The Korea Times

Joseon dragons' great influence over weather, state affairs

Wonju City circa 1910s-1920s   Courtesy of Jan Downing CollectionBy Robert NeffDragons have dwelt on the Korean Peninsula since the beginning of time ― at least according to the legends and folklore. These mystical creatures or entities were also popular subjects to grace the pages of Westerners' letters home or to the editors of their local newspapers.Dr. Albin Garfield Anderson (1882-1971), an American medical missionary, claimed Koreans believed gods were responsible for the weather and that if these gods were properly approached or beseeched, the weather patterns could be changed for the better or worse ― depending on the whims of these divine beings. According to Anderson, residents of Wonju where he spent his first few years in Korea would write prayers for rain on pieces of paper and hang them from branches of trees on the surrounding mountains or paste them to stones. However, there was an easier method than trekking up the steep mountain: all one had to do was go to the market:“Two dragons lie between the market stalls, each about 100 feet long and two feet h

Jul 9, 2022By Robert Neff

Joseon dragons' great influence over weather, state affairs

Opinion

Baseball in Joseon: Part 2

Playing baseball at a park in Busan circa 1920s-40   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffPhillip Gillett, an American missionary working with the YMCA, is often credited as being the first to introduce baseball to Korea in 1905. He helped popularize it and form a Korean baseball team, the Hwangseong YMCA Baseball Team. The following year, he helped arrange the first official Korean baseball match on Feb. 11, 1906. It would not be the last game. Dr. Alfred Irving Ludlow, an American medical missionary, recalled that when he arrived in Korea in 1912, he pitched against one of the first Korean baseball teams in Seoul. These early games were not well-attended ― only a few passersby who stopped to see what the foreigners and Koreans were doing. But over the next couple of years, the game became quite popular in Seoul. Ludlow explained:“In Korea, a young boy is often required to care for his baby brother or sister who is strapped to his back. Even this, though a handicap, does not deter the boy from playing baseball. I have often seen such a boy at the bat, while the little

Jul 3, 2022By Robert Neff

Opinion

Baseball in Joseon: Part 1

Baseball at the Oriental Consolidated Mining Company (OCMC) in northern Korea circa 1930s   Courtesy of Jan DowningBy Robert NeffOn a beautiful fall afternoon in late October 1894, baseball made its appearance in Seoul. It isn't clear if this was the first baseball game to be played in Korea, but it is the earliest account I could find and clearly predates the popular belief that baseball began in Korea in 1905.The game was held near the East Gate and involved American sailors and Marines stationed in Seoul as part of the Legation Guard. We know that the USS Concord was anchored at Jemulpo (present day Incheon) and part of its crew, under the command of Lieutenant Gile, served as the Legation Guard but there also seems to have been a small detachment of sailors and Marines from the USS Baltimore assigned to the Legation Guard. It doesn't challenge the imagination to assume the game was between the crews of the two ships.Unfortunately, we know very little about the event. Elizabeth Greathouse, who mentioned the game in passing in her daily diary entry noting that her son wen

Jun 25, 2022By Robert Neff

Opinion

The Royal English School's Sports Day

A sports day in the early 1900s.  Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffIn her diary, on June 16, 1897, Elizabeth Greathouse duly noted that it was a cloudy day but it promised to be a good day for the Royal English School's annual athletic sports day. She wasn't quite sure what the students were going to do ― some type of gymnastics, she guessed ― but she looked forward to attending the event with two Korean ladies. They were due to arrive at 3 and they would walk or take their chairs (palanquins) to the old drill ground ― plenty of time to get there before the sporting events began at 4.She had another reason for wanting to go ― one of her young male friends, a Mr. Yuk, was competing and she hoped he would win a prize.The Independent ― the local newspaper published in Korean and English ― described the event:“The arrangements of the campus and decoration of the grand stand deserve favorable comments. The old drill ground of Hunyunan was fenced off in circular form to prevent the spectators from interfering with the exercises, and a temporary entrance to the grand stand was

Jun 20, 2022By Robert Neff

Opinion

The assassination attempt of Heungson Daewon'gun

The beauty of Unhyeongung in April 2022.  Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffOn the morning of June 15, 1892, the residents of Seoul awoke to the booming of thunder. It was a very welcomed sound. One elderly American wrote in her diary, the sky had “every appearance of rain, we all hope it may come.” Indeed, many of the farmers were probably praying fervently knowing that a bountiful rain would help ensure a successful harvest, but others, before the end of the evening, would rue the rain ― perhaps curse it ― for it dampened their Machiavellian plans.Heungson Daewon'gun, the father of the king, had long been a thorn in his son's side. In the recent past, he had been notorious for his plots to undermine his son's authority and was especially nefarious to the queen's whom he considered to be his mortal enemy. However, age had mellowed the elderly man ― he was about 71 years old ― and in recent years he “had remained apparently aloof from the politics, though rumor, in view of his antecedents, often connected his name with suggestive canards.”Throughout the

