed by the son of the executed Kim Il-gyŭng, by
Mok Si-ryŭng the brother of Mok Ho-ryŭng and by the sons and other near
relatives of the killed and banished leaders of the Soron party. A large
force was collected in Kyŭng-sang Province and Yi In-jwa and Chöng
Heui-ryang were put in command. The conspiracy honeycombed the whole
country, for we are told that in P‘yŭng-an Province Yi Sa-sŭng took
charge of an insurrectionary force, while at the capital Kim Chung-geui
and Nam T‘ă-jung worked in its interests. It was agreed that on the
twentieth of the third moon Seoul should be entered and that Prince
Mil-wha be put on the throne. But there was a weak point in this as in
all such ventures. One of the leaders in the south, An Pak, had a friend
living at Yong-ju, in the direct line of the approach to Seoul and he
warned him to move, as something was about to happen. The friend coaxed
him into telling him the whole affair, and then brought the story
straight to Seoul. This informer was Choé Kyo-sŭ. Immediately the king
sent out a heavy guard to the river and also manned the wall of the
capital. Troops were thrown into Yang-sŭng, Chin-wi, Su-wŭn, Yong-in,
Chuk-san and Ch‘un-ch‘ŭn, and were told to seize anyone who made the
least disturbance. The brother of An Pak being caught, he gave the
details of the position of the rebel troops and other important
particulars. The king appointed O Myŭng-hang of the Soron party as
general-in-chief of an expedition against the seditious people of the
south. He took with him 2,000 soldiers, but gathered more as he
proceeded south. Strong bodies of troops were also sent north along the
Peking road and to Puk-pawi outside the East Gate, to guard the
approaches to the city. In the south loyal troops were in force at
Mun-gyŭng Fortress near Cho-ryŭng Pass and the governor of Whang-hă
Province also took soldiers and stationed himself at Whang-ju, near
P’yŭng-yang. Others were stationed in the defiles of the mountains just
beyond Song-do. It is quite evident from these extensive precautions
that the plot was a wide-spread and dangerous one and that it had
powerful leaders, not only in the country but at the capital itself.

In the south, the great rebel leader, Yi In-jwa, with banners flying,
led his powerful army northward to the town of Chöng-ju. Here was stored
a large amount of government provisions and arms. It was taken not by
storm but by strategem. Arms were sent into the city on litters covered
with vegetables and other things and soldiers went in, disguised as
coolies. Once inside, they soon put the small garrison out of the way
and killed the commandant. Yi then resumed the march on Seoul,
appointing prefects in the districts through which he passed and
assuming the title “Great General-in-Chief.” The claim was that the
uprising was in behalf of the dead king. All the soldiers were in
mourning for him and they carried in their ranks a shrine to his memory,
before which they offered sacrifices.

The road from the south coming up to Seoul divides at Mok-ch‘ŭn, one
branch proceeding by way of Chik-san and the other by An-sŭng, but they
unite again at Su-wŭn. The rebels arrived at Mok-ch‘ŭn just as the royal
troops arrived at Su-wŭn. It was of prime importance to the rebels to
know by which road the royal army, under O Myŭng hang, were coming.
Whichever way they came the rebels must take the other road and so evade
an action. Gen. O was astute enough to surmise this but he did not
propose to let the rebels steal a march on him in this way; so he sent
forward a small part of his force toward Chik-san, but with the main
body of his troops he took the road by way of An-sung. His calculations
were correct, and when he neared An-sŭng he found that the enemy were
encamped there in fancied security. Taking a picked band of 700 men Gen.
O made a detour and came around the hill on whose <DW72> the rebels were
encamped. In the night he made a wild charge down from its summit into
the camp. The effect was instantaneous. A moment later the whole rebel
force was in full flight, racing for their lives, while the pursuers cut
them down at pleasure. Yi In-jwa was captured and brought to Seoul.
Meanwhile Pak P‘il-pön the prefect of Sön-san opposed the remaining
rebels in Kyŭng-sang Province, capturing and killing a great number of
them, especially the leaders Ung Po and Heui Ryang, whose heads he sent
to Seoul in a box.

When Gen O Myŭng-hang returned in triumph to Seoul the king went out to
meet him, and after the traitors’ heads had been impaled on high, they
all adjourned to the palace where a great feast was spread, at which the
king gave Gen. O a sounding title and to Ch‘oé Kyo-sŭ, who betrayed the
plot he gave the house near the present English Church, which has in
connection with it a memorial shrine. The king had a book printed giving
in details the evil deeds of the Soron party. Since that time there have
been no great party struggles. Sacrifices were offered for all who had
been killed by the rebels. The king showed his clemency by liberating
the five-year-old son of one of the traitors. He had been imprisoned
according to the law of the country, to be kept until his fifteenth
year, and then he would be led out to execution.

Hand in hand with the king’s prejudice against the use of wine went a
similar prejudice against mining, so that not only did he peremptorily
forbid the mining of silver at Au-byŭn but hearing that copper was being
mined near the same place he sent and put a stop to it.

In 1727 the heir apparent died and was given the posthumous title of
Hyo-jang Se-ja. Two years later another incipient rebellion broke out in
the south having as its object the placing of Ha Keui, a relative of the
king, on the throne. It is said that with him died several hundred more
of the doomed Soron party.

The next thirty-two years were crowded full of reforms and their mere
enumeration throws much light on the social and economic conditions of
the time.

A map was made of the northern boundary and a fortress was built at
Un-du; the law was promulgated that the grandson of a slave woman should
be free; on account of drought the king ordered the making of numerous
reservoirs in which to store water for irrigation, and a commission was
appointed with headquarters at Seoul, under whose supervision these
reservoirs were built; the king had a new model of the solar system
made, to replace the one destroyed by the Japanese during the invasion;
at last China amended that clause in her history which stated that
Kwang-hă was a good man and that In-jong Tă-wang had usurped the throne,
and the king presented one of the corrected copies at the ancestral
temple; the cruel form of torture, which consisted in tying the ankles
together and then twisting a stout stick between the bones, was done
away; a granary was built on the eastern coast, to be stocked with grain
each year by the people of Kyŭng-sang Province, for use in case of
famine in the northern province of Ham-gyŭng; the king claimed that the
scarcity of rice was due to the fact that so much of it was used in the
making of wine and again threatened to kill anyone who should make, sell
or use that beverage; in fact he placed detectives all about Seoul,
along the main roads, whose business it was to smell of the breath of
everyone whose face or gait indicated indulgence in the flowing bowl!

A boatload of men belonging to the overthrown Ming dynasty appeared on
the southern coast and asked aid in an attempt to wrest again the
scepter from the Manchus, but they were politely refused; the king
abolished that form of punishment which consisted in applying red hot
irons to the limbs; he built the Chung-sŭng, or inner wall at
P’yŭng-yang in order to cut off the view of a _kyu-bong_ or “spying
peak,” which in Korea is supposed to bring bad luck. Any place from
which may be seen the top of a mountain peak just peeping above the
summit of a nearer mountain is considered unfit for a burial or building
site.

About the year 1733 famines were so frequent that the king appointed a
bureau of agriculture and appointed inspectors for each of the provinces
to help in securing good irrigation; a man named Yi Keui-ha invented a
war chariot with swords or spears extending out from the hubs of the
wheels on either side. He was rewarded with a generalship. The king
established a special detective force differing from the ordinary
detective force in being more secret in its operations and in holding
greater powers. The rules for its guidance were as follows, and they
throw light upon existing conditions.

(1) After careful investigation they may close up any prefectural office
and send the prefect to Seoul for trial.

(2) This does not apply to prefectures where animals are being reared
for use in ancestral sacrifices.

(3) In order to maintain their incognito they shall not demand food for
nothing at the country inns but shall pay the regular prices.

(4) For the same reason they shall not stop long in the same place.

(5) They must look sharply after the district constables and
thief-catchers and see that they are diligent and effective.

(6) They must put a stop to the pernicious custom of prefects’ servants
taking money in advance from farmers as a bribe to remit in part future
government dues.

(7) They shall prevent the sending in of incorrect estimates of the area
of taxable land.

(8) They shall see to it that prefects do not receive extra interest on
government seed loaned to the people and payable in the autumn after the
crop is harvested.

(9) They shall prevent prefects appropriating ginseng which they
confiscate from illegal sellers.

(10) They shall prevent the king’s relatives and friends seizing
people’s land.

(11) They shall stop the evil custom of prefects withholding the
certificate of release from pardoned exiles until they have paid a
certain sum of money.

(12) They shall prevent the enlistment of too many men, who thereby
claim their living from the government granaries.

(13) They shall see to it that the prefects do not keep the good cloth
paid by the people for soldiers’ clothes, and hand over to the soldiers
a poorer quality.

(14) They shall prevent creditors compounding interest if a debtor fails
to pay on time.

(15) They shall stop the making of poor gun-powder and of muskets with
too small a bore.

(16) They shall enforce the law that the grandson of a slave is free.

(17) They shall see to it that the prefects in P‘yŭng-an Province do not
receive revenue above the legal amount.

Each of these specifications might be made the heading of a long chapter
in Korean history. We have here in epitome the causes of Korea’s
condition to-day.

The governor of Kang-wŭn Province stated that on account of the frequent
famines he could not send three men annually as heretofore to the island
of Ul-leung (Dagelet), but the king replied that as the Japanese had
asked for that island, it would be necessary to make the annual
inspection as heretofore.

In the year 1734 the king made his second son heir to the throne; he did
away with the punishment of men who sold goods in competition with the
guilds or monopolies established at Chong-no, the center of the capital.
There had been so many royal deaths that the people had become
accustomed to the use of white clothes, and had forgotten all other
custom. But the king now declared that white was the worst of colors
because it soiled so easily, and he ordered the use of blue, red or
black, but giving the preference to the first as being the color that
corresponds with east. In the early years of the dynasty King Se-jong
had made a gauge of the size of whipping rods. It was shaped like a gun
barrel, and no one was to be whipped with a rod that could not be put
into this gauge like a ramrod. The king revived this law and had many
gauges made and sent all about the country to the different prefectures.
He also forbade anyone but a properly authorised official to administer
a whipping, and he abrogated the law by which thieves were branded by
being struck in the forehead and on each cheek with a great bunch of
needles after which ink was rubbed into the wounds. He next did away
with the clumsy three-decked war-vessels which were slow and unseaworthy
and in place of them substituted what he called the “Sea Falcon Boat”
which had sails extending from the sides like wings, and which combined
both speed and safety. These he stationed all along the coast.

While on a trip to Song-do the king paid a compliment to the people of
Pu-jo-gă, the ward in that city where dwell the descendants of the men
of the former dynasty, who do not acknowledge the present dynasty, and
thus show their loyalty to their ancient master. At the same time he,
for the first time, inclosed in a fence the celebrated Sön-juk Bridge,
where still shows the blood of the murdered statesman Chöng <DW41>-ju.

Since the days of King Se-jong, who determined the length of the Korean
yard-stick, that useful instrument had shrunken in some measure and its
length differed in different localities. So now again the king gave
strict orders about it and required all yard-sticks to be made to
conform to a pattern which he gave. Previous to the days of King
Myŭng-jong men of the literary degrees dressed in red, but white had
gradually taken its place; and now the king ordered them to go back to
the good old custom. The official grade called _Halyim_ became such an
object of strife among the officials that the king was constrained to
abolish it, though it has since been revived. Two of the emperors of the
Sung dynasty in China have their graves on Korean soil in the vicinity
of Kap-san. The duty of keeping these graves in order was now placed in
the hands of the governor of Ham-gyŭng Province. The king anticipated
the death of all party strife by setting up a monument at the
Song-gyun-gwan in memory thereof and he ordered the people of different
parties to intermarry and become good friends. During the Manchu and
Japanese invasions all the musical instruments had been either destroyed
or stolen, and as yet they had not been wholly replaced, but now there
were found in a well at the palace a set of twenty-four metal pendants
which, when struck with a hammer, gave four various musical notes. The
inscriptions on them indicated that they had come down from the time of
King Se-jong. This aroused the king’s interest and he set skillful men
at work making various instruments, notably a small chime of bells to be
used at the royal ancestral worship.




                              Chapter XII.

Gates roofed.... superstition.... sorcery interdicted.... a
    plebiscite.... wine-bibber executed.... a female Buddha.... growth
    of Roman Catholicism.... sanitation.... a senile king.... suspicions
    against the Crown Prince.... plot against him.... an ambitious
    woman.... the prince’s trial.... a painful scene.... the prince
    killed.... law against wine relaxed.... sacrifice.... census....
    various changes.... party schism.... emancipation proclamation.... a
    dangerous uncle.... a new king.... literary works.... justice....
    study of Christianity.... various innovations.... rumors of
    war....“birthplace” of Roman Catholicism in Korea.... opposition....
    terrible scourge of cholera.... conspiracy.... women’s coiffure....
    Roman Catholic persecution.... Roman Catholic books declared
    seditious.... prosperity and adversity.... a Chinese priest enters
    Korea.... types made.... literary works.... suggestion as to
    coinage.... Chinese priest asks that a Portugese embassy be sent to
    Korea.... the king not violently opposed to Christianity.


In the year 1743 the king put roofs upon the West and North-east Gates.
Before that time they had been simply arches. He set on foot an
agitation against the use of silk, and ordered that no more banners be
made of that material. He utterly did away with the last remnant of the
Soron party by an edict in which he stated that all who would go by that
name were traitors. There was a popular superstition that the third and
sixth on the list of successful candidates at the government
examinations would soon die; so the examiners were careful to substitute
other names, in case a friend or relative found himself in this awkward
predicament. The king happened to see this done once and upon inquiry
found that the names of two Song-do men were being substituted in place
of those of some friends of the examiners. In anger he ordered the names
to be all mixed up again, and that each man be made to run his chance of
sudden death. One of his most salutary reforms was the doing away with
the _mudang_ or sorceress class, who did and still do so much to corrupt
the morals and degrade the manners of the Korean people. This period
beheld the invention of the one-wheeled chair, but its use was always
confined to the third official grade. A step backward was taken when it
was decreed that no one above the ninth official grade could be beaten
as punishment for crime. It tended to build up another barrier between
the upper and lower classes. And yet it was not an unmixed evil, for a
public beating must inevitably lower the dignity of the office that the
culprit holds. There was such universal complaint against both the land
and the poll taxes that the king put it to vote at a plebiscite called
in Seoul in 1750, and the people voted unanimously for a house tax
instead, and the king complied. The next year a grandson was born to
him, who was destined to be his successor. He found it necessary to
police the four mountains about Seoul to prevent the trees all being cut
down. He built for the first time a fortification at the Im-jin River.
In 1751 famines in different localities drove crowds of people to Seoul
and the government was obliged to feed them; then the king’s mother
died; then the queen died. The king said there must be some
extraordinary cause for all these calamities. He believed it was because
wine was being secretly used in the palace. It was denied, but he was
incredulous and ordered that even in the ancestral sacrifices the use of
wine be dispensed with and that water be used instead. The provincial
general of Ham-gyŭng Province was convicted of having used wine and the
king went outside the South Gate to see him executed. The culprit’s head
was set on a pole in view of the populace. Following up the good work of
doing away with sorcery, the king banished from Seoul all the blind
exorcists.

The year 1753 was marked by two events of importance. A woman created a
great disturbance in Whang-hă Province by claiming to be a Buddha and
inciting the women everywhere to burn up the ancestral shrines. The
trouble ended only when the king sent a special officer to seize and
execute her.

We are told that by this time the secret study of the tenets of Roman
Catholicism had resulted in its wide diffusion in the provinces of
Whang-hă and Kang-wŭn. There was uneasiness at court on account of the
rumor that the people were throwing away their ancestral tablets, and
the king ordered the governors of those provinces to put down the
growing sect. This was more easily ordered than done, and as no deaths
followed it is probable that the governors did little beside threaten
and denounce. Two years later a work of importance was completed. The
great sewer of the city was quite inadequate to carry away the sewage of
the city and every time a heavy rain fell the sewer overflowed and the
street from the great bell to the East Gate became a torrent. The king
gave two million cash out of his private purse and the sewer was
properly cleaned out. He also appointed a commission on sewerage and
ordered that there be a systematic cleaning out every three years.

We have now arrived at the thirty-eighth year of the reign,
corresponding to the year 1761 A. D. Up to that time the reign had been
a brilliant one, not because of military successes but because of
social, economic and other reforms. So far, it stands side by side with
the reign of Suk-jong Tă-wang, who with the aid of the illustrious Song
Si-ryŭl, effected such far-reaching reforms. We have yet seen but few
signs of that growing senility which forms such a marked characteristic
of the remainder of this reign. The king was now over seventy years old
and he had lost that vigor of mind which characterized the earlier years
of his reign. But he still possessed all that imperiousness of will
which likewise characterized him. Good judgment and will power should
decline together or else the results may be disastrous, as is
illustrated in the remaining years of his reign.

We will remember that his first son had died and his second son had been
made heir to the throne. He in turn had a son who was now eight years
old. The evils which we are about to relate grew out of the fact that
the heir was not as strongly attached to the Noron party as its
adherents desired and they feared that his accession might result in a
resuscitation of the defunct Soron party. The truth is the son carried
out in fact what his father commanded, but did not live up to—namely the
obliteration of all party lines. The old man, while always preaching the
breaking up of party clanishness, remained a good Noron to the end of
his days and the Norons had all the good things in his gift. The king
perhaps thought that party lines had been lost sight of, but it was only
the overwhelming ascendency of the Noron party, which made comparison
absurd. Instead of destroying party lines he did the very opposite in
putting all the power into the hands of a single party. This suspicion
against the Crown Prince on the part of the party in power was the main
cause of the disturbance which followed, but its immediate cause was the
ambition of a woman, a not unusual stumbling-block in the path of
empire. This woman was the sister of the Crown Prince who desired that
her husband be made king. Her name was Princess Wha-whan Ong-ju. One of
the palace women also hated the Crown Prince. All these people desired
his removal from the field of action and all had different reasons. The
Noron party wanted to save themselves; the Princess wanted to become
queen, and the palace woman wanted revenge; why, we are not told.

It did not take long to find a way. Hong Kye-heui, Hong Pong-han and Kim
Sang-no, three choice spirits came together and began laying plans for
the overthrow of the Crown Prince. They first instructed the soldiers
about the person of the Prince to steal women or goods and, when
questioned about it, claim that it was at the order of the Prince. One
day when the king was taking a walk behind the palace he came across a
shallow excavation in the earth, covered with thatch. Looking in, he
found it filled with mourners’ clothes and other objects of mourning.
Inquiring what it meant, he was told that the Crown Prince was impatient
to have him die and that he had prepared the mourners’ garments in
advance. This aroused the anger of the king. He never stopped to think
that it might be a trick against the Prince. Every thing lent color to
the suspicion. Again, one day, the king found the palace woman, above
mentioned, weeping bitterly. She said it was because the Crown Prince
had offered her indignity. So by degrees plotters, bringing apparent
evidence from several sides, which could not but seem conclusive,
gradually estranged the king from his son and at last caused the removal
of the latter to another palace, the one called the “Old Palace.” These
things preyed upon the mind of the Crown Prince and made him ill, but to
add to this, it is said they administered drugs to him which tended to
unbalance his mind and make him violent toward those about him. Then the
Princess his sister arranged a trip to P’yŭng-yang for his health. It
was intended that while he was there he should be charged with plotting
to bring a force to overthrow the king and usurp the government. On his
return, as he was approaching the city near night, an official came in
to the king and announced that the Crown Prince was outside the gate and
intended to come in that night and seize the scepter. This threw the
king into a frenzy of rage. He immediately had all the gates put under
double guard and sent out demanding the reason of the Prince’s
treasonable actions. The latter denied all treasonable intentions, but
it was too late. The old man was unable to reason calmly about the
matter. On the fifteenth day of the fifth moon the king went down to the
“Old Palace” to sit in judgment on his son. It was an exceedingly hot
day. When the Crown Prince came in and bowed before his father, the
latter said “Do you realize how you have sinned?” The Prince replied
that he was not conscious of having sinned against his father in any way
whatever. As the king had already decided in his mind that the Prince
was guilty, this denial made him simply furious. He screamed “If you do
not die it will mean the destruction of the dynasty. So die.” He then
ordered all the assembled courtiers to bare their swords but they
hesitated, for they knew the Prince was innocent; but when the king
leaped up and drew his sword they had to do likewise. The Prince calmly
said “I am no criminal, but if I am to die it ought not to be before the
eyes of my father. Let me return to my apartments and then do with me as
you will.” The king was too far gone with rage and excitement to care
for the dignity of his high station or to care for appearances. “No,” he
screamed, “It must be here before my eyes.” Thereupon the Prince undid
the girdle about his waist and proceeded to strangle himself. The whole
court were horrified, excepting the king, who could no longer be called
sane. They rushed forward, undid the cord and dashed water in his face
to bring him back to consciousness, in spite of the king’s loudly
vociferated commands to the contrary. They joined with one voice in
asking the king’s clemency, but they might as well have asked a maniac.
He threatened to kill them too if they persisted in thwarting him. He
then ordered a heavy plank box to be brought in and the Prince was
commanded to get into it. But at the moment he was trying to beat his
brains out against a stone and did not hear the command. One of the
officials ran to him and spread out his hands on the stone and received
the blows that were intended to end the life of the unhappy Prince.
Being dissuaded from this, the Prince arose and went to his father and
said “I am your only son, father, and though I may have sinned, overlook
it and forgive me. You are not like my father now. You will recover from
this passion and lament it.” This enraged the king to such an extent
that he could hardly articulate as he ordered the Prince to get into the
box. At this moment they brought up the little grandson to plead for his
father’s life, but the king raised his foot and gave the child a kick
that sent it reeling back into the arms of those who had brought it. It
was evident that there was nothing to be done; so the Prince proceeded
to climb into the box. It was now dark and when the cover was nailed on
it was not noticed that there was a large knot-hole in one side of the
box. One of the officials came and spoke to the Prince through this
hole. He was overcome by the heat and asked for water and a fan, which
were passed in to him. One of those who were interested in the Prince’s
death told the king what was going on, and he hurried out and ordered a
heavy plank nailed over the hole, and banished the man who had helped
the Prince. The assembly broke up, but the Prince was left in this
narrow prison day after day to starve. Each day one of the palace
servants gave the box a heavy blow with a stone. At first it elicited an
angry protest from the Prince but the fourth day he only said “I am very
dizzy. Please leave me in peace.” On the seventh day there was no
response, and the servant bored a hole and put in his hand and felt the
cold body of the dead Prince. The body was wrapped in grave-clothes and
taken away for burial. He received the posthumous name of Sa-do. It is a
singular fact that from that day to his end, some fifteen years later,
the king never expressed sorrow for this act of cruelty. It is also
significant that the Princess never tried to carry out her plan of
having her husband become king. The horror of this scene seems to have
turned her mind away from its purpose. At any rate she drops from the
page of history without being given an opportunity to atone even in part
for the terrible crime for which she was largely to blame. The king
still looked upon his grandson as the heir to the throne, but he made
him disown his dead father and take his uncle as father. He likewise
made the boy solemnly promise never to change his mind in this. We see
from this that the king continued to the very end to think that the
Prince was guilty and his deed justifiable.

The year 1764 found an octogenarian on the throne. From this time on,
the king was exceedingly feeble, but he clung to life with a tenacity
that was amazing, and was destined to encumber the throne for a full
decade still. His increasing weakness made it necessary for his
physicians to prescribe a little wine. He acquiesced, and from this time
the laws against the use of wine were relaxed somewhat. Its use was soon
resumed in connection with the ancestral worship, but only at the
importunity of the princess.

These declining years are by no means barren of interesting events. The
annual sacrifice in behalf of the country had always been made at Pi-băk
Mountain in Ham-gyŭng Province, but it was told the king that as Păk tu
Mountain stood at the head of the country and dominated the whole, as it
were, the sacrifice should be made on or near that mountain, So it was
decreed that from that time on the sacrifice should be performed at
Un-ch‘on Mang-dŭk-p‘yŭng, eight _li_ beyond Kap san and in full view of
the great Păk-tu-san or “Mountain of the White Head.” And it was further
decreed that those who took part in the service should be secluded for
four days before the event, should bathe often and put on clean clothes
and forego all commerce with women.

In 1767 the king ordered a full census of the country. It was found to
contain 1,679,865 houses, containing 7,006,248 people. In other words
there had been an increase of over 800,000 since the year 1657. He also
ordered the making of a new rain gauge. The first one is said to have
been made by King Se-jong. He did away with the punishment that consists
in beating the tops of the feet until, frequently, the toes drop off. On
account of the danger of ship wreck in rounding the corner of Whang-hă
Province the king ordered the discontinuance of annual naval tactics at
Chang-nyŭn, excepting for the boats regularly stationed there. He built
a palace in Chŭn-ju in Chŭl-la Province and had sacrifices offered
there, for although Ham-gyŭng Province is said to be the birthplace of
the line, the family really originated in the south. The king also
revived the ancient custom of having a bell hang in the palace gateway,
to be struck by anyone who had a grievance to lay before the king.

A split occurred in the Noron party in the year 1771. The two factions
were called respectively the Si and the Pyŭk. The former held that the
father of the Crown Prince was an innocent man and had been unjustly
punished, while the latter held the reverse. It is evident that those
who claimed he was innocent were making a bid for favor with the
prospective king.

At the time of which we write the great sewer of the city had a line of
ancient willows extending the whole length. This was found to be a
disadvantage and they were hewn down and the sewer was walled in as we
see it today. Two more factions arose about this time. They were called
the Nak and the Ho. Their differences were caused by conflicting
theories as to the interpretation of the Confucian classics.

The greatest act of this king, and the one that casts the greatest
luster on his memory, was reserved for the twilight of his reign. What
led to it we are not told, but in the eighty-ninth year of his life, by
a single stroke of the brush, he emancipated all the serfs in Korea. Up
to this time all the common people had been serfs of the _yang-bans_ or
noble class. In every district and in every ward each man of the common
people owed allegiance to some local gentleman. It took the form usually
of a tax or tribute in kind and was very loose in its application; but
on occasion the master could call upon all these people for service and
he could even sell them if he so desired. This is the reason why it is
exceedingly rare that a family removes permanently from any locality, at
least nominally. A man may go from place to place, or may live
permanently at the capital, but when asked where he lives he will
invariably name the exact spot where he originated and where the seat of
his family is still supposed to be. When the common people were serfs
they could not move at will, and the custom became so ingrained in them
that to this day its effects are plainly seen. This aged king put forth
his hand and decreed that this serfdom should cease once for all. It was
different from slavery. That institution still continued and has
continued to the present day. This serfdom included all the people who
did not belong to the so-called _yang-ban_ class. It is quite plain that
the line of demarcation between the common people and the nobility was
very much more clearly defined than at the present day. We find no
indication that the order was resisted in any part of the country. It is
probable that the serfdom had gradually become largely nominal and the
people only gradually came to realize what the edict realty meant. Even
to this day the spirit of serfdom is a marked characteristic of the
people.

His ninetieth year beheld the complete mental and physical collapse of
the king. He could not attend to the ancestral sacrifices; his mind
continually wandered from the subject in hand. He would order a meeting
of his councillors and then forget that he had ordered it, or forget
what he had ordered it for.

Hong In-han hated the young Crown Prince. It had long been his ambition
to see on the throne the son of the princess who had given up the
project of becoming queen. He worked with all his might to have the
fatal day put off, when the royal seals should be put in the hands of
the prince. He was all the more dangerous as he was the prince’s uncle,
and therefore more difficult to handle.

When the aged king insisted upon giving up, this man said, “Not yet, you
have many years more to reign,” and he succeeded in delaying the matter,
hoping that something might intervene to prevent the consummation that
he dreaded. At one time when the king called a clerk to record his
decree that the Crown Prince, from that day, should assume the reins of
power, Hong violently pushed the clerk away and prevented it. The
officials were all in a state of trepidation over these high-handed
proceedings, fearing that they might become compromised, but help was at
hand. Sŭ Myŭng-sŭn memorialized the king and set forth this Hong in such
a light that the king with a last effort asserted himself and the young
prince became king. A near friend of Hong was banished as a hint that
Hong himself might expect punishment if he persisted in making trouble.
Early the next year more of Hong’s friends were banished. The aged king
took the newly appointed King to the shrine of his foster father and
made him swear that he would ever consider himself the son of that man
rather than of his real father. The young man asked that the record of
his father’s death be expunged from the official records and so they
were taken outside the Northwest Gate and “washed” in the stream.

In the third moon of 1776 the old man died. The new king is known by his
posthumous title of Chöng-jong Tă-wang. He immediately raised his
adopted father to the rank of Chin-jong Tă-wang and gave his real father
the title Chang-hön Se-ja.

The reign just ended had been rich in literary products. The names of
same of the books published are: “How to deal with the native fever,”
“The evil deeds of the Soron party,” “Conduct and Morals,”
“Fortifications and Military Tactics,” “A Catechism of Morals,” “A
reprint of the Confucian work So-hak-ji,” “An Abstract, in 100 volumes,
of five important historical and geographical works.” This last was
called the Mun-hön Pi-go.

In spite of the oath that he had taken, the young king built a separate
shrine to his father and worshiped at it in the same manner as at the
ancestral temple. This was in accord with the letter of the oath, for he
religiously refrained, from calling his father by that name. He likewise
honored the memory of his father by decreeing that if anyone mentioned
the fact that he had been enclosed in a box and starved to death it
would mean death. He banished the son of the princess who had
encompassed his father’s death. The high-handed Hong In-han who had
worked so hard to prevent his accession was first banished to Yö-san and
enclosed in a thorn hedge, and then was poisoned by royal edict.

His first year of rule was marked by an attempt to assassinate him and
put his brother on the throne, but the assassin was taken, knife in
hand, and upon his confession Hong Sang-bom and his whole family were
seized and put to death. At last in sheer self-defense the king was
obliged to put his brother to death. At the same time he forbade the
presence of sorceresses in the capital and banished many who had been
instrumental in his father’s death. From this it would appear that there
was a powerful clique in Seoul who were trying every means to accomplish
his overthrow.

Being without issue, the king, at the instigation of his mother, took a
concubine, the sister of one of his favorites, Hong Kuk-yung. This
resulted very unfortunately, for when this concubine died her father was
drawn into treasonable operations.

Many of the present customs of Korea date from this reign. The king
first made the law that after the closing of the gates, they could not
be opened except by special permission from himself.

It was in his first year that the scholar Kwŭn Chŭl-sin gathered about
him a company of disciples and went to a mountain retreat to study. They
possessed one copy of a Christian work. This they diligently studied,
and one and all determined to adopt the belief there inculcated. So far
as they understood it, they practiced its teachings in secret.

Two years later the king took as a second concubine the daughter of Yun
Ch‘ang-yun, and Hong the father of the first concubine, because of his
opposition to it, was banished. Up to this time very few officials had
been drawn from the northern provinces or from Song-do, but now the king
decreed that they were as worthy to receive office as any others and
said that they should share in the gifts of the government. He ordered
that, a record be kept of all the decisions in council and that they be
preserved in a book called the Il-deuk-rok. Those were days of severe
famine in the land and the king did all in his power to relieve the
distress, giving from his private treasure large quantities of silver
bullion, black pepper and dyewood, things of great value in Korea.

In the year 1783 strange rumors were afloat. It was said that war had
been declared against Korea by some foreign power which was about to
throw an immense army into the peninsula. No one knew where it was to
come from, but many believed it was Japan. The excitement grew so strong
that crowds of people fled to the country, and so great was the influx
into the southern provinces that real estate rose rapidly in value. Such
was the haste of these deluded people that on the road families became
separated and children were lost. Out of pity for the latter the king
founded an asylum in Seoul for their maintenance.

Yi Tŭk-cho of Kyöng-ju was one of the men who had accepted the teachings
of the Roman Catholic books and in this year he induced a young attaché
of the embassy to Peking to look up the missionaries there and get such
light as he could on the subject. This young man, Yi Sŭng-hun, met at
Peking the Portugese Alexandré de Govea of the Franciscan order. He
accepted Christianity and was baptized under the name of Pierre. He
brought back with him many books, crosses, images and other religious
emblems. Some of these he gave to Yi Tŭk-cho who redoubled his studies
and at the same time began to do some proselyting. Two of his most
celebrated converts were two brothers Kwŭn Ch‘ul-sin and Kwŭn Il-sin of
Yang-geun, thirty miles from Seoul. This town is called the birth-place
of Roman Catholicism in Korea. Yi Tŭk-cho took the baptismal name of
Jean Baptiste and Kwŭn Il-sin that of Francois Xavier. The propagation
of the Christian faith soon began in Seoul and from there rapidly spread
in the south.

In 1785 the Minister of Justice began active operations against the new
faith and in the third moon of that year a courtier memorialized the
king on the subject. This caused the defection of many of the converts.

In 1786 Kim Yi-so informed the king that when envoys came back from
China they brought in their train many Catholic books, which caused a
“conflagration” in the country, and he denounced it as a bad religion.
He said the books were flooding the land and that the only way to stop
it was to make Eui-ju, on the border, a customs port and have all
baggage strictly examined before being allowed to pass.

Many Chinese had settled on Sin Island off Eui-ju but the Koreans on the
adjacent mainland resented it. They collected a considerable band of men
and crossed to the island where they burned all the houses of the
settlers and destroyed all their property. When the king heard of it he
condemned it as a brutal outrage. This year was marked by one of the
most destructive scourges that ever visited the country. Cholera swept
the land from end to end. It is asserted that 370,979 people perished,
among whom was the infant Crown Prince. The government found it
necessary to undertake the work of interment. The king gave out from the
dispensary 29,000 pills, and in Seoul alone there were 8,149 recoveries.
Knowing as we do the frightful ravages of this disease when it takes a
virulent turn, the fact that there were over 8,000 recoveries in Seoul
indicates that there must have been at least 60,000 deaths. Probably
this was more than half the population of the city at that time. It was
during this same year that the great mound in Kang-dong, P‘yŭng-an
Province, was found. It is some 680 feet in circumference. It was
called, from the first, the grave of the Tan-gun, though there is of
course no evidence to show that this is more than the merest fancy.

The king had a half brother named Prince Eun-ön for whom he had a great
affection; but Hong Kuk-Yŭng whose daughter had been the king’s first
concubine and had violently opposed a second union, now conspired with
two other choice spirits with a view to putting Prince Eun-ön on the
throne. The vigilant Queen Mother discovered the plot and the
conspirators were executed. All likewise demanded the death of the young
prince but to this the king would not listen. He was forced to banish
him to Quelpart, but a short time after had him brought back as far as
Kang-wha, where comfortable quarters were provided for him.

The king interdicted the use of silk excepting by very high officials
and by very old people. He set up stones to mark the place where the
great-grandfather of T’ă-jo Tă-wang had lived, where his grandfather had
fished and where that king himself had once lived, in Ham-gyŭng
Province. Someone found in P’yŭng ch’ang, Ham-gyŭng Province, the grave
of T’ă-jo Tă-wang’s great-grandmother and the king had it repaired and
guarded.

Up to that date the women had been accustomed to wear the hair in a
great bunch on top of the head as female professional mourners do to-day
in Korea. Large amounts of false hair were used and it was decorated
with long pins and with flowers. It is said that a full headdress cost
as much as the furnishings of a house. The king ordered a change in this
expensive custom, and since that day only mourners and palace women have
been allowed to wear them.

The city of Su-wŭn dates its importance from the year 1789, for at that
time the king removed his father’s grave to that place and went there
several times to sacrifice. He secretly called his banished brother from
Kang-wha, but when his mother learned of it she made such an ado about
it that he was fain to send him back. At Ham-heung, near the ancestral
seat of the dynasty, there was an immense tree, so large that ten men
holding each other’s hands could but just encircle it. The shadow which
it cast was “A hundred furrows wide.” So goes the story. The king had it
enclosed in a wall, as being the place where his great ancestor
practiced archery.

The year 1791 will always be memorable for the persecution of the Roman
Catholics. During the preceding year the Roman Catholic converts had
sent a man to Peking to arrange for the coming of a priest who could
administer the sacraments, for the Koreans had been strictly forbidden
by the Catholic authorities in China to administer them among themselves
without the services of a regularly consecrated priest. At the same time
certain important questions about ancestor worship were asked. A priest
was promised to the Korean church but the answers to the questions about
ancestor worship were very unsatisfactory to the Koreans and in
consequence there were many defections. It is much to the credit of the
Roman propaganda that from the very first it set its face hard against
the practice of ancestor worship. In the fifth moon it is said the
“flame of Roman Catholicism burned high.” In other words it was
discovered then what had been going on quietly for many years. Two men
of Chin-san in Chŭl-la Province were caught and killed because they had
burned their ancestral tablets. It was only after long discussion and
with great hesitation that the order was given for their decapitation,
and at the very last moment, after the men had already been carried to
the place of execution, the king changed his mind and sent a reprieve;
but it was too late. The king called the new religion not Ch‘ŭn-ju-hak
or “Religion of the Lord of Heaven,” but Sa-hak or “The Deceiving
Religion.” The Minister Choă Che-gong advised the king to annihilate all
Roman Catholics, but the king answered, “We must do it by elevating
Confucianism.” He had found the only rational way to deal with religious
differences. He said, in substance, let the fittest survive. This is all
that Christianity asks in any land, and the opposition of it by force
always has been and always will be an acknowledgment of inferiority. The
king knew well that China was the source from which the new influences
came and he made a very strict law against the bringing across the
border of Christian books. An edict was promulgated threatening with
punishment all who did not deliver up their Christian books within
twenty days, and the prefect of Chin-san, where the two men had been
working, was cashiered and forty-five other prefects were degraded one
or two degrees, because Christian converts were numerous in their
districts. The Roman Catholic writers attribute the numerous defections
at this time to the entire lack of pastoral care, the absence of the
sacraments and the paucity of Christian literature.

The king did not live up to his advanced ideas about using physical
force to combat Christianity, for in the eleventh moon of this year four
high officials who had embraced Christianity were seized and put to
death, together with a considerable number of the common people.

In 1792 the pope formally put the care of the Korean church in the hands
of the Bishop of Peking.

Sacrifices were offered at the tombs of Tan-gun, Ki-ja, Su-ro-wang (the
founder of Karak) and of T’ă-jo Tă-wang. Whether this was done to aid in
combatting Christianity we are not told but it is not improbable. This
was a time of general prosperity among the people and it witnessed a
rapid increase in the population of Korea. These things were evidenced
by the strong colonizing spirit which sprang up. Thousands flocked
northward to the banks of the Yalu and to the islands on the coast, and
the area of arable land was largely increased. Two years later this
period of prosperity terminated in a terrible famine in all the southern
and central provinces, and the government was obliged to dispense
280,000 bags of rice among the sufferers. This same year envoys from the
Liu Kiu Islands were well received. The King told them that two hundred
years before Liu Kiu officials had been given honorary titles by the
king of Korea. In view of the friendly relations that had always existed
between Korea and these islands, the envoys were feasted and sent off in
grand style. Late in this same year, 1794, the Chinese Roman Catholic
priest Tsiou crossed the Yalu and entered Korea. The government was
aware of it and his arrest was ordered, but he escaped from Seoul in
disguise. Two of his companions were taken, and as they refused to give
information as to his whereabouts they were immediately put to death. At
the time of his coming the Catholics estimate that there were 400
believers in Korea, but within a very few years the number increased to
6,000.

The year 1796 was signalised by a most important event in the field of
letters. In the beginning of the dynasty a fount of 100,000 pieces of
moveable copper types had been cast, and these had been supplemented
soon after by 200,000 more. Now the king began to add to them. First he
put out 50,000 and a year later he added 150,000 more; then 80,000 more
were made, and moveable wooden types were made to the number of 320,000.
Already during this reign the following works had appeared. “The
Gradation of Penalties,” “A Commentary on the Chinese Classics,” “The
Proper Conduct of the king,” “The Record of the Decisions in Council,”
“On Korean Customs,” “On Military Tactics,” “On Forms of Official
Correspondence,” “On the Science of Government.” These were now followed
by several editions of military and Confucian works, one of which was a
digest of all the Confucian Classics in ninety-nine volumes. The King
was a great lover of books and gathered all the best books that could be
procured. One work whose publishing he superintended in person reached
the modest number of 191 volumes.

The Minister of Finance advised the minting of five-cash pieces but all
the officials united in a protest against it and advised retrenchment as
the alternative. In this they were right, for the policy of meeting a
deficit by minting money could not but be disastrous.




                             Chapter XIII.

A peculiar plague.... a peculiar remedy.... a new king.... various
    reforms.... beginning of the policy of Roman Catholic opposition....
    Christianity and politics.... causes of opposition.... prisons
    full.... Chinese evangelist killed.... a traitorous letter
    intercepted.... end of the persecution.... conflagration.... eight
    severe charges.... the miners’ rebellion.... siege of Chöng-ju....
    the mine explodes.... Catholics send to Peking for a priest.... a
    long list of calamities.... cholera.... taxes remitted.... Europeans
    fail to enter Korea.... nine years' famine.... terrible
    suffering.... a new king.... reform.... French priests enter
    Korea.... the persecution of 1839.... the first French naval
    expedition against Korea.... The Koreans answer the French
    charges.... a new king.... reforms.... rapid spread of
    Christianity.... consternation upon hearing of the fall of
    Peking.... a noteworthy memorial.... panic.... a good opportunity
    lost.... a women’s riot.


In 1799 a peculiar plague broke out in P’yŭng-yang and spread with great
rapidity. It began with fever and ague, accompanied by a cough, and
death was very sudden. The king decided that if people so afflicted
should eat beef they would recover. So he ordered cattle to be killed
and the beef to be distributed among the people. The plague suddenly
ceased and the people have always believed that it was the marvelous
acumen of the king that enabled him to see the remedy and stop the
ravages of the disease.

Early in 1800 he made his son heir to the throne, and none too soon, for
in the sixth moon he sickened and died. It is said that his death was
caused by his mourning over the terrible fate of his father, whose cruel
and untimely death preyed upon his mind. Others say that the cause of
his death was a malignant boil.

The infant king, known by his posthumous title of Sun-jo Tă-wang, was of
too tender an age to undertake the duties of royalty and so the
government was administered during his minority by his grandmother, the
woman who had wielded such a strong influence over his father. She began
by instituting various reforms. Outside the West Gate, which was then
some distance to the west of the present New Gate, there was a monastery
where sorceresses and fortune-tellers congregated. The Queen Mother
drove them all out and razed the monastery to the ground. The tax by
which the palace body-guard was kept up was very distasteful to the
people and it was now remitted. Up to this time the government medical
dispensary had been supported by revenue in money or herbs from the
country, but this tax was also remitted. If we may believe the records
when they say that she freed all the government slaves, we can not but
confess that in some directions at least this Queen Regent was of
exceeding liberal mind.

It is from the year 1801 that we may date the determined and systematic
opposition on the part of the government against the Roman Catholic
propaganda in the peninsula. Two other factions had grown up in Seoul,
the Si and the Pyŭk. The latter were violent opponents of the new
religion but they had been held in check by the neutral attitude of the
late king. But now he was dead, and the Queen Regent, being a member of
that faction, determined to give full rein to the anti-Christian
prejudices of her partisans. It must be remembered that the Koreans were
extremely sensitive to outside influences. The terrible invasion of the
Japanese on the one hand and of the Manchus on the other had made the
Koreans hate all suggestions of commerce with the outside world, and
they sedulously avoided every possible contact with foreigners. This is
one of the main causes of the opposition to Christianity. But besides
this, they had been told that Roman Catholicism struck at the very
foundation of the state and was more than likely to assume a political
aspect, a charge which, from the very claims which it puts forth to
universal temporal as well as spiritual sovereignty, would be somewhat
hard to refute. We can scarcely wonder then that there was severe
opposition to it. It was looked upon as a danger which menaced the
state. It is said that Roman Catholicism had assumed large proportions
in Korea. Many were now seized and put to death. Among them were eleven
high officials. Release was granted in case the accused would consent to
curse Christ. The agents of this persecution went everywhere haling
forth believers from city and village. Soon the prisons were running
over. Eleven men were executed in April and fourteen in the following
month. It is said that two princesses who had adopted the foreign faith
were put to death. It was at this time that Tsiou, the Chinese
evangelist, whom the Koreans call Chu Mun-mo, was seized and put to
death outside the Little West Gate. He had at first fled north to the
Yalu and was on the point of crossing, when he suddenly thought better
of it, turned back, gave himself up and heroically met his death.

A Korean named Whang Sa-yong had been instrumental in bringing this
Chinaman to preach the faith to his fellow-countrymen. Now that the
evangelist was executed this Whang sent out a letter to the European
residents of China asking that a military expedition be gotten up to
come to the shores of Korea, overthrow the dynasty and set up another in
sympathy with the Christian faith. This letter was intercepted, the man
seized and cruelly torn to pieces. As to the accuracy of these
statements it would be rash to vouch. The contents of that letter may or
may not have been what is generally believed by the Koreans, but judging
from the active interest which European governments rightly take in
missionaries from their shores, it is not unlikely that the letter
contained substantially what is here stated. The persecution terminated
the following year when the government ordered the execution of those
already apprehended but ordered that no more Christians be proceeded
against. Between three and four hundred people had perished and the
church seemed to have been crushed.

It was in this year 1803 that a terrible conflagration swept
P‘yŭng-yang, and a thousand houses were destroyed. It was repeated the
following year, and it is asserted that almost the entire city was
destroyed.

Upon the death of the Queen Regent in 1805 the last remnant of
persecution ceased and even the law which prohibited the import of books
was allowed to remain a dead letter. Corruption in government circles
ran riot. The state of things is well epitomized in a memorial which was
sent in at this time. (1) The Ministers spend all their time reading
books. (2) Nepotism and bribery are the rule rather than the exception.
(3) The judges sit and wait for bribes. (4) The examiners of the
candidates’ papers receive money in advance, and merit can make no
headway against cupidity. (5) The censors have been struck dumb. (6) The
prefects do nothing but extort money from the people. (7) Luxury saps
the strength and wealth of the land. (8) The whole commonwealth is
diseased and rotten to the core.

The year 1811 is marked by an uprising in the north, where Hong Kyöng nă
attempted to set up a kingdom of his own. He was a resident of P‘yŭng-an
Province and was a man of enormous wealth. He was disaffected against
the government because the men of his section were discriminated against
in the distribution of offices; so he conferred with the miners who were
engaged in digging gold in various places, and he told them an
exaggerated story of how ill they were being treated by the government.
He ended by proposing that, as he had enough money for them all, they
set up a kingdom of their own. The hardy miners, 5,000 in number,
accepted the proposal with alacrity and war was on foot. This company of
undrilled but hardy miners were formidable and at first carried
everything before them. They first took the town of Chöng-ju, putting to
death the prefect and his whole family. When news of this reached Seoul
the king appointed Yi Yo-hön as general-in-chief against the rebels.
Five thousand soldiers were given him with which to do the work. He
acted in a characteristic manner, settled himself comfortably at the
governor’s house outside the New Gate and called it the headquarters.
From that point he sent to the front Generals Sŭ Kum-bo, Kim Kye-on and
Pak Keui-p‘ung. Meanwhile the rebels were carrying everything before
them. Ch‘ŭl-san, Ka-san, Song-ch‘ŭn, Yong ch‘ŭn, Pak-ch‘ŭn and Son-ch‘ŭn
fell in quick succession. All the government provisions and arms fell
into their hands. The main camp of the rebels was in the vicinity of
An-ju and they wished to take that place. Here they met with strenuous
opposition and it was only after a desperate struggle that they ever
took the town. It took ten days to reduce the place; but the back bone
of the revolt was broken before the government troops from Seoul arrived
on the scene. The various captains and local commanders joined their
forces, and by the time the government troops had collected in
P’yŭng-yang the rebels had been driven into their last remaining
fortress, Chöng-ju, and were being held in siege. During the retreat of
the rebels four of Hong’s lieutenants were captured and, being sent to
Seoul, were there summarily executed. The reduction of Chöng-ju by siege
was a work of some time, and the king becoming impatient, supplanted
Gen. Pak Kye-p‘ung and put Gen. Yu Hyo-wŭn in his place. The latter
immediately decided to attempt to blow up the town of Chöng-ju.
Constructing a fence, or barrier of some kind, a hundred and fifty paces
from the wall, he began, under cover of this, to mine the wall,
supporting the passage with beams of wood. When he had extended the
passage well under the wall he placed a large amount of powder in it and
attached a long fuse. After igniting the fuse the soldiers all hastened
out of the mine. No explosion followed. No one dared to go in, for fear
that the fuse might be burning slowly and that the mine might explode
while they were within. After waiting two days, and finding no one who
would venture in, Gen. Yu himself entered and found that the fuse had
become wet. He remedied the difficulty and soon there was a tremendous
explosion that tore down a long stretch of the wall and buried many of
the garrison in the debris. The place was soon taken. Hong was caught,
“The Man who Would be King,” and his head was sent to Seoul.

The Christians had now begun to recover in some measure from the
terrible persecution of 1801 and a man was sent to Peking to urge that a
qualified priest be sent to Korea, but the Peking church itself was in
great vicissitudes and no help could be promised.

From this time on the reign was one long list of calamities which
followed thick and fast upon each other. In 1813 there was a serious
rebellion on the island of Quelpart; in 1814 occurred one of those
fearful famines that sometimes happen in the southern provinces; this
was followed by a flood in Kyŭng-sang Province which wrecked thousands
of houses and cost many lives; Seoul was without rice and the government
had to open its granaries and sell at starvation rates; 414,000 bags of
grain were distributed to the sufferers in the country and 15,000,000
cash, 5,000 pounds of dye-wood and 500 pounds of black pepper were
donated toward relief. The next year thousands who had been made
destitute by the famine flocked to Seoul and the government had to feed
them till the barley crop was harvested; then the native fever, a kind
of typhus, broke out and mowed the people down, and the government had
to erect pest houses for their accommodation. In 1816 two thousand
houses fell in a freshet in Ch’ung-ch’ŭng Province and the government
gave timber to help the people rebuild. The year 1821 beheld one of the
most terrible scourges of cholera that the country ever experienced. It
began in the north, and sweeping southward soon involved the capital.
Ten thousand people died in Seoul in ten days. In the south it was
equally destructive. The government was obliged to appoint a commission
to attend to the interment of the dead bodies along the road. The
following year it broke out again with unbated fury. Houses were built
at intervals along the roads, by the government, for the sake of those
who might be struck down with the plague while traveling and gangs of
men were kept busy along the main road burying the dead. It even crossed
to the island of Quelpart where two thousand people died. In 1824 the
government had to remit 69,300 bags of revenue grain in the north
because of the depredations of robber bands.

In 1827 the Crown Prince was appointed deputy king and the same year a
son was born to him. But troubles continued. The government was obliged
to remit taxes of seaweed, salt, ginseng and fish in Kang-wŭn Province.
The following year a terrible freshet swept away whole villages in
Ham-gyŭng Province and the king sent large quantities of grain to feed
the destitute there.

Still troubles multiplied thick and fast. In 1830 the Crown Prince died.
He is the grandfather of the present Emperor of Korea. The son who had
been born to him is known as the Tă wŭn-gun, who died in the spring of
1898. The building in which the body of this Crown Prince was placed
burned to the ground and nothing but the charred bones of the prince
were recovered. Two years later, in 1832 an English vessel appeared off
Hong-ju and its captain, Basil Hall, sent the king a letter saying that
he had come to trade, but the king refused permission. As the flag of
the ship bore the device “Religion of Jesus Christ,” some Roman Catholic
converts boarded her, but when they found that they were protestants
they beat a hasty retreat. It is said that several boxes of books were
landed and that some of them were sent to the king, who promptly
returned them. The foreigners who made this attempt to enter Korea were
Gutzlaff and Lindsay.

During this year there were destructive fires and floods, but the
greatest calamity of all was a famine that began at that time and
continued for nine successive years, each year being accompanied with
cholera. It is said that bodies were piled in heaps inside the South
Gate. Many people are still living who remember that terrible time. The
next year, in addition to famine and plague, the palace burned down. In
the following year there was a devastating epidemic of native fever in
Seoul, and a flood in Eui-ju which wrecked 2,000 houses. That summer,
the people driven wild with hunger mobbed the government granaries but
found nothing in them. They laid the blame on the Prime Minister and
threatened his life. He fled precipitately to the country.

In the last moon of 1834 the king died and his grandson a boy nine years
old came to the throne. He is known as Hön jong Tă-wang. His grandmother
Kim became regent. She is known as Sun-wŭn Whang-ho. She immediately
began a work of reform. The law that made the relatives of prefects’
clerks liable to punishment for their crimes was abrogated. Many
burdensome taxes were remitted. The government revenue collectors were
kept to a strict account for all the monies passing through their hands.
A conspiracy, headed by one Nam Ong-jung, was put down with a strong
hand. The people were commanded not to slaughter their cattle for food,
for the only hope for future crops was the cattle, without which the
land could not be tilled. All prefects were commanded to have regular
office hours during which they should attend to government business
exclusively.

In 1831 Pope Gregory XVI had made Korea a bishopric and appointed M.
Bruguiere as Bishop. A Chinaman named Yu who was then in Europe was
appointed to accompany him to Korea. This man Yu went ahead and found
means of entering Korea secretly. M. Bruguiere worked three years in the
attempt to enter the country by way of the north across the Yalu and at
last died on the very border. Yu who had preceeded him desired to hold
supreme power in the Korean church, and so put obstacles in the way of
the entrance of the Bishop. But in the following year Pierre Philibert
Maubant, who had been appointed to Korea, succeeded in entering the
country and began work in Seoul at once, but of course in secret. By
1837 two other French priests had arrived, including Bishop Imbert. It
is said that at the time of his arrival there were 9,000 adherents of
the Roman Catholic church.

While the king was still but fourteen years old, in 1839, there occurred
a cruel persecution of the Catholics. Three foreigners were in Korea, as
we have seen, and they were known to the Koreans as Pöm Se-hyŭng, Na-bă
Do-ru and Chöng-ă Kak-bak-i.

The persecution began as usual with a change of ministry. Yi Chi-ŏn
became Prime Minister. He hated Christianity and averred that the reason
why there were so many Christians was that the work of extermination had
not been thoroughly carried out in 1801. He demanded a house to house
inspection. This was done and soon the prisons were full to overflowing.
Hundreds were cruelly beaten, but the yamen-runners were not allowed to
loot the houses of the prisoners, which cooled their ardor not a little.
Finally the three foreigners were arrested. Being ordered to leave the
country they firmly refused. Thereupon they were declared high criminals
and were executed on Sept. 21st, 1839. This was followed by still
severer persecutions and even the Koreans themselves grew tired of the
horrors that were enacted. It is said that seventy were decapitated and
that sixty died of beating and strangulation. This is but a fraction
however of those who perished in consequence of this persecution.

The last ten years of the reign were marked principally by events
connected with the Roman Catholic propaganda. In 1844 two more French
priests entered the country by way of Quelpart after a most difficult
and hazardous passage from China in a Korean junk. Two years later the
French government sent a message to Korea by a gun-boat, complaining of
the death of the three Frenchmen and threatening her with punishment if
these cruel actions were continued. This only excited the Koreans the
more against Christianity, for it seemed to imply that Roman Catholicism
had behind it a temporal power, and was therefore of political
significance. In consequence of this a new outbreak occurred which cost
the lives of several more Koreans, while the two priests were obliged to
hide away very closely in the country.

In the summer of 1847 two French boats, the frigate _la Gloire_ and the
corvette _la Victorieuse_ set sail from the Gulf of Pechili to go to
Korea and ascertain what had been the result of the former letter. These
two boats both struck a mud-bank and when the tide went down they broke
in two. The crews to the number of 600 escaped to the neighboring island
of Kogeum off the province of Chŭl-la, and a pinace was immediately
despatched to Shanghai for aid. The Koreans gave every assistance in
their power and supplied them with food and other necessaries, and even
offered to provide boats to take the men back to China. In fact the
action of the Korean government was most creditable throughout. An
English ship happened to come by and it carried the survivors all back
to China. The Korean government, fearing further visits from the French,
decided to answer the letter of the previous year. It was couched in the
following terms:

“Last year we received a letter from the foreigners. It was addressed to
the ministers of this realm and read as follows: ‘Three of our
countrymen, Imbert, Chastan and Maubant, have been put to death by you.
We come to demand why you have killed them. You will say perhaps that
your law forbids foreigners entering your country, but if Chinese or
Manchus should happen to enter your realm you would not kill them, but
you would have them carried back to their own country. Why then did you
not treat these men the same way? If they had been convicted of murder,
sedition or a like crime we would have nothing to say, but they were
innocent, and in condemning them unjustly you have committed a grave
injury against the French government.’ To this letter we beg to reply as
follows: In 1839 there were arrested here certain strangers who were
brought into the country at a time unknown to us. They wore Korean
clothes, they spoke the Korean language, they traveled by night and
slept by day; they veiled their faces, concealed their whereabouts and
consorted with men whom we consider rebels, godless men and enemies of
the government. When brought before the tribunal they claimed that their
names were Pierre No and Japanese Cang. Are these the men you refer to?
When interrogated, they said nothing about being Frenchmen, and even if
they had we could not have sent them back, for we did not know where
your country is. What could we do but apply our law, which forbids
secret entrance into our kingdom? On the other hand, their conduct in
changing their names and wearing Korean dress shows that they had
ulterior motives, and they cannot be compared to those who have been
shipwrecked upon our shores. Such men we save if possible and aid to
send back home. Such is our law. Had your fellow-countrymen been
shipwrecked upon our coast, they would have received precisely the same
treatment as Chinese, Japanese or Manchus under like circumstances. You
say that these men were killed without cause and that we have committed
a grave offense against the French government. This is most astonishing.
We have never had any communication with France. We do not know even how
far she is from Korea. What motive could we possibly have for injuring
her? How would you act if a foreigner should enter your country secretly
and in disguise and do what you consider evil? Would you leave him
alone? If a Chinaman or a Manchu should come here and do as your people
did they would be treated in the same manner as we did your people. In
fact, we did put to death a Chinaman because he came here in disguise
and changed his costume; and the Chinese government never said a word
about it, for they knew this to be our law. Even had we known their
nationality, their actions were so contrary to our laws that we could
hardly have spared them, how much less then when we did know it. This
matter hardly needs more explanation. Your letter was sent without the
proper formalities and we are not bound to answer it. This is not a
matter that a mere provincial governor can handle. As we are China’s
vassal it is our duty to consult the court at Peking on all foreign
matters. Tell this to your chief and do not be surprised that in order
to show the true state of the case we have been led to speak thus
plainly.”

One needs but to read this to see that it is an unanswerable argument.
From a merely political and legal point of view the Korean government
had all the facts on her side, though from the standpoint of humanity
they were wrong. It is strange that they omitted the strongest argument
of all namely, that they asked the Frenchmen to leave and they refused.
It is evident that by so doing they made themselves amenable to Korean
law, and took the consequences, good or bad. One cannot admire enough
the heroism which they displayed in staying to suffer with their
coreligionists, though the opportunity was given them to save themselves
by departure. It cannot be doubted that the rapid spread of Catholicism
in Korea is due in large measure to the heroic self-sacrifice of those
men and others like them, who literally gave their lives to the work. It
would be wrong however to say that the government was wholly without
excuse. From time immemorial death had been the penalty for crimes of
far less import to the Korean mind than the spreading of heretical
beliefs. With the light they had and the provocation under which they
labored we should say they needed rather enlightenment than censure.

This answer was not accepted as satisfactory by the French government
and a rejoinder was sent saying that thereafter French subjects who
should be taken on Korean soil must be sent to Peking, otherwise the
Korean government would lay itself open to grave evils. But soon after
this the revolution of 1848 took place in France and these eastern
questions were all forgotten for the time being.

In 1849 the king died without male issue and his grandmother Kim
nominated his nephew, the son of a banished brother. The young man
entered upon the duties of his office at the age of nineteen and he is
known by his posthumous title of Ch’ŭl-jong Tă-wang. This reign of
fourteen years beheld some important reforms. The law was reaffirmed
that the families of banished men might follow them into exile. Gambling
was severely interdicted. The merchants’ monopolies were broken up. A
hard fight was made against bribery and peculation in high places.
Country gentlemen were forbidden to seize and beat any one belonging to
the lower orders.

This king was the son Prince Chun-gye by a slave woman named Kang. He
was the great-grandson of the Crown Prince, Sado, whom his father nailed
up in the box.

His reign was an important one in two respects. First the very rapid
spread of Roman Catholicism and second the settled policy which was
adopted toward all outside influences. When the reign began there were
about 11,000 Christians in Korea and when it closed in 1863 there were
in the vicinity of 20,000, or almost double. Everyone knew that to
combat it there would be need of a king of a different calibre from
Ch’ŭl jong; and so during these years the work of propagating the new
faith went on steadily and without any considerable drawbacks. The
picture of the country as drawn by the French is indeed a sad one. They
say the king had shown himself quite incapable and had become a mere
debauche. The highest officials were fattening off the people and the
latter were frequently consulting the books of prophecy which foretold
the dissolution of the dynasty. And now foreigners began to enter the
country in greater numbers. Maistre, Jansen, Berneux followed each other
in quick succession in the early fifties. The latter became Bishop of
Korea.

