596 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.51. 



boiled rice, stewed chicken, sprouted beans, and other delicacies. In tliis open space 

 squatted three old women, two of whom beat large drums, shaped like hourglasses, 

 while the third clashed large cymbals. Facing them was the Mutang or sorceress, 

 dressed in rose-pink silk, with a buff gauze robe, with its sleeves trailing much ou the 

 ground, over it pieces of paper resembling a shinto <johci,^ decorated her hair, and a 

 curious cap of buff gauze with red patches upon it, completed the not inelegant cos- 

 tume. She carried a fan, but it was only used in one of the dances. She carried over 

 her left shoulder a stick, painted with bands of bright colors from which hung a gong 

 which she beat with a similar stick, executing at the same time a slow rhythmic move- 

 ment accompanied by a chant. From time to time one of the ancient drummers 

 gathered on one plate pieces from the others and scattered them to the four winds for 

 the spirits to eat, invoking them saying, "Do not trouble this house any more, and we 

 will again appease you by offerings." - The exorcism lasted 14 hours, until 4 in the 

 next morning, when the patient began to recover. . . . Mrs. Tayler adds: ^ 



I have witnessed several of these dances, and it appeared to me that the sorceress 

 produced in herself a sort of ecstasy which increased in force until at length she sank 

 on the ground utterly exhausted. I could not but feel that the banging of drums, and 

 the clashing of cymbals wielded by her attendants together with the whirling motions 

 and violent gestiu-es of the Mutang herself, must at times, themselves, give the coup de 

 grace to the poor patient. 



In case of smallpox (kwe-yuk tasin) , the universal scourge of Korean 

 childhood, the spirit who is supposed to have caused it, is treated 

 with the utmost respect. The parents do obeisance to the suffering 

 child, wliioh for the time bemg is inhabited by the spirit, and address 

 it in honorific terms. On the appearance of the disease the Mutang 

 is called to honor the arrival of the spirit with a feast and fitting 

 ceremonial. Little or no work is done in the house in order not to 

 disturb the "honorable guest." No member of the household may- 

 out the hair, wear new clothes, sweep the house, or bring any goods 

 into the house. No animal must be killed in the house, because if 

 blood flows, it will make the patient scratch and cause his blood to 

 flow.'* No washing or wall papering must be undertaken, for tliis 

 will cause the nose of the patient to be stopped up; and if there are 

 neighbors whose children have not had the malady, they rest likewise, 

 lest, displeased with their want of respect, the spirit should deal 

 harshly with them. On the thirteenth day from the appearance of 



1 The gohei consists of strips of white paper, cut' out of one piece, suspended from a wand. It is one 

 of the important objects which are placed in the Sliinto temples, supposed to be the resting place of the 

 kami or spirit. 



2 A quotation from A. Goodrieh-Freer, Some Jewish Folklore from Jerusalem, Folklore, 1904, vol. 15, 

 pt. 2, p. 186, in R. C. Thompson, Semitic Magic, etc. , p. 102, as suggesting somewhat of a parallel to the last 

 phase of the kaut described, may And, in much abridged form, a place here: M'hen a Jew is afflicted with 

 madness, the falling sickness, or the like, the witch-doctors (among other things) prepares a little wheat, 

 barley, salt, water, milk, honey, four or six eggs, and some sweetmeats, or sugar, and mixing all this at 

 midnight, she scatters some of the mixture round the sickbed, on the threshold, and in the four corners of 

 the room, reciting in a wliisper a prayer or an incantation which closes with the words: " And let this honey 

 (or sugar) be to sweeten your mouths and palates, the wheat and barley to feed your cattle and sheep, and 

 the water and salt to establish peace, friendship, love, brotherhood, and everlasting covenant of salt between 

 us and you." Here she breaks the eggs and pours the same in the aforementioned places, kneels, and pros- 

 trates herself, kisses the ground several times, and proceeds with these words: "Here I offer you life for 

 life. In order that you may restore the life of the patient." 



3 Koreans at Home, p. 65. 



« By dint of sympathetic magic. 



