Augtist 10, 1882] 



NATURE 



545 



by the expression Kmaso, or ,: Herd of Bears," yet to the 

 people thus contemptuously spoken of, the natives of the 

 archipelago were indebted for a knowledge of phonetic 

 writing, for their peculiar Buddhism, for their porcelain 

 and some other industries. Political relations had been 

 established between the two countries certainly before the 

 third century of the new era, when a large portion of the 

 Peninsula was reduced by the Queen Regent Zingu. 

 Since then the political ascendency has oscillated be- 

 tween China and Japan, and the substantial independence 

 hitherto preserved by the Seul government must be 

 mainly attributed to the rivalry of its powerful neigh- 

 bours. 



The Korean race is commonly regarded as a branch of 

 the Mongolic stock. But it really seems to have resulted 

 from the fusion of two distinct elements, the Mongolic 

 and Caucasic, the former no doubt predominating. These 

 are probably the Sien-pi and San-han of Chinese writers, 

 from whose union the present inhabitants are said to have 

 sprung. The San-han (San -kan, or " Three Kan") pre- 

 vailed in the central parts, and were apparently Mongols, 

 while the Sien-pi, numerous especially in the south, are, 

 perhaps, the above-mentioned Kmaso of the Japanese 

 historians, representing the fair type, whose presence is 

 attested by overwhelming evidence. 1 These Kmaso 

 made frequent predatory excursions in very ancient times 

 to Kiusiu and Hondo, even forming permanent settle- 

 ments on several parts of the coast. It is probable that 

 they also reached the Riu-kiu (Lu-Chu) archipelago, and 

 thus may the presence be explained of a certain fair 

 element in Japan itself, and especially in the Riu-kiu 

 group. 



The Caucasic seem to have preceded the Mongol tribes 

 in the peninsula. But they were gradually out-numbered 

 and largely absorbed by the yellow stock, owing to con- 

 stant migrations, especially from the Chinese provinces of 

 Pechili and Shantung, throughout the fourth and fifth 

 centuries of the vulgar era. It is also to be noted, that 

 with every revolution or change of dynasty in China, the 

 leaders of the defeated party usually took refuge with 

 their followers in Korea. The Mongol stock was thus 

 continually fortified, while the stream of Caucasic migra- 

 tion had ceased to flow from prehistoric times. Hence it 

 is not surprising to find that the prevailing type is now 

 distinctly Mongoloid. Of the nine or ten million in- 

 habitants of the peninsula, probably five-sixths may be 

 described as distinguished by broad and rather flat fea- 

 tures, high cheek-bones, slightly oblique black eyes, small 

 nose, thick lips, black and lank hair, sparse beard, yel- 

 lowish or coppery complexion. The rest, representing 

 the original Caucasic element, are characterised by 

 rounded or oval features, large nose, light complexion, 

 delicate skin, chestnut or brown hair, blue eyes, full beard. 

 Between the two extremes there naturally occur several 

 intermediate shades, all of which serve to explain the 

 contradictory accounts of the missionaries and travellers 

 speaking from actual observation, but generally ignorant 

 of the original constituent elements and ethnical relations 

 of the natives. All, however, agree in describing them 

 as taller and more robust than the Chinese and Japanese, 

 while fully equal to them in intelligence and moral quali- 

 ties. They are a simple, honest, good-natured people, 



1 The language of Ernst Oppert is conclusive on this point: " Untcr den 

 vielen Thausenden, die mir wahrend meiner Keisen im Lande zu Gesicht 

 gekommen, habe ich sehr viele von so edeln und charaktervollem Gcs.chts- 

 ausdruck gefunden, dass man sie. waren sie nach unserer Sitte gekleidet 

 gewesen, fur Europaer hatte halten k6nnen. Auch unter den Kindtm war 

 eine grosse Aruahl durch ihrc sshSaen ngelmdssigen Ziigt und rosige 

 Haut/nrin:, ihr blondes Haar und die blauen Augen so auffallig, da-s sie 

 von Europaischeu Kindern kaum zu unterscheiden waren, und ich niich des 

 Eindrucks ihrer Abstammung von Europaern nicht zu erwehren vermuchte, 

 bis bei weiterem Eindringen ins Land diese Erscheinung eine sehr haufige 

 und alltagliche wurde und diese zuerst gefasste Ansicht als irrig zuriick- 

 gewiesen werden musste." " Reisen Nach Korea. Leipzig, 1881. p. 8. 