About the end of 1860 came the news of the fall of Peking before the
combined French and English forces, the flight of the Emperor and the
burning and looting of the Summer Palace. The news was that thousands of
foreigners had come to overthrow the empire. The utmost consternation
prevailed in Seoul. An official memorialised the throne giving three
causes for lively concern.

(1) The Emperor, fleeing before his enemies, might wish to find asylum
in Korea, or at least might take refuge in some Manchu fortress just
beyond the border. Every possible approach ought to be strictly guarded
so that the Emperor might not dare to force his way into Korean
territory. (This shows the depth of Korea’s loyalty to China.)

(2) The outlaw bands that infested the neutral strip between Korea and
China might attempt an invasion of Korea and forts ought to be built to
prevent such an enterprise.

(3) Worst of all, there might be a possible invasion of Korea by the
foreigners. Korean cities would be wrecked, the morals of the people
would be lowered, a depraved religion would be established. As the
foreigners were strong only on the sea or on level ground the
mountainous character of Korea would be of material advantage to her.
The army should be reorganised, and forts should be built along the
principal approaches to Seoul; also at Tong-nă, Nam-yang, Pu-byŭng and
In-ju. A fort should be built on high ground commanding the passage of
the narrows at Kang-wha. Western boats could not of course ascend the
Han River. As the foreign religion spread rapidly in the provinces every
precaution should be taken to prevent the foreign priests communicating
with their countrymen abroad.

The ministry and the people all applauded this plan and the memorialist
was made a judge and given power to carry out his scheme. But news came
thick and fast telling of the killing of thousands of Chinese soldiers,
and the returning embassy in February 1861, gave definite news of the
flight of the Emperor and the treaty wrested from the great Chinese
empire. This news electrified the people. All business was suspended.
The well-to-do people all fled to mountain retreats the doughty
memorialist among the first. The ministers sent away their families and
their goods. Many of the high officials asked the protection of the
Roman Catholics, and tried to procure Roman Catholic books or badges of
any kind, and many wore these at their belts in broad daylight. The
yamen-runners were loud in their protestations that they had had nothing
to do with the persecution of the Catholics. It was believed by the
French in Korea at the time that a most favorable treaty could have been
concluded just at that time: but no effort in that direction was made by
the French.

Gradually the excitement abated and preparations for war were pushed,
the wealthy classes supplying the money for the same. Old arms were
resurrected, and cannon were cast on the model of one obtained from the
French wrecks. At this time there were nine Frenchmen in Korea.

The year 1861 was a hard one for the people. They were taxed to the last
farthing and local riots were exceedingly common. The French give us an
amusing incident, where the widows of a certain prefecture were taxed.
They rose up _en masse_ and mobbed the prefect’s office, caught his
mother, tore off all her garments and left her well nigh naked. This of
course meant that the prefect was disgraced for life.




                              Chapter XIV.

Beside the death-bed of King Ch‘ŭl-jong.... a bold woman.... rise of the
    Tong-hak.... its founder killed.... the King’s father becomes
    regent.... his two mistakes.... he selects a Queen.... Russian
    request.... the Regent pushed by the conservative party....
    death-warrant of.... Bishop Berneux.... French priests executed....
    priceless manuscript lost.... a French priest escapes to China and
    tells the news.... China advises Korea to make peace.... shipwreck
    of the “Surprise”.... face of the “General Sherman”.... persecution
    renewed.... French reconnoitering expedition.... blockade of the Han
    announced.... French expedition under Admiral Roze.... preparations
    for defense.... correspondence.... French defeat.... the French
    retire Koreans exultant.... persecution redoubled.... the Kyŭng-bok
    Palace rebuilt.... American expedition under Admiral Rodgers....
    American victory on Kang-wha.... the fleet retires.... monument
    erected in Seoul.


The events of the present reign, which began in January 1864, are fresh
in the memory of many still living, and the account here given is taken
largely from statements of eye-witnesses of the scenes therein
described. A detailed history of the present reign would fill a volume
in itself and of course we can but briefly touch upon the leading events
in it.

The circumstances which ushered in the reign are graphically described
by Dallet and are substantially as follows. King Ch’ŭl-jong had been
suffering for some time with a pulmonary affection, but in January of
1864 he seemed better and he began to walk about a little. On the
fifteenth, feeling greater uneasiness than usual, he went into his
garden for a walk. There he was suddenly taken with faintness and was
just able to drag himself back to his room, where he fell in a dying
condition. The Minister Kim Choa-geun, his son Kim Pyŭng-gu and three
other relatives were immediately in attendance. As they were
deliberating, the nephew of the Dowager Queen Cho, widow of the King
Ik-jong, happened to pass, and seeing what was going on, he hastened to
his aunt’s apartments and exclaimed, “What are you doing here? The king
is dead.” He advised her to hasten to the king’s apartments, gain
possession of the royal seals and nominate to the throne some one of her
choice, declaring him to be the son and heir of King Ik-jong, her
husband. This woman thereupon hastened to the side of the expiring king
where she found the attendants, as we have said, and with them the
queen, who held the royal seals in a fold of her skirt. The Dowager
Queen peremptorily demanded these seals, and when the queen demurred she
snatched them violently from her. No one dared oppose the determined
woman who thus took fortune by the forelock and in the course of a
moment turned the course of empire. She then made proclamation in the
name of the king, saying “The king says the royal seals shall be in
charge of Queen Cho. The throne shall go to Myŭng-bok, second son of
Prince Heung-sŭng (whose name was Yi Ha-eung). Minister Chong shall be
executor of the king’s will and Minister Kim shall go and find the newly
appointed king.” The Dowager Queen Cho thus became Regent and the
queen’s party, the Kim family, had to retire from power.

It was at the very beginning of the reign that the peculiar sect called
the Tong-hak arose in the south. Its founder was one Ch'oe Pok-sul of
Kyöng-ju in Kyŭng sang Province. The great formula of the sect was the
mysterious sentence _Ch’ŭn Ju cho a chung yŭng se bul mang man sa eui_,
which means “May the Lord of Heaven aid our minds that we may ever
remember, and may He make all things turn out according to our desire.”
The adherents of this sect would sit and sing this formula by the hour.
They would also dance, brandishing swords in a sort of frenzy, and
pretend to be rising to heaven. The name Tong-hak or “Eastern Sect” was
given by themselves to distinguish themselves from the Sŭ-hak or
“Western Sect,” namely Roman Catholicism. So at least some affirm. Its
rise was exceedingly rapid and soon it had enrolled an enormous number
of people. The government was at last obliged to take cognizance of it,
and a body of troops was sent south, who captured and put to death the
founder of the sect. This put an end for the time to its active
propagandism but it was by no means dead, as we shall see.

The Dowager Queen Cho was a violent opponent of Christianity and filled
all the offices with enemies of the Roman Catholics. But she was not to
hold the reins of power long. The king’s father in view of his son’s
elevation to the throne had received the title Prince Tă-wŭn, or
Tă-wŭn-gun as he is usually called. He was a man of commanding
personality and inflexible will and on the whole lie was the most
striking character in modern Korean history. He has been variously
estimated. Some have considered him the greatest statesman in Korea;
others have taken him for a mere demagogue. His main characteristic was
an indomitable will which took the bit in its teeth and swept toward the
goal of its desire irrespective of every obstacle, whether of morals,
economics, politics or consanguinity. He was withal unable to read the
signs of the times. The two great mistakes of his life were, first in
supposing he could eradicate Roman Catholicism by force, and second in
supposing that he could prevent the opening of Korea to treaty
relations. The regency naturally passed into his hands and he tacitly
agreed to uphold the principles of the conservative party that had
raised him to power.

His first act was to order a remeasurement of the tilled land of the
country with a view to the increasing of the revenue. The treasury was
empty and he had plans in mind that would require money. One of these
plans was the erection of a new palace on the ruins of the Kyöng-bok
Palace, an enterprise which the finances of the country by no means
warranted. His next act was to betroth his son the king to his wife’s
niece. His wife had two brothers one of whom was living but the other
had died leaving one daughter. It was this daughter of Min Ch’i-rok who
became queen. She was the king’s senior by four years. As her father as
dead she became the foster child of her uncle Min Ch’i-gu. In this
union, as every one knows, the Regent sought to cement his own power,
but, as every one likewise knows, he made a serious mistake.

In January 1866 a Russian gunboat dropped anchor in the harbor of
Wŭn-san and a letter was sent to Seoul asking for freedom of trade with
Korea. The answer given was that as Korea was the vassal of China the
matter must be negotiated at Peking, and an envoy was dispatched for
that purpose.

It is said that Roman Catholic adherents made use of the great
uneasiness which prevailed in government circles respecting Russia to
compose a letter urging that the only way to ward off Russia was by
making an alliance with France and England. It is said that the Regent
received this communication and gave it special and, as some believe,
favorable attention. We are told that the Roman Catholics were all in a
most hopeful state, of mind, fully believing the hour had come for the
awakening of Korea. In the light of subsequent events it is difficult to
determine whether the Regent’s interest in the plan was real or whether
it was a ruse whereby to make the final _coup_ all the more effective.
All things considered, the latter theory fits the facts more perfectly.
The French themselves believed the Regent was pushed on to the great
persecution of 1866 by the violent anti-Christian party that had put him
in power, and that it was simply another case of “If thou do it not thou
art not Caesar’s friend.” They found fault with him for harboring the
idea of a combination with this foreign element and demanded the death
of the foreign priests and a general persecution. It is said the Regent
reminded them of the burning of the Summer Palace at Peking and the
taking of that Imperial Capital, but that they answered that they had
killed Frenchmen before without harm resulting, and they could do it
again.

Whatever may have been the pressure brought to bear on him, he finally
signed the death warrant of all the foreign priests in the land, and on
February 23rd Bishop Berneux was seized and thrown into the common jail,
but two days later he was transferred to the prison where noble
prisoners were confined. On the 26th he was brought before the tribunal
where he gave his name as Chang. He said he had come to save the souls
of the Koreans and that he had been in the country ten years. He refused
to leave except by force. As the government had made up its mind as to
its course, his death warrant was then made out, and it ran thus: “The
accused, Chang, refuses to obey the king. He will not apostatize. He
will not give the information demanded. He refuses to return to his own
country. Therefore, after the usual punishments, he will be
decapitated.” While he was awaiting his end, Bretenières, Beaulieu, and
Dorie were taken, and after similar trial were condemned to death. All
four of these heroic men were decapitated at the public execution ground
near the river on the eighth of March and their bodies were buried
together in a trench, from which they were recovered six months later
and given burial by Roman Catholic adherents. Four days later two more
priests, Petitnicolas and Pourthiè were executed at the same place. It
was the latter who lost at this time not only his life but his priceless
manuscripts, a Korean Grammar and a Latin Korean-Chinese Dictionary, on
which he had been at work for ten years. Three more of the priests,
Daveluy, Aumaitre and Huin were seized soon after this and put to death,
but not till the latter had despatched a letter to China, which was
destined to turn up long afterward. There were three priests left,
Calais, Feron and Ridel. The last of these was selected to attempt the
journey to China and give information of these terrible events. After
almost incredible labors he succeeded in getting away from the shore of
Whang-hă Province in a junk together with eleven native believers, and
made his way to Chefoo. From there he hastened to Tientsin and informed
Admiral Roze of the death of his fellow-countrymen. The Admiral promised
to hasten to the rescue of the remaining two and the avenging of those
who had been slain; but a revolt in Cochin-China prevented him from
redeeming his promise until the following September.

The Chinese government, through the annual embassy, informed the king of
Korea that the killing of foreigners was an exceedingly foolish
proceeding and that he had better make peace with France on the best
terms possible, for if China could not withstand her surely Korea could
not. The Regent replied, however, that it was not the first time French
blood had remained unavenged in Korea.

On June 24th an American sailing vessel, the “Surprise,” was wrecked off
the coast of Whang-hă Province. Her captain and crew were hospitably
treated and conducted to the Chinese border with great care, by order of
the Regent, who thus illustrated the truth of the assertion that Korea
would do no harm to men who were ship-wrecked on her coast. Even in the
midst of an anti-foreign demonstration of the most severe type, these
men were humanely treated and sent upon their way.

Early in September the sailing vessel “General Sherman” entered the
mouth of the Ta-dong River. She carried five white foreigners and
nineteen Asiatics. Her ostensible object was trade. The governor of
P‘yŭng-an Province sent, demanding the cause of her coming and the
answer was that they desired to open up trade with Korea. Though told
that this was impossible, the foreign vessel not only did not leave but,
on the contrary, pushed up the river until she reached a point opposite
Yang-jak Island not far from the city of P’yŭng-yang. It was only the
heavy rains in the interior and an exceptionally high tide that allowed
her to get across the bar, and soon she was stuck in the mud, and all
hopes of ever saving her were gone. This rash move astonished the
Koreans above measure. Something desperate must be the intentions of men
who would drive a ship thus to certain destruction. After a time word
came from the Regent to attack her if she did not leave at once. Then
the fight began, but without effect on either side until the Koreans
succeeded in setting fire to the “General Sherman” with fire-rafts. The
officers and crew then were forced to drop into the water, where many of
them were drowned. Those that reached the shore were immediately hewn
down by the frenzied populace. The trophies of this fight are shown
today in the shape of the anchor chains of the ill-fated vessel, which
hang in one of the gateways of P’yŭng-yang. No impartial student of both
sides of this question can assert that the Koreans were specially
blame-worthy. The ship had been warned off but had rashly ventured where
no ship could go without being wrecked even were all other circumstances
favorable. The Koreans could not know that this was a mere blunder. They
took the vessel, and naturally, to be a hostile one and treated her
accordingly.

In September the persecution of Roman Catholic adherents was resumed.
This is said to have been caused by a letter from one of the Christians
to the Regent urging a treaty of peace with France. But by this time
Admiral Roze was ready to redeem his promise, and on the tenth of that
month Bishop Ridel boarded his flag-ship at Chefoo. The French
authorities had already informed the Chinese at Peking that France did
not recognise the suzerainty of China over Korea and asserted that the
land about to be conquered would be disposed of as France wished without
reference to the Pekin government. It was decided to send the corvette
_la Primauguet_, and the aviso, _le Déroulède_, and the gunboat,
_Tardif_, to make a preliminary survey of the approaches to Seoul.
Bishop Ridel accompanied this expedition in the capacity of interpreter.
Arriving off Clifford Islands on the twentieth, the little fleet entered
Prince Jerome Gulf, and the following day _le Déroulède_ was sent to
explore the entrance to the Han River. Finding the channel between
Kang-wha and the mainland satisfactory, she returned to the anchorage
and together they steamed up the river the only casualty being the loss
of the false keel of the Primauguet. These vessels steamed up the river
as far as the river towns opposite the capital, silencing a few forts on
the way. Bishop Ridel used all his powers of persuasion to induce the
commander to leave one of these boats here while the others went to
China to report, but without avail. They all steamed away together.

Meanwhile there was panic in Seoul. The end had come, in the estimation
of many of the people. A general stampede ensued and nearly a quarter of
the citizens of Seoul fled away, leaving their houses and goods. We will
remember that when Ridel escaped from Korea he left two companions
behind. These made a desperate attempt to communicate with the French
boats on the river, but so fierce was the persecution and so watchful
were the authorities that they were quite unable to do so. They finally
escaped, however, by means of junks which carried them out into the
Yellow Sea, where they fell in with Chinese boats that carried them to
China.

Before the surveying expedition sailed back to China Bishop Ridel was
informed by native Christians of the burning of the “General Sherman”
and the fate of her crew, the renewal of the persecution and the order
that all Christians be put to death after only a preliminary trial. He
urged the commandant to stay, but the fleet sailed away and reported in
China, where the real punitive expedition was rapidly preparing. On
October eleventh the blockade of the Han River was announced to the
Chinese authorities and to the various powers through their
representatives at Peking, and then the French fleet sailed away to the
conquest of Korea. The flotilla consisted of the seven boats
_Querriere_, _Laplace_, _Primauguet_, _Deroulede_, _Kienchan_, _Tardif_
and _Lebrethom_.

But while these preparations were going on, other preparations were
going on in Korea. The total complement of troops throughout the
peninsula was called into requisition. Arms were forged and troops
drilled. The Japanese government, even, was invited to take a hand in
the war that was impending, but she did not respond. Japan herself was
about to enter upon a great civil war, and had no force to spare for
outside work, even if she had had the desire.

On October thirteenth the French fleet reached Korea and three days
later the attack on Kang-wha commenced. In an hour’s time the town was
in the possession of the French and large amounts of arms, ammunition
and provisions were seized, besides various other valuables such as
treasure, works of art, books and porcelain. This reverse by no means
disheartened the Koreans. Gen. Yi Kyŭng-ha was put in charge of the
forces opposed to the “invaders.” This force was led in person by Gen.
Yi Wŭn-heui who found the French already in possession of the fortress.
The Koreans were in force at Tong-jin just across the estuary from
Kang-wha, and, fearing that the vessels would attempt to ascend the
river, they sank loaded junks in the channel. This channel must have
been much deeper than it is today.

The Regent swore that any man who should suggest peace with the enemy
should meet with instant death. A letter was sent to the French saying
that the priests had come in disguise and had taken Korean names and had
desired to lay their hands on the wealth of the land. It declared that
the priests had been well killed. In reply the French said they had come
in the name of Napoleon, Sovereign of the Grand French Empire, who
desired the safety of his subjects, and that since nine of his subjects
had been killed, it must be explained. They also demanded the three
ministers who had been foremost in the persecution and in the killing of
the priests should be handed over to them and that a plenipotentiary be
appointed for the ratifying of a treaty. To this letter no answer was
received.

Meanwhile Gen. Yang Hön-su had led 5,000 men to the fortress of
Chöng-jok on Kang-wha where a celebrated monastery stands. These men
were mostly hardy mountaineers and tiger-hunters from Kang-gye in the
far north, the descendants of those same men who in the ancient days of
Ko-yuryŭ drove back an army of Chinese 300,000 strong and destroyed all
but 700 of them. This fortress is admirably situated for defense, lying
as it does in a cup formed by a semi-circle of mountains and
approachable from only one direction, where it is guarded by a
crenellated wall and a heavy stone gate.

The great mistake of the French was in supposing this place could be
stormed by a paltry 160 men. The whole French force could not have done
it. No sooner had this little band come well within range of the
concealed garrison than it was met by a withering fire which instantly
put half of them _hors de combat_. After some attempts to make a stand
in the shelter of trees, huts, rocks and other cover, a retreat was
called and the French moved slowly back carrying their dead and wounded.
They were closely pursued and with difficulty made their way back to the
main body. The result would probably have been much more serious had not
the retreating party been met by a body of reinforcements from the main
body. The next day orders were given to fire the town and re-embark.
This caused great surprise and dissatisfaction among the men, but we
incline to the belief that it was the only thing to do. The number of
men that had been mustered to effect the humiliation of Korea was
ridiculously small compared with what was necessary. Six thousand French
might have done it, but six hundred—never. We need seek no further than
this for the cause of the abandonment of the enterprise. To be sure, it
had done infinitely more harm than good, and if it had been possible to
succeed even at a heavy cost of life it would have been better to go on;
but it was not possible.

The effect of this retreat upon the Regent and the court may be
imagined. Peking had fallen before these “barbarians” but the
tiger-hunters of the north had driven them away in confusion. If the
reader will try to view this event from the ill-informed standpoint of
the Korean court, he will see at once that their exultation was quite
reasonable and natural. The last argument against a sweeping persecution
of Christians was now removed and new and powerful arguments in favor of
it were added. The fiat went forth that the plague of the foreign
religion should be swept from the land. No quarter was to be given.
Neither age nor sex nor quality were to weigh in the balance. From that
time till 1870 the persecution was destined to rage with unabated fury
and the French estimated the number killed at 8,000. The hardships and
sufferings of this time are second to none in the history of religious
persecutions. Hundreds fled to the mountains and there starved or froze
to death. The tales of that terrible time remind one of the persecutions
under the Roman Emperors or the no less terrible scenes of the Spanish
Inquisition.

But to return to 1866. There were other events of interest transpiring.
The pet scheme of the Regent to build his son a new palace was being
worked out. The palace was in process of erection, when suddenly the
funds gave out. Here the Regent committed his next great blunder. This
time it was in the realm of finance. He entertained the fallacy that he
could meet a deficit by coining money. Of course the only way to meet a
deficit in this way was to debase the currency. He did it on a grand
scale when he once determined upon it, for whereas the people had from
time immemorial used a one-cash piece, he began to mint a hundred-cash
piece which was actually less than fifty cash in weight. One of these
was given as a day’s wage to each of the workmen on the palace. This
coin bore on its face the legend “The great Finance Hundred Cash Piece,”
but it proved to be very small finance indeed, for of course its issue
was immediately followed by an enormous rise in the price of all
commodities, and rice went up two hundred per cent. The government was
thus plunged deeper in the mire than ever; but the Regent had set his
will on this thing and was determined to carry it through at any cost.
His next move, taken in the following year, was to bring in old,
discarded, Chinese cash literally by the cart-load, across the border.
This he had bought in China at auction prices and forced on the people
as legal tender. At the same time he forced the people to work in gangs
of 300 at a time on the palace without pay. In this way the work was
finished, but it is safe to say that to this day the country has not
recovered from the effects of that mad financiering. Wealthy citizens
were called upon to make donations to the building fund, and this gained
the soubriquet of “The Free-will Offering.”

The year 1868, which meant so much for Japan, was not otherwise
signalised in Korea than by a demand on the part of Russia that Korean
refugees beyond the border be recalled. It also beheld the publication
of the work “The Six Departments and their Duties.” In September alone
2,000 Christians were killed, five hundred of them being residents of
Seoul.

The United States had not forgotten the fate of the “General Sherman.”
She had no intention of letting the matter drop. In the early spring of
1871 minister Frederick F. Low, at Peking, received instructions from
his government to go in company with Rear-admiral Rodgers to the shores
of Korea and attempt to conclude a treaty relative to the treatment of
American seamen who might be cast upon the shores of that country. He
was also instructed to try to make a trade convention with Korea looking
toward the opening of Korea to foreign commerce. The fleet consisted of
the war vessels _Colorado_, _Alaska_, _Bernicia_, _Monocacy_, and
_Palos_. These vessels rendezvoused at Nagasaki and on May sixteenth
they set sail for Korea. Minister Low’s correspondence with his
government shows that he had accurately gauged the probabilities of the
situation. A long acquaintance with the Korean could not have rendered
his diagnosis of the case more accurate than it was. From the very first
he considered it to be a hopeless case, and he was right. But this in no
way lessened the care he exercised in doing every thing in his power to
render the expedition a success. After fourteen days of struggle against
dense fogs, tortuous channels and swift tidal currents the fleet dropped
anchor off the islands known as the Ferrierre group, not far from
Eugénie Island. This was on May 30th. They had not been there long
before they were boarded by some small officials with whom Minister Low
was of course unable to treat, but through them he sent a friendly
message to Seoul asking that an official of equal rank with the American
envoy be sent to confer with him on important matters. The Koreans had
already received through the Chinese an intimation of what the Americans
desired but they argued that as their policy of carrying ship-wrecked
mariners safely across the border was well known abroad and as they did
not care to open up relations with other countries, there was no call to
send an envoy to treat with the Americans. The Regent shrewdly, though
mistakenly, suspected that the “General Sherman” affair was at the
bottom of this, as the death of the French priests had been the cause of
the French expedition and he decided to garrison Kang-wha and deal with
the Americans as he had with the French. Gen. O-Yo-jŭn was sent with
3,000 troops to Kwang Fort on the island of Kang-wha. A part of this
force was stationed as garrison at Tok-chin, a little fort at the
narrowest part of the estuary between Kang-wha and the mainland, where
the tide runs through with tremendous force and a dangerous reef adds to
the difficulty of navigation.

Thus it was that when the _Monocacy_ and _Palos_ steamed slowly up the
channel on a tour of inspection they were fired upon by the guns of this
little fort. No special damage was done, and as soon as the gunboats
could be gotten ready to reply to this unexpected assault they opened
fire upon the little fort and speedily drove its garrison out. The
Koreans supposed these gunboats were approaching for the purpose of
assault. Indeed, as no intimation had been given the Korean government
that such a reconnoitering expedition was planned, and as this narrow
passage was considered the main gateway of approach to the capital, the
Koreans argued strictly from the book and the American contention that
the attack was unprovoked was groundless, for to Korean eyes the very
approach to this stronghold was abundant provocation.

When the fort had been silenced, the two gunboats steamed back to the
main anchorage and reported. It was instantly decided that an apology
must be forthcoming from the government, but as none came, retaliation
was the only thing left to vindicate the wounded honor of the United
States. A strong force was despatched, which, under cover of the ship’s
guns was landed near the fort, and after a hard hand to hand struggle in
which every man of the garrison was killed at his post the place was
taken. Thus was the tarnished honor of the Great Republic restored to
its former brightness. But mark the sequel. The Admiral plainly was
entirely unequal to the task of pushing the matter to the gates of
Seoul, and so he withdrew and sailed away to China exactly as the French
had done. The great mistake in this lay in ignorance of the Korean
character. The government cared little for the loss of a few earth-works
on Kang-wha. In fact, even if the Americans had overrun and ravaged half
the peninsula and yet had not unseated the king in his capital or
endangered his person, their departure would have left the Koreans in
the firm belief that the foreigners had been whipped. In the last decade
of the twelfth century the Japanese overran the country, forced the King
to flee to the very banks of the Yalu, killed hundreds of thousands of
the people and for seven years waged equal war in the peninsula, and yet
when Hideyoshi died and his troops were recalled Korea claimed that the
Japanese had been defeated; and it was true. The approach of United
States gunboats up to the very walls of the “Gibraltar” of Korea was
nothing less than a declaration of war, and the paltry loss of the
little garrison was a cheap price to pay for their ultimate triumph in
seeing the American ships “hull down” in the Yellow sea.

When this glad news was published in Seoul the already plethoric pride
of the Regent swelled to bursting. Another brilliant victory had been
scored.

Another of the great powers of the West had been humbled. Korea could
show her great patron China how to handle the barbarians. He immediately
ordered the erection in the center of the city of a monument which had
been in preparation since 1866. The inscription ran as follows.

“The Western Barbarians have attacked and injured us, with a view either
to making war upon us or to forcing treaties upon us. If we consent to
the latter it will mean the betrayal of the country. Let our descendants
to the ten thousandth generation bear this in mind. Made in the Pyöng-in
Year and set up in the Sin-mi Year.”

All the court and the nobility vied with each other in congratulating
the regent upon the completion of this work and declared that the people
were pleased with the prospect of excluding all foreigners and
preserving the time-honored seclusion of the land.




                              Chapter XV.

The “Frontier Guard”.... Japanese attempts at making a treaty.... agent
    at the palace.... the Regent’s power on the wane.... a
    “Combination”.... the Regent retires.... a puppet....“infernal
    machine”.... reforms.... a dangerous memorial.... fight with the
    Japanese.... two parties in Japan.... Japanese commission....
    negotiations.... treaty signed.... a mysterious conflagration....
    Japanese minister.... French priests released.... a curious book....
    anti-Christian policy abandoned.... commission to Japan....
    conspiracy.... liberal party.... hopeful outlook.... the Min
    policy.... split between the Min and liberal factions.... Minister
    to Japan.... military students.... regular troops neglected....
    emeute of 1882.... Japanese legation attacked.... the palace
    entered.... the Queen escapes.... the ex-Regent quiets the
    soldiers.... a mock funeral.


In order to understand the interesting train of events that transpired
in 1873 it will be necessary to go back and review the relations that
existed between Korea and Japan.

At the close of the Japanese invasion an arrangement had been arrived at
between Japan and Korea by the terms of which the Japanese placed a
number of traders at Fusan. The popular belief of the Koreans that the
government accepted these as hostages in place of an annual tribute of
three hundred Japanese female hides is an amusing fiction which is
intended to offset the ignominy of the ear and nose monument in Kyoto.

This colony was called the Su-ja-ri or “Frontier Guard.” The Korean
government appropriated ten million cash a year to its support. The
Japanese claim that these people were not hostages but were merchants
and were placed there to form a commercial _point d’appui_ between the
two countries. That the money paid for their support was of the nature
of a tribute is neither claimed by the Japanese nor admitted by the
Koreans; in fact the terms always used in describing these payments
implies the coördinate degree of the recipient.

This Japanese colony was continued up to the year 1869 without
intermission but it was not destined to remain undisturbed. No sooner
had the Imperial government become established in Japan than the Emperor
appointed a commission to approach the Korean government through the
time-honored avenue of approach, namely Fusan and the prefect of
Tong-nă, with a view to establishing closer commercial and diplomatic
relations. This commissioner transacted the business through the Daimyo
of Tsushima who sent the Imperial letter to the prefect of Tong-nă and
asked that it be transmitted to the capital. After reading it the
prefect refused to send it, on the plea that whereas Japan had always
addressed Korea in terms of respect she now adopted a tone of
superiority and called herself an Empire. The envoy urged that Japan had
recently undergone a complete change, that she had adopted Western ideas
and had centralised her government, and urged that the missive must be
sent on to Seoul. The prefect was prevailed upon to copy the letter and
send it on to the Regent but the Reply came back forthwith “We will not
receive the Japanese letter. Drive the envoy away.” The following year
the annual grant of rice was suddenly discontinued without a word of
warning and the Japanese in Fusan were greatly exercised thereby. They
made a loud outcry and their government made repeated attempts to come
to an understanding with the Korean government but without success.

It was in 1870 that the Japanese Hanabusa, called Wha-bang Eui-jil by
the Koreans, came with an urgent request that a treaty of commerce be
signed, but he was likewise unsuccessful. The King, however, was nearing
the age when the Regent must hand over to him the reins of power and the
Queen, a woman of natural ability and of imperious will, was gathering
about her a faction which was wholly inimical to the plans and the
tactics of the Regent. The latter found to his chagrin that the woman
whom he had placed on the throne with his son with special reference to
the cementing of his own power was likely to become the instrument of
his undoing. Sure it is that in spite of the hatred which the Regent
evinced against the Japanese this same Hanabusa came to Seoul in 1871 or
early in 1872, in a quite unofficial manner, and was given quarters at
the palace where he was in constant communication with the Queen and the
members of her faction, and where, by exhibiting curious objects of
western manufacture, such as a toy telephone and the like, he amused his
royal patroness and won his way into the favor of the party that was
shortly to step into the place made vacant by the retiring Regent.

The queen’s faction were diametrically opposed to the most cherished
prejudices of the Regent. They favored, or at least looked with
complacency upon, the growth of Roman Catholicism, they favored the
policy of listening to China’s advice in the matter of foreign
relations. They were doubtless urged in this direction partly by pure
opposition to the Regent and partly by the representations of the
Japanese who had gained the ear of royalty. The palace was the scene of
frequent and violent altercations between the heads of these two
factions, but an open rupture did not occur until the year 1873 when an
official named Ch‘oe Ik-hyŭn memorialised the throne speaking
disparagingly of the presence of the Japanese in the palace and, toward
the end, charging the Regent with indirection in the use of the public
funds. The king had for some time been growing restive under the control
of the Regent, being led to some extent by the new party of which the
queen was the patroness and at whose head stood her brother, Min
Seung-ho. The memorial was received with marks of approval by the king
and he immediately cut off a large part of the revenues of the Regent.
At the same time Min Seung-ho approached the Regent’s son, Yi Chă-myŭn,
elder brother to the king, and suggested that if the Regent could be
removed they two might share the leadership of affairs. The young man
accepted the offer and ranged himself in line with the opposition. The
Regent was now in great straits. The combination against him had proved
too strong, and in the last moon of 1873 he shook off the dust of Seoul
from his feet and retired to Ka-p‘yŭng, thirty-five miles to the east of
the capital. After five months of residence there he returned as far as
the village of Ko-deung ten miles to the north-east of Seoul.

Among the people there was still a strong element that favored the
ex-Regent. They missed a strong personality at the helm of state, for
the Koreans have always preferred a strong even if tyrannical
leadership. In recognition of this sentiment it was deemed wise to put
the ex-Regent’s brother, whom he had always kept severely in the
back-ground, in the prominent if not necessarily important position of
Prime Minister. He proved as was intended a mere puppet in the hands of
the Min party who by this time had absorbed the whole power of the
government. He was allowed, in compensation for this, to control the
sale of public offices to his own profit, but always under the vigilant
eye of the dominant faction.

A new era in the metamorphosis of Korea had now begun. Public affairs in
the peninsula took a new direction. Min Seung-ho was court favorite and
it looked as if matters would soon settle down to something like their
former tranquility. But the latter days of the year were destined to
bring a severe shock to the leaders of the new party. One day Min
Seung-ho received a letter purporting to be from a certain party with
whom he was on intimate terms, and with it came a casket wrapped in
silk. He was requested to open it only in the presence of his mother and
his son. Late at night in his inner chamber he opened it in the presence
of these members of his family, but when he lifted the cover the casket
exploded with terrific force killing the three instantly and setting the
house on fire. As Min Seung-ho had but one enemy bold enough to
perpetrate the deed the popular belief that it was done by his great
rival is practically undisputed, though no direct evidence perhaps
exists.

Min T‘ă-ho immediately stepped into the place made vacant by the
terrible death of the favorite. Soon after this the government
discontinued the use of the 100 cash pieces with which the Regent had
diluted the currency of the country. In the second moon of 1874 the
crown prince was born. The year was also signalised by the remittance in
perpetuity of the tax on real estate in and about the city of Seoul.

In 1875 three of the ex-Regent’s friends, led by Cho Ch‘ung-sik,
memorialised the throne begging that the Prince Tai-wŭn be again
reinstated in power. For this rash act they were all condemned to death,
and it was only by the personal intercession of the ex-Regent that the
sentence was commuted to banishment for life. Even so, Cho Ch‘ung-sik
was killed at his place of exile.

In September the Japanese man-of-war _Unyo Kwan_, after making a trip to
Chefoo, approached the island of Kang-wha to make soundings. Approaching
the town of Yöng-jŭng, they sent a small boat ashore to look for water.
As they neared the town they were suddenly fired upon by the Koreans in
the little fortress, who evidently took them for Frenchmen or Americans.
A moment later the small boat was turned about and was making toward the
man-of-war again. The commander gave instant orders for summary
punishment to be inflicted for this perfectly unprovoked assault. He
opened fire on the town and soon silenced the batteries. A strong body
of marines was landed which put the garrison to flight, seized all the
arms and provisions and fired the town. The man-of-war then steamed away
to Nagasaki to report what had occurred.

At this time there were in Japan two parties who took radically
different views of the Korean question. One of these parties, led by
Saigo of Satsuma, smarting under the insulting way in which Korea had
received the Japanese overtures, would listen to nothing but instant
war. The other party, which saw more clearly the vital points in the
question at issue, urged peaceful measures. The policy of the latter
prevailed and it was decided to send an embassy to attempt the
ratification of a treaty, and if that failed war was to be the
alternative. This peace policy was so distasteful to the war party that
Saigo returned to Satsuma and began to set in motion those agencies
which resulted in the sanguinary Satsuma Rebellion.

For many centuries there had been a strip of neutral territory between
the Korean border, the Yalu River, and the Chinese border which was
marked by a line of stakes. This strip of land naturally became the
hiding place of refugees and criminals from both countries, for here
they were free from police supervision whether Korean or Chinese. The
statesman Li Hung-chang recognized this to be a menace to the wellfare
of both countries and took steps to put an end to it, by sending a
strong body of troops who, in conjunction with a gunboat, succeeded in
breaking up the nest of desperadoes and rendering the country fit for
colonisation. Two years later this strip of land was definitely
connected with China and the two countries again faced each other across
the waters of the Yalu.

The Korean attack upon the Unyo Kwan off Kang-wha proved the lever which
finally roused Japan to active steps in regard to the opening of Korea.
The war party regarded it as their golden opportunity, while the peace
party believed it would pave the way for a peaceful accomplishment of
their purpose. An envoy was despatched to Peking to sound the policy of
that government. The Chinese, fearing that they would be held
responsible for the misdoings of Korea denied, all responsibility and
virtually acknowledged the independence of the peninsula. At the same
time a military and naval expedition under Kiroda Kiyotaku, seconded by
Inouye Bunda, sailed for Kang-wha with a fleet of gunboats, containing
in all some 800 men. The Chinese had already advised the Korean
government to make terms with the Japanese, and this in fact was the
wish of the dominant party; so, when the Japanese demand reached Seoul,
that commissioners be sent to Kang-wha to treat with the visitors the
government quickly complied. Two high officials. Sin Hön and Yun
Cha-seung, were despatched to Kang-wha and the first definite step was
taken toward casting off the old time isolation policy, the fond dream
of the ex-Regent.

The Japanese envoy opened the conference by asking why the Koreans had
given no answer to the repeated requests of the Japanese for the
consummation of a treaty of peace and friendship. The Korean
commissioner replied that from the very earliest times Japan had always
addressed Korea in respectful language, but that now she had arrogated
to herself the title of Great Japan and called her ruler the Great
Emperor. This seemed to imply the vassalage of Korea, an entirely new
role for her to play. The Japanese replied that the mere assumption of
the name of empire on the part of Japan implied nothing as to the status
of Korea one way or the other. This seemed to satisfy the Koreans.

The Japanese then asked why they had been fired upon at Yŭng-jŭng. The
answer was that the Japanese were dressed in European clothes and were
therefore mistaken for Europeans. But when the Japanese asked why the
Koreans had not recognized the Japanese flag, especially since the
Japanese government had been careful to send copies of their flag to
Korea and ask that one be sent to each of the prefectures throughout the
land, the Korean commissioners could find nothing to say and had to
confess that they had been in error.

All these things were duly reported to the authorities in Seoul where
daily councils were being held to discuss the important questions. The
ex-Regent sent an urgent appeal to the ministers not to make a treaty,
but the tide had turned, and after some sharp discussion as to how the
two governments should be designated in the treaty it was finally
ratified on February 27th 1876, and Korea was a hermit no longer. Three
months later a semi official envoy was sent to Japan in the person of
Kim Keui-su.

Meanwhile the closing days of 1875 had beheld a curious event in Seoul.
In the dead of night the house of Yi Ch’oe-eung, the Prime Minister and
the brother of the ex-Regent, was set on fire by an unknown hand and
burned to the ground. None of the inmates were injured. The culprit was
seized and under torture confessed that one Sin Ch’ŭl-gyun had hired him
to do the work. Sin was therefore seized and put to death as a traitor.
Whether he was indeed guilty and if so whether he was but an agent in
the business are questions that have never been answered.

It was not until the sixth moon of 1879 that, in pursuance of the new
treaty, a Japanese Minister, Hanabusa, was sent to represent his
government at Seoul. We will remember that he had already served his
government most successfully at the Korean capital in a private
capacity. The new legation was situated at the Ch’ŭn Yŭn-jŭng near the
lotus pond outside the West Gate. At almost the very same time two
French priests arrived in Seoul and took up their quarters outside this
same gate and began to proselyte. They were forthwith seized by the
authorities, and were for some time in imminent danger. There was
however a strong feeling in the government that this was inconsistent
with the new role that it had elected to play and that it was distinctly
dangerous. A halt was called and the Japanese Minister took advantage of
it to inform the authorities that he had received a message from the
French Minister in Tokyo asking him to use his good offices in behalf of
these endangered men. The Minister added his own advice that the Korean
government should hand over the imprisoned men at once. This was done
and the Japanese Minister forwarded them to Japan.

One year later, in the summer of 1880, Kim Hong-jip, a man of
progressive tendencies, went to Japan. Soon after arriving there he met
a Chinaman who seems to have made a strong impression on him. This
Chinaman had many talks with him and gave him a long manuscript dealing
with the subject of Korea’s foreign relations, which he asked should be
transmitted to the king of Korea. In it he advised the cementing of
friendship with the United States, China and Japan, but he spoke
disparagingly of Russia. It mentioned Protestant Christianity as being
the basis of Western greatness and advised that its propagation be
encouraged. It compared the division of Christianity into Roman Catholic
and Protestant to the division of Confucianism into the two sects Chu-ja
and Yuk-sang-san. When Kim Hong-jip brought this manuscript and placed
it in the hands of the king it created a profound sensation, and
awakened the bitterest opposition. Many advised that he be killed as an
introducer of Christianity. The most violent of all were Yi Man-son,
Hong Chă-hak and Păk Nak-kwan who memorialized the throne urging the
execution of Kim and the overthrow of all Christian work in the
peninsula. This met with the severest censure from the king, not because
it was in itself seditious but because it was an attempt to reinstate
the policy of the Regency. Yi Man-son was banished, Hong Chă-hak was
executed and Păk Nak-kwan was imprisoned. This put an end to
anti-Christian talk for the time being and it was never again seriously
raised.

By the fourth moon of 1881 the progressive tendencies of the new regime
had made such headway that the king determined to send a commission to
Japan to look about and see something of the world, from which Korea had
been so carefully secluded. For this purpose His Majesty selected Cho
Chun-Yŭng, Pak Chöng-yang, Sim Sang hak, Cho Pyŭng-jik, Min Chong-muk. O
Yun jung, Om Se-yŭng, Kang Mun-hŭng, Hong Yŭng-sik, Yi Wŭn-whe, and Yi
Pong-eui. These men immediately took passage for Japan. At the same time
a party of young men was sent to Tientsin under the chaperonage of Kim
Yun-sik on a similar errand.

Late in this year, 1881, four of the adherents of the ex-Regent
conspired to overthrow the government, dethrone the king and put in his
place Yi Chă-sŭn, a son of the ex-Regent by a concubine. The ex-Regent
was then to be brought back to power. The last day of the eighth moon
was set for the consummation of this plot. But on the day before,
Nam-Myŭng sŭn and Yi P’ung-nă divulged the whole scheme to the favorite
Min T’ă-ho, and as a result the four arch-conspirators were seized on
the morning of the day set for the culmination of the plot and within a
few days eleven others were taken. In the eleventh moon they were all
beheaded, and at the same time Yi Chă-sŭn was given poison and expired.

By this time a real liberal party had begun to form. Its leading spirits
were Kim Ok-kyun, Pak Yŭng-hyo, So Kwang-bom, Hong Yŭng-sik, Yi To-jă,
Sin Keui-sŭn and Pak Yŭng-kyo. These were all men of very high family
and held important positions under the government. They were in favor of
the immediate opening of Korea to intercourse with foreign powers and
the establishment of reforms such as had been effected in Japan. The
king was largely influenced by the progressive policy mapped out by
these men and an era of rapid advancement seemed to be dawning. A
special department was established called the Ki-mu or Machinery Bureau
which was to take charge of the introduction of foreign machinery and
implements of all kinds.

It is important to note the position of the Min faction at this point.
It was with the downfall of the Regent that, through the queen’s
influence, the Min faction sprang to life. With the utmost celerity all
government positions were filled with them or their sympathizers and it
seemed sure that they would have a long lease of official life. The
extreme opposition of the Regent to all reforms and to the opening of
the country to foreign intercourse naturally inclined his rivals in that
very direction and it was directly through the Min faction that the
policy of non-seclusion was inaugurated. The queen likewise was in favor
of opening up the country to the civilizing influences of the West. But
with the Min faction, as a whole, the question of national policy were
entirely secondary to the one main idea of preserving the ascendency
which they had gained. Here is the key to all that followed. The Mins
were not at that time facing China-ward and they never would have been
had it not become necessary in order to preserve the enviable position
they occupied. As we have seen, a number of high officials who had
imbibed something of the spirit of reform which had permeated Japan were
filling the ear of the king and queen with plans for reform. They were
meeting with a favorable hearing and in proportion as they succeeded,
the power of the Mins must wane; not because the latter disliked the
idea of opening up Korea but because it was another faction that had the
work in hand, and that faction would naturally attain more and more
power at court as success crowned their efforts. It was just here that
the difficulty began. If the liberal leaders had been willing to put the
working out of the plan into the hands of the Min faction all might have
gone along smoothly and Korea might have realized some of the hopes of
the would-be reformers. But such self-abnegation could scarcely be
expected from men who saw in the carrying out of their brilliant scheme
not only rewards for themselves but the advancement of the country. The
personal element was present in full force and this was the rock on
which the reformation of Korea split. We may believe that it was at this
point that the Min faction determined its policy, a policy that led it
straight into the arms of China. From this point it became not the
progressive party but the conservative party. Its leading members were
Min T’ă-ho, Min Yŭng-muk, Min Tu-ho, Han Kyu-jik and Cho Ryŭng-ha. There
was one of the Mins however who held with the liberal party, for a time
at least. This was Min Yŭng-ik, nephew to the queen, adopted son of Min
Seung-ho who had been killed by the infernal machine in 1874. That this
man took his stand at first with the liberals is shown by the fact that
in the spring of 1882 he joined Kim Hong-jip, Kim Ok-kyun, Hong Yŭng-sik
and other liberal leaders in advising the king to select 200 young men
and engage a Japanese instructor to drill them in military tactics. The
advice was followed, and Lieutenant Isobayachi was employed for that
purpose. Without delay he began work at the Ha-do-gam near the East
Gate. At the same time a number of young men were sent to Japan to study
military matters. Among these the most prominent was Sŭ Chă-p’il who was
intimately connected with the liberal movement, though at that time he
was too young to take a prominent part.

The first regularly appointed Minister to the Japanese was Pak Yŭng-hyo
the liberal leader. In the early part of 1882 he departed on his
mission. It was at Chemulpo on board the little Japanese steamer that
the Korean flag was first designed. Pak Yŭng-hyo, Kim Ok-kyun, Sŭ
Kwang-bom and Sŭ Chă-p’il were all present when it was hoisted for the
first time in honor of the first Minister to Japan.

While the two hundred men who were being drilled at the Ha-do-gam were
being plentifully fed and clothed by the government, the 3,700 troops,
called the Hul lyŭn To-gam, the former Royal Guard, were being badly
neglected. Their pay was two or three months in arrears and for a
similar period they had not received a grain of rice. They were
naturally incensed and there were angry mutterings against the two
hundred men who were being treated so much better than they. When the
king was made aware of this he ordered that a month’s allowance of rice
be given out to these discontented troops. This work was put into the
hands of Min Kyŭm-ho the overseer of the government finances, and he in
turn handed the matter over to his major-domo who, it appears, sold the
good rice and with the proceeds bought a large quantity of the poorest
quality which he mixed with sand and doled out to the hungry troops. The
result may be imagined. They congregated in various places and
determined that since they must die in any event they would rather die
fighting than starving. They strengthened the feeble-hearted among their
own number by threats of death in case any proved unfaithful and refused
to assist in the work in hand. On the night of the ninth of the sixth
moon, in the midst of heavily falling rain, they arose _en masse_ and
proceeded to their general’s house, where they announced that they were
going to take revenge on those who had wronged them. That they not only
did not attack him but that they even had the courtesy to go and tell
him what they were about to do shows clearly that he was in no wise to
blame for the ill-treatment they had received. They also sent a
messenger to the ex-Regent, but the purport of the message is not known.
They then hastened to the residence of Min Kyŭm-ho, but he had heard of
the trouble and had fled to the royal presence for protection. The
infuriated soldiery vented their rage on the property by tearing down
the house and destroying the furniture. They seized the dishonest
major-domo and beat him to death upon the spot. The sight of this
aroused all their worst instincts and, separating into bands of two or
three hundred, they hastened to different parts of the town to complete
what had been begun. Some ran to the prisons and liberated the inmates
who naturally joined the ranks of the rioters. One of these prisoners
was Păk Nak-kwan who had memorialized the throne in favor of the
ex-Regent. They took him on their shoulders and rushed through the
streets shouting “Păk Chung-sin” or “Păk the patriot.” For this, a few
months later he was torn to pieces by bullocks outside the West Gate.
Part of the mob went to the Ha-do-gam, but on their approach the
Japanese military instructor took to his heels and made for the Japanese
Legation. But he was overtaken and cut down in the streets. Another
detachment hastened to the Japanese Legation itself, but found the gates
shut and barred. Within were nine Japanese. In order to make it light
enough to carry on their dastardly work the assaulting mob threw
firebrands over the wall and thus illuminated the place, for it was
night. The little company of Japanese soon became aware that they could
not hope to stand a siege and that their only hope lay in a bold dash.
Suddenly the gates flew open and the nine determined men rushed out
brandishing their swords and firing their revolvers straight into the
crowd. The Koreans were taken wholly by surprise and beat a hasty
retreat. In their headlong flight many of them fell into the lotus pond
adjoining. As the Japanese hurried along to the governor’s yamen which
was not far away, they cut down a few of the mob. They found that the
governor had gone to the palace and so they turned their faces toward
Chemulpo and hastened away. Another party of the insurgents went outside
the city to various monasteries which they burned to the ground. The
most important of these was the Sin-heung Monastery outside the
Northeast Gate. This move was dictated by hate of the Min faction whose
patroness was known to be very well affected toward Buddhism and to have
made friends with the monks.

Other parties scattered over the city carrying the torch to the door of
every member of the Min faction. The houses of Min Kyŭm-ho, Min T’ă-ho,
Min Yŭng-ik, Min Yŭng-so, Min Yŭng-jun, Min Yŭng-ju, Min Ch’ang-sik,
Prince Heung-in, Kim Po-hyŭn and Yun Chă-dŭk were torn down by the use
of long ropes. The furniture was piled in a great heap in the street and
burned. The only member of the Min clan however that was seized that
night was Min Ch’ang-sik who lived at Kon-dang-kol. He had the
unenviable reputation of having taken large sums of money from the
people by indirection. When he was seized he cried “I am not a Min; my
name is Păk.” They bound him and carried him through the streets
shouting “Is this a Min or a Păk?” The populace answered fiercely “He is
a Min.” So they took him down to the big bell and stabbed him in a
hundred places with their swords and cut his mouth from ear to ear.

When the morning of the tenth broke Seoul was in a terrible condition.
Bands of frenzied soldiery were ranging through the streets. The people
either huddled about their fireplaces with barred doors or else sought
safety in flight from the city. At last the mob rendezvoused in front of
the palace gate and finding no opposition they boldly entered. Rushing
into the inner court of the king’s private apartments they found
themselves face to face with His Majesty. About him stood a few of the
officials who had not fled the city. There were Min Kyŭm-ho, Kim
Po-hyŭn, Cho Ryŭng-ha and Prince Heung-in. Rushing forward the soldiers
struck their swords against the floor and the door-posts and demanded
that these men be handed over to them. It was quite evident that there
was no escape and that by refusal they would only endanger the king’s
life. So these men made obeisance to His Majesty and then stepped down
into the hands of the soldiers. Min Kyŭm-ho and Kim Po-hyŭn were
instantly struck down and hacked in pieces before the very eyes of the
king. Of Kim nothing remained but the trunk of his body. Cho Ryŭng-ha
was spared but Prince Heung-in died the same day for he was mashed to a
jelly by the gun-stocks of the soldiers.

This done, the soldiers demanded the person of the queen. The king
sternly demanded how they dared ask of him the person of his Queen.
Without answering they rushed away to her private apartments. Seizing
palace women by the hair they dragged them about demanding where their
mistress was. But while this was going on one of the palace guard named
Hong Cha-heui entered the Queen’s presence and said that she was in
danger and that her only hope of escape lay in getting on his back and
being carried out. This she instantly did. A skirt was hastily thrown
over her head and the heroic man took her straight out through the midst
of the infuriated soldiery. Some of them seized hold of him and demanded
whom he was carrying. He replied that it was one of the palace women,
his sister, whom he was conveying to a place of safety. His heroism was
rewarded by seeing her safely outside the palace and comfortably housed
at the residence of Yun T‘ă-jŭn to the west of the palace. The next day
she was taken in a closed chair toward the village of Chang-wŭn in the
district of Ch‘ung-ju in Ch’ung ch‘ŭng Province, where she arrived
several days later. In that place she found refuge in the house of Min
Eung-sik. This journey was made not along the main road but along
by-paths among the mountains, and it is said that Hong Cha-heui lost
several of his toes as a result of this terrible march, for shoes could
not be procured.

But we must return to the palace. The ex-Regent appeared on the scene
while the solders were still raging through the palace in search of the
Queen. He gave the signal to stop, and instantly the soldiers obeyed and
quietly left the palace. That these soldiers, worked up as they were to
a perfect frenzy, should have obeyed the commands of the Prince Tai-wŭn
so instantly and implicitly would seem to argue a closer connection with
this outbreak than any overt act on his part would give us warrant to
affirm.

The ex-Regent was now in power again. He supposed that the Queen had
been killed, and on the next day he summoned the officials and said that
though the Queen was dead yet her body had not been found; they must
therefore take some of her clothing and perform the funeral rites with
them instead. The proclamation went forth, and from the middle of the
sixth moon the people went into mourning for their Queen.




                              Chapter XVI.

A panic.... Japanese envoy.... a counter demand.... Chinese troops
    arrive.... rioters captured.... the Regent kidnapped.... the Queen
    returns.... Foreign Office.... von Mollendorf.... minting....
    American Minister.... various innovations.... special envoy to the
    United States.... the American farm.... treaties.... liberal and
    conservative parties drift further apart.... Pak Yŭng-hyo’s
    attempted reforms.... school for interpreters.... fears of the
    progressive party.... a crisis imminent.... understanding with the
    Japanese.... the dinner at the Post Office.... attempted
    assassination.... confusion.... Liberal leaders hasten to the
    palace.... Japanese called in.... conservative leaders put to
    death.... official changes.... Chinese demands.... the fight in the
    palace.... the king goes over to the Chinese.... liberals killed....
    the Japanese retire to Chemulpo.... indemnity.... executions....
    Japanese terms.... hospital.... missions.... Tientsin convention....
    corruption.... von Mollendorf dismissed.... China takes over the
    customs.... Judge Denny engaged as adviser.... obstacles put in his
    way.... government English School.... mission schools.... Minister
    to the United States.... the “baby war.”


A few days after the flight of the Queen a rumor was circulated to the
effect that a large body of men belonging to the peddlar’s guild had
congregated outside the East Gate and were about to enter and loot the
city. A panic seized the people, and men, women and children might be
seen flying in all directions, some out into the neighboring country and
some up the steep sides of the surrounding mountains. The gates being
all locked the people forced the South Gate and the two West gates and
thus made good their escape. The king himself was affected by the rumor
and leaving the palace sought safety at the house of Yi Che-wan. But the
panic ceased as quickly as it had begun, and within three hours the
people were returning to their homes again. The extreme haste with which
the people tried to get away is illustrated in the case of one old man
who seized his little grand-son, as he supposed by the hand, and fled up
a mountain but found to his dismay that he had taken the boy by the leg
rather than by the hand and that the little fellow had succumbed to this
harsh treatment.

On the fifth of the seventh moon Count Inouye arrived in Chemulpo as
Japanese envoy and immediately sent word to have a high Korean official
sent to Chemulpo to discuss the situation. Kim Hong-jip was sent, and as
a result the Korean government was asked to pay an indemnity for the
lives of the Japanese who had been killed. It appears that besides the
Japanese military instructor five or six others had been killed, also a
considerable amount of Japanese money had been seized and destroyed at
the Japanese headquarters. The indemnity was placed at a million cash
apiece for the Japanese who had fallen. This amounted to something like
$2,500 each, a ridiculously small sum, but perhaps all the Japanese
thought they could get. The ex-Regent replied that if the Japanese
demanded this indemnity the Korean government would feel obliged to levy
a tax upon all Japanese merchants doing business in Korea. This was
practically a refusal to pay the indemnity and the envoy took his
departure.

Hardly had he left before a Chinese force 3,000 strong arrived at
Nam-yang off the town of Su-wŭn. They were commanded by Generals O
Chang-gyŭng, Wang Sŭk-ch’ang, Ma Kŭn-sang and by a lesser officer named
Wŭn Se-gă who was destined to play a leading part from this time on.
These troops came, it can hardly be doubted, at the request of the
conservative party and it was from this hour that that faction turned
unreservedly towards China and gave the latter occasion for beginning a
series of encroachments upon Korea’s practical independence which ended
in the China-Japan war. These troops encamped all about the capital,
some at Pă-o-gă 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 creating 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-gyŭng was told that the ex-Regent was at the
bottom of the emeute, 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-wŭn was in full control and invited him to visit
Yong-san on the river, where he said there was something 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-chang but was banished by
imperial decree to a place not far from Tientsin, where he was well
cared for until his return to Korea three years later.

After this _deus ex machina_ had spirited the ex-Regent away, an
official, So Sang-jo, memorialized the throne stating that the Queen was
still alive and ought to be brought back to the capital. It is said that
Yi Yŭng-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 Affairs. He invited P. G.
von Mollendorf, a member of the customs staff of China, to act as
adviser, and the Chinese generals Wang Sŭk-ch’ang and Ma Kŭn-sang were
made attaches 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
ratified. After this was done Gen. Foote left Korea to make preparations
for the establishment of a legation in Seoul.

Kim Ok-kyun, one of the leading members of the progressive party was
made “Whale Catching Commissioner” and departed for Japan to fit out an
expedition to carry on this lucrative government monopoly along the
Korean coast. He was selected for this work because of his intimate
acquaintance with the Japanese. It was a move looking toward the
development of Korea’s resources and was therefore in direct line with
the wishes and plans of the progressionists. At about the same time a
powder-mill was built outside the Northwest Gate, and a foreign mint was
erected inside the Little West Gate. This was done with the aid of
Japanese experts at a great and, as it proved, useless expense 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 Wŭn-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-Regent 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 Yŭng-ik was made special envoy to the United
States. His second was Hong Yŭng-sik. Among his suite were Sŭ Kwang-bom,
Pak Un and 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 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 Yŭng-ik
formed the head.

Late in the autumn the German representative arrived and concluded a
treaty 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 peninsula was
something as follows. The progressive and conservative elements in the
government were clearly differentiated. The innovations effected by the
progressives had raised in them the hope of being able to speedily
reorganize the government on a foreign basis, and the degree of their
success marked the increasing suspicion and opposition 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 interests. 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 both favorably inclined toward a progressive
policy but the latter was gradually being drawn back into line with the
conservative element of which the Min family was the leading
representative. Min Yŭng-ik was still true to his better instincts and
was an ardent supporter of the progressionist views but his return from
America was the sign for a vigorous attack upon his enlightened views by
the members of his family and he was being rapidly alienated from the
party whose interests he had tentatively espoused. It was not, however,
till later in the year that he broke away entirely from the progressive
following.

The spring of 1884 saw the arrival of Ensign Geo. C. Foulk as naval
attache of the American Legation. He rapidly became acquainted with the
leading officials and it was through his advice and aid that several
reformatory measures were promulgated. In the sixth moon the influence
of the progressive party secured the position of Mayor of Seoul for Pak
Yŭng-hyo, one of the most ardent 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 opposing faction. His next
move was in the direction of dress reform and he succeeded in putting
through a law prohibiting the use of the long sleeves, long hat-strings
and long girdle strings. In these efforts he was seconded to a certain
extent by Min Yŭng-ik, but at this point terminates the latter’s active
interest in reforms, and from about this time the progressive leaders
began to look 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 effect 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 returned to Seoul, among them
being Sŭ Chă 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
Yŭng-ik had practically taken his stand with the conservatives, and this
tended in no small measure to draw away from the progressives the
sympathy and support of the queen. It was becoming 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 his own government, which meant that he urged
on the conservative party in their opposition 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.

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
execute the leaders of the opposition. It must be remembered that at
that time, so far as the mass of the people was concerned, the
progressive 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 military 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 defeat with the
hope of ultimate success, the progressive leaders determined to have
recourse to the old method, and in so doing they made a fatal blunder.
Even had they been successful the means they employed would have fatally
discredited them in the eyes of all enlightened people.

It is generally accepted as true that the progressive leaders had a
distinct understanding with the Japanese. A Japanese man-of-war was on
the way to Chemulpo and was expected 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 secret,
for some of them talked about it in a very excited manner of the Naval
Attache of the American Legation and it came to the ears of the British
Consul-general, who, meeting Yun T’ă-jun on December fourth, asked him
if he had heard that there was trouble in the air. That gentleman who
was himself a strong conservative and a close friend of Min T’ă-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
progressionists and secure information if possible. He did so, and there
happened to meet one of the leaders of the progressive party and
intimated to him that 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 expected at Chemulpo had broken down and
could not come. 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 Yŭng-sik had been made
Post-master General 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. Scudder, the British Consul-general Aston, the Foreign
Office Adviser von Mollendorf, the Koreans Hong Yŭng-sik, Kim Ok-kyun,
Min Yŭng-ik, Pak Yŭng-ho, Sŭ Kwang-bom, Kim Hŭng-jip, Han Kyu-jik, Pak
Chöng-yang, O Yun-jung and a few others. The Japanese Minister had
excused himself 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 sounded. A house immediately in front of
the Post Office was in flames. Min Yŭng-ik, being one of the officials
whose 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
behind, and seeing what had happened he hastened forward, 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 attendance.

