Page:American Anthropologist NS vol. 1.djvu/181

152 It is said that when a marriage is not fruitful the matter is brought before the council and inquiry is made, especially if the complainants are wealthy, as to whether the ground is inviolate.

A few Buddhists burn their dead. The usual Korean method is to bury at full length, in the customary clothes, and to wrap the body in coarse hemp cloth before placing it in a coffin. Often the dead are required to be carried long distances to the clan graveyard. Over the grave a mound of earth is heaped up, and this is soon covered with short, velvety grass.

Laws of the Clan.—The prohibition of marriages between members of the same clan name, which seems to be a world-wide custom, is a prominent feature of Korean sociology. It is more than a law with penalty for infraction; it is a traditional custom of which the negative is inconceivable. The civil law against remarriage by a widow is said to have originated in the necessity of prohibiting the doing away of one husband with the view of taking another. The marriage of a deceased wife's sister is no more to be thought of in Korea than is marriage within the clan.

Offences and Penalties.—The clan laws take cognizance of three or more offences against the clan and prescribe the punishment therefor. If a member becomes a traitor against his country he is expelled from the clan and thereafter forbidden to use the clan surname. This penalty is more severe than may appear at a glance, because it amounts to excommunication from the ancestors, and ancestral worship is the central idea of the clan. Another offence is illicit intercourse between families, which strikes at the root of the clan marriage system. This offence may be punished within the clan, but if it becomes known the civil authorities take cognizance of it. The clan penalty is excommunication.

The third major offence is disrespect to parents or to old people. This infraction is usually corrected by the clan, but when the offence is glaring or repeated, it is punished by civil law.