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TERRY BENNETT Introduction by MARTIN UDEN Caught in Time

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Page 1: 1859642217 Caught in Time

TERRY BENNETT

Introduction by

MARTIN UDEN

Caught in Time

Once known as the ‘Hermit Kingdom’, Korea

was first prised open by Japan in 1876;

it opened to the West in 1883, and even today it

remains a little-known country. Yet its distinct

culture and history could not be more colourful

or fascinating. Famous as one of the Asian

Dragon economies, Korea has risen to become

the eleventh largest economy in the world.

This book provides the first-ever com-

prehensive history of photography in Korea and

identifies many previously unattributed images.

Photographs from key private collections and

museum archives in Europe, America and Russia

are collected in this volume, forming a unique

anthology and giving insight into the cultural

heritage of Korea.

It includes the first photographs ever taken

on Korean soil, by the famous war photographer

Felice Beato. He accompanied the American

squadron of five ships which landed in 1871 to

attempt to open Korea to trade. His photographs

show the fighting which ensued and the Korean

people the Americans encountered. Other early

photographs include royal portraits taken in the

1890s. Queen Min, the last queen of Korea, was

assassinated by the Japanese in 1895 and the

striking image presented here is the only known

photograph of her.

With a wide range of pictures by the photo-

graphic pioneers who first travelled to the country,

including stereoscopes, glass slides and albumen

prints – all reproduced in duotone – plus hand-

tinted photographs reproduced in colour, readers

will for the first time be able to see the people,

the landscape, the town-life and the crafts and

costumes of traditional Korea.

Terry Bennett is a specialist in early photo-

graphy of the Far East, with an expert

knowledge of the photographic pioneers who first

explored the world in the late nineteenth century.

He is the author of Early Japanese Images, co-

author of Japan: Caught in Time and has lectured

and published many articles on related topics.

Martin Uden is currently serving as British

Ambassador to the Republic of Korea.

Caught in Time

9 781859642214

ISBN 978-1-85964-221-4

PHOTOGRAPHY, HISTORY

“An impressive selection of imagesof this seldom-photographedcountry…his survey provides asolid introduction to the subject ofearly Korean photography.”ASAHI EVENING NEWS

“This book is the best one I’veseen on early photography inKorea…an excellent startingplace for researchers.”STEREO WORLD

Front cover: Unidentified member of theKorean embassy staff in Japan, .Photographer unknown. Approx.140 x 185mm, hand-coloured print.

www.garnetpublishing.co.uk

Terry B

ennettC

aught in Tim

e

Korea CIT PB Jkt 14/1/09 6:04 PM Page 1

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Caught in Time

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� a r n e tP U B L I S H I N G

Caught in Time

Terry Bennett

with an introduction by

Martin Uden

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Korea: Caught in Time

Production of this book has been made possible by the kindsponsorship of PIFC Benefit Consultants Plc.

Published byGarnet Publishing Limited, 8 Southern Court, South Street, Reading rg1 4qs, UK

Copyright © 1997, 2009 Terry BennettIntroduction copyright © 1997, 2009 Martin Uden

The rights of Terry Bennett and Martin Uden to be identified as theauthors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with theCopyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by anyelectronic or mechanical means, including information storage andretrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher,except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Second edition 2009

ISBN 978-1-85964-221-4

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Copy-editing: Lydia DarbyshireHouse editor: Anna WatsonProduction: Nick HolroydDesign: David Rose

Printed in the Lebanon

Previous page

1. City gate, Seoul, c. 1900.Photographer unknown. 95 x 135mm, silverprint.

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ContentsMap of Korea vi

Preface vii

Acknowledgements viii

Introduction by Martin Uden ix

Photography in Korea 1

Index of Photographers 21

Photographic Terms 25

The Photographs

Contact and Conflict 26

Aristocracy and Government 56

Daily Life 88

Farming and Industry 108

City Life 130

Bibliography 142

Index 144

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0 100 200 kilometres

Nagasaki

Pusan

Inch’on˘Seoul

P’yongyang˘Wonsan

Vladivostok

RUSSIA

C H I N A

Yel lowSea

EastSea

KoreaStra

i t

Komundo˘

JAPAN

Kanghwa

Present-day border

KO

RE

A

MA P O F KO RE A

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THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT EARLY Korean

photographs and the photographers who took

them. As far as I know, this is the first work in

English to have appeared on this subject. A few

photographic books have been published in Korea

to illustrate modern Korean history by means of

photography, but apart from passing references in

various books and articles nothing seems to have

appeared that deals with the history of Korean

photography itself. This book should not, however,

be taken as the last word on this topic; it is a prelim-

inary sketch only, and much work remains to be

done. I hope that this book will act as a stimulus to

researchers and photo-historians, particularly those

inside Korea.

