Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/33

 structure. In poetry and imaginative prose it corresponds to the oak of Western literature. Next in importance is the bamboo, which, though growing only in the southern provinces, is used throughout the land and in almost every conceivable way. The domestic life of the Korean would be thrown into dire confusion were the bamboo to disappear. Hats are commonly made of it, and it enters largely, if not exclusively, into the construction of fans, screens, pens, pipes, tub-hoops, flutes, lanterns, kites, bows and a hundred other articles of daily use. Take the bamboo out of Korean pictorial art and half the pictures in the land would be ruined. From its shape it is the symbol of grace, and from its straightness and the regular occurrence of its nodes it is the symbol of faithfulness. The willow is one of the most conspicuous trees, for it usually grows in the vicinity of towns, where it has been planted by the hand of man. Thus it becomes the synonym of peace and contentment. The mighty row of willows near Pyeng-yang in the north is believed to have been planted by the great sage and coloniser Kija in 1122 B.C., his purpose being to influence the semi-savage people by this object-lesson. From that time to this Pyeng-yang has been known in song and story as "The Willow Capital." As the pine is the symbol of manly vigour and strength, so the willow is the synonym of womanly beauty and grace. Willow wood, because of its lightness, is used largely in making the clumsy wooden shoes which are worn exclusively in wet weather; and chests are made of it when lightness is desirable. The willow sprays are used in making baskets of all kinds, so that this tree is, in many ways, quite indispensable. Another useful wood is called the paktal. It has been erroneously called the sandal-wood, which it resembles in no particular. It is very like the iron-wood of America, and is used in making the laundering clubs, tool handles, and other utensils which require great hardness and durability. It was under a paktal-tree that the fabled sage Tangun was found seated some twenty-three hundred years before Christ; so it holds a peculiar place in