Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/387

 any difference in religious belief, but because of the added eclat of the ceremony.

The discussion of Korean relics would be incomplete without a reference to the curious structures which are found in various parts of the north, and to which we give the name dolmen for want of a better. One of these consists of two huge stones set on edge to form the opposite sides of an enclosure, and across the top is laid another. The upper stone is a veritable monolith, being often fifteen feet square and two feet thick. The space enclosed is about eight feet long, five feet wide and five feet high, and the most natural conclusion is that it must be some form of sepulture; but, though the back of the space is sometimes closed with a stone, the front is always open, nor have any bones been found in any of them. There is not a word about these curious monuments in Korean history, and the only explanation that the people give is that they were built long ago to keep back the powers of the mountains, who would otherwise invade the lowlands. These stones are always partially covered with earth, and there is no doubt that originally they were entirely covered. They are often found in the midst of wide plains, and the imagination is taxed to account for the method by which those rude people moved the huge stones from the hills to their present places. I incline strongly to the opinion that they are very ancient graves, in spite of the fact that no bones are found; for even in the Koryu graves, which are quite authentic and from which so much rude pottery is taken, no bones are found, not even the skull. This shows that six or seven hundred years will suffice to cause a complete disintegration of human bones, at least in Korean soil. These dolmens are much more ancient than any Koryu grave, and the argument is so much the more conclusive. Much still remains to be done by way of excavation and examination of these relics, but the Koreans are so superstitious that little can be done at present.

All about the country there are enormous carved figures, which the Koreans call miryŏk. Some of them are Buddhas,