The die had now been cast and there was no retreat. The leaders of the
conspiracy, Kim Ok-kyun, Sŭ Kwang-bom, Pak Yŭng-hyo, Hong Yŭng-sik and
Sŭ Chă-pil, hastened immediately to the palace known to 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 submit. The little company hastened
along under the west wall of the palace until they came to a small gate
leading into Kyöng-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 Sŭ 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 Kyöng-u Palace,
for there they found the Japanese Minister and his interpreter already
in attendance and with them some two hundred troops drawn up in line.
When the king appeared they saluted. There were present also the twelve
students who had been in Japan. Word was immediately sent to Sin
Keui-sŭn, Pak Yŭng-hyo and O Yun-jung to come and receive office under
the reconstructed government. Within half an hour they were in
attendance, excepting O Yun-jung who happened to be away in the country
at the time.

Very early in the morning a royal messenger was sent with the
_myong-p‘a_ or “summoning tablet” to the houses of Min T‘ă-ho, Min
Yŭng-mok and Cho Ryŭng-ha, ordering them to appear at once before the
king. They complied and 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 summons was sent to Han Kyu-jik, Yi Cho-yun and Yun T‘ă
jŭn. They too were assassinated as soon as they entered the palace. A
eunuch named Yu Cha-hyŭn was also put to death. It is useless to ask by
whose hand these men fell. Whoever 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 consulted 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 Ryŭng-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
Chă-wŭn, escorted by the Japanese soldiers who surrounded him four deep.
Kim Ok-kyun 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 Chă wŭn and Hong Yŭng-sik were made Prime
Ministers, Pak Yŭng-hyo was made General-in chief. Su Kwang-bom was made
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kim Ok-kyun Minister of Finance and Sŭ
Chă-p‘il Lieutenant-general. The rest of the young men who had studied
in Japan were also given official position.

Before Yun T‘ă-jŭn, Yi Cho-yŭn and Han Kyu-jik went to the palace and
met their fate they sent word to Yuan 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 Japanese held
the king a prisoner in the palace and begged him to interfere. Yuan
replied by sending a messenger to the Japanese Minister demanding 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 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 the Sun-in Gate and
passing through the Ch‘ang-kyŭng Palace they approached the Po-t‘ong
Gate which gave entrance to the “Old Palace,” but they found it strongly
guarded by Japanese. 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 ministers 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
Japanese stationed themselves behind trees and guarded the place,
keeping up a lively fusillade with the Chinese who had followed them.
Meanwhile the Crown Prince, the Queen and the king’s foster-mother had
escaped in small closed chairs out the Sŭn-in Gate and had found refuge
in the house of Yi Pom-jin in the village of No-wŭn, 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. When the latter made
his presence known inside the gate these soldiers effected an entrance
and lifting His Majesty on 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 Yŭng-hyo, Kim Ok-kyun, Sŭ Kwang-bom, Sŭ
Chă-p‘il and a part of the company of military 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 excitement.

Meanwhile Hong Yŭng-sik, Pak Yŭng-kyo, Sin Keui-sŭn 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
Yŭng-sik and Pak Yŭng-kyo and hacked them to pieces before the king’s
eyes. Hong Yŭng-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 dispatched him on the spot. The seven
students tried to effect their escape but were pursued and killed, one
below Chong-no, and another at Yŭn-mot-kol.

No sooner had the morning dawned than the Japanese Minister 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
any 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-gă. 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 Pyŭng-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.
Sŭ 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 part in that work were arrested and
put to death. At the same time Yi Ch‘ang-gyu, Sŭ Chă-Ch‘ang, Kim
Pong-jung 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 regarding 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 Legation 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 founding of regular evangelistic and educational
work. In April the Chinese and Japanese signed the celebrated Tientsin
Convention by the terms of which they both agreed to evacuate Korea and
not to send troops there without previously notifying 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
occupation 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
government now deemed it safe to send him back to the peninsula, and Min
Chŭng-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 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 Yö-ju where the prefect had overstepped the dead-line
of the peoples’ patience. He was driven out and his _ajun_ or clerk was
killed. The prefect of Wŭn-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-Peking telegraph line by which Korea was for the
first time put into quick communication 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 between
Korean and Chinese territory along the Tu-man River.

A customs service had been begun by von Mollendorf on an independent
basis but in July of 1885 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 Hart the Inspector General of the Chinese
Customs. An entirely new staff of men was sent from China. H. N. Merrill
was made Chief Commissioner and Chemulpo, Fusan and Wŭnsan 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 1886 Yi To-jă, Sin Keui-sŭn, Hong Chin-yu, An
Chŭng-su and Kyöng Kwang-guk were banished to distant islands for
complicacy in the plot which led to the emeute of 1884.

In February the king by royal edict abolished the hereditary
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
Hung-chang, the Chinese Viceroy, Judge O. N. Denny, ex-Consul-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 forwarding 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 commissioner 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 disavowed responsibility and had
practically disclaimed suzerainty, now began to bolster up her claims
and to use every means to make good her pretensions. The dominant party
which had ridden into power on the shoulders of the Chinese put no
obstacles in the way and thus Judge Denny found himself 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 Chinese removed from Seoul the
others could be compelled to do likewise. The Chinese, therefore,
hoping, it is said, to secure 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 vested
rights of the Japanese in the capital as well as the interests 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 1881 he had suggested to the
government the advisability of founding a school for the instruction of
young Koreans in Western languages 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
daily. 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 Commissioner tried to uphold them in it but a vigorous protest
to Li Hung-chang righted the matter and the offenders were deported and
the Customs Service was vindicated.

It was in this year that the trading station Whe-ryŭng 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 “Hall 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 Chöng-yang, but in attempting to start
for America he was intercepted by the Chinese just outside the South
Gate and compelled to return. Two months later, however, he succeeded in
getting away. He was received in Washington with all the punctiliousness
due to a Minister from any sovereign power. This helped in a certain way
to forward Korea’s claim to independence but America’s well-known policy
of non-interferance in foreign matters largely neutralized its effect.

The year 1888 beheld what is known as the “Baby War.” The report was
spread abroad that the Europeans and Americans 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 used among
the foreign residents. The Koreans knew that the foreigners had no cows
and they could explain the use of milk only 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 would 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 uncontrolable desire to go outside. Once without the
door, the foreigner 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 suspicious looking men were set upon in
Hong-ch‘ŭn 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 language did much to calm
the excitement and the danger subsided 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....
    oppression.... retrogression.... excessive taxation....
    insurrections.... foreigners threatened.... on the verge of
    anarchy.... prefects punished.... revolt in Song-do.... Tong-hak
    manifesto.... government helpless.... Japan uneasy.... Kim Ok-kyun
    murdered.... revolting barbarity.... the fall of Chŭn-ju.... Korea
    asks China for help.... Chinese troops arrive.... Japanese
    movements.... the other powers interfere.... Japanese demands....
    proposed reforms.... the palace taken by the Japanese.... the
    sinking of the Kowshing.... war declared.... Korea breaks with
    China.... Japan promises to leave Shanghai alone.... Japanese in
    Shanghai.... battle of Asan.... battle of P’yŭng-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 proclamation 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-gyŭng Province. Cho
Pyŭng-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 Wŭn-san, and had received some $176,000 therefor. But when
the beans 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 beans rotted where they lay. The Japanese promptly took the matter
up and demanded an indemnity. The Foreign Office at once recognised the
validity of the claim but the king ordered Cho Pyŭng-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 likewise. As this was not enough to settle
the bill the government paid the balance.

This year saw the first embassy to Europe appointed in the person of Cho
Siu-heui but owing to his illness his place was filled by Pak Che-sun
who started on his mission but never got further than Hong-kong. It is
probable that it was through Chinese influence that he got no further.
The fourth moon of the year saw the death of the aged Dowager Queen Cho,
through whose influence the present king came to the throne. She was
buried with royal honors and the people assumed mourning for one year.

Serious difficulties arose in regard to the fisheries in the south. The
Japanese had been accorded the right to fish in Korean waters, but on
the island of Quelpart a curious custom prevails. The women do the
fishing. They enter the water entirely nude and gather shell-fish. All
males are prohibited by law from coming within sight of the
fishing-grounds. The Japanese fishing-boats, however, did not hesitate
to pass into these prohibited waters and as a result the Koreans were
deprived of the means of livelihood. The Korean government took the
reasonable ground that the Japanese in coming near the Korean coast
should observe the local customs and prejudices, but the Japanese
government refused to take any sentimental view of the question and
after a long discussion the Koreans failed to carry their point.

The year 1891 beheld the elevation to power of Min Yong-jun a man who
championed the most conservative principles of the retrogressive party
in power. The king’s son by the concubine Lady Kang was made Prince
Eui-wha. Corruption in official circles was accentuated by the lessening
of the term of office of country prefects thereby entailing fresh
burdens on the people, for they had to provide each prefect with money
to liquidate the debt he had incurred in purchasing the position. There
was an instant and loud outcry from all sides. The powers that be saw
that the limit of the people’s endurance had been passed and they
hastened to revoke the law. This same year a consulate was founded at
Tientsin and Yi Myŭng-sang became the first incumbent.

Another sign of retrogression was the execution of six men charged with
being accessory to the insurrection of 1882 although eleven years had
passed since that event.

The year 1892 passed without witnessing many events of special
importance, excepting that the state of things kept getting worse and
worse. It was a time during which the country was ripening for the great
disturbances of the following year. History shows that when the Korean
people are treated with anything like a fair degree of justice they are
loyal and peaceful. So long as the Korean is called upon to pay not more
than three or four times the legal rate of tax he will endure it quietly
and there will be no talk of seditious sects arising; but the people are
well aware that they themselves form the court of final appeal and when
all other means fail they are not slow to adopt any means of righting
their wrongs.

In 1893 Korea began to reap what she had sown in 1891 and 1892. Having
sown the wind she began to reap the whirlwind. The whole province of
P‘yŭng-an was in a ferment. Insurrections occurred in Kang-gye,
Song-ch‘ŭn, Ham-jong and in other parts of the province. But the
difficulty was not confined to the North. The sect called the Tong-hak
which had arisen in 1864 began to show its head in the south again.
Rumors began to multiply in Seoul that they were coming to the capital
in great numbers to drive out the Japanese and other foreigners. The
government despatched O Yun-jung, a civilian, to pacify them and for a
time quiet was preserved, but in March threatening plackards were
fastened to foreigners’ gates in Seoul inveighing against the Christian
religion and warning foreigners to leave the country at once. It was the
general feeling that although serious trouble was not likely to occur in
Seoul it would be well to be in a state of preparedness in case the
Tong-hak saw fit to put their words to the test of action.

At this time the Queen was extremely well-disposed toward that class of
female spiritual mediums called _mudang_, and one of them was elevated
to the rank of Princess. A Korean, An Hyo-je, who memorialised the king
against such practices, was overwhelmed with obloquy and was banished to
the island of Quelpart. Min Yong-jun had taken advantage of his high
position to add private profit to public usefulness and loud complaints
were heard on all sides against him and against others of the same name.
Insurrections of greater or less degree occurred in different parts of
the country and it seemed as if Korea were on the verge of anarchy. It
can hardly be gainsaid that this state of affairs was the legitimate
outcome of pro-Chinese agitation and was directly in line with
immemorial custom in China. Nothing could be truer than that Korea
needed reforming. The government found it necessary to deal with great
severity in some cases. Four prefects were taken to the center of the
city and publicly beaten and then banished. Even Min Yong-jun had to go
through the form of punishment in this public way, for the people of the
capital were so incensed against him that an insurrection seemed
imminent unless they were appeased. The Songdo people revolted against
the extortion that was practiced against them but they were overcome and
their ginseng was taken away from them by Kim Se-geui, the right hand
man of Min Yong-jun.

Late in the year the Tong-hak made a startling proclamation which they
secretly nailed to the gate of the governor’s yamen in Chŭn-ju. It
called upon all right-minded men to join in the march on the capital and
the extirpation of the foreigners. This seemed more tangible than the
former rumors and foreign men-of-war began to congregate at Chemulpo for
the protection of their nationals in Seoul. Hundreds of Japanese left
the city and hurried to Chemulpo for safety. A force of Korean infantry
marched southward to head off the revolutionists but they were easily
defeated and their arms and accoutrements fell into the hands of the
enemy.

It was quite evident that the Korean government was without the means or
the men to cope with such determined opposition. This deplorable state
of things was looked upon by Japan with some uneasiness. Korea seemed to
be coming more and more under Chinese influence and in the same
proportion her internal management became more corrupt. Japan regarded
Korea as an independent power and was determined to see that
independence upheld. This feeling on the part of Japan was sharply
accentuated when in the spring of 1894 a Korean detective, Hong Chong-u,
succeeded in gaining the confidence of Kim Ok-kyun who was living at
Tokyo as a political refugee. He was induced to accompany his betrayer
to Shanghai where, in a hotel, his betrayer shot him down in cold blood.
The Chinese government condoned the dastardly deed and sent the
assassin, together with the body of his victim, to Korea in a Chinese
gunboat. The body of Kim Ok-kyun was dismembered on April fourteenth in
a most brutal manner and the different portions of his body were sent
about the country as a warning to traitors. This lapse into the worst
excesses of the old regime opened the eyes of Japan to the actual
situation and gave her just the impetus she needed to take the strong
position which she did later. Soon after this the Tong-hak took the town
of Chŭn-ju and defeated all the government troops sent against them. The
governor of the province, Kim Mun-hyŭn, made his escape from the place.

The government had at last become convinced of its inability to cope
with its enemies single-handed and it determined to have recourse to the
dangerous policy of asking China to throw troops into the peninsula to
aid in putting down the Tong-hak uprising. China immediately complied
and on June sixth 1,500 Chinese troops were embarked at Tientsin and
were sent to Chemulpo under the escort of three gunboats.

It must be remembered that according to the third article of the
Tientsin Convention China and Japan each agreed not to send troops into
Korea without first notifying the other. In this case the Chinese failed
to notify the Japanese until after the departure of the troops and there
can be no doubt that at this point lies the strength of Japan’s
contention. When, later, the Chinese agreed to leave Korea
simultaneously with the Japanese the latter naturally refused. The
Chinese broke the convention first; they must leave first. But there
were other important points involved. Korea was rapidly losing all
semblance of independence and Japan was being jeopardized. The Chinese
abrogation of the treaty gave Japan just the excuse she wanted for
throwing troops into Korea and compelling those reforms which she
believed could be effected in no other way. No sooner was she informed
of China’s action than the Japanese Minister Otori, then on leave of
absence, was recalled, and sent immediately to Seoul with 400 marines,
arriving June ninth.

The Chinese force did not approach the capital but landed at Asan some
eighty miles south of Seoul. This force was soon augmented till it
amounted to 2,000 men. But Japan was not idle. By the twelfth of June
she had approximately 8,000 troops in Korea. Matters stood thus when the
news came that the Tong-hak, either frightened by the rumor of the
approach of a Chinese army or being pressed by the government troops,
had suddenly retired and the south was at peace. This tended to hasten a
crisis between the Chinese and Japanese. There was no longer any cause
why foreign troops should remain in the peninsula. The Chinese had come
to put down the Tong-hak and the Japanese had come ostensibly to protect
their nationals. Now that the Tong-haks had retired it did not take long
to discover the real reasons underlying the actions of the Japanese. On
June 16th she landed 3,000 more troops at Chemulpo and matters began to
look so serious in Seoul that all the Chinese residents hastened away
from the city and sought safety by embarking for China. About a thousand
people thus made a hasty exit from the country.

On June 25th the Russian, British, French and American representatives
in Seoul, in the interests of peace, jointly requested the Chinese and
Japanese to simultaneously withdraw. But the Chinese refused to go until
the Japanese did and the Japanese refused to go until reforms had been
introduced which would clear the political atmosphere and give some
semblance of truth to the fiction of Korean independence. The Korean
government was thrown into consternation when on June 28th the Japanese
Minister demanded a formal statement from Korea as to whether she were
an independent state or not. She replied that she was an independent
power.

Early in July the Japanese Minister handed the government a list of the
reforms which it deemed necessary. As they were all incorporated in the
reforms inaugurated a little later it is unnecessary to enumerate them
here. Fifteen thousand Japanese troops had by this time landed on Korean
soil and the capital was thoroughly invested. The prospects of peace
seemed to be growing smaller each day. The people of Seoul fled in large
numbers leaving their houses and all their effects except such as could
be carried on their backs. Such was the terror that the very name of the
Japanese inspired.

On July 20th the Japanese Minister sent an ultimatum to the king
complaining of the introduction of Chinese troops whose coming was
undeniably to protect a dependent state. He gave the king three days to
accept Japanese reforms. If within that time he did not accede to them
they would be enforced. On the night of the 22nd the king returned an
evasive answer and this decided the immediate policy of the Japanese. On
the following morning two battalions of Japanese troops, feigning to
start out for Asan, turned suddenly and marched on the palace. They met
with a certain weak show of resistance at the gates but easily forced
their way in and soon had the king in their care. Every member of the
Min faction was forthwith driven out and the Prince Tai-wŭn was called
in to assume a leading part in the management of the government.

By this time China and Japan were hurrying troops into the peninsula,
the former by way of Asan and the latter by Fusan and Chemulpo. On July
21st eleven steamers left Taku for Asan and the mouth of the Yalu with
8,000 troops. Those that came to Asan were ostensibly for the purpose of
aiding the government in the putting down of the Tong-hak. The Japanese
government was immediately apprised of the departure of the transports
from the Peiho and on July 25th the Akitsushima, Yoshino and Naniwa,
among the best of the Japanese navy, were ordered from Sasebo to Asan.
Two days later at six-thirty they encountered the Chinese men-of-war
Tsi-yuen and Kwang-ki in the vicinity of P’ung Island off Asan.

The Japanese were not aware of the sudden turn which affairs had taken
in Seoul but the Chinese were, and they expected the Japanese to take
the offensive. The Japanese became aware of the situation only when they
found the Chinese did not salute and that they were cleared for action.
The Japanese speedily put themselves in fighting trim. As the channel
narrowed and the vessels came within range the Chinese opened fire and
were answered with terrible effect by the Japanese. The Kwang-ki was
speedily disabled and beached. The Tsi-yuen, her bow-gun being disabled,
withdrew toward Wei-hai-wei. It is disputed as to which side began
firing first but it is quite immaterial. The fact that the Chinese knew
what had occurred at Seoul, that they were cleared for action and that
they failed to salute would seem to throw the burden of proof upon them.

While the Yoshino was pursuing the Tsi yuen, two more ships appeared on
the horizon. They proved to be the Chinese dispatch boat Tsao-kiang and
the British steamer Kowshing carrying about 1,500 Chinese troops. The
Akitsushima took the former in charge and the Naniwa took the latter.
The Naniwa signalled the transport to follow her, but the Chinese on
board of her would not let the English Captain obey. Two parleys were
held but the Chinese officers were obdurate and would not listen to
reason. When it became apparent that the Chinese were bent upon
self-destruction the Naniwa turned her battery upon her and blew her up.
More than a thousand of the Chinese troops were drowned. A large number
were picked up and held as prisoners of war. The sinking of the Kowshing
has been judged as hasty but the situation was a peculiar one. The
Chinese would neither surrender nor follow. They were plentifully
supplied with small arms and could keep a boarding party at bay
effectually. The better judgment of second thought proves that the
Japanese were fully justified in their action.

The results of the P’ung incident became apparent at once. It made
neutrals more careful, it proved that the sea was dangerous ground for
the Chinese, it kept over a thousand men from landing at Asan and it
proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that Japan was fully in earnest and
would fight to the bitter end. Moreover it changed the whole plan of
campaign for China. The Tong-hak were forgotten and the co-operation of
the force at the Yalu and that at Asan and a joint attack upon the
Japanese was the plan determined upon by the Chinese.

The Japanese forces in and about Seoul were now ready for a land
campaign. It was wisely determined to eliminate from the problem all the
Chinese forces south of Seoul before advancing against those in the
north along the Ta-dong River. The army in the north was being watched
by mounted spies. For the time being there was no danger to be
apprehended from these troops in the north but the two thousand at Asan,
if reinforced, might advance on the capital and make trouble unless they
were dispersed once and for all. Accordingly on the twenty-fifth of July
Gen. Oshima started for Asan with the greater part of the troops in
Seoul. The march was rapid. On the way the news of the P’ung incident
was received and applauded. The vicinity of Asan was reached in three
days. As the Japanese approached, the Chinese retreated a short distance
to a point which they could easily fortify. On the twenty-eighth the
Japanese army arrived within five miles of this position. A night attack
was determined upon by Gen. Oshima. It was not explained to the army
until midnight when it was aroused and informed of the intended
movement. The advance was made in two divisions. The right wing, four
companies of infantry and one of engineers under Lieutenant-colonel
Tadeka, sought the enemy’s left. The left wing under Gen. Oshima, and
comprising nine companies of infantry, one battalion of artillery and
one company of cavalry, swept forward in the dark to attack the flank
and rear of the enemy’s right.

It would have been a difficult undertaking even by daylight but in the
dark it was fourfold more trying. The Chinese outposts in the
neighboring village gave the signal, and, posted among the houses,
offered a stubborn resistance. The assaulting column was repulsed and
was compelled to lie down to hold the ground already taken. At last
however the Chinese had to withdraw. They crowded slowly out into the
neighboring, rice fields.

This preliminary struggle was followed by a brief breathing space. It
had lasted less than an hour but had proved a stiff encounter. At five
the Japanese attached the redoubts. The left wing now came into action
and under the smoke of the artillery the troops stormed the forts at
either extremity. In half an hour the Chinese were dislodged and the
rising sun looked down upon its flaming image on Japanese banners flying
victoriously from the Chinese ramparts.

The escape of the Chinese general, Yeh Chi-chao has given ground for the
alleged Chinese victory at A-san. It often happened during the Japan
China war that, unless the Chinese force was almost utterly annihilated,
they claimed a victory. It is still a puzzle to many, however, that in
the Asan skirmish as well as in the battle of the Yalu the victorious
Japanese permitted even a remnant of the enemy to escape. Although
thoroughly defeated Gen. Yeh brought a remnant of his force around the
city of Seoul and arrived safety at P’yŭng-yang, undoubtedly a difficult
and brilliant movement.

This first battle won by Japan in a foreign land, for a period of three
centuries, illustrated two points. Not only had the Japanese soldiers
learned their lesson from instructors but the officers proved themselves
worthy of the steadfastness of the men under them. One man out of every
twelve killed was an officer. Nor, when elated by the victory, did the
Japanese forget the ends for which they were working. They did not
undertake any further subjugation of the south, not even attempting to
exterminate the Tong-haks. It was the Chinese in the peninsula with whom
they were measuring swords. The forces at A-san being destroyed or
dispersed and danger from that quarter was consequently removed, and the
banners of rising sun turned northward.

The northern division of the Chinese army, which had been landed on
Korean soil near the mouth of the Yalu River and had advanced southward
from that point, had now held the city of P’yŭng-yang for upwards of a
month. In anticipation of a Japanese advance they had fortified it as
best they knew how, but as is usual with Chinese they had forgotten to
guard their rear. On three occasions in this war they were attacked in
their unprotected rear and utterly routed.

During the second week of August the commander of the Japanese fleet,
Admiral Ito, with twenty men-of-war took a cruise into the mouth of the
Gulf of Pechili. The feint had its desired effect, though wholly
misunderstood by the world at large. It attracted the attention of the
Chinese and transport after transport made its way safely across from
Japan to Korea with its complement of troops.

On August tenth Major Ichinohe with the vanguard started northward from
Seoul. It was the first step toward Peking. Songdo was reached the
following day. The next few days were spent in reconnoitering the
Ta-dong River, but this part retired eventually to Song-do and there
awaited reinforcements.

On the nineteenth Lieutenant-general Nodzu arrived from Japan with the
reinforcements for which Gen. Oshima had been growing impatient. The
latter immediately forwarded a detachment by another route toward
P’yŭng-yang. This was ordered to occupy an important position known as
Sak Pass and was reinforced on September eighth by a battalion of
infantry and a company of artillery. This became known as the Sak
Division.

On the twenty-third Gen. Oshima set out from Seoul for the north with a
Mixed Brigade. This was the name given to the Japanese army which
participated in all the operations in the peninsula, so called because
it was made up of various portions of the grand army. On the
twenty-fifth Oshima joined the forces at Song-do. A few days before this
Gen. Tadzumi had landed at Chemulpo and had been put in command of the
Sak Division. On the twenty-sixth another division under Gen. Sato
landed at Wun-san on the east coast nearly opposite P’yŭng-yang, and was
immediately put under the command of Gen. Nodzu. This is best known as
the Wun-san (Gensan) Division.

These three bodies of troops slowly converged upon P’yŭng-yang by three
routes, and made as if they were about to surround the entire city. But
the commanders knew the weak point in Chinese tactics too well to begin
trying new methods.

P’yŭng-yang was fortified beyond the expectations of the Japanese and it
should have held out indefinitely. The Ta-dong River flows before its
walls giving it defense on the south. On the north stands a high
eminence called Peony Mountain. To the west there are no special natural
defenses. The plan of attack was to take advantage of the proverbial
Chinese weakness, make a feint in the front but send the main body of
troops around the city and attack in the rear. The capture of
P’yŭng-yang was very much like that of Quebec. The plan of attack was
the same in each case. The Japanese made a feint in front of the town as
Wolfe did from the shores of Levis, and sent the real attacking party
around behind the town. The capture of Peony Mountain like the capture
of the Heights of Abraham determined the struggle.

On the morning of the fifteenth the Japanese army was in position. The
Sak and Gensan divisions lay before Peony and the other five heights to
the north of the city. The Mixed Brigade lay beyond the river along the
Seoul road which led by six fortified redoubts to the bridge of boats
before the River Gate of the town. The main body had crossed the river
at Iron Island below the city and under cover of the cannonading of the
Mixed Brigade had crept nearer and nearer the enemy from the west—the
rear.

At half past four on the morning of the fifteenth a terrific cannonading
was begun. Under cover of this the Sak Division took the fort nearest
the river, on the northeast of the city. At the same time the Gensan
Division took by assault the fort at the other end, on the north. From
its vantage ground the Gensan Division planted its guns and poured a
destructive fire on Peony Mountain. The Chinese commander being killed,
the defenders became discouraged and demoralized and this strategic
position was carried by the Sak Division by a single assault. The guns
of the enemy, being turned upon the city from the summit of this hill,
determined the contest. The main body trained its guns on the fifteen
redoubts which guarded the western approach and thus cut off all hope of
retreat from the city.

While the Japanese were having it all their own way on the north and
west the Mixed Brigade across the river was suffering severely. Five
Chinese forts guarded this main approach to P’yŭng-yang. The Japanese
troops, though ordered to make merely a feint, were carried away by the
inspiration of the hour and rashly attempted to capture these forts by
assault, but they were greatly outnumbered and were compelled at last to
retire having lost heavily. But the fall of Peony Mountain settled the
day, and that night the Chinese soldiers, following in the wake of their
despicable commanders sought safety in flight toward the Yalu by such
avenues as the Japanese left open for them. It is generally believed
that the Japanese purposely left open a loophole of escape, not caring
to have so many prisoners on their hands.

The feint made by Admiral Ito during the first week in August has been
mentioned. During the P’yŭng-yang campaign the Japanese fleet had been
patrolling the Yellow Sea about the Korean archipelego. Finally the last
company of Japanese troops were landed on Korean soil and the order was
given, “On to Peking.” Never was an invasion undertaken with such relish
since the days when, three centuries before, the hordes of Hideyoshi had
landed on the coast of Korea and raised this same cry. The outcome now
was destined to be far different from that of the former invasion.
Marshall Yamagata arriving in Korea on Sept. 12th with 10,000
reinforcements began the new campaign as Commander-in-chief.

During the P’yŭng-yang engagement the Japanese fleet had been stationed
at the mouth of the Ta-dong River, forty miles from the scene of the
battle, ready to be used in any emergency. On the sixteenth, the
campaign in Korea being settled by the flight of the Chinese army toward
the Yalu, the main and first flying squadrons weighed anchor and
departed for the supposed scene of Chinese activity at the mouth of the
Yalu, where it was believed that Chinese troops were being landed. Two
days previous 4,000 Chinese troops had left Taku to reinforce the new
army, being gathered on the banks of the Yalu for an invasion of Korea.
The transports which contained this detachment were protected by six
cruisers and four torpedo boats and were reinforced at Talien Bay by the
Peiyang squadron. On the sixteenth the transports landed their burden
and on the following day departed again for Taku, attended, as on the
trip over, by six cruisers and the Peiho squadron.

On the same morning the Japanese fleet crossed the path of the returning
transports. At nine o’clock the smoke of the Chinese fleet was first
discovered and about twelve the fleet came into full view. The battle
opened with the main and flying squadrons leading in a single line
across the track of the Chinese fleet, which was advancing at half the
pace set by the enemy. This formation, the ironclads in the center and
the weakest ships on either wing, had been assumed as soon as it
appeared that the Japanese line was coming head on as if to pierce the
Chinese fleet. At a range of 5,200 meters the battle was opened by the
starboard barbette of the iron-clad Ting-yeun. The whole fleet soon
joined in the fight but the Japanese did not answer for some minutes. As
the Yoshino came on, the course was changed and the enemy was passed
from left to right. The comparatively helpless ships of the right flank
received the severest fire. The two old cruisers on the extreme right,
which were of wood and very inflamable, at once took fire and were
thenceforth useless. The Yang-wei took fire at the outset and retired.
The Chao-yung was not more fortunate and sank about half past two, the
battle having begun at one P.M. Japanese time.

Two of the twelve Chinese ships were thus disposed of at once. Two more,
the Tsi-yuen and Kwang-chia, deserted the battle immediately on various
excuses and departed for Port Arthur.

When the Japanese line had passed the Chinese fleet the flying squadron
had begun to port, when the two Chinese ships, which until then had
remained in the mouth of the Yalu, were seen making their way toward the
remainder of the fleet. Instantly the flying squadron began to starboard
and the oncoming vessels prudently retired. These two ships, the
Kwan-ping and Ping-yuen, not having come into action, and two, the
Yang-wei and Chao-yung, having retired from the battle in flames, and
two, the Tsi-yuen and Kwan-chia, having deserted, we find six ships of
23,000 tons bearing the brunt of the battle.

When the flying squadron began to starboard, the main squadron, which
was following in fine order, kept to port. The feint against the
Kwan-ping and Ping-yuen proving successful, the flying squadron kept to
starboard and followed the main squadron. Soon, however, it was seen
that the slower vessels of the main squadron were being left exposed and
Admiral Ito signalled for the flying squadron to starboard again and
intervene between the distressed vessels and the enemy. Thus the main
and flying squadrons moved about the Chinese fleet in opposite
directions, the former on the inner track.

This second round proved a severe one for the Chinese fleet. The contest
now assumed a desperate phase. During the opening of the struggle
attention on either side had been paid to the enemy’s weaker ships. The
two slow and defenseless ships of the Japanese fleet, the Akagi and
Saikio, caused the Admiral much trouble, if indeed they did not alter
entirely his plan of attack. That he brought them out of the battle at
all is a great credit to his ability to manoeuver at short notice and
under fire. It is, however, inexplicable that such ships were allowed to
follow the main squadron into the engagement.

By two o’clock the ranks of the two struggling fleets were considerably
thinned out and the battle became simplified though more desperate than
ever, as the main squadron began to close in on the powerful iron-clads
and as the flying squadron separated the remainder of the Chinese fleet
from their only hope of safety and scattered them broadcast over the
sea. The Akagi was now out of the fight and, under the protection of the
flying squadron, was making for the Ta-dong River. The Hiyei, also
disabled and protected by the main squadron, was making for the same
destination. The Saikio having come as it were from the very jaws of
death, when attempting to attack the burning Yang-wei, lay between the
object of her deadly mission and the fleets, watching how the battle
fared.

On the Chinese side there was far more destruction, because of the
larger number of slow and inflamable ships. Of the total, two, the
Tsi-yuen and Kwan-chia, had long since deserted as we have already said.
The Yang-wei and Chao-yung were both desperately burning. The Chih-yuen,
having passed from the Admiral’s wing to the right wing, had attempted
the most ridiculous feat of attacking the flying squadron as the latter
come to relieve the Akagi and Saikio. Being severely hit in her
foolhardy course, her commander, evidently as revenge for going under,
attempted to ram. The guns of the fleet were instantly brought to bear
upon the ill-starred ship and, riddled with the fire of the heavy and
machine guns alike, she went under, flinging her crew into the air as
she listed the last time. A similar fate overtook the Ping-yuen upon
whom the flying squadron bore. A terrible fire from the Yoshino riddled
her burning hulk and she too, went down like a monstrous bonfire into
the tawny waters of Yellow Sea.

Meanwhile the struggle between the two iron-clads and the Japanese main
squadron had been raging until both the contestants were nearly
exhausted. The former, knowing well that in them rested China’s only
hope on the sea, and equally desperate because of the cowardliness and
incompetency displayed throughout the battle by their own comrades as
well as by the determined wrath of their ancient foe, fought to their
last charge save three with undaunted heroism. Nothing in the conflict
which raged so many hours could have equalled the sight of the crews of
the two battered iron-clads, their ammunition far spent, meeting the
last onslaught of the main squadron as it bore down upon them for the
last time on that memorable afternoon, with perfect calm and a purpose
to go down with the ships when the ammunition gave out.

The last onslaught was made and met, but before another could be made
night had begun to fall and the Japanese, themselves not far from
exhaustion, deemed it wise to withdraw. This battle has been called a
Japanese victory and probably with reason, though according to the
dictum of modern naval warfare a decided Japanese victory could have
been achieved only by capturing or disabling the two Chinese iron-clads
which were the soul of the Chinese fleet. Technically the failure to do
this made it a drawn battle, each side retiring unconquered. But there
is every reason to believe that this battle, in reality, decided the
Japanese supremacy over the Yellow Sea.

The land battle at P’yŭng-yang and the naval battle off the mouth of the
Yalu opened the eyes of the world to the fact that Japan was a power to
be reckoned with. The incident at P‘ung Island and the battle of Asan
had proved nothing except the fact that Japan was fully prepared to go
to extremities and that the war was actually begun. It is probable that
a majority of intelligent people thought the Japanese would fall an easy
victim to the Chinese forces. On the sea China had several war-vessels
that far out-matched anything which Japan possessed and on land she had
unlimited population from which to recruit her armies. She had enjoyed
the assistance of many foreign military and naval men in getting her
army and navy into shape, and in addition to this she had the sympathy
of Great Britain in the struggle. It was freely predicted that the
superior quickness of the Japanese might bring her certain small
victories at first but that as time went on and China really awoke to
the seriousness of the situation a Chinese army would be put in the
field which would eventually drive the Japanese off the mainland. The
Japanese invasion of 1592 was cited to show that though momentarily
successful, the Japanese would be ultimately defeated.

The battles of P’yŭng-yang and Yalu changed all this. In the first place
it was discovered that the Chinese, with equal or superior numbers,
could not hold a strongly defensive position against their assailants.
The Chinese had everything in their favor so far as natural surroundings
went. They lacked the one essential and it was the demonstration of this
lack at P’yŭng-yang that made the world begin to doubt whether the
Chinese would really do what was expected of them.

The battle of the Yalu, while technically a drawn battle, proved that
the Japanese could stand up against superior ships and hold them down to
a tie game. The Chinese ammunition was exhausted and if darkness had not
come on the Japanese would have discovered this and the big Chinese
vessels would have been captured. From that day the progress of the
Japanese was an unbroken series of victories. The myth of China’s
strength was shattered and the whole history of the Far East, if not of
the world, entered upon a new and unexpected phase.

We have already mentioned that 4,000 Chinese troops had been landed at
the mouth of the Yalu to reinforce the army that had been gathered there
for the invasion of Korea. That invasion was destined not to be carried
out, for the routed Chinese army from P’yŭng-yang came streaming north
in headlong flight and the Japanese followed them up just fast enough to
worry them but without making it necessary to encumber themselves with
prisoners. It shows how perfectly the Japanese had gauged the calibre of
the Chinese that they should have driven them on in this contemptuous
manner. When the Japanese arrived at the Yalu they found that the
Chinese had occupied an advantageous position on the further side and
would attempt to block the advance but it was too late to stem the tide
of Japanese enthusiasm. The passage was made with ease, the Chinese
quickly put to flight and the war left Korean territory, not to return.

The subsequent operations of war are of surpassing interest to the
general historian but they cannot be called a part of Korean history, so
we shall be compelled to leave them and go back to the peninsula, where
the results of Japan’s victories were to be keenly felt.




                             Chapter XVIII.

A great Crisis.... condition of affairs in Seoul.... flight of
    Chinese.... Tă-wŭn-kun summoned to palace.... new Cabinet....
    tribulations of Min Yong-jun.... Commission on Reforms appointed....
    names of Government offices changed.... list of proposed reforms....
    the currency.... new coinage.... revenue reforms.... a national
    bank.... standardization of weights and measures.... past abuses
    rectified.... foreign advisers.


The year 1894 marked the greatest crisis in Korean history since the
seventh century, when the kingdom of Silla gained control of the whole
peninsula. Considering the fact that so many of the old abuses survived
after the year 1894, the above statement may seem extreme but the facts
of the case warrant it. From the early years of the Christian era Korea
had been moulded by Chinese ideas and had been dominated by her
influence. There was no time from the very first when Korea did not
consider China her suzerain. In a sense this was natural and right.
Korea had received from China an immense number of the products of
civilization. Literature, art, science, government, religion—they had
all been practically borrowed from China. It is a thing to be marvelled
at that Korea through all these centuries has preserved any semblance of
individualism. She never would have done so if there had not been a
radical and ineffacable difference between the Chinese and the Korean
which no amount of moulding could remove.

Never once during all those centuries did Korea attempt or desire to
throw off the garment of her vassalage. And even in this crisis of 1894
it was not thrown off through any wish of the Korean government or
people but only through hard necessity. There had been no radical change
in the mental attitude of the great mass of Koreans which demanded the
severing of the tie which bound them to China and even at this year of
grace 1904, there is every reason to believe that a great majority of
Koreans would elect to go back under the mild and almost nominal control
of China. The change is not one of attitude on the part of the Korean
but it is the fact that the war proved to the world the supineness of
China and made it forever impossible to revive her claim to suzerainty
over Korea or even, it is to be feared, to hold together her own
unwieldy bulk. The outward influence of China upon Korea has ceased and
other influences have been at work which are slowly drawing her away
from her servile obedience to Chinese ideals. This was the first
necessary step to the final emancipation of Korea and her national
regeneration. It should be carefully noted that from the earliest
centuries the Chinese implanted in the Korean no genuine seed of
civilization and progress but simply unloaded upon her some finished
products of her civilization. These the Koreans swallowed whole without
question, unmindful of the fact that by far the greater part of them
were wholly unsuited to the Korean temperament. The result was that as
time went on these Chinese impositions were overlaid with a pure Korean
product just as the little leaden Buddhas that are thrust into the shell
of the pearl oyster become coated over with mother-o’pearl. Buddhism
came from China but Korea has so mingled with it her native fetichism
and animism that it is something radically different from the original
stock.

Now this intrinsic freedom of the Korean from Chinese ideals argued
strongly in favor of the belief that from the year 1894 Korea would
gradually cast off even the mental vassalage and would begin to work
along individual lines. This could happen only in case the individualism
of the Korean had outlasted the deadening effects of Chinese
predominance. There are many evidences that this individualism has
survived but it must be confessed that it is in a crippled condition and
all but unable to walk alone. It is to the process and method of this
great transformation in Korean conditions that we must now turn.

Up to the time when the Japanese began active operations in Seoul by the
seizure of the palace, Korea considered herself safe under the aegis of
China. Had she not secured the murder of Kim Ok-kyun and the return of
his body on a Chinese vessel for the purpose of wreaking upon it the old
time vengeance? Had she not invited Chinese troops into the country in
direct contravention of the agreement between China and Japan? In every
way and by every means Korea had expressed her contempt of Japanese
power and of Japanese interests. Under the hideously corrupt regime of
such men as Min Yong-jun the country had been going from bad to worse
until the people found it utterly impossible to endure the oppression
any longer. The provinces were in a state of anarchy and Yuan Shih-kei,
the unscrupulous Chinese “Resident” in Seoul, stood smilingly by and
watched the tragedy without suggesting any remedy for the disease that
was destroying the country, but ready to increase the prestige of China
in the peninsula by offering troops with which to crush the starving
malcontents in the provinces. The condition of things was about as bad
as it could be, and it was at this psychological moment that Japan
lifted her hand and at a single blow tumbled the Chinese house of cards
about their heads.

By the twenty-first of July the situation in Seoul had become unbearable
for the Chinese. There was a small Chinese force at Asan but Seoul was
occupied by a strong Japanese force and every day the outbreak of
hostilities had become more imminent. On the early morning of the 20th
Yuan Shih-kei, in a mean little sedan chair, and entirely without
escort, made his escape from the city and hastened to Chemulpo, leaving
all his nationals to shift for themselves. His flight became known
almost immediately and there was a general scramble on the part of the
Chinese merchants and other Chinese to escape from the town. When the
Chinese Minister left Seoul their interests were put in the hands of the
British representative.

On the morning of the 25th the palace was taken and the city walls
manned by the Japanese. Min Yong-jun, who was largely responsible for
the parlous condition of the government, fled that night to the country,
and found refuge in the town of Ch’un-ch’ŭn about sixty miles east of
Seoul.

As soon as the Japanese had secured the palace Minister Otori sought the
presence of the king and assured him of his personal safety and that of
the Royal family. At the desire of His Majesty the ex-Regent, the
Tă-wŭn-kun was invited to the palace to participate in the discussion of
plans for the future, and to allay by his presence the natural fear of
the king. It was understood by common consent that the former officials
had all resigned and it was necessary to form a new government. Kim Hong
jip was summoned to act as Prime Minister. He was a man of strong
personality and of progressive tendencies, altogether a valuable man for
the emergency since he had the entire confidence of the Japanese and was
a man of the highest standing in Korea. Other leading men of progressive
tendencies were called in and a government was formed for temporary
purposes until matters could he put on a firmer footing. Min Yongijun,
Min Eung-sik, Min Hyungisik, Min Ch’i-hön, and Kim Se-geui were declared
banished to distant points. No attempt was made to send and arrest Min
Yong-jun but the members of the “Righteous Army” in the country seized
him and charged him with being the main author of the disturbances, and
beat him nearly to death. An enormous amount of money that he had
carried off with him was divided up and made away with by his followers.
He barely escaped with his life and fled to China where be gave the
Chinese advice as to the method of reasserting their authority in the
peninsula.

At this same time the government recalled Yi To-jă, Sin Keui-sŭn, Yun
Ung-yŭl and others who had been in banishment for ten years because of
their espousal of the liberal cause in 1884. The prison doors were
opened and innocent and guilty alike received amnesty.

The government was not yet ready to publish its full list of reforms,
based upon the demands already made by the Japanese Minister, but the
king immediately declared that as it was necessary to secure good men to
administer the Government in Seoul and in the provinces, the demarcation
between the upper and lower classes was a thing of the past and all men
of all grades were eligible to office, and at the same time he declared
the abolition of the great political parties and forbade the
apportionment of government offices along party lines. The different
leading offices under the government were put in the hands of the best
men that were available and it is probable that these men formed the
best government that Korea was capable of at the time. Some of the names
were as follows: Kim Hong-jip, Pak Chöng-yang, Kim Yun-sik, Kim
Chong-han, Cho Heui-yŭn, Yi Yun-yong, Kim Ka-jin, An Kyŭng-su, Chöng
Kyöng-wŭn, Pak Chun-yang, Yi Wŭn-göng Kim Ha-gu, Kwŭn Yŭng-jin. Yu
Kil-jun, Kim Ha-yŭng, Yi Eung-ik, Sö Sang jip. Among these names many
will be recognized as among the best that Korea has produced in recent
times.

On the very next day after the Japanese took the palace and gave a new
direction to governmental affairs a special High Commission was called
together by the king to consider the matter of reconstructing the
government along the new lines. It was composed partly of the the
members the Cabinet and partly of other distinguished men. It was well
understood that these men were to carry out the ideas of the Japanese
authorities. Their deliberations continued for a period of forty-one
days during which time they completed a scheme for a new government,
along the following lines.

Before this time there had been seven great governmental departments,
namely the _Eui-jung-bu_ or State Department, _Yi-jo_ or Home
Department, _Ho-jo_ or Finance Department, Yi-jo or Ceremonial
Department, _Pyŭng-jo_ or War Department, _Hyŭng-jo_ or Law Department,
_Kong-jo_ or Department of Public Works. Besides these there were the
two _Po-ch‘ŭng_ or Police offices, the _Eui-gom-bu_ or Supreme Court and
other lesser offices. In the new regime the seven Departments above
named were all retained excepting the Ceremonial Department and in place
of this they founded for the first time in Korean history a genuine
Educational Department coördinate in dignity with any other of the great
Departments. Besides this the Department of Public Works was broadened
to include Agriculture and Commerce. A Police Bureau was formed to take
the place of the former two Poch’ŭngs.

They also prepared a list of needed reforms in the government.

(1) From this time all Korean documents shall be dated from the year of
the present Dynasty. (This was the 503rd year, as the Dynasty was
founded in 1392).

(2) Korean treaties with China shall be revised and ministers shall be
sent to the various treaty powers.

(3) Class distinctions in Korea shall be wiped out and men shall be
judged solely on their merits in the matter of government office.

(4) The distinction between civil and military rank, in favor of the
former, shall be done away and they shall stand on an equality.

(5) The family and relatives of a criminal shall not be liable to arrest
or punishment for his crime.

(6) The son by a concubine shall be eligible for the succession.

(7) Men shall attain the age of twenty and women the age of sixteen
before marriage.

(8) Widows shall be allowed to remarry without loss of social standing.

(9) All slaves are declared free and the sale or purchase of human
beings is abolished.

(10) The privilege of memorial is extended to the general public. Anyone
shall be at liberty to address the throne through a memorial.

(11) The long sleeves on coats, whether court dress or common are
abolished. But officials shall be authorized to wear the sleeveless coat
over the ordinary one. Soldiers’ uniforms shall continue as at present
for a time but may be changed gradually to the foreign style.

(12) The people shall be given one month in which to prepare for these
changes.

(13) The Police Bureau shall be an adjunct of the Home Department.

(14) Officials shall not ride on the streets in the high one-wheeled
chair nor shall they be accompanied by a large retinue, nor shall the
attendants call out for people to clear the way.

(15) No one shall be obliged to dismount when passing an official nor to
show any other sign of servility.

(16) The Prime Minister shall have only four attendants, the Vice Prime
Minister and all the other ministers of state shall have three, the
vice-ministers shall have two and the secretaries one.

(17) Even eunuchs, if they are men of ability, shall be eligible for
office.

(18) The law that relatives may not sue each other at law shall be
abrogated except for very near relatives, and feuds between families
shall be given up.

(19) All debts of long standing shall be cancelled (such as debts
contracted by a father who is now dead or by relatives).

(20) There shall be but eleven official grades (in place of the eighteen
which there had been formerly).

(21) There shall be no longer any outcast class in Korea but butchers,
contortionists, acrobats, dancing girls, sorceresses and exorcists shall
all be considered equal to others before the law.

(22) Even after holding high office a man may engage in business or
other occupation, at his pleasure.

(23) The matter of the national examination shall be reserved for fuller
discussion.

It is not necessary to go into an analysis of these proposed reforms.
They speak for themselves; some of them were necessary and others were
the reverse. But they form a striking commentary on the condition of
affairs in Korea at the time. Whatever may have been the defects of this
plan it was an honest and strenuous attempt on the part of the best
statesmen Korea could produce and it promised much. If its terms could
have been carried out it would have proved an inestimable blessing to
the people of the peninsula, but one can easily see that some of the
proposals struck at the very fabric of Korean society. For instance the
attempt to make acrobats, dancing-girls and _mudang_ the social equals
of reputable people was of course absurd. The submerged classes cannot
be enfranchised by a stroke of the pen. What Korea needed then and needs
still is education. This alone will make fundamental reforms possible.

Early in August the currency of the country received serious attention.
Foreign money was in use in the open ports but the general currency of
the country consisted of two kinds of perforated “cash,” one called
_yŭp_, each piece of which was called one cash, and the other called
_tang-o_ or the “five fitter.” These represented five cash each. The
_yŭp_ was the old, genuine and universally recognized money of the
country. It was only in Seoul, the open ports and on the great
thoroughfares near Seoul that the _tang-o_ circulated. This _tang-o_ was
a debased coin made in 1883 and several succeeding years. At first each
of the _tang-o_ exchanged for five of the _yŭp_ but within a few months
the _tang-o_ fell to an inevitable discount which increased year by year
from 1883 until 1894, when it was found that they were practically the
same. Successive issues of the _yŭp_ had deteriorated the quality and
size of the coin until it was worth only a fifth of its face value. For
this reason the Government declared in August that the _yŭp_ and the
_tang-o_ were on a par and that no distinction should be made between
them. The fair thing would have been for the Government to redeem the
debased _tang-o_ at its face value but of course no one could expect
this under the circumstances. It had proved an indirect tax upon the
people equal to four fifths its face value.

At the same time the national financiers determined to place in the
hands of the people a foreign style coinage, and soon a one cent copper
piece, a nickel five cent piece and silver coins of twenty cent and one
dollar denominations, which had been in process of manufacture since
1901, were issued. A few of them had been issued a year or two before
but had not been well received. Now they passed current and were used,
but it was soon found that the silver coins were being bought up and
hoarded by wealthy people who placed no faith in banks, and soon not a
single native silver piece could be found anywhere.

It was the intention of the Commission to withdraw from circulation all
the old cash and replace it with the foreign style money. How absurd
this was will be seen at a glance. There is nothing else that people are
so timid about as their money and the bare idea of making such a
sweeping change was preposterous, but the Japanese were behind all these
reforms and, while their intentions were of the best, they made the
serious mistake in this as in other attempted reforms of hurrying things
too fast.

Another important problem attacked by the Reform Commission was that of
the revenue. It had always been customary to pay taxes in rice, linen,
beans, cotton and a hundred other commodities, but it was decided now to
change all this and have the revenue turned into cash in the country and
sent up to the capital. In order to do this it was necessary to have
banking facilities in the provinces and it was planned to establish a
great national bank with branches all over the country.

An attempt was also made to effect an inspection and standardization of
all the weights and measures in the country.

It was ordered that every house in the land should have its owner’s name
and occupation and the number of his family posted in a conspicuous
place on his front gate. This was to facilitate the work of postal,
police and census officials and agents.

One of the reforms that was carried out was the sending of students
abroad to acquire an education.

It was decreed that all land or houses that had been illegally seized by
unscrupulous people in power during the past ten years should be
restored to their rightful owners. Many officials in Seoul, well known
in foreign circles, lost large fractions of their wealth because of this
decree.

The policy was adopted of engaging foreign advisers for the various
great Departments of State and as a result of this a number of
foreigners were employed. Some of them had already been some time in the
service of the government.




                              Chapter XIX.

The Ex-Regent.... The new Cabinet.... the _Tong-hak_ pacified....
    The Tă-wŭn-kun retires.... Japan declares war.... Korea
    abrogates all treaties with China.... Pak Yong-hyo returns....
    his memorial.... he is pardoned.... Chinese excesses in the
    north.... new Korean-Japanese treaty.... Marquis Saionji visits
    Seoul...._Tong-hak_ in arms again.... Prince Eui-wha goes to
    Japan.... Count Inouye comes.... amnesty to offenders of
    1884.... Dr. Jaisohn comes.... Army reform.... the privy
    Council.... the King’s Oath.


The Tă-wŭn-kun, the former Regent, was now a prominent factor in the
government and the well known strength of his personality did much to
give stability to the new regime. The Queen necessarily retired from
active participation in politics for the time being and there was
apparent promise of better days to come. The new cabinet chosen at this
time was a curious mixture of progressive and conservative men. It was
composed of Kim Hong-jip, Kim Yun-sik, O Yun-jung, Pak Chöng-yang and An
Kyöng-su representing the progressive wing and Min Yong-dal, Sŭ
Chŭng-sun, Yi Kyu-wŭn, Yun Yong-gu and Um Se-yŭng representing the
conservative wing. Among the secondary officials some were progressive
and some conservative. This apparent blending of the various factions
was a hopeful sign outwardly but it had no real significance. All were
appointed by permission of the Japanese and they worked together only
because it was useless to oppose. But the same intrinsic hostility
remained and only needed opportunity to manifest itself. It was the calm
of repression rather than of genuine reconciliation, and it helped to
prove that there is no hope for good government in Korea by Koreans
until the country has secured the benefit of genuine education.

These reforms that were proposed had the apparent sanction of His
Majesty, as is proved by the fact that after their proposal he called
all the high officials to the palace and made them a speech in which he
referred to this as a splendid opportunity to make a radical and
beneficent change in the government, and laid it as a sacred duty upon
the officials to carry out the reforms, and he declared that he, too,
would become a new king and do his part in bringing about the desired
renovation of the land.

In spite of the previous declaration that the _tong-hak_ uprising was at
an end there was much unrest especially in the south and the _tong-hak_
were really as ready as ever to take the offensive. For this reason the
king sent a high official to Kyüng-sang Province to make an attempt at
pacification and told the people that the trouble was because of his own
lack of virtue and begged them to be patient a little longer until the
reforms could be carried out. The people were pleased, especially with
the promise that slavery should be discontinued and that the barriers
between the classes should be broken down. The fact that this effort on
the part of the king was entirely successful shows that the _tong-hak_
were not anarchists or banditti but were merely desperate citizens who
required some assurance that certain changes would be made so that life
would be bearable.

A word is necessary as to the attitude of the Tă-wŭn-kun toward these
reforms. He had been called to the palace and put in a responsible
advisory position by the Japanese but he was not the sort of man to hold
an empty honor or to pose as a mere figure-head. Several of the proposed
reforms were distasteful to him but when he found that his objections
carried no weight he retired to his private house in disgust. It took
him only a few weeks to discover that his elevation had been merely a
formality.

The month of August was an anxious one in Korea. The battle of Asan had
been fought on the 28th and 29th of July and it was known that there
would be a decisive battle fought at P‘yŭng Yang in the near future.
Foreign opinion was divided as to the probabilities, some people
believing that the Japanese would sweep every thing before them and
others being equally sure that the Chinese would win.

But in spite of the state of anxiety and unrest the month of August saw
some important results accomplished in civil matters. The Commission on
Reforms were at work on their scheme until about the tenth of the month.
It was on August 1st that Japan formally declared war on China and a few
days later troops began to pour in by way of Chemulpo and join those
already here.

It was on August 16 that there occurred the formal act of casting off
Chinese suzerainty. On that day the Korean government declared all
treaties hitherto signed between itself and China to be abrogated and
all political connection between the two countries to be at an end. The
Japanese Minister had already on June 28th demanded from the government
an expression of its attitude toward China and had received the answer
that Korea considered herself an independent power. This was now
followed up by a definite diplomatic rupture between the two and,
probably forever, the question of Chinese political predominance in the
peninsula was disposed of.

It was about the 20th of August that Pak Yong-hyo, the refugee in Japan
since his participation in the attempted _coup_ of 1884, was brought to
Seoul _incognito_ by the Japanese. He had long since been declared an
arch-traitor by the Korean government, his house had been razed to the
ground and his family dispersed. For almost ten years he had enjoyed
asylum in Japan and had been treated with great consideration by the
Japanese who rightly saw in him a man of strong personality, settled
convictions and a genuine loyalty to the best interests of his native
land. His worst enemies would probably grant that he falls below none in
his desire to see Korea prosperous and enlightened. It was the methods
adopted that made all the trouble and drove him into exile.

At first he remained in hiding in the Japanese quarter but from that
point of vantage he sent a long memorial to the King relating the fact
of his high ancestry and the fact that it was purely in the interests of
Korea that he participated in the _emeute_ of 1884. He had been however,
unsuccessful and was branded as a traitor, compelled to fly the country
and see his house broken up. Now that the country had fallen upon such
critical times and the King had determined to effect a radical change in
affairs it was a cause of utmost rejoicing to him and he could not help
coming back even though it cost his life. He begged to see the King’s
face once more, to be allowed to collect and bury the bones of his
relatives and be given back his life which had been forfeited. If then
the King should wish to use him again he would be at the service of His
Majesty.

To this plea the King listened, whether from preference or out of
consideration for the Japanese, and replied that the petitioner was
forgiven and might resume his former status as a Korean citizen. A
number of memorials immediately poured into the palace urging that Pak
Yong-hyo be executed as a traitor, but as the decree of pardon had
already gone forth these memorials were ignored.

The fall of P’yŭng-yang before the victorious Japanese on September
15-17 and the flight of the Chinese inflicted great sufferings upon the
Koreans in the north. The Chinese followed their usual medieval tactics
and pillaged right and left. The local magistrates and governors fled to
places of safety and the people survived the best they could. The
government hastened to send a high official to the north to calm the
excitement and counteract the disintegrating effects of the Chinese
flight. At the same time the perfect orderliness of the Japanese army
began to be understood by the people, and between these two agencies the
northern province speedily settled down to its former status. The city
of P’yŭng-yang had been almost deserted by its 60,000 or more of people
and it was many months before the town resumed its normal status.

As August drew to an end the Japanese deemed the time ripe for
completing the purposed union with Korea and on the 26th there appeared
a provisional treaty between the two countries, which was not an
offensive and defensive alliance but one in which Japan guaranteed the
independence of Korea and Korea engaged to look to Japan for advice and
to aid her in every possible way. The nature of this agreement was
practically the same as that made between the same countries at the
opening of the Japan-Russia War in 1904. In it Japan once more
emphasized the independence of Korea which she had consistently
championed ever since the Japanese-Korean treaty was signed in 1876.

The month of September opened with the arrival of Marquis Saionji with
presents and a friendly message from the Emperor of Japan. The visit was
merely a complimentary one and seems to have been devoid of great
political significance.

It was evident that Japanese influence was overwhelmingly predominant in
Seoul and as the government had committed itself to the policy of
selecting advisers for its various departments there was reason to
believe that most of these places would be filled by Japanese and that
they would so predominate numerically as to seriously impair the
autonomy of the government. As foreign powers had concluded treaties
with Korea on the basis of equality, this possibility became a matter of
concern to them and through their representatives here they protested
against the employment of an undue number of assistants from any one
nationality. Whether there ever was any such danger as was anticipated
we cannot say, but this preventive measure was successful at any rate
and the apparent independence of the government was never shaken.

The month of October saw the Chinese driven across the Yalu and order
restored in a measure on Korean soil, but it also saw the resurgence of
the _tong-hak_ in the south. These malcontents had been temporarily
cowed by the coming of Chinese and Japanese troops but now they seem to
have discovered that the Chinese and Japanese were too busy with each
other to attend to the civil troubles in the interior of Korea. So they
broke out much worse than ever and the principal anxiety of the month in
Seoul was the putting down of the serious insurrection. Sin Chŭng-heui,
the highest Korean general, was sent south to Kong-ju with three
thousand Korean troops to meet a strong body of _tong-hak_ who were
reported to be marching on Seoul. A few days later there was a series of
fights at various points throughout the province, notably at Kong-ju,
Ung-jin, U-gum Hill, Yi-in village, Hyo Harbor, Sö-san and Hong-ju.
About two hundred Japanese troops aided the government forces and at
every point the government troops were successful. Some of the fights
were very severe. It is probable that there were some 20,000 _tong-hak_
in all, but they were a mere rabble compared with the well armed and at
least partially drilled government troops. A large number of the
_tong-hak_ leaders were captured and brought to Seoul. Many were also
executed in the country, for the generals were given the power of life
and death for the time being.

Having been thus dispersed the _tong-hak_ moved southward and took their
stand at various places in Chulla and southern Ch’ung-ch’ŭng Provinces.
Their main point was the town of No-sŭng where for eleven days they
continued to revile the government and put up placards defying the
government troops. The Korean troops moved on them and soon had them on
the retreat again. Other encounters took place at various points but by
this time the leading spirits in the _tong-hak_ movement had been
captured. Among these were Chŭn Nok-tu and Kim Kă-nam. They were brought
to Seoul and the latter was executed and the former is said to have been
taken to Japan, but there is some doubt as to his fate. Two _tong-hak_
leaders named Kim Chöng-hyŭn and Au Seung-gwan were beheaded at Su-wŭn
and their heads were raised high on poles and the people told to take
warning from them. This put an end to the _tong-hak_ except for some
small sporadic movements which amounted to nothing. But the _tong-hak_,
like the poor, we have ever with us,—_in posse_.

Prince Eui-wha was sent to Tokyo to return the visit of Marquis Saionji
and present the compliments of the King to the Emperor of Japan.

The Japanese government evidently realized the necessity of having an
exceptionally strong representation in Seoul, for Count Inouye arrived
on the 20th of October and assumed the duties of minister. He had more
than once helped to straighten out matters in Korea and he had the
confidence of the king and of the people as well. No better appointment
could have been made under the circumstances.

The end of October was signalized by the murder of Kim Hak-u, the
vice-Minister of Law, who was one of the strongest and best men that the
reform movement had brought to the front. He was stabbed at night in his
house.

