Page:History of Corea, ancient and modern; with description of manners and customs, language and geography (1879).djvu/380

 ' mK^a^m^mm^m^^mmm^^mKmmB^Kmm 352 COREAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS. and slowly rises, and again kneels. The chanter makes three sighs, kneels, and speaks, saying, that as many years have gone by since the burial, and as none has been looking after the grave, it now requires to be repaired, &c., &c When changing the Swotsao, sacrifice is again offered to the Toodi. Spirits, fruit, meat, and soup, are placed by the proper man on the left of the grave; the Shangjoo washes hands, approaches, kneels, bums incense, pours spirits upon the ground, and twice bows ; pours out a little more before the grave; slowly rises, and again kneels. The chanter also kneels, addresses the Toodi god, mentioning names and dates as before, saying that as the grave had fallen into disrepair, they had now come to repair it ; " we, therefore, pray the god to help us, and to aid the deceased to avoid future trouble, &c.'^ The Shangjoo then bows twice; the chanter and manager (who laid out the offerings) also now twice bow. Afterwards, they wish the buried to be at rest When the labourers are finished, the manager places spirits, fruit, meat, and soup, before the grave. The Shangjoo washes his hands, burns incense, pours out spirits before the grave, and slowly rises. He again kneels ; the chanter kneels, and informs the deceased that now the grave has been renovated, and that afterwards he will never again be molested. From the preceding may be inferred, at a glance, the immense inferiority of woman to man, according to Corean notions Her position is not merely secondary, but she has any actual position whatever, only as wife and mother. It will have been observed in the article on " Dying," that the daughters and sisters of a man dying, are not to go into mourning, i.e., they are not to be treated as the near relations of deceased, but as the wives of their respective husbands. So much so, that in Corea, a woman living or dead, has no name of her own, but is called Mrs so and so, — ^the name of her husband. Women call themselves by the term " slaves,'' in China, — ^it is even worse, apparently, in Corea, though in both countries there are clever women, who, by dint of an eloquence unknown where woman is esteemed, compel some respect to their wishes. It is an undoubted fact that