I have drawn on material in institutional hold-

ings and private collections in South Korea, the

United States, Japan, Russia, France and Britain – as

well as on my own collection. I was disappointed to

discover that the number of original nineteenth-

century photographs inside South Korea, in both

institutional and private hands, is extremely small. It

is just possible that more exists in North Korea, but

this seems unlikely.

The study of early Korean photography is not

at all developed inside South Korea – there are no

photo-museums, institutional holdings are meagre

and collectors are few. Until the early 1980s, how-

ever, the same could be said of Japan, and I have no

doubt that interest in Korean photography will

increase substantially over the coming years.This, in

turn, will see more information surface on both the

photographs and the photographers.

The absence here of works by Korean photo-

graphers has not been for lack of effort in trying to

locate them. I still find it incredible that no images

by Korean photographers of the nineteenth and

early twentieth centuries have yet, as far as I have

been able to discover, been formally attributed, but

this situation will surely not last for much longer.

Korea is a fascinating country with a colourful

history and an enduring and sophisticated culture.

I hope that these photographs will help to shed

some light on the people and land of this neglected

and relatively unknown part of the Far East.

TERRY BENNETT

Preface

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vi i i K o r e a

Acknowledgements

Many people have helped to make this book

possible. In particular I should like to thank

Sebastian Dobson for the tremendous assistance

given with the research, Dr James Hoare,

Miss Jo Roberts MBE, Fred Sharf, Rob Oeschle,

Dr Horace G. Underwood,

Professor Kim Jang-Choon, Park Ju-Seok,

Dr Chang-Sou Houchins, Chung Sung-Kil,

Martin Uden and Kim Eun-Hyoung.

Picture Credits

Most of the photographs illustrated come from

the author’s own collection. Other sources are:

Hillier Collection, England.

Figures 96 and 137.

Kawasaki City Museum, Japan.

Figures 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 76, 77, 92, 93, 99,

109, 121.

Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, United States.

Figures 40, 88, 116, 119, 136 and 139.

Royal Geographical Society, England.

Figures 10, 29 and 79.

Russian Geographical Society, St Petersburg.

Figures 54 – 68.

Map of Korea on page vi drawn by

Geoprojects (UK) Ltd.

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I n t r o d u c t i o n <#>

AT THE END OF THE nineteenth century

the country of Chosun, known in the West

as Corea or Korea, from the name of one of the

earlier kingdoms on the peninsula, was ruled by

the Yi Dynasty, which had reigned since 1392. The

country’s experience of foreigners had been almost

uniformly bad, consisting for the most part of in-

vasions by Japan or China, and it therefore followed

a policy of acknowledging China’s suzerainty and

eschewing all other contact with the outside world.

Travellers who came to Korean shores were either

driven off or, if that proved impossible – as in the

case of shipwrecks – were incarcerated and forbid-

den to leave. In fact, much of the Western knowledge

of Korea came from one such Dutch shipwreck

victim in the mid-seventeenth century who man-

aged to escape and tell of his experiences.

Just as Koreans showed little interest in the

outside world, so foreigners made little effort to

penetrate the country. The main exception was that

traditionally determined band, the missionaries.

The first serious attempt to bring Christianity to

Korea was made in the late eighteenth century,

when French missionaries operating out of China

penetrated Korea. They made remarkable progress,

going under the guise of mourners, whose ex-

tremely wide hats conveniently covered their faces

and whom custom afforded respect and freedom

from molestation. Eventually, however, these early

successes turned to tragedy when the Korean gov-

ernment moved against the priests and converts,

and the early church ended its days in martyrdom.

