Page:History of Corea, ancient and modern; with description of manners and customs, language and geography (1879).djvu/328

 304 COREAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS. after they are five years of age. Underneath, the women wear a small jacket, reaching just below the breast ; having, however, nothing in common with stays but the length ; for though a close fit, it never causes consumption by compressing the lungs. A very wide pair of drawers reaches up and ties above the lower part of that jacket Over this are two trowsers, the outmost as described aW The ordinary outer dress of the married woman is what we might call a petticoat, of the same length and hung in the same way as the western petticoat It is so stiffened with starch, that it looks as if distended by crinoline ; thus differing in toto from the more graceful Chinese dress. The feet of the common women appear beneath the petticoat ; but the petticoat of the higher classes touches the ground. Thus their general appear- ance in the house will bear out the assertion, that they dress somewhat similarly to western women. They must never be seen by any man, except their husband ; hence, when they go to the street, as they do freely, they throw over them a long robe, which they pull over the head and face, leaving only the smallest space open before the eyes, necessary to see their way ; and their eyes always look to the ground. Birth. The Corean first sees the light, not on the mat, but on a heap of soft rice straw, which has displaced the mat The new-bom child is washed in warm water by one or two of the mother's female relations, the only persons present These also prepare immediately some food, which they throw outside the door for luck. The mother has a drink of honied hot water, or a preparation of bear's liver, extremely bitter and expensive, intending to act the part of Simpson's chloroform, though not by insensibility. The child is first fed on rice water ; and on the third day the mother is able to feed it Then, also, the rice straw is removed, and the mat restored. The mother's food consists of rice washed down by soup, made of a certain dried sea-weed. The hour of birth is carefully noted, for horological purposea For seven days no person enters the house, the doora