Korea and her neighbors: A narrative of travel, with an account of the recent vicissitudes and present position of the country — John Shaqi
Korea and her neighbors: A narrative of travel, with an account of the recent vicissitudes and present position of the countryBird, Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy)
History
Korea and her neighbors: A narrative of travel, with an account of the recent vicissitudes and present position of the country
Bird, Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy)
Korea -- Description and travel
Turning away from the bustle of the main street into a narrow,
dirty alley, and then into a native compound, I found the three
Australian ladies who were the objects of my visit to this decayed and
miserable town. Except that the compound was clean, it was in no way
distinguishable from any other, being surrounded by mud hovels. In one
of these, exposed to the full force of the southern sun, these ladies
were living. The mud walls were concealed with paper, and photographs
and other European knickknacks conferred a look of refinement. But
not only were the rooms so low that one of the ladies could not stand
upright in them, but privacy was impossible, invasions of Korean women
and children succeeding each other from morning to night, so that
even dressing was a spectacle for the curious. Friends urged these
ladies not to take this step of living in a Korean town 3 miles from
Europeans. It was represented that it was not safe, and that their
health would suffer from the heat and fetid odors of the crowded
neighborhood, etc. In truth it was not a “conventional thing” to do.
On my first visit I found them well and happy. Small children were
clinging to their skirts, and a certain number of women had been
induced to become cleanly in their persons and habits. All the
neighbors were friendly, and rude remarks in the streets had altogether
ceased. Many of the women resorted to them for medical help, and the
simple aid they gave brought them much good-will. This friendly and
civilizing influence was the result of a year of living under very
detestable circumstances. If they had dwelt in grand houses 2¹⁄₂ miles
off upon the hill, it is safe to say that the result would have been
_nil_. Without any fuss or blowing of trumpets, they quietly helped to
solve one of the great problems as to “Missionary Methods,” though why
it should be a “problem” I fail to see. In the East at least, every
religious teacher who has led the people has lived among them, knowing
if not sharing their daily lives, and has been easily accessible at all
times. It is not easy to imagine a Buddha or One greater than Buddha
only reached by favor of, and possibly by feeing, a gate-keeper or
servant.
On visiting them a year later I found them still well and happy. The
excitement among the Koreans consequent on the Tong-hak rebellion and
the war had left them unmolested. A Japanese regiment had encamped
close to them, and, by permission, had drawn water from the well in
their compound, and had shown them nothing but courtesy. Having in
two years gained general confidence and good-will, they built a small
bungalow just above the old native house, which has been turned into a
very primitive orphanage.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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