Vol. XXI, No. II WASHINQTON November, 1910 



THE 



ATIONAIL 



O 



GLIMPSES OF KOREA AND CHINA 



By William W. Chapin, of Rochester 



IV2//1 Photographs by the Author 



KOREA, the little nation which has 

 been so carefully watched by 

 the Powers durino^ the past few 

 months as she has been undergoing the 

 process of being taken over by her 

 powerful neighbor, Japan, is, considering 

 the rapidity of the changes through 

 which she has passed within 30 years, 

 a country of unusual interest. Compara- 

 tively little was known of her prior to 

 1882, as up to that year she was a 

 hermit nation, satisfied with her own re- 

 sources and conditions, only anxious to 

 be left undisturbed. Indeed, previous to 

 that date, it is said to have been death, 

 not alone to the foreigner who landed 

 on her shore, but to the native who gave 

 him shelter. 



A land so oriental, full of unusual 

 scenes, and customs so strange, but re- 

 cently opened to the safe inspection of 

 foreigners, and withal so accessible to 

 travelers in Japan, furnished considera- 

 tions which impelled us to brave the perils 

 of the Korea Strait and embark from 

 Shimonoseki for Fusan. 



Our ship was to sail at 9 in the even- 

 ing, and the promptness after we boarded 

 the steamer with which we sought our 

 berths proved that the rumors which 

 had come to us regarding the discomforts 



of the rough passage were thoroughly be- 

 lieved. On awakening several hours later, 

 as we glanced from our porthole at the 

 gentle rippling surface of the sea, spark- 

 ling in the glory of the full moon, a 

 scene so at variance with the conditions 

 we had expected, our first thought was 

 that we were in a dream. 



The long dock at which our steamer 

 landed at Fusan was alive with people, 

 most of them coolies, in white clothing 

 and with long hair in an untidy coil, worn 

 on top of their heads, waiting to transfer 

 our baggage to the railway station, half a 

 mile distant. This is done by means of 

 peculiar racks carried on the back, in 

 which not only baggage is borne, but 

 every conceivable thing, even to live ani- 

 mals. Were the tourist to journey to 

 Fusan alone, he would feel amply re- 

 warded for visiting this gateway city, 

 even if the crossing proved as rough as 

 is sometimes experienced. 



One can hardly realize that such a 

 change of scene is possible after only 10 

 hours of steamboat travel : the people, 

 their occupations and habitations, not to 

 mention their wearing apparel, the dress 

 of the men and the undress of some of 

 the women — all being most remarkable. 

 One of the attractions of this city is the 



