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Robert Neff

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Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.

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Opinion

Dragons in the Palace

For many young foreign diplomats, Seoul in the late 1880s was a wild and exciting adventure. It was, of course, filled with political intrigue and assassinations; the main players were disgruntled court officials, members of the royal family and, reportedly, even the supernatural. According to Charles Chaille-Long, the secretary of the American legation in Seoul: "The King's Palace in 1888 was a collection of yamen, temple-like constructions, gloomy enough in the day, very dark and difficult to illuminate at night ― the very place for the pranks of the Evil Dragon." One morning ― presumably in the spring ― a great cry arose in the palace. In the middle of the night, while they were sleeping, several of the Korean soldiers at the palace were deprived of their topknots ("sangtu"). This act was a serious blow to their masculinity as topknots were a symbol of manhood ― gained only after marriage.

May 22, 2022By Robert Neff
Dragons in the Palace
Opinion

Shocking treatment: Electricity in 19th-century medical treatment

In the summer of 1877, a new type of medicine was introduced into Korea. Dr. Yano, a Japanese naval surgeon, established a hospital in Fusan (now part of modern Busan) where he treated not only the Japanese residents of the enclave but also Koreans from the surrounding regions. At first, many Koreans distrusted this foreign doctor and his new medicines, but, upon hearing glowing testimonies from their peers who had received treatment, their reluctance faded away and the hospital was soon frequented by those in desperate situations. According to one observer: “The Coreans are most astonished, and think that there must be something supernatural in the treatment.” Sometimes these treatments came in the form of potions and ointments. A Korean official who complained of having “rather weak eyes,” was given “a bottle of the Seikisui eye-medicine” and was very impressed with its results and made his satisfaction well-known to those around him. Subsequently, the medicine acquired a great reputation and a large quantity of this wonder drug was requested ― some orders were even received from S

May 21, 2022By Robert Neff
Shocking treatment: Electricity in 19th-century medical treatment
Opinion

The open secrets of Korea's 'namsadang' art troupes

A troupe of entertainers dance in the early 20th century.   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffIn the late 19th century, large itinerant troupes of male entertainers ― known as “namsadang” ― roamed the Korean countryside providing the common people with a brief respite from their everyday lives through acrobatics, music, dance and puppet plays. They have been described as the “voice of the common people,” as the performers were commoners themselves.Often, their songs, plays and puppet shows mocked and ridiculed the upper classes who equally held the namsadang as “an object of extreme disdain,” yet, seemingly tolerated them. As researcher Sim Usong noted, “Though it cost [the landowners and gentry] some money, they were able to work the farmers more efficiently. They were also able to subdue any ill feelings the populace might have felt toward them.” It might be interesting to add that it wasn't overly uncommon for magistrates and officials to be violently removed (killed) when their enraged subjects reached their breaking poi

May 15, 2022By Robert Neff
The open secrets of Korea's 'namsadang' art troupes
Opinion

Folk entertainment at village festival in 1957

In 1957, Richard Rutt ― an Anglican missionary ― wrote a series of anonymous articles for The Korea Times in which he described his life in a small village near Pyeongtaek. He was a master storyteller and his narratives were vivid, humorous and filled with detail which granted his readers the opportunity to escape the hustle and bustle of Seoul and relax in the simplicity of the countryside as it transitioned from the past to the present. Thus, it is not surprising, his articles were compiled and later published as "Korean Works and Days: Notes from the diary of a country priest."

May 14, 2022By Robert Neff
Folk entertainment at village festival in 1957
Opinion

Jemulpo tennis tournament in 1902

Foreign Public Park (now known as Jayu Park) in Jemulpo circa 1905-20. Johnston's villa can be seen in the background.   Courtesy of Diane Nars CollectionBy Robert NeffOne of the first foreign sports to be introduced into Korea was tennis. In the spring of 1884, the American minister, Lucius Foote, and his wife Rose had a tennis court constructed at the American Legation in Seoul. About a month later, a tennis court was set up in Fusan (modern Busan) by the Western employees of the Korean Customs Service.Within a couple of years, tennis was very popular among the Western community. In Seoul, afternoons were whiled away on the tennis courts at the various legations and missionaries' residences. These matches appear to have been quite competitive. In September 1885, Mrs. Harriet Heron, the wife of an American missionary in Seoul, had to seek medical treatment in Shanghai after being struck in the eye with a tennis ball. It isn't clear when tennis began in Jemulpo but it doesn't challenge the imagination to assume it began in the mid-1880s on crude courts and later on the perm