Inside Korea, the same respect for China that

was the basis of its foreign relations underpinned

government and society. Confucianism, the domi-

nant philosophy, taught respect for superiors, be

they king, father, elder brother or husband, and

this led to a deep conservatism, which pervaded

all classes. There were periods of enlightened

thought and significant scientific, technological

and cultural advance, resulting in such achieve-

ments as a scientifically researched alphabet,

movable type and iron-clad warships, but these

occurred in the early centuries of the dynasty. As

time wore on, the country’s energies were dissipat-

ed in court intrigue and official corruption, both

of which occasionally flared up into revolt, while

the combination of a ban on the aristocracy in-

dulging in commerce and of the exactions of

corrupt tax collectors stifled economic develop-

ment and innovation.

The divisions between the social classes were

immutable, with social position being fixed by

birth. An able peasant might conceivably escape

Introduction

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x K o r e a

from a life of toil and win a place of responsibility

at Court but could never cross into the ranks of

the aristocracy. The life of the ordinary farmer

revolved around the yearly cycle of rice cultiva-

tion. But community life in Korea developed

differently from other rice cultures. Crucially, local

government was not in the hands of a local nobili-

ty with a continuing interest in the prosperity of

the area, but in the hands of the provincial gover-

nors and local magistrates, who were appointed by

the central government. They had little motiva-

tion to care for their neighbourhood, their pay

being set so low that extortion and the raking

off of an amount of tax before it reached Seoul

were the expected – and universal – means of salary

augmentation. Inspectors from Seoul travelling

incognito did something to curb greater excesses,

but their achievements were greater in legend

than in real life. The peasant had little reason to

work harder than subsistence required, knowing

that any excess would only go into the pocket of

the magistrate.

While Confucianism was the philosophy offi-

cially supported by the Court, Buddhism, which

had been stronger before the Yi Dynasty, retained

a hold, especially among women. In addition, a

system of animistic folk beliefs, which put faith in

the spirits to be found in animate and inanimate

objects surrounding human existence, continued

to hold sway.

The continuing interest of European nations

and the United States in the opening of China and

Japan to trade meant that the same fate would

befall Korea sooner or later, even if the relative

poverty of the country provided some protection

against foreigners’ curiosity. First in the late eight-

eenth century came naval mapping expeditions to

chart parts of the Korean coast, notably those led by

La Perouse of France and Broughton of Britain.

Such visitors became more frequent in the first half

of the nineteenth century and the tempo increased

after Perry’s expedition to Japan in 1853. But at that

point Korean resistance to foreign influences stiff-

ened. The Tonghak (‘Eastern learning’, as opposed

to the Western learning of Christianity) move-

ment was founded in 1860 and, although it was

decades before it erupted into mass revolt against

foreigners, it marked Korean unease about the

developments in neighbouring countries. In addi-

tion, King Choljong died in 1863 without male

issue and leaving an heir (the future King Kojong)

aged only twelve. The regent appointed during the

heir’s minority brought about a similar change of

language to that which had occurred in Britain with

the Regency. The father of any king took the title

Taewonkun (regent), but from that time the word

became synonymous with this one individual.

The Taewonkun sought to turn back the

clock to the old days of Confucian orthodoxy. He

especially wished to resist the influence of foreign

countries and rigorously pursued a policy of keep-

ing Korea as the ‘Hermit Kingdom’. This entailed

the persecution of Christians and the exclusion of

foreigners from the coasts of Korea. After a visit

by a Russian fleet to Wonsan in 1856, enthusiasts

for some contact with the outside world suggested

that a better alliance could be forged with France

and Britain, using the medium of the French

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I n t r o d u c t i o n xi

Roman Catholic missionaries who were clandes-

tinely present in the country. Such identification

of Christianity with foreign intrigue did nothing

to commend either to the Taewonkun. Continued

persecution of Christians reached a height in 1866

with the Pyong-in massacre. Nine French priests

and hundreds, possibly thousands, of Korean con-

verts were put to death. One of the priests who

escaped to China reported the events to the

French admiral there, and a punitive expedition was

mounted. Three French warships sailed to

Kanghwa island – in the mouth of the Han river,

leading to Seoul – in August 1866, and seven ships

returned a month later. They occupied the island

and looted Kanghwa city, but were driven off after

suffering significant casualties.