The month of November witnessed some progress in the reconstruction of
the government. The pardon of Pak Yong-hyo had been the sign for a
general amnesty to all those who had forfeited their rights in 1884. Sŭ
Chă-p‘il, known better as Dr. Philip Jaisohn, who had been many years in
America and had become a naturalized citizen of that country, had come
back to Korea quietly and was awaiting an opportunity to make himself
useful. Sŭ Kwang-böm had also come back from exile in Japan and others
who had been kept sedulously in the background because of their liberal
tendencies all came forward and received recognition by the king and
were put again in line of political preferment. So rapid was the
progress of this movement that by the middle of December the king found
himself moved to form a new cabinet composed almost entirely of men who
had been foremost in the attempt of 1884, as the following list will
show. The Ministers were Kim Hong-jip, Yu Kil-jun, Pak Yong-hyo, Sŭ
Kwang-böm, Cho Heui-yŭn, Sin Keui-sŭn, Um Se-yŭng, O Yun-jung, Kim
Yun-sik, Pak Chong-yang and Yi Cha-myn. At the same time Dr. Jaisohn was
employed as adviser to the Privy Council for a term of ten years.

This era of change also affected the Korean Army. The various regiments
in Seoul, numbering five, had heretofore been under wholly independent
and separate commands but now they were all placed in the hands of the
War Department, their names were changed and many men were dropped
because of age and younger men were appointed in their places. The
tactics that had been taught were given up and the Japanese tactics were
introduced instead.

We have referred to the Privy Council. This was an advisory board or
council composed of some forty men whose business it was to take up and
discuss all important government matters, and it was supposed to have a
sort of veto power. It exercised this power for about three years but
lost it when the Independence Club was overthrown. The entire personnel
of this Council was progressive and pro-Japanese. There can be no
question that the machinery was now all complete whereby Korea could be
governed properly. There was no great obstacle in the way. All that was
needed was that no serious blunders should be made and that the Japanese
should act firmly but wisely. At the same time there was a strong
pressure being exerted behind the scenes in the opposite direction and,
as we shall see, not without effect. And so the year 1894 came to a
close and the new year opened with great promise of better things to
come. On the fifth of the new year the king went to the Ancestral Temple
and in the most solemn manner took an oath to carry out the reforms
already determined upon and partly inaugurated. It is unnecessary to
give this oath in full but only to enumerate the principal points. After
a long preamble in which the king declares his intention to uphold the
government as an independent one he guarantees specifically that—

(1) All thought of dependence on China shall be put away.

(2) The line of succession and rank in the Royal Family shall be clearly
marked.

(3) The King shall attend to public business in person and in
consultation with his ministers, and the Queen shall not interfere in
government matters.

(4) The affairs of the Royal Household shall be kept quite distinct from
the general government.

(5) The duties of Ministers and other officials shall be clearly
defined.

(6) Taxes shall be regulated by law and additions to them are forbidden.

(7) The assessment, collection and disbursement of the national revenue
shall be in the hands of the Finance Department.

(8) The expenses of the Royal Household shall be reduced, that the
example may become a law to the other departments.

(9) An annual budget shall be made out so as to regulate the management
of the revenue.

(10) The laws governing local officials shall be speedily revised in
order that their various functions may be differentiated.

(11) Intelligent young men shall be sent to foreign countries to study.

(12) A method for the instruction of military officers and a mode of
enlistment for soldiers shall be determined upon.

(13) Civil and criminal law must be clearly defined and strictly adhered
to and imprisonment and fines in excess of the law are prohibited.

(14) Men shall be employed irrespective of their origin. Ability alone
shall determine a man’s eligibility whether in Seoul or in the country.




                              Chapter XX.

The ex-Regent’s influence.... The queen’s influence.... continued
    reforms.... King adopts new title.... cruel punishments
    abolished.... Arch demolished.... Yun Chi-ho.... Korea astonished at
    Japanese victory over Chinese.... Buddhist monks allowed in
    Seoul.... Yi Chun-yong banished.... Independence Day.... Pak
    Yong-hyo.... again banished.... American Mining concession.... Count
    Inouye retires.... cholera.... official change.... Educational
    reform.... arrival of Viscount Miura.... Japanese policy.... Miura
    directly implicated in murder of queen.... Inouye not concerned....
    Japanese Government ignorant of Miura’s plot.


The year 1895 was big with history. Its events created a strong and
lasting impression upon the whole Korean people and it is in the light
of these events that the whole subsequent history of the country must be
interpreted. The year opened in apparent prosperity. The king had taken
oath to govern according to enlightened principles and had exhorted his
officials to adhere strictly to the reform program, protesting that if
he himself failed to do so it would be an offence against Heaven. The
Tă-wŭn-gun had retired from public life but as his son, the brother of
the king, was Minister of the Household and his grandson Yi Chun-yong
held a position near the king, there can be no doubt that in a private
way the Tă-wŭn-gun exercised fully as much influence as he had done
while in active office. It is necessary to bear in mind that the enmity
of the queen against the ex-Regent extended to the sons of the latter
and in spite of the terms of the king’s oath constant pressure was
brought to bear upon the king from that direction. Whatever be the
reason, we find that in January Yi Chun-yong was sent to Japan as Korean
Minister, an act that was really in favor of the anti-Regent faction
since it temporarily removed one of the chief actors from the immediate
stage.

As the king had sworn to pay personal attention to the details of
government it was deemed advisable to remove the cabinet meeting place
to the palace itself. Whether this was in accord with the spirit of the
reforms may be doubted, for it worked directly for the complete
centralization of power which later caused a reversal of the whole
governmental policy.

The progress of the so-called reforms went on apace. The outside, the
integuments, were changed, whatever may or may not have happened in the
inner mind. The long baggy sleeves which had distinguished the true
_yang-ban_ were done away and the side-openings of the long coats were
sewed up. The width of the hat brims was curtailed and other minor
changes were effected. A salutary change was made by putting power into
the hands of the ministers of state to carry out the work of their
respective offices according to law without referring every thing to the
central government, excepting in very important cases where it affected
other departments. The immemorial customs regarding the salutations of
inferiors to superiors and _vice versa_ were largely done away and more
democratic rules formulated. The Home Minister undertook to correct many
abuses in the country, to ferret out cases where cultivated land
returned no revenue, because of the indirection of the _ajŭns_, and by
this means the revenue of the government was very largely augmented.

At the advice of the leading members of the Cabinet His Majesty adopted
the title of _Ta-gun-ju Pye-ha_ ([Korean]) [Korean] in place of his
former title of _Chon-ha_ ([Korean]). This elevated him to a position
somewhat higher than that of _Wang_ ([Korean]) but still much lower than
the title of emperor which he later assumed. All other members of the
Royal Family were likewise elevated one degree.

At this time a radical change was made in the manner of punishing
criminals. The cruel forms of execution and of torture which had always
prevailed were done away and more humane methods instituted.
Decapitation was done away and strangulation substituted. This worked no
relief for the criminal but the horrible spectacle of public
decapitation was relegated to the past.

A large number of men who had been banished or who had fled the country
because of connection with the troubles of 1884 and other years, were
pardoned and their relatives were again recognized as eligible to
office.

On the native New Year which occurred in February the king issued an
important edict saying that office should be given not only to men of
noble blood but to others of good character and attainments, and he
ordered that such men be selected and sent up from the country as
candidates for official position. This was very pleasing to the country
people and was hailed as a genuine sign of political renovation. At the
same time the ancient arch outside the West Gate was demolished. This
arch was the only remaining sign of Chinese suzerainty and its
demolition broke the last visible thread which bound Korea to her great
patron. We say visible advisedly, for there can be no doubt that the
intrinsic loyalty of the vast majority of Koreans to China was still
practically unimpaired.

On February thirteenth Yun Chi-ho returned from many years’ sojourn in
America and China where he had gained a genuine insight into truly
enlightened government, and his return to Korea would have been a most
happy augury had there been enough enlightened sentiment in the country
to form a basis for genuine as distinguished from superficial reform.

Meanwhile the Japanese were carrying everything before them in Manchuria
and the end had now come. The Korean government therefore sent a special
envoy to the Japanese headquarters on the field at Hai-cheng,
congratulating them upon their brilliant successes. Soon after this the
war terminated with the treaty of Shimonoseki by the terms of which
China ceded to Japan southern Manchuria, and the island of Formosa,
abjured all interest in Korea and paid an enormous indemnity. The result
astonished the Koreans but so strong was the feeling in favor of China
that very many still clung to the idea that China would pay the money
and then go to work preparing for a much greater struggle with the
victorious Japanese.

Since the year 1456 Buddhist monks had been forbidden to enter Seoul.
This was part of the general policy of this dynasty to give Buddhism no
political foothold. Now the Japanese secured from the government a
reinstatement of the Buddhists in their original position and for the
first time in four centuries and a half the mendicant monk with his
wooden gong and rosary begged on the streets of Seoul.

In April a great misfortune overtook the house of the ex-Regent. His
grandson, Yi Chun-yong, nephew to the king, was arrested and charged
with having connived with _tonghaks_ and others to depose the king and
assume the reins of power. It was not shown that Yi Chun-yong had been a
main mover in the scheme or that he had even favored the idea, but the
very fact that his name had been used in such a connection was enough to
send him into banishment on the island of Kyo-dong, off Kang-wha. Four
other men connected with this affair were executed. This was a severe
blow to the ex-Regent and did much to bring him to the point which made
possible the terrible events of the following October.

The sixth of June witnessed a great celebration in Seoul, which has gone
down in history as Independence Day. A fete was held in the “Old Palace”
which exceeded in brilliancy any similar demonstration since the opening
of Korea to foreign relations.

It was inevitable that, from the moment of his arrival in Korea, Pok
Yong-hyo should be at sword’s points with the Tă-wŭn-gun, for the
returned refugee represented the radical wing of the reform party, which
the ex-Regent had always bitterly opposed; and besides the presence of
such a strong man would necessarily subtract from the influence of the
aged but autocratic prince. It is probable that the Japanese brought Pak
Yong-hyo back to Korea under the impression that he would prove a
willing instrument in their hands, but they soon discovered that he had
ideas and opinions of his own and that he was working rather for Korea
than for Japan. He failed to fall in with some of the plans which would
help the Japanese but at the expense of Korea and, in fine, he became
something of an embarrassment to his former benefactors. Meanwhile the
king and queen were both attached to him, and this for several reasons.
He was a near relative of the king and would have no cause for desiring
a change in the status of the reigning house; in the second place he was
a determined enemy of the Tă-wŭn-gun, and in the third place he was sure
to work against a too liberal policy toward the Japanese. This attitude
of increasing friendliness between him and the Royal family was a
further cause of uneasiness to the Japanese, although Count Inouye
himself had done much to win the good will of the queen. Finally Pak
Yong-hyo had won the lasting gratitude of the king and queen by exposing
the machinations of Yi Chun-yong.

The ex-Regent was determined that Pak Yong-hyo should be gotten out of
the way. To this end he concocted a scheme which, with the probable
sanction of the Japanese, seemed to promise success. He laid before the
king certain grave charges of treason against Pak, which, though not
believed either by the king or the queen, convinced them that it would
be impossible to shield him from probable destruction; for the people
still called him a traitor, the ex-Regent would spare no pains to see
him put out of the way and it was evident that the Japanese would not
take any strong measures to protect him. The queen called him up and
advised him to make good his escape before action could be taken on the
charge of treason. He complied and forthwith escaped again to Japan. He
had not as yet broken with the Japanese and they were doubtless glad to
help him away. It was early in July that he passed off the stage,
perhaps for ever, and thus there were lost to Korea the services of one
of the most genuinely patriotic Koreans of modern times. If the Japanese
could have determinedly put the ex-Regent in the background and allowed
Pak Yong-hyo to work out his plans on terms of amity with the Royal
family all the evils which followed might easily have been averted. It
was this act, as we believe, of allowing the ex-Regent to carry out his
scheme of personal revenge that caused the whole trouble and there never
was a time, before or since, when brighter hopes for Korea were more
ruthlessly sacrificed.

But progressive measures kept on apace and during July the government
issued new and important mining, quarantine and army regulations and
organized a domestic postal system. A valuable mining concession in the
district of Un-san in the north was granted to an American syndicate, a
transaction that has proved the most profitable, at least to the
foreigner, of any attempt to open up the resources of Korea.

Near the end of the month Korea suffered the misfortune of seeing Count
Inouye retire from the Legation in Seoul and return to Japan. Never did
the Japanese have such need of a strong and upright man in Seoul and
never had a Japanese Minister in Seoul opportunity for greater
distinction. There are those who believe that he despaired of
accomplishing anything so long as the two opposing factions in Seoul
were led by personalities so strong and so implacable in their mutual
hatred as the queen and the ex-Regent. It is not unlikely that he felt
that until one or other of these should be permanently removed from the
field of action there could be no real opportunity for the renovation of
Korea. This by no means implies that he desired such removal to be
effected by forcible means but it is not unnatural to suppose that he
must have given expression to the conviction as to the futility of doing
anything under existing conditions in the peninsula. There have been
some who have believed that the Japanese authorities in Tokyo determined
upon the removal of the obstacle in Seoul by any means in their power.
Subsequent events gave some color to this surmise but we cannot and do
not believe that the Japanese government was a party to the plot which
ended in the tragedy of the following October but that a fanatical and
injudicious Japanese Minister to Korea privately gave his sanction to an
act which the Japanese government would have sternly forbidden had they
been consulted.

[Illustration: _THE AMERICAN MINES AT TA-BA-WI._]

The summer of 1895 witnessed the first serious epidemic of cholera in
Korea since the far more destructive one of 1886. Special plague
hospitals were erected in Seoul and in spite of their temporary and
inadequate nature the foreign protestant missionaries of Seoul, who were
in charge, accomplished very much in the way of local relief. It is
impossible to say what the total mortality in Seoul was, to say nothing
of the country at large, but it is probable that ten or twelve thousand
people died in the Capital before the subsidence of the epidemic.

The forces which worked to the expulsion of Pok Yong-hyo also operated
to curtail the term of banishment of Yi Chun-yung who was recalled from
Kyo-dong Island on August 6th, but even the ex-Regent could not secure
the residence of his grandson in Seoul, so he sent the young man to
Japan, since which time he has been numbered with the political refugees
and has never been able to think of returning to his native land. After
the departure of Count Inouye, who had enjoyed the partial confidence of
the queen, the ex-Regent’s prospects improved to such an extent that
several of the ministers of state who were well affected toward Her
Majesty were removed and others substituted; especially significant was
the removal of the king’s brother Yi Chŭ-myŭn from the Ministry of the
Household. As he was the son of the ex-Regent, this would seem to be a
defeat for that faction but, in fact, his removal from that position was
a necessary step to the carrying out of the dangerous plot which was
already being formulated in the mind of the queen’s determined enemy.

This summer, which witnessed so many curious contradictions, was further
distinguished by a determined effort in the line of education. The
Educational Department projected a Normal school and a beginning was
made. One hundred and seventeen young men were sent to study in Japan
and other measures of lesser importance were carried out.

On the first day of September Viscount Miura arrived from Japan to
assume the duties of Minister. Over a month had elapsed since the
departure of Count Inouye. The Viscount was an enthusiastic Buddhist and
evidently belonged to the old rather than the new Japan. He was, withal,
a strenuous man and is said to have considered the settlement of the
Korean difficulties merely a matter of prompt and vigorous action. At
the time of his arrival the ex-Regent was living at his summer-house
near the river and from the very first he was in close relations with
the new Japanese Minister. It was quite evident that the latter had
espoused the cause of the ex-Regent as against the queen and that
instead of trying to close the breach which was constantly widening
between these two powerful personages he was preparing to make use of
this estrangement to further what he supposed to be the interests of
Japan. Min Yong-whan, the most powerful of the queen’s friends, was sent
to America as Minister; and everything was ready for the _coup_ which
had undoubtedly been determined upon. From the mass of conflicting
evidence, charge and counter charge, it is difficult to escape the
following conclusion. There were two different policies held by
political parties in Japan as to the best way to handle the Korean
question; one was what we may call the radical policy which advocated
strong measures and the instant and complete overthrow of all opposition
to the will of Japan in the peninsula; the other, or conservative,
policy looked to the attainment of the same object by gradual and
pacific means. It seems that the failure of Count Inouye to accomplish
anything definite in the line of a settlement of internal dissentions at
Seoul resulted in the appointment of Viscount Miura as an exponent of
the extreme radical policy. He was supposed to do prompt work but what
that work would be perhaps neither he nor his constituency saw clearly
before his arrival on the scene. It would be going much too far to say
that the assassination of the queen was once thought of, and yet it is
more than likely that those most conversant with conditions in Seoul
felt that by some means or other her enormous influence must be
permanently checked and that affairs must be so managed that she should
have nothing more to do in the handling of questions of state. How this
was to be accomplished neither Miura nor any of his advisers knew until
he came and looked over the field.

For this reason it is easy to see how the ex-Regent would be the first
man in Korea with whom the Japanese Minister would wish to consult, and
it is certain that the Tă-wŭn-gun would have but one word to say as to
the solution of the difficulty. His experience of twenty years had
convinced him that there was only one way to accomplish the object which
the Minister had in view and while Viscount Miura naturally shrunk from
adopting that course it would seem he too was at last convinced that it
was the only feasible plan. That he actually advised it in the first
instance we do not believe, but that he fell in with the plan which
others suggested and which they offered to carry through without his
personal intervention there can be no doubt whatever. Nor can there be
any question as to where the responsibility for the tragedy rests; not
with the Japanese Government, surely, except in-so-far as its
appointment of such a man to the difficult post of Minister to Seoul may
reflect upon its wisdom.

It has sometimes been hinted that Count Inouye upon his return to Japan
advocated some such policy as that which was carried out by Marquis
Miura but there is nothing to indicate that this is other than a libel,
for the whole career of that able statesman gives the lie to such
suspicions and his dispatches to his government show the very opposite
spirit from that intimated in these slanderous reports. For instance we
have the extract from his reports read in the Japanese Parliament in
which he says:

  On one occasion the queen observed to me, “It was a matter of extreme
  regret to me that the overtures made by me toward Japan were rejected.
  The Tă-wŭn-gun, on the other hand, who showed his unfriendliness
  toward Japan, was assisted by the Japanese Minister to rise in power.”
  In reply to this I gave as far as I could an explanation of these
  things to the queen and after allaying her suspicions I further
  explained that it was the true and sincere desire of the emperor and
  government of Japan to place the independence of Korea on a firm basis
  and in the meantime to strengthen the Royal House of Korea. In the
  event of any member of the Royal family, or indeed any Korean,
  attempting treason against the Royal House, I gave the assurance that
  the Japanese Government would not fail to protect the Royal House even
  by force of arms.

This unequivocal promise of protection was made by Count Inouye just
before his departure for Japan and we do not and cannot believe that he
expressed anything but his honest sentiments and those of the government
that was back of him. It has been urged that the action of the Japanese
Government in acquitting Viscount Miura in the face of the evidence
given proves the complicity of that government in the outrage and its
previous knowledge that it was to be perpetrated, but this does not
necessarily follow. That government was doubtless unwilling to stultify
itself by acknowledging that its accredited minister to Korea was
actually guilty of the crime indicated in the charge. This attempt to
evade the responsibility was of course futile. There was no escape from
the dilemma in which that government was placed but the deduction that
it was _particeps criminis_ in the events of October 8th is
unbelievable. It was the work of Viscount Miura and of his staff and of
them alone, as is shown by the following extract from the Decision of
the Japanese Court of Preliminary Inquiry, which court sat in Hiroshima
in January 1896.




                              Chapter XXI.

Decision of Hiroshima Court on queen’s assassination.... Miura’s
    estimate of situation.... Approached by Tă-wŭn-gun.... pledges
    required of ex-Regent.... Miura’s instructions.... preparations
    complete.... The rendezvous at the Tă-wŭn-gun’s summer place.... a
    final exhortation.... joining the Korean troops outside the West
    Gate.... The move on the palace.... the entrance.... Royal quarters
    surrounded.... The search for the queen.... the assassination....
    Viscount Miura arrives on the scene.... an audience.... other
    representatives arrive and see the king.... Miura disclaims any
    connection with the plot.... degradation of the queen.... foreign
    representatives refuse to recognize it.... Miura recalled.


We append the decision of the Hiroshima Court in full as it gives the
fullest and probably the most nearly correct account of the events which
led up to the assassination of the queen. It reads as follows:—

“Okamoto Ryunosuke, Adviser to the Korean Departments of War and the
Household, etc.

“Miura Goro, Vicount, Sho Sammi, First class order, Lieutenant General,
etc.

“Sugimura Fukashi, Sho Rokui, First Secretary of Legation, and
forty-five others.

“Having, in compliance with the request of the Public Procurator
conducted preliminary examinations in the case of murder and sedition
brought against the above-mentioned Okamoto Ryunosuke and forty-seven
others and that of wilful homicide brought against Hirayama Iwawo, we
find as follows:—

“The accused, Miura Goro, assumed his official duties as His Imperial
Majesty’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Seoul on
Sept. 1st, 1895. According to his observations, things in Korea were
tending in the wrong direction. The court was daily growing more and
more arbitrary, and attempting wanton interferance with the conduct of
state affairs. Disorder and confusion were in this way introduced into
the system of administration that had just been reorganized under the
guidance and advice of the Imperial government. The court went so far in
turning its face upon Japan that a project was mooted for disbanding the
_Kunrentai_ troops, drilled by Japanese officers, and for punishing
their officers. Moreover a report came to the knowledge of the said
Miura that the court had under contemplation a scheme for usurping all
political power by degrading some and killing others of the Cabinet
Ministers suspected of devotion to the cause of progress and
independence.

“Under these circumstances he was greatly perturbed inasmuch as he
thought that the attitude assumed by the court not only showed
remarkable ingratitude toward this country which had spent labor and
money for Korea, but was also calculated to thwart the work of internal
reform and jeopardize the independence of the kingdom. The policy
pursued by the court was consequently considered to be injurious to
Korea, as well as prejudicial in no small degree to the interests of
this country. The accused felt it to be of urgent importance to apply an
effective remedy to this state of affairs, so as on the one hand to
secure the independence of the Korean kingdom and on the other to
maintain the prestige of this empire in that country. While thoughts
like these agitated his mind, he was secretly approached by the
Tă-wŭn-gun with a request for assistance, the Prince being indignant at
the untoward turn that events were taking and having determined to
undertake the reform of the court and thus discharge his duty of
advising the king. The accused then held at the legation a conference
with Sugimura Fukashi and Okamoto Ryunosuke on the 3rd of October. The
decision arrived at was that assistance should be rendered to the
Tă-wŭn-gun’s entrance into the palace by making use of the Japanese
drilled Korean soldiers who being hated by the court felt themselves in
danger, and of the young men who deeply lamented the course of events,
and also by causing the Japanese troops stationed in Seoul to offer
their support to the enterprise. It was further resolved that this
opportunity should be availed of for taking the life of the queen, who
exercised overwhelming influence in the court. They at the same time
thought it necessary to provide against the possible danger of the
Tă-wŭn-gun’s interfering with the conduct of State affairs in future—an
interferance that might prove of a more evil character than that which
it was now sought to overturn. To this end, a document containing
pledges required of the Ta-wun-gun on four points was drawn by Sigimura
Fukashi. The document was carried to the country residence of the
Ta-wun-gun on the 15th of the month by Okamoto Ryunosuke, the latter
being on intimate terms with His Highness. After informing the
Ta-wun-gun that the turn of events demanded His Highness’ intervention
once more, Okomoto presented the document to the Prince saying that it
embodied what Minister Miura expected from him. The Ta-wun-gun, together
with his son and grandson gladly consented to the conditions proposed
and also wrote a letter guaranteeing his good faith. Miura Goro and
others decided to carry out the concerted plan by the middle of the
month. Fearing lest Okamoto’s visit to the Ta-wun-gun’s residence should
excite suspicion and lead to the exposure of their plan, it was given
out that he had proceeded thither simply for the purpose of taking leave
of the Prince before departing for home, and to impart an appearance of
probability to this report, it was decided that Okamoto should leave
Seoul for Chemulpo and he took his departure from the capital on the
sixth. On the following day An Kyung-su, the Minister of War, visited
the Japanese Legation by order of the court. Referring to the projected
disbanding of the Japanese drilled Korean soldiers, he asked the
Japanese Minister’s views on the subject. It was now evident that the
moment had arrived, and that no more delay should be made. Miura Goro
and Sugimura Fukashi consequently determined to carry out the plot on
the night of that very day. On the one hand, a telegram was sent to
Okamoto requesting him to come back to Seoul at once, and on the other,
they delivered to Horiguchi Kumaichi a paper containing a detailed
program concerning the entry of the Ta-wun-gun into the palace and
caused him to meet Okamoto at Yong-san so that they might proceed to
enter the palace. Miura Goro further issued instructions to Umayabara
Muhon, commander of the Japanese battalion in Seoul, ordering him to
facilitate the Ta-wun-gun’s entry into the palace by directing the
disposition of the Japanese drilled Korean troops and by calling out the
Imperial force for their support. Miura also summoned the accused Adachi
Kenzo and Kunitomo Shigeakira, and requested them to collect their
friends, meeting Okamoto at Yong-san, and act as the Ta-wun-gun’s
body-guard on the occasion of His Highness’ entrance into the palace.
Miura told them that on the success of the enterprise depended the
eradication of the evils that had done so much mischief to the kingdom
for the past twenty years, and instigated them to dispatch the Queen
when they entered the palace. Miura ordered the accused Ogiyara Hidejiro
to proceed to Yong-san, at the head of the police force under him, and
after consultation with Okamoto to take such steps as might be necessary
to expedite the Ta-wun-gun’s entry into the palace.

[Illustration: _THE BRITISH LEGATION._]

“The accused, Sugimura Fukashi, summoned Suzuki Shigemoto and Asayama
Kenzo to the Legation and acquainted them with the projected enterprise,
directed the former to send the accused, Suzuki Junken, to Yong-san to
act as interpreter and the latter to carry the news to a Korean named Yi
Chu-whe, who was known to be a warm advocate of the Ta-wun-gun’s return
to the palace. Sugimura further drew up a manifesto, explaining the
reasons of the Ta-wun-gun’s entrance into the palace and charged Ogiwara
Hidejiro to deliver to Horiguchi Kumaichi.

“The accused Horiguchi Kumaichi at once departed for Yong-san on
horse-back. Ogiwara Hidejiro issued orders to the policemen that were
off duty to put on civilian dress, provide themselves with swords and
proceed to Yong-san. Ogiwara also himself went to the same place.

“Thither also, repaired by his order the accused Watanabe Takajiro, Oda
Yoshimitsu, Nariai Kishiro, Kiwaki Sukunori and Sakai Masataro.

“The accused Yokowo Yutaro joined the party at Yong-san. Asayama Kenzo
saw Yi Chu-whe and informed him of the projected enterprise against the
palace that night. Having ascertained that Yi had then collected a few
other Koreans and proceeded toward the Ta-wun-gun’s place Asama at once
left for Yong-san. Suzuki Shigemoto went to Yong-san in company with
Suzuki Junken. The accused Adachi Kenzo and Kunitomo Shigeakira, at the
instigation of Miura, decided to murder the Queen and took steps to
collect accomplices. Twenty-four others (names here inserted) responded
to the call, by Miura’s order, to act as body-guard to the Ta-wun-gun on
the occasion of his entrance into the palace. Hirayama Iwahiko and more
than ten others were directed by Adachi Kenzo and others to do away with
the Queen and they decided to follow the advice. The others who were not
admitted into the secret but who joined the party from mere curiosity
also carried weapons. With the exception of Kunitomo Shigeakira
Tsukinori and two others all the accused went to Yong-san in company
with Adachi Kenzo.

“The accused Okamoto Ryunosuke on receipt of a telegram saying that time
was urgent at once left Chemulpo for Seoul. Being informed on his way,
at about midnight, that Hoshiguchi Kennaichi was waiting for him at Mapo
he proceeded thither and met the persons assembled there. There he
received from Miura Goro the draft manifesto already alluded to, and
other documents. After he had consulted with two or three others about
the method of effecting an entrance into the palace the whole party
started for the Ta-wun-gun’s place with Okamoto as their leader. At
about three o’clock A. M. on the eighth of October they left the
Prince’s place escorting him in his palanquin, with Yi Chu-whe and other
Koreans. When on the point of departure, Okamoto assembled the whole
party outside the gate of the Prince’s residence and declared that on
entering the palace the “Fox” should be dealt with according as exigency
might require, the obvious purport of this declaration to instigate his
followers to murder Her Majesty the Queen. As the result of this
declaration, Sakai Marataro and a few others, who had not yet been
initiated into the secret, resolved to act in accordance with the
suggestion. Then slowly proceeding toward Seoul, the party met the
Japanese drilled Korean troops outside the West Gate where they waited
some time for the arrival of the Japanese troops. With the Korean troops
as vanguard the party then proceeded toward the palace at a more rapid
rate. On the way they were joined by Kunitomo Shigeakira and four
others. The accused Husamoto, Yasumaru and Oura Shigehiko also joined
the party having been requested by Umagabara Muhon to accompany as
interpreters the military officers charged with the supervision of the
Korean troops. About dawn the whole party entered the palace through the
Kwang-wha Gate and at once proceeded to enter the inner chambers.”

At this point the recital of the facts abruptly stops and the court goes
on to state that in spite of these proven facts there is not sufficient
evidence to prove that any of the Japanese actually committed the crime
which had been contemplated, and all the accused are discharged.

It is very much to the credit of the Japanese authorities that they
frankly published these incriminating facts and did not attempt to
suppress them. Their action discharging the accused was a candid
statement that in spite of the actual proof which they adduce it would
not be possible to punish the perpetrators of the outrage, for Miura had
been sent as the accredited Minister of Japan and his acts, though
unforeseen by his superiors could not but partake of an official
character, and therefore the onus of the affair must fall on the
Japanese Government. This is the effect that was produced in the public
mind, and while the Japanese Government as such must be acquitted of any
intention or desire to secure the assassination of the Queen, yet it can
scarcely escape the charge of criminal carelessness in according to the
Korean Court a representative who would so far forget the dignity of his
position as to plan and encourage the perpetration of such a revolting
crime.

The description of the scene as given by the Hiroshima court stops
abruptly with the entrance into the palace before the actual business of
the day began. It is necessary for us to take up the narration from that
point. The buildings occupied by the King and Queen were near the back
of the palace enclosure almost half a mile from the front gate, so that
the Japanese and Korean force accompanied by the ex-Regent had to
traverse a long succession of passage-ways through a great mass of
buildings before reaching the object of their search. Some of the palace
guard were met on the way and easily pushed aside, some of them being
killed, among whom was Col. Hong. When the Japanese arrived at the
buildings occupied by their Majesties a part of them formed about it in
military order guarding all the approaches, but they did not enter the
building. A crowd of Japanese civilians commonly believed to be _soshi_,
and a considerable number of Koreans, all heavily armed, rushed into the
Royal quarters. A part of the crowd went into the presence of the King
brandishing their weapons but without directly attacking his person nor
that of the Crown Prince who stood beside him. Another part of the crowd
ranged through the apartments of the Queen, seizing palace women and
demanding information as to the whereabouts of the Queen. They met Yi
Kyŭng-jik the Minister of the Household before the Queen’s apartments
and at once cut him down, but he managed to crawl into the presence of
the King, where he was despatched by the Japanese. The Queen was found
in one of the rooms which constituted her suite and was ruthlessly cut
down. It is impossible to state with absolute certainty whether the blow
was struck by a Korean or by a Japanese but the overwhelming probability
is that it was done by one of the armed Japanese

The body was wrapped in some sort of blanket, saturated with petroleum
and burned at the edge of a pine grove immediately to the east of the
pond which lies in front of the royal quarters.

The Royal family had been aware for two days of the danger which
threatened. The guards at the palace had been reduced, the arms had been
taken away and the movements of Japanese troops were very suspicious.
The King advised the Queen to go to a place of safety and she said she
would do so if the Queen Dowager would also go, but the latter refused.
Chong Pyŭng-ha who had been raised to high office through the patronage
of the Queen but who had struck hands with the Japanese urged with great
insistence that there was no danger to Her Majesty’s person and it was
the confidence expressed by this traitor that did the most to set at
rest the apprehension, of the King and the Queen.

During all the time leading up to these events, the palace guard was in
charge of Gen. Dye but his efforts to carry out the wishes of His
Majesty were continually thwarted and the guard was merely a nominal
one.

At about the time when the Queen was being killed the Tă-wŭn-gun came
into the presence of the King and took the direction of affairs at the
court. As might be supposed, both the King and the Crown Prince were in
anything but an enviable frame of mind. They had been pushed about and
insulted by low Japanese and felt that their lives were momentarily in
danger. Col. Yi Kyŭng-jik the Minister of the Household Department had
taken his stand at the door of the Queen’s apartments and had there been
cut down by the Japanese or Koreans but succeeded in making his way,
desperately wounded, into the presence of the King. He was there stabbed
to death by the Japanese before the eyes of His Majesty. This did not
tend to reassure the King and the Crown Prince but the coming of the
Tă-wŭn-gun tended to quiet them somewhat. Of course they had no idea as
yet that the Queen had been despatched.

Before dawn began to break the King learned that Japanese troops were
pouring into the barracks in front of the palace, and as some semblance
of order had been restored in the immediate presence of His Majesty, a
note was sent in haste to the Japanese Minister asking what all this
meant. The messenger found Miura and Sugimura already up and dressed and
sedan chairs at the door. Miura told the messenger that he had heard
that troops had been marched to the barracks but did not know why. The
Minister and his secretary thereupon proceeded rapidly to the palace.
Immediately upon their arrival all the disturbance suddenly quieted down
and the _soshi_ dispersed and left the palace grounds. The Japanese
Minister and secretary immediately sought an audience with His Majesty,
accompanied only by an interpreter and another Japanese who had led the
_soshi_. The Tă-wŭn-gun was also present.

Three documents were prepared by those present and placed before His
Majesty for signature, one of them guaranteeing that the Cabinet should
thereafter manage the affairs of the country, the second appointing Yi
Chă-myŭn, the King’s brother, as Minister of the Household in place of
Yi Kyŭng-jik who had just been killed, and the third appointing a
vice-Minister of the Household. These documents the king perforce
signed. Whereupon all Japanese troops were removed from the palace and
only the Japanese-trained Korean troops were left as a palace-guard.
Later in the day Ministers of War and Police were appointed in the
persons of Cho Heui-yŭn and Kwŭn Yŭng-jin, both strong partisans of the
Japanese and doubtless privy to the attack upon the palace and the
murder of the Queen. In other words the King and court was surrounded by
men every one of whom were in sympathy with the movement which had been
planned by Viscount Miura.

Very early in the morning, while it was still scarcely daylight, Mr.
Waeber the Russian _Charge d’Affaires_ and Dr. Allen the American
_Charge d’Affaires ad interim_ came to the palace and sought audience
with the King but were told that the King was unwell and could not see
them. They insisted, however, and succeeded in seeing His Majesty, who
told them that he still had hopes that the Queen had escaped, and
besought their friendly offices to prevent further trouble. Other
foreign representatives were received later in the day.

It soon became evident that the Japanese authorities intended to deny
any responsibility for the outrages committed. Miura stated in his
dispatches to his government that the origin of the _emeute_ was a
conflict between the Japanese-drilled Korean troops, who desired to lay
a complaint before His Majesty, and the palace guards who tried to
prevent their entrance into the palace. Miura even sought to strengthen
his disclaimer by obtaining from the newly appointed Minister of War a
definite official statement that the rumors of his (Miura’s) complicity
in the affair were without foundation. The document that the Minister of
War sent in reply proved altogether too much and defeated its own
purpose, for it stated baldly that there was not a single Japanese in
the palace on the night of the eighth of October, when the Queen was
murdered. As this Minister was a creature of the Japanese and as the
presence of Japanese in the palace was clearly proved subsequently it is
evident that Miura, by this sort of trickery, only succeeded in further
implicating himself.

On the ninth, the day after the _emeute_, a full cabinet was appointed
composed entirely of Japanese sympathisers, but with one or two
exceptions they were not privy to the assassination of the Queen, though
they were willing to profit by that crime in accepting office at the
hands of the perpetrators. The men appointed were Yi Chă-myŭn, Kim
Hong-jip, Kim Yun-sik, Pak Chöng-yang, Sim Sang-hun, Cho Heui-yŭn, So
Kwang-böm and Chong Pyung-ha.

One would have supposed that the enemies of the Queen would have been
satisfied by her death, but not so. On the eleventh, three days after
her assassination, an edict purporting to have originated with His
Majesty and signed by the full cabinet appeared in the Court Gazette. In
it the Queen is charged with having interfered in public matters,
disturbed the government and put the dynasty in peril. It is stated that
she has disappeared and that her guilt is excessive; therefore she is
deposed from her rank as Queen and reduced to the level of the lowest
class.

There can be no doubt that this edict is fraudulent. The King never gave
his consent to it and several of the members of the Cabinet knew nothing
about it, notably Sim Sang-hun who had already thrown up his position
and run away, and Pak Chöng-yang who denounced the nefarious business
and resigned. It was put through by a few of the Cabinet who were
thoroughly subservient to the Japanese. The Japanese Minister in reply
to the announcement of the Queen’s degradation, affected to sympathize
with the Korean Government but thought it was done for the good of the
State. The United States Representative refused to recognize the decree
as coming from His Majesty, and in this he was seconded by all the the
other Foreign Representatives except one.

Meanwhile the Japanese government began to learn something of the truth
in regard to the Queen’s death and felt called upon to defend itself
from the charge of complicity in the outrage through its accredited
Minister. Consequently it recalled Miura and Sugimura and upon their
arrival in Japan they were arrested and charged with complicity in the
matter. The fact of their arrest and trial was a distinct disclaimer on
the part of the Japanese government that it was accessory to the crime;
and in spite of the utter inadequacy of the trial and its almost
ludicrous termination we hold to the theory that the Japanese government
was not a party to the crime excepting in so far as the appointment of
such a man as Miura can be called complicity.

But the vigorous action of Japan in arresting Miura and putting him on
trial had a strong influence upon the course of events in Korea. The
Korean public and all the Foreign Representatives were demanding that
the occurrences of the eighth of October should be investigated and the
responsibility for the murder of the Queen placed where it rightly
belonged. This itself bore strongly upon the Cabinet, but when in
addition to this the Japanese government itself seemed to be weakening
and it appeared that Miura’s acts would prove to have been unauthorized
things begun to look rather black for the men who were enjoying office
solely through Miura’s influence, and although the fiction was still
maintained that the Queen was not dead but in hiding somewhere, the
situation became more and more strained until at last it became evident
even to the Cabinet that something must be done to relieve the
situation. Accordingly on the 26th of November the Foreign
Representatives and several other foreigners were invited to the palace
and it was announced in the presence of His Majesty that Cho Heui-yŭn
the Minister of War and Kwŭn Yŭng-jin the Chief of Police were
dismissed, that the edict degrading the Queen was rescinded and that the
facts connected with the attack on the palace would be investigated by
the Department of Justice and all guilty persons tried and punished. At
the same time the death of Her Majesty was formally announced.

The popular feeling against the Japanese-trained troops was so strong
that they were dismissed and another guard summoned, but as a matter of
fact this new guard was composed almost entirely of the very men who had
formerly composed the Japanese-drilled corps.

The position of His Majesty during the months succeeding the attack was
anything but comfortable. He had no voice in the direction of affairs,
and he considered himself practically a prisoner in the hands of the
Cabinet. He even feared for his life, and for weeks ate no food except
what was brought to him in a locked box from friends outside the palace.
He had requested that two or three foreigners should come to the palace
each night and be at hand in case of trouble, feeling that their
presence would exert a deterrent influence upon any who might plot
injury to his person.

The half-way measures adopted on Nov. 26th by no means satisfied those
who wished to see His Majesty freed from practical durance at the hands
of men thoroughly obnoxious to him, and a scheme was evolved by a number
of Koreans to effect his release by forcible means. The purpose of these
men was a laudable one but the execution of it was ill-managed. On the
night of the 28th upwards of a thousand Koreans demanded entrance into
the palace. They had arranged with one of the members of the palace
guard, inside, to open the gate to them, but at the last moment he
failed them and they found themselves balked. The palace was in some
confusion, the King had called in to his presence the three foreigners
who, at his request, were on duty that night, but in spite of their
assurances that his person would be protected it was only natural that
excitement should run high. The crowd without were shouting wildly and
attempting to scale the high wall, and the members of the cabinet,
before the King, did not know at what moment the guard might betray them
to the assailants, and they knew that once betrayed they would be torn
to pieces without mercy. They tried therefore to induce the King to
remove to a distant part of the palace where he could hide for a long
time before he could be found even though the crowd should effect an
entrance. The night was bitterly cold and the King was but lightly clad,
and as the King’s person was safe in any event, the foreigners who were
with him opposed the move strongly and at last were compelled to use
physical force to prevent the change, which would certainly have
endangered the King’s life. The purpose of the cabinet was thus thwarted
but as the hours passed it become evident that the men outside would not
be able to effect an entrance. The shouts gradually died away and at
last the crowd dispersed leaving in the hands of the palace guard three
or four men who had scaled the wall but had not been followed by their
confreres.

In view of the attitude of the Tokyo Government the Japanese in Seoul
were now entirely quiescent and the government was standing on its own
base. The cabinet held its own by virtue of the palace guard which was
composed of the soldiers trained by the Japanese. This cabinet and guard
held together from necessity, for both knew that should their power fail
they would be denounced as traitors and under the circumstances could
expect little help from the Japanese. The cabinet had to make a show of
investigating the attack of Oct. 5th and someone must be killed for
having murdered the queen. At the same time punishment was to be meted
out to the principals in the attempt on the palace on November 28th.

Three men were arrested and charged with being directly implicated in
the crime of regicide. Of these one was certainly innocent and while the
second was probably privy to the crime, being a lieutenant of the
Japanese-trained troops, there was no evidence adduced to prove his
actual participation in the act of assassination. He had not been
reinstated in his position in the new guard and he knew altogether too
much about the existing cabinet. Their choice fell upon him as one of
the scapegoats. The third was Yi Chu-hoé formerly Vice Minister of War.
There was no evidence adduced against him at the trial, though from
other considerations he seems to have been implicated in the outrage. He
was chosen as the principal one to bear the obloquy of the crime,
probably because (1) he was a bitter enemy of the existing cabinet and
(2) because it was necessary for the sake of appearances to convict and
execute someone of rank and reputation. As a fact the court did not know
and never discovered who the actual perpetrators were. The three men
were executed before the end of the year.

Though only three men were arrested in connection with the assassination
of the queen thirty-three men were arrested in connection with the
comparatively trivial affair of November 28th. Their trial proceeded
simultaneously with that of the other three. Two of them were condemned
to death, four to exile for life and four to three years imprisonment.
To show the kind of evidence on which these convictions were based we
will cite the case of Prince Yi Chă-sun who was proved to have gotten
hold of some compromising documents and to have shown them to the King
only, instead of to _the proper authorities_, namely, of course, the
cabinet. On these grounds he was sentenced to three years imprisonment!

December and January saw matters move to an inevitable climax. The
cabinet forced upon the people the edict ordering the cutting off of the
top-knot, the distinctive mark of Korean citizenship. The whole country
was in a ferment and the people, almost to a man, were gnashing their
teeth at the cabinet. The finding of the Hiroshima court claimed to have
freed Miura and his fellows from blame and it was rumored that several
of them were to return to Korea to take office under the government.
Chöng Pyung-ha, a proved traitor, had been reinstated in the cabinet as
Minister of Agriculture and Cho Heui-yŭn as Minister of War, and it was
reported that Kwŭn Yŭng-jin who had fled to Japan would be made again
Chief of Police. It was perfectly evident, therefore, that the grip of
the Japanese upon the king through the Gaoler Cabinet was tightening and
that there was no escape from it except through heroic measures. These
measures the king was prepared to adopt rather than longer endure the
humiliating position to which he seemed condemned. At that time the
principal men in the cabinet were Kim Hong-jip, Chöng Pyŭng-ha, O
Yun-jung, Yu Kil-jun. Of these O Yun-jung seems to have been far less
culpable than the rest. The king had great confidence in him and had he
not met his fate at the hands of the people he would probably have been
called back to office.

But now we come to the important step taken by His Majesty to free
himself from his unpleasant position. He determined to find asylum in
the Russian Legation. C. Waeber was the Russian Minister, a pronounced
friend of the dead Queen, and a man of great ability. Just how he was
approached and his consent gained to the king’s scheme is not generally
known but in view of subsequent events and the part that Russia intended
to play in Korea it is easy to see how the Russian Representative would
welcome an opportunity to do the King such a signal service and one
which was of such a personal character as to render it certain that it
would never be forgotten.

The plan was carried out successfully in every detail. Women’s chairs
were caused to be sent in and out the palace gates at frequent intervals
by day and night until the guards had become quite accustomed to them.
Then on the night of the eleventh of February the King and the Crown
Prince without escort slipped by the guards in common women’s chairs and
were taken directly to the Russian Legation where they were courteously
received and given the best portion of the Legation building. This act
was of course a grievous lapse from the dignity that befits a king but
under the circumstances there is much to say by way of excuse. On the
whole it must be considered a mistake so far as the country at large is
concerned, for it set in motion a new set of factors which probably did
more harm than the temporary enforced seclusion of the King could have
done. It acted as a potent factor in embittering the Japanese against
Russia and opened the door for Russian intrigue which finally hastened
if it did not actually cause the war at present waging. Had Japan been
able to preserve the predominance which she held in Korea just after the
China-Japan war she might have looked with more or less complaisancy
upon the Russian aggression in Manchuria, but when Korea itself became
disputed ground the war was inevitable.

At seven o’clock on the morning of February 11th the King and the Crown
Prince entered the Russian Legation. Several hours elapsed before the
Cabinet in the palace became aware of the fact. During that interval
active operations were going on at the Russian Legation. The
organization of a new cabinet was hastened by summoning from various
parts of the city such officials as the King could trust. Pak Chöng-yang
was made Prime Minister. No time was lost in putting out a Royal Edict
deprecating the necessity of taking refuge in a foreign legation,
promising to punish the real authors of the Queen’s assassination,
rescinding the order for cutting the top-knots. This was posted on the
gates of the Legation and at various points throughout the city.




                             Chapter XXII.

The King at the Russian Legation.... A Royal edict.... Massacre or
    flight of cabinet ministers.... an excited city.... Japanese
    consternation.... provincial uprisings.... party reorganization....
    The Independence Club.... trial of Queen’s murderers.... Appointment
    of Dr. Brown as adviser to Finance Department.... The
    _Independent_.... The Waeber-Komura Convention.... material
    reforms.... reaction.... The Independence Arch.... Seoul-Chemulpo
    railway concession.... The new palace planned.... retrogressive
    signs.... postal and other administrative reforms.


When the public awoke to the momentous fact, a thrill of excitement and,
generally, of approval went through the whole population of Seoul. The
city hummed with excited humanity. The streets swarmed with the crowds
bent upon watching the course of such stirring events.

Later in the day the King put forth an edict calling upon the soldiers
to rally to his support and urging them to bring the heads of the
traitors Cho Heui-yŭn, U Pöm-sŭn, Yi Tu-whang, Yi Pom-nă, Yi Chin-ho and
Kon Yong-jin. But later still this was toned down to read that these
individuals should be seized and turned over to the proper authorities
for trial.

The reason why the names of Kim Hong-jip, Chöng Pyŭng-Ha and others of
the former cabinet were not included was because they had already met
their fate. As soon as it became known in the palace that the King had
fled, these men saw that their lives were forfeited. O Yun-jung managed
to escape to the country but was set upon and killed by the people, Cho
Heui-Yŭn escaped, Yu Kil-jun was spirited away to Japan by the Japanese;
but Kim Hong-jip and Chöng Pyŭng-ha found no way of escape. Being seized
by the Korean soldiers, were immediately rushed by the crowd and killed.
Their bodies were hauled to Chong-no where they were stamped upon,
kicked, bitten and stoned by a half-crazed rabble for hours. A Japanese
who happened to be passing was set upon by the crowd and killed and
several foreigners drawn to the spot by curiosity were threatened.

The King was shocked when he heard of the summary execution of the two
ministers, whom he intended to give a fair trial. Two days later an
edict was promulgated by the King deploring the impoverished state of
the country and laying the blame upon himself; and concluded by
remitting all arrears of taxes due up to July 1894. The new cabinet
consisted of the following men Pak Chöng-yang, Yi Yun-yong, An Kyŭng-su,
Ko Yong-heui, Yun Chi-ho, Yun Yong-gu, Yi Wan-yong and Cho Pyŭng-jik.

To say that the Japanese were nonplussed by this _coup_ on the part of
the King would be to put it very mildly. All their efforts to
consolidate their power in Korea and to secure there some fruit of the
victory in the war just finished, had been worse than thrown away. The
King had thrown himself into the arms of Russia and the whole Korean
people were worked up to a white heat against Japan, comparable only
with the feelings elicited by the invasion of 1592. It was a very great
pity, for Japan was in a position to do for Korea infinitely more than
Russia would do. The interests of Korea and Japan were identical or at
least complementary and the mistake which Japan made in the latter half
of 1895 was one whose effects will require decades to efface.

When the King thus wrenched himself out of Japanese hands the Japanese
papers in Seoul bewailed the fact that the country was without a ruler,
and almost directly advised the people to put someone else on the
throne, and this without censure from the Japanese authorities. And it
is well known among Koreans that there was a strong faction among the
Koreans who were willing to attempt to put Yi Chun-yong, the grandson of
the Tă-wŭn-gun on the throne, had that ambitious young man been
possessed of the requisite amount of assurance. Fortunately such was not
the case and the country was saved from further upheaval.

But the Japanese authorities though thrown into consternation by this
radical movement of His Majesty did not give up hope of mending matters.
The Japanese Minister saw the King at the Russian Legation and urged
upon him every possible argument for returning to the palace. His
Majesty, however, being now wholly relieved from anxiety as to his
personal safety, enjoyed the respite too thoroughly to cut it short, and
so politely refused to change his place of residence. A large number of
Japanese in Seoul became convinced that Japan had hopelessly compromised
herself, and left the country, but the Japanese Government itself by no
act or word granted that her paramount influence in the peninsula was
impaired and with admirable _sang froid_ took up the new line of work
imposed upon her by the King’s peculiar action, meanwhile putting down
one more score against Russia, to be reckoned with later.

The country was suffering from the excitement caused by the news of the
Japanese diplomatic reverses, and the people in many districts rose in
revolt and declared that they would drive all the Japanese out of the
country. These efforts were however scattered and sporadic in their
nature and were successfully quelled by Korean Government troops sent
down to the various disaffected districts for this purpose.

Now that it was possible the King hastened to order a new investigation
of the circumstances attending the death of the Queen. It was feared
that this would result in a very sweeping arrest of Koreans and the
punishment of many people on mere suspicion, but these fears were
ill-founded. The trials were carried through under the eye of Mr.
Greathouse the adviser to the Law Department and a man of great legal
ability. Thirteen men were arrested and tried in open court without
torture and with every privilege of a fair trial. One man Yi Whi-wha was
condemned to death, four banished for life and five for lesser periods.
This dispassionate trial was not the least of the signs which pointed
toward a new and enlightened era in Korean political history.

Not only in the country but in Seoul as well the prestige of Japan had
suffered greatly by the events of the winter of 1895-96. After the
Japan-China war the Koreans were divided into two distinct factions, one
holding strongly with the Japanese and the other advocating a more
conservative policy, but gradually as the political situation began to
crystalize these two split into four, namely the Japanese faction, the
King’s faction, the Queen’s faction, and the Tă-wŭn-gun’s faction. This
is merely another way of saying that every strong political possibility
will have its own faction in such a land as this, according as each man
fancies that his champion will get supreme power and reward those who
have followed in his train. The number of men who follow the standard of
this or that party because of any altruistic or purely patriotic
consideration is so small as to be a negligeable quantity. When,
therefore, it appeared that Japan’s star was setting in Korea there was
a hasty shifting of political platforms and soon it appeared that there
were only two, one of which favored Russian influence and the other
conservative and very quiet, for the time being, until the extreme
pro-Russian enthusiasm should subside somewhat. Of course the
Tă-wŭn-gun’s had disappeared with the waning fortunes of the Japanese
and the Queen’s faction had gone over to the Russians. It was the
conservatives alone that held to their former position and desired no
foreign interferance whatever. But many of those who had favored the
Japanese joined the conservative party but unlike the “moss-back”
conservatives wanted to do something actively to counteract Russian
influence. They therefore worked to bring English and American influence
into greater prominence. In the heart of this movement was born the
“Independence Club.” It will be remembered that ever since the previous
year Dr. Philip Jaisohn had been acting as adviser to the Privy Council.
This council enjoyed considerable power at first but gradually fell to a
secondary place, but now that new conditions had sprung up the element
combatting the Russian influence took advantage of the presence of Dr.
Jaisohn and other Koreans who had been educated abroad. The Russians
seemed to look with complaisance upon this movement and in the Spring of
this year seem to have made no effort to prevent the appointment of J.
McLeavy Brown, L.L.D., as Adviser to the Finance Department, with large
powers; which seemed to bear out the belief that the Russian Minister
was sincere in his statement that Russia wished the King to be quite
untrammelled in the administration of his government. It is this
generous policy of Mr. Waeber that is believed to have caused his
transfer later to another post, to be replaced by A. de Speyer who
adopted a very different policy. However this may have been, things
began to take on a very hopeful aspect in Seoul. Needed reforms were
carried through; torture was abolished in the Seoul courts, a concession
was given to an American company to construct a railway between Seoul
and Chemulpo, Min Yong-whan was appointed special envoy to the
coronation of the Czar, work was begun on the American mining concession
granted the year before, various schools were founded, and the outlook
on the whole was very bright indeed. It looked as if a solution had been
found for the difficulties that afflicted the state and that an era of
comparatively enlightened government was opening.

For some time there had existed a more or less secret organization among
the Koreans, the single article of whose political creed was
Independence both from China and Japan, or in other words Korea for
Koreans. Now that the King had been relieved of Chinese suzerainty by
the Japanese and of Japanese restraint by himself, this little society
under the leadership of Dr. Philip Jaisohn blossomed out into what was
called _The Independence Club_. The name but partially described the
society, for while it advocated the complete independence of Korea it
still more insistently advocated a liberal government, in the shape of a
genuine constitutional monarchy in which the royal prerogative should be
largely curtailed and the element of paternalism eliminated. At first
the greater stress was laid upon the general principle of Korean
Independence and to this the King in the joy of his newly found freedom
heartily agreed. The royal sanction was given to the Independence Club
and it was launched upon a voyage which had no haven, but ended in total
shipwreck. This club, society was composed of young men many of whom
were doubtless aroused for the time being to something like patriotic
fervor but who had had no practical experience of the rocky road of
Korean politics or of the obstacles which would be encountered. The
cordiality of the King’s recognition blinded them to the fact that the
real object of their organization, namely the definition of the royal
prerogative, was one that must eventually arouse first the suspicion and
then the open hostility of His Majesty and would become the slogan of
all that army of self-seekers who saw no chance for self-aggrandisement
except in the immemorial spoils system. These young men were armed with
nothing but a laudable enthusiasm. They could command neither the aid of
the Korean army nor the advocacy of the older statesmen, all of whom
were either directly hostile to the movement or had learned caution
through connection with previous abortive attempts to stem the tide of
official corruption. The purpose of this club, so far as it knew its own
mind, was a laudable one in theory but the amount of persistency,
courage, tact and self-restraint necessary to carry the plan to a
successful issue was so immensely greater than they could possibly
guess, that, considering the youth and inexperience of the personnel of
the society, the attempt was doomed to failure. They never clearly
formulated a constructive plan by which to build upon the ruins of that
system which they were bent upon destroying. Even had they cleared the
way to such construction they could not have found a statesman in Korea
of recognized standing and prestige, to act as master-builder, whose
previous record would have made him acceptable to themselves or a fit
exponent of their principles.

On April 7th the first foreign newspaper was founded by Dr. Philip
Jaisohn. It was called _The Independent_ and was partly in the native
character. From the first it exerted a powerful influence among the
Koreans and was one of the main factors which led to the formation of
the Independence Club.

Both Japan and Russia were desirous of coming to an understanding as to
Korea and on May 14th there was published the Waeber-Komura Agreement
which was modified and ratified later under the name of the
Lobanoff-Yamata Agreement. According to the terms of this convention
both Powers guaranteed to respect the independence of Korea and not to
send soldiers into the country except by common consent.

The summer of 1896 saw great material improvements in Seoul. The work of
clearing out and widening the streets was vigorously pushed and although
much of the work was done superficially some permanent improvement was
effected, and the “squatters” along the main streets were cleaned out,
it is hoped for all time. In July the concession for building a railway
between Seoul and Wiju was given to a French syndicate. From subsequent
events it appears that there was no fixed determination on the part of
the French to push this great engineering work to a finish but merely to
preempt the ground and prevent others from doing it. Russian influence
doubtless accomplished this, and from that time there began to spring up
the idea that Korea would be divided into two spheres of influence, the
Japanese predominant in the south and the Russians in the north.

In spite of the favorable signs that appeared during the early months of
1896 and the hopes which were entertained that an era of genuine reform
had been entered upon, the coming of summer began to reveal the
hollowness of such hopes. The King himself was strongly conservative and
never looked with favor upon administrative changes which tended to
weaken his personal hold upon the finances of the country and he chafed
under the new order of things. In this he was encouraged by many of the
leading officials, who saw in the establishment of liberal institutions
the end of their opportunities for personal power and aggrandisement.
The old order of things appealed to them too strongly and it became
evident that the government was rapidly lapsing into its former
condition of arbitrary and partisan control. Open and violent opposition
to such harmless innovations as the wearing of foreign uniforms by the
students of Foreign Language Schools indicated too plainly the tendency
of the time and the Russian authorities did nothing to influence His
Majesty in the right direction. Judging from subsequent events it was
not Russia’s policy to see an enlightened administration in Seoul. The
political plans of that Power could be better advanced by a return to
the _status ante quo_. The act of the government in substituting an
Independence Arch in place of the former gate, outside the West Gate,
which commemorated Chinese suzerainty, was looked upon, and rightly, by
the more thoughtful as being merely a superficial demonstration which
was based upon no deeper desire than that of being free from all control
or restraint except such as personal inclination should dictate. The
current was setting toward a concentration of power rather than toward a
healthful distribution of it, and thus those who had hailed the vision
of a new and rejuvenated state were compelled to confess that it was but
a mirage.

Pressure was brought to bear upon the court to remove from the Russian
Legation, and it was high time that such a move be made. As a matter of
urgent necessity it was considered a not too great sacrifice of dignity
to go to the Legation but to make it a permanent residence was out of
the question. The King was determined however, not to go back to the
palace from which he had fled. It held too many gruesome memories. It
was decided to build the Myŭng-ye Palace in the midst of the Foreign
Quarter with Legations on three sides of it. The site selected was the
same as that which King Sŭn-jo used in 1593 when he returned from his
flight to the north before the armies of Hideyoshi. He had lived here
for some fourteen years while the Chang-dok Palace was building. The
present King however intended it as a permanent residence, and building
operations were begun on a large scale, but it was not until February of
the following year that His Majesty finally removed from the Russian
Legation to his new palace.

All during the latter half of 1896 the gulf between the Independence
party and the conservatives kept widening. The latter grew more and more
confident and the former more and more determined. Dr. Jaisohn in his
capacity of adviser to the Council of State was blunt and outspoken in
his advice to His Majesty and it was apparent that the latter listened
with growing impatience to suggestions which, however excellent in
themselves, found no response in his own inclinations. The Minister of
Education voiced the growing sentiment of the retrogressive faction in a
book called “The Warp and Woof of Confucianism” in which such extreme
statements were made that several of the Foreign Representatives felt
obliged to interfere and call him to account. A Chief of Police was
appointed who was violently anti-reform. The assassin of Kim Ok-kyun was
given an important position under the government. A man who had
attempted the life of Pak Yong-hyo was made Minister of Law, and on all
sides were heard contemptuous comments upon the “reform nonsense” of the
liberal faction. And yet in spite of this the momentum of the reform
movement though somewhat retarded had by no means been completely
stopped. The Summer and Autumn of this year 1896 saw the promulgation of
a large number of edicts of a salutary nature, relating to the more
systematic collection of the national revenues, the reorganization of
gubernatorial and prefectural systems, the definition of the powers and
privileges of provincial officials, the further regulation of the postal
system, the definition of the powers of the superintendents of trade in
the open ports, the abolition of illegal taxation and the establishment
of courts of law in the various provinces and in the open ports. As many
of these reforms survived the collapse of the liberal party they must be
set down as definite results which justify the existence of that party
and make its overthrow a matter of keen regret to those who have at
heart the best interests of the country.