May 7, 2022By Robert Neff
Jemulpo tennis tournament in 1902
Opinion

Children during the Korean War

Children play in the street in Gapyeong or Chuncheon City in 1952.   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffIn the spring of 1952, Frederic H. Dustin, a 22-year-old American soldier, arrived at Incheon and was quickly transported to his unit in the Gapyeong area. One of his first impressions of Korea was of the children gathered along the railroad tracks asking the soldiers aboard the train for chocolates and change. For the next couple of months, he saw nothing of the country save the countryside surrounding his camp.In July 1952, Dustin received R&R (rest & relaxation) leave and traveled south to Seoul. In a letter to his parents, he described the abject poverty and dismal conditions that greeted him: “One has no idea I'm sure of the horrible plight many of these people are in. Really awful.” He went on to describe the great number of “old, broken down, dirty, filthy, foul-smelling” women who approached him on the street begging for food. “In any alleyway or the street, for that matter, are women sitting, naked babies in their arms or la

May 5, 2022By Robert Neff
Children during the Korean War
Opinion

Jemulpo in the 1900s: An 'unattractive entrance to a great adventure'

Jemulpo in the early 1900s. The Japanese Settlement is on the left side of the street (the large building is the Daibutsu Hotel) and the Chinese Settlement is on the right side. Note the Lung Kee tailor shop.   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffIn the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Jemulpo (modern Incheon) was described as an “unattractive entrance to a great adventure.” Many visitors bemoaned the lack of trees on surrounding hills, the vast expanse of mudflats which were exposed during the low tide and the haphazardly developed port consisting of four parts or settlements: the Japanese, Chinese, Korean and “General Foreign.” There was, however, a certain degree of charm to Jemulpo. It was said to be one of the more hygienic open ports among those in China, Japan and Korea and the more affluent foreign residents of Seoul often moved to Jemulpo in the summer to escape the oppressive heat of the capital city. In 1901, the port had a permanent population of about 20,000 people. Of course, Koreans, Chinese and Japanese made up the greater portion

Apr 30, 2022By Robert Neff
Jemulpo in the 1900s: An 'unattractive entrance to a great adventure'
Opinion

Korea's 1902 cholera epidemic

Outside the East Gate circa 1900s   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffAccording to William Franklin Sands, an American adviser to the Korean government, the great cholera epidemic of 1902 struck Korea in the late summer without warning. Years later, Sands recalled:“One morning forty men were dead in a cell of the central prison. The cell was built for twelve, but forty-eight had been crowded in. The jail was built on the main sewer canal and drained into it. Women washed their food and washed their clothes in the canal and threw their refuse there. At night countrymen came in to carry off loads of the black muck to spread on the market gardens and raise the cucumbers and melons that everybody ate in the streets. There was no doubt that an epidemic must spread from the prison to the town.”Actually, Sands wasn't quite accurate in his account. The disease had been reported throughout the country ― especially near the Chinese border ― long before the outbreak in Seoul. The small communities ― far from the view of the emperor ― were forced, at least in the beginnin

Apr 25, 2022By Robert Neff
Korea's 1902 cholera epidemic
Opinion

Emperor Gojong's meeting with an observant British sailor

The British consul heads to the Korean palace in the 1890s.   Robert Neff CollectionBy Robert NeffOn April 10, 1901, the British representative in Korea presented the Order of the Grand Commander of the Indian Empire to Emperor Gojong. The Korea Review ― an English-language magazine published in Seoul ― declared in a very short article that the document accompanying the decoration was one of the last signed by the late Queen Victoria with her own hand.For such an amazing honor, it seems somewhat disappointing the Korea Review deigned to celebrate it with such a short article. Fortunately, soldiers and sailors love to complain and moan and often lack the tact of their diplomatic counterparts.A British sailor ― his identity is not given ― accompanied his captain along with three other officers to Seoul in order to confer the award, which he described as “a somewhat magnificent order, badge, and collar, evidently instituted to a great extent as suitable for dusky potentates, &c.” All arrangements had been made for the award to be bestowed upon the emperor but a

Apr 24, 2022By Robert Neff
Emperor Gojong's meeting with an observant British sailor
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