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
With regard to the snake, it is noteworthy that the Coreans have allowed
their fancies to run riot in pretty much the same direction as
imaginative people in our own country have done, and have not only added
wings to their serpents to send them air-faring, but have also invented a
near relation to these in the shape of a travelling sea-serpent, which is
not, however, of such large dimensions as those with which we are
familiar. From this it is only a short step to the well-known half-human,
half-fish being and the sea-lion or tiger; stone representations of which
are to be seen at the entrance of the Royal Palace. The principal
peculiarity of the sea-tiger is its ugliness. It is represented as having
a huge mouth, wide open, showing two rows of pointed teeth, and a mane
and tail curled up into hundreds of conventional little curlets. If the
statues of these sea-tigers are divided in three sections perpendicular
to the base, the head will occupy the whole of one of these sections,
which, in other words, means that the body is made only twice the size of
the head.
The _lin_ is also frequently found figuring in Corean mythology, but this
fanciful creature is undoubtedly an importation from the well-known
_ki-lin_ of China, being half ox, half deer, and having but a single horn
in the centre of the head. It is the symbol of good nature and well-being
Another borrowed individual of this class is the dragon, a monster which
is a great favourite and much cherished all over the East, though
principally by the Emperor of Heaven and his subjects. This popularity of
the dragon in the kingdom of the Morning Calm is due, I suppose, in a
large measure to the frequent Chinese invasions and constant intercourse
of the Chinese with Corea. And yet, upon a less appropriate country, to
my belief, he could hardly have been stranded, for, although he possesses
all the good virtues of the other mythical creatures of which I have made
mention taken together, he certainly is never presented as gifted with
that delightful faculty which goes by the name of tranquillity. Restless
in the extreme, this genius of the East is said to penetrate through
mountains into the ground, skip on the clouds, produce thunder and
lightning, and go through fire and water. It can, moreover, make itself
visible or invisible at pleasure, and, in fact, can to all intents and
purposes do what it pleases, except--remain quiet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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