Page:In Korea with Marquis Ito (1908).djvu/37

 us to the landing near the railway station, which is now some distance up the bay, but which will soon be brought down to the new wharf that is in process of building, in such good time that we had an hour and a half to spend before leaving for Seoul. Most of this time was. improved in visiting a Korean school on the hillside just above. We were not, however, to see this educational institution at work, but only the empty school-rooms and several of the Korean and Japanese -teachers. For the one hundred and seventy children of this school, clothed in holiday garments of various shades in green, pink, carmine, purple, yellow, and a few in white or black, were just starting for the station to give a "send-off" to Prince Eui Wha. This Prince is the second living son of the Korean Emperor and, in the event of the death or declared incapacity of the Crown Prince, the legitimate heir to the throne. There was much blowing of small trumpets and many unsuccessful attempts on the part of the teachers to get and keep the line in order, as the brilliantly colored procession moved down the hill.

The teachers who remained behind showed me courteously over the school-rooms and interpreted the "curriculum" of the school which had been posted for my benefit in one of the rooms. I give it below as a good example of the kind of instruction which is afforded in the best of the primary grades of the Korean school system as fostered by the Japanese:

1st Class Ages, 7-9 years, inclusive:

Chinese classics; morals; penmanship; gymnastics.

2d Class Ages, 10-11 years, inclusive:

Chinese classics; national literature; penmanship; Korean history; gymnastics.

3d Class Ages, 12-13 years, inclusive:

Chinese classics; arithmetic; composition; national and universal history; gymnastics.