The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1925, Page 84

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84

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

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down 'the back; after marriage the hair is worn in
a knot on the top of the head. Of course, this only
holds good where the European way of cutting the
hair has not superseded the old custom.

Government.

Till 1905 Korea was an independent kingdom,
whose history extended back to the twelfth cen-
tury B.C. Its king was in theory absolute, hered-
itary, and divine. Since 1910 Korea is a part of the
Japanese Empire, though the former ruler is ac-
corded the honors of a prince and enjoys the same
income he did before annexation, 1,500,000 yen
annually (1 yen=about 50 cents). The adminis-
tration is in the hands of a governor, who is directly
responsible to the Japanese government. Under
Japanese control general education has been intro-
duced. Lower schools, many of them Christian, are
scattered over the country. In 1922, 1,247 schools
of all kinds had an enrolment of 227,652 pupils.

Industries and Productions.

Silkworm culture is being much encouraged by
the Japanese. The cultivation of tobacco is also
fostered. Stock-raising has become an important
industry during recent years. Gold and coal is
being mined in increasing quantities. IKorea’s trade
is almost wholly in the hands of the Japanese, and
the factories are practically capitalized by them.

One of the most remarkable native products is
paper, usually made from the inner bark of the
mulberry-tree. It is used for almost every imagin-
able purpose by the Koreans. After it has been
soaked in oil, it becomes exceedingly durable and
water-proof. It is used in place of carpets on the
floors, of paint on the walls, of glass in the win-
dows, and of whitewash on the ceilings. Clothes,
hats, shoes, umbrellas, lanterns, fans, hats, and
kites are made of it. Houses are divided into
rooms by paper partitions; clothes are kept in
paper chests; men travel with paper trunks; chil-
dren play with paper toys. Another kind of paper
is made from cotton wool and is highly prized in
Japan and China. When ‘split into layers, it is
used for coat linings, and when about fifteen thick-
nesses are sewed together, it makes a sort of armor,
which will resist even a musket-ball.

Religions.
An old Dutch navigator, many years ago, once
said: “As for religion, the Koreans scarcely have

any.” Temples and shrines are few, and priests
‘stand upon a very low social plane. Spirit-worship,

until the entrance of missionaries, and still in the
more remote regions, has held the masses under the
spell of fear, with sorcerers and sorceresses as inter-
mediaries. As late as 1900 it was thought that as
much as $750,000 was annually paid in the city of
Seoul alone to these persons. It was then estimated
that there were one thousand sorceresses in the
capital, not counting the sorcerers and geomancers.
This Shamanism, or spirit-worship, teaches a great
number of spirits, good and evil, of which the good
are to be invoked, and the evil ones, who greatly
outnumber the good ones, are to be propitiated.
The system abounds in the most grotesque super-
stitions. Shamanists worship the invisible powers
of the air, the spirits of earth and heaven; they
believe in the genii of the hills, rivers, and caves,
and especially do they reverence the morning star.
The breezes are supposed to be the “breath of
spirits,” and a tempest is a “devil wind” raised by
a mischievous demon.

Among the upper classes Confucian ethics and
ancestor worship have been the religion. The rul-
ing classes have no higher ambition than to leave
sons who may worship their manes and offer sacri-
fices at their graves.

Buddhism was introduced into Korea more than
fifteen hundred years ago and later was brought
from there to Japan. But until recent years it was
an utterly discredited religion, which could be
found only in remote mountain districts. Until the
annexation of Korea by Japan no Buddhist monks
were allowed in the cities, a prohibition which is
said to have originated in the Japanese invasion of
three hundred years ago, when the invaders crept
into some of the towns in monastic disguise. Bud-
dhism now again has large and well-endowed mon-
asteries throughout the country and many adher-
ents, especially among the women. The mechanical
devotions of the Buddhist monks before the gilded
images of Buddha are increasing under the pro-
tection of the Japanese and bid fair to make a
strong appeal to those among the Koreans with
whom external form and ceremony constitute the
essence of religion.

Christian Missions in Korea.

The history of Christianity in Korea is remark-
able and even marvelous. It may be said that
Christianity has been introduced three times — first
about the close of the sixteenth century, the second
time about the close of the eighteenth century, and
then towards the close of the nineteenth century.
Its first teachers and converts in Korea were utterly