Page:Village life in Korea (1911).djvu/85

Rh and so tried to get another word. But after some time and much talk with our teachers and much searching of the books we found nothing better, and so we are still singing, "Chip, chip, chen-tang-chip," for "Home, home, sweet, sweet home," the meaning of which is, "House, house, heavenly house." The real reason for there being no word for home in the language is the very good one that there is not a home in the land.

There are families, lots of them, and these families live in houses, but it takes something more than families and houses to make homes. This something, call it what you will, is just the quality that is unknown to the heathen family. It is true of all countries, even in Christian lands, that many people who have houses have no homes.

In Korea the family is of much more importance than the individual; and the family is often made up of more people than it is in some other countries. It is often the case that three generations, and sometimes four, go to make up the family living under the same roof. This is brought about by the sons bringing their wives to live in the father's house instead of setting up housekeeping for themselves. So it often happens that several families go to make up the household living under the same roof. Where the family can afford it, there are servants and slaves who also enter into the family life, which thus becomes much more complicated than it is in such countries as the United States and England. The father is the head of the family, and next to him is the oldest son, and so on down the line. There may be several sons, and