Page:Every-day life in Korea (1898).djvu/13

 PREFACE The author has had in mind a number of classes of readers in the preparation of this book; among others, business men, fond of facts in a compact form, ladies in the missionary societies, ever alert to add to their fund of missionary information, and another class still, found in the young people's societies, who enjoy information presented in a pictorial or narrative form. We all are fond of hearing of things that have a human interest; and we like to know how other people live their lives and do their work in the world, especially if their experiences and environments are quite different from our own. The pages that follow may be characterized, in the main, as a series of pictures of life in Korea — life in the olden time, as history has presented it; modern, every-day life, as the Westerner living among an Oriental people sees it; life as it is affected by the work of the Christian missionary; and, finally, the life of the missionary himself. The author acknowledges his indebtedness for much of suggestion and material to the writings of others who have dealt with things Korean — "Corea, the Hermit Nation, " by Rev. W. E. Griffis, D.D. ; "Korea from its Capital," by Rev. George W. Gilmore; "Korea and her Neighbors, ' ' by Mrs. Isabella Bird Bishop;