Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/473

 themselves by playing the komungo, or harp. Its musical capabilities are not high. They also play other crude instruments.

Korean girls are very fond of swinging, and on a certain day in spring there is a swing festival in which men, women and children participate. Huge swings are arranged in public places, but these are used only by men and boys. Girls have a peculiar kind of see-saw, which consists of a short board laid across a fulcrum three or four inches high. The girls stand on opposite ends of the board and jump up and down. The impact of one coming down throws the other up into the air some three or four feet. A rope is drawn above their heads like a clothes-line, and to this they cling as they go up in the air, in order to insure their equilibrium.

In the country the girls enjoy what is called the chul nori, or rope game. A rope is drawn taut between two trees, and the girls swing back and forth against it, keeping time to a song. The Korean doll is also very common and is called a kaksi. It is most often seen tied to the back of the little girl, and she pretends that she is carrying her baby as her mother does the genuine one. Dominoes, go-bang and dice are favourite amusements of women, though the last are used almost exclusively by ladies of the higher class.

As for titles, only ladies of the very highest class, wives of the leading officials, are given a " handle " to their names. These correspond to our terms "countess," "baroness" and others; but these titles are not hereditary in Korea.