All this time Russian interests had been cared for sedulously. The king
remained in close touch with the Legation and Col. Potiata and three
other Russian officers were put in charge of the Palace Guard, while Kim
Hong-nyuk, the erstwhile water-carrier, continued to absorb the good
things in the gift of His Majesty. And yet the Russians with all their
power did not attempt to obstruct the plans of the subjects of other
Powers in Korea. Mr. Stripling, a British subject, was made adviser to
the Police Department, a mining concession was granted to a German
syndicate; an American was put in charge of a Normal School, Dr. Brown
continued to direct the work of the Finance Department and the work on
the Seoul Chemulpo Railway was pushed vigorously by an American
syndicate. The Russians held in their hands the power to put a stop to
much of this, but they appeared to be satisfied with holding the power
without exercising it.




                             Chapter XXIII.

Material reforms.... growth of conservative feeling.... Russian
    influence.... Mr. de Speyer.... his activity.... attack on Dr.
    Brown.... England interposes.... establishment of the Empire.... the
    Queen’s funeral.... opening of 1898.... Russians over-reach
    themselves.... the death of Prince Tă-wŭn.... a paradox....
    withdrawal of the Russian employees.... Independence Club beyond
    control.... abdication conspiracy.... Yun Chi-ho before the
    Emperor.... fall of Kim Hong-nyuk.... attempted regicide.... foreign
    body-guard.... Independent program.... popular meetings....
    peddlars’ guild.... Independents ask to be arrested.... more
    government concessions.... Independents arrested.... final overthrow
    of the Independence party.


The first half of 1897 was characterized by three special features in
Korea. The first was a continuance of so-called reforms, all of which
were of a utilitarian character. A gold mine concession was given to a
German syndicate, a Chinese Language School and other schools were
founded and the difficult work of cleaning out the Peking Pass was
completed. It was announced that Chinnampo and Mokpo would be opened to
trade in the Autumn. The second feature was the steady growth of the
conservative element which was eventually to resume complete control of
the government. As early as May of this year the editor of the _Korean
Repository_ said with truth “The collapse is as complete as it is
pathetic. After the King came to the Russian Legation the rush of the
reform movement could not be stayed at once nor even deflected. But soon
there came the inevitable reaction. Reforms came to be spoken of less
and less frequently. There was a decided movement backwards toward the
old, well-beaten paths. But it was impossible to reestablish the old
order of things entirely. We come then to the period of the revision of
laws. Shortly after the King removed to the new palace an edict was put
forth ordering the appointment of a Commission for the Revision of the
Laws. This was received with satisfaction by the friends of progress.
This commission contained the names of many prominent men such as Kim
Pyung-si, Pak Chöng-yang and Yi Wan-yong as well as the names of Dr.
Brown, General Greathouse, Mr. Legendre and Dr. Jaisohn.” But by the
twelfth of April the whole thing was dropped and the strong hopes of the
friends of Korea were again dashed to the ground. The third feature of
this period is the growing importance of Russian influence in Seoul. The
training of the Korean army had already been taken out of Japanese hands
and given to Russians and in August thirteen more Russian military
instructors were imported. It was plain that Russia meant to carry out
an active policy in Korea. Russian admirals, including Admiral
Alexeieff, made frequent visits to Seoul, and at last Russia made public
avowal of her purposes, when she removed Mr. Waeber, who had served her
so long and faithfully here and sent Mr. A. de Speyer to take his place.
There was an immediate and ominous change in the tone which Russia
assumed. From the very first de Speyer showed plainly that he was sent
here to impart a new vigor to Russo-Korean relations; that things had
been going too slow. It is probable that complaints had been made
because in spite of Russia’s predominating influence at the Korean Court
concessions were being given to Americans, Germans and others outside.
De Speyer soon showed the color of his instructions and began a course
of brow-beating, the futility of which must have surprised him. It was
on September 7th that he arrived, and within a month he had begun
operations so actively that he attracted the attention of the world. In
the first place he demanded a coaling station at Fusan on Deer Island
which commands the entrance to the harbor. This was a blow aimed
directly at Japan and sure to be resented. It came to nothing. Then Mr.
Kir Alexeieff arrived from Russia, an agent of the Finance Department in
St. Petersburg. In the face of the fact that Dr. Brown was Chief
Commissioner of Custom and Adviser to the Finance Department, Mr.
Alexeieff was appointed by the Foreign Office as director of the Finance
Department. But the policy of bluff which de Speyer had inaugurated was
not a success; he carried it so far that he aroused the strong
opposition of other Powers, notably England, and before the end of the
year, after only three months of incumbency, de Speyer was called away
from Seoul. As we shall see, the whole of his work was overthrown in the
following Spring.

But we must retrace our steps a little and record some other interesting
events that happened during the closing months of 1897. It was on
October 17th that the King went to the Imperial Altar and there was
crowned Emperor of Tai-han. This had been some time in contemplation and
as Korea was free from foreign suzerainty she hastened, while it was
time, to declare herself an empire. This step was recognized by the
treaty powers within a short period and so Korea took her place on an
equality with China and Japan.

On November 21st the funeral ceremony of the late Queen was held. It was
a most imposing pageant. The funeral procession passed at night out of
the city to the tomb where elaborate preparations had been made, and a
large number of foreigners assembled there to witness the obsequies.

The situation in Korea as the year 1898 opened was something as follows.
The conservatives had things well in hand and the Independence Club was
passing on to its final effort and its final defeat. The work of such
men as Dr. Jaisohn was still tolerated but the King and the most
influential officials chafed under the wholesome advice that they
received and it was evident that the first pretext would be eagerly
seized for terminating a situation that was getting very awkward for
both sides. The reaction was illustrated in an attack on the
_Independent_ by which the Korean postal department refused to carry it
in the mails. The Russians had taken the bull by the horns and were
finding that they had undertaken more than they could carry through
without danger of serious complications. The Russian government saw this
and recalled de Speyer in time to preserve much of their influence in
Seoul. The Emperor, being now in his own palace but with easy access to
the Russian Legation, seems to have lent his voice to the checking of
the reform propaganda and in this he was heartily seconded by his
leading officials. The most promising aspect of the situation was the
determined attitude of the British government relative to the enforced
retirement of Dr. Brown. When it became evident that a scarcely
concealed plan was on foot to oust British and other foreigners in
Korea, Great Britain by a single word and by a concentration of war
vessels at Chemulpo changed the whole program of the Russians; but as it
appeared later the Russian plans were _only_ changed, not abandoned. So
the year opened with things political in a very unsettled state.
Everything was in transition. The Independents and the Russians had some
idea of what they wanted but seemed to be at sea as to the means for
accomplishing it. The conservatives alone sat still and held on, sure
that in the long run they would triumph even if they could not stop the
march of material progress in the cleaning of the streets and the
building of railways.

February of 1898 saw the taking off of the most commanding figure in
Korean public life during the nineteenth century, in the person of
Prince Tă-wŭn the father of the Emperor, formerly Regent. For almost
forty years he had been more or less intimately connected with the
stirring events which have marked the present reign. The things which
specially marked his career are (1) the Roman Catholic persecution of
1866, (2) the determined opposition to the opening of the country to
foreign intercourse, (3) the building of the Kyöng-bok Palace, (4) the
debasing of Korean currency, (5) the feud with the Queen’s party, (6)
the temporary exile in China, (7) the assassination of the Queen.
Whatever may be said for or against the Prince because of his policy he
remains in the minds of the people a strong, independent character, and
they cannot fail to admire the man even though they have to condemn his
policy. His adherents stood by him with splendid loyalty even in the
hours of his disgrace, because he was in some sense really great.

This time was characterized by curious inconsistencies. At the same time
that an edict was promulgated stating that no more concessions would be
granted to foreigners the Seoul Electric Company was organized to
construct a tramway and a lighting plant in Seoul. Material improvements
continued parallel with, but in the opposite direction from, the policy
of the Government. An agreement was even entered into with an American
firm for the construction of a system of water works for Seoul at a cost
of some seven million yen.

The failing hopes of the Independence Club drove it to its final place,
that of protest. Memorials began to pour in protesting against this and
that. In February it complained of foreign control in Korea, directing
the attack apparently upon the Russian pretentions: but if so it was
unnecessary, for by the first of March the Russians decided that their
position was untenable or that a temporary withdrawal of pressure from
Seoul would facilitate operations in other directions, and so, under
cover of a complaint as to the vacillating policy of the Korean
Government they proposed to remove Mr. Alexeieff from his uncomfortable
position vis-a-vis Dr. Brown and also take away all the military
instructors. Perhaps they were under the impression that this startling
proposal would frighten the Government into making protestations that
would increase Russian influence here, but if so they were disappointed
for the Government promptly accepted their proposition and dispensed
with the services of these men. No doubt the Government had come to look
with some anxiety upon the growing influence of Russia here and with the
same oscillatory motion as of yore made a strong move in the opposite
direction when the opportunity came. The Korean Government has been
nearly as astute as Turkey in playing off her “friends” against each
other.

Just one month later April 12th N. Matunine relieved Mr. de Speyer, the
Russo-Korean bank closed its doors, the Russian military and other
officers took their departure and a very strained situation was relieved
for the time being. At about the same time Dr. Jaisohn was paid off and
left the country, the management of the _Independent_ falling into other
hands. This event was important as strowing the hopeless state into
which the Independence Club and all other friends of progress had
fallen. From this time on the tone of the club grew steadily more
petulant. The older men in it who saw that the time was not ripe for
reform withdrew and left the management of the club and the
determination of its policy in the hands of younger men who had not the
experience necessary for the handling of such affairs; and although in
Yun-Chi-ho, the president of the Club, it had a clear-headed and devoted
man he was not able to control the young blood that had begun to run
with something too feverish a course in the veins of the society. The
excited state of the public mind is proved by the fact that several
other daily and weekly periodicals sprang up, debating societies
flourished and people began to talk about things. The conservations laid
all these things up against the Independence Club and awaited their
time.

The summer of this year furnished Seoul with some excitement in the
shape of a discovered conspiracy to force the King to abdicate, place
the Crown Prince on the throne and institute a new era in Korean
history. The plot, if such it may be called, was badly planned and
deservedly fell through. It was one of the foolish moves called out by
the excitement engendered in the Independence movement. An Kyŭng su,
ex-president of the Independence Club, was the party mainly implicated
and he saved himself only by promptly decamping and putting himself into
the hands of the Japanese.

About the same time the Independence Club came into direct opposition to
the Government in its strong protest against the appointment of the
conservative Cho Pyŭng-sik to the vice-presidency of the Council of
State. The commotion, engendered by this, resulted in Mr. Yun Chi-ho
being called before the Emperor, where he made a strong appeal in favor
of the Independence Club and asserted the continued loyalty of the club
toward His Majesty. Unfortunately he asserted that the Emperor having
sanctioned the founding of the club could disband it merely by Imperial
decree. For the time, this appeal sufficed and the immediate object of
the society was secured, but the Emperor did not forget that he had it
in his power to dissolve the club by a single word. As a fact, the mere
sanction of the founding of the Club gave no more power to dissolve it
than the wedding ceremony which a clergyman performs gives the right in
future to dissolve that union. There can be no doubt that from this time
on the Emperor was determined to eliminate this disturbing element at
the first opportunity. He had no sympathy with its platform, one plank
of which was the curtailment of the Imperial prerogative.

August saw the fall of Kim Hong-nyuk, the former Russian interpreter,
who ruffled it so proudly at Court on account of his connection with the
Russian Legation. For a year he had a good time of it and amassed great
wealth, but when the Russians withdrew their influence in March of this
year Kim lost all his backing and thenceforward his doom was as sure as
fate itself. The genuine noblemen whose honors he had filched were on
his track and in August he was accused, deposed and banished. This did
not satisfy his enemies however, but an opportunity came when on
September tenth an attempt was made to poison the Emperor and the Crown
Prince. The attempt came near succeeding and in the investigation which
followed one of the scullions deposed that he had been instructed by a
friend of Kim Hong-nyuk to put something into the coffee. How Kim, away
in banishment, could have had anything to do with it would be hard to
tell. He may have conceived the plan but the verdict of a calm and
dispassionate mind must be that he probably knew nothing about it at
all. However, in such a case, someone must suffer. The criminal _must_
be found; and it is more than probable that those who hated Kim
Hong-nyuk thought he would make an excellent scape-goat. He was tried,
condemned and executed.

About the same time the Emperor came to the conclusion that he would
like to have a foreign body-guard. C. R. Greathouse was sent to Shanghai
to find the material for this guard. Thirty men were picked up, of
various nationalities, and they arrived in Seoul on September fifteenth.
This move caused intense excitement and opposition. The Independence
Club was in the fore-front of the protest that was made. A dozen good
arguments were adduced showing why this should not be done, and so
unanimous was the sentiment that the Emperor yielded to popular clamor
and dismissed the men, but this, again, cannot but have set the Emperor
against the Independence Club, inasmuch as they had been principally
instrumental in thwarting a pet scheme of his own.

The month of September witnessed better things than these, however. The
Japanese obtained their concession for the Seoul-Fusan Railway, an event
of great importance in every way and one that will mean much to Korea.

In September the Independence Club determined that it would be well to
put forward a program of work in place of the merely destructive
criticism which had for some time characterized its policy. An appeal
was made to the general public to assemble, in order to suggest reforms.
Whether this was wise or not is a question. A popular assembly in Korea
is hardly capable of coming to wise conclusions or to participate in
plans for constructive statesmanship. In addition to this an appeal to
the people was inevitably construed by the conservatives as a desperate
measure which invited revolution. In a sense they were justified in so
thinking, for the general populace of Korea never has risen in protest
unless the evils under which they are suffering have driven them to the
last court of appeal, mob law. The move was in the direction of
democracy and no one can judge that the people of Korea are ready for
any such thing.

However this may be, a mass meeting was held at Chong-no, to which
representatives of all classes were called. The following articles were
formulated and presented to the cabinet for imperial sanction.

(1) Neither officials nor people shall depend upon foreign aid, but
shall do their best to strengthen and uphold the Imperial power.

(2) All documents pertaining to foreign loans, the hiring of foreign
soldiers, the granting of concessions, &c., in fact every document drawn
up between the Korean government and a foreign party or firm, shall be
signed and sealed by all the Ministers of State and the President of the
Privy Council.

(3) Important offenders shall be punished only after they have been
given a public trial and ample opportunity to defend themselves.

(4) To His Majesty shall belong the power to appoint Ministers, but in
case a majority of the cabinet disapproves of the Emperor’s nominee he
shall not be appointed.

(5) All sources of revenue and methods of raising taxes shall be placed
under the control of the Finance Department, no other department or
officer or corporation being allowed to interfere therewith; and the
annual estimates and balances shall be made public.

(6) The existing laws and regulations shall be enforced without fear or
favor.

It will be seen that several of these measures strike directly at powers
which have been held for centuries by the King himself and it cannot be
supposed that His Majesty would listen willingly to the voice of the
common people when they demanded such far-reaching innovations. The
whole thing was utterly distasteful to him, but the united voice of the
people is a serious matter. In such a country as Korea the clearly
announced statement of the common people as to their wishes carries with
it the implication that they have come to the point where they are ready
to make trouble if their demands are not complied with. The intensity of
the popular feeling was shown in the general closing of shops and in the
attendance even of women upon the mass meetings. The reactionists were
seriously startled by these demonstrations, and it became necessary to
temporize. These demands were not such as would involve any immediate
changes; they all looked to the future. So it was an easy matter simply
to comply with the demands and wait for the public feeling to subside.
On the last day of September His Majesty ordered the carrying out of
these six propositions.

The trouble was that the conservatives felt that they had not sufficient
physical power to oppose a popular uprising. The temporary concession
was made with no idea of real compliance, and was immediately followed
by measures for securing a counter demonstration. The instrument
selected for this purpose was the old-time Peddlar’s Guild. This was a
defunct institution, but the name survived, and the conservatives used
it to bring together a large number of men who were ready for any sort
of work that would mean pay. These were organized into a company whose
duty it was to run counter to all popular demonstrations like those
which had just been made. No sooner was this hireling band organized
than His Majesty, in pursuance of the hint dropped some months before by
the President of the Independence Club, ordered the disbanding of the
Club. From this time on the Independence Club was no longer recognized
by the Government and was an illegal institution, by the very terms of
the unfortunate admission of its President that the Emperor could at any
time disband it by Imperial decree. Mr. Yun Chi-ho had by this time come
to see that the Club was running to dangerous extremes and was likely to
cause serious harm; and he and others worked with all their power to
curb the excitement and secure rational action on the part of the
members of the Club. But the time when such counsels could prevail had
already passed. The Club knew that the principles it advocated were
correct and it was angry at the stubborn opposition that it met. It was
ready to go to any lengths to secure its ends. Passion took the place of
judgment and the overthrow of the opposition loomed larger in its view
than the accomplishment of its rational ambitions.

[Illustration: _“GREAT ROCK”—TA-BA-WI GOLD-BEARING QUARTZ._]

Instead of dispersing in compliance with the Imperial order the
assembled Independents went in a body to the Police Headquarters and
asked to be arrested. This is a peculiarly Korean mode of procedure, the
idea being that if put on trial they would be able to shame their
adversaries; and incidentally it embarrassed the administration, for the
prisons would not suffice to hold the multitude that clamored for
incarceration. The crowd was altogether too large and too determined for
the Peddlers to attack and another concession had to be made. The
Independents, for it can no longer be called the Independent Club,
offered to disperse on condition that they be guaranteed freedom of
speech. The demand was immediately complied with; anything to disperse
that angry crowd which under proper leadership might at any moment do
more than make verbal demands. So on the next day an Imperial decree
granted the right of free speech. This concession, likewise, was
followed by a hurried muster of all the peddlars and their more complete
organization. Backed by official aid and Imperial sanction they were
prepared to come to blows with the people who should assemble for the
purpose of making further demands upon the Emperor.

Shortly before this the Emperor had consented to the proposition that
the Independence Club should choose by ballot from their own number
twenty-five men who should sit in the Privy Council. This council had
for a time exercised some influence during the earlier months of Dr.
Jaisohn’s residence in Seoul but it had lost all power and had become a
limbo to which were politely relegated those whom the government did not
care to use and yet was unwilling to dismiss. The edict of the Emperor
disbanding the Club would be supposed to countermand this order for
election, but the Independents themselves did not so view it, and the
day set for the election was November 5th. The conservatives now deemed
themselves strong enough to try conclusions with the outlawed Club and
before daylight of November 5th seventeen of the leading men of the
Independence Club were arrested and lodged in jail, Mr. Yun, the
president, narrowly escaped arrest. It was afterwards ascertained that
the plan of the captors was to kill the president of the Club before he
could receive aid from the enraged people.

When morning came and the arrest became known the city hummed like a
bee-hive. A surging crowd was massed in front of the Supreme Court
demanding loudly the release of the prisoners who had been accused, so
the anonymous placards announced, of conspiring to establish a republic!
Again the popular feeling was too strong for the courage of the peddlar
thugs and they remained in the back-ground. The agitation continued all
that day and the next, and the next, until the authorities were either
frightened into submission or, deeming that they had shown the
Independents a glimpse of what they might expect, released the arrested
men. But the Independents, so far from being cowed, hailed this as a
vindication of their policy and attempted to follow up the defeat of the
conservatives by demanding the arrest and punishment of the people who
had played the trick upon the Club. As these men were very prominent
officials and had the ear of the Emperor it was not possible to obtain
the redress demanded. So the month of November wore away in a ferment of
excitement. Popular meetings were frequent but the crowd had not the
determination to come to conclusions with the government. The
conservatives saw this and with utmost nicety gauged the resisting power
of the malcontents. The offensive tactics of the latter were confined
merely to free speech and the conservatives determined to see what they
would do when on the defensive. Accordingly on the morning of November
21st a band of ruffians, the so-called peddlars, attacked the people who
had gathered as usual to discuss the stirring questions of the times.
Weapons were used and a number of people were injured. The Independents
had never contemplated the use of force, and this brutal assault aroused
the ire of the whole people, most of whom had not as yet taken sides.
Serious hand to hand fights occurred in various parts of the city and
the peddlars, conscious that even their most murderous attacks would be
condoned in high places, attempted to whip the people into something
like quietude.

On the 26th of November in the midst of this chaotic state of things the
Emperor granted a great general audience outside the great gate of the
palace. The Independence Club was there in force, and foreign
representatives and a large number of other foreign residents. It was a
little Runnymede but with a different ending. Yun Chi-ho was naturally
the spokesman of the Independence party. He made a manly and temperate
statement of the position of his constituents. He denounced the armed
attacks of the peddlars upon people who intended no violence but only
desired the fulfillment of solemnly made pledges. He called to account
those who imputed to the Independence Club traitorous designs. He urged
that the legal existence of the Club should be again established by
Imperial decree and that the six measures so definitely and distinctly
promised by His Majesty should be carried out. There was no possible
argument to oppose to these requests and the Emperor promised to shape
the policy of the government in line with these suggestions. Again it
was mere promise, made to tide over an actual and present difficulty.
The Independence people should have recognized this. The Emperor was
surrounded by men inimical to the reform program, they had the police
and the army back of them as well as the peddlars. The Independence
party had not a single prominent representative in any really
responsible and influential government office. They simply had right and
the precarious voice of Korean popular feeling behind them. What was
necessary was a campaign of education. The program advocated was one
that could be carried out only under a government whose personnel was at
least approximately up to the standard of that program. This could be
claimed of only two or three members of the Independence Club. Having
secured this public promise of His Majesty the club should have waited
patiently to see what would happen and if the promises were not kept
they should have waited and worked for a time when public sentiment
among the leading men would compel reform. But as Mr. Yun himself
confesses, “The popular meetings had gone beyond the control of the
Independence Club and in the face of strong advice to the contrary they
were resumed on December 6th and their language became careless and
impudent. On the sixteenth of December the Privy Council recommended the
recall of Pak Yong-hyo from Japan. The popular meeting had the
imprudence to endorse this action. The more conservative portion of the
people revolted against the very mention of the name. Suspicion was
excited that the popular agitations had been started in the interests of
Pak Yong-hyo and they instantly lost the sympathy of the people.” The
enemies of the liberal party had probably used this argument to its
fullest extent, and when it was seen that the Independence movement had
at last been deprived of its strongest support, the popular voice, its
enemies came down upon it with cruel force. In spite of voluble promises
to the contrary large numbers of the reform party were arrested and
thrown into prison; not, to be sure, on the change of being members of
this party, but on trumped-up charges of various kinds, especially, that
of being accessory to the plan of bringing back Pak Yong-hyo. And thus
came to an end a political party whose aims were of the highest
character, whose methods were entirely peaceable but whose principles
were so far in advance of the times that from the very first there was
no human probability of success. But, as Mr. Yun Chi-ho said, though the
party dies the principles which it held will live and eventually
succeed.

The year 1899 opened with political matters in a more quiet state than
for some years past, owing to the violent repression of the Independence
Club and the liberal movement. The judgment of the future will be that
at this point Japan made a serious mistake of omission. The aims and
purposes of the Independence party were directly in line with Japanese
interests here and if that powerful government had actively interested
itself in the success of the movement and had taken it for granted that
the plan was to be definitely carried out the succeeding years would
have made very different history than they did. But during all this time
Japan seems to have retired into comparative quietude, perhaps because
she saw the coming of her inevitable struggle with Russia and was not
willing to hasten matters by coming into premature conflict with the
northern power in Korea, pending the completion of her preparations for
the supreme struggle.

Through all this period Russian influence was quietly at work securing
its hold upon the Korean Court and upon such members of the government
as it could win over. The general populace was always suspicious of her,
however, and always preferred the rougher hand of Japan to the soft but
heavy hand of Russia. The progress of the Russian plans was illustrated
when in January of 1899 a mission of the Greek Church was established in
Seoul. This suggests some remarks upon the general subject of mission
work in Korea. The Presbyterian Church of America had established work
here in 1884: the Methodist Episcopal Church of America began work in
1885; the Australian Presbyterian Church in 1889; The English Church
Mission in 1890; the Southern Presbyterian Church of America in 1892;
the Southern Methodist Church of America in 1896; the Canadian
Presbyterian Mission in 1898. Besides these there was independent work
under some smaller bodies including one Baptist organization and one
college mission. When the last year of the 19th century opened these
missions had all become firmly established, and important centres of
mission work were found all over the country, especially in Seoul,
Chemulpo, Pyeng-yang, Fusan, Wonsan, Chun-ju, Kunsan, Mokpo, Tă-gu and
Song-do. From the very first the Protestant Missions adopted the
principle of non-interferance with political affairs and with the
ordinary course of justice in Korean courts. It has not always been
possible to follow this principle implicitly but the people have come to
learn that connection with a Protestant Christian Church will not
absolve them from their duties and obligations toward their own
government nor shield them from the results of misconduct. It has been
found that the Korean temperament makes him easily accessible to the
rational idealism of Christianity. From the very first the form of
Christianity presented by the Protestant missionaries took hold of the
Koreans with great power and by the end of the first fifteen years of
work the various missions had some twenty thousand adherents. The
northern station of the Presbyterian Mission in Korea attained
world-wide notice as being, so far as human estimate can go, the most
successful mission station in the world; and this not merely because of
the number of people received into Church connection but because of the
striking results obtained along the line of self support and independent
Christian work. Hospitals were established in Seoul, Fusan, Wonsan,
Pyeng-yang, Tă-gu and Chemulpo, and schools of various grades both for
boys and girls were established in almost every mission station. The
work of Bible translation was carried on steadily until by the end of
1899 the whole of the New Testament was put in the hands of the people
at least in tentative form. The Korean Religious Tract Society,
established early in the last decade of the century, did heroic work in
putting forth Christian literature of all kinds. Literary work was
represented in various grammars and manuals of Korean, several hymnals,
an unabridged dictionary and the publication of a monthly magazine in
English called _The Korean Repository_.

Before going forward into the new century we should note some of the
more important material advances that Korea had made. Railway
concessions for some 600 miles of track had been granted, half to
Japanese and half to a French syndicate; several new and important ports
had been opened, bringing the total number up to ten, inclusive of Seoul
and Pyeng-yang; mining concessions had been given to Americans, English,
Germans, French and Japanese, two of which had proved at least
reasonably successful; timber and whaling concessions had been given to
Russians on the east side of the peninsula and important fishing rights
had been given to the Japanese; an attempt at a general system of
education had been made throughout the country and the work of
publishing text books was being pushed; students were sent abroad to
acquire a finished education and legations at all the most important
political centers were established; an attempt at a better currency had
been made, though it was vitiated by official corruption and the
operations of counterfeiters; trade had steadily increased and the
imports and exports of Korea passed beyond the negligeable stage; an
excellent postal system had been inaugurated under foreign supervision,
and Korea had entered the Postal Union.

Thus it will be seen that in spite of all domestic political
complications and discouragements the country was making definite
advance along some lines. The leaven had begun to work and no
conservatism on the part of the public leaders could stop the ferment.

The necrology of the closing year of the century contains the names of
Mr. Legendre and Mr. Greathouse, the latter of whom, as legal adviser to
the government, did excellent work in his department and was recognized
by his employers as an able and efficient man in his official capacity.




                             Chapter XXIV.

Russian tactics.... murder of An Kyŭng-su.... the Boxer troubles....
    evidences of advancement.... the career of Kim Yŭng-jin.... the rise
    of Yi Yong-ik.... his methods of collecting money.... sale of Roze
    Island to Japanese.... attempt to remove J. McLeavy Brown....
    establishment of Greek Church Mission.... French interests in Korea
    growing.... the French Loan.... Yi Yong-ik makes a nickel
    currency.... the famine of 1901.... the import of Annam rice....
    tension between Russia and Japan increasing.... material advances of
    1901.... deterioration.... Buddhism on the increase.... the
    centralization of all power.... the use of special tax
    commissioners.... the Russo-Korean agreement about Masanpo....
    useless employees.


The return to Seoul of M. Pavlow on Jan. 15, 1900, marked the definite
beginning of that train of events which led up to the declaration of war
by the Japanese in 1904. The Russians had been induced, two years
previously, to remove the heavy pressure which they had brought to bear
upon the government, but it was only a change of method. They were now
to adopt a policy of pure intrigue and by holding in power Koreans who
were hostile to the Japanese to harrass and injure Japanese interests in
every way possible.

At this same time we see a clear indication of the trend of events in
the return to Korea of An Kyŭng-su and Kwan Yŭng-jin, two of the best
men that late years had developed in Korea. They had been charged with
connection with the plot to compass the abdication of His Majesty, and
had taken refuge in Japan. Now on the promise of the government that
they should have a perfectly fair trial and on the guarantee of
protection by the Japanese they returned boldly to Korea and presented
themselves for trial. They were strong men and they had to be reckoned
with. They strongly favored Japanese influence and the reforms that that
influence was supposed to embody. In fact they were thoroughly in
sympathy with the best motives of the defunct Independence Club. An
Kyŭng-su returned on January fifteenth and was held in detention until
May sixteenth when Kwan Yŭng-jin returned. They were to stand a fair
trial, but on the night of the twenty-seventh of May they were both
strangled secretly in the prison. No more dastardly crime ever stained
the annals of this or any other government. Induced to return on the
promise of a fair trial they were trapped and murdered. The reactionists
looked upon this as a signal victory, and indeed it was such, for it
indicated clearly that a man was not safe even when he had the guarantee
of the Japanese authorities. Nor would it be difficult to indicate the
source from which the government obtained the courage thus to flout the
Japanese.

As the summer came on, all interest in things Korean was held in
suspension while the great uprising in China swelled to such monstrous
proportions and the investment of Peking and the siege of the foreign
legations there left the world no time to care for or think of other
things. There were fears that the boxer movement would be contagious and
that it would spread to Korea. Indeed it was reported in the middle of
July that the infection had reached northern Korea; but fortunately this
proved false.

In spite of the reactionary policy of the government progress continued
to be made on certain lines, just as the momentum of a railway train
cannot be checked the moment the brakes are applied. A distinguished
French legalist was employed as adviser to the Law Department; mining
concessions were granted to British, French and Japanese syndicates; the
Government Middle School was established; the Seoul-Chemulpo Railway was
formally opened; a French teacher was engaged to open a School of Mines;
a representative was sent to the great Paris Exposition.

This year 1900 was the heyday of another _parvenu_ in the person of Kim
Yŭng-jun. He was a man without any backing except his own colossal
effrontery. He had acquired influence by his ability to get together
considerable sums of money irrespective of the methods employed. Scores
of wealthy men were haled to prison on one pretext or another and were
released only upon the payment of a heavy sum. He was a man of
considerable force of character but like so many adventurers in Korea he
was lured by his successes into a false feeling of security and he
forgot that the history of this country is full of just such cases and
that they inevitably end in violent death. Even the fate of Kim
Hong-nyuk did not deter him, though his case was almost the counterpart
of that victim of his own overweening ambitions. Against Kim Yŭng-jun
was ranged the whole nobility of the country who waited with what
patience they could until his power to extort money began to wane, and
then fell upon him like wolves upon a belated traveler at night. But it
was not until the opening of the new year 1901 that he was deposed,
tried and killed in a most horrible manner. After excruciating tortures
he was at last strangled to death.

But even as this act was perpetrated and the fate of all such
adventurers was again illustrated, another man of the same ilk was
pressing to the fore. This was Yi Yong-ik, who had once been the _major
domo_ of one of the high officials and in that capacity had learned how
to do all sorts of interesting, if unscrupulous, things. He was
prominent in a felonious attempt to cheat the ginseng farmers of Song-do
out of thousands, back in the eighties. He was an ignorant boor and even
when rolling in opulence failed to make himself presentable in dress or
manner. He was praised by some for his scorn of luxury and because he
made no attempt to hoard the money that he bled from the veins of the
people. The reason he did not hoard it was the same that makes the
farmer sow his seed, that he may reap a hundred-fold. Yi Yong-ik sowed
his golden seed in fertile soil and it yielded him a thousand-fold.

One of his favorite methods of obtaining money for his patron was to
cause the arrest of shoals of former prefects who for one cause or
another had failed to turn into the public treasury the complete amount
nominally levied upon their respective districts. These arrears went
back several years and many of them were for cause. Either famine or
flood or some other calamity had made it impossible for the people to
pay the entire amount of their taxes. There were many cases, without
doubt, in which it was right to demand the money from the ex-prefects,
for they had “eaten” it themselves; but there were also many cases in
which it was a genuine hardship. Literally hundreds of men were haled
before a court and made to pay over large sums of money, in default of
which their property was seized as well as that of their relatives. In
exact proportion as the huge sums thus extorted paved his way to favor
in high places, in that same proportion it drove the people to
desperation. The taking off of Kim Yŭng-jin, so far from warning this
man, only opened a larger door for the exercise of his peculiar
abilities, and it may be said that the official career of Yi Yong-ik
began with the opening of 1901.

In March a Japanese resident of Chemulpo claimed to have purchased the
whole of Roze Island in the harbor of Chemulpo. The matter made a great
stir, for it was plain that someone had assumed the responsibility of
selling the island to the Japanese. This was the signal for a sweeping
investigation which was so manipulated by powerful parties that the real
perpetrators of the outrage were dismissed as guiltless, but a
side-issue which arose in regard to certain threatening letters that
were sent to the foreign legations was made a peg upon which to hang the
seizure, trial and execution of Kim Yŭng-jun as before mentioned. Min
Yŭng-ju was the man who sold the island to the Japanese and he finally
had to put down Y35,000 and buy it back.

Russia made steady advances toward her ultimate goal during the year
1901. In the Spring some buildings in connection with the palace were to
be erected and the Chief Commissioner of Customs, J. McLeavy Brown, C.
M. G., was ordered to vacate his house on the customs compound at short
notice. Soldiers even forced their way into his house. This affront was
a serious one and one that the Koreans would never have dared to give
had they not felt that they had behind them a power that would see them
through. The British authorities soon convinced the government that such
tactics could be easily met and it had to retreat with some loss of
dignity.

The Russian Church established itself in Seoul at this time and took
active steps to start a propaganda in Korea. Considerable disturbance
was caused in the Southern provinces by Koreans who had become Russian
subjects pretending to be agents of the Russian church and collecting
from the people large sums of money by intimidation. For many months the
Russians tried to induce the Koreans to allow the Korean telegraph lines
in the North-east to be connected with the Russian line from
Vladivostock. Why this should not be done we cannot see but evidently
the Koreans considered it a national danger and, try as they might, the
Russians never really succeeded in making the connection.

The Russians and French were naturally working together in the peninsula
and when Russia adopted the principle of withdrawing her military
instructors from Korea she so manipulated the wires that the government
threw many positions into the hands of the French. For the next three
years the French population of Seoul increased many-fold. Many of the
French gentlemen employed by the government were thoroughly competent
and rendered good service but their presence tended to add to the
tension between Japan and Russia, for it was quite plain that all their
influence would be thrown in the scale on Russia’s side. The attempt to
loan the Korean Government Y5,000,000 was pushed with desperate vigor
for many months by the French, but divided counsels prevented the final
consummation of the loan and the French thus failed to secure the strong
leverage which a heavy loan always gives to the creditor. Yi Yong-ik who
had become more or less of a Russian tool was pointedly accused by the
Japanese of being in favor of the French loan but he vigorously denied
it. It is generally admitted that Yi Yong-ik was something of a mystery
even to his most intimate acquaintances and just how far he really
favored the Russian side will never be known, but it is certain that he
assumed a more and more hostile attitude toward the Japanese as the
months went by, an attitude which brought him into violent conflict with
them, as we shall see.

Yi Yong-ik posed as a master in finance, whatever else he may or may not
have been, and in 1901 he began the minting of the Korean nickel piece.
No greater monetary disaster ever overtook this country. Even the
desperate measures taken by the Regent thirty years before had not
shaken the monetary system as this did. The Regent introduced the
wretched five-cash piece which did enormous harm but that five-cash
piece was of too small face value to be worth counterfeiting. The nickel
was the ideal coin to tempt the counterfeiter, for its intrinsic value
was not so great as to require the employment of a large amount of
capital and yet its face value was sufficient to pay for the labor and
time expended. The effects of this departure will be noted in their
place.

In the summer of 1901 Yi Yong-ik performed one act that, in the eyes of
the people, covered a multitude of other sins. It was a year of great
scarcity. The Korean farmers raised barely enough grain for domestic
consumption and in order to prevent this grain from being taken out of
the country the government proclaimed an embargo on its export. In spite
of the fact that Japan was enjoying an unusually good crop and did not
really need the Korean product, the Japanese authorities, in the
interest of the Japanese exporters in Korea, brought pressure to bear
upon the Korean government to raise the embargo, utterly regardless of
the interests of the Korean people. As it turned out however, the
enhanced price in Korea due to the famine and the cutting of a full crop
in Japan prevented the export of rice. But Yi Yong-ik saw that there
would inevitably be a shortage in Seoul and with much forethought he
sent and imported a large amount of Annam rice and put it on the market
at a price so reasonable that the people were highly gratified. From
that time on whenever the mistakes of Yi Yong-ik were cited there was
always someone to offer the extenuation of that Annam rice. It was a
most clever and successful appeal to popular favor.

All through this year 1901 were heard the distant rumblings of that
storm that was to break three years later. Every movement of the
Russians by land or sea was watched with a fascinated attention and
every proposition of the Japanese was closely scrutinized. As a fact the
war was already in existence, only it had not been declared. Even then
Japanese agents were swarming all over Manchuria gaining exact
information of its geography and products and Japan was hastening the
preparation of her navy for the struggle that she felt to be inevitable.

As the year 1901 came to a close the tension was beginning to be felt.
People were asking how much longer Japan would acquiesce in the insolent
encroachments of Russia. But the time was not yet. As for material
advances the year had seen not a few. Seoul had been supplied with
electric light. The Seoul-Fusan Railway had been begun. Plans for the
Seoul-Wiju Railway had been drawn up. Mokpo had been supplied with a
splendid sea-wall. Building had gone on apace in the capital and even a
scheme for a system of water-works for the city had been worked out and
had received the sanction of the government. Education had gone from bad
to worse and at one time when retrenchment seemed necessary it was even
suggested to close some of the schools, but better counsels prevailed
and this form of suicide was rejected.

With the opening of the year 1902 there were several indications that
the general _morale_ of the government was deteriorating. The first was
a very determined attempt to revive the Buddhist cult. The Emperor
consented to the establishment of a great central monastery for the
whole country in the vicinity of Seoul, and in it was installed a
Buddhist High Priest in Chief who was to control the whole Buddhist
Church in the land. It was a ludicrous attempt, for Buddhism in Korea is
dead so far as any genuine influence is concerned. Mixed with the native
spirit-worship it has its millions of devotees, but so far as becoming a
fashionable cult is concerned nothing is more unlikely. But it has been
the case for over a thousand years that when things have gone badly in
the government there has been a harking back to the old Buddhist
mummery, to fortune-tellers, geomancers and the like, and the only
significance of this attempt was to prove that there was something
“rotten in Denmark.”

Another evidence was the constant and successful attempt to centralize
the power of the Government in the hands of the Emperor. The overthrow
of the Independence Party, whose main tenet was curtailment of the
Imperial prerogative, gave a new impulse to the enlargement of that
prerogative so that in the year 1901 we find almost all the government
business transacted in the Palace itself. The various ministers of state
could do nothing on their own initiative. Everything was centered in the
throne and in two or three favorites who stood near the throne. Of these
Yi Yong-ik was the most prominent.

A third evidence of deterioration was the methods adopted to fill the
coffers of the Household treasury. The previous year had been a bad one.
Out of a possible twelve million dollars of revenue only seven million
could be collected. There was great distress all over the country and
the pinch was felt in the palace. Special inspectors and agents were
therefore sent to the country armed with authority from the Emperor to
collect money for the Household treasury. These men adopted any and
every means to accomplish their work and this added very materially to
the discontent of the people. The prefects were very loath to forego a
fraction of the taxation, because they saw how previous prefects were
being mulcted because of failure to collect the full amount, and so
between the prefect and the special agents the people seemed to be
promised a rather bad time. In fact it caused such an outcry on every
side that the government at last reluctantly recalled the special
agents.

Early in the year the fact was made public that Korea had entered into
an agreement with Russia whereby it was guaranteed that no land at
Masanpo or on the island of Kö-je at its entrance should ever be sold or
permanently leased to any foreign Power. Russia had already secured a
coaling station there and it was generally understood, the world over,
that Russia had special interest in that remarkably fine harbor.
Avowedly this was merely for pacific purposes, but the pains which
Russia took to make a secret agreement with Korea debarring other Powers
from privileges similar to those which she had acquired, naturally
aroused the suspicions of the Japanese and of the Koreans themselves,
those of them that had not been in the secret; and this step, inimical
to Japan as it undoubtedly was, probably helped to hasten the final
catastrophe. Meanwhile Russian subjects were taking advantage of the
influential position of their Government in Seoul and through
ministerial influence some glass-makers, iron-workers and weavers were
employed by the Government without the smallest probability of their
ever doing anything in any of these lines. In fact at about this time
the Government was induced to take on quite a large number of Russians
and Russian sympathisers who never were able to render any service
whatever in lieu of their pay. In many cases the most cursory
investigation would have shown that such would inevitably be the result.
It is difficult to evade the conclusion that the Government was
deliberately exploited.

It was in the spring of this year that the project began to be seriously
discussed in Japan of colonizing portions of Korea with Japanese, and a
society or company was formed in Tokyo with this as its avowed purpose.
This naturally evoked a good deal of feeling in Korea where the Japanese
were not at the time enjoying any considerable influence at court. The
fact then came out for the first time, and has been further emphasized
since, that the Korean, whatever he may feel for his Government, is
passionately attached to the soil.

But at this time another and a far greater surprise was in store for the
world. It was the announcement of a defensive alliance between Japan and
Great Britain. By the terms of this agreement Japan and Great Britain
guaranteed to insure the independence of Korea and the integrity of the
Chinese Empire. The tremendous influence of this historic document was
felt at once in every capital of Europe and in every capital, port and
village of the Far East. It stung the lethargic to life and it caused
the rashly enthusiastic to stop and think. There can be no manner of
doubt that this alliance was one of the necessary steps in preparing for
the war which Japan already foresaw on the horizon. It indicated clearly
to Russia that her continued occupation of Manchuria and her continued
encroachments upon Korea would be called in question at some not distant
day. But she was blind to the warning. This convention bound Great
Britain to aid Japan in defensive operations and to work with her to the
preservation of Korean independence and the integrity of China. It will
be seen, therefore, that Japan gave up once and for all any thought that
she might previously have had of impairing the independence of this
country and any move in that direction would absolve Great Britain from
all obligations due to the signing of the agreement.

The year had but just begun when the operations of counterfeiters of
nickel coins became so flagrant as to demand the attention of all who
were interested in trade in the peninsula. Japan had most at stake and
Russia had least, and this explains why the Russian authorities
applauded the work of Yi Yong-ik and encouraged him to continue and
increase the issue of such coinage. In March matters had come to such a
pass that the foreign representatives, irrespective of partisan lines,
met and discussed ways and means for overcoming the difficulty. After
careful deliberation they framed a set of recommendations which were
sent to the Government. These urged the discontinuance of this nickel
coinage, the withdrawal from circulation of spurious coins and stringent
laws against counterfeiting. But this was of little or no avail. The
Government was making a five cent coin at a cost of less than two cents
and consequently the counterfeiters with good tools could make as good a
coin as the Government and still realize enormously on the operation. It
was impossible to detect the counterfeited coins, in many cases, and so
there was no possibility of withdrawing them from circulation. The heavy
drop in exchange was not due so much to the counterfeiting as to the
fact that the intrinsic value of the coin was nothing like as much as
the face value, and by an immutable law of finance as well as of human
nature it fell to a ruinous discount. But even this would not have
worked havoc with trade if, having fallen, the discredited coinage would
stay fallen, but it had the curious trick of rising and falling with
such sudden fluctuations that business became a mere gamble, and the
heavy interests of Japanese and Chinese merchants were nearly at a
standstill.




                              Chapter XXV.

The Japanese Bank issues notes.... Independence Club scare....
    light-houses.... Opening of work on Seoul-Wiju R.R.... combination
    against Yi Yong-ik.... he is accused and degraded.... rescued by
    Russian guard.... protest of the Japanese against his return.... Yi
    Keun-t’ăk.... Russian complacency.... Russian policy in the Far
    East.... contrast between Russia’s and Japan’s aims.


At this point the First Bank of Japan, called the Dai Ichi Ginko,
brought up a scheme for putting out an issue of special bank notes that
would not circulate outside of Korea. Korea was importing much more than
she exported and the balance of trade being against her it was
impossible to keep Japanese paper in the country in sufficient
quantities to carry on ordinary local trade. For this reason the bank
received the sanction of the Korean Government to put out this issue of
bank paper which could not be sent abroad but would be extremely useful
as a local currency. This was done and it was found to work admirably.
The Koreans had confidence in this money and it circulated freely. It
had two advantages not enjoyed by any form of Korean currency, namely,
it was a stable currency and suffered no fluctuations and it was in
large enough denominations to make it possible to transfer a thousand
dollars from one man’s pocket to that of another without employing a
string of pack-ponies to carry the stuff.

But we must retrace our steps and note some other events of interest
that happened in the spring months. One of these was the scare in
government circles over the reported revival of the Independence Club
under the encouragement of a so-called Korean Party in Tokyo, to which
it was believed some Korean political refugees belonged. A great stir
was made in Seoul and several men were arrested, but there was no
evidence that would pay sifting, and though it was evident that the
government would have been glad to find a true bill against some of the
men who were arrested it was forced by lack of evidence to let them go.
The incident was of importance only as showing the extreme sensitiveness
of the government on the point, and its determination, now that the
Independence Party was down, to keep it down.

The one important material improvement of the year was the adoption of a
plan for the building of some thirty light-houses on the coast of Korea.
Ever since the opening up of foreign trade the lack of proper lights
especially on the western coast had been a matter of growing concern to
shipping companies. This concern was warranted by the dangerous nature
of the coast where high tides, a perfect network of islands and
oft-prevailing fogs made navigation a most difficult and dangerous
matter. The fact that light-houses ought to have been built ten years
ago does not detract from the merit of those who at last took the matter
in hand and pushed it to an issue.

The month of May witnessed a spectacular event in the ceremony of the
formal opening of work on the Seoul-Wiju Railway. The spirit was willing
but the flesh was weak. Neither French nor Russian money was forthcoming
to push the work, and so the Korean government was invited to finance
the scheme. Yi Yong-ik was made president of the company and if there
had been a few thousand more ex-prefects to mulct he might have raised
enough money to carry the road a few miles; but it is much to be feared
that his financial ability, so tenderly touched upon by the Japanese
Minister in his speech on that “auspicious occasion,” was scarcely
sufficient for the work, and the plan was not completed. There is much
reason to believe that this whole operation was mainly a scheme on the
part of the Russians to preempt the ground in order to keep the Japanese
out.

As the year wore toward its close the usurpation of numerous offices by
Yi Yong-ik and his assumption of complete control in the palace bore its
legitimate fruit in the intense hatred of four-fifths of the entire
official class. He was looked upon as but one more victim destined to
the same fate which had overtaken Kim Hong-nyuk and Kim Yŭng-jun. But in
his case the difficulties were much greater. Yi Yong-ik had put away in
some safe place an enormous amount of Government money and he held it as
a hostage for his personal safety. Until that money was safely in the
Imperial treasury even the revenge would not be sweet enough to make it
worth the loss. Not only so but the whole finances of the Household were
in his hands and his sudden taking off would leave the accounts in such
shape that no one could make them out, and enormous sums due the
department would be lost. Yi Yong-ik had fixed himself so that his life
was better worth than his death however much that might be desired. But
the officiary at large cared little for this. There was no doubt that
the one person who should accomplish the overthrow of the favorite and
thus bring embarrassment to the Imperial purse would suffer for it, but
Korean intrigue was quite capable of coping with a little difficulty
like this. The result must be brought about by a combination so strong
and so unanimous that no one would ever know who the prime mover was.
This at least is a plausible theory and the only one that adequately
explains how and why the scheme miscarried. The whole course of the
intrigue is so characteristically Korean and includes so many elements
of genuine humor, in spite of its object, that we will narrate it
briefly. It must of course be understood that the officials were keenly
on the lookout for an opportunity to get the hated favorite on the hip
and in such a manner that even his financial value to the Emperor would
not avail him.

One day, while in conversation with Lady Om, the Emperor’s favorite
concubine who has been mistress of the palace since the death of the
Queen, Yi Yong-ik compared her to Yang Kwi-bi a concubine of the last
Emperor of the Tang dynasty in China. He intended this as a compliment
but as his education is very limited he was not aware that he could have
said nothing more insulting; for Kwi-bi by her meretricious arts is
believed to have brought about the destruction of the Tang dynasty. At
the time Lady Om herself was unaware that anything derogatory had been
said and she received the supposed compliment with complacency; but her
nephew who was present, not understanding the reference, went and asked
someone else about it and learned the truth of the matter. He doubtless
knew that Yi Yong-ik was not aware of his _gaucherie_ and so held his
peace for a time, but in some way the Prime Minister and the Foreign
Minister heard a rumor that something insulting had been said. They
called up the nephew of Lady Om and from him learned the damning facts.
They also knew well enough that no insult had been intended but here was
a “case” to be worked to its fullest capacity. The most sanguine could
not hope that the hated favorite would give them a better hold upon him
than this: for the position of Lady Om was a very delicate one and there
had been a dispute on for years between the Emperor’s counsellors as to
the advisability of raising her to the position of Empress. A word
against her was a most serious matter.

Everything was now ready for the grand _coup_ and on the 27th of
November fourteen of the highest officials memorialized the throne
declaring that Yi Yong-ik was a traitor and must be condemned and
executed at once. His Majesty suggested a little delay but on the
evening of the same day the same men presented a second memorial couched
in still stronger language, and they followed if up the next morning
with a third. To their urgent advice was added that of Lady Om herself
and of many other of the officials. A crowd of officials gathered at the
palace gate and on their knees awaited the decision of the Emperor.
There was not a single soul of all that crowd but knew that the charge
was a mere excuse and yet it was nominally valid. It was the will of
that powerful company against the will of the Emperor. The tension was
too great and His Majesty at last reluctantly consented, or at least
expressed consent; but he first ordered the accused to be stripped of
all his honors and to render all his accounts. This was nominally as
reasonable as was the charge against the man. It was a case of “diamond
cut diamond” in which the astuteness of the Emperor won. The accusers
could not object to having the accused disgorge before being executed
but it was at this very point that they were foiled Yi Yong-ik’s
accounts were purposely in such shape that it would have taken a month
to examine them, for he alone held the key. Nothing can exceed the
desperate coolness of the man under the awful ordeal. At one point, just
after the acquiescence of the Emperor, the written sentence of death is
said to have gone forth but was recalled just as it was to have gone out
of the palace gates, after which there would have been no recall. No man
ever escaped by a narrower margin. When Yi Yong-ik presented his
accounts the Emperor announced that it would take some days to
straighten matters out since the accused was the only man to unravel the
skein. Here was probably the crucial point in the intrigue. If the white
heat of the day before had been maintained and the officials had
demanded instant punishment, accounts or no accounts, the thing would
have been done, but as it happened the consciousness of having won
relaxed the tension to such a degree that the accused gained time. This
time was utilized by calling in a Russian guard and spiriting the
accused away to the Russian Legation. This accomplished His Majesty
suavely announced that the case would be considered, but that meanwhile
the officials must disperse. There were further memorials, resignations
_en masse_, passionate recriminations until at last two or three
officials who had held their peace saw that the game was up and, in
order to curry favor themselves, offered a counter memorial charging Yi
Yong-ik’s accusers with indirection. This was listened to and the Prime
Minister was deprived of his official rank. This made possible a
compromise whereby both Yi Yong-ik and the Prime Minister were restored
to all their former honors and all went “merry as a marriage bell.” But
it was thought best to let Yi Yong-ik travel for his own and his
country’s good, so he was made Commissioner to Buy Annam Rice, which was
itself a pretty piece of diplomacy since it recalled prominently to the
people the one phase of the injured man’s career which they could
unhesitatingly applaud. He was taken off in a Russian cruiser to Port
Arthur—to buy Annam rice!

When he returned to Seoul a few weeks later the Japanese lodged a strong
protest against his return to political power but the Russian
authorities made a counter-proposition urging that he was the only man
capable of handling the finances of the country. Under existing
circumstances the very protest of the Japanese was an argument in his
favor and he came back into power on the flood tide, backed, as he had
never been before, by the full favor of the Russian party. They
naturally expected substantial payment for having saved him, and so far
as he was able he liquidated the debt.

Meanwhile another man, Yi Keun-t’ăk, had risen to power through servile
adherence to Russian interests. The somewhat enigmatical character of Yi
Yong-ik made him to a certain extent an unknown quantity. Not even the
Japanese considered him wholly given over to Russia; but this new man
was definitely committed to Russian interests and with his rise to
important position it became evident for the first time that the Korean
Government had decided to rely upon Russia and to reject the aid or the
advice of Japan. The end of the year 1902 may be said to have been the
approximate time when Japan first realized that all hope of a peaceful
solution of the Korean problem was gone. One naturally asks why Korea
took this step, and, while we are still too near the event to secure an
entirely dispassionate estimate or opinion, there seems to be little
doubt that it was because Russia made no pretensions, and expressed no
desire, to reform the administration of the Government. She was
perfectly content to let things go along in the old way in the
peninsula, knowing that this would constantly and increasingly
jeopardize the interests of Japan while she herself had practically no
commercial interests to suffer.

The immemorial policy of Russia in Asia sufficiently accounts for her
work in Korea. Her policy of gradual absorption of native tribes has
never held within its purview the civilizing or the strengthening of
those tribes, until they have been gathered under her aegis. On the
other hand, until that has been accomplished she has either waited
patiently for the disintegration of the native tribes or has actually
aided in such disintegration. History shows no case in which Russia has
strengthened the hands of another people for the sake of profiting by
the larger market that would be opened up; for until very recently the
commercial side of the question has scarcely been considered, and even
now the commercial interests of Russia depend upon an exclusive market.
So that in any case a dominant political influence is the very first
step in every move of Russia in the East. Why then should Russia have
advised administrative or monetary or any other reform, since such
action would inevitably form a bar to the success of her own ultimate
plans?

The historian of the future, taking his stand above and out of the smoke
of battle, will take a dispassionate view of the whole situation. He
will mark the antecedents of these two rival Powers, he will compare
their domestic and foreign policies, he will weigh the motives that
impelled them, he will mark the instruments wielded by each and the men
whom they employed as their intermediaries and agents. Then and not till
then will it be possible to tell whether the present recorders of events
are right in asserting that while the policies of both Powers are
essentially selfish the success of Russia’s policy involves the
disintegration and national ruin of the peoples she comes in contact
with while the success of Japan’s policy demands the rehabilitation of
the Far East.

Much depended upon the attitude which Korea should finally assume toward
these two mutually antagonistic policies. If she had sided with Japan
and had shown a fixed determination to resist the encroachments of
Russia by adopting a policy of internal renovation which would enlist
the interest and command the admiration of the world, the present war
might have been indefinitely postponed. Whether it could have been
finally avoided would depend largely upon the changes that are taking
place in Russia herself where in spite of all repressive agencies
education and enlightenment are filtering in and causing a gradual
change. Here again the future historian may be able to say with
confidence that it was better that the war came when it did in that it
confirmed Japan in her course of commercial, industrial and intellectual
expansion, guaranteed China against disintegration and opened the eyes
of the Russians themselves to their need of radical internal reform. And
he may be able to say that the temporary suspension of Korean autonomy
was but a small price to pay for these enormous benefits to the Far East
and to the world at large.




                             Chapter XXVI.

Return of Yi Yong-ik.... Attack on Japanese Bank.... Government backs
    down.... Roman Catholic troubles in Whang-hă Province.... trials at
    Hă-ju.... difficulty settled.... Korean students to be sent to
    Russia.... The Russian timber concession.... Russia enters
    Yongampo.... Korean prophecies.... Japan, England and America urge
    the opening of Yongampo.... Russia prevents it.... Russians exceed
    limits of concession.... Japanese protest.... Port Nicholas....
    Japanese suspend business in Seoul.... Korean pawn brokers stop
    business.... Legation guards.... government protest against them....
    fears of popular uprising.... native press incendiary.... fears of
    trouble in the country....Foreigners threatened.


The year 1903 beheld the rapid culmination of the difficulties between
Japan and Russia. It had already become almost sure that war alone would
cut the Gordian knot, and if any more proof was necessary this year
supplied it.

Yi Yong-ik in Port Arthur received assurance from the Emperor that if he
returned he would be given a powerful guard, and in this he was
doubtless seconded by the Russians who could use him to better advantage
in Seoul than in Port Arthur. He telegraphed for 15,000 bags of Annam
rice and arrived in Chemulpo on the very day the rice came. It formed a
sort of peace offering which, in the temporary scarcity, was very
agreeable to the people. His return was the signal for a vigorous attack
upon Japanese interests. On the eleventh of the preceding September the
Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs had issued an order prohibiting the
use of the Japanese bank notes, alleging that since they were not
government notes they were unsafe. This was a direct breach of faith,
because as we have seen the Japanese Bank had already obtained the full
consent of the government to issue and circulate these notes. It is
almost inconceivable that any man of ministerial rank would be so devoid
of ordinary common sense as to attempt such a thing as this. Of course
there was an instant and peremptory protest on the part of the Japanese
authorities and the government had to stultify itself by taking it all
back. The promise was made that the governors of the provinces would be
instructed to remove all objections to the circulation of the notes, but
the promise was never kept. Now on the seventeenth of January Yi
Yong-ik, who had but just returned, made a fierce attack upon the
Japanese bank and a note was sent from the Finance Department to that of
Foreign Affairs demanding by what right the latter had ventured to
interfere in the finances of the country. Cho Pyŭng-sik who had
reinstated the Japanese notes was dismissed from the Foreign Office and
everything fell into the hands of Yi Yong-ik. A few days later the Mayor
of Seoul posted a circular forbidding the use of these notes on pain of
severe punishment. This went all over the country and there was an
immediate run on the bank, which was tided over with the greatest
difficulty. Of course the Japanese were in a position to make reprisals,
and after a little pointed talk the bluster of the favorite subsided to
a weak whisper, and the authorities apologized in the most abject
manner. It should be noted that the Russians gave no help to Yi Yong-ik
when it came to the point of an actual breach with Japan.

For some time there had been great unrest throughout the province of
Whang-hă owing to the lawless acts of the Roman Catholic adherents
there. The matter was brought clearly before the notice of the
Government through American Protestant missionaries because many of the
Protestant native Christians had been involved in those troubles and had
been imprisoned, beaten, tortured and robbed by those who were avowedly
members of the Roman Church. A number of these lawless acts were
committed under the sign and seal of the Church itself. When the matter
became too notorious to escape action on the part of the Government a
native official named Yi Eung-ik was appointed as a special Commissioner
to go to Hă-ju, the capital of the province, and investigate the matter
thoroughly. Foreign representatives of both the Roman Catholics and of
the Protestants were present and the trial was instituted in a perfectly
fair and impartial manner. It was clear that the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth was to be elicited by this trial and after
vain attempts to quash the indictment one of the French Catholic priests
left the place accompanied and followed by a considerable number of
those against whom there were most serious charges. These people
gathered at a certain town and assumed a threatening attitude toward the
Korean Government, but though all the foreign Roman Catholic
representatives refused to attend the trial of the dozen or more of
their adherents who had been arrested, the trial continued and charge
after charge of the most grievous nature was proved, one man being
convicted of murder. During the trial various attempts were made to
discredit the Commissioner but before the end of the trials his power
was greatly increased. The result was to put an end to the difficulties
and though those responsible for the outrages were never adequately
punished it is probable that the Korean Government sufficiently
demonstrated its purpose to deal with such matters in a strictly
impartial manner.

The great preponderance of Russian influence was manifested early in
1903 by the decision on the part of the Government to send a number of
young Koreans to Russia to study, but when it came to the point of
selecting the men it was found that there was no desire on the part of
the students to go. This was due in part to the feeling that Korean
students abroad are not looked after very carefully by the authorities
and there are long delays in, if not complete cessation of, transmission
of money for their support.

Early in the year it transpired that the Russians had obtained from the
Korean Emperor a concession to cut timber along the Yalu River. The
thing was done secretly and irregularly and the government never
received a tithe of the value of the concession. By this act the
government dispossessed itself of one of its finest sources of wealth
and sacrificed future millions for a few paltry thousand in hand, and a
promise to pay a share of the profits, though no provision was made for
giving the government an opportunity of watching the work in its own
interests. Soon after the Russians had begun to work the concession they
began to make advances for the obtaining of harbor facilities in
connection with it. The port of Yongampo was decided upon and the Korean
government was asked to allow the Russians the use of it for this
purpose. This created a very profound impression upon Japan and upon the
world at large. It was felt that this was giving Russia a foothold upon
the soil of Korea, and Russia’s history shows that, once gained, the
point would never be given up. The activity of Russia in the north gave
rise to the notion that Japanese influence was predominant in the
southern half of the peninsula and Russian in the northern half. This
gave birth to all sorts of rumors among the Korean people and the
ancient books were ransacked for prophecies that would fit the
situation. One of these is worth repeating since it illustrates very
perfectly the Korean tendency to consult some oracle in times of
national peril. This particular prophecy is supposed to say that “when
white pine-trees grow in Korea the northern half of the peninsula will
go to the Tartar and the southern half to the Shrimp.” Japan, from its
shape, is said to resemble a shrimp, while Tartar covers the Muscovite.
The people interpreted the “white pines” to refer to the telegraph
poles! And thus the prophecy was considered to mean that when Korea is
opened to foreign intercourse it will be divided between Russia and
Japan. It cannot be said that this caused any considerable stir among
the people and its only value lies in the certain indication that it
afforded of the general unrest and suspicion among them. As a whole the
attitude of the Korean has always been a rational and consistent one as
between Russia and Japan. He has a greater personal antipathy for the
latter because they have come into closer contact, but there is a
mysterious dread in his heart which warns him of the Russian. He will
never say which he would rather have in power here, but always says, “I
pray to be delivered from them both.”

