[Joseon Images]Yankee Encounters with Korean Enlightenment

A bridge leading into Seogwang Temple, circa 1920s / Robert Neff Collection

By Robert Neff

In late 1884, George C. Foulk, an American navy ensign, traveled extensively around the Korean Peninsula and documented ― in great detail ― all that he encountered. Amongst his notes are some interesting tidbits:

"Crossing from Tuksom, near Seoul, is a Buddhist temple at which the W.C. is so high (or deep) that when people use it, that which they've 'gotten through with' reaches the bottom only a year afterwards."

He went on to visit the legendary Haein Temple and commented favorably upon the thousands of wooden printing blocks but seemed rather unimpressed with the rest of the temple which he described as shabby. His (and his Korean servant's) disappointment also extended to the toilet ― it was only about eight meters deep and was built over a ledge in a valley.

In late October 1888, Charles Chaille-Long, the secretary of the American legation in Seoul, wrote about his visit to Seogwang Temple (located near Wonsan).

Seogwang Temple circa 1920s / Robert Neff Collection

He was greeted at the main building by a throng of "ever-curious bonzes and neophytes" who heartily welcomed him to their temple. The head monk, "Suit Ho," provided the American with a room in the large main building. According to Chaille-Long, this great show of hospitality may have been because he was the first Westerner to visit the temple. Of course, this claim has to be taken with a grain of salt as he had the unpleasant propensity to exaggerate ― or even lie ― about his feats.

Their attention soon began to annoy him. "Every article of [my] apparel becomes a subject of curious inquiry and endless criticism, inquiry which is carried on by gestures rather than speech, because the reader will understand that the Corean language is difficult to acquire, and my vocabulary, hastily compiled, was limited to subjects relating to the ponies, the pack, and the cuisine."

His dinner apparently caused them a great deal of entertainment resulting in him becoming even more irritated.

"[They] were lost in amazement to see a gentleman prepare his own food, and laughed immoderately to observe the manner in which it had been placed in tin cans or bottles." He smugly noted that after he tossed the empty cans aside, the young priests and adepts "scrambled [for them] like so many children." He finally grew tired [physically and mentally] and threw them out of the room.

In the morning, he invited Suit Ho to join him for breakfast. Chaille-Long set out quite a spread: "omelette au fromage, biscuit Huntley and Palmer, broiled corned beef and boiled eggs and butter" all from cans. According to the American, the head priest assured him that "he had never partaken of such excellent fare." Later visitors would also try and tempt young priests into eating meat ― most refused.

After breakfast, the American took several pictures of the temple, "gave a liberal fee of copper cash" and signed the donation book before continuing on with his journey to Seoul. These compulsory "donations" rankled later visitors ― especially the missionaries. Some even claimed that small goods and petty cash were stolen ― presumably by the adepts or priests. It is not inconceivable; in 1904 a priest murdered a firewood merchant for his goods.

A priest at Seogwang Temple, circa 1920s / Robert Neff Collection

For the most part, the relationship between Americans and Buddhists was good. In the 1890s, the American community in Seoul often sought shelter from the brutal summers by renting some of the temple buildings on Mount Bukhan. Elizabeth Greathouse and her son Clarence (the American legal adviser to the Korean government) were on very good terms with the Buddhist priests and often received bottles of makgeolli as gifts. Judging from Elizabeth's diaries and the accounts of her contemporaries, the Greathouses were alcoholics.

While American missionaries generally got along with Korean Buddhists, there was one missionary who went out of his way to cause trouble. In 1893, Samuel Forman Moore ― a Presbyterian ― was accused of smashing some of the images when he visited a Buddhist temple.

When confronted, Moore denied he had smashed any idols: "not even one image was cracked or injured in the slightest degree. It was only when the chief priest of the temple had agreed with me that the images were a lot of rubbish and ought to be thrown away that I lightly tapped one as illustrating their inanity."

A view inside Seowang Temple, circa 1920s / Robert Neff Collection

The legation's secretary, Horace N. Allen, a former Presbyterian missionary, witnessed the act and denounced Moore as being a "crank." Others, more charitable with their censure, described him has being "sometimes more zealous than wise." However, John Sill (who had a very strong religious background and at this time was serving as the American ambassador to Korea) felt no need for tact and declared Moore to be "a holy liar."

Robert Neff is a historian and columnist for The Korea Times. He can be reached at robertneff04@gmail.com.