Page:History of Corea, ancient and modern; with description of manners and customs, language and geography (1879).djvu/313

 COREAN ISOLATION. 289 Chinese. Since the time of KaTighi, whenever Corea has been threatened with famine, grain has been sent them by se& If a rebellion has cropped up, soldier^ have been sent to their aid, with ten thousand taels to support them. '' When at dinner, the Corean ministers used to pass the time in making verses ; and the ambassadors sent to the Manchu court, made impromptu verses superior to those of the Manchu ministers, whether native or Chinese ; for though ignorant of the art of war, the learning of the Coreans is of the highest class ; a character imprinted on the nation ever since the time of Eidsu, younger brother of king Chow, who founded the kingdom.* '* The Corean mountain chains run south-east at right angles to and from the south of Changbai shan, and extend over two thousand li to Fooshan, on the coast, a half-day's sail from the Japanese Ma island."' In 1638, the Japanese sent ambassadors to demand an increased tributef of the products of the soil. The Corean king replied by referring them to the change in his position, as being now under the Manchus. The ambassadors, having satisfied themselves that the Manchus were a terrible lot, and not to be trifled with, thought it best to return to their own country, leaving the Coreans unmolested. The modem history of Corea has brought it into contact and collision with western nations ; but up to the present, it has been able to retain its fondly cherished isolation. In an excellent article on Corea in the "Edinburgh Review,'' No. 278, the writer states that — " The stringent severity with which Chinese and Coreans are kept as much as possible apart, arises, in great measure no doubt, from the ingrained distrust and dislike of eveiything non-Chinese, which forms so important an element in the character and policy of the Celestial Empire ; but it is partly due to the traditions of enmity, which have grown out of that statement, for Ghaoaien and Graoli were certainly no more akin than the Sarona and Normana in England, — ^probably much less so. t Implying there had been a previous tribute. T
 * Shung vcoji, and Corean tradition. We have seen how much truth there is in