Japan began to urge upon the government the necessity of opening
Yongampo to foreign trade, but Russia, of course, opposed this with all
her powers of persuasion. Great Britain and the United States joined in
urging the opening of the port. The United States had already arranged
for the opening of the port of Antung just opposite Yongampo, and for
the sake of trade it was highly desirable that a port on the Korean side
of the Yalu should be opened. It had no special reference to the Russian
occupation of the port, but as pressure was being brought to bear upon
the government to throw open the port it was considered an opportune
time to join forces in pushing for this desired end. And it was more for
the interest of Korea to do this than for any of the powers that were
urging it. Such an act would have been a check to Russian aggression and
would have rendered nugatory any ulterior plan she might have as regards
Korea. But the Russian power in Seoul was too great. It had not upheld
the cause of Yi Yong-ik in vain, and the government, while using very
specious language, withstood every attempt to secure the opening of the
port. At last the American Government modified its request and asked
that Wiju be opened, but to this Russia objected almost as strongly as
to the other. There can be little doubt that this uncompromising
attitude of Russia on the Korean border confirmed Japan in the position
she had doubtless already assumed. It was quite evident that the force
of arms was the only thing that would make Russia retire from Korean
soil.

All through the summer complaints came in from the north that the
Russians were working their own will along the northern border and
taking every advantage of the loose language in which the agreement had
been worded. Again and again information came up to Seoul that the
Russian agents were going outside the limits specified in the bond but
there was no one to check it. It was impossible to police the territory
encroached upon and there is reason to believe that the Government
chafed under the imposition. At least the telegraph lines which the
Russians erected entirely without warrant were repeatedly torn down by
emissaries of the Government and apparently without check from the
central authorities.

In the Summer when the text of the proposed Agreement between Russia and
Korea anent Yongampo became public the Japanese Government made a strong
protest. She probably knew that this was a mere form but she owed it to
herself to file a protest against such suicidal action on the part of
Korea. The insolence of the Russians swelled to the point of renaming
Yongampo Port Nicholas.

In October the Japanese merchants in Seoul and other commercial centers
began calling in all outstanding moneys, with the evident expectation of
war. All brokers and loan associations closed their accounts and refused
to make further loans. It is more than probable that they had received
the hint that it might be well to suspend operations for the time being.
From this time until war was declared the people of Korea waited in
utmost suspense. They knew war only as a universal desolation. They had
no notion of any of the comparative amenities of modern warfare or the
immunities of noncombatants. War meant to them the breaking up of the
very foundations of society, and many a time the anxious inquiry was put
as to whether the war would probably be fought on Korean soil or in
Manchuria. Once more Korea found herself the “Shrimp between two whales”
and doubly afflicted in that whichever one should win she would in all
probability form part of the booty of the victor.

The year 1904, which will be recorded in history as one of the most
momentous in all the annals of the Far East, opened upon a very
unsatisfactory state of things in Korea. It had become as certain as any
future event can be that Japan and Russia would soon be at swords
points. The negotiations between these two powers were being carried on
in St. Petersburg and, as published later, were of the most
unsatisfactory nature. Japan was completing her arrangements for
striking the blow which fell on February the ninth. Of course these
plans were not made public but there was conflict in the very air and
all men were bracing themselves for the shock that they felt must soon
come. The action of Japanese money-lenders in suspending operations was
followed in January by the Korean pawn-brokers and at a season when such
action inflicted the greatest possible harm upon the poor people of the
capital, who find it impossible to live without temporarily
hypothecating a portion of their personal effects. This together with
the excessive cold aroused a spirit of unrest which came near assuming
dangerous proportions. Some of the native papers were so unwise as to
fan the embers by dilating upon the hard conditions under which the
Koreans labored. Their sharpest comments were directed at the Government
but their tendency was to incite the populace against foreigners.

All through the month the various foreign legations were bringing in
guards to protect their legations and their respective nationals and
this very natural and entirely justifiable action was resented by the
Government. It protested time and again against the presence of foreign
troops, as if their coming were in some way an insult to Korea. The
officials in charge thereby showed their utter incompetence to diagnose
the situation correctly. It was well known that the disaffection among
the Korean troops in Seoul was great and that the dangerous element
known as the Peddlars Guild was capable of any excesses. The unfriendly
attitude of Yi Yong-ik and Yi Keun-tăk towards western foreigners,
excepting Russians and French, together with their more or less close
connection with the Peddlars was sufficient reason for the precautionary
measures that were adopted. But the native papers made matters worse by
ridiculing both the government and the army. At one time there was
considerable solicitude on the part of foreigners, not lest the Korean
populace itself would break into open revolt but lest some violent
faction would be encouraged by the authorities to make trouble; so
little confidence had they in the good sense of the court favorite. It
was fairly evident that in case of trouble the Japanese would very soon
hold the capital and it was feared that the violently pro-Russian
officials, despairing of protection at the hands of Russia, would cause
a general insurrection, hoping in the tumult to make good their escape.
It was felt that great precautions should be taken by foreigners not to
give any excuse for a popular uprising. The electric cars diminished
their speed so as to obviate the possibility of any accident, for even
the smallest casualty might form the match while would set the people on
fire.

But popular unrest was not confined to Seoul. A serious movement was
begun in the two southern provinces where, it was reported, hundreds of
the _ajuns_ or prefectural constables were preparing to lead a
formidable insurrection. The firm hold that these men have upon the
people made it not unlikely that it would prove much more serious than
the Tonghak insurrection of 1894. From the north, as well, persistent
reports came of the banding together of the disaffected people, and
foreign residents in those parts affirmed that they had never before
seen such a state of affairs. One of them was driven from a country
village and threatened with death if he should ever return. The Korean
soldiers who formed the garrison of Pyeng-yang joined the police in
breaking into the houses of wealthy natives and stealing money and
goods. The authorities remonstrated, but without effect. By the
twentieth of January the tension became so great in Seoul that a
considerable number of the wealthy natives began removing their families
and their valuables to the country.

About the 20th of January the report circulated that Russia had proposed
that northern Korea be made a neutral zone and that Japan exercise
predominant influence in the south. This was only an echo of the
negotiations which were nearing the breaking point in St. Petersburg,
and it confirmed those who knew Japan in their opinion that war alone
could settle the matter. On the following day the Korean Government
issued its proclamation of neutrality as between Russia and Japan. This
curious action, taken before any declaration of war or any act of
hostility, was a pretty demonstration of Russian tactics. It was evident
that in case of war Japan would be the first in the field and Korea
would naturally be the road by which she would attack Russia. Therefore
while the two were technically at peace with each other Korea was
evidently induced by Russia to put forth a premature declaration of
neutrality in order to anticipate any use of Korean territory by
Japanese troops. At the time this was done the Foreign Office was shorn
of all real power and was only the mouth-piece through which these
friends of Russia spoke in order to make their pronouncements official.
It was already known that two of the most powerful Koreans at court had
strongly urged that Russia be asked to send troops to guard the imperial
palace in Seoul and the Japanese were keenly on the lookout for
evidences of bad faith in the matter of this declared neutrality. When,
therefore, they picked up a boat on the Yellow Sea a few days later and
found on it a Korean bearing a letter to Port Arthur asking for troops,
and that, while unofficial in form, it came from the very officials who
had promulgated the declaration of neutrality, it became abundantly
clear that the spirit of neutrality was non-existent. It must be left to
the future historian to declare whether the Japanese were justified in
impairing a declared neutrality that existed only in name and under
cover of which the Korean officials were proved to be acting in a manner
distinctly hostile to the interests of Japan.

All through January the Japanese were busy making military stations
every fifteen miles between Fusan and Seoul. All along the line small
buildings were erected, sufficiently large to house twenty or thirty
men. On January 22nd Gen. Ijichi arrived in Seoul as military attaché of
the Japanese Legation. The appointment of a man of such rank as this was
most significant and should have aroused the Russians to a realizing
sense of their danger, but it did not do so. Four days later this
general made a final appeal to the Korean Government, asking for some
definite statement as to its attitude toward Russia and Japan. The
Foreign Office answered that the government was entirely neutral. Two
days later the Japanese landed a large amount of barley at the port of
Kunsan, a few hours’ run south of Chemulpo, and a light railway of the
Decauville type was also landed at the same place. On the 29th all
Korean students were recalled from Japan.

On February the first the Russians appeared to be the only ones who did
not realize that trouble was brewing, otherwise why should they have
stored 1,500 tons of coal and a quantity of barley in their godowus on
Roze Island in Chemulpo Harbor on the second of that month? On the
seventh the government received a dispatch from Wiju saying that several
thousand Russian troops were approaching the border and that the
Japanese merchants and others were preparing to retire from that place.
The same day the Foreign Office sent to all the open ports ordering that
news should be immediately telegraphed of any important movements.

On the eighth day of February the Japanese posted notices in Seoul and
vicinity that what Japan was about to do was dictated by motives of
right and justice and that the property and personal rights of Koreans
would be respected. Koreans were urged to report any cases of
ill-treatment to the Japanese authorities and immediate justice was
promised. From this day the port of Chemulpo was practically blockaded
by the Japanese and only by their consent could vessels enter or clear.

Having arrived at the point of actual rupture between Japan and Russia,
it is necessary before entering into any details of the struggle to
indicate the precise bearing of it upon Korea. Japan has always looked
upon Korea as a land whose political status and affinities are of vital
interest to herself; just as England once looked upon the _Cinque_
ports, namely as a possible base of hostile action, and therefore to be
carefully watched. One of two things have therefore been deemed
essential, either that Korea should be thoroughly independent or that
she should be under a Japanese protectorate. These two ideas have
animated different parties in Japan, and have led to occasional
troubles. There is one radical faction which has consistently and
persistently demanded that Japan’s suzerainty over Korea should be
established and maintained, and it was the unwillingness of the Japanese
authorities to adopt strong measures in the Peninsula which led to the
Satsuma Rebellion. Another large fraction of the Japanese, of more
moderate and rational view, are committed to the policy of simply
holding to the independence of Korea, arguing very rightly that if such
independence is maintained and the resources of the country are
gradually developed Japan will reap all the material advantages of the
situation without shouldering the burden of the Korean administration or
meeting the violent opposition of the Koreans which such a step would
inevitably entail. It is this latter policy which has prevailed and
according to which Japan has attempted to work during the past three
decades. It is this which actuated her during the period of China’s
active claim to suzerainty and finally caused the war of 1894 which
finally settled the question of Korea’s independence. But following upon
this came the encroachments of Russia in Manchuria and the adoption of a
vigorous policy in Korea. Japan’s efforts to preserve the intrinsic
autonomy of Korea were rendered abortive partly through mistakes which
her own representatives and agents made but still more through the
supineness and venality of Korean officials. The subjects of the Czar at
the capital of Korea made use of the most corrupt officials at court and
through them opposed Japanese interests at every point. Furthermore they
made demands for exclusive rights in different Korean ports and
succeeded in encroaching upon Korean sovereignty in Yongampo. The
evident policy of Russia was to supplant Japan in the peninsula, and no
reasonable person can fail to see that it was their ultimate plan to add
Korea to the map of Russia. The cause of the war was, therefore, the
necessity laid upon Japan of safe-guarding her vital interests, nay her
very existence, by checking the encroachments of Russia upon Korean
territory.

But before submitting the matter to the arbitrament of the sword Japan
exerted every effort to make Russia define her intentions in the Far
East. With a patience that elicited the admiration of the world she kept
plying Russia with pertinent questions until at last it was revealed
that Russia intended to deal with Manchuria as she wished and would
concede Japanese interests in Southern Korea, only and even then only as
Japan would engage not to act in that sphere as Russia was acting in
Manchuria.

All this time the Japanese people were clamoring for war. They wanted to
get at the throat of their manifest foe; but their Government, in a
masterly way, held them in check, kept its own secrets so inviolable as
to astonish the most astute diplomatists of the day, and at last, when
the hour struck, she declared for war without having weakened the
enthusiasm of her people and without giving occasion to adverse critics
to say that she had yielded to popular importunity. When she
communicated to Russia her irreducible minimum one would think that even
the blind could see that war was certain to follow soon. But even then,
if there is any truth in direct evidence, the great majority of the
Russians laughed the matter aside as impossible. The moderation and
self-control of Japan was counted to her for hesitation, so that when
the moment for action came and Japan sprang upon her like a tigress
robbed of her whelps, Russia cried aloud that she had been wronged. It
was on the morning of the seventh that Baron Rosen’s credentials had
been handed back to him in Tokyo. The evening before this the Japanese
Minister had left St. Petersburg. This in itself was a declaration of
war, but forty hours elapsed before Japan struck the first blow. During
those hours Russia had ample time in which to withdraw her boats from
Chemulpo even though the Japanese refused to transmit telegrams to
Seoul. A fast boat from Port Arthur could easily have brought the
message.

It was on the sixth and seventh that reports circulated in Seoul that
the Japanese were landing large bodies of troops at Kunsan or Asan or
both. These rumors turned out to be false, but beneath them was the fact
that a fleet was approaching Chemulpo. The question has been insistently
asked why the Russian Minister did not inform the commanders of these
Russian vessels and see to it that they were clear of the harbor before
these rumors were realized. The answer as given is that the Russian
Minister had no control over these boats. They had their orders to
remain in Chemulpo and they must stay. One would think that there would
be at least enough _rapport_ between the civil and military (or naval)
authorities to use the one in forwarding the interests of the other.

Even yet the Russians did not appreciate the seriousness of the
situation, but they decided that it was time to send notice to their
authorities in Port Arthur of what was rumored at Chemulpo. So the small
gunboat _Koryetz_ made ready to move out. Her captain, Belaieff,
proposed to the Russian Consul that the Russian steamship _Sungari_,
which was in port, should go with the _Koryetz_ and thus enjoy her
protection, but the agent of the company which owned the steamship
strongly objected to her leaving the neutral port at such a time. He
evidently realized in part the acuteness of the situation. So the
_Sungari_ remained at her anchorage and the _Koryetz_ steamed out of
port at two o’clock in the afternoon. Now, the harbor of Chemulpo is a
somewhat peculiar one, for in one sense it is land-locked and in another
it is not. It is formed by islands between which there are many openings
to the open sea, but most of these are so shallow that ships of medium
draught do not dare attempt them. There is but one recognized entrance
and that is from the southwest, or between that and the south. This
entrance is several miles wide and in the center of it lies Round
Island. When the _Koryetz_ arrived at the exit of the harbor she
suddenly found herself surrounded by torpedo-boats. The only witnesses
of what occurred at this point are the Japanese and the Russians and we
can only give their accounts. The Russians say that the Japanese
launched four torpedoes at the _Koryetz_ and when within ten feet of her
side they sank. Another statement is that a shot was fired on board the
_Koryetz_ but it was a mere accident! The Japanese claim that the
_Koryetz_ fired first. If we try to weigh the probabilities it seems
impossible that the torpedoes of the Japanese should have missed the
_Koryetz_ if the torpedo-boats were as near as the Russians claim. On
the other hand the admission on the part of a single Russian that the
first gun was fired on the _Koryetz_, even though by accident, is rather
damaging, for it is more than singular that an accident should have
happened at that precise time. It is a tax on the credulity of the
public to give this lame excuse.

In any case it makes little difference who began the firing. The
Japanese had already seized the Russian steamer _Mukden_ in the harbor
of Fusan and the war had begun. The Japanese doubtless held with
Polonius, that “if it is necessary to fight the man who strikes first
and hardest will have the advantage.” The _Koryetz_ turned back to her
anchorage and the Russians became aware of the extreme precariousness of
their position. Whatever attitude one may take toward the general
situation it is impossible not to extend a large degree of sympathy to
these Russians personally. Through no fault of their own they were
trapped in the harbor and found too late that they must engage in a
hopeless fight in order to uphold the honor of the Russian flag. But
even yet it was not sure that the neutrality of the port would be
ignored by the Japanese. Lying at anchor among neutral vessels in a
neutral harbor, there was more or less reason to believe that they were
safe for the time being.

About four o’clock in the afternoon of February eighth, which fell on
Monday, three Japanese transports entered Chemulpo harbor from the
south, convoyed by cruisers and torpedo-boats. They seemingly took no
notice of the two Russian boats lying at anchor and were evidently sure
that the Russians would not fire upon the transports. It would be
interesting to know whether the Japanese were relying upon the declared
neutrality of the port in thus venturing or whether they felt sure that
their own superior strength would keep the Russians still, or whether,
again, they were certain that the Russians had orders not to fire the
first gun. But it is bootless to ask questions that can never be
answered. Here is where the assailant has the advantage. He can choose
the time and method of his attack. We may surmise that had the Russians
divined the intentions of the Japanese and had foreseen the outcome they
would have acted differently, but divination of Japanese intentions does
not seem to be Russia’s strong point.

As soon as the Japanese came to anchor preparations were made for the
immediate landing of the troops, and the cruisers and torpedo-boats,
that had convoyed them in, left the port and joined the fleet outside.
This fleet consisted of six cruisers and several torpedo-boats. The
_Asama_ and the _Chiyoda_ were the most powerful of the cruisers, the
former being nearly half as large again as the _Variak_.

Night came on, and throughout its long hours the Japanese troops, by the
light of huge fires burning on the jetty, were landed and marched up
into the town. When morning came everyone was in a state of expectancy.
If there was a Japanese fleet outside they doubtless had other work on
hand than simply watching two Russian boats. Nor could they leave them
behind, for one of them was Russia’s fastest cruiser and might steam out
of the harbor at any time and destroy Japanese transports. Knowing, as
we do now, that an immediate attack on Port Arthur had been decided upon
we see it was impossible to leave these Russian boats in the rear. Japan
had never recognized the neutrality of Korea, for she knew that the
declaration was merely a Russian move to embarrass her, and she never
hesitated a moment to break the thin shell of pretense.

About ten o’clock a sealed letter was handed to Captain Rudnieff of the
_Variak_. It was from the Japanese Admiral and had been sent through the
Russian Consulate. It was delivered on board the _Variak_ by the hand of
Mr. N. Krell, a Russian resident of the port. This letter informed the
Russian commander that unless both Russian boats should leave the
anchorage and steam out of the bay before twelve o’clock the Japanese
would come in at four o’clock and attack them where they lay. Captain
Rudnieff immediately communicated the startling intelligence to Captain
Belaieff of the _Koryetz_ and to the commanders of the British,
American, French and Italian war-vessels. We are informed that a
conference of the various commanders took place and that the Russians
were advised to lie where they were. The British commander was deputed
to confer with the Japanese. This was done by signal and it is said a
protest was made against the proposed violation of neutrality of the
port, and that the neutral boats refused to shift their anchorage. But
all complications of this nature were avoided by the determination of
the Russians to accept the challenge. This they deemed to be due their
flag. It is not improbable that they now foresaw that the neutrality of
the port would not avail them against the enemy. By remaining at anchor
they could only succeed in involving France, Italy, Great Britain and
the United States, and there would be sure to be those who would charge
the Russians with cowardice. If this was to begin the war it must at
least prove the dauntless courage of the servants of the Czar. So the
commander of the _Variak_ ordered the decks cleared for action. It has
been stated that he would have preferred to have the _Koryetz_ stay at
her anchorage, for by a quick dash it was just possible that the swift
_Variak_ alone might be able to evade the Japanese and run the gauntlet
successfully. But the commander of the _Koryetz_ refused to listen to
any such proposition. If the only honor to be gotten out of the affair
was by a desperate attack he was not going to forego his share of it. He
would go out and sink with the _Variak_. So the _Koryetz_ also cleared
for action. It was done in such haste that all moveables that were
unnecessary were thrown overboard, a topmast that would not come down in
the usual manner was hewn down with an axe and by half past eleven the
two vessels were ready to go out to their doom. It was an almost
hopeless task—an entirely hopeless one unless the Japanese should change
their minds or should make some grave mistake, and neither of these
things was at all probable. The Russians were going to certain
destruction. Some call it rashness, not bravery, but they say not well.
The boats were doomed in any case and it was the duty of their officers
and crews to go forth and in dying inflict what injury they could upon
the enemy. To go into battle with chances equal is the act of a brave
man, but to walk into the jaws of death with nothing but defeat in
prospect is the act of a hero, and the Japanese would be the last to
detract from the noble record that the Russians made. Time has not yet
lent its glamor to this event, we are too near it to see it in proper
proportions, but if the six hundred heroes of Balaclava, veterans of
many a fight, gained undying honor for the desperate charge they made
how shall not the future crown these men who, having never been in
action before, made such a gallant dash at the foe?




                             Chapter XXVII.

The Battle of Chemulpo.... Russian survivors on neutral boats....
    Blowing up of the Koryetz.... sinking of the Variak.... Russians
    leave Korea.... hospital in Chemulpo.... skirmish at Pyeng Yang....
    Korean Japanese Protocol.... end of Peddlar’s Guild.... Marquis
    Ito.... Yi Yong Ik retires.... Japanese conservative policy in
    Korea.... skirmish at Chöng-ju.... suffering of Koreans in north....
    apathy of Korean Government.... burning of palace in Seoul....
    Korean currency.


It was a cloudless but hazy day and from the anchorage the Japanese
fleet was all but invisible, for it lay at least eight miles out in the
entrance of the harbor and partly concealed by Round Island which splits
the offing into two channels. The two boats made straight for the more
easterly of the channels, their course being a very little west of
south. When they had proceeded about half the distance from the
anchorage to the enemy’s fleet the latter threw a shot across the bows
of each of the Russian boats as a command to stop and surrender, but the
Russians took no notice of it. The only chance the Russians had to
inflict any damage was to reduce the firing range as much as possible
for the _Variak’s_ guns were only six inches and four-tenths in caliber
and at long range they would have been useless. This was at five minutes
before noon. The Japanese fleet was not deployed in a line facing the
approaching boats and it was apparent that they did not intend to bring
their whole force to bear upon the Russians simultaneously. We are
informed that only two of the Japanese vessels, the _Asama_ and the
_Chiyoda_, did the work. It was not long after the warning shots had
been fired that the Japanese let loose and the roar that went up from
those terrible machines of destruction tore the quiet of the windless
bay to tatters and made the houses of the town tremble where they stood.
As the _Variak_ advanced she swerved to the eastward and gave the
Japanese her starboard broadside. All about her the sea was lashed into
foam by striking shot and almost from the beginning of the fight her
steering-gear was shot away so that she had to depend on her engines
alone for steering. It became evident to her commander that the passage
was impossible. He had pushed eastward until there was imminent danger
of running aground. So he turned again toward the west and came around
in a curve which brought the _Variak_ much nearer to the Japanese. It
was at this time that the deadly work was done upon her. Ten of her
twelve gun-captains were shot away. A shell struck her fo’castle, passed
between the arm and body of a gunner who had his hand upon his hip and,
bursting, killed every other man on the fo’castle. Both bridges were
destroyed by bursting shell and the Captain was seriously wounded in the
left arm. The watchers on shore and on the shipping in the harbor saw
flames bursting out from her quarter-deck and one witness plainly saw
shells drop just beside her and burst beneath the water line. It was
these shots that did the real damage for when, after three quarters of
an hour of steady fighting, she turned her prow back toward the
anchorage it was seen that she had a heavy list to port which could have
been caused only by serious damage below the water-line. As the two
boats came slowly back to port, the _Variak_ so crippled by the
destruction of one of her engines that she could make only ten knots an
hour, the Japanese boats followed, pouring in a galling fire, until the
Russians had almost reached the anchorage. Then the pursuers drew back
and the battle was over. The _Koryetz_ was intact. The Japanese had
reserved all their fire for the larger vessel. The _Variak_ was useless
as a fighting machine, for her heavy list to port would probably have
made it impossible to train the guns on the enemy, but all knew that the
end had not yet come. The Russians had neither sunk nor surrendered. The
threat of the Japanese to come in at four o’clock was still active. As
soon as the _Variak_ dropped anchor the British sent off four hospital
boats to her with a surgeon and a nurse. Other vessels also sent offers
of aid. But it was found that the Russians had decided to lie at anchor
and fight to the bitter end and at the last moment blow up their vessels
with all on board. What else was there for them to do? They would not
surrender and they could not leave their ships and go ashore only to be
captured by the enemy. They would play out the tragedy to a finish and
go down fighting. Upon learning of this determination the commanders of
the various neutral vessels held another conference at which it was
decided that the Russians had done all that was necessary to vindicate
the honor of their flag and that, as it was a neutral port, the
survivors should be invited to seek asylum on the neutral vessels. The
invitation was accepted and the sixty-four wounded on board the _Variak_
were at once transferred to the British cruiser _Talbot_ and the French
cruiser _Pascal_. As the commanders of the neutral vessels knew that the
_Variak_ and _Koryetz_ were to be sunk by the Russians they paid no
particular attention to the reiterated statement of the Japanese that
they would enter the harbor at four and finish the work already begun.
The passengers, crew and mails on board the steamship _Sungari_ had
already been transferred to the _Pascal_ and an attempt had been made to
scuttle her but she was filling very slowly indeed. It was about
half-past three in the afternoon that the officers and crew of the
_Koryetz_ went over the side and on board the _Pascal_. A train had been
laid by which she would be blown up and it is supposed that she was
entirely abandoned, but some spectators assert that they saw several men
on the forward deck an instant before the explosion took place.

It was generally known throughout the town that the _Koryetz_ would be
blown up before four o’clock and everyone sought some point of vantage
from which to witness the spectacle. Scores of people went out to the
little island on which the light-house stands, for this was nearest to
the doomed ship. It was thirty-seven minutes past three when the waiting
multitude saw two blinding flashes of light one following the other in
quick succession. A terrific report followed which dwarfed the roar of
cannon to a whisper and shook every house in the town as if it had been
struck by a solid rock. The window-fastenings of one house at least were
torn off, so great was the concussion. An enormous cloud of smoke and
debris shot toward the sky and at the same time enveloped the spot where
the vessel had lain. A moment later there began a veritable shower of
splintered wood, torn and twisted railing, books, clothes, rope,
utensils and a hundred other belongings of the ship. The cloud of smoke
expanded in the upper air and blotted out the sun like an eclipse. The
startled gulls flew hither and thither as if dazed by this unheard of
phenomenon and men instinctively raised their hands to protect
themselves from the falling debris, pieces of which were drifted by the
upper currents of air for a distance of three miles landward where they
fell by the hundreds in peoples’ yards.

When the smoke was dissipated it was discovered that the _Koryetz_ had
sunk, only her funnel and some torn rigging appearing above the surface,
if we except her forward steel deck which the force of the explosion had
bent up from the prow so that the point of it, like the share of a huge
plow, stood several feet out of water. The surface of the bay all about
the spot was covered thickly with smoking debris and several of the
ship’s boats were floating about intact upon the water.

The _Variak_ was left to sink where she lay. The forty-one dead on board
were placed together in a cabin and went down with her. She burned on
till evening and then inclining more and more to port her funnels
finally touched the water and with a surging, choking groan as of some
great animal in pain she sank. As the water reached the fires a cloud of
steam went up which illuminated by the last flash of the fire formed her
signal of farewell.

It was arranged that the British and the French boats should carry the
Russians to a neutral port and guarantee their parole until the end of
the war.

This wholly unexpected annihilation of the Russian boats naturally
caused consternation among the Russians of Chemulpo and Seoul. The
Russian Consulate was surrounded by the Japanese troops and the Consul
was held practically a prisoner. The Japanese Minister in Seoul
suggested to the Russian Minister through the French Legation the
advisability of his removing from Seoul with his nationals, and every
facility was given him for doing this with expedition and with comfort.
A few days later all the Russians were taken by special train to
Chemulpo, and there, being joined by the Russian subjects in Chemulpo,
they all went on board the _Pascal_. This vessel must have been crowded,
for it is said that when she sailed she had on board six hundred
Russians, both civilians and military men.

Twenty-four of the most desperately wounded men on board the neutral
ships were sent ashore and placed in the Provisional Red Cross Hospital.
For this purpose the English Church Mission kindly put at the disposal
of the Japanese their hospital at Chemulpo. Several of these wounded men
were suffering from gangrene when they came off the _Pascal_ but with
the most sedulous care the Japanese physicians and nurses pulled them
through.

After this battle at Chemulpo there was no more question about landing
Korean troops further down the coast; in fact as soon as the ice was out
of the Tadong River, Chinnampo became the point of disembarkation. But
meanwhile the troops which had landed at Chemulpo were pushing north by
land as rapidly as circumstances would permit and within a few weeks of
the beginning of the war Pyeng-yang was held by a strong force of
Japanese. At the same time work was pushed rapidly on the Seoul-Fusan
Railway and also begun on the projected railway line between Seoul and
Wiju.

As for the Russians they never seriously invaded Korean territory. Bands
of Cossacks crossed the Yalu and scoured the country right and left but
their only serious purpose was to keep in touch with the enemy and
report as to their movements. On February 28 a small band of Cossacks
approached the north gate of Pyeng Yang and after exchanging a few shots
with the Japanese guard withdrew. This was the first point at which the
two belligerents came in touch with each other.

It was on the night of February 23rd that Korea signed with Japan a
protocol by the terms of which Korea practically allied herself with
Japan and became, as it were, a silent partner in the war. Korea granted
the Japanese the right to use Korea as a road to Manchuria and engaged
to give them every possible facility for prosecuting the war. On the
other hand Japan guaranteed the independence of Korea and the safety of
the Imperial Family. It is needless to discuss the degree of spontaneity
with which Korea did this. It was a case of necessity, but if rightly
used it might have proved of immense benefit to Korea, as it surely did
to Japan. It formally did away with the empty husk of neutrality which
had been proclaimed, and made every seaport of the peninsula belligerent
territory, even as it did the land itself.

March saw the end of the Peddlars Guild. They had been organized in
Russian interests but now they had no longer any _raison d’etre_. As a
final flurry, one of their number entered the house of the Foreign
Minister with the intent to murder him, but did not find his victim.
Other similar attempts were made but did not succeed.

The Japanese handled the situation in Seoul with great circumspection.
The notion that they would attack the pro-Russian officials proved
false. Everything was kept quiet and the perturbation into which the
court and the government were thrown by these startling events was soon
soothed.

Marquis Ito was sent from Japan with a friendly message to the Emperor
of Korea and this did much to quiet the unsettled state of things in
Korea. At about the same time the northern ports of Wiju and Yongampo
were opened to foreign trade. This was a natural result of the
withdrawal of Russian influence. It was not long before Yi Yong-ik who
had played such a leading rôle in Korea was invited to go to Japan and
thus an element of unrest was removed from the field of action. It was
believed that the Japanese would immediately introduce much needed
reforms, but it seemed to be their policy to go very slowly, so slowly
in fact that the better element among the Koreans was disappointed, and
got the impression that Japan was not particularly interested in the
matter of reform. It is probable that the energies of the Japanese were
too much engaged in other directions to divert any to Korea at the time.
They had been complaining bitterly about the monetary conditions, but
when they suddenly stepped into power in Seoul on February 9th they
seemed to forget all about this, for up to the end of 1904 they failed
to do anything to correct the vagaries of Korean finance. But instead of
this the Japanese merchants in Korea and other Japanese who were here
for other reasons than their health immediately began to make requests
and demands for all sorts of privileges. The Board of Trade in Fusan
asked the Japanese government to secure the Maritime Customs service,
permission for extra territorial privileges, the establishment of
Japanese agricultural stations and other impossible things.

Meanwhile the Japanese were steadily pushing north. At Anju a slight
skirmish occurred but there was nothing that could be called a fight
until the Japanese reached the town of Chöng ju where a small body of
Russians took a stand on a hill northwest of the town and held it for
three hours, but even here the casualties were only about fifteen on
either side. The Russians evidently had no notion of making a determined
stand this side the Yalu. Already, a week before, the Russian troops had
withdrawn from Yongampo and had crossed to Antung. This fight at
Chöng-ju occurred on March 28th and a week later practically all the
Russian forces had crossed the Yalu and Korea ceased to be belligerent
territory. It is not the province of this history to follow the Japanese
across that historic river and relate the events which occurred at the
beginning of May when the first great land battle of the war was fought.

The whole north had been thrown into the greatest confusion by the
presence of these two belligerents. Cossack bands had scurried about the
country, making demands for food and fodder a part of which they were
willing to pay for with Russian currency quite unknown to the Korean.
From scores of villages and towns the women had fled to the mountain
recesses at a most inclement season, and untold suffering had been
entailed. But these are things that always come in the track of war and
the Koreans bore them as uncomplainingly as they could. Throughout the
whole country the absorption of the attention of the government in the
events of the war was taken advantage of by robbers, and their raids
were frequent and destructive. As soon as the government found that the
Japanese did not intend to rule with a high hand it sank back into the
former state of selfcomplacent lethargy, and things went along in the
old ruts. It was perfectly plain that Korean officialdom had no
enthusiasm for the Japanese cause. It is probable that a large majority
of the people preferred to see Japan win rather than the Russians, but
it was the fond wish of ninety-nine out of every hundred to see Korea
rid of them both. Whichever one held exclusive power here was certain to
become an object of hatred to the Korean people. Had the Russians driven
out the Japanese the Koreans would have hated them as heartily.
Whichever horn of the dilemma Korea became impaled upon she was sure to
think the other would have been less sharp. Few Koreans looked at the
matter from any large standpoint or tried to get from the situation
anything but personal advantage. This is doubtless the reason why it was
so difficult to gain an opinion from Korean officials. They did not want
to go on record as having any decided sympathies either way. The people
of no other land were so nearly neutral as were those of Korea.

The month of April was comparatively quiet. The Japanese were struggling
north through frost and mud combined to rendezvous on the banks of the
Yalu. On the 14th occurred the great fire in Seoul which in a few hours
swept away almost the whole of the Kyöng-un Palace, the one recently
completed and the one occupied by the Emperor at the time. He was forced
to vacate it in haste and take up his abode for the time being in the
detached Imperial Library building. A strong effort was made by the
Japanese to induce him to return to the Chöng-dŭk Palace, which was his
place of residence at the time of the _emeutes_ of 1882 and 1884, but
this was combatted with all the means available, and the burned palace
was rebuilt as quickly as possible.

The temporary effect of the war upon the Korean currency was to enhance
its value. Imports suddenly came to a standstill because of the lack of
steamships and the possible dangers of navigation. This stopped the
demand for yen. The Japanese army had to spend large sums in Korea and
this required the purchase of Korean money. The result was that the yen,
instead of holding its ratio of something like one to two and a half of
the Korean dollar fell to the ratio of one to only one and four tenths.
When, however, the sea was cleared of the Russians and import trade was
resumed and the bulk of the Japanese crossed the Yalu the Korean dollar
fell again to a ratio of about two to one, which it has preserved up to
the present time, i.e. December, 1904.

From the time when the Russians retired beyond the Yalu warlike
operations between the two belligerents were confined to northeast Korea
though even there very little was doing. The Vladivostock squadron was
still in being and on April 25 it appeared at the mouth of Wonsan
harbor. Only one small Japanese boat was at anchor there, the _Goyo
Maru_, and this was destroyed by a torpedo boat which came in for the
express purpose. Of course this created intense excitement in the town
and there was a hurried exodus of women and children, but the Russians
had no intention of bombarding the place and soon took their departure.
Only a few hours before, the _Kinshiu_, a Japanese transport with
upwards of 150 troops on board, had sailed for Sŭng-ju to the north of
Wonsan but meeting bad weather in the night the torpedo-boats that
accompanied her were obliged to run for shelter and the _Kinshiu_ turned
back for Wonsan. By so doing she soon ran into the arms of the Russian
fleet and refusing to surrender she was sunk, but forty-five of the
troops on board effected their escape to the mainland.

It was only a few days before this that a force of Cossacks had made a
dash down the eastern coast as far as Ham-heung which they entered after
a two hours’ skirmish with Korean troops. They burned about 300 houses
in the suburbs of the town and also fourteen _kan_ of the celebrated
“Ten Thousand Year Bridge,” the longest in Korea. After this they
retired to the north. But from that time on the whole northeast has been
scoured by parties of Russians and the Japanese have paid no attention
to them except to place troops at Wonsan and Ham-heung to hold these
places. On August 8th a small Russian force penetrated south to the very
suburbs of Wonsan but were speedily repulsed by the Japanese who had
thrown up intrenchments and were quite ready to meet any assault. The
Russians worked with great energy in repairing the road from the Tuman
River down to Sung-su, and even south of that place. They even built
good graded roads across two of the high passes south of Sung-jin until
they came in contact with the Japanese outposts twenty miles above
Ham-heung. Neither side seemed to desire to assume the offensive and so
matters stood until the end of the year, and the coming of the northern
winter put a stop to active operations. The only other incident worthy
of mention in this connection was the wanton attack upon the town of
Wonsan by the Russian fleet on the last day of June. On that morning
seven Russian torpedo-boats entered the harbor and after inquiring where
the Japanese barracks and other public buildings were situated began
shelling the town. In a panic the peaceful denizens of the place fled to
the shelter of the hills. The Russians gave no warning of the attack
even though many foreigners of various nationalities resided there and
might easily have been injured. After firing over 200 shells without
doing any considerable damage the torpedo boats withdrew.

We must now go back and inquire into important civil matters. We have
seen that no strong attempt was made by the Japanese to secure reforms
in the administration of the Korean Government and for this reason many
of the best Koreans were dissatisfied with the way things were going.
Therefore it was doubly unfortunate that on the seventeenth of June the
Japanese authorities should make the startling suggestion that all
uncultivated land in the Peninsula as well as other national resources
should be thrown open to the Japanese. This appears to have been a
scheme evolved by one Nagamori and broached by him so speciously to the
powers in Tokyo that they backed him in it; but there can be no question
that it was a grave mistake. There is no other point on which the Korean
is so sensitive as upon that of his land. He is a son of the soil, and
agriculture is the basis of all his institutions. The mere proposal
raised an instant storm of protest from one end of Korea to the other.
The Koreans saw in this move the entering wedge which would rive the
country. It was the beginning of the end. This excessive show of feeling
was not expected by the Japanese and it is probable that their
intentions were by no means so black as the Koreans pictured them. The
very general terms in which the proposal was worded and the almost
entire lack of limiting particulars gave occasion for all sorts of wild
conjectures and, it must be confessed, left the door open to very wide
constructions. The time was unpropitious, the method was unfortunate and
the subject-matter of the proposal itself was questionable. The
all-important matter of water supply and control, the difficulties of
jurisdiction on account of the extraterritorial rights implied in the
proposal and other allied questions immediately presented themselves to
the minds of Koreans and they recognized the fact that the carrying out
of this plan would necessarily result in a Japanese protectorate if not
absolute absorption into the Empire of Japan. The Japanese do not seem
to have followed the logic of the matter to this point or else had not
believed the Koreans capable of doing so. But when the storm of protest
broke it carried everything before it. The Japanese were not prepared to
carry the thing to extremes and after repeated attempts at a compromise
the matter was dropped, though the Japanese neither withdrew their
request nor accepted the refusal of the Korean Government. It is a
matter of great regret that the Japanese did not quietly and steadily
press the question of internal reforms, and by so doing hasten the time
when the Korean people as a whole would repose such confidence in the
good intentions of the neighbor country that even such plans as this of
the waste lands could be carried through without serious opposition; for
it is quite sure that there is a large area of fallow land in Korea
which might well be put under the plow.

During the weeks when the Japanese were pressing for a favorable answer
to the waste land proposition the Koreans adopted a characteristic
method of opposition. A society called the _Po-an-whe_ was formed. The
name means “Society for the Promotion of Peace and Safety.” It had among
its membership some of the leading Korean officials. It held meetings at
the cotton guild in the center of Seoul and a good deal of excited
discussion took place as to ways and means for defeating the purpose of
the Japanese. At the same time memorials by the some poured in upon the
Emperor, beseeching him not to give way to the demands. The Japanese
determined that these forms of opposition must be put down, so on July
the 16th the meeting of the society was broken in upon by the Japanese
police and some of the leading members were forcibly carried away to the
Japanese police station. Other raids were made upon the society and more
of its members were arrested and its papers confiscated. The Japanese
warned the government that these attempts to stir up a riot must be put
down with a stern hand and demanded that those who persisted in sending
in memorials against the Japanese be arrested and punished. If the
Korean government would not do it the Japanese threatened to take the
law into their own hands. The Japanese troops in Seoul were augmented
until the number was fully 6,000.

The agitation was not confined to Seoul, for leading Koreans sent out
circular letters to all the country districts urging the people to come
up to Seoul and make a monster demonstration which should convince the
Japanese that they were in dead earnest. Many of these letters were
suppressed by the prefects but in spite of this the news spread far and
wide and the society enrolled thousands of members in every province.

The effect of this was seen when, early in August, the Japanese military
authorities asked for the services of 6,000 Korean coolies in the north
at handsome wages. The number was apportioned among different provinces,
but the results were meager. Disaffected persons spread the report that
these coolies would be put on the fighting line, and it was with the
greatest difficulty that two thousand were secured. There were
sanguinary fights in many towns where attempts were made to force
coolies to go against their will. It was perfectly right for the
Japanese to wish to secure such labor, but the tide of public sentiment
was flowing strong in the other direction because of the attempt to
secure the waste land and because of the suspension of the right of free
speech.

The cessation of Japanese efforts to push the waste land measure did not
put an end to agitation throughout the country, and the Il-chin society
continued to carry on its propaganda until on August 22nd a new society
took the field, named the Il-chin Society. This was protected by the
Japanese police who allowed only properly accredited members to enter
its doors. This looked as if it were intended as a counter-move to the
Il-chin Society, and as the latter was having very little success a
third society took up the gauntlet under the name of the Kuk-min or
“National People’s” Society. The platforms promulgated by all these
societies were quite faultless but the institutions had no power
whatever to carry out their laudable plans and so received only the
smiles of the public.

During the summer the Japanese suggested that it would be well for Korea
to recall her foreign representatives. The idea was to have Korean
diplomatic business abroad transacted through Japanese legations.
Whether this was a serious attempt or only a feeler put out to get the
sense of the Korean government we are unable to say, but up to the end
of the year the matter was not pushed, and the nomination by the
Japanese of Mr. Stevens, an American subject as adviser to the Foreign
Office would seem to indicate that the existing diplomatic arrangements
will be continued for the time being.

The various societies which had been formed as protests against existing
conditions stated some things that ought to be accomplished but
suggested no means by which they could be done. The difficulty which
besets the country is the lack of general education, and no genuine
improvement can be looked for until the people be educated up to it. For
this reason a number of foreigners joined themselves into the
Educational Association of Korea, their aim being to provide suitable
text books for Korean schools and to help in other ways toward the
solution of the great question. About the same time the Minister of
Education presented the government with a recommendation that the
graduates of the Government schools be given the preference in the
distribution of public offices. This had no apparent effect upon the
Government at the time, but this is what must come before students will
flock to the Government schools with any enthusiasm. Later in the year a
large number of Koreans also founded an Educational Society. It made no
pretensions to political significance but went quietly to work gathering
together those who are convinced that the education of the masses is the
one thing needed to put Korea upon her feet, in the best sense.

In September there was celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the
founding of Protestant Christian missions in Korea. A great convention
had been arranged for and leading men were to attend it but the war
interfered with the plan and the convention was postponed till 1909,
when the quarter-centennial will be celebrated. In spite of this a
memorable meeting was held and the results of Christian work in Korea
were set forth and discussed. We need say no more here than that this
field is rightly considered as being one of the most successful in the
world and as giving promise of great things in the future.

In the middle of October the Japanese military authorities sent Marshal
Hasegawa to take charge of military affairs in Korea. He arrived on the
thirteenth and shortly after went to Wonsan to inspect matters in that
vicinity. The news of considerable Russian activity in northeast Korea
seemed to need careful watching and the presence of a general competent
to do whatever was necessary to keep them in check.

The laying of the last rail of the Seoul Fusan-Railway was an event of
great importance to Korea. It adds materially to the wealth of the
country both by forming a means of rapid communication and by enhancing
the value of all the territory through which it runs. It also gives
Japan such a large vested interest here that it becomes, in a sense, her
guarantee to prevent the country from falling into the hands of other
Powers. But like all good things it has its dangers as well.

Mr. Megata, the new adviser to the Finance Department arrived in the
Autumn and began a close study of Korean monetary and financial
conditions. This was an augury of good, for Korean finance has always
been in a more or less chaotic condition since the time when the late
Regent flooded the country with discarded Chinese cash and a spurious
Korean coinage whose lack of intrinsic value gave the lie to its face.

Late in the year Mr. Stevens, the newly appointed adviser of the Foreign
Department, took up his duties which, though less important than those
of Mr. Megata, nevertheless gave assurance that the foreign relations of
the government would be carefully handled.

As the year came to a close there were evidences that the Japanese were
about to begin what should have been begun before, namely a gradual
reform in the administration of the government. Useless offices are to
be abolished, the army is to be brought down to its proper proportions,
retrenchment is to be effected in various other lines and education is
to be encouraged. On the whole the year closed with brighter prospects
in Korea than any former portion of the year had shown.

The termination of an historical survey covering four thousand years of
time naturally suggests some general remarks upon that history as a
whole. And in the first place it is worth noting that the Korean people
became a homogeneous nation at a very early date. Before the opening of
the tenth century they were so firmly welded together that no sectional
difference has ever seriously threatened their disruption.

Since the year 700 A. D. there have been two bloodless changes of
dynasty but there has not been a single successful revolution, in the
ordinary sense of the word. There have been three great and several
small invasions but none of these left any serious marks upon the
country either in the line of inter-mixture of blood or of linguistic
modification. They served simply to weld the people more closely
together and make the commonwealth more homogeneous than ever.

In the second place the power has always been in the hands of the men of
greatest average wit, and it has uniformly been used to further personal
aims. The idea of any altruistic service has been conspicuously lacking,
though there have been brilliant exceptions. The concept of
individuality or personality is strangely lacking in all Turanian
peoples and this it is which has kept them so far in the rear of the
Indo-European peoples in the matter of civilization. The essential
feature of true progress, namely the recognition of the present time as
on the whole the best time, the present institutions as being the best
institution, the present opportunities as being the best opportunities,
the present people as being the best people that history has to
show—this feature is sadly lacking in the Far East. Japan has grafted
this into her life and it already bears fruit, but Korea stands with
China as yet.

Individual people cannot be sure of getting their just deserts in this
life whether they be good or evil, but this is hardly true of nations.
They generally get about what they have deserved. If men lived as long
as empires they too might be served the same. It is poor philosophy to
mourn the fate of a decadent empire or a moribund civilization. They
have served their purposes and are ready to pass away. Upon their ruins
there are sure to arise edifices that are worthier of habitation than
were those of the past. In Korea the old is passing away, is crumbling
about our ears. The new wine is bursting the old bottles. The question
for the future to answer is whether the Korean people will allow their
ship of state to drift upon the Sargasso Sea until the seaweed “rising
strake on strake” shall make her utterly derilict, or whether they will
awake from their lethargy, clear away the barnacles and jam the helm
down hard a-port until the wind fills the sails and she can forge ahead
toward some desired haven.

It is not the province of the historian to play the prophet nor shall we
try to forecast what the future may bring forth, but it is permissible
to express the hope that Korea will make herself increasingly worthy of
a continued and distinguished history.

                                THE END.




                                 INDEX.


 Abdication of last King of Koryu, I 293
   of King of Tan-jong, I 311

 Aborigines, I 2

 Adulteration of food, I 171

 Advisers, Foreign, II 271, 372

 Adviser, Judge O. N. Denny, II 245

 A-gol-t’a, I 171

 Agriculture encouraged, I 149

 Aid from China, I 400

 Allen, Dr H. N., II 237, 241

 Alexeieff arrives, Kir, II 313

 Alexeieff supersedes Dr. Brown, 313
   withdraws, II 316

 Alliance, Anglo-Japanese, II 335
   between Korea and Japan, II 275
   of Silla and China, I 104

 Alphabet invented, I 307

 Altar repaired, Tan-gun, II 136

 Altar of Tan-gun, I 3

 American expedition, II 212

 American farm, II 232

 American fleet retires, II 214

 American fight on Kang-wha, II 214

 American Minister, First, II 232

 Anarchy in Koryu, I 109
   in Song do, I 195

 Anju Skirmish, II 365

 An Kyung-su murdered, II 328

 Annals of Three Kingdoms, I 177
   of Koryu, I 149
   of Early Korea, I 35

 Annani rice, II 332

 Arab traders, I 118

 Arch demolished, Chinese, II 281

 Arms, Hideyoshi’s, I 350

 Army cared for, I 143
   of Chinese, II 14

 Army, Hideyoshi’s, I 350
   of 1000, B. C., I 11
   counter-invasion, Chinese, II 2
   reform, II 19
   to invade Japan, Mongol, I 219
   to meet Manchus, Korean, II 97

 Asan, Battle of, II 254
   Naval battle of, II 252

 Assassination of seven ministers, II 237
   of king of Koryu, I 181

 Assault on Nam-han, II 109

 Astronomical instrument, I 334
   work, II 169

 Astronomy, I 154, 303, 315

 Asylum in Korea, Wiman’s, I 14

 Attack of Japanese war vessels, II 219

 Authenticity of annals of early Korea, I 35


 “Baby War”, The, II 247

 Banishment of king, I 179, 237

 Bank Notes, Dai Ichi Giuko, II 337

 Bank, Run on Japanese, II 345

 Barter, I 222

 Battle with Americans, II 214
   ” of Ab-sung, II 168
     ” A-san, II 254
   ” off A-san, Naval, II 252
   ” of Chemulpo, II 357
     ” Chik-san, II 34
     ” Chin-do, Naval, II 33
     ” Chin-ju, I 406
     ” Cho-gye, I 394
   ” at Chng-duk Monastery, French, II 210
   ” of Chöng-ju, II 365
   ” on Ch’ung-ju, I 404
   ” off Han-san, Naval, I 399
   ” of Hang-ju, II 10
   ” of He-on pass, II 8
   ” of I-ch’i, I 399
   ” of Ka-do Island, II 129
   ” of Keum-nyung, I 396
   ” of Kil-ju, I 409
   ” of Köm-san, I 394
   ” of Kwang-gyo Mt., I 374
   ” of Kye Pass, I 372
   ” of Kyöng-ju, I 408
   ” of Nam-wun, II 32
   ” of Ok-pŏ Island, Naval, I 375
   ” of Pu-go, II 65
   ” of Pom-nout Island, II 46
   ” of Puk-du-man, I 374
   ” of Pyeng-yang, I 401, II 257
   ” off Pyuk-hang Harbor, Naval, I 377
   ” near Sun-ch’un, Naval, II 48
   ” of Sung-ju, II 14
   ” of Tang-hang Harbor, Naval, I 377
   ” of Tong-na, I 352
   ” of Yalu, Naval, II 258
   ” of Yö-san, I 404
   ” of Yöng-jung, II 219
   ” at Yung-wun Fortress, I 378

 Bear in Korean legend, The, I 1

 Beginning of feud between Korea and Japan, I 59
   ” of government loans, I 56
   ” of historical writing, I 81
   ” of Japanese raids, I 190
   ” of Koguryu hostility to China, I 45
   ” of the Mongols, I 186
   ” of political parties, I 339
   ” of present reign, II 202

 Bell cast for Seoul, I 314
   ” of Silla, I 121

 Berneux, Bishop, II 200

 “Big Bell” hung, The, I 318

 Bishopric of Korea, The, II 196

 Bismark of Korea, The, II 152

 Blood-bridge fenced in, The, II 172

 Blood stained bridge, I 292

 Body-guard of Emperor, II 318

 Bomb and Mortar, I 407

 Bombardment of Nam-han, I 121

 Books, Buddhist, I 169, 232
   ” Christian, II 183
   ” Edict against Christian, II 167
   ” of history, I 177
   ” on Japan, Korean, II 52
   ” published, I 338, II 188
   ” published by King In-jong, II 182

 Books of sorceresses &c. burned, I 302
   ” on various sciences, I 315

 Border warfare, I 321, 338, 340, 341, 344

 Botany, I 171

 Boundaries of Eum-nu, I 24
   ” of Kia-rak, I 50
   ” of Kija’s kingdom, I 8, 10
   ” of Koguryŭ, I 39
   ” of Ma-han, I 28
   ” of Mal-gal, I 25
   ” of Ok-jŭ, I 22
   ” of Sŭ-Ya-bŭl, I 34
   ” of Wi-man’s kingdom, I 16
   ” of Yŏ-mak, I 20

 Branding forbidden, II 172

 Bribed, Chinese, II 13

 Bribery, Japanese, II 48

 Bridge, First suspension, II 8
   ” of fish, I 38
   ” Kitan, I 161

 British Gov’t upholds Mr. Brown, II 313
   ” occupy Port Hamilton, II 241
   ” treaty, II 233

 Brown, C. M. G., J. McLeavy, Adviser, II 307

 Bruguiere, First Bishop, II 196

 Buddha, A standing, I 316

 Buddhism under ban, I 298
   ” checked, I 145
   ” versus Confucianism, I 164
   ” Eight laws of, I 82
   ” Enormous increase, I 165
   ” to the fore, II 333
   ” Introduction of, I 65
   ” of Japan, I 123
   ” of Kung-ye, I 131
   ” obligatory in Coguryŭ, I 67
   ” in Pak-je, Introduction of, I 66
   ” rampant, I 145
   ” set back, I 301
   ” in Silla, I 76
   ” state religion, I 143
   ” of Wang-gön, I 134

 Buddhist books, I 83, 150, 169, 232
   ” convents broken up, I 319
   ” excesses in Silla, I 83
   ” examination, I 169
   ” festival, I 134
   ” imposition, I 183
   ” monastery, Great, 167
   ” monastery, II 147
   ” monks forbidden to enter Seoul, I 319
   ” monk from China, 142

 Buddhist militant, I 402
   ” relic, I 163
   ” superstition, II 149
   ” trickery, I 176

 Burial alive, I 77

 Burning of bad books, I 382

 Burning of palace, II 366


 Cabinet, Liberal, II 238
   ” A new, II 266
   ” Pro-Japanese, II 296

 Calendar, New, II 143

 Camps, Mongol permanent, I 198
   ” Manchu, II 102

 Cannibals, I 227, 249

 Capital, First, I 2
   ” at Han-yang, I 243
   ” Kija’s, I 7
   ” of Koryu burned, I 158
   ” moved to Seoul, I 296
   ” plundered, I 249

 Captives exchanged, II 129
   ” in Japan, Korean, II 37
   ” to Manchus, II 127

 Cash, Copper, I 171

 Catapult, Korean, I 193

 Census of 1767, II 180
   ” II 153
   ” law, II 251

 Centralization of Power, II 334

 Ceramics, II 55

 Cespedes, Gregoris de, II 37

 Chariots, War, II 170

 Charges against King Sun-jo, False, II 41
   ” against Queen of Sun-jo, False, II 62

 Chemulpo, Battle of, II 359

 Che-ju (Quelpart), I 74 See Quelpart

 Ch’i Dynasty in China, I 75

 Chil-lin, Admiral, II 39

 Chin-bun, I 18

 Chin-han, I 30
   ” Origin of, I 30
   ” Customs of, I 31

 China aids Korea, I 400
   ” appealed to, I 397, II 250
   ” breaks treaty with Japan, II 250
   ” disavows responsibility for Korea, I 220
   ” informed of Japanese invasion, I 385
   ” sides with Silla, I 97

 Chinese army, II 14
   ” army arrives, II 230
   ” army of counter-invasion, II 2
   ” bribed, II 12
   ” demand removal of Japanese, II 238

 Chinese disaster, I 91
   ” evacuate Pyeng-yang, II 257
   ” generals, II 2
   ” immigration, I 146
   ” influence, I 78
   ” innovations, I 78
   ” intervention, I 45
   ” official grades, I 148
   ” refuges, I 30, 36, 57
   ” refugees from Manchuria, II 68
   ” retire from Korea, II 21
   ” suzerainty denied, II 220
   ” take over Customs, II 242
   ” treachery, II 3
   ” victory over Koguryu, I 58

 Ch‘ing Empire founded, II 94

 Ch‘oe Ch‘i-wun, I 124, 128
   ” Literary work of, I 128

 Cho Pyung-sik obstructs trade, II 248

 Cho-ryung (Pass), II 354
   ”       ” deserted, I 356

 Cholera scourge, I 322, 330, II 85, 194, 285

 Chong Kong-ju, I 288, 292

 Cho-sun, Founding of, I 295
   ”       ” Origin of word, I 19

 Christian persecution of 1839, II 196
   ” persecutions, II 185, 186, 191

 Christians at Nagasaki, Korean, II 37

 Christianity, Causes of opposition to, II 191
   ” Spreads, II 200
   ” Studied, II 183

 Chu, Emperor, I 4

 Chu-<DW41>, I 37

 Chŭk Tribe, I 19

 Chul-bun Pu yu, I 38

 Civilization under Kija, I 8

 Clepsydra, I 303

 Clocks introduced, II 163

 Club, The Independent, II 306, 307, 316, 324

 Coaling station, Russia demands, II 313

 Codification of laws, I 315

 Coffee conspiracy, II 318

 Coiffure, Mongol, I 224

 Coinage, I 152, 242, II 211, 270

 Colonization of the North, I 306
   ” Plan, II 335

 Color of garments, I 222, 330

 Compass, First, I 330

 Concubines’ sons, I 340, II 81

 Confucianism in Silla, I 121
   ” revived, I 148
   ” _versus_ Buddhism, I 164

 Confucius, Image of, I 233

 Consanguineous marriage, I 144, 145

 Conscription, I 290

 Conquest of Dagelet Island, I 78
   ” of Koguryu, I 40
   ” of Ma-han, I 45
   ” of Ok-ju, I 52
   ” of Pu-yu, I 47

 Conquests of the Manchus, II 68
   ” of Su-ya-bul, I 34

 Conspiracies, II 90

 Conspiracy against Gen. Yi, I 90
   ” of Kim Cha-jum, II 142
   ” against King Sun-jo, I 346
   ” of Kim Yung ha, II 167
   ” of Regent’s son, II 282

 Contrast between Korea and Japan, I 341
   ” between North and South, I 29

 Convents broken up, I 319
   ” destroyed, II 164

 Coolies demanded, II 370

 Copper Buddha, A, I 301
   ” cash, I 171

 Cossacks in Korea, II 363

 Costume, Mourning, I 78

 Cotton growing, II 149

 Counterfeiting, I 171, II 336

 Cremation, I 117, 122

 Currency, I 175, 233, 242
   ” reform II 270, 366

 Customs of aborigines, I 2
   ” of Chin-han, I 31
   ” of Cremation, I 117
   ” of Eum-nu, I 24
   ” of King plowing, I 77
   ” of Koguryŭ, I 39
   ” of Koryu, Mongol, I 221
   ” of Ku-ran, I 26
   ” of Ma-han, I 28
   ” of Mal-gal, I 26
   ” of memorialising the throne, I 121
   ” Mourning, I 148
   ” of Ok-ju, I 28
   ” of Pal-hă, I 26
   ” of Ye-mak, I 20

 Customs Service, II 242


 Dagelet Island, I 73, 138, 178

 Dallet’s historical work, II 203

 Dancing-girls banned, I 320

 Dancing-girl, A brave, II 15

 Decadence of Koryu, I 177, 242, 324
   ” in Korea, II 69

 Decadence of Wi-man Chosun, I 16
   ” of Pak-je, I 94
   ” of Sil-la, I 121, 131

 Defense of Nam-han, II 102
   ” of Christian persecution, Korean, II 199

 Delimitation of Korea, I 31

 Denny, Judge O. N., II 245

 Detectives, II 170

 Dictionary of Korean, I 309
   ” Korean-Chinese, I 331

 Disaffection, II 248

 Disaster at Kang-wha, II 117
   ” Japanese naval, I 399
   ” to Chinese, I 91
   ” Kitan, I 163

 Dismemberment of Koguryŭ, I 113

 Divination, I 243

 Dog in Korean tradition, I 265

 Dream, King’s, I 255

 Dress (see garments)

