May 29, 1885.] 



SCIENCE 



439 



spirals, coiled together, filling the area of a 

 circle. They are emblematic of the positive 

 and negative essences of Chinese philosophy. 

 Above them is the representation of tongues of 

 flame. All this typifies the power of the king, 

 joined, since the nation espoused the morality 

 of Confucius, with a reverence for the sage. 

 As the name implies, the whole is painted a 

 bright red, which, in Korea, is the kingly color. 

 Its height is from thirty to forty feet. 



Its situation is striking. It rises by itself 

 in solitar}' grandeur. It is not connected with 



least, passers-by do the king homage. But 

 this is simply because the street is the natural 

 approach. In the rural districts, where the 

 street is wider, the portal's span of twenty feet 

 can only occupy the centre, while the thorough- 

 fare is as much around as under it. And yet 

 so compelling is ceremonial that no one would 

 think of entering save beneath its arch ; and 

 in Japan it is counted little short of sacrilege 

 by properly superstitious persons, on their way 

 to the temple or the shrine, to avoid it hy 

 going around. 



THE RED ARROW GATE IN KOREA. 



either walls or buildings. It stands alone and 

 apart. Nor has it any particular position as- 

 signed it. It may stand near to, or far from, 

 the shrine or the magistracy to which it leads. 

 Placed only at a respectful distance, it fulfils 

 but the one condition, — that it shall face what 

 it foretells. It is there to direct the thought 

 as much as to impress the mind. In Japan, 

 where certain mountains are sacred, and wor- 

 shipped as shrines, it is often met with tens 

 of miles away from what it heralds ; alone in 

 the midst of nature, on the top of some high 

 mountain pass, over which lies the road, and 

 from whose summit the pilgrim catches the 

 first view of the desired goal, framed in like 

 a picture between its posts. In Korea it com- 

 monly spans the street ; so that, in so far at 



Its discovery in Korea is further interesting 

 as supplying another presumption, amounting 

 almost to proof, in favor of the opinion ex- 

 pressed by Mr. Chamberlain of Tokio, that the 

 ordinarily received meaning of the Japanese 

 name for it, torii{ ' bird's rest ' ) , is erroneous. 

 This is the meaning of the Chinese characters 

 by which it is at present expressed. But 

 though these are the only direct and positive 

 evidence in the matter, the} T are nevertheless 

 but prima facie proof. The Japanese lan- 

 guage existed before ever the Chinese ideo- 

 graphs were adopted to write it, and therefore 

 the ideographs with which an} r word is now 

 written are only evidence of what was con- 

 sidered to be the meaning of that word at the 

 time they were adopted. There is always be- 