Jun 18, 2022By Robert Neff

The assassination attempt of Heungson Daewon'gun

Opinion

Secret journey to Daegu in 1875

The fortress at Fusan in the late 19th century   Courtesy of Diane Nars CollectionBy Robert NeffTraveling alone through the Korean countryside in March 1875 was dangerous ― especially if you were a foreigner. However, one young Japanese man from Tsushima Island, likely a student interpreter at Fusan (modern Busan) and possessed by the folly of youth and the mastery of the Korean language, was determined to explore Korea beyond the small Japanese enclave at Fusan. He wrote:“After studying Korean for several years and becoming pretty well acquainted with the language, the idea entered my mind to make a tour of observation through the interior of the country in disguise.”His destination was the great market city of Daegu ― a fairly conservative city that would later gain a seemingly well-deserved reputation as being unfriendly to foreign visitors.In preparation for his journey, he let his hair and beard grow out so that his “general appearance, in [the] course of time, resembled that of a Korean.” Following the advice of his Korean companion, he put on

Jun 12, 2022By Robert Neff

Opinion

The earliest students of Korea and 'things Korean'

In late 1884, there were only a handful of Westerners residing in Seoul. Some of these men were recognized later as experts on "things Korean." Men like William George Aston, a British diplomat, who studied and learned Korean while in Japan in preparation for being assigned to Korea in 1884.

Jun 11, 2022By Robert Neff

The earliest students of Korea and 'things Korean'

Opinion

Born on the fifth day of the fifth moon

By Robert NeffA visage of the past ― Gyeongju, the ancient capital of Silla. Postcard, circa 1920s.  Courtesy of Diane Nars CollectionIn the late 19th century, books written in English about Korean history were often more amusing than informative because they were filled with inaccuracies, folktales, myths and deliberate deceptions. Horace N. Allen, an early American missionary doctor and later the American representative to Korea, was fond of amusing foreign readers on the peninsula ― as well as those abroad ― with his tales of Korea's past.One of his more interesting tales was published in 1896 and immediately grabs the reader's attention: “In former times it was believed that a son born of the 5th [day] of the 5th moon must be killed, otherwise he would overthrow the dynasty, if of royal birth, or ruin his father, if of ordinary parentage.” Allen claimed that the last king of Silla had “a son born on that unfortunate date and fearing lest his dynasty might be overthrown by him, he tossed the new-born babe out” into an adjoining courtyard to be devoured

Jun 5, 2022By Robert Neff

Opinion

Celebrating Dano in 1900

A group of men gathered in the mountains circa 1903. Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffTo the foreign visitor (and many younger Koreans), Dano is possibly one of the least-known Korean holidays. Even in the late 19th century, when it was well celebrated in Korea, it was rarely mentioned by Westerners in their letters home.One of the few exceptions was a young American gold miner at Unsan named Rush McCargar. In 1900, accompanied by an interpreter, he made his way to the mining camp's nearest Korean village so that he could describe “one of the biggest holidays of the East” to his family. Of course, he also had his camera and took a number of pictures ― not so much because he wanted to send them home, but rather because he wanted to sell them to his fellow miners so that they could send them to their families. Rush made a tidy little sum of money from this secondary occupation. (I won't be including any of his photographs in this article as they will appear in my book about McCargar which will hopefully be published by the end of the year)There were crowds of people gath

Jun 4, 2022By Robert Neff

Opinion

'Let there be light' for Joseon Court

The palace in the winter of 1883/84   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffIn late November 1886, William McKay, a 23-year-old Scottish-American, his wife Anna and their infant son Willie arrived in Jemulpo to help “enlighten” Joseon ― at least the palace ― with electricity. McKay was brought to the peninsula as an “electric light teacher” and his primary responsibility was to set up the power plant purchased by the Korean government from the Edison Company.McKay and his family made their way to Seoul and stayed with Horace N. Allen, an American missionary and physician, and his family until the Korean government could provide them with their own home. While waiting for the power plant and a second (unnamed) engineer to arrive, McKay examined the palace grounds and decided the best spot for the plant would be next to a lotus pond so that it could provide water for the boiler. On Jan. 3, 1887, a resident in Jemulpo wrote:“The Higo Maru brought an Electric Light plant here for the King's palace, in Seoul. It is said to be the best plant that has e

May 29, 2022By Robert Neff

Robert Neff

Read more

Joseon dragons' great influence over weather, state affairs

Baseball in Joseon: Part 2

Baseball in Joseon: Part 1

The Royal English School's Sports Day

The assassination attempt of Heungson Daewon'gun

Secret journey to Daegu in 1875

The earliest students of Korea and 'things Korean'

Born on the fifth day of the fifth moon

Celebrating Dano in 1900

'Let there be light' for Joseon Court

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