Also in 1866 an American ship tried to im-

pose itself on an unwilling Korea when the USS

General Sherman sailed up the Taedong river to-

wards P’yongyang. A Welsh missionary, Robert

Thomas, was on board hoping to distribute bibles

to the local population. But efforts to open dia-

logue were rebuffed and misunderstandings led to

exchanges of fire, with the ship becoming ground-

ed in the shallow river. All hands were massacred,

including Thomas.

The most extraordinary attempt by foreigners

to force themselves on Korea took place in 1868.

Ernest Oppert, a German merchant based in

Shanghai, conceived of a plan to seize the remains

of the Taewonkun’s father and insist on the opening

of the country to foreign trade as the price of their

return. They had, however, underestimated the

thoroughness of Korean funeral practices and were

unable to penetrate the grave. Oppert then went to

Kanghwa where the standard procedure of seeing

off the foreigner with casualties was followed.

The United States made a further attempt to

prise open Korea in 1871 when Admiral Rodgers

with a fleet of five ships came again to Kanghwa, as

the French had before, with the dual objectives of

enquiring after the fate of the USS General

Sherman and the opening of trade relations. But

once more the Koreans were not interested in any

such contact, and the encounters ended in armed

conflict. Casualties were far heavier on the Korean

side than the American, but Rodgers saw little

profit in pursuing further punitive action and

withdrew.

While the foreigner believed that a salutary

lesson had been taught, to the Korean it appeared

that the invader had been successfully seen off.

These missions, intended to teach the Koreans

proper respect for foreigners and to open Korea to

outside influence, instead showed them that

there was little to gain from such intercourse and

that a resolute stance would see foreigners off. The

Taewonkun had stone monuments set up around

the country, warning that fight or surrender were

the only options in dealing with the Western bar-

barians and that any who favoured friendly

relations were traitors to the country.

The Taewonkun was by this time losing his

influence. King Kojong (see figure 44) had reached

his majority and in 1873 the regency came to an

end. The principal power at Court now became

that of Queen Min, Kojong’s wife (see figure 46).

Although the Taewonkun had believed that her

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xi i K o r e a

lack of a power base (her parents had died while

she was a child) and his own relationship to her

through his wife’s family would make her mal-

leable, quite the opposite proved to be the case.

This change in the power balance at Court gave

Japan an opportunity, which other countries had

been seeking, to open the country. Using a combi-

nation of diplomatic envoys and gunboats, the

Japanese forced Korea into a position where it had

to concede to Japan’s demands for trade in the

Treaty of Kanghwa in 1876.

This concession led to other foreign powers

seeking similar advantage. Treaties were signed in

1882 with the US and Britain and thereafter with

other European nations, allowing foreigners to

reside in treaty ports and to exercise jurisdiction

over their own nationals in Korea. Korea became

the object of foreign interest and rivalry. China

and Japan vied for domination, seeking greater

trade rights and greater influence at Court, but

Russia and the other trading nations also kept a

close eye on each other, opening legations in Seoul

and encouraging their own missionaries and busi-

nessmen to move in.

Britain saw Korea through the prism of its

own colonial concerns. British travellers wondered

if Korea could remain independent or if a spell

of colonial rule might be either desirable or in-

evitable. They also wrote of the menace to British

interests of Russian expansionism, seeing Russia’s

manoeuvres around the peninsula as a means of

procuring an ice-free port south of Vladivostok.

Amid divided counsels in London, the

British government determined to occupy Port

Hamilton, an anchorage composed of a circle of

islands off the south coast of Korea, known to

Koreans as Komundo. From 1885 to 1887, the

Royal Navy built a coal depot, barracks and fortifi-

cations on the islands and a barrage in the waters

between (see figures 23 and 26). Protests ensued

from Korea (the British had neither consulted nor

informed the government in Seoul) and from

Russia, although China remained generally aloof

from the quarrel.

