CHOSEN 



1364 



CHOSEN 



part of the tenth century, Kaoli, one of the 

 three kingdoms of the peninsula, rose to a 

 commanding position, and its name was ex- 

 tended to the whole territory, Korea being a 

 local pronunciation of the word. From 1392 

 to 1897, during the Ming dynasty, CHOSEN, an 

 ancient name, meaning morning freshness or 

 morning calm, was in use. When the king- 

 dom became independent of China in 1897, it 

 was called Tai Han, but when annexed by 

 Japan in 1910, Chosen was adopted as the 

 official name of the peninsula. Most of the 

 rivers and cities haVe been renamed by the 

 Japanese, but the more familiar Korean names 

 are still commonly used. 



Having an area of about 86,000 square miles, 

 Chosen is a little larger than the state of 

 Utah. Wooded mountains cover the north 

 half of the peninsula, and a high, narrow range 

 rises precipitously from the sea along the entire 



MONGOLIA;- 



o / 'MANCHURIA 



LOCATION MAP 



length of the east coast. West of this range, 

 the treeless, gray foot-hills flatten out into 

 fertile plains, the chief agricultural section of 

 the peninsula. The steep eastern coast is pene- 

 trated by few harbors, but the south and west 

 coasts are fringed with bays and clusters of 

 islands and are washed by dangerous tides. 

 The largest island is Quelpaert, off the south 

 coast. The most important harbors are the 

 picturesque ports of Won-san (Korean Gen- 

 sari) , Lazareff and Fusan (Pusan) . The largest 

 river is the Oryoku (Yalu), rising in Pei-shan, 

 an extinct volcano, and flowing south into the 

 Yellow Sea, forming the northwest boundary of 

 the country. Sea-going junks ascend the 

 stream for a distance of thirty miles, and 

 smaller boats 145 miles farther. The Daido 

 (Tai-dong), Kan (Han), Rakuto (Nak-dong) 

 and Mok-po are other large rivers, navigable 



for many miles. On the whole, the country 

 lacks the dainty picturesqueness of flowered 

 Japan and the fantastic beauty and buzzing, 

 palpitating life of China. 



The climate is pleasant nine months of the 

 year, resembling that of the opposite coast of 

 China. In the central and northern parts 

 winters are somewhat severe, and snow covers 

 the ground from December until February. 

 The winters of the south are delightful, like 

 those of Southern Japan. The temperature 

 ranges from 5 in the winter to 90 in July. 

 The average rainfall is thirty-six inches, most 

 of it falling during the summer months. 



The People. The natives of Chosen are a 

 mixed race, combining the characteristics of 

 the Chinese, Japanese and Malayan people. 

 They excel the Japanese and Chinese in stature 

 and physique, and are more regular of feature 

 and lighter of 

 skin than the 

 Mongolians. The 

 Koreans are rap- 

 idly adopting 

 European cus- 

 toms of living. 

 In 1914 the popu- 

 lation 1 numbered 

 15,508,872. A 

 large proportion 

 were Japanese 

 and Chinese, and 

 about -1,000 were 

 Americans and 

 Europeans. 

 Among the larg- 

 est towns are 

 Keijo (Korean, 

 Seoul) , the cap- 

 ital; Fusan, 

 Kwangju and 

 Ping-yang. 



There are many religions among the Ko- 

 reans, including Confucianism, Buddhism, 

 spiritualism, fetish and nature worship. An- 

 cestor worship is universal and plays an im- 

 portant part in the life and morals of the 

 natives, who are more superstitious than re- 

 ligious. 



In no other Asiatic country has the growth 

 of Christianity been so rapid and of such in- 

 fluence upon the national life. Although there 

 were frequent persecutions before 1885, the 

 number of converts continually increased, and 

 in that year religious freedom was guaranteed. 

 The Y. M. C. A., established at Keijo (Seoul) 



PEASANT GIRL WITH 

 BABY SISTER 