 Duel, I 278


 Ears and noses, Korean, II 38

 Earthquakes, I 329

 Eclipses recorded, I 11, 35, 154

 Education, Western, II 246
   ” encouraged, I 304
   ” in Sil-la, I 120

 Egg in Korean tradition, I 34, 44, 57

 Electric light, II 333

 Elixir of youth, I 12

 Emancipation of serfs, II 181

 Embalming, I 50

 Embargo on export of grain, II 332

 Embassy to Europe, II 247

 Emeute of 1884, II 236

 Emperor, King declared, II 314

 Envoy to Hideyoshi, I 346
   ” insulted, Korean, II 57
   ” Manchu, II 96
   ” to Japan, Păk-je, I 67
   ” from Japan, First, I 59
     Japan, I 166, 260
   ” to Japan, Chinese, II 23
   ” Mongol, I 214
   ” Third Mongol, I 217
   ” killed, Mongol, I 224
   ” killed, Ming, I 268
   ” to King Sŭn-jo, Japanese, I 344, 345
   ” from Ktau, I 154
   ” from Liu Kin, II 188
   ” to Manchus, II 85
   ” Mongols Prince, I 209
   ” from Mings, First, I 261
   ” to Mongols, First, I 189
   ” to present dynasty, First Japanese, I 302
   ” from Quelpart, I 136
   ” to The United States, II 232

 Eum-nu Tribe, I 24

 Equestrian feat, I 250

 Evacuation of Seoul, 1592, I 362
   ” of Nam-han, II 124
   ” of Korea by Japanese, 1596, II 26
   ” of Seoul by Japanese 1592, II 11
   ” of Pyeng yang, Japanese, 1596, II 7

 Examinations begun, I 146
   ” Buddhist, I 169
   ” Decennial, I 329
   ” I 164, 237, 319

 Examiners punished, II 174

 Exposure of infants, II 151

 Extortion, II 334


 Factions, I 146, 161

 Faction massacred, Civil, I 178
   ”      ” Military, I 162

 Factional quarrels, I 333, II 52, 92, 153, 162, 163

 Factions forbidden, II 165

 Faith Cure, I 183

 Fall of Ka-rak, I 80
   ” of Wija dynasty, I 15
   ” of Kitan, I 188
   ” of Koguryu, II 112
   ” of Kung-ye, I 132
   ” of Kyŭn-whŭn, I 140
   ” of Ma-han, I 33, 44
   ” of Mongol Empire, I 260
   ” of Ming Empire, II 139
   ” of Păk-je, I 106
   ” of Silla, I 140
   ” of Sin-don, I 265
   ” of Wiman dynasty, I 18
   ” of Yi-Kwal, II 78

 Family names, I 49

 Famine relief, I 149

 Famine, flood, plague, 1814, II 194
   ” in Seoul, II 11

 Farm, American, II 232

 Feudal retainers, I 300

 Feudalism stopped, I 300

 Fire-arms, First, I 345

 First bomb and mortar, I 407
   ” capital, I 2
   ” eclipse, I 11
   ” envoy from Japan, I 59
   ” fire-arms, I 345
   ” Japanese Minister, II 222
   ” Korean flag, II 225
   ” iron-clad, I 376
   ” Minister to Japan, II 225
   ” Mongol Invasion, I 192
   ” Printing-type, I 301
   ” suspension bridge, II 8
   ” tobacco, II 134
   ” woman ruler, I 93

 Fish bridge, I 38

 Fishery troubles in South, II 247

 Flag, Korean, II 225
   ” of Kija dynasty, I 11

 Flight of Japanese from Pyeng-yang, 1593 II 7
   ” of King in 1592, I 362, 363, 364
   ” of Koryŭ King, I 15
   ” to Kang-wha, I 195
   ” of Yuan-shei-kei, II 265

 Flowers Artificial, I 240

 “Flying General”, II 18

 Foote arrives, Gen. L., II 232

 Foreign Advisers, II 271

 Foreign Office established, II 231

 Foreign relations, Book on, I 315

 Foreign visitor, II 195

 Foreigners threatened, II 248

 Forestry, II 149

 Fort at Ul-san, II 35

 Forts, Japanese, II 13

 Fortresses of Koryŭ, I 165

 Fortress of Nam-han built, II 82
   ” of Puk-han built 161

 Foulk in American Legation, Geo. C., II 94

 Founding of Chosŭn, I 295
   ” of Kin Power, I 172
   ” of Koguryŭ, I 36
   ” of _Koryu_, I 134
   ” of Su-ya-bul, I 34
   ” of South Pu-yu, I 41
   ” of Yuan Empire, I 218

 Foundling asylum, II 151

 Four Political parties, I 339
   ” provinces, The, I 18

 Fowls, Long-tailed, I 29

 Fox in Korean lore, The, I 5

 French defeat on Kang-wha, I 210
   ” expedition, First, II 197
   ”     ” under Adm. Roze, II 208, 209
   ” on Kang-wha, II 209
   ” priests enter Quelpart, II 197
   ” priests executed, II 196
   ” priests executed, Nine, II 206
   ” and Russian employees of Gov’t, II 332
   ” war-vessels wrecked, II 197

 Funeral of Queen, II 314

 Fusan trading port, II 50


 Gaoler Cabinet, II 301

 Garments of Parties, II 146
   ” Color of, I 222, 242, 330
   ” Ming, I 263
   ” Official, I 146
   ” Style of, I 79

 Gates roofed over, II 273
   ” of Seoul, I 297

 Gayuk Khan, I 200

 “General Sherman” wrecked, II 207

 Genghis Khan, I 185

 Gensho, I 345

 Geology, I 315

 German treaty, II 233

 Geurilla warfare, I 409, II 18

 Ginseng, Tax on, I 236

 _Gloire, La_, II 197

 God of War, Temples to, II 53

 Gold mining, I 169, II 284

 Governor-general, Mongol, I 204

 Goyo maru, II 367

 Guilds in Seoul, II 172

 Guluk Khan, I 230

 Gun-powder first seen, I 272

 Gutzleff, II 195


 Ha-bu-ru, I 37

 Hamel, Heinrich, II 143

 Hair, False, II 186

 Hair-cutting, I 204

 Hall, Capt. Basil, II 195

 Hanabusa in Seoul, II 217

 Han Dynasty, I 14

 Hans, The Three, I 28

 Han-yang Capital, I 170

 Hasegawa, II 372

 Hats, Korean, I 9

 Hen in tradition, The, I 52

 Hideyi in Seoul, I 367

 Hideyoshi, Answer to, I 348
   ” Envoy to, I 346

 Hideyoshi’s ambition, I 344
   ” arms, I 350
   ” army, I 350
   ” character, II 51
   ” end, Story of, II 50
   ” invasion of Korea, I 349
   ” Letter, I 347
   ” Second plan of invasion, II 28

 Hiroshima Court of the Queen’s murder, II 289

 History begun in Silla, I 81
   ” of Koguryŭ written, I 87
   ” published, I 177

 Historical work, I 149, 321

 Hol-pil-ryul, I 210, 211

 Hong-t’a-si, Manchu leader, II 82

 Horse relay, Origin of, I 76

 Horses sent to China, I 278

 Horses of Ye-mak, I 21

 Horse-breeding on Quelpart, I 252

 Hospital founded, I 314, II 241

 Hostage, Crown Prince as, II 128

 Hostages to the Mongols, I 214

 Hun, Last of Kija line, I 33

 Hunting parks, I 302

 Hyun Tribe, I 19

 Hyuk ku-se, I 34

 Hyun-do, I 18


 Imbert Bishop, II 196

 Im-dun, I 18

 Im-jin River, I 368
   ”       ” forced, I 381
   ”       ” guarded, I 370

 Immigration of Chinese, I 146

 Incarnation of Tan-gun, I 1

 Incense, Mongol, I 240

 Indemnity to Japanese, II 230, 240

 Independence Club, The, II 306, 307
   ” Club disbands, II 324
   ”       ” weakens, II 316
   ” Day, II 222
   ” declared, II 273
   ” of Korea, I 7

 Independent, The, II 308

 Infernal machine, II 218

 Innovations, Chinese, I 78
   ” in Pak-je, I 81
   ” from China, I 110

 Inouye as Minister, Count, II 277
   ” as special envoy, Count, II 230

 Insurrection (see rebellion)

 Interest, Legal rate of, I 148

 Invasion of 107 B. C., I 17
   ” Japanese, I 349
   ” of China planned, I 292
   ” Fears of Western, II 200
   ” Hideyoshi’s, I 349
   ” of Japan, plans of Mongol, I 214
   ” of Japan, Mongol, I 213, 225
   ” of Japan, I 214, 304
   ” by Kitan, I 150, 155
   ” of Koguryŭ, I 87
   ” of Korea by Sui Emperor, I 87
   ” by Manchus, II 69, 82
   ” First Mongol, I 192
   ” of Liao Tung 240 A. D., I 57
   ” Second Mongol, I 201
   ”       ” Japanese, II 30
   ” planned, Second Japanese, II 29
   ” by Red-heads, I 244
   ” by Tap-dan, I 227
   ” by Wiman, I 15
   ” by Yŭ-jin, I 171

 Invention of alphabet, I 307
   ” of new weapons, I 330
   ” in Silla,I 75

 Iron building, I 236, 237

 Iron-clad, The first, I 376

 Iron money, I 152

 Irrigation, II 169

 Ito, Marquis, II 364

 I-tu, The, I 119


 Jaisohn as adviser, Dr. P., II 277

 Japan disavows acts of pirates, I 270
   ” helps against pirates, II 274
   ” invaded, I 214, 304
   ” Korean alliance, I 275
   ” Korean policy, II 219
   ” A Korean Queen for, I 61
   ” Mongolian invasion of, II 213, 225
   ” Mongol message to, I 213
   ” Mongol disaster in, I 220
   ” Third Mongol envoy to, I 217
   ” Second Mongol army to, I 223
   ” Under Hideyoshi, I 343

 Japanese allies of Pak-je, I 109
   ” army lands, II 255, 256
   ” ask for books, I 320
   ” bribery, II 48
   ” Buddhism, I 166
   ” Captives to Mongols, I 215
   ” declaration of war against China, II 252
   ” defeated by Yi T‘a-jo, I 271
   ” enter Seoul, 1592, I 367
   ” envoy, I 260
   ”       ” to present dynasty, First, I 302
   ”       ” to King Sŭn-jo, I 344
   ” evacuate Seoul, II 77
   ”       ” Pyeng-yang, II 7
   ” fort at Ul-san, II 35
   ” fortifications, II 13
   ” freebooters, I 218
   ” guard at palace, II 238
   ” incursions, I 35
   ” invasion, Omens of, I 334
   ”       ” second, II 30
   ” land of Kunsan, II 354
   ” land at Chemulpo, II 356
   ” leave Korea 1596, II 26
   ” legation burned, II 227
   ” losses 1592, II 15
   ” marry Koreans, II 45
   ” masks, II 52
   ” military teacher, II 225
   ” minister First, II 222
   ” mobbed, II 240
   ” naval disaster, I 399
   ” in North-east 1592, I 390
   ” offer of aid against Manchus, II 91
   ” Japanese policy, II 352
   ” pirates, I 46
   ” pursued, II 12

 Japanese take Pyeng-yang, 1592, 380
   ” before Pyeng-yang, I 386
   ” raids, I 238, 239, 240, 243, 244, 246, 254,
      255, 258, 264, 266, 267, 269, 279
   ” ravages begin, I 190
   ” relations, I 35
   ” retire from Seoul, II 240
   ” revolt, I 327
   ” robbers defeated, I 336
   ” routes, 1592, I 365
   ” settlements, I 26, II 38
   ”       ” Shogun friendly, I 272
   ” take palace, II 252
   ” trade, I 307
   ”       ” resumed, I 333
   ”       ” suspended, I 328
   ” trade at Fusan, II 216
   ” trading station enlarged, II 136
   ” trading station, II 59, 153
   ” trading ports, I 298
   ” treatment of Mongol envoys, I 214
   ” treaty, II 221
   ” war vessel fired upon, II 219
   ” wish to colonise, II 335

 Jealousy of Kato and Konishi, I 351
   ” of Min faction, II 234

 Jesuit priests in Peking, II 143


 Ka-do Island, Battle of, II 129

 Ka-ma tribe, I 48

 Kang-wha attacked by French, II 209
   ” disaster at, II 117
   ” French defeat on, II 210
   ” King ordered from, I 206, 207
   ” King on, I 195
   ” Manchus take, II 118
   ” Palaces destroyed, I 209

 Ka-rak, I 50
   ” boundaries, I 50
   ” fall of, I 80

 Kato, General, I 351

 Kaya, I 50

 Keum-ma-gol, I 27

 Keum-su-ro, I 50

 Keum-wha, I 37

 Kim Cha-jŭm’s blunder, II 99

 Kim Hong-jip, Prime Minister, II 266
   ” murdered, II 303

 Kim Hong-nyuk killed, II 318

 Kim Ok-kyun’s body dismembered, II 250
   ” murdered, II 249
   ” II 223

 Kidnapping the Regent, II 231

 Kija’s Capital, I 7
   ” civilization, I 8
   ” coming of, I 4
   ” dynasty, I 11
   ” dynasty, End of, I 15
   ” laws, I 8
   ” loyalty, I 6
   ” origin of, I 4
   ” reforms, I 8
   ” route, I 6
   ” tomb, I 10

 Kijun, Migration of, I 27

 Kin Empire, I 172
   ” Good will of, I 173
   ” dynasty extinct, I 198
   ” letter, I 173

 King deposed, Koryŭ, I 216, 287

 King of Koryŭ abdicates, Last, I 292

 Ki-tan bridge the Yalu, I 161
   ” calendar, I 151
   ” disaster, I 163
   ” driven back, I 160
   ” envoys, I 154
   ” falls, I 188
   ” refugees, I 187
   ” invasion, I 150, 155
   ” power, I 142
   ” suzerainty, I 152

 “Knife Gang”, II 156

 Koguryŭ, I 36
   ” Customs, I 39
   ” boundaries, I 39
   ” religion, I 39
   ” dismemberment of, I 113
   ” conquests, I 40
   ” expansion, I 40
   ” falls, I 112
   ” hostility to China, I 45
   ” Introduction of Buddhism, I 65
   ” Origin of word, I 38

 Konishi, General, I 351

 Korean captives returned, II 55

 Koryetz, II 355, 361

 Koryŭ dynasty founded, I 134
   ” King deposed, I 216
   ” king goes to China, I 212
   ” refugees, I 200
   ” revolts from Mings, I 283
   ” turns against Mongols, I 242
   ” vassal of China, I 135
   ” vassal to Mings, I 261
   ” woman, Empress of China, I 237

 Ko-ŭlla, I 74

 Kow-shing sunk, II 253

 Kublai Khan, I 210, 211

 Kublai Khan kindness, I 228

 Kuk-cho Po-gam, I 314

 Kung-ye, I 127
   ” a Buddhist, I 131
   ” capital, I 130
   ” fall, I 132
   ” proclaimed king, I 130
   ” rescue, I 127

 Kŭ-ran tribe, I 26

 Kŭ-sŭ-gan, I 34

 Ku-wŭl Mountain, I 2

 Kwaga, I 146, 237, 317

 Kwang-ha becomes king, II 58
   ” deposed, II 70
   ” excesses, II 59
   ” Prince, II 55

 Kye-rim, I 52

 Kyöng-bok Palace rebuilt, II 211
   ”       ” built, I 298

 Kyöng-ju made Eastern Capital, I 149

 Kyŭn Tribe, I 19

 Kyŭn-whun, I 128
   ”defeated, I 136
   ”sacks Silla capital, I 136
   ”war with Wang gon, I 137


 Land measurement, I 142, 232

 Law against adulteration of food, I 171
   ” against counterfeiting, I 171
   ” codification of, I 315
   ” for detectives, II 170
   ” of Kija, I 8
   ” against Monasteries, II 148
   ” against Murder, II 145
   ” penal, I 111
   ” of primogeniture, I 165
   ” published, I 318

 Legal reform, I 167

 Legation guards, II 349

 Legend of Tangun, I 1

 Legends (see Tradition)

 Letter from Hideyoshi, I 347
   ” to French Gov’t, II 197

 Li Hung-chang and the neutral territory, II 220

 Liao Fortress taken, I 264

 Liberal cabinet, II 238
   ” party, II 223

 Light-houses, II 338

 Lindsay, II 195

 Liu Kiu envoy, II 188
   ” islands, I 313

 Literary activity, I 120, 315, 329, 331, 333, II 188
   ” work of Choé Ch’i-wŭn, I 128
     ” of King In-jong, II 182
     ” of King Sun-jo, I 340

 Loans, Beginnings of Government, I 65

 Lobanoff-Yamata Agreement, II 308

 Long-tailed fowls, I 29


 Mabuda, II 94

 Mahan, I 28
   ” Conquest of, I 45
   ” Customs, I 29
   ” Fall of, I 44
   ” population, I 30
   ” religion, I 30

 Mal-gal Tribes, I 25
   ” treaty, I 135

 Manchu camp, II 102
   ”       ” captives, II 127
   ” ceremony, II 125
   ” charges, II 82
   ” conquests, II 68
   ” demands, II 84
   ”       ” for tribute, II 93
   ” enter Korea, II 99
   ”       ” Seoul, II 101
   ” envoys insulted, II 96
   ” invasion, II 69, 82
   ” invade China, II 135
   ” invasion, Omen of, II 97
   ” Japanese offer of aid against, II 91
   ” leader Hongt’asi, II 82
   ” leaders, II 94
   ” letter to Korea, First, II 66
   ” oath, II 86
   ” power, II 63
   ” suzerainty, II 125
   ” tablet, II 130
   ” take Kang-wha, II 118
   ” vandalism, II 113

 Man-hunting, II 154

 Map of North, II 169

 Mararanta, Buddhist Monk, I 66

 Mari Mountain, I 3

 Ma-rip-gan, Royal title, I 70

 Markets, Beginning of, I 76

 Marriage Consanguineous, I 144, 145
   ” with sister, I 144, 145
   ” of present Emperor, II 205
   ” of Japanese and Koreans, II 45
   ” of widows first forbidden, I 321

 Masanpo Russian coaling station, II 334

 Masks, Japanese, II 52

 Massacre of crew of “General Sherman”, II 207
   ” of military faction, I 162
   ” of civil faction, I 178

 Mathematics, I 168

 Maubant enters Korea, Pierre, II 196

 Measures equalised, II 172

 Measurement of land, I 232

 Medical books, I 314

 Megata, II 372

 Memorial, I 121

 Military emeute of, 1882 II 226

 Military and civil factions, I 161
   ” instructors, Russian, II 313
   ” reforms, II 89, 144

 Min faction, II 224

 Min Seung-ho murdered, II 218

 Min Yong-ik Envoy to U.S., II 232
   ” conservative, II 233
   ” wounded, II 236

 Min Yong-jun beaten, II 249

 Mines in warfare, II 193
   ” sulphur, II 149

 Mings angry, II 273
   ” commands, I 263
   ” demand for tribute, I 275
   ”       ” houses from Quelpart, I 267
   ” dress adopted, I 263
   ” dress and coiffure discarded, I 283
   ” dynasty falls, II 139
   ” envoy murdered, I 268
   ” First envoy from, I 261
   ” formally recognise Korea, I 279
   ” power appears, I 240
   ” suspicious, I 246

 Mining concession, II 284
   ” forbidden, II 169
   ” gold, I 169

 Minister to U.S., II 246
   ” to Japan, First, II 225
   ” of state killed, II 237

 Minting of money, First, I 152

 Mirrors, Japanese gift of, I 329

 Missions in Korea, II 325
   ” Protestant, II 211

 Miura arrives, Viscount, II 286

 Mock Battle, I 330

 Mollendorff dismissed, II 242
   ” employed P. G. von, II 232

 Monasteries deprived of land, I 301

 Monastery, Great, I 167
   ” in Koguryŭ, First, I 65
   ” Law against, II 148
   ” as poor-houses, II 147

 Money, I 152, 171, 242
   ” Silver, I 233

 Mongols, Allies of, I 187
   ” Appeal to, I 205
   ” army, Composition of, I 220

 Mongols to invade Japan, I 219
   ”      ” Japan, Second, I 224
   ” Origin of, I 185
   ” besiege Song-do, I 193
   ” captives, I 204
   ” charges, I 197
   ”       ” against Koryŭ, I 213
   ” coiffure, I 223
   ” customs in Koryŭ, I 221
   ” demand for tribute, I 190, 194, 211
   ”       ” of surrender, I 203
   ” disaster in Japan, I 220
   ” disaster, I 226
   ” dynasty decadent, I 240
   ” Empire falls, I 260
   ” envoy, First, I 189
   ”       ” in Japan, I 214
   ”       ” to Japan, Third, I 217
   ”       ” to Japan killed, I 224
   ” fear of water, I 198
   ” Governor-general, I 204
   ” Hostages to, I 214
   ” humble, I 243
   ” incense, I 240
   ” invasion, First, I 192
   ” incursion, Last, I 254
   ” invasion of Japan, I 213, 225
   ” Korea surrenders to, I 194
   ” Koryŭ turns against, I 242
   ” message to Japan, I 213
   ” monster, I 204
   ” official names, I 222
   ” permanent camps, I 198
   ” Prince as envoy to, I 209
   ” princess, I 216
   ” Queen, I 223, 229
   ” in Quelpart, I 259
   ”       ”    ” destroyed, I 268
   ” residency, I 194
   ” resident dismissed, I 242
   ” retire from Korea, I 211
   ” ruthlessness, I 199
   ” second invasion, I 201
   ” siege of Ch‘un-ch‘un, I 203
   ” spies, I 200, II 94
   ” settle in Koryŭ, I 208
   ” Treaty with, I 197

 Monk soldier, I 402

 Morals, Lax, I 150

 Mortar, Bomb and, I 407

 Mourning customs changed, I 148
   ” for dead king begun, I 338
   ” garb, I 78

 Mudangs banned, II 174

 Mu je’s conquests, Emperor, I 18

 Mukden, S. S., II 356

 “Mulberry Palace” built, II 182

 Murder of An Kyung-su, II 328
   ” of Chöng <DW41>-ju, I 292
   ” of king of Koryŭ, I 181
   ” of King Tan-jong, I 312
   ” of Kim Ok-kyun, II 249
   ” Law against, II 145
   ” Punishment for, I 176

 Music in Silla, I 82

 Musical instruments, I 11, 330, II 173
   ” reform, I 322

 Myung-ye Palace, II 17


 Nagamori’s Scheme, II 368

 Names, Family, I 49

 Nam-han, Assault on, II 109
   ” Attempts to relieve, II 106, 109, 110, 111
   ” Defense of, II 102
   ” evacuated, II 124
   ” Fortress built, II 82
   ” King escapes to, II 100
   ” Manchu fence about, II 105
   ” offer of surrender, II 113
   ” Sorties from, II 103, 105, 107
   ” Starvation in, II 107

 Nang-nang Tribe, I 18, 25

 Nap-tap-chŭl defeated, I 252

 National examinations, I 146, 237

 Naval battle off A-san, II 252
   ”       ” off Chemulpo, II 359
   ”       ” of Chin-do, II 33
   ”       ” at Ok-po Island, I 375
   ”       ” at Pyuk-hang Harbor, I 377
   ”       ” near Sun-ch‘un, II 48
   ”       ” at Tang-hang Harbor, I 377
   ”       ” of Yalu, II 258
   ” reform, II 172
   ” stations, II 155
   ” victory of Admiral Yi Sun-sin, I 399

 Navy defeated, Korean, II 31
   ” Korean, I 207

 Nelson of Korea, The, II 49

 Neutral territory across the Yalu, II 220
   ” zone, II 350

 Neutrality declared, Korean, II 351

 Nickel coinage, II 270

 Nine Tribes, The, I 2

 Norach’i, Manchu Chief, II 63

 Noron party in power, II 165

 Northern Tribes, I 19

 Noses and ears, II 38

 Novel written, II 160


 Oath, Form of, I 110
   ” The King’s, II 278
   ” to Mok Ho-ryŭng, King’s, II 163
   ” to Manchus, II 86

 Obeisance to Tsin Emperor, I 13

 Obscene literature banned, I 321

 Official garments, I 146
   ” grades, I 148
   ” names, Mongol, I 228

 Ok-jŭ, Conquest of, I 52
   ” tribe, I 22

 Ok-pyŭn, The, I 331

 Old maids consoled, II 150

 Omens of fall of Koguryŭ, I 112
   ” of fall of Koryŭ, I 239
   ” of the Japanese Invasion, I 334
   ” of fall of Păk-je, I 104
   ” of fall of Sil-la, I 121
   ” of Manchu invasion, II 97

 Ondali, The, I 84

 On-jo, I 41

 Origin of A-gol-d’a, I 171
   ” of alphabet, I 308
   ” of Chin-han, I 30
   ” of Chu-<DW41>, I 37
   ” of horse relay, I 76
   ” of Keum-wa, I 37
   ” of Kija, I 4
   ” of markets, I 76
   ” of Koguryŭ, I 36
   ” of Korea, Legendary, I 1
   ” of Korean hat, I 9
   ” of Manchus, II 63
   ” of mourning customs, I 78
   ” of name Sil-la, I 77
   ” of political parties, I 339
   ” of posthumous titles, I 79
   ” of Silla, I 34
   ” of southern Koreans, I 32
   ” of Sŭ-ya-bŭl, I 34
   ” of stone fights, I 236
   ” of T’am-nă, I 75
   ” of Tonghak, II 203
   ” of the word Chosun, I 19
   ” of word Koguryŭ, I 38
   ” of Yŭn Kingdom, I 52


 Pagoda built, I 170

 Pai Chai School, II 246

 Pak Tribe, I 19

 Pak Hyŭk-kŭ-se, I 34

 Păk-je, I 41
   ” falls, I 106
   ” Introduction of Buddhism into, I 166
   ” treachery, I 45

 Păk-tu-san, Sacrifice to, II 179

 Păk Yong-hyo pardoned, II 274
   ” final departure, II 284
   ” return from Japan, II 273
   ” II 225

 Palace built, Kyöng-bok, I 298
   ”       ” New, II 310
   ”       ” “Mulberry”, II 61
   ”       ” Burned 1592, I 363
   ”       ” 1904, II 366
   ” guard, Russian, II 311
   ” of Kang-wha, I 198, 200
   ” on Kang-wha destroyed, I 209
   ” rebuilt, Kyöng-bok, II 211
   ” stormed, II 227
   ” taken by Japanese, 1894 II 252

 Pal-hă Tribe, I 26

 Pander to Mongol Court, I 232

 Panic because of fall of Peking, II 200
   ” in Seoul, I 361
   ” in Seoul 1592, I 354
   ”       ”       ”, II 230
   ” Strange, II 184

 Parties formed, Political, I 339, II 52, 92, 146

 Party strife forbidden, II 165

 Peace proposals 1598, I 48

 Peddlars Guild, II 320, 364

 Penal laws, I 11

 Persecution of Christians, II 185, 186, 191, 196, 208, 209, 211
   ” of Kija, I 5

 Philological argument, I 32

 Pirates, Japanese, I 45
   ” Japan disavows acts of, I 270

 Plague, A peculiar, II 189

 Plants imported, I 171

 Plebiscite, II 174

 Plot against Queen’s life, II 286
   ” against Yi Sun-sin, II 29

 Plowing by King begun, I 77

 Poisoning, II 164

 Political parties, II 52, 149
   ”       ” formed, I 339

 Polygamy, I 144

 Poor-house, Monasteries as, II 147

 Popular assembly, II 319

 Population of Korea, II 153
   ” of Ma-han, I 30

 Port Hamilton, British occupy, II 241
   ” Nicholas, II 348

 Postal system, II 284

 Posthumous titles, I 79

 Post-office built, II 236

 Pottery works, II 55

 Primogeniture, Law of, I 165

 Printing-type cast, II 188
   ”       ” First, I 301
   ”       ” restored, II 151

 Prisoner, King a virtual, II 299

 Progressive vs. Conservative, II 233

 Prohibition platform, II 166

 Prophecy, I 133, 297, II 347
   ” of the factions, I 338

 Prostitutes made slaves, II 150

 Protestant Missionaries, II 241, 325, 371

 Protocol Korean Japanese, II 363

 Provinces of Korea, I 152

 Puk-han built, II 161
   ” Pak-je capital at, I 65

 P’ung Tribe, I 19

 Punishment of relatives forbidden, II 148

 Puritanism, I 329

 Pu-ŭlla, I 74

 Pu-yŭ, I 36

 Pu-yŭ, Position of, I 38
   ” Conquest of, I 47

 Pyeng-yang besieged 1593, II 4
   ” captured by “Red-heads”, I 245
   ” invested, II 256
   ” Japanese before, 1592 I 386
   ” King Sŭn-jo at, I 369
   ” Schools in, I 138
   ” Siege of, I 48, 157

 Pyon-han Tribe, I 31


 Queen’s body burned, II 295
   ” dies, II 294
   ” divorced, II 158
   ” False charges against King Sun-jo’s, II 62
   ” funeral, II 314
   ” for Japan, a Korean, I 61
   ” of Korea, A Mongol, I 216
   ” murder, Hiroshima Court on, II 289
   ” murder, Miura plots, II 288
   ” and Regent hostile, II 217
   ” return to Seoul 1882, II 231

 Quelpart, I 74
   ” allegiance transferred, I 109
   ” copper Buddha, I 301
   ” disturbed, I 178
   ” Envoy from, I 75, 136
   ” Hamil wrecked on, II 143
   ” Mings demand horses from, I 267
   ” Mongols on, I 259
     ” destroyed, I 268
   ” Mongol Emperor to find asylum on, I 260
   ” Ravages on, I 210
   ” Rebels on, I 217, 219
   ” revolts, I 252
   ” Schools on, I 150
   ” Tradition of, I 47
   ” Vassal of Koyru, I 142
   ” Volcano on, I 152


 Railway concession, Seoul Fusan, II 318
   ” Seoul-Wiju, II 309
   ” Seoul-Chemulpo, II 311
   ” Seoul-Fusan, II 372

 Rank, Chinese names of, I 148

 Ravages, Japanese, I 238, 239, 240, 243, 244, 246,
    254, 255, 258, 264, 266, 267, 269, 279
   ” of Yŭ-jin, I 191

 Rebellion of a butcher, I 336
   ” of 426 B. C., I 12
   ” of Cho Wi-jŭng, I 182
   ” of Hong Kyöng-nă, II 192
   ” in Kong-ju, II 140
   ” of Myo Chung, I 176
   ” in Sil-la 645 A. D., I 101
   ” in South,II 167
   ” of Yi Kwal, II 74
   ” of Yi Si-ă, I 316

 Rebels off Quelpart, I 217, 219

 Reconstruction, II 267

 “Red-head” cannibals, I 249

 “Red-head” defeated, I 244, 250

 “Red-head” invasion, Second, I 248

 Reforms of 1834, II 196
   ” of 1883, II 232
   ” demanded by Japan, II 261
   ” in Koryŭ, I 148
   ” of Kija, I 8
   ” of King Chŭl jong, II 200
   ” of King Chung-jong, I 327
   ” of King In-jo, II 72
   ” of King Se-jong, I 305
   ” of King Sŭn-jo, I 337
   ” of King T’ă-jo, I 295
   ” Military, II 89
   ” proposed, I 239, II 267
   ” under Song Si-ryŭl, II 147, 148, 149
   ” under Yi T’a-jo, I 288
   ” Superficial, II 280

 Refugees, Chinese, I 36, 57

 Regency of Tă-wŭn-gun, II 204

 Regent retires, II 218
   ” returns from China, II 241
   ” returns to power, II 229

 Relic, Buddhist, I 163
   ” of Kija, I 10
   ” of Tan-gun, I 3

 Religion, Buddhism, I 76
   ” Buddhist a Government, I 66
   ” of Koguryŭ, I 39
   ” of Ma-han, I 30
   ” Shintoism, I 92
   ” of Ye-mak, I 21

 Repository, The Korean, II 326

 Resident dismissed, Mongol, I 242

 Residency, Mongol, I 194

 Retrogression, II 310

 Revenue, I 168
   ” in Koryŭ, I 222
   ” of Korea, II 55
   ” laws revised, II 149
   ” reforms, II 270

 Revolt in Koryŭ, I 197
   ” of Ajnus, II 350
   ” Nam-nyŭ, I 20
   ” of slaves, I 185, 195

 Ricci, P., II 39, 148

 Ridel, Bishop, II 208

 Roads built, I 54

 Robbers in Koryŭ, I 183
   ” Rodgers, Admiral, II 212

 Roman Catholic Bishopric, II 196
   ”       ” disturbance, II 345
   ”       ” priest in Nanking, II 92
   ”       ” priests on Quelpart, II 197

 Roman Catholicism, spread of, II 184, 209
   ”       ” Entrance of, II 37, 156
   ”       ” First edict against, II 175

 Roze appealed to, Admiral, II 206
   ” Expedition of Adm., II 208, 209
   ” Island sold, II 330

 Russians ask for trading rights, II 205
   ” coaling station, II 334

 Russia not favorable to reforms, II 309

 Russian Church, II 331
   ” Aggression on Yalu, II 348
   ” Legation, King goes to, II 302
   ” Military instructors, II 313
   ” Palace guard, II 311
   ” pressure withdrawn, II 316
   ” tactics in the East, II 342
   ” timber concession, II 346
   ” treaty, II 346
   ” Variak, II 357, 367


 Sacrifice, Animal, II 179
   ” to the ch’ăk-ch’ăk, II 134
   ” by Tan-gun, I 3

 Sa do the Martyr, II 179

 Salt making, II 34
   ” monopoly, I 226, 231
   ” tax remitted, II 148
   ” works, II 15

 Sam-guk-sa, I 177

 Sanscrit in Korea, I 308
   ” books, I 232

 Satsuma ware, II 55

 Satsuma rebellion, II 220

 Schaal, P., II 143

 School founded, Western, II 246
   ” of letters, I 304
   ” Pai Chai, II 246
   ” in Pyeng-yang 932 A. D., I 138

 Seal sent to Tsushima, II 165
   ” unearthed, I 20

 Se-jo usurped power, I 311

 Seoul becomes capital, I 296

 Seoul-Chemulpo Railway, II 311

 Seoul, Description of, I 297
   ” evacuated, 1592 I 362
     ” by Japanese, II 11

 Seoul-Fusan Railway concession, II 318, 372

 Seoul, Manchus enter, II 101
   ” panic-stricken, I 361
   ” reoccupied, II 16
   ” secondary capital, I 170
   ” taken by Japanese 1592, I 367
   ” taken by Yi Kwal, II 77
   ” Wall of, I 297

 Seoul-Wiju railway, II 309

 Serfs, Emancipation of, II 181

 Sericulture, I 311, 314

 Settlements, Japanese, I 261, II 38
   ” in South Korea, I 32

 Sewer in Seoul built, II 175

 Shang dynasty, I 4

 Shintoism, I 92

 Shogun, A Korean, I 145, 186

 Shrine to Korean Trinity, I 4

 Siege of Ch‘un-ch‘ŭn, I 203
   ” of Ku-ju, I 193
   ” by Mongols, I 202
   ” of Nam-han, II 102
   ” of Pyeng-yang, I 17, 48, 74, 64, 157
   ” of Song-do, Mongol, I 193
   ” of Ul-san, II 35
   ” of Yŭn-an, I 392

 Sil-la absorbs most of Korea, I 118
   ” Buddhism in, I 76, 80
   ” capital sacked by Kyŭn-whŭn, I 136
   ” decadent, I 131
   ” decline, I 121
   ” falls, I 140
   ” opposes China, I 115
   ” Origin of, I 34
   ” Origin of name, I 77
   ” ravaged, I 130
   ” treasures, I 135

 Silver money, I 232

 Sil-yip defeated, Gen., I 358

 Sim Yu-gyŭng, Envoy, II 26

 Sin-don’s fall, I 265

 Sin-don’s power, I 256
   ” rise, I 255

 Sin-gak executed, Gen., I 372

 Sister, Marriage with, I 144, 145

 Slaves freed, Gov’t, II 190
   ” revolt, I 185, 196

 Slavery, I 146, 149
   ” in Koryŭ, I 230

 “Smoke-house Soldiers”, I 247

 Social grades, II 181

 Society, II 155, 369, 370, 371

 Sodomy, I 265

 Song-do becomes capital, I 134
   ” taken by Gen. Yi, I 285
   ” wall built, I 129

 Song Si-ryŭl killed, II 157
   ”       ” reforms, II 147, 148, 149

 South Korea settlements, I 32
   ” Pu-yŭ, I 41

 Southern Korea, Tribes of, I 28

 Sparwehr, The, II 143

 Speyer, de, II 315
   ” recalled, II 313

 Spies, Mongol, I 200, II 94

 Spoils system, II 54

 Starvation in Nam-han, II 107

 Stevens, Adviser, II 372

 Stone-fight, Origin of, I 276

 Stork as official emblem, II 144

 Store-houses, Gov’t, I 149

 Su Cha-pil’s return from Japan, II 234

 Sui Emperor invades Korea, I 87

 Suk T‘al-ha, I 44

 Sul Ch‘ong, I 120

 Sulphur mines, II 149

 Sungari River, I 38

 Sun-jo, False charges against King, II 41
   ” King, I 337
   ” in Wi-ju, I 392
   ” vindication of, II 41

 Superstition, II 134
   ” Buddhist, II 149

 “Surprise” wrecked, II 203

 Surrender of Nam-han offered, II 113

 Suspension bridge, First, II 8

 Su-ya-bul, I 34

 Suzerainty cast off, Chinese, II 273
   ” Chinese claims to, II 245
   ” Manchu, II 125
   ” Mongol, I 194


 Ta-bak Mt., I 1

 Tablet of Regent, II 215
   ” of the Manchus, II 130

 Tă-bong Kingdom, I 131

 Tairano, I 345

 Ta-jong active, I 292, 299
   ” becomes king, I 300

 Tal-geui, I 5

 T‘am-na Kingdom, I 75
   ” envoy to Koryŭ, I 136
   ” prefect, I 178
   ” a vassal of Koryŭ, I 142

 Ta-nă well, I 184

 Tang dynasty, I 92

 Tan-gun, I 1
   ” altar repaired, II 136
   ” grave found, II 185

 Tan-jong abdicates, I 311
   ” murdered, I 312

 Ta-p‘a-ra, I 44

 T‘ap-dan invasion, I 227
   ” Tribe, I 227

 Tattooing, I 30

 Tă-wŭn-gun becomes regent, II 204
   ” born, II 195
   ” career, II 315
   ” dies, II 315
   ” retires, II 218
   ” return from China, II 241
   ” taken to China, II 231

 Tax on ginseng, I 236

 Taxation under Kija, I 9

 Taxes in Koryŭ, I 222
   ” lowered, II 146

 Telegraph line built, II 242

 Temples to God of War, II 52

 Tests of endurance, I 30
   ” of Royal power, I 48

 Thibetan books, I 232

 Three Hans, The, I 28

 Tien-tsin convention, II 241

 Timber concession, II 346

 Tiger as official emblem, II 144

 Timur Khan, I 228

 Timber on the Yalu, I 231

 Title of Ma-rip-gan, I 70
   ” posthumous, I 79

 Tobacco introduced, II 134

 Tombs desecrate, Royal, II 12

 Tomb, Kija’s, I 10

 Tong-guk T‘ong-gam published, I 321

 Tonghak founder killed, II 204
   ” Origin of, II 203
   ” rising, II 248
   ” resume operations, II 276

 Tong-man, I 93
   ” Tortoise boat, I 376
   ”       ” successful, I 399

 Total abstinence, II 166

 Trade relations with Japan, I 338, II 54
   ” with Japan, I 306
   ”       ”    ”resumed, I 333

 Trading port at Fusan, II 59, 153
   ” stations enlarged, Japanese, II 136

 Tradition of Hyŭk-kŭ-se, I 34
   ” of Kye-rim, I 52
   ” of Pu-yŭ, I 37
   ” of Quelpart, I 74
   ” of Sŭk-t’al-hă, I 44
   ” of Wang-gön, I 129
   ”       ” escape, I 132
   ” of Yu-ri, I 41

 Treachery Chinese, II 3
   ” of Păk-je, I 45

 Treasures of Sil-la, I 135

 Treaty with U. S., II 232
   ” with Germany, II 233
   ” with Great Britain, II 233
   ” with Japan, II 221
   ” with Manchus, II 86
   ” with Mongols, I 187
   ” with Russia, II 241

 Tribe of Chin-han, I 30
   ” of Eum-nu, I 24
   ” of Hol-cha-on, II 55
   ” of Karak, I 50
   ” of Kŭ-ran, I 26
   ” of Mal-gal, I 25
   ” of Nang-nang, I 25
   ” of Ok-jŭ, I 22
   ” of Pal-hă, I 26
   ” of Pyön-han, I 31
   ” of T’ap-dan, I 227
   ” of Ye-măk, I 19

 Tribute horses, I 278
   ” to Manchus, II 87, 93, 124
   ” Ming demand for, I 275
   ” Mongol demand for, I 190, 194

 Trial of Koreans for murder of Queen, II 300, 305
   ” Laws of, I 167
   ” of Miura, II 298

 Trinity, A Korean, I 1
   ” Shrine to, I 4

 Truce with Japanese, I 405

 Tsin dynasty, I 13

 Tsuginobu, I 345

 Tsushima daimyos, II 165
   ” a dependency, I 35

 Type cast, II 188
   ” First, I 301
   ” restored, Copper, II 151


 U, Wild tribe, I 19

 Ul-lan Kingdom, I 238

 Ul-leung-do (Dagelet Id.), I 138

 Ul san Fort, II 35
   ”       ” relieved, II 36

 Usurpation of King Se-jo, I 311
   ” Kyŭn-whŭn, I 128


 Vandalism of Manchus, II 113

 Variak, II 357, 362

 Vassalage to China, Koguryŭ’s, I 70
   ”       ”   ” Păk-je’s, I 70
   ”       ” Manchus, II 132

 Vessels, Silla war, I 72

 Veterinary surgery, I 315

 Victorieuse, La, II 197

 Volcanic eruption, I 152


 Waste lands, II 368

 Waeber-Komura Agreement, II 308

 Wall across Korea, I 93, 165
   ”       ” the North, I 135
   ” built against the Mongols, I 190

 Wall of China, Great, I 13
   ” of Silla capital, I 36
   ” capital offence, Scaling of, II 157
   ” of Seoul, I 297

 Wang, Introduction of word, I 77

 Wang-gön’s advice, I 143
   ” becomes king, I 133
   ” military prowess, I 130

 War chariots, I 170, II 170
   ” between China and Koguryŭ, I 86, 98
   ” declared by Japan against China, II 273
   ” with Kitan, I 162
   ” between Koguryŭ and Păk-je, I 64, 67, 73
   ” between Koguryŭ and Yŭn, I 62, 67
   ” between Kyŭn-whŭn and Wang-gön, I 137
   ” between Silla and China, I 116
   ” between Silla and Japan, I 64
   ” between Silla and Păk-je, I 56, 83, 102
   ” terminated, Chino Japanese, II 282
   ” The Triangular, I 72
   ” Vessels, Silla, I 72

 Water-clock, I 121, 303

 Weapons made, New, I 330

 Weaving encouraged, I 315

 Wei Kingdom in China, I 73

 Weights and measures, I 166

 Well, Ta-nă, I 184

 Whan-in, I 1

 Whan-ung, I 1

 Whan Son-gil’s insurrection, I 133

 Whang Tribe, I 19

 Wheel invented, I 75

 Widows first forbidden to re-marry, I 321

 Willow capital, I 9

 Wild tribes of North, I 19

 Wiman, I 14
   ” Invasion, I 16

 Wina Cliff, I 43

 Wine-drinker executed, II 175

 Wine-making prohibited, I 301
   ” and spirits prohibited, II 166

 Witchcraft, I 330, II 161

 Woman ruler, First, I 93

 Women’s rights, I 221

 Wreck of “Surprise”, II 207
   ” of French war vessels, II 197
   ” of “Gen. Sherman”, II 207
   ” of Sparwehr, II 143

 Wu-ti’s Conquest, Emperor, I 18

 Wu-yi, Emperor, I 4

 Wŭn-gyun defeated, II 31


 Xylographic art, I 316


 Ya-gol-da, I 201

 Yalu, Battle of, Naval, II 258
   ” Russian aggression on, II 348

 Yamagata arrives, Marshall, II 258

 Yang-ŭlla, I 74

 Yang Tribe, I 19

 Yasuhiro, I 344

 Ye-măk horses, I 21
   ” religion, I 21
   ” tribe, I 19

 Yi Kwal’s rebellion, II 74
   ” takes Seoul, II 77

 Yi T’a-jo becomes King, I 295
   ” defeats Japanese, I 271
   ” deposes king, I 287
   ” honored, I 254
   ” reforms, I 288
   ” retires, I 299
   ” revolts, I 283
   ” rise, I 248
   ” successes, I 262
   ” takes Liao Fortress, I 264

 Yi Yong-ik’s methods, II 330
   ” narrow escape, II 339
   ” return, II 344
   ” Rise of, II 329

 Yi Sun-sin, I 375
   ” degraded, II 30
   ” fame, I 378
   ” genius, II 40
   ” great naval victory, I 399
   ” Plot against, II 29
   ” reinstated, II 32
   ” tactics, Admiral, I 276
   ” victorious, II 33, 48

 Yin dynasty, I 4

 Yongampo, II 347

 Yong gol da, II 94

 Yoshitoshi, I 345

 Yŭ-jin attacked, I 161

 Yŭ-jin invade, I 171
   ” ravages, I 191

 Yuan Empire named, I 218

 Yuan Shih-kei aids conservatives, II 234
   ” flight, II 265

 Yŭn-u’s usurpation, I 56

 Yun Chi-ho and independence, II 216

 Yun Kingdom, I 13
   ” origin of, I 62

 Yŭn-san’s evil rule, I 323
   ” deposed, I 326


                         BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.[A]

Footnote A:

  If the volume is not indicated, Vol. II is understood.

 Adogan, I 43
 Agolda, I 18
 Ajin, I 43
 Amogan, I 195
 An, I 43
 An Gugol, I 18
 An Golp‘o, I 396
 An Hyoje, 246
 An Chungsu, 229
 An Tojok, I 247
 An Pak, 159
 An Kuksin, 61
 An P‘yunghyön, I 51
 An U, I 234
 An Yu, I 322
 An Si, I 85
 An U-Gyŭng, I 247
 Au Yul, I 195
 An Kyungsu, 263
 Ap Sulyung, I 61
 Ara Kaya, I 43
 Ason Keupri, I 51
 A-silla, I 127


 C‘ha Ch‘aung, I 43
 Ch‘arada, I 195
 Chasa, I 35
 Chasau Chinji, I 35
 Chakwŭn, I 349
 Ch‘alja, I 181
 Ch‘amsung, I 43
 Chamdu, I 295
 Chang, I 15, 43
 Ch‘angam, I 101
 Chang Ch‘unli, I 349
 Chang Dan, I 59
 Chang Euimun, I 295
 Chang Eungjung, 1
 Chang Keun, I 85
 Ch‘ang Kyung, I 309
 Chang Hagun, I 18
 Chang Heung, I 309
 Chang Hön Seja, 173
 Chang Cham, I 85
 Ch’ang Chori, I 51
 Chang Man, I 177, 61
 Chang Sasung, I 234
 Chang Sejuk, 1
 Chang Seungyun, 61
 Chang Sin, 116
 Ch‘angsung, I 153
 Ch‘angwha, I 153
 Ch‘angwun, I 221
 Chang Yewun, I 359
 Chang Yu, 61, 130
 Che, I 4
 Cheha, I 81
 Chep‘o, I 295
 Chewang Myunggan, I 309
 Cheungi, I 85
 Chi Ch‘wa mun, I 153
 Chi Talwun, I 383
 Chinansan, I 337
 Chire, I 359
 Chirisan, I 35
 Chi Yun, I 259
 Ch‘il Chungsung, I 35
 Chilga, 130
 Ch‘iljung, I 101
 Chinbun, I 4
 Chin Tadrok, I 85
 Chinhan, I 27
 Chinjong, I 153
 Cho, I 4
 Cho Pyungjik, 303
 Chong Keuiwun, 28
 Cho Pyungho, 229
 Cho Pyungsik, 246
 Cho Tukkong, I 296
 Cho Ku, I 337
 Chong Inji, I 309
 Cho Keukkwan, I 309
 Cho Kwang, I 177
 Cho Kwangjo, I 332
 Cho Il-kyung, 16
 Chong Mongju, I 259
 Cho Heniyun, 263
 Chong Munbu, I 383
 Cho Hoik, I 195, 396
 Cho Hon, I 337
 Cho Hyoja, I 85
 Cho Hyunham, I 359
 Cho Il-in, I 61
 Cho Im, I 195
 Cho Chisu, I 322
 Cho Chin, I 295
 Cho Chuk, I 234
 Cho Chunyung, I 215
 Cho mun, I 61
 Cho ryung, I 249
 Chong Soun, I 247
 Cho Ryungha, 215, 229
 Cho Seunghun, I 396
 Cho Sinheui, 246
 Cho Sosang, I 74
 Cho Sukmun, I 309
 Cho T’ago, 159
 Cho Ung, I 296
 Cho Whi, I 274
 Ch’wa Ihang, 130
 Ch’oe, I 43
 Ch’oebi, I 61
 Ch’oe Poksul, I 202
 Ch’oe Ch’iwun, I 113
 Ch’oe Ch’ukkyung, I 177
 Ch’oe Eungil, 73
 Ch’oe Kyungwhe, 130
 Ch’oe Kyusu, 159
 Ch’oe Heul, I 295
 Ch’oe Heungwun, I 283
 Ch’oe Hyoil, 130
 Ch’oe Ikhyun, 215
 Ch’oe Chang, I 195
 Ch’oe Myunggil, 61
 Ch’oe Suk hang, 159
 Ch’oe U, I 247
 Ch’oe Yunduk, I 295
 Ch’oe Yung, I 396
 Chuk, I 43
 Chukkeum, 1
 Ch’uk Kyegwang, 16
 Chon Kegun, I 189
 Chon Namsan, I 101
 Chon Saung, I 85
 Chon Sujong, I 1
 Chong, I 43
 Chonga Kakbak, 189
 Chong Ch’ungsin, 73
 Chong Tuwun, 88
 Chong Eungt’a, 28
 Chong Keuiwun, 28
 Chong Konsu, I 396
 Chong Heuiryang, I 159
 Chong Inhong, I 383
 Chong Inji, I 309
 Chongji, I 270
 Chongjong, I 295
 Chong Chungju, I 177
 Chong Mongju, I 259
 Chong Munbu, I 383
 Chong Myungjin, I 101
 Chong Nambu, I 396
 Chong Namsu, 61
 Chong Nogyung, 130
 Chong Okwun, I 309
 Chong On, 101
 Chong Pakhyung, 116
 Chongbangsan, 88
 Chong Pangsu, 73
 Chong Poeun, I 281
 Chong Pyungha, 288
 Chong Seun, I 247
 Chong Sugyu, 101
 Chong Sukha, I 396
 Chong Sung, I 153
 Chong Sung hong, I 309
 Chongt’ong, I 4
 Chong Wundo, I 85
 Chong Wungun, 61
 Chong Yorip, I 396
 Chou, I 4
 Chu Keun, I 43
 Chu Cha, 215
 Chu Mangin, I 270
 Chumong, I 35
 Chu Munmo, I 189
 Ch’u P’ungyung, I 359
 Chu Sebung, I 322
 Chusu, I 4
 Chukju, I 195
 Chukyung, I 349
 Chuksan, I 359
 Chulgang, I 337
 C’hulli, I 153
 Ch’ulmokchin, I 181
 Chulyung, 28
 Chulyungdo, I 127
 Chumsun, I 85
 Ch’unch’uk, I 141
 Ch’unjuhak, 173
 Chunsu, I 18
 Chunghogwun, 45
 Ch’ungmok, I 61
 Chungseung, I 295
 Ch’ungsun, I 221
 Chungwun, I 141
 Ch’ungyang, I 127


 Euijong, I 177
 Euiwha (Prince), 246
 Eulbul, I 51
 Eulji Munduk, I 85
 Eulneum, I 153
 Eumho, I 35
 Eumnu, I 18
 Eupch’a, I 18


 Haburu, I 4
 Hadogam, 215
 Hakongjin, I 153
 Hanam, I 101
 Haryuk, I 101
 Hasaju, I 113
 Ha Sang, 28
 Ha Sung, I 337
 Hau, I 51
 Hausi, I 1
 Hawang, I 18
 Ha Wiji, I 309
 Ha Yang, I 141
 Hakeui, 159
 Hamja, I 85
 Hamjung, I 234
 Hamma, I 18
 Hamp’yungno, I 4
 Han, I 15
 Han Eungin, I 359
 Hangang, I 4
 Han Keuksung, I 388
 Han Kyujik, 229
 Han Hyosun, 61
 Han Hyun, 16
 Hanju, I 113
 Han Myungwhe, I 309
 Han Roe, I 177
 Hansan, I 127
 Hansanju, I 113
 Han-sando, I 113
 Han Seungu, I 159
 Han Sun, I 181
 Han Usang, 116
 Hanyang, I 61
 Han Yun, 73
 Hanggu, 1
 Hang Chang, I 349
 Happ’o, I 221
 Hap Somun, I 85
 Heuk-su, I 18
 Heungch’ung, 130
 Heum-mu, I 153
 Heung Euiyuk, I 153
 Heungguk, I 181
 Heungin, 215
 Heung In Mun, I 295
 Heung Wha, I 153
 Heung Yo, I 153
 Hodo, I 259
 Hodobal, I 270
 Hodokkobulwha, I 247
 Ho Kong, 61
 Hobaldo, I 270
 Ho Sung, I 337
 Ho Yup, I 337
 Holdon, I 208
 Holjaon, I 295
 Holp’ilyul, I 208
 Honjang, I 127
 Hongbum, I 4
 Hong Chongu, 246
 Hong Ponghan, 173
 Hong Chinu, 229
 Hong Tujuk, I 234
 Hongeui Tajang, I 383
 Hong Kukyung, 173
 Hong Kyeheui, I 173
 Hong Kyenam, I 396
 Hong Kyungna, 189
 Hong Ikhan, 130
 Hong Inhan, 173
 Hong Chahak, 215
 Hong Chaheui, 215
 Hong Mu, I 259
 Hongmun, I 259
 Hong Myungil, I 116
 Hongsan, I 259
 Hong Sobong, 101
 Hong T’asi, 61
 Hongwun, I 177
 Hong Yungsik, 229
 Hsia, I 18
 Hsuanti, I 27
 Hu Kukch’ung, 1
 Hu Honggang, 16
 Hu Chuk, 88
 Hu Chin, I 359
 Hu Chung, I 309
 Hu Wan, I 101
 Hukyung, I 74
 Hujik, I 74
 Husung, I 85
 Hullyun Togam, 215
 Hullyunwun, I 322
 Hunmin Chong-eum, I 295
 Hyanggyo, I 322
 Hye, I 247
 Hyejong, I 141
 Hyewhamun, I 295
 Hyojang Seja, 159
 Hyoribal, I 177
 Hyukkuse, I 35
 Hyon Tuksu, I 181
 Hyonjong, I 141
 Hyong Ka, 28
 Hyupju, I 127
 Hyuppu, I 35
 Hyu Chung, I 396
 Hyun, I 4
 Hyundo, I 15
 Hyunmong, 16
 Hyun Yanggwa, I 322
 Hyung Wunhang, I 74


 Ibullan, I 61
 Ich’ukson, I 43
 Itu, I 113
 Ibulson, I 43
 Isabu, I 74
 Isageum, I 43
 Ison, I 43
 Ikjo, I 234
 Ilbon, I 113
 Ilt’ongji, I 4
 Imdun, I 15
 Im Kang-u, I 113
 Im Kukchung, I 177
 Im Kyongup, 116
 Imba, 45
 Im Hyun, 28
 Im In-gu, I 6
 Im Chagang, 1
 Imjon, I 101
 Im Sunmu, I 270
 Im Un, I 309
 Inpukwun, I 270
 Ingyung, 61
 Inju, I 177
 In San, 61
 Insung, 61


 Kaduk, I 371
 Ka Kang, 45
 Kahap, 61
 Karak, I 43
 Kari, I 43
 Ka yung, I 345
 Kaso, I 51
 Kasung, I 141
 Kaya, I 43
 Kaksan, I 234
 Kal Pongha, 1
 Kalsa, I 43
 Kalsuk, I 85
 Kang Kamch’an, I 153
 Kang Hongrip, 61
 Kang Chinsuk, 116
 Kangmok, I 4
 Kangmok Chunp’yun, I 322
 Kang Munhyung, 215
 Kangnam, I 141
 Kangwang, I 43
 Kangwhe, I 113
 Kang Wibing, 116
 Kangwherok, 45
 Kao, I 35
 Kap Whan, I 141
 Ke Pak, I 101
 Ke Yang, I 234
 Keni, I 234
 Keui Chahon, 61
 Keuirin, 73
 Keumjun, I 177
 Keumsuro, I 43
 Keumchuwi, 130
 Kibi, I 4
 Kichung, I 43
 Kija, I 4
 Kijun, I 4
 Kit’ak, I 43
 Kiwhun, I 208
 Kim, I 43
   Pin, I 322
   Podang, I 177
   Pohyun, I 229
   Pongchung, I 229
   Chonghan, 263
   Ch’wiryo, I 181
   Ch’unil, I 383
   Ch’unt’ak, 159
   Teukpa, I 247
   Tukyang, 16
   Tongyong, I 337
   Eungsu, 16
   Keon, 189
 Kimgu Ch’ilbu, I 74
 Kim Kongyang, I 259
   Kuhyung, I 74
   Kwiyung, I 359
   Kyungjeung, 88
   Kyung-no, 28
   Kyungsu, 61
   Hayung, 263
   Hong-jip, 215
   Hongmin, I 396
   Hongnyuk, 303
   Hyowun, I 359
   Hyuk, 130
   Ik-kyum, 130
   Ilsung, I 159
   Ilt’a, I 101
   Inmun, I 113
   Chajum, 61
   Chegap, I 371
   Chijong, I 113
   Chunggeui, I 159
   Chwageun, I 202
   Majin, 263
   Munhyun, 246
   Myon, I 383
   Myungwun, I 383
   Nyu, 61
   Yung, I 113
   Okch’u, I 396
   Okkyun, 215
   Onyun, 101
   P’yunggu, I 202
   P’yungsi, 312
   Sanggun, 1
   Sangno, 173
   Sangwi, I 153
   Sangyong, 88
   Segeui, 246
   Simin, I 396
   Sik, 130
   Singuk, 101
   Su, I 337
   Sunam, 116
   Suk heung, I 153
   Sungil, I 337
   T’a-suk, 61
   T’ak, I 396
   Yangun, 73
   Yiso, 173
   Yongan, I 247
   Yu, I 270
   Yusin, I 101
   Yunjung, I 113
   Yunsik, 215
   Yungha, 159
   Yungjun, 327
 Kin, I 4
 Ko, I 85
 Ko Pokjang, I 51
 Ko ch’ung, I 85
 Koeul, I 177
 Kogan, I 259
 Kogan, I 101
 Kogu, I 61
 Kojang, I 181
 Koguryu, I 15
 Ko Kungna, I 153
 Ko Kyungmin, I 396
 Ko Kyungmyung, I 383
 Kohu, I 85
 Koje, I 74
 Kojomo, I 322
 Ko Chonghu, 1
 Ko Onbak, 1
 Kuran, I 18
 Koryung Kaya, I 43
 Kusugan, I 35
 Ko Sujang, I 322
 Kosung, I 43
 Koulla, I 74
 Ko Unjip, I 113
 Ko Yanggyum, 16
 Ko Yongheui, 303
 Ko Yungch’ang, I 177
 Kolbu, I 153
 Kulgul Chungsung, I 113
 Kollu, I 61
 Kum Modam, I 113
 Kon Yongjin, 303
 Kong Sonsu, I 15
 Kongsong Wanghu, 45
 Kong Yuduk, 101
 Kuda, I 45
 Kugweng, 101
 Ku Kano, I 270
 Ku Hyoyun, I 359
 Ku Inhu, 45
 Kujusiso, 45
 Ku Wulsan, I 1
 Kukcho Pogam, I 309
 Kuk Kyungin, I 383
 Kungye, I 127
 Kwak, I 43
 Kwak Il, I 383
 Kwak Chau, I 383
 Kwak Chun, I 383
 Kwanbak, I 337
 Kwanna, I 127
 Kwannobu, I 35
 Kwanso, I 309
 Kwan Sunsang, I 234
 Kwan U, 45
 Kwan Yungjin, 327
 Kwangha (Prince), 45
 Kwang Heuimun, I 295
 Kwangmu, I 18
 Kweyu, I 43
 Kwisun, I 153
 Kwi Yungga, 61
 Kwun, I 43
 Kwun Ilsin, 173
 Kwun Chulsin, 173
 Kwun Chonggil, I 349
 Kwunnam, I 309
 Kwun Yungjin, 263
 Kwun Sunjang, 116
 Kwun Ryul, I 396
 Kyego, I 74
 Kye P’il, I 101
 Kyep’il Haryuk, I 101
 Kyerim, I 51
 Kyerobu, I 35
 Kyeryung, I 295
 Kyo Ilgeui, 61
 Kyun Naryang, I 399
 Kyongbokkung, 16
 Kyong U, 229
 Kyungguk Tajun, I 309


