Corea or Cho-sen: The Land of the Morning CalmLandor, Arnold Henry Savage
History
Corea or Cho-sen: The Land of the Morning Calm
Landor, Arnold Henry Savage
Korea -- Description and travel
Insanity, when it does exist, generally exhibits itself under the form of
melancholia and dementia, and is more frequently found among the upper
than among the lower classes. With the men it is generally due to
intemperance and excesses, and is occasionally accompanied by paralysis.
Among the women, the only cases which came under my notice were of wives
whose husbands had many concubines, and of young widows. Suicide is not
unfrequently practised among the latter; partly in consequence of the
strict Corean etiquette, but often also caused by insanity when it does
not follow immediately upon the husband's death. Another cause of
melancholia--chiefly, however, among the lower classes--is a dreadful
complaint, which has found its way among the natives in its most
repulsive form. Many are affected by it, and no cure for it seems to have
been devised by the indigenous doctors. The accounts one hears in the
country of its ravages are too revolting to be repeated in these pages,
and I shall limit myself to this. Certain forms of insanity are
undoubtedly a common sequence to it.
Leprosy also prevails in Cho-sen, and in the more serious cases seems to
affect the brain, producing idiocy. This disease is caused by poverty of
blood, and is, of course, hereditary. I have seen two forms of it in
Cho-sen; in the one case, the skin turns perfectly white, almost shining
like satin, while in the other--a worse kind, I believe--the skin is a
mass of brown sores, and the flesh is almost entirely rotted away from
the bones. The Coreans have no hospitals or asylums in which evils like
these can be properly tended. Those affected with insanity are generally
looked after by their own families, and, if considered dangerous, are
usually chained up in rooms, either by a riveted iron bracelet, fastened
to a short heavy chain, or, more frequently, by an anklet over the right
foot.
Families in Corea are generally small in number. I have no exact
statistics at hand, for none were obtainable; but, so far as I could
judge from observation, the males and females in the population are about
equal in number. If anything, the women slightly preponderate. The
average family seldom includes more than two children. The death-rate of
Cho-sen infants is great, and many reasons can account for the fact. In
the first place, all children in Corea, even the stronger ones who
survive, are extremely delicate until a certain age is attained, when
they seem to pick up and become stronger. This weakness is hereditary,
especially among the upper classes, of whom very few powerful men are to
be found, owing to their dissolute and effeminate life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account