VOL. XV. (2) KOREA 113 
bag of rice are all that are reserved to him. Other spirits 
receive a wisp of straw, a worn-out sandal or messenger’s 
hat, a bowl of water, a gourd, or some such trifle. It 
is to the Shamans that payment in money is made, for not 
only can they avert evil, but also, by their influence, evil 
spirits can be exorcised, illness can be cured, and good 
fortune be brought to the house and family. 
Though the belief in the power of the Shamans is so 
great, and fear appears to be the predominating element in 
all observances paid to the spirits, Mr James, himself 
a missionary, holds that the Korean people have a religious 
sense, though it may be on a low plane of exercise. To 
use his own words :—“ They possess a sense of dependence 
on that which is above and superior to themselves. They 
look out of themselves in time of need—it may be only 
into the great blue firmament above, but it is a look 
of expectation and hope. They firmly believe that the 
human and divine find a plane of intercommunication and 
relation. We find everywhere among them an earnest 
striving of the soul after freedom from annoyance and pain.” 
With regard to Shamanism, the hold that it has on 
the people is by no means confined to the poorly educated, 
and the teaching of Confucius has even less influence 
in Korea than in China in preventing the people from 
being guided by mere superstitious fears. The Emperor 
himself is a very prominent instance. His fears. of 
the ghosts that haunt the Palace, in which his Queen was 
murdered, led him to build himself another Palace, and 
his presence in the Palace where the Queen was murdered 
was due to his having, on the advice of Shamans, removed 
with his Court from the Palace where he had been attacked 
by Japanese, and had, with the Queen, narrowly escaped 
from death. 
In China the site of houses and graves is selected 
by the fortune teller. In Korea the position of cities also 