Once the British were established in Port

Hamilton, the British Admiralty came to the con-

clusion that the occupation was doing little to

thwart Russian designs and found that it actually

risked weakening the naval presence in the Far

East by tying up precious resources in defence of a

station far removed from the centre of British Far

Eastern interests in Hong Kong. The Chinese

negotiated an undertaking from Moscow not to

occupy any part of Korea if the British withdrew

from Port Hamilton, and the Royal Navy accord-

ingly left the islands as unceremoniously as it had

arrived. The episode remains of great academic

interest in Korea and of some fond memory in the

islands, where the Navy had a reputation as good

employers. To many in Korea, however, it is a sad

reminder of Korea’s impotence at the time, and its

inability to resist the occupation.

By the early 1890s, Korea’s continued inde-

pendence was increasingly in doubt. Its economy

was becoming dominated by Japanese imports

and even Japanese purchase of land and proto-

colonization; foreign influences were dictating

the politics of the Court; foreign advisers were

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I n t r o d u c t i o n xi i i

helping to run crucial departments of state (often,

it must be said, with Korea’s best interests at heart);

and the British occupation of Port Hamilton was a

sign of its lack of military or diplomatic muscle.

Given this background, a nationalistic backlash was

hardly surprising.

It came in the form of the Tonghak uprising

of 1894, which was a protest at foreign (notably

Japanese) domination and at oppression by the

ruling classes. Sporadic revolts had occurred in the

previous few years, but reached a head as the exac-

tions of the local government in the south-west of

the country reached intolerable levels. The conse-

quences of the uprising were quite the opposite of

those intended by the rebels, however. Both China

and Japan used the pretext of the revolts to send in

their own troops to protect their interests, China

having been asked to do so by the Seoul govern-

ment and the Japanese responding under the

terms of the Tientsin Treaty of 1885, which

allowed either to send troops once the other had

done so. The result was the Sino-Japanese War,

the humiliating defeat of China and Japanese

domination in Seoul.

The new Korean government, under the close

supervision of the Japanese minister in Seoul, em-

barked on a programme of reform designed to

sweep away anachronistic Korean practices such

as slavery, the ancient class system and similar so-

cial inequities. They were not popular among the

reactionary elements of society – the Taewonkun

was particularly vociferous in his opposition – but

the Japanese forced him out of power once more.

Russia was unwilling to allow Japan free rein in

Seoul, however, and was able to dislodge the pro-

Japanese cabinet. A bewildering period of intrigue

ensued, with power swinging between the rival

camps and their foreign patrons. Queen Min fell

victim to Japanese assassins in 1895, prompting

King Kojong to seek refuge in the Russian lega-

tion, whence he emerged in 1897 to proclaim

himself emperor of the new Taehan Empire.

The proclamation of a new epoch did little to

change the tide of history. The foreign powers

(although China no longer counted as a serious

contender) continued to vie for influence; foreign

missionaries and businessmen spread through the

country; but the Korean people saw little change to

their sorry lot, and both popular and intellectual

movements to protect Korean independence sprang

up. In the new century the rivalry between Russia

and Japan intensified, reaching a peak in 1904 with

the declaration of a war that was largely fought on

and near the Korean peninsula. By mid-1905

Russia had to admit defeat. For Korea, this meant

that Japanese domination was now unchallenged,

and in November 1905 a protectorate was declared,

ceding to Japan power to conduct Korea’s foreign

relations and the establishment of a Japanese resi-

dent-general in Seoul, who had access to the

emperor on demand. All foreign legations in Seoul

were withdrawn or transformed into consulates.

Emperor Kojong made a last effort to achieve

Korea’s independence in June 1907. He secretly

sent envoys to the Second International Peace

Conference in The Hague, only for them to be re-

fused admittance because they were not entitled to

participate. The Japanese response was to force

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xiv K o r e a

the emperor to abdicate and to install his son

Sunjong in his stead. Resistance to Japanese rule

showed no diminution, the first Japanese resident-

general being assassinated in 1909 by a Korean

patriot and occasional revolts flaring up in the

country. But none of this stopped the total annex-

ation of Korea by Japan in 1910, beginning a

colonial period that ended only with Japan’s defeat

in the Second World War.

The colonial period has left deep and bitter

scars in Korea, the more so since the cumulative

effect and privations grew as time went on.

