Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/114

 passport to official position. The soldier dropped to a place inferior to that of any other reputable citizen, and from that time to this the soldier in Korea, as in China, has been considered but one step above the beggar. No one would think of adopting the profession of a soldier if he could find anything else to do. The complete absence of any form of feudalism had something to do with this. Korea became welded together as a single state at such an early date that no opportunity was given for the rise of feudalism. Whatever may have been the reason, we find that Korea never passed through this necessary stage which leads to enlightened government. The faulty induction has sometimes been drawn that for this reason Koreans are without patriotism ; but, if we come to think of it, it is not necessarily a sign of lack of love for country that people will not take up arms and kill in its defence. That there are certain animals to which nature has not given the instinct to fight in defence of their young is not conclusive proof that those animals do not love their young.

Although for the most part Buddhism controlled the issues of the dynasty, and that cult flourished until the law was promulgated that every third son must take the cowl, yet there was always a remnant of opposition left, and from time to time this flared up and created widespread disturbances. Not infrequently it resulted in horrible massacres, in which whole cabinets were ruthlessly put to the sword. But in every case the Buddhist element came to the top again and exacted fearful revenge.

The country was filled with monasteries, which became the schools of literature, art and even war; for we find that, contrary to the custom in Europe in the Middle Ages, the science of war was frequently taught by the monks. It became even more true of Korea than of Europe that the monasteries became the repositories of all that was best in science, art and literature. The splendid buildings and shrines, the beautifully carved pagodas and the gorgeous vestments of the spectacular ritual