Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/536

 CHAPTER XXXI E must briefly review the history of slavery in Korea before describing its present status. At the time of Kija, who came to Korea in 1122 B.C., slavery did not exist in China; but when that great coloniser took in hand the half-savage denizens of the peninsula, he found it necessary to enact stringent laws. Among the different forms of punishment decreed by him, we find that slavery was one. We cannot but admire the line of reasoning upon which he based what we believe to be. a social evil. He said in effect: "God decrees that man shall live by his own exertions, each one earning a living by his own hands and obtaining both the necessities and luxuries of existence by his own personal effort. If, therefore, a man takes by' wile or by force the fruits of another man's industry, he becomes joined to that man by a logical and, moral bond. If he eats the other man's food, he belongs to the other man." Theft was therefore punished by slavery, the thief becoming the property of the man from whom he stole. It was possible for him to redeem himself by the payment of a large sum of money, but even after that he must remain a discredited member of society, an outcast. Adultery was likewise punished by slavery, but the male offender could not, for obvious reasons, become a slave in the house of the man he had wronged. He became a slave of the government, and the King gave him to one or other of the high officials.

This continued till the year 193 B.C., when Kijun, the last of the ancient line, was driven out by Wiman and fled to the southern part of the peninsula. The upheaval of the north disorganised society, and slavery disappeared under Wiman's short