Korean resistance meant that Japan ruled with a

heavy hand and eventually resorted to strict mea-

sures of Japanization, in the end insisting on

Shinto as the official religion, the banning of the

Korean language and of Korean names. The major

Korean movement for independence which start-

ed on 1 March 1919 resulted in massive repression

and in the realization overseas that, whatever

material benefits rule by an economically advan-

ced nation might bring, they were not enough to

justify Japan’s policies in Korea.

Japan’s defeat in 1945 led to Korean indepen-

dence, but not as envisaged by the Koreans

themselves. The US and Russia had agreed to

divide responsibility for taking the Japanese sur-

render, the 38th parallel marking the line between

them, and this division became more deeply

etched by the attempt by the North to unify the

peninsula by force when it invaded the South on

25 June 1950. The boundary between the two was

changed but little in spite of the massive suffering

and casualties inflicted by the war. A Demilitarized

Zone now marks the border between the southern

Republic of Korea and the northern Democratic

People’s Republic of Korea.

The war left both halves exhausted and shorn

of resources. The North recovered better at first,

but when President Park came to power in the South

in 1961, his single-minded policy of economic re-

form, which involved allowing large corporations

access to cheap capital and government favour and

encouraging a vigorous export drive, permitted

the South’s natural resources of an educated,

homogenous work-force to bring the Republic

from a position ranking with the poorest of the

African countries to become, in 1997, the eleventh

largest economy in the world. Its gross national

product is now larger than most countries of the

European Union, Russia, India or Australia.

A fierce pride in Korean culture and homo-

geneity has been a national trait that even the

earliest foreigners to land on Korea noted. For

them, it found expression in a stubborn refusal to

open Korea to outside influence or admit that

Korea had anything to learn or profit from foreign

contact. Even now, this patriotic pride remains a

potent factor in the economic success of the

Republic of Korea. It is determined to shake off

the disadvantages that history and geography have

dealt it and to prove that it deserves a place among

the most advanced of today’s nations. In doing so,

however, it is equally determined not to lose the

uniquely Korean characteristics that many of the

photographs in this collection portray.

Martin UdenSeoul

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2. A Korean fishing junk with sails, May 1871.Felice Beato. 253 x 223mm, albumen print.

This photograph was taken before the Americans reached, and anchored at, themouth of the Han river. As such, it is possibly the first time that Koreans, albeit

from a distance, were captured on camera.

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Photography in Korea

IT IS, ON THE FACE OF IT, remarkable how

late it was before the camera ventured into

Korea. If we accept that photography effectively

began with Louis Daguerre’s invention in 1839, it

was a full 32 years later, in 1871, that the first docu-

mented photographs to be taken on Korean soil,

appeared.

As Martin Uden has shown, however, photo-

graphy was not the only Western influence that

Korea managed to avoid for so many years. The

‘Hermit Kingdom’, as it was called, was practically

the last country to open its doors to the world –

and then very much against its will. All foreigners,

apart from the Chinese, were looked upon with

suspicion and contempt, and attempts to open up

trade links were rebuffed, with those sailors or

missionaries who were unfortunate enough to be

captured invariably being badly treated or killed.

It was therefore appropriate that news of the

invention of photography should first reach Korea

through China, which served as the Hermit

Kingdom’s window on the world. It is recorded

that during a tribute mission to China in 1863, the

two Korean envoys, Yi Eui-Ik and Oh Kyong-

Seok, visited a photographer’s studio there and

had their portraits taken, thus earning the distinc-

tion of being the first Koreans known to have been

photographed. A later official visitor to China,

Kim Yoon-Sik, who headed a Korean education

mission, also had his portrait taken in a studio in

Tientsin. He took the further step of examining

the possibility of introducing photography to

Korea, but his idea does not seem to have been

translated into action.

While the Chinese connection had at least

introduced the notion of photography to a small

group of Korean officials and intellectuals in the

1860s, the first documented instance of photo-

graphy in Korea itself was to occur as a result of

contact with the despised Europeans and Americans.

In 1866 anti-foreign sentiment broke out and nine

of the resident French priests were massacred.

