Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/319

 Everywhere we find the same heterogeneous consistency. On the yamen gates we frequently find the great circle made by putting together two huge commas. This is called the tǎgeuk, and is the emblem seen on the Korean flag. It is supposed to represent the male and female properties in nature.

Wood carving plays some part in the ornamentation of public buildings, though here again the private citizen is debarred. The latticed windows sometimes consist of an elaborate filigree, but, as ordinary pine wood is always used, no very fine effects are possible. One of the most characteristic forms of wood carving is seen in the multiplicity of horns that protrude from the ends of the beams beneath the eaves of audience halls and other ceremonial buildings. To save these from the contamination of innumerable sparrows, a wire net is commonly drawn about the building just beneath the eaves. Not infrequently a curious addition is made by hanging from the corners of eaves a large number of small pieces of broken window-glass. Each piece is suspended from a separate string, and they all hang in a bunch so that the least breath of wind makes them strike together and produce a soft and pleasant tinkle. Each piece of glass is painted in colours.

Among the most conspicuous objects in Korea are the earthenware "monkeys" which stand in rows along the sloping corners of the city gates and government buildings. These nondescript figures do not represent monkeys, but they are so called by foreigners because they bear some resemblance to that animal. Nor are they placed upon the gates by way of ornament. The vivid imagination of the Korean peoples heaven and earth with all sorts of demons, and these " monkeys " are placed on the gates in order to frighten away these evil influences. This is the most pointed, if not the only, reference which the government, as such, makes to the native spirit worship. In every other respect the Confucian system is adhered to.