240 



CORBA. 



starched in summer, and heavily padded in win- 

 ter, there is little demand for woolens ; but cot- 

 ton goods, mostly from Manchester, England, 

 find a steady sale. In 1890 shirtings to the 

 value of $1,474,745 and lawns and muslins worth 

 $890,020 were imported, against the figures 

 $903,100 and $189,070 for the same articles in 

 1889. Thus far, the natives seem to prefer the 

 British textiles, even with their heavy loading 

 of size. These they wash and bleach, sizing 

 them heavily again with starch in order to give 

 them that peculiar luster which the Corean 

 women so skillfully impart. In their com- 

 mercial dealings the people are almost bigot- 

 edly conservative. Once becoming accustomed 

 to a particular brand, trade mark, or style of 

 goods, they can not easily be induced to change 

 it, even for a manifestly better article. Most of 

 the yarn imported comes from Bombay. Three 

 fourths of the silk imported to the amount of 

 $129,360 in 1889 and $225,805 in 1890 comes 

 from China. American drills and sheetings are 

 not in much demand. About $222,000 worth of 

 zinc and tin and $245,000 worth of copper were 

 imported, chiefly for the minting of casn ; but the 

 people much prefer the old to the new money. The 

 conservative instinct is shown also in the steady 

 use of American petroleum, notwithstanding the 

 Russian efforts to introduce a cheaper article; 

 while against all competitors, German quinine, 

 first in the field, obstinately holds its own. Tele- 

 graph materials figure in the list of imports, for 

 the building of a line of wire between Seoul and 

 Gensan. There are telegraph lines between 

 Fusan and Seoul, and from Seoul to Pekin. 

 Notwithstanding the excellence and cheapness 

 of the native tobacco, and its strong fiber, fitting 

 it for wrappers, American cigarettes were im- 

 ported to the amount of $9,575. Foreign manu- 

 factures amounted in all to $3,951,305. Trade 

 across the Russian frontier has also been steadily 

 maintained, amounting in the aggregate to $78,- 

 860. In the treaty ports the number of foreign 

 settlers has increased. The Chinese at Chemulpo 

 have obtained a new concession of land for settle- 

 ment, and the Japanese have made a similar ap- 

 plication for more room. The total number of 

 ships entering the three open ports in 1889 

 was: Of sailing ships, 975, aggregating 29,485 

 tons burden ; steamers, 249, aggregating 74,352 

 tons. In 1890, 2,939 sailing vessels of 37,457 

 tons, and 1,958 steamers of 276,390 tons. In 

 this work of transport the following flags were 

 represented : 



The chief articles of export are beans, rice, 

 hides, bones, grain, cattle, fish, and silk. The 

 imports include textiles, metals, kerosene, ma-- 

 chinery, manufactured tobacco, matches, arms, 

 and ammunition. The development of trade 

 since 1885 is shown herewith : In 1885, $1,912,- 

 430; 1886 $1,486,590; 1887, $3,017,030; 1888, 

 75; 1889, $3,458,740; 1890, $6,910,035. 



No account is here taken of the export of gin- 

 seng, which is a Government monopoly, and one 

 of the chief sources of revenue, netting the Gov- 

 ernment annually over $500,000. 



Religion. The Coreans were formerly Bud- 

 dhists, this form of faith having been introduced 

 from Tibet and China, A. D. 352. It spread over 

 the country, and reached its height of power in 

 the fourteenth century, the nation being then 

 priest-ridden, the country filled with monasteries, 

 and the court favorites and most influential men 

 about the King being Buddhist monks. To this 

 period belong not only the colossal sculptures, 

 twin images or granite monoliths, cut out of the 

 solid rock or mountain spurs and at a distance 

 resembling light-houses, called miryek (stone 

 men), but also the solid stone pagodas, of which 

 a few still remain. It is said that the substitu- 

 tion, by a priest named Shi Ton, of an illegiti- 

 mate son for the king's heir precipitated the 

 fall of the ruling dynasty and forever abol- 

 ished the power of the Buddhist priests. The 

 founder of the present royal house forbade for- 

 ever the entrance of a Buddhist priest or monk 

 within the walls of the royal capital. Hence 

 there is no Buddhist temple in Seoul, and in the 

 other cities Buddhism is in exceedingly low es- 

 tate. The monks are still allowed to occupy the 

 monasteries, but in reality they act as a clerical 

 militia, and the monastic buildings, often forti- 

 fied and in strategic positions, form part of the 

 military system of defense under the control of 

 the King's generals. Unlearned, often illiterate, 

 and under a social and political ban, most of the 

 monks have degenerated into mountebanks and 

 beggars. The majority of the people follow the 

 Confucian ethics ; but superstition is rife, and the 

 worship of local deities or patrons in the form 

 of heroes, or even of sacred beasts, is common 

 Shamanism is prevalent, and the number of 

 mythical animals believed in is large. Geoman- 

 cers, necromancers, and fortune-tellers abound. 



Christianity was introduced in 1777 by Corean 

 students who accompanied the annual embassy 

 to Pekin, and obtained books from the Jesuit 

 missionaries there. Companies of Christian be- 

 lievers were formed, and in 1836 the first French 

 priest, in disguise, " violated the frontier," and 

 was soon followed by others, despite the martyr- 

 dom of several, which was followed by the men- 

 ace of French ships of war. In 1866 4 bishops 

 and 18 priests had secretly entered, and the 

 Roman Catholics claimed a following of 60,000 

 converts. Dreadful persecutions, culminating in 

 1866, when 9. French priests were publicly be- 

 headed, have crimsoned the Christian martyr 

 roll of Corea with probably 10,000 names. There 

 are now 50,000 Roman Catholics in Corea, and 

 the strong force of missionaries who minister to 

 them are all from the Societe des Missions Etran- 

 geres, of Paris. Protestant Christianity is repre- 

 sented (1891) by 21 missionaries, most of whom 

 have recently arrived. This work began in 1884. 

 In the Presbyterian church 107 persons, in 1890, 

 had been baptized, and in the Methodist, 50. 

 The various evangelistic agencies are prosecuted, 

 and the hospital, printing-press, and school are 

 made use of, and tracts, books, and Scriptures 

 are circulated. In the tours made by the mis- 

 sionaries the country has been widely explored. 

 The Protestant missions are English, American, 