 However untrustworthy this writer may be in other respects, hi* evidence on 

 this question may be unhesitatingly accepted, agreeing as it does with that 

 of so many other observers. 



very frank, laborious, and hospitable, although hitherto 

 compelled by their exclusive laws to treat strangers with 

 suspicion and an outward show of unfriendliness. That 

 this unfriendliness is merely assumed through fear of the 

 authorities is abundantly evident from Capt. Basil Hall's 

 account of his intercourse with the natives of the islands 

 on the west coast. 



Polygamy, although permitted, is little practised, in 

 this respect resembling their peculiar Buddhism. But 

 while some consideration is shown for the women, to 

 whom the streets are given up in the evening, the gods 

 are treated with the greatest contempt and indifference. 

 In many towns there are no temples, nor even any 

 domestic shrines. The images of gods and saints are 

 mere wooden blocks set up like landmarks by the way- 

 side, and inferior as works of art to the idols of the Poly- 

 nesians. When one of these divinities gets blown down 

 or rots away, it becomes the sport of the children, who 

 amuse themselves by kicking it about amid the jeers and 

 laughter of their elders. The religious sentiment, which 

 may be said to culminate on the Tibetan plateau, seems 

 to fade away west and east as it descends towards the 

 Atlantic and Pacific seaboards. 



Formerly masters of the Japanese in many arts, the 

 Koreans at present cultivate few industries beyond the 

 weaving and dyeing of linens and cottons, and the pre- 

 paration of paper from the pulp of the Brussonetia 

 papyri/era. Silks and tea are imported from China and 

 Japan, and the exports to those countries have hitherto 

 been mainly restricted to rice, raw silk, peltries, paper, 

 tobacco, and ginseng. 



But for the Chinese influences, which are of compara- 

 tively recent date, the speech of the Koreans would betray 

 few indications of their mixed origin. Here as elsewhere 

 the primeval languages have refused to intermingle ; the 

 Caucasic has perished, the Mongolic alone surviving. 

 But the dispersion took place at such a remote period 

 that, beyond a general morphological resemblance, few 

 traces can now be detected of any fundamental unity 

 of speech between the Koreans and the surrounding 

 Mongoloid peoples. Like the Manchu, Mongolian, and 

 Japanese, the Korean is a polysyllabic, agglutinating and 

 untoned language, with a rich phonetic system, including 

 as many as fourteen vowels and several gutturals and 

 aspirates. In structure and vocabulary it seems to ap- 

 proach nearest to the Japanese, with which W. G. Aston 

 has compared it. 1 



The national writing system is purely phonetic, con- 

 sisting of a syllabic alphabet of great antiquity, but 

 unknown origin. It is probably an offshoot of the 

 common alphabetic system formerly diffused throughout 

 East Asia and Malaysia, and scattered members of which 

 are still found amongst the Lolo and Mosso of South-west 

 China, the Tagalas and Bisayans of the Philippine Archi- 

 pelago, the Korinchi, Rejangs, and Lampungs of Sumatra, 

 and the Dravidians of Southern India. In Korea, how- 

 ever, the literati use the Chinese ideographic system 

 exclusively, leaving the despised native writing to women 

 and children. This alphabet may be seen in the first 

 volume of Dallet's " Histoire de l'Eglise de Corde," which 

 has hitherto been almost our only authority on the subject 

 of the Korean language and literature. Last year, how- 

 ever, a large Korean-French dictionary and a Korean 

 grammar in French were published in Tokio. There is 

 also a "Korean Reader," by Ross (Shanghai, 1879), 

 which the writer has not seen. 



A. H. Keane 



1 " It seems probable that the distance which separates Japanese from 

 Korean is not greater than that which lies between English and Sanskrit. . . . 

 Everything considered we may regard them as equally closely allied with 

 the most remotely connected members of the Aryan family." {Journal of 

 the Royal Asiatic Society for August, 1879.) In this awkwardly worded 

 sentence the writer does not mean to say that Japanese and Korean are 

 allied to Aryan, but that they are as nearly related to each other as are the 

 most remotely connected members of the Aryan family to each other. 



