Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/467

 eldest son is always the executor of the will. Ordinarily, the father will have no doubt as to his son's good intentions and will die intestate. It is when the father fears that the son will not treat the rest of the family well that he makes a will. Supposing that the will specifies that the widow is to receive a specified sum, and the other children each a specified sum, every person so specified has the right to claim at law the amount bequeathed to him or her, and the woman's right is as clear as the man's. But should the will include a bequest to anyone not a relative, such as a friend, or the poor, or a monk, such person cannot recover the money at law. There is no redress. If, however, the executor, the eldest son, refuses to carry out the wishes of his father in these particulars and shows a too avaricious spirit, the people of the place will compel him to sell out and move away. They will drive him from the neighbourhood, and the authorities will not stir a finger to help him, unless - but the less said about that the better.

Now let us suppose that a man dies leaving only two daughters, one married and the other unmarried. In this case the great probability is that he will adopt a son before he dies, someone among his near relatives. This will be mainly in order to have someone to sacrifice to his spirit after his death. The adopted son has all the rights and powers of a real son, and will control the property. Perhaps once out of ten times the father will fail to adopt a son, in which case the daughters take charge of the property and administer the estate exactly the same as a man would, and with equal power. These daughters are not obliged to hand the property over to their husbands unless they wish, but the husband may, if evil-minded, seize it, in which case the wife will probably have no redress. This, however, would very rarely occur, for, if it were known, the man would be subject to the most bitter scorn of his acquaintances and would be practically ostracised.

In case a man dies leaving only a widow, she will adopt as her son the eldest son of one of her husband's brothers, and he