Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/450

 As a rule, a lady may go and visit her lady friends with considerable freedom, but she must always leave word at home exactly where she is going. She will go in a closed. "chair" carried by two men. The chair is brought to her door, the men retire till she has entered, and when she arrives at the friend's house, the men set down the chair and retire while she is getting out. She will invariably be accompanied by a slave girl or other female servant who runs along beside the chair. Arrived at the friend's house, she enters the inner rooms, and while she is there neither the friend's husband nor any other man may enter, unless he should chance to be within the prescribed limits of consanguinity. A lady of wealth or even of moderate means will not walk on the street, although this is permissible provided she keeps her face carefully hidden by the changot.

Women of the middle class are not so secluded as those of the upper class, and yet they will never be seen on the street without the head covering. At their homes they may be seen by any male relative down to the "tenth joint." We see, then, that women of the middle class are visible to relatives two degrees further removed than those by whom her higher sister may be seen; and besides this, it is far less common for a man of the middle class to possess a general reception room, and the result is that relatives are much oftener invited. into the inner rooms. The statement sometimes made, that no respectable Korean woman will ever be seen walking on the street, is very far from the truth. Hundreds of them may be seen every day.

Women of the lower or so-called disreputable class include dancing-girls, slaves, courtesans, sorceresses and Buddhist nuns. I am speaking now from the Korean point of view. A slave or a nun may be a respectable person, but she is classed with the others by Koreans. They are subject to none of the laws of seclusion that apply to so-called reputable people. In fact, they are not allowed to use the changot to cover the face. A possible exception may be found in the courtesan, who may cover the