Corea, the Hermit Nation

by William Elliot Griffis

Overview

Described as a 'hermit nation' because it isolated itself from the rest of the world, Korea remained very little known to English speakers in the late nineteenth century. During his time in Japan, the American author and educator William Elliot Griffis (1843–1928), who did much to foster understanding between the United States and Japan, became fascinated by Korea and its influence on Japanese history and culture. This historical outline of Korea is compiled from printed sources and eyewitness accounts rather than from personal experience since Griffis was yet to visit Korea at this point. Despite this, and the fact that he was sometimes criticised for presenting Korea in comparison with Japan, this book was well received. First published in 1882, it contains an annotated bibliography and features maps and illustrations throughout. Griffis' most famous work on Japan, The Mikado's Empire (1877), is also reissued in this series.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108080491
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/01/2015
Series:	Cambridge Library Collection - East and South-East Asian History
Pages:	498
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.54(h) x 1.14(d)

Read an Excerpt

Fuyu and Manchiu. that by 169 A.d. the Kokorai kingdom embraced the whole of the territory of old Cho-sen, or of Liao Tung, with all the Corean peninsula north of the Ta-tong, and even to the Tumen River. This career of conquest suffered a check for a time, when a Chinese expedition, sailing up the Yalu River, invested the capital city of the king and defeated his army. The king fled beyond the Tumen River. Eight thousand people are said to have been made prisoners or slaughtered by the Chinese. For a time it seemed as though Kokorai were too badly crippled to move again. Anarchy broke out in China, on the fall of the house of Han,' A.d. 220, and lasted for half a century. That period of Chinese history, from 221 to 277, is called the "Epoch of the Three King- dome." During this period, and until well into the fifth century, while China was rent into "Northern " and " Southern " divisions, the military activities of Kokorai were employed with varying results against the petty kingdoms that rose and fell, one after the other, on the soil between the Great Wall and the Yalu River. During this time the nation, free from the power and oppression of China, held her own and compacted her power. In the fifth century her warriors had penetrated nearly as far west as the modern Peking in their cavalry raids. Wily, in diplomacy, as brave in war, they sent tribute to both of the rival claimants for the throne of China which were likely to give them trouble in the future. Dropping the family name of their first king, they retained that of their ancestral home-land, and called their nation Korai. Meanwhile, as they multiplied in numbers, the migration of Kokorai people, henceforth known asKorai men, set steadily southward. Weakness in China meant strength in Korai. The Chines...

Table of Contents

Preface; Bibliography; Part I. Ancient and Mediaeval History: 1. The Corean peninsula; 2. The old kingdom of Cho-sen; 3. The Fuyu race and their migrations; 4. Sam-han, or southern Corea; 5. Epoch of the three kingdoms - Hiaksai; 6. Epoch of the three kingdoms - Korai; 7. Epoch of the three kingdoms - Shinra; 8. Japan and Corea; 9. Korai, or united Corea; 10. Cathay, Zipangu, and the Mongols; 11. New Cho-sen; 12. Events leading to the Japanese invasion; 13. The invasion - on to Seoul; 14. The campaign in the north; 15. The retreat from Seoul; 16. Cespedes, the Christian chaplain; 17. Diplomacy at Kioto and Peking; 18. The second invasion; 19. The siege of Uru-san castle; 20. Changes after the invasion; 21. The Issachar of eastern Asia; 22. The Dutchmen in exiles; Part II. Political and Social Corea: 23. The eight provinces; 24. The king and royal palace; 25. Political parties; 26. Organization and methods of government; 27. Feudalism, serfdom, and society; 28. Social life, woman and the family; 29. Child life; 30. Housekeeping, diet, and costume; 31. Mourning and burial; 32. Outdoor life, characters and employments; 33. Shamanism and mythical zoology; 34. Legends and folklore; 35. Proverbs and pithy sayings; 36. The Corean tiger; 37. Religion; 38. Education and culture; Part III. Modern and Recent History: 39. The beginnings of Christianity; 40. Persecution and martyrdom, 1801–34; 41. The entrance of the French missionaries, 1835–45; 42. The walls of isolation sapped; 43. The French expedition; 44. American relations with Corea; 45. A body-snatching expedition; 46. Our little war with the heathen; 47. The ports opened to Japanese commerce; 48. The year of the treaties; Appendix; Index.