Fifteen Years Among the Top-Knots: Or, Life in Korea (Classic Reprint) [Paperback]

Lillias H. Underwood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 18, 2010

FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE TOP-KNOTS CHAPTER I First Arrival-First Impressions-The City of Seoul-Korean Houses-Mission Homes-Personnel of Mission in 1888- Beginnings of Work-Difficulties in Attaining the Language -Korean Religions-Palace Women-First Interview with Palace Women-Entertainment Given in my Honor by President of Foreign Office-The Interdict-Confidence Exhibited by Government in Protestant Missionaries-The "Baby Riots"-Babies Reported to have been Eaten at Foreign Legations-Restoring Confidence-The Signal-First Invitation to Palace. I landed in Korea at the port of Chemulpo on a cloudy, windy March day, in 1888. My eyes fell on a rocky shore, back of which the bare sharp outline of low hills, whitened with patches of snow, was relieved by no trees to break the monotony of the scene. Dreary mud flats, instead of a sandy beach, lay reeking and slimy along the water's edge. As our boat neared the shore, for there was and is no pier, and ships even at high tide cannot app

Table of Contents

CONTENTS; CHAPTER I; p; First Arrival-First Impressions-The City of Seoul -Korean Houses-Mission Homes-Personnel of Mission in 1888-Beginnings of Work-Difficulties in Attaining the Language-Korean Religions-Palace Women-First Interview with Palace Women-Entertainment Given in my Honor by President of Foreign Office-The Interdict-Confidence Exhibited by Government in Protestant Missionaries -The "Baby Riots''-Babies Reported to Have Been Eaten at Foreign Legations-Restoring Confidence-The Signal- First Invitation to Palace; CHAPTER II; The Palaces-The Stone Dogs-The Fire God's Defeat- The Summer Pleasure House-Royal Reception Hall- Court Dress of Noblemen-First Impression of the King- Appearance of the Queen-The Queen's Troubles-The Queen's Coup d'£tat-The Verb Endings-The Queen's Generosity-Stone Fight-Gifts-The Quaga-Poukhan- Its Impregnability-Picturesque Surroundings of Seoul- Pioneer Work-Progress of Work-The Queen'

Product Details

• Paperback: 362 pages
• Publisher: Forgotten Books (March 18, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1440069425
• ISBN-13: 978-1440069420
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,868,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This edition is not complete, April 24, 2009

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Book Oblate (Mid atlantic east coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fifteen Years Among The Top-Knots: Or Life In Korea (Hardcover)

This review is primarily about the Kessinger Publishing Legacy reprint that is featured here. While Kessinger includes a disclaimer about the quality of their reproduction, this edition is a particularly shabby copy. Missing are all but two or three of the photograph plates (about 30 missing), and 84 pages including the last 3 chapters. The copyright-free book is available free from several web book sources, including Google, and can also be downloaded as a PDF. The photographs in the online book are wonderful and rare images that add a lot to the overall picture of Korea when it was labeled a hermit nation.

Lillias Horton was a doctor who went to Korea in 1888 as a Christian humanitarian missionary, whereupon she married one of the first missionaries to land in Korea, Horace Underwood. They traveled throughout Korea for fifteen years, and also had connections with the Korean court. This memoir of her travels is revealing and important for its eyewitness viewpoint, provincial as it is, of Korea in an era so few Westerners were familiar with.