One of the survivors, Father Ridel, succeeded in

escaping to China, where he delivered the news to

the French consul in Peking and to Admiral Roze,

head of the French fleet stationed in Far Eastern

waters. Ordered to punish this affront to French

pride, Roze prepared a squadron of no fewer than

seven warships and sailed to Kanghwa island, just

off present-day Inch’on. Although the French

marines landed in large numbers, it seems that

they met a very determined enemy, who succeeded

in repelling them and inflicting unexpectedly high

casualties.

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I had expected to find some photographic

record of this expedition, but exhaustive searches

among French institutional archives have failed to

uncover anything definite. However, above is a

contemporary photograph of a water-colour by a

French officer who was present. Opposite are three

small photographs, each of which has an inscrip-

tion in French on the reverse, and their card mounts

certainly have the feel of the 1860s about them.

It is possible that they are from Admiral

Roze’s mission. Accounts by participants describe

a few instances when the French mingled peace-

fully with local Korean inhabitants, and, although

none actually refer to photography, they do at least

indicate that the opportunity to take photographs

was present while the French explored Kanghwa

island and the Han river.

Also in the summer of 1866 an American

merchantman, the USS General Sherman, sailed

into the waters of the present-day North Korean

capital, P’yongyang. Requests for trade were denied,

violence flared, and all the Americans were killed

and their ship burned. Five years passed before

the Americans were ready to mount a ‘diplomatic’

3. A contemporary photograph of a water-colour by the French officer, H. Zuber.Photographer unknown. 187 x 288mm, albumen print.

The scene shows the French advancing on Korean positions during theunsuccessful military expedition of 1866.

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mission to enquire after their citizens and open up

Korea to Western trade. The five American ships

were commanded by the Civil War veteran

Admiral Rodgers, who had previous Far Eastern

experience. The US minister to China, Frederick

Low, was on board with a crew totalling some

1,000 sailors and marines, many of whom were

Civil War veterans like Rodgers, and were quite

ready to take non-diplomatic measures, should the

need arise.

In the interests of Korean photographic his-

tory, it is most fortunate that the Americans

decided to engage Felice Beato as official photo-

grapher to the expedition. Beato, who was then

living in Yokohama, was already one of the most

famous photographers in the world and, together

with his assistant, a Mr H. Woollett, he took some

stunning pictures of the fighting that erupted after

the failure of the American diplomatic efforts. A

number of these first photographs are illustrated

here (figures 7 and 12–22).

It was the Japanese who first opened Korea,

using the threat of military force to extract a treaty

from the Koreans in 1876. Only a few photographs

taken by the Japanese seem to have survived. The

Americans followed the Japanese and concluded a

treaty with Korea in 1882. Figure 40 shows the

Korean delegation in the United States.

4. Korean man, c. 1860s.Photographer unknown. 88 x 57mm, albumen print.

This photograph and the card mount have a 1860s feel, as do the twoothers shown on this page, which were clearly taken at the sametime. All three look as though they could have been taken on board aship. They were acquired by the owner in France and it is possiblethat these were taken during the 1866 French expedition and, if so,would be the earliest Korean photographs extant.

5. Two Koreans, c. 1860s.Photographer unknown. 89 x 61mm, albumen print.

6. Korean man, c. 1860s.Photographer unknown. 84 x 57mm, albumen print.

Korean men wore long braids until marriage, after which the hairwas worn in a top-knot.

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Growing tensions between Russia and Great

Britain led the British to occupy Port Hamilton on

Komundo island in 1885 so that they could keep an

eye on Russian shipping. They had not bothered to

seek permission from the Koreans and did not, in

fact, leave until 1887 when China negotiated their

withdrawal on Korea’s behalf. A reasonable number

of photographs from this period survive and are

illustrated in this book (figures 9 and 23–26).

Turning from events to individuals, it is said

that a Japanese, Kameya Teijiro, was the first to in-

troduce professional photography to Korea, where

he died in 1885. An enthusiastic American

diplomat, George Clayton Foulk, was taking photo-

graphs in Korea during the early 1880s, and a

number of these were published by W. R. Carles

in his 1888 book. The first Koreans to pursue ca-

reers in photography were Kim Yong-Won in

1883, Ji Un-Young and Hwang Chul in 1884, and

Kim Kyu-Jin (Haegang), who became the Court

photographer in around 1895.

