486 
PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION E. 
In the seventeenth century there was the struggle between the 
Manchus and Chinese for dominion in the East. The Coreans, mindful 
of the kindness of the Chinese, threw themselves with ardour on the 
side of their friends. The Manchus accordingly invaded and con- 
quered Corea. By this time it was evident that the Manchus would be 
victorious; the Coreans accordingly submitted to them. The conquerors 
accepted the submission, left the Corean sovereign in possession of 
his throne, the people in possession of their own laws, and in the 
enjoyment of their own manners, customs, and dress; and only asked, 
on terms of peace, an annual tribute of small monetary value, and 
which was more than returned in generous presents; that the Coreans 
should still continue to use the Chinese almanac, and that the 
Coreans should not exercise the sovereign prerogative of coining 
money. (In the next century the Manchus w r aived enforcing this last 
clause.) The Manchus then withdrew their troops, and left the 
Coreans to enjoy liberty and autonomy as hitherto. 
In a.d. 1644, the Manchu leader seated himself on the throne 
of China, and his successors with wisdom rare in conquerors have 
since governed China according to Chinese ideas, and have given 
Chinese more than an equal share in the administration of the united 
empire. 
In 1873 Japan made a treaty with Corea ; and ten years later 
Corea, yielding to China’s influence, made treaties with various Western 
Powers. Appendices to these treaties state that Corea, though tribu- 
tary to China, enjoys internal and external independence. China has 
loyally recognised these treaties, and has not since intervened in 
Corean affairs. In 1884 and 1885 two Corean nobles named Kim Ok 
Chun and Baku attempted a coup d'etat , and, after massacreing, with 
circumstances of extreme barbarity, their former friends and col- 
leagues, attempted with the aid of the Japanese to murder the Queen. 
In this they did not succeed. One of the Queen’s ladies was dressed 
in the Queen’s robes, and paid for her loyal tv with her life. Mean- 
while the Queen escaped in disguise. The Chinese in Soul rushed to 
the palace to defend the Royal family, and, their blood being up, 
attacked the Japanese, and a dreadful slaughter ensued. The assassins 
Kim Ok Chun and Baku escaped and took refuge in Japan. Kim Ok 
Chun was inveigled to Shanghai in 1804 by a Corean named Hung, 
who shot him in Shanghai. Kim’s dead body and the person of his 
slayer were delivered by the Chinese to the Corean Government, 
which foolishly (but in accordance w r ith Corean law) tried the dead 
man and dismembered his body as a traitor. His slayer w r as neither 
rewarded nor punished. The event of 1884 caused considerable 
friction between China and Japan, but peace was maintained by means 
of a treaty which stipulated that in case either nation sent troops to 
Corea to quell disturbances it should in the first place give notice to 
the other party. 
To understand so extraordinary a stipulation it is necessary to 
explain the condition of Corea. Prom time immemorial Corea has 
been governed in a very primitive manner, the only idea of the 
governing classes being to get as much as they could out of the 
people, and the only idea of the governed being to pay as little as 
possible to the Government. The land tax, which is the principal 
impost, is levied in the most irregular manner. There is no fixity 
