The History of Korea (vol. 1 of 2)Hulbert, Homer B. (Homer Bezaleel)
History
The History of Korea (vol. 1 of 2)
Hulbert, Homer B. (Homer Bezaleel)
Korea -- History
These careful preparations on the part of the self-exiled Ki-ja admit of
but one conclusion. They were made with direct reference to the people
among whom he had elected to cast his lot. He was a genuine civilizer.
His genius was of the highest order in that, in an age when the sword
was the only arbiter, he hammered his into a pruning-hook and carved out
with it a kingdom which stood almost a thousand years. He was the ideal
colonizer, for he carried with him all the elements of successful
colonization which, while sufficing for the reclamation of the
semi-barbarous tribes of the peninsula, would still have left him
self-sufficient in the event of their contumacy. His method was
brilliant when compared with even the best attempts of modern times.
His penal code was short, and clearly indicated the failings of the
people among whom he had cast his lot. Murder was to be punished with
death inflicted in the same manner in which the crime had been
committed. Brawling was punished by a fine to be paid in grain. Theft
was punished by enslaving the offender, but he could regain his freedom
by the payment of a heavy fine. There were five other laws which are not
mentioned specifically. Many have surmised, and perhaps rightly, that
they were of the nature of the _o-hang_ or “five precepts” which
inculcate right relations between king and subject, parent and child,
husband and wife, friend and friend, old and young. It is stated,
apocryphally however, that to prevent quarreling Ki-ja compelled all
males to wear a broad-brimmed hat made of clay pasted on a framework. If
this hat was either doffed or broken the offender was severely punished.
This is said to have effectually kept them at arms length.
Another evidence of Ki-ja’s genius is his immediate recognition of the
fact that he must govern the Korean people by means of men selected from
their own number. For this purpose he picked out a large number of men
from the various districts and gave them special training in the duties
of government and he soon had a working corps of officials and prefects
without resorting to the dangerous expedient of filling all these
positions from the company that came with him. He recognised that in
order to gain any lasting influence with the people of Korea he and his
followers must adapt themselves to the language of their adopted country
rather than make the Koreans conform to their form of speech. We are
told that he reduced the language of the people to writing and through
this medium taught the people the arts and sciences which he had
brought. If this is true, the method by which the writing was done and
the style of the characters have entirely disappeared. Nothing remains
to give evidence of such a written language. We are told that it took
three years to teach it to the people.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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