THE COLLECTION OF KOREAN MORTUARY POTTERY IN 

 THE U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



By Pierre Louis Jouy. 



On arriving iu Fusan, in the winter of 1883, my attention was early 

 attracted to the subject of Korean pottery, and several pieces of a ware 

 entirely different from the ordinary pottery of the. country were brought 

 to me for examination by Japanese residents. These pieces, to which a 

 remote antiquity was ascribed, were held in high esteem by Japanese 

 conrjoisseurs who delight in rare and curious objects. An extraordinary 

 value was given to fine specimens and they were often sent to friends 

 in Japan, and especially to Osaka, which port has long enjoyed direct 

 communication with Korea. 



The discoveries of Professor Morse in Japan * and the researches of 

 Japanese archceologists in bringing to light the ancient stone imple- 

 ments and numerous other prehistoric objects, including pottery, had 

 inspired me with the desire to form similar collections in Korea. This 

 seemed all the more encouraging as the country was not only practically 

 a virgin field of research, but abounded in monuments of great antiquity 

 and evidences of long occupation of the soil. Korea is one vast grave- 

 yard. Burial mounds and monuments of varying age and rich in archae- 

 ological interest are a prominent feature of the landscape. Although a 

 tolerably thickly populated country there are many sections where the 

 cemeteries occupy at least a quarter as much space as that used for 

 agricultural purposes. From the capital to the southeastern coast, a 

 distance of about 200 miles, they are scarcely ever out of sight of the 

 traveler, their prominent position on the hillsides making them very 

 conspicuous. Isolated graves of greater distinction are of frequent oc- 

 currence and are tended from generation to generation with great care. 

 The grass is kept well cropped to avoid danger from fire, and a grove 

 of evergreen trees surrounds the grave. These groves, frequently the 

 only trees on a hillside, are arranged in the shape of a horseshoe, the 

 mound, from four to five feet high, being in the center, and the open 

 space on the lower side. 



* The Shell Mounds of Omori. Tokio, 1879. 



5Sd 



