516 
PEOCEEEINGS OE SECTION E. 
elements these are compounded. About two days’ journey west of 
Wonsan, near the town of Yangtuk, on the road to P’yungyang, we 
passed some hot springs of (I believe) a sulphurous charaacter. 
IX. Pawnshops. — Of pawnshops I know nothing, except that 
they form a prominent element in the commercial enterprise of the 
Japanese in Soul. The name is a purely Chinese one — Tyen-tang-ka . 
X. Guilds, &c. — My acquaintance with guilds and trade unions 
in Corea is of a practical, if limited, character. I have invariably 
experienced the greatest difficulty in getting men of the same trade 
to underbid one another for a contract, and the existence of the 
guild system has always been cited in explanation of this. Probably 
for the same reason it is enormously difficult to get completely rid 
of the services of a workman (e.g., a carpenter), however ill-satisfied 
you may have been with his work on previous occasions. You may 
make your contract with a fresh man when next you have work to 
do ; but the old employee always appears sooner or later, in some 
capacity or another. 
Great Subdivision of Labour in the various Trades. — Perhaps 
the most astonishing point about the guild system in Corea 
is the extraordinary extent to which subdivision of labour is 
carried on in connection with it. I remember one hot summer’s day 
seeing a crowd of well-dressed Coreans gathered in one of the 
“ belvederes” which exist in such numbers in the more picturesque 
spots in the hills which surround Soul, and I was informed upon 
inquiry that it was a meeting of the “Worshipful Company of JIat- 
band Makers” — of gentlemen, that is, whose staple in trade lay in the 
chin-straps by which a Corean hat is fastened to its wearer’s head. 
The hat itself forms, of course, the staple of at least one other guild 
— probably of two, one for the brim and another for the crown ; and 
I shall be surprised if I do not discover that yet another guild finds its 
staple in the “ hook and eye” arrangement by which the chin-strap is 
fastened to the hat. And the system which thus apparently provides a 
guild for every article, down to the smallest detail, of personal apparel 
(I believe there is also a guild of dealers in leather soles for shoes) 
finds expression in all the walks of life. To build a Corean house in 
Corean fashion one must needs have dealings with at least four 
separate 4t heads of departments” — the carpenter, the tiler, the 
mason, and the paperhanger, each of whom apparently represents 
a separate guild. Certainly, if ail advanced stage of civilisation is 
marked by the existence of “universal providers,” “co-operative 
stores,” and “contractor kings,” Corea has much lee-way to make 
up in her competition with her sister nations of the world. 
Books on Corea . — With reference to your postcript, I can only 
say that I know little about works in European languages treating of 
Corea, other than the well-known works of Dallet, Griffis, Carles, 
Lowell, Eoss, Oppert, and the more recent work by Captain Cavendish, 
together with the dictionaries and grammars published by the French 
Mission, Dr. Onderwood, and Mr. James Scott. I have also a manual 
of the Corean language in French, by a Mons. Camille Trubault 
Huart (I think a Consul), who, like most other writers on Corean 
