Gift-giving in Joseon: Part 1

King Gojong in the winter of 1883/84. Robert Neff Collection

By Robert Neff

• Published Dec 30, 2023 11:21 AM KST
• Updated Dec 31, 2023 3:26 PM KST

Often business is nothing more than the purchase of another person’s time. But sometimes, it takes a physical form. One of the earliest business transactions involving Americans and Koreans took place in the summer of 1883 when Kim Ok-kuin, a Korean official, purchased a number of items from James R. Morse, an American businessman who owned “The American Clock & Brass Company” in Yokohama, Japan.

In a letter to the American legation in Seoul, Morse wrote about “quite a friend of [his]” residing in Seoul, who “has been doing considerable business with me in the way of fine jewelry, furniture, etc. I have imported some very nice goods for him and other things, expensive watches, gold and platinum chains, and I have his order for some rather expensive furniture.”

The watches Kim Ok-kuin (the “quite a friend”) purchased were gifts for the royal family and were solid gold with diamonds. They were, by no means, cheap. In 1879, gold watches in Yokohama were selling between $55 and $120 – I am assuming the watches studded with diamonds that Kim bought were even more expensive.

Watches were the ideal gift – especially in Korea as they were extremely popular and hard to come by. American naval officers visiting Korea were frequently mobbed by the common people; not so much because they were foreigners, but because of the strange things they possessed. According to one visiting naval surgeon in early 1884:

“[The Korean common people’s] curiosity is extremely for anything peculiar as photographic instruments and guns, watches or jewelry.” But, he added, “Ordinarily they pay little attention to us on shore and never follow us offensively in crowds.” I guess the crowds in Seoul were a little pushier but still respectful enough that the officers did not feel threatened.

In 1884, it seems like everyone was trying to buy a watch. In the mountainous region of Gangwon Province, the blacksmith at the Jardine Matheson & Co.’s gold prospecting site really wanted a watch and was willing to pay good money for it. When the British representative of the company arrived for a visit, the blacksmith asked the Englishman to buy a silver watch in Shanghai and send it back to him at the camp. The Englishman agreed but apparently did not complete the request in a timely manner causing the frustrated blacksmith to implore the camp’s supervisor, a Dane, to take the “opportunity to make inquiry about” the delinquent purchase.

I am unsure if the blacksmith ever received his watch but, a few months later, the Dane sent another missive to the company’s offices in Shanghai complaining about a watch. Apparently, a local Korean magistrate initially “refused to take any gratuity for [the] services” he rendered to Jardine Matheson & Co., but this may have been because he was looking for something more valuable than money – time (in the form of a watch). According to the Dane, “I have already presented his father with my silver watch, when he asked me to sell it to him,” and I suppose he “expects the same.”

Watches were very popular gifts. On the New Year 1884, Rose Foote, the wife of the American Minister to Korea (Lucius Foote), presented Yun Chi-ho, “a solid gold watch.” Yun Chi-ho, at the time was an employee in the American legation, but he would later play a leading role in Joseon politics, even after Korea was annexed by Japan.

Judging by the various conflicting accounts (naval officers’ accounts and her biography by her close friend), Rose was a very interesting character. She also seems to have had a strange sense of gift giving.

In honor of the Korean queen’s birthday, in November 1884, Rose presented the Korean queen with an oil painting (I am assuming she didn’t paint it but had brought it with her from California), and, at the same time, presented a gold watch chain to the palace’s senior lady-in-waiting. I guess beauty and value truly are in the eye of the beholder, but I think I would have preferred lady-in-waiting’s gift. However, I cannot help but wonder what happened to the painting – has it disappeared forever with the passage of time or has it been forgotten and is gathering dust in one of the palace archives or in a museum?

The royal family also gave out watches. In mid-May 1884, a competition was held in the palace in which a gold watch was given as the grand prize. Yun Chi-ho attended but did not win. He doesn’t seem to have been bitter about not winning – perhaps because he already had a couple of gold watches.

Not all recipients of these timely prizes were Korean. In 1896, The Independent, a newspaper published in Seoul, wrote:

“The students of the Royal English School had their new uniforms on yesterday and drilled before His Majesty in the afternoon. They looked really neat and orderly and they drilled remarkably well. His Majesty was very much pleased with them and thanked Professors Hutchinson and Halifax for their creditable instructions. The English Sergeant who has been drilling these boys received a handsome gold watch from His Majesty for his service. There were a number of spectators from the different Legations and all seemed pleased with the boys. We hope this recognition from His Majesty and praises from the others will encourage the students in adopting more progressive ideas.”

Of course, receiving gifts could also be dangerous. In September 1897, Yun Chi-ho wrote in his diary:

“His Majesty [Gojong] was very gracious. He took my watch and examined it, asking me where I got it. Of course I could not tell him that it was a present of Kim O.K. He asked me if I had given my wife a nice watch. I told him that she has the watch given me by the late Queen.”

The Kim referred to was, of course, Kim Ok-kuin, whose time had ran out when he was assassinated in China in 1894 with the Korean king’s blessing. The corpse was brought back to Korea and chopped into parts at Yanghwajin ferry landing (near Hapjeong Station) as a warning.

Sometimes gifts were exchanged between monarchs and their royal families.

When Prince Henry (Albert Wilhelm Heinrich) of Prussia, visited Korea, he presented Prince Yi Jae-sun (often known to the foreigners as The Fat Prince), “the most valuable present he could find to remember him [Yi] by, an imperial gift from one royal prince to another.” The gift was an American watch which William Franklin Sands, an American advisor to the Korean government, caustically noted could be bought for a mere 10 dollars.

And, to the Korean emperor, the Prince Henry presented “a carved wooden cuckoo clock such as hands in every peasant’s house in the Harz Mountains.”

I believe Sands’ harsh criticism may have been influenced by his own personal dislike for the Prussian prince, but that story will have to wait for another time.

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