 Mach’un, I 295
 Ma Kunsang, 229
 Ma Kwi, 28
 Mahan, I 27
 Ma Heuich’un, 101
 Ma Pou, I 153
 Mabuda, 88
 Mararanta, I 61
 Mari, I 27
 Marisan, I 1
 Ma Susung, I 27
 Mak Chuljang, I 74
 Malgal, I 18
 Man, I 113
 Manbu, I 141
 Manduk, I 74
 Man Seduk, 45
 Mang Keumch’a, I 85
 Manggoda, 61
 Mangso, I 51
 Mang Udang, I 383
 Mija, I 4
 Misaheun, I 61
 Mil Chiksa, I 247
 Milu, I 51
 Min, I 48
 Min Ch’angsik, 215
 Min Chirok, 202
 Min Chongmuk, 215
 Min Eungsik, 215
 Min Kyumho, 215
 Min Seungho, 215
 Min Si, I 309
 Min T’aho, 215
 Min Tuho, 215
 Min Yungik, 229
 Min Yungju, 327
 Min Yungjun, 263
 Min Yungmok, 229
 Min Yungso, 215
 Min Yungwhan, 279
 Mo Kogyung, I 284
 Mo Ku-geum, I 51
 Mo Munnyung, 61
 Morino, I 259
 Mo Tungok, I 35
 Mo Whagwan, 73
 Mo Yong, I 61
 Mo Yonghan, I 61
 Mo Yongwe, I 61
 Mo Yongp’a, I 61
 Mo Yongp’ung, I 61
 Mo Yongwhang, I 61
 Mok Horyung, 144
 Mok Jo, I 101
 Mok Siryong, 144
 Mok Yakju, I 113
 Mogo Hyun, I 4
 <DW41> Nyuk, I 295
 Mu Gol, I 35
 Mu Gyung, I 322
 Mu Hak, I 295
 Mu Hyul, I 43
 Mu Je, I 15
 Mu Jinju, I 113
 Mu Ju, I 127
 Muroda, I 153
 Mu Sandasu, I 35
 Mu Song, I 18
 Mu Wang, I 4
 Muk Hoja, I 74
 Muk Ko, I 35
 Mulgil, I 18
 Mun Keukkyum, I 177
 Mun Hon T’onggo, I 295
 Mun Jong, I 322
 Mun Mu, I 113
 Mun Wang, I 4
 Mun Whe, I 73
 Myo Chung, I 177
 Myon Kuha, I 181
 Myungbol, 202
 Myungha, I 85
 Myung Sung, I 181
 Myungwhalsankoya, I 35
 Myungwul, I 259
 Myung-yegung, 16


 Na Kwak, I 85
 Na Heungyu, I 259
 Na Hoa, I 85
 Na Se, I 270
 Nak Sangji, I 1
 Nak Wha am, I 101
 Nam Angap, 101
 Nam-pyulgung, I 1
 Namgun, I 101
 Namha, I 35
 Nam Yiheung, 73
 Nam Myungsun, 295
 Namnyu, I 18
 Nam Ongyung, I 396
 Nam Onjung, 189
 Namsang, I 101
 Namso, I 85
 Nam T’ajung, 159
 Nangnang, I 15
 Napt’apchul, I 247
 Neung Ch’anggun, 61
 Neung Pongsu, 101
 Ni Mun, I 74
 No, I 43
 Nogwan, I 4
 No Chik, I 383
 Norach’i, 61
 Nu Bang, I 85


 O Ch’ungan, I 43
 O Talch’e, 166
 Odogan, I 43
 Odong, I 127
 O Eungjung, 28
 Oi, I 35
 O Changgyung, I 229
 O Maknam, I 51
 Omokdo, 130
 O Myunghang, 154
 Oran, I 322
 O Siun, I 4
 O Yeeui, I 309
 O Yungsu, 73
 O Yuch’ung, I 1
 O Yunjung, 229
 Okchu, I 18
 Okju, I 18
 Ok Kang, 61
 Okpyun, I 322
 Olja, I 259
 Ol Chokheup, I 309
 Ol Yanghap, I 295
 Om (Lady), 337
 Omu, I 43
 Onjo, I 35


 P‘agada, I 270
 Pa Keukyum, I 270
 Pai Chai, 229
 P’asa, 28
 P asu, I 141
 P asu, I 4
 Pak Chöngyang, 215
 Pak Eungsu, 45
 Pak Chesun, 246
 Pak Hong, I 349
 Pak Chunyang, 263
 Pak Hyorip, 73
 Pak Ingye, I 259
 Pak Ingul, I 337
 Pakje, I 18
 Pak Chesang, I 61
 Pak Chin, I 27
 Pak Keuip‘ung, 189
 Pak Kusa, I 51
 Pak Kwanon, I 371
 Pak Kakkwan, 215
 Pak P’angyun, I 309
 Pak P’ilgeun, 159
 Pak Po, I 295
 Pak Sa, I 4
 Pak Sun, I 337
 Pak T’abo, 144
 Paktol, I 18
 Pak Un, 229
 Pak Whan, 101
 Pak Wunjong, I 322
 Pak Yanggo, 61
 Pak Yong, I 322
 Pak Yonghyo, 271
 Pak Yonggyo, 229
 Pak Yongso, 215
 Pal, I 4
 Palgi, I 51
 Palha, I 113
 Palmyung Kangi, I 322
 Pan Kujun, 28
 Panyak, I 259
 Pang, I 1
 Pang Kukchin, I 61
 P’ango, I 1
 Pang Si-ch’an, 1
 Pang Suk, I 295
 P’ang Uduk, 28
 Pangwun, I 337
 Pang Yup, 61
 P’idogan, I 43
 Pigan, I 4
 Piin, I 295
 Pip’a, I 383
 Piryu, I 35
 Pingsan, I 127
 Piun, I 10
 Posuk, I 127
 Posul, I 35
 Pou, I 322
 Pokam, I 51
 Pokho, I 61
 Poksin, I 101
 Pom Sehyung, 189
 Pumneut, 45
 Punho, I 337
 Pong Ch’unbu, I 4
 Pukheungsa, I 396
 Pupji, I 74
 Pugyun, I 61
 Puru, I 1
 Puryu, I 35
 Puulla, I 74
 Puyang, I 121
 Puyu, I 1
 Puyup’ung, I 101
 Puksingu, 130
 Pukwun, I 113
 Pulgyung, I 61
 Pulhamsan, I 18
 Pulla, I 18
 Pulnal, I 18
 P’ungi, I 1
 P’unghong, I 61
 P’ungju, I 15
 Pyul-gwan, 130
 Pyulha, 144
 Pyung Eungsung, I 349
 Pyungeui, I 349
 Pyunhan, I 27
 P’yungjang, I 349
 P’yungsuga, I 349
 P’yungsugil, I 349


 Sahak, I 101
 Sa Whadong, I 337
 Saryang, I 113
 Sa Susin, 130
 Sa Tasu, 1
 Sayu, I 396
 Sakpang, I 309
 Salma, I 177
 Salsu, I 74
 Sal Yet’ap, I 195
 Sam-gang Hangsil, I 322
 Samguksa, I 177
 Sam Ka, I 247
 Samnyang, I 208
 Samseun, I 247
 Samyangju, I 113
 Sanch’uk, I 281
 San Kilda, I 195
 Sannam, I 141
 San Sagyul, I 221
 Sansu, I 18
 Sangata, I 35
 Sanggeui, I 141
 Sanguhyun, I 4
 Sanggye, I 127
 Sangmyung, I 130
 Sang Sihyung, I 4
 Sangsung, I 234
 Sejong, I 4
 Seo, I 51
 Seung Ch’unbu, I 195
 Shin, I 4
 Si, 173
 Si Honyuk, 130
 Sijun, I 4
 Si Osa, 16
 Siwun, 45
 Siljik, I 51
 Silla, I 18
 Sil Yip, I 337
 Sil Yung, I 359
 Sim Chip, 116
 Sim Euigyung, I 337
 Sim Keuiwun, 61
 Sim Kwangsu, 101
 Sim Ha, 161
 Sim Hyun, 116
 Sim Keuiwun, 161
 Sim Kyongjin, 61
 Sim Sajun, I 208
 Sim Sanghak, 215
 Sim Ta, I 396
 Sim Tukpu, I 270
 Simyang, I 4
 Sim Yugyung, I 396
 Sim Yul, 101
 Sim Yun, 101
 Sin Chang, I 181
 Sin Chang, I 281
 Sin Chisun, 215
 Sin Chi, I 18
 Sin Chipp’yung, I 195
 Sin Ch’ugyun, I 215
 Sindo, I 247
 Singeum, I 127
 Sin Keuisun, 263
 Sin Sin Kili, I 359
 Sin Kwigan, I 43
 Sin Kyungjin, I 116
 Sin Kyungwan, 101
 Sin Yheungsa, 215
 Sin Ho, 28
 Sin Hon, 215
 Sin Hong, I 270
 Sin Ik, I 371
 Sin Mi, I 309
 Sin Iksung, 101
 Sin Seung, I 74
 Sin Sejun, I 383
 Sin Sukchu, I 295
 Sinsung, I 61
 Sin U, I 259
 Sin Yuge, I 349
 Sip je, I 35
 So Euimun, I 259
 So Eunggung, I 28
 So Hakmyung, 16
 So Keumbe, 189
 So Kogan, I 309
 Sohakchi, 173
 So Ijou, I 322
 Soje, I 35
 So Chungbang, I 101
 Sokaya, I 34
 So P‘il, I 141
 Sorobu, I 34
 So Subi, 16
 So Sonryung, I 141
 Soyu, 11 I 4
 Sok Kang Mok, I 322
 Sokmun Heun t’ongno, I 4
 Solchi, I 43
 Songi Okhyung, I 322
 Son Kunbi, I 208
 Sou Kwang, 16
 Sou Insu, I 101
 Son Ingap, I 383
 Sou Chuk, I 281
 Son Munju, I 195
 Sonsu, I 61
 Son Suryum, 1
 Song Chemin, I 383
 Songdo, I 127
 Song Eungch’ang, 1
 Song Hanhong, I 127
 Song Heuian, I 322
 Song Kil, I 208
 Songmal, I 18
 Songp’a, 116
 Song Sanghyun, I 349
 Song Sihyung, 166
 Song Siryul, I 141
 Song Ugil, 45
 Song Wunsin, I 359
 Song Yujin, 16
 Song Yummun, 28
 Subulju, I 113
 Subuk, 144
 Su Kyul, I 309
 Su Kwangbum, 229
 Su Chach’ang, 229
 Su Chap’il, 229
 Sujari, 215
 Sujun, I 4
 Sumyungsan, 173
 Su Sangu, 229
 Su Sangjip, 263
 Surabul, I 35
 Su Saga, I 309
 Su Sangjo, 229
 Su Sangu, 229
 Susil, I 51
 Su Usin, 73
 Suyabul, I 35
 Suyak, I 113
 Suyang, I 309
 Su Yewun, I 349
 Suyuk, I 141
 Suksin, I 18
 Suktari, I 359
 Sukt’alha, I 43
 Suk Uro, I 51
 Suk Yida, I 208
 Sul Ch’ong, I 113
 Sulhan, 144
 Sul Ingwi, I 101
 Sul Seung, I 74
 Sunbi, I 51
 Sundo, I 61
 Sunjong, I 127
 Sunnobu, I 35
 Sungch’ung, I 101
 Sungbong, I 43
 Sungduk, I 113
 Sung Teup, I 383
 Sup ha, I 15


 Tabaksan, I 1
 Tabang, I 85
 Tabong, I 127
 Tabulsa, 28
 T’adaro, I 74
 Tahang, I 101
 Ta-heung, I 101
 Ta-in, I 85
 Ta-jang-gyung, I 141
 Ta-ja-bu, I 208
 Ta-ji, I 181
 T’a-jo, I 4
 T’a-jung, I 4
 Ta-ka-ya, I 43
 Ta-myung, I 231
 Ta-na, I 177
 Ta-p’a-ra, I 43
 Ta-sik, I 153
 Ta-so, I 43
 Ta-wun-gun, I 215
 Ta-Yun-in, I 153
 T’ai-k’ang, I 18
 Tak-soe, I 221
 Tal-geui, I 4
 Tal-yang, I 322
 Tam-dok, I 61
 Tam-jin, I 74
 T’am-na, I 61
 Tan, I 61
 Tan-dan, I 18
 T’an-geum-da, I 349
 Tan gun, I 1
 Tang, I 4
 Tang-jin, 116
 T’ang Yak-mang, 130
 T’ap-chin, I 181
 Tap-don, I 85
 T’ap chi, I 259
 Teung-na, 130
 Teung Wun-jung, I 300
 To-ak, I 295
 T’o-bun, I 221
 To-bong, I 153
 To-ja-do, I 221
 To-rim, I 61
 To-ryung-ko-do-wha, I 177
 To-san, I 295
 To-sun, I 127
 Tok-po, 130
 Tol-gwal, I 85
 Tol-san-ko-ho, I 35
 Tong-bu, I 157
 Tong Eul-ji, I 309
 Tong-guk T’ong-gam, I 309
 Tong Han-yu, 28
 Tong-i, I 18
 Tong Il-wun, 45
 Tong-in, I 337
 Tong-jak, 28
 Tong-ju, I 153
 Tong-myung, I 43
 Tong-nam, I 101
 Tong’sa Po-p’yun, 130
 Tong-whang, I 85
 Tsin, I 4
 Tsiou, 173
 Tu-hul, I 177
 Tu-no, I 51
 Tukjung, I 153
 Tungp’ayuk, I 359
 T’ung Yangjong, 61


 Ubalsu, I 35
 U Che, I 247
 U Chungmun, I 85
 Udubul, I 1
 Ugu, I 15
 Ui, I 18
 Umun, I 61
 U Munsul, I 85
 U Okku, I 51
 U Pakyung, 28
 U Pokyung, I 349
 U Pomsun, 303
 Usan, 74
 Usi, I 51
 Usuju, I 1
 Uwigu, I 51
 Uk, I 141
 Uknyi, I 61
 Ullam, I 234
 Ulo, I 127
 Um Seyung, 271
 Unbong, I 270
 Ungch’i, I 396
 Ungpo, I 159


 Wagyo, 45
 Wananjayun, I 181
 Wansanju, I 181
 Wanggeui, I 51
 Wanggom, I 1
 Wanggon, I 127
 Wanggyu, I 141
 Wangja, I 85
 Wangmang, I 43
 Wangok, I 396
 Wang Pangyun, I 309
 Wang P’iljuk, 1
 Wang Sukch’ang, 229
 Wangu, I 61
 Wang Yujung, 1
 Wei, I 4
 Whabang Euijil, 215
 Whaha Manmak, I 18
 Wharye, I 18
 Whawun Ongju, 173
 Whalla, I 177
 Whalyi Kilsa, I 221
 Whanin, I 1
 Whan Ugeui
 Whanung, I 1
 Whangbak, I 396
 Whang Chisun, I 234
 Whang Chungye, 130
 Whang Poin, I 309
 Whang Sayung, 189
 Whang Yungil, I 337
 Whang Yunhun, I 322
 Whei, I 18
 Whewungun, 116
 Wiha, I 281
 Wiman, I 4
 Wi Munseung, I 85
 Wina, I 43
 Wirye
 Wuyi, I 4
 Wun, I 18
 Wun Ch’angyung, 73
 Wun Ch’unggap, I 221
 Wun Chongsuk, I 153
 Wun Ho, I 359
 Wunhyo, I 113
 Wun Kyun, I 371
 Wun Mangyung, I 101
 Wun Sega, 229
 Wun Tojin, I 295
 Wun Sungwha, I 173
 Wunwang, I 27
 Wun Whang, I 1


 Yagolda, I 195
 Yasokha, I 181
 Yayul Kageum, I 177
 Yayul Sejang, I 153
 Ya Yulyung, I 177
 Yangbok, I 15
 Yang Ho, 28
 Yang Honsu, II 210
 Yang Hyungam, I 85
 Yang Kil, I 113
 Yang Kyu, I 153
 Yangmak, I 43
 Yang nyunggun, I 295
 Yango, I 51
 Yang Pakyun, I 270
 Yang Panghyun, 16
 Yang Puha, 45
 Yang Saheun, I 396
 Yang Sim, I 43
 Yang So, 1
 Yangulla, I 74
 Yang Wun, 61
 Yang Yu, I 259
 Yao, I 1
 Yeh Chichao, 246
 Yemak, I 4
 Yewiguk, I 18
 Yi Ansa, I 234
 Yi Chach’un, I 259
 Yi Chagyum, I 177
 Yi Chamyun, 215
 Yi Chasun, 215
 Yi Chasung, 130
 Yi Chawan, 229
 Yi Changgyu, 229
 Yi Changson, I 396
 Yi Chewan, 229
 Yi Chuiwan, 45
 Yi Chiyun, I 189
 Yi Chil, I 396
 Yi Chinho, 303
 Yi Chunyong, 279
 Yi Ch’un, I 259
 Yi Choyun, 226
 Yi Chongin, 1
 Yi Chongmu, I 295
 Yi Chongsung, 16
 Yi Chuk, I 101
 Yi Chun, I 309
 Yi Chungyung, I 337
 Yi Chungha, 229
 Yi Chungnam, 61
 Yi Euibang, I 177
 Yi Eungik, 263
 Yi Euimun, I 181
 Yi Eung, I 195
 Yi Hang, I 270
 Yi Hangi, I 234
 Yi Heungip, 61
 Yi Ho, I 322
 Yi Honguk, I 359
 Yi Hyon, I 259
 Yi Hyonun, I 153
 Yi Hyung, 116
 Yii Asi, I 43
 Yi I-ch’um, 45
 Yi I-myung, 159
 Yi Il, I 337
 Yi Inbok, I 259
 Yi Inim, I 270
 Yi Injwa, 159
 Yi Ka, I 309
 Yi Kasang, 116
 Yi Kak, I 349
 Yi Keuiha, 159
 Yi Ko, I 177
 Yi Keunt’ak, 337
 Yi Kongsu, I 247
 Yi Kwal, 61
 Yi Kwang, 61
 Yi Kwi, 61
 Yi Kyongha, 202
 Yi Kyongjeung, 101
 Yi Kyongsuk, 130
 Yi Kyongyo, 130
 Yi Kyu, 130
 Yi Kyungjik, 288
 Yi Manson, 215
 Yi Mingu, 88
 Yi Monghak, 16
 Yi Mongjun, I 141
 Yi Myunghan, 130
 Yi Myungsang, 246
 Yi Neungsu, 16
 Yi Ok, I 371
 Yi Okkeui, I 396
 Yi Pangch’un, 28
 Yi Pangjin, 1
 Yi Pangsil, I 259
 Yi Pong, 1
 Yi Pongeui, 215
 Yi Pongnam, I 396
 Yi Pumjin, 229
 Yi Puja, 73
 Yi Pyuk, I 309
 Yiro, I 396
 Yi Ryung, 1
 Yi Sasung, 159
 Yi Sak, I 234
 Yi Sangyum, I 396
 Yi Sanha, I 359
 Yi Shanggil, 116
 Yi Seunggyung, I 234
 Yi Sia, I 309
 Yi Sibak, 116
 Yi Sibal, 73
 Yi Sijik, 116
 Yi Songgye, I 234
 Yi Su, 73
 Yi Su, 173
 Yi Suil, 73
 Yi Suktal, 101
 Yi Sun, 322
 Yi Sunsin, I 271
 Yi Sunghun, 45
 Yi Sunghun, 173
 Yi Toja, 263
 Yi T’ong, I 195
 Yi Tuwhang, 303
 Yi Yang, I 309
 Yi Yohon, 189
 Yi Yongbang, 61
 Yi Yubak, 1
 Yi Yugeui, 28
 Yi Yuma, 1
 Yi Yuo, 1
 Yi Yungyung, I 322
 Yi Yunsu, 73
 Yi Yunyong, 263
 Yi Yungbang, 61
 Yi Yunggeui, 73
 Yi Wan, 45
 Yi Wanyong, 313
 Yi Whanjo, I 234
 Yi Wunch’un, 28
 Yi Wunheui, 202
 Yi Wunik, I 383
 Yin, I 4
 Yodogan, I 48
 Yosira, 16
 Yongch’ang, 61
 Yonggolda, 88
 Yonggung, I 349
 Yong Ho, 101
 Yongin, I 349
 Yong P’abu, 28
 Yuan, I 4
 Yu Chahyun, I 229
 Yu Cheung, I 113
 Yu Chong, I 153
 Yu Chungyang, 116
 Yugeui, I 259
 Yu Ha, 73
 Yu Hong, I 371
 Yu Hyo-gul, 73
 Yu Hyo-rip, 88
 Yu Hyo-wun, 189
 Yu In-wun, I 101
 Yu Ingwe, I 101
 Yu jung, I 396
 Yu Keuk-nyang, I 249
 Yu Kom-p’il, I 127
 Yu Kil-jun, 263
 Yu Pak-jung, 101
 Yu Pang, I 141
 Yu P’ang-no, I 394
 Yu rim, I 101
 Yu ryul, I 153
 Yu Sin, I 101
 Yu su-gan, I 43
 Yu sun-jong, I 309
 Yu Sung-jung, 116
 Yu Sung-wun, I 309
 Yu Sung-yong, I 383
 Yu U-gil, 45
 Yu wha, I 35
 Yu Wan-ga, I 396
 Yu Whang-sang, 1
 Yu Yong-gyung, 45
 Yul-su, I 18
 Yun, I 4
 Yun Cha-sung, 215
 Yun Ch’ang-yun, 173
 Yun Ch’i-ho, 279
 Yun Cheung, 144
 Yun Chi-wan, 101
 Yun Chip, 116
 Yun Cho-gong, I 309
 Yun-jun, 116
 Yun Pang, 88
 Yun-san, I 322
 Yun-san-ju, I 322
 Yun Sin-ji, 116
 Yun So-jong, I 281
 Yun Sung-gak, I 337
 Yun Sun-gu, 116
 Yun T’a-jun, 229
 Yun Tu-su, I 383
 Yun Whang, 116
 Yun Wun-hyung, I 309
 Yun Wun-no, I 309
 Yun Yung-gu, 303
 Yun-jong, 159
 Yun-jun, I 359
 Yung-gyu, I 396
 Yung-p’a, I 322

                          CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX
                                   OF
                          THE KINGS OF KOREA.

NOTE. The names in the right hand columns are the posthumous titles of
the various sovereigns. In the left hand columns are the ordinary names.


 2332 B.C. Tan-gun [Korean]             or Wang-gom [Korean]

                         ANCIENT CHOSUN [Korean]

 1122 B.C. Ki-ja               [Korean]    Mun-song-wang        [Korean]

 1082  “   Ki-song           “ [Korean]    Chang-hye-wang       [Korean]

 1057  “   Ki-sun            “ [Korean]    Kyong-hyo-wang       [Korean]

 1030  “   Ki-bak            “ [Korean]    Kong-jung-wang       [Korean]

 1000  “   Ki-ch’un          “ [Korean]    Mun-mu-wang          [Korean]

  972  “   Ki-gong           “ [Korean]    T’a-wun-wang         [Korean]

  968  “   Ki-chang          “ [Korean]    Kyong-ch’ang-wang     [Korean]

  957  “   Ki-ch’ak          “ [Korean]    Heung-p’yung-wang     [Korean]

  943  “   Ki-jo             “ [Korean]    Ch’ul-wi-wang        [Korean]

  925  “   Ki-sak            “ [Korean]    Sun-hye-wang         [Korean]

  896  “   Ki-sa             “ [Korean]    Eui-yang-wang        [Korean]

  843  “   Ki-ryum           “ [Korean]    Mun-hye-wang         [Korean]

  793  “   Ki-wul            “ [Korean]    Song-duk-wang        [Korean]

  778  “   Ki-jik            “ [Korean]    To-whe-wang          [Korean]

  776  “   Ki-u              “ [Korean]    Mun-yul-wang         [Korean]

  761  “   Ki-mok            “ [Korean]    Ch’ang-guk-wang      [Korean]

  748  “   Ki-p’yung         “ [Korean]    Mu-sung-wang         [Korean]

  722  “   Ki-gwul           “ [Korean]    Chung-gyong-wang     [Korean]

  703  “   Ki-whe            “ [Korean]    Nak-sung-wang        [Korean]

  675  “   Ki-jon            “ [Korean]    Hyo-jong-wang        [Korean]

  658  “   Ki-hyo            “ [Korean]    Ch’ul-lo-wang        [Korean]

  634  “   Ki-yang           “ [Korean]    Su-do-wang           [Korean]

  615  “   Ki-i              “ [Korean]    Whi-yang-wang        [Korean]

  594  “   Ki-ch’am          “ [Korean]    Pong-il-wang         [Korean]

  578  “   Ki-gon            “ [Korean]    Tuk-ch’ang-wang      [Korean]

  560  “   Ki-sak            “ [Korean]    Su-song-wang         [Korean]

  519  “   Ki-yo             “ [Korean]    Yung-gul-wang        [Korean]

  503  “   Ki-gang           “ [Korean]    Il-song-wang         [Korean]

  486  “   Ki-hon            “ [Korean]    Che-se-wang          [Korean]

  465  “   Ki-pyuk           “ [Korean]    Chung-guk-wang       [Korean]

  432  “   Ki-jeung          “ [Korean]    To-guk-wang          [Korean]

  413  “   Ki-jil            “ [Korean]    Hyuk-song-wang       [Korean]

  385  “   Ki-seup           “ [Korean]    Wha-ra-wang          [Korean]

  369  “   Ki-ha             “ [Korean]    Yul-mun-wang         [Korean]

  361  “   Ki-wha            “ [Korean]    Kyong-sun-wang       [Korean]

  342  “   Ki-ho             “ [Korean]    Ka-duk-wang          [Korean]

  315  “   Ki-uk             “ [Korean]    Sam-no-wang          [Korean]

  290  “   Ki-suk            “ [Korean]    Hyon-mun-wang        [Korean]

  251  “   Ki-yun            “ [Korean]    Chang-p’yung-wang     [Korean]

  232  “   Ki-bu             “ [Korean]    Chong-t’ong-wang     [Korean]

  221  “   Ki-jun            “ [Korean]    A-wang               [Korean]

                            Ended in 193 B.C.

                       KINGDOM OF MAHAN. [Korean]

  193 B.C. Ki-t’ak             [Korean]    Mu-gang-wang         [Korean]

  189  “   Ki-kam            “ [Korean]    An-wang              [Korean]

  157  “   Ki-sik            “ [Korean]    Hye-wang             [Korean]

  144  “   Ki-mu             “ [Korean]    Myung-wang           [Korean]

  113  “   Ki-hyung          “ [Korean]    Hyo-wang             [Korean]

   73  “   Ki-sup            “ [Korean]    Yang-wang            [Korean]

   58  “   Ki-hun            “ [Korean]    Wun-wang             [Korean]

   32  “   Ki-jung           “ [Korean]    Kye-wang             [Korean]

   16  “   Ki-hak            “ [Korean]    (wanting)

                             Ended in 9 B.C.


                       KINGDOM OF SILLA. [Korean]

   57 B.C. Hyuk-ku-se          [Korean]

    4 A.D. Nam-ha              [Korean]

   25  “   Yu-ri               [Korean]

   58  “   Tal-ha              [Korean]

   81  “   P’a-sa              [Korean]

  113  “   Chi-ma              [Korean]

  135  “   Il-sung             [Korean]

  154  “   A-dal-la            [Korean]

  185  “   Pul-hyu             [Korean]

  196  “   Na-ha               [Korean]

  231  “   Cho-bun             [Korean]

  248  “   Ch’um-ha            [Korean]

  262  “   Mi-ch’u             [Korean]

  285  “   Yu-rye              [Korean]

  299  “   Keui-rim            [Korean]

  310  “   Heul-ha             [Korean]

  356  “   Na-mul              [Korean]

  402  “   Sil-sung            [Korean]

  417  “   Nul-ji              [Korean]

  458  “   Cha-bi              [Korean]

  479  “   So-ji               [Korean]

  500  “   Chi-da-ro           [Korean]    Chi-jeung-wang       [Korean]

  514  “   Wun-jong            [Korean]    Pup-heung-wang       [Korean]

  541  “   Mak-chong           [Korean]    Chin-heung-wang      [Korean]

  576  “   Keum-yun            [Korean]    Chin-ji-wang         [Korean]

  579  “   Pak-chung           [Korean]    Chin-p’yung-wang     [Korean]

  632  “   Tong-man            [Korean]    Son-duk-yu-ju        [Korean]

  647  “   Seung-man           [Korean]    Chin-duk-yu-ju       [Korean]

  654  “   Ch’un-ch’u          [Korean]    Mu-ryul-wang         [Korean]

  661  “   Pup-min             [Korean]    Mun-mu-wang          [Korean]

  681  “   Chung-myung         [Korean]    Sin-mun-wang         [Korean]

  692  “   Yi-hong             [Korean]    Hyo-so-wang          [Korean]

  702  “   Heung gwang         [Korean]    Song-duk-wang        [Korean]

  738  “   Seung-gyung         [Korean]    Hyo-sung-wang        [Korean]

  742  “   Hon-yung            [Korean]    Kyong-duk-wang       [Korean]

  765  “   Kun-un              [Korean]    Hye-gong-wang        [Korean]

  780  “   Yang-sung           [Korean]    Sun-duk-wang         [Korean]

  785  “   Kyong-sin           [Korean]    Wun-sung-wang        [Korean]

  799  “   Chun-ong            [Korean]    So-song-wang         [Korean]

  800  “   Chung-heui          [Korean]    A-jang-wang       [Korean]  “

  809  “   On-seung            [Korean]    Hon-duk-wang      [Korean]  “

  826  “   So-jong             [Korean]    Heung-duk-wang    [Korean]  “

  836  “   Che-yung            [Korean]    Heui-gang-wang    [Korean]  “

  839  “   U-jing              [Korean]    Sin-mu-wang       [Korean]  “

  840  “   Kyong-ong           [Korean]    Mun-sung-wang     [Korean]  “

  858  “   Eui-jung            [Korean]    Hon-an-wang       [Korean]  “

  862  “   Ong-yum             [Korean]    Kyong-mun-wang    [Korean]  “

  876  “   Chung               [Korean]    Hon-gang-wang     [Korean]  “

  887  “   Whang               [Korean]    Chong-gang-wang   [Korean]  “

  888  “   Man                 [Korean]    Chin-song-yu-ju      [Korean]

  898  “   Yo                  [Korean]    Hyo-gong-wang        [Korean]

  913  “   Kyong whi           [Korean]    Sin-duk-wang      [Korean]  “

  918  “   Seung-yung          [Korean]    Kyong-myung-wang  [Korean]  “

  925  “   Wi-ong              [Korean]    Kyong-a-wang      [Korean]  “

  928  “   Pu                  [Korean]    Kyong-sun-wang    [Korean]  “

                            Ended in 935 A.D.


                     THE KINGDOM OF PAKCHE. [Korean]

   17 B.C. On-jo               [Korean]

   29 A.D. Ta-ru               [Korean]

   78  “   Keui-ru             [Korean]

  128  “   Ka-ru               [Korean]

  168  “   Ch’o-go             [Korean]

  215  “   Ku-su               [Korean]

  235  “   Ko-i                [Korean]

  287  “   Ch’ak-kye           [Korean]

  299  “   Pun-su              [Korean]

  305  “   Pi-ryu              [Korean]

  344  “   Sul                 [Korean]

  347  “   Kon-ch’o-go         [Korean]

  376  “   Kon-gu-su           [Korean]

  385  “   Ch’im-yu            [Korean]

  385  “   Chin-sa             [Korean]

  392  “   A-sin               [Korean]

  406  “   Chon-ji             [Korean]

  421  “   Ku-i-sin            [Korean]

  427  “   Pi-yu               [Korean]

  432  “   Ka-ro               [Korean]

  476  “   Mun-ju              [Korean]

  478  “   Sam-geun            [Korean]

  480  “   Mo-da               [Korean]    Tong-sung-wang       [Korean]

  501  “   Sa-ma               [Korean]    Mu-ryung-wang    [Korean]   “

  524  “   Myung-nong          [Korean]    Song-wang        [Korean]   “

  555  “   Ch’ang              [Korean]    Wi-duk-wang      [Korean]   “

  599  “   Kye-myung           [Korean]    Hye-wang         [Korean]   “

  600  “   Sun                 [Korean]    Pup-wang         [Korean]   “

  601  “   Chang               [Korean]    Mu-wang          [Korean]   “

  642  “   ——                              Eui-ja-wang      [Korean]   “

                         Dynasty ended 660 A.D.


                      KINGDOM OF KOGURYU. [Korean]

   37 B.C. Chu-<DW41>            [Korean]    Tong-myung-wang      [Korean]

   18  “   Yu-ri               [Korean]    Yu-ri-wang       [Korean]   “

   19 A.D. Mu-hyul             [Korean]    Ta-mu-sin-wang   [Korean]   “

   45  “   Ha-eup-chu          [Korean]    Min-jung-wang    [Korean]   “

   49  “   Ha-u                [Korean]    Mo-bon-wang      [Korean]   “

   54  “   Kung                [Korean]    T’a-jo-wang      [Korean]   “

  147  “   Su-sung             [Korean]    C’ha-da-wang     [Korean]   “

  166  “   Pak-ko              [Korean]    Sin-da-wang      [Korean]   “

  180  “   Nam-mo              [Korean]    Ko-guk-ch’un-wang [Korean]   “

  197  “   Yun-u               [Korean]    San-sang-wang    [Korean]   “

  228  “   U-wi-ku             [Korean]    Tong-ch’un-wang  [Korean]   “

  250  “   Yun-bul             [Korean]    Chung-ch’un-wang [Korean]   “

  271  “   Yang-no             [Korean]    Su-ch’un-wang    [Korean]   “

  292  “   Sang-bu             [Korean]    Pong-sang-wang   [Korean]   “

  300  “   Eul-bul             [Korean]    Mi-ch’un-wang    [Korean]   “

  331  “   Soé                 [Korean]    Ko-guk-wun-wang  [Korean]   “

  372  “   Ku-bu               [Korean]    So-su-rim-wang   [Korean]   “

  384  “   Yi-yun              [Korean]    Ko-guk-yang-wang [Korean]   “

  392  “   Tam-duk             [Korean]    Kwang-ga-to-wang [Korean]   “

  414  “   Ko-yun              [Korean]    Chang-su-wang    [Korean]   “

  491  “   Na-on               [Korean]    Mun-ja-wang      [Korean]   “

  520  “   Heung-an            [Korean]    An-jang-wang     [Korean]   “

  532  “   Po-yun              [Korean]    An-wun-wang      [Korean]   “

  546  “   Pyung-sung          [Korean]    Yang-wun-wang    [Korean]   “

  560  “   Yang-sung           [Korean]    P’yung-wun-wang  [Korean]   “

  591  “   Wun                 [Korean]    Yung-yang-wang   [Korean]   “

  619  “   Kon-mu              [Korean]    Yung-yu-wang     [Korean]   “

  643  “   Chang               [Korean]    Po-jang-wang     [Korean]   “

                         Dynasty ended 668 A.D.


                       KINGDOM OF KORYU. [Korean]

  918 A.D. Wang-gon            [Korean]    T’a-jo               [Korean]

  944  “   Wang-mu         “   [Korean]    Hye-jong             [Korean]

  946  “   Wang-yo         “   [Korean]    Chong-jong           [Korean]

  950  “   Wang-so         “   [Korean]    Kwang-jong           [Korean]

  976  “   Wang-ju         “   [Korean]    Kyong-jong           [Korean]

  982  “   Wang-ch’i       “   [Korean]    Sung-jong            [Korean]

  998  “   Wang-song       “   [Korean]    Mok-jong             [Korean]

 1010  “   Wang-sun        “   [Korean]    Hyon-jong            [Korean]

 1032  “   Wang-heum       “   [Korean]    Tuk-jong             [Korean]

 1035  “   Wang-hyung      “   [Korean]    Chung-jong           [Korean]

 1047  “   Wang-whi        “   [Korean]    Mun-jong             [Korean]

 1083  “   Wang-hun        “   [Korean]    Sun-jong             [Korean]

 1084  “   Wang-un         “   [Korean]    Sun-jong             [Korean]

 1095  “   Wang-uk         “   [Korean]    Hon-jong             [Korean]

 1096  “   Wang-ong        “   [Korean]    Suk-jong             [Korean]

 1106  “   Wang-o          “   [Korean]    Ye-jong              [Korean]

 1123  “   Wang-ha         “   [Korean]    In-jong              [Korean]

 1147  “   Wang-hyon       “   [Korean]    Eui-jong             [Korean]

 1171  “   Wang-ho             [Korean]    Myung-jong           [Korean]

 1198  “   Wang-tak                  “     Sin-jong             [Korean]
                               [Korean]

 1205  “   Wang-yung       “   [Korean]    Heui-jong            [Korean]

 1212  “   Wang-o          “   [Korean]    Kang-jong            [Korean]

 1214  “   Wang-ch’ul      “   [Korean]    Ko-jong              [Korean]

 1260  “   Wang-sik        “   [Korean]    Wun-jong             [Korean]

 1275  “   Wang-ji         “   [Korean]    Ch’ung-yul-wang      [Korean]

 1309  “   Wang-jang       “   [Korean]    Ch’ung-sun-wang    [Korean] “

 1314  “   Wang-do         “   [Korean]    Ch’ung-suk-wang    [Korean] “

 1331  “   Wang-jung       “   [Korean]    Ch’ung-hye-wang    [Korean] “

 1345  “   Wang-heun       “   [Korean]    Ch’ung-mok-wang    [Korean] “

 1349  “   Wang-ji         “   [Korean]    Ch’ung-jong-wang   [Korean] “

 1352  “   Wang-uk         “   [Korean]    Kong-min-wang      [Korean] “

 1375  “   Sin-u               [Korean]    Wi-ju                [Korean]

 1389  “   Wang-yo             [Korean]    Kong-yang-wang       [Korean]

                           Dynasty ended 1392.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

                           Transcriber’s Note

The use of digital editions is greatly enhanced through the use of text
search features. That usefulness can be stymied by variations,
intentional or not, in spelling. The decision was taken here to attempt
to regularize spelling where printer or editorial errors were made, or
where there seemed to be gratuitous variations. Unfortunately, there
were many such errors, both in this volume and in the first.

For errors in the English text, corrections were made where they could
be reasonably attributed to the printer or editor, or where the same
English word appears as expected elsewhere.

One cannot determine a ‘correct’ printing of Korean, Chinese or Japanese
proper or place names. The romanization of Korean words was changing
even as this text was being prepared in the early 20th century. The
author notes (Vol I, p. iv) that a system of his own was adopted during
the preparation of this text, but a more official system issued by the
Royal Asiatic Society was employed later. The result, as he says, is
that there are inconsistencies in the spelling of proper names.
Sometimes variations can appear on a single page or paragraph. Since it
is impossible to distinquish between printer lapses and this
variability, proper names are generally given here as they appeared in
the text.

Exceptions are made where frequently used names (e.g., ‘Ko-gu-ryŭ’) very
occasionally appear in other forms.

Where the quality of the source text is suspect, the most common version
of a given name is used. Hyphenation can be very difficult to discern,
with the inking sometimes being vestigial.

The system in use in this volume for Korean seems to solely employ ‘ŭ’
and ‘ă’, except for the occasional ‘oé’ or ‘ö’. On rare occasions, ‘ŭ’
will appear to be printed with the diaeresis ‘ü’, which is most likely a
poorly inked breve. There are also transliterations for Japanese and
Manchu which may include ‘ŏ’ and ‘ă’. Many names appear in the text with
or without diacritical marks, with alternate transliterations, e.g.
‘gwi’, ‘kwi’ or ‘guei’, and with or without hyphenation. A good example
appears on pp. 252 and 259, where the name of a Chinese war-ship appears
as ‘Kwang-chia’, ‘Kwan-chia’, ‘Kwang-yi’, ‘Kwang-ki’.

Another exception is made for the (presumable) misprinting of proper
names, which, according to the author’s Preface to Volume I, have no
hyphen between the patronymic and the following given names, which are
hyphenated. Where this rule is violated, the hyphen is removed. Where a
hyphen occurs at the end of a line, it is retained or removed depending
on the preponderance of other instances of the same word.

There is no mention by the author regarding the use of the special
characters ‘ and ’ within Korean names. More modern romanization schemes
simply utilize the apostrophe (’) to indicate aspirated consonants (p’,
t’, k’, and Ch’). In this text, however, though the place-name
‘P‘yŭng-yang’ can be found much more frequently than ‘P’yŭng-yang’,
there seems to be no rhyme nor reason to the variations. Both will
occasionally appear in different words on the same page. Every attempt
was made to follow the text.

The second chapter of this volume was inadvertently headed as Chapter
XI, and is referred to here as Chapter I-A. Also, the heading of Chapter
X was misprinted as XX.

The author consistently uses the word ‘geurilla’, where modern usage
would have us using ‘guerrilla’ or ‘guerilla’, and that has been honored
here. Other words which are consistently spelled oddly (e.g.
‘preceeding’, ‘peddlar’, ‘interferance’) are retained.

There are three indexes: a General Index, a Biographical Index, and a
Chronological Index, which features (with one exception) the only Korean
characters in the volume.

In the Indexes, particularly the biographical index, a different style
of Romanization was employed, which almost entirely dispenses with
hyphenation and diacritical marks.

The Korean characters are given in this table simply as '[Korean]'.

The page references to both volumes are unreliable, sometimes indicating
the precise page where the subject is first mentioned, and sometimes
indicating the first page of the chapter where that mention occurs.

A number of page references were missing or obviously corrupt, and have
been added or replaced, where the reference is warranted by the text.
Those which simply reference the wrong locations have been retained. On
several occasions, dates were misinterpretted as volume and page
references, e.g., ‘1420’ became ‘I 420’ and ‘1592’ become ‘I 592’. These
have been corrected. The following table mentions these corrections:

 Decadence of Koryu, I 177, 242, [432/324]     ? Invalid page.

 Education in Sil-la, I 120[4]                 Removed.

 Fortress of Puk-han built, [II 161]           Added.

 Gutzleff, [561 I/II 195]                      Corrected. Corrupt
                                               inversion?

 Horse-breeding on Quelpart, [I 252]           Added.

 Invasion, Hideyoshi’s, I [5/3]49              Replaced.

 Invasion of Japan, [I 1420/1420, I] 304       Replaced

 Japanese declaration of war against China, I  Replaced.
 [473/252]

 Japanese take Pyeng-yang [I 592/1592], I 380  Replaced.

 Timber on the Yalu, I [231]                   Added.

 Solchi, I [745/43]                            Sŭl-chi? Invalid page.

 Song Kil, I 208                               Duplicate entry removed.

 Song Siryul, [I 141]                          Added.

 Teung Wun-jung, I [3 2/330]                   Replaced.

 Waeber-Komura Agreement, II [3]08             Added.

 Whan Ugeui                                    ? No page reference.

 Wirye                                         ? No page reference.

 Yang Honsu, [II 210]                          Added. Yang Hön-su

 Yu P’ang-no, I [883/394]                      Replaced.

The following table summarizes the substantive changes that were made.
It is a lengthy list, so most punctuation errors, such as missing full
stops or comma/full stop errors, have been corrected with no further
notice.

 2.18     Sa T[a/ă]-su,                                 Replaced.

 4.6      could yet [harrass] and cut                   _sic_

 5.12     the fire-arrows flashed through[t] the air,   Removed.

 9.19     So when he heard that [N/K]ato                Replaced.

 10.13    K[y/w]ŭn Ryŭl took the bodies                 Replaced.

 16.5     in the hands of the Korean ge[r/n]erals       Replaced.

 19.26    to the pleasures of peace tha[t/n] was for    Replaced.
          his own good

 21.13    It is said that [e/o]ver 10,000               Replaced.

 21.25    [waved] the main question                     _sic_

 31.7     Admiral Ma Gwi                                _sic_

 31.31    kept at Gen. [iK/Ki]m                         Transposed.

 32.10a   that [valliant] man                           _sic_

 32.10b   first filled h[e/i]mself with wine            Replaced.

 34.29    move southward to Ch‘ung-ch[‘]ŭng Province    Added.

 36.4     right division the [T /P‘]a-wha-gang.         Replaced.

 37.2a    far stronger tha[t/n]                         Replaced.

 37.2b    the beleagured Japanese                       _sic_

 37.35    this had no little to [t/d]o with the return  Replaced.
          of Gen. Konishi

 38.2     but with the departure of Cesp[i/e]des        Replaced.

 41.3     tablet was raised there in his hon[o]ur       Added.

 42.16    to ravage a cer[t]ain part                    Added.

 44.25    demand for condemnation or public [acquital]  _sic_

 44.30    he instantly acknowle[d]ged his error.        Added.

 45.4     When Chung Eung-t’a arrived in Na[n]king      Added.

 45.27    the west was Sun-ch‘ŭn [ni/in] Chŭl-la        Transposed.
          Province

 47.10    two handsome swords[.]                        Added.

 50.34    he soon became on famil[i]ar                  Added.

 51.6     it proved a deadly pois[i]on                  Removed.

 54.36    being forwarded to [s/S]eoul to be beheaded.  Replaced.

 55.11    In the[y] year 1605                           Removed.

 57.19    as to n[m/u]mber of ships                     Replaced.

 60.33    It will be n[ce/ec]essary                     Transposed.

 64.10    the great Manchu leader[.]                    Added.

 67.16    Norach’i has tak[a/e]n Puk-kwan               Replaced.

 67.22    I am sure they are intendin[d/g]              Replaced.

 69.24    drive back this Manchu horde.[”]              Added.

 70.6     the downfall of this wret[e/c]hed parody of a Added.
          king.

 72.36    with his headqua[r]ters                       Added.

 76.16    from the r[o/e]bel ranks                      Replaced.

 78.25    he s[m/h]all receive a reward.                Replaced.

 78.39    their leaders had to st[r]ike down            Added.

 82.18    p[er/re]fect was at that moment sleeping off  Transposed.
          the effects

 83.3     had been confiscated by the Manc[h]us         Added.

 85.14    he also said[ said] the king must             Removed.

 87.11    The Manchu army then moved northward          Replaced.
          beyon[g/d]

 89.4     When they had been thor[r]oughly              Removed.

 91.27    though it i[n/s] said,                        Replaced.

 93.40    the king had [s/c]ome to his senses           Replaced.

 94.18    he despat[e/c]hed two envoys                  Replaced.

 94.34    and learn the roads[.]                        Added.

 95.26    The people of the no[r]thern provinces        Added.

 95.39    but it is a little p[er/re]mature for us      Transposed.

 96.27    wiping out this disgrace[.]                   Added.

 97.14    Such are some of the popular                  Removed.
          supers[i]titions.

 101.3    approach to Kang-wha so careful[l]y           Added.

 102.1    help from the outside.... uns[e/u]ccessful    Replaced.

 103.36   provis[i]oning of Nam-han                     Added.

 104.8    [beleagured] fortress.                        _sic_

 107.5    the surrounding line of bes[ei/ie]gers.       Transposed.

 112.13   spite has alway[s] been the rock              Added.

 113.17   principle of righteousness[ss] is broken,     Removed.

 113.32   and we surrender ou[r]selves to the clemency  Added.

 120.11   the Ma[m/n]chu Emperor, but shortly afterward Replaced.

 121.30   The kingdo[n/m] will in that way be           Replaced.
          preserved.

 122.13   plunged i[n/t] into his bowels,               Replaced.

 122.24   Thi[s] was the greatest honor                 Added.

 125.14   at a con[d]siderable distance,                Removed.

 131.3    Genera[a]ls Yonggoldă and Mabudă              Removed.

 135.1    to inte[r]dict its use.                       Added.

 136.1    doing what he could to mitigate[d]            Removed.

 136.23   these m[a/e]n , and held a proper court       Replaced.

 136.31   [plead] for them before the emperor,          _sic_

 137.18   eleven men in Eui-ju and elsew[h]ere          Added.

 137.37   Ch[‘]oé Myŭng-gil the Prime Minister.         Added.

 138.3    In it he [exhonerates] Korea from all blame   _sic_

 138.15   for the persons of Ch[‘]oé Myŭng-gil,         Added.

 138.26   to Puk-kwan [goal].                           _sic_

 139.8    Then, terrified at his own de[a/e]d, he fled  Replaced.

 139.10   sa[v/y]ing “I am the greatest of rulers.      Replaced.

 143.35   Hamel afterwards wrote an account of his      Transposed.
          cap[it/ti]vity

 145.3    an ab[s]cess broke out on his temple          Added.

 145.21   to avoid bei[o/n]g                            Replaced.

 147.20   of his great p[re/er]sonality upon it.        Transposed.

 147.22   over his rival H[ŏ/ŭ] Mok                     Replaced.

 148.1    the king sent forth an[d] edict that no more  Removed.

 148.12   much of their [illgotten] gains,              _sic_

 148.32   such a large mil[l]itary retinue              Removed.

 149.28   169[,]771 _kyul_,                             Added.

 158.22   stripped her of all her[e] titles,            Added.

 160.31   the father of the con[b/c]ubine               Replaced.

 164.6    The fourth year of this unfortunate king,     Replaced.
          1[6/7]24, opened

 168.1    Ch[ŭ/ö]ng-ju. Here was stored                 Replaced.

 168.3    [strategem].                                  _sic_

 171.18   from the gove[r]nment granaries.              Added.

 172.4    and had forgotten all other [custom].         _sic_

 176.19   ascendency of the Noron par[t]y,              Added.

 176.31   The Noron [r/p]arty wanted to save            Replaced.
          themselves;

 182.35   The ev[e]il evil deeds of the Soron party,    Removed.

 185.21   work of interment[.]                          Added.

 188.28   there were 400 beli[e]vers in Korea,          Added.

 189.31   In 1799 a peculiar plague broke out in        Replaced.
          P’y[e/ŭ]ng-yang

 196.15   Yu who had [preceeded]                        _sic_

 196.21   By 1[7/8]37 two other French priests had      Replaced.
          arrived,

 197.1    by still severer p[re/er]secutions            Transposed.

 200.19   the very rapid spread of Roman Cathol[i]cism  Added.

 200.30   mere debauche.                                _sic_

 200.32   which foretold the dis[s]olution of the       Added.
          dynasty.

 203.9    The Minister Kim [Choa-geun],                 _sic_

 212.19   [soubriquet] of “The Free-will Offering.”     _sic_

 213.37   reply to this u[n]expected assault            Added.

 213.38   and spe[e]dily drove its garrison out.        Added.

 216.2a   [h]undred Japanese female hides               Added.

 216.2b   an amusing fiction which is[h]                Removed.

 219.24   inflicted for this perfectly u[n]provoked     Added.
          assault.

 220.3    a strip of n[a/e]utral territory              Replaced.

 220.6    became the hiding pl[e/a]ce of refugees       Replaced.

 220.10   the [wellfare] of both countries              _sic_

 220.16   waters of the Yalu[,/.]                       Replaced.

 221.10   The Japanese th[a/e]n asked why they had been Replaced.
          fired upon

 221.26   on Feb[r]uary 27th 1876,                      Added.

 225.27   While the two hund[er/re]d men who were being Transposed.
          drilled

 227.21   Min Yŭng-ju[,]                                Added.

 233.17   and opposit[i]on of                           Added.

 234.9    succeed[ed] in putting through a law          Added.

 234.33   on the conservative party in their            Added.
          oppos[i]tion to reforms.

 235.5    and banish or ex[e]cute the leaders           Added.

 235.31   talked about it in a very excited manner [of] _sic_
          the Naval Attache

 235.35   a strong con[v/s]ervative                     Replaced.

 235.38   the relatives of one of the                   Replaced.
          pr[e/o]gressionists

 238.3    Then the summo[n]s was sent                   Added.

 238.7    Who[w]ever wielded the brutal sword,          Removed.

 239.35a  Pak Y[ŭ]ng-hyo,                               _sic_

 239.35b  Kwang-bom[,]                                  Added.

 239.40   Meanwhile Hong Yŭng-sik, Pak Y[ŭ]ng-kyo,      _sic_

 240.4    Y[ŭ]ng-kyo and hacked them to pieces          _sic_

 240.20   and killed them all, men[,] women and         Added.

 241.7    the trouble of the [preceeding] month,        _sic_

 243.20   Yuan the Chinese commissio[ne]r had taken up  Added.

 245.16   and be seized with an [uncontrolable]         _sic_

 247.33   of the people[’]s endurance                   Added.

 252.15   the former by way of Asan a[a/n]d the latter  Replaced.

 252.35   The Kwang-[y/k]i was speedily disabled        Replaced.

 254.36   It i[t/s] still a puzzle to many              Replaced.

 256.12   of the Sak Divis[i]on.                        Added.

 257.8    took by ass[a]ult                             Added.

 257.36   about the Korean [archipelego].               _sic_

 258.5    During the P’yŭng-yang e[n]gagement           Added.

 258.23   At nine o[’]clock the smoke of the            Added.

 261.9    deemed it wise to with[d]raw.                 Added.

 261.22   the battle of A[n]san had proved nothing      Removed.

 262.11   proved that the <DW61>[a]nese could stand up     Added.

 263.16   a radical and [ineffacable] difference        _sic_

 266.13   of the “R[e]ighteous Army” in the country     Removed.

 267.11   and partly of other d[e/i]stinguished men.    Replaced.

 267.19   [Yi-jo] or Ceremonial Department,             _sic_

 268.15   at liberty to address the thro[ n/ne]         Replaced.

 268.37   (17) Even eunuc[k/h]s, if they are men of     Replaced.
          ability,

 270.27   How absu[r]d this was                         Added.

 270.37   hundred other commodi[ti]es ,                 Added.

 283.10   under the i[n/m]pression                      Replaced.

 286.8    Viscount was an ent[uh/hu]siastic Buddhist    Transposed

 286.18   between these two powerf[n/u]l personages     Replaced.

 286.38   his arrival on the sce[u/n]e.                 Replaced.

 286.39   was assis[s]ted by the Japanese Minister      Removed.

 288.26   from the Decis[i]on of the Japanese           Added.

 291.22   ba[tall/ttal/ion in Seoul,                    Replaced.

 291.26   Adachi Ken[s]zo and Kunitomo Shigeakira,      Removed.

 293.13   Sakai [Marataro] and a few others,            _sic_:
                                                        Masataro?

 293.16   the party met the Japanese [drilled] Korean   _sic_:
          troops                                        drilling?

 293.39   and his acts, th[r]ough unforeseen by his     Removed.
          superiors

 294.10   as given by the Hirosh[i]ma                   Added.

 296.38   foreign representatives were received         Removed.
          lat[t]er later in the day.

 298.20   man as Miura ca[n] be called complicity.      Added.

 300.16   Japanese in Seoul were now entirely           Added.
          qu[i]escent

 301.33   through the G[oa]/ao]ler Cabinet              Transposed.

 303.17   of Dr. Brown as ad[i]viser to Finance         Added.
          Department

 305.11   enjoyed the respite too thoroug[h]ly          Added.

 306.16   a [negligeable] quantity.                     _sic_

 307.35   Indepen[d]ence and to this                    Added.

 313.9    Russian admirals, including[,] Admiral        Removed.
          Alexeieff

 315.13   the father of the Emper[p]or                  Removed.

 315.15   connected with the stir[r]ing events          Added.

 318.5    attempt was made to po[si/is]on the Emperor   Transposed.

 318.26a  this should not be[ be] done,                 Removed.

 318.26b  and so una[min/nim]ous was the sentiment      Transposed.

 318.34   an event of great importance [ ] every        _sic_: in?

 319.6    In a sense they were just[i]fied in so        Added.
          thinking,

 321.12   it embarrassed the admin[i]stration,          Added.

 323.40   of the Indepe[n]dence                         Added.

 324.1    to the contr[a]ry they                        Added.

 326.38   [negligeable] stage;                          _sic_

 327.7    the names of Mr. Legend[er/re] and Mr.        Transposed.
          Greathouse,

 327.31   to [harrass] and injure Japanese interests    _sic_

 329.30   even when rolling in op[p]ulence              Removed.

 329.37   thousand[-]fold                               Added.

 330.25   of the outrage were d[e/i]smissed as          Replaced.

 331.37   but it is cert[ia/ai]n                        Transposed.

 335.3    and through minister[i]al influence           Added.

 335.32   it caused the rashly enthusia[a/s]tic to stop Replaced.
          and think.

 337.2    T[a/h]e Japanese Bank issu[e]s                Replaced,
                                                        added.

 339.20   many elements of g[uin/enui]une humor,        Replaced.

 340.13   27th of Nove[n/m]ber fourteen                 Replaced.

 340.26   The tension was t[w/o]o great                 Replaced.

 342.2    power through servile adher[a/e]nce to        Replaced.
          Russian interests.

 342.26   and exp[r]essed no desire                     Added.

 344.8    Foreigner[s] threatened.                      Added.

 345.27   Hă-ju, the capital [ ] the province,          _sic_: missing
                                                        ‘of’?

 348.6    she had doubtless[s] already assumed.         Removed.

 348.17   territory encro[a]ched upon                   Added.

 349.21   inflicted the grea[s]test possible harm       Removed.

 350.39   removing the[re/ir] families and [re/ir]      Replaced.
          valuables

 352.3    Four days l[e/a]ter this general made a final Replaced.
          appeal

 352.18   that seve[r]al thousand Russian troops        Added.

 355.4    be at least enough rap[p]ort between the      Added.
          civil and military

 356.7    that [“]if it is necessary                    Added.

 356.26   the Russians would not fire upon the          Added.
          t[r]ansports.

 357.17   Japan had never recognized the                Transposed.
          n[ue/eu]trality of Korea,

 358.35   we are t[w/o]o near it to see it              Replaced.

 361.10   the British cruiser _Talbot_ and the French   Transposed.
          c[ur/ru]iser _Pascal_.

 364.9    but did not succe[e]d.                        Added.

 364.29   in other directi[a/o]ns                       Replaced.

 366.39   warlike operations between the two            Replaced.
          belligerents [was/were]

 367.9    and soon took their depa[r]ture               Added.

 368.15   Koreans we[a/r]e dissatisfied                 Replaced.

 370.22   It was perfect[l]y right for the Japanese     Added.

 370.31   named the Il-chin [s/S]ociety.                Replaced.

 371.8    an Ameri[c]an                                 Added.

 371.37   but the war interfer[r]ed with the            Removed.

 371.40   and the results of Chris[i]tian               Removed.

 374.2    They have served their purpose[d/s] and are   Replaced.
          ready

 374.8    to drift upon the Sar[g]asso Sea              Added.

                             General Index
 i1.2.24  “Baby [“]War”, The,                           Removed.

 i1.2.44  ” of Hang-[jnI/ju], II 10                     Replaced.

 i2.1.3   ” of Ka[Y]-do Island, II 129                  Removed.

 i4.2.39  Ma[u/n]chu, II 96                             Replaced.

 i4.2.41  ”    ”  [Japan], I 166, 260                   Added.

 i4.2.54  to present d[a/y]nasty, First Japanese, I 302 Replaced.

 i6.1.12  _Gloir[e], La_, II 197                        Added.

 i6.2.37  ” of Japan, plans of Mongol, I[I] 214         Removed.

 i6.1.20  Gutzleff, [561 I/II 195]                      Replaced.

 i8.1.12  Kijun, [K/M]igration of, I I27                Replaced.

 i10.1.22 ” Govern[a/o]r-general, I 204                 Replaced.

 i10.2.22 ” Sorti[e]s from, II 103, 105, 107            Added.

 i10.1.59 “Mul[l]berry Palace” built, II 182            Removed.

 i11.2.21 Party strife forbidd[d]en, II 165             Removed.

 i12.2.1  Railway concess[s/i]on, Seoul Fusan, II 318   Replaced.

 i13.1.6  ” laws re[c]vised, II 149                     Removed.

 i13.1.39 ” Aggressi[o]n on Yalu, II 348                Added.

 i14.1.51 Suzerainty c[o/a]st off, Chinese, II 273      Replaced.

 i15.2.28 ” between China and Kogur[y]ŭ, I 86, 98       Added.

                           Biographical Index
 bi1.2.24 Chi [ /Y]un, I 259                            Replaced.

 bi4.2.37 Nak Wh[a] am, I 101                           Added.

 bi5.1.11 [Y/O] Yeeui, I 309                            Replaced.

 bi5.1.17 Ok K[ /a]ng, 61                               Replaced.

 bi6.1.7  Sin Kil[l/i], I 359                           Replaced.

 bi6.1.55 S[a/o]ng Hanhong, I 127                       Replaced.

 bi6.1.56 S[a/o]ang Heuian, I 322                       Replaced.

 bi6.1.35 So P‘il[l], I 141                             Removed.

 bi6.1.40 Sok Kang [Y]mok, I 322                        Removed.

 bi6.3.26 Tap-[ /d]on, I 85                             Added.

 bi7.2.51 [ /Y]i Chamyun, 215                           Restored.

                          Chronological Index
 ci2.2.17 Ka-duk[./-]wang                               Replaced.

 ci4.2.35 Pong[ /-]sang-wang                            Replaced.





End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of Korea, Volume 2 (of 2), by 
Homer B. Hulbert

*** 