COKKA. 



loms lasted from A. D. 9 to 960, dur- 

 period Ixirder conflicts, feudalism, 

 i -in, wars with China and Japan, and 

 \raliswere the chief features of 

 IT, In '.)<;() A. u. Wu Wang extinguished 

 ind gave [x)litical unity to the 

 v under the name Koria (whence our 

 .and fixing his capital at Sunto, north of 

 i'lcndid city now largely in ruins. 

 The M->ngol invasion and the first recorded use 

 mariner's compass, used in navigating a 

 .< Meet to Curea. A. i>. 1122, occurred dur- 

 lis period. In 1392, on the fall of the Mon- 

 I'ai Jo became paramount, fixed his aeoul, 

 j-ital, on Han river, and founded the pres- 

 ;> nasty and methods of political adminis- 

 tration. II an- rang the capital, is in the prov- 

 f Kiung-kai, and is known to Europeans 

 ul. or Soul. The invasions of the Japanese 

 in I.V.I-,'-''.)? and the Manchus in 1627, the long 

 m of the country from any but Chinese in- 

 fluences, the introduction of Christianity, and the 

 modern opening of the country by treaties with 

 ;i nations are the chief events in modern 

 MI. The present Hap-mun, or King, is the 

 twenty-eighth sovereign of his line, and his 

 name, like most Corean words when Romanized, 

 has a different spelling and pronunciation, ac- 

 cording as it is expressed in Corean, Chinese, or 

 Japanese. This trilingual presentation of Co- 

 n-an vocables explains the apparent confusion 

 in geographical and other nomenclature. 



linvernment. The Government is an abso- 

 lute monarchy of the patriarchal type, greatly 

 mrxlified by surviving and powerful features of 

 feudalism. The nobles, by means of their fam- 

 ily influence, hereditary privileges, and numer- 

 ous retainers, possess great power and compel 

 the policy of the Government. The King governs 

 with three councilors, forming a triple premier- 

 ship, aided by the six departments of tne executive 

 vi/,., revenue, rites, war, justice, public works, 

 and ceremonies. With the six generals who 

 command respectively the left, right, front, mid- 

 dle, rear, and special guards or barracks, so 

 called, resides the balance of power; for under 

 the>e are the military governors of the eight 

 provinces, and, in effect, so also are the civil 

 functionaries. In this way the authority of the 

 King is hampered and often completely nega- 

 tived. These eight provinces take their names 

 from the union of the first half of the names of 

 the two principal cities in each. 



(lasses ana Domestic Politics. The gen- 

 eral division of the people is into the yang-ban, 

 men of high, and song-nom, men of low rank 

 that is. the scholar class and the common peo- 

 ple. As in China and old Japan, "the four 

 " consist of the literary, agricultural, ar- 

 tisan, and trading. Yet there is no fixed birth 

 ca-te. and the higher classes are being continu- 

 ally recruited from the lower, wealth being 

 usually the factor that decides social position, 

 at least locally. In general, it may be said that 

 in the north Chinese ideas and customs prevail, 

 while in the south the influence of the Japanese 

 language and civilization is strikingly manifest. 

 China claims the right of interference with 

 's foreign policy, which an increasing sen- 

 timent resents. The* varying adherence of rival 

 parties to" the ideas of Chinese or of Japanese 



civilization respectively, forms what may bo 

 called the national politics of Corea. Local 

 politics are conditioned by the constant avarice 

 and rapacity of the magistrates with their 

 hordes of paid dependents and the countervail- 

 ing struggles of the guilds of the working classes 

 and the jealousy of the nobles and their followers. 



Climate, Soil, and Crops. The eight prov- 

 inces are formed by natural features, and are, in 

 general, river basins bounded by mountains. In 

 the north the winters are long and the cold se- 

 vere. Here ajso is the haunt of the tiger. In 

 the southern half fertile plains abound, and the 

 amount of arable land and the area of plantation 

 on the almost innumerable islands are large. 

 The climate is bracing, except during the rainy 

 season, which is from June to September. The 

 autumn is nearly cloudless, and the winter means 

 usually a stretch of clear weather, except during 

 the plentiful snow. Many of the rivers are fro- 

 zen over during four months of the year. It is 

 admirably adapted to agriculture. Hitherto, 

 owing to the wretched system of government, by 

 which the people are systematically plundered by 

 the magistrates and their minions, little incen- 

 tive to cultivate the soil to the fullest extent has 

 existed. Besides, there was no foreign outlet for 

 surplus produce, even were the means of trans- 

 portation adequate to move the crop products 

 beyond the region of growth. The cost of trans- 

 portation across the country at its narrowest 

 width is about 8 per cent, of the value of the 

 goods. Now, the demand from foreign ports, 

 the better prices obtainable, and the improve- 

 ment in water transportation have greatly stim- 

 ulated the farmers to increased efforts, and the 

 acreage of cultivation is larger than ever. On 

 land, bulls and ponies are still the sole means of 

 transport. The ports of Chemulpo, near the 

 capital, and Fusan and Wensan are open by 

 treaty; but occasional visits to other- ports are 

 cautiously allowed to foreign vessels. 



Foreign Trade. The foreign trade for the 

 year 180 increased beyond all expectations, 

 the total value being more than double that of 

 1889: 



Corean beans make the best soy and miso, arti- 

 cles used in Japan, and the former is exported 

 to Europe as the basis of several condiments. In 

 1889, 26,455 tons were exported, and in 1890, 

 41,209 tons. In the same years the export of 

 rice was 2,031 and 54,711 tons, respectively. This 

 increase of rice export promises to be permanent, 

 and much Japanese capital has been invested in 

 rice husking and cleaning mills at Fusan and 

 Chemulpo, the white rice finding its way to 

 Kurope. Dried fish is exported, the amount in 

 1890 reaching 2,200 tons. At present the Japan- 

 ese get the largest share of the trade, and nearly 

 monopolize the fisheries. In 1890 716 fishing 

 boats, employing 3,500 men, were registered. 

 the average annual net earnings of each boat 

 being $600. They also have 22 boats, employing 

 256 men, for capturing whales, and the 1? caught 

 in 1890 netted $10,000. As the Corean national 

 dress is white cotton, handsomely and glossily 