Percival Lowell (1855–1916) was appointed

counsellor and foreign secretary to the 1883

Korean mission to the United States. The follow-

ing year, Lowell, who was an enthusiastic

photographer, toured Korea as a guest of the

government, and he published a number of his

own photographs in 1885. Lowell, a member of the

famous Boston Brahmin family, had graduated in

mathematics from Harvard in 1876. After a short

7. American marines being towed ashore for action, June 1871.Felice Beato. 162 x 259mm, albumen print.

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spell in business, he lived in Japan, on and off, be-

tween 1883 and 1893, until in 1894 he founded the

famous Lowell Observatory in Arizona. He de-

voted the rest of his life to the study of astronomy,

conducting a photographic survey of the skies in a

search for a ninth planet in the solar system. After

his death, the subsequent discovery of the planet

Pluto was as a direct result of his earlier mathe-

matical calculations, and he is therefore credited

with its discovery.

Several other Western diplomats, missionar-

ies and travellers used their cameras to greater or

lesser effect during the mid-1880s and until the

outbreak of the 1894–5 Sino-Japanese War. This

war certainly increased the sparse number of

photographs of Korea that were available until

that point, because although the emphasis was on

the conflict itself, the fact that a major part of the

war was fought on Korean soil meant that the

restless camera could not fail to pick up images of

the land and daily life.

The British photographer Herbert Ponting

toured Korea in 1902–3 on behalf of the stereo-

photographic publishing firms, C. H. Graves of

Philadelphia and Underwood & Underwood. The

pictures he took just before war broke out vividly

capture the scenery and way of life of the Korean

people in the final few years of independence prior

to Japanese colonization in 1910. A number of

these poignant reminders of an age long past

appear in this book and they illustrate effectively

the skill of this great artist. The recent recognition

of his talent is long overdue.

Early WesternPhotographers in Korea

Unless and until subsequent research proves

otherwise, the honour of being the first

photographer of Korea must be given to one of

the greatest of nineteenth-century photographers –

Felice Beato. A number of writers, including my-

self, have written about the life of this restless but

brilliant photographer. A short sketch now follows,

but readers who are interested in learning more

should consult the bibliography.

Felice Beato

There is a great deal of uncertainty over the

nationality, place of birth and dates of birth and

death of Felice Beato. He has described himself as

Venetian and as a British citizen, and his name is

distinctly Italian. Although exhaustive research

has failed to uncover his actual place of birth, it is

likely that he was born in Venice, Constantinople

or, perhaps the Greek island of Corfu. Corfu has

changed hands many times throughout its history

and was, for a time, Venetian. It became British

territory in 1815 before reverting to Greek control

in 1864. A Felice Beato is recorded as having been

born in Corfu around 1834, and this would explain

Beato’s British citizenship. In 1858 he was de-

scribed in an Indian publication as being from the

Ionian Islands, and although it is not in itself

conclusive, Beato was appointed Greek consul-

general for Japan in 1873. It may well be, of course,

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that Beato spent his childhood in Venice before

moving to either Constantinople or Corfu.

Beato’s fame came from photographing the

Crimean War in 1855, the Indian Mutiny of 1858

and the 1860 Anglo-French military expedition to

China. In 1863 he moved to Japan, where he took

some stunningly beautiful landscapes and por-

traits of the country and people, and it is perhaps

for his work in Japan that he is most famous. He

stayed there for 21 years, until 1884, subsequently

basing himself in India and in Burma. He is

thought to have died in Burma around 1907.

Beato was the first war photographer; he had

travelled extensively and his work was held in very

high regard. He would, therefore, have been a

strong and natural candidate for the choice of offi-

cial photographer for the American expedition to

Korea in 1871, but his motives for going with the

Americans are not known. It seems that he used

photography as a source of ‘steady income’ but

that his main interest was in accumulating enough

capital to invest in various commercial and prop-

erty-related schemes in the hope of making his

fortune. It is known that he often lost heavily, and

the Korean trip may have been a means of re-

establishing himself financially. It is also likely

that he saw a real commercial advantage in bring-

ing back the first views of Korea, and certainly he

lost no time in marketing them on his return.

Embarking at Nagasaki with his assistant

H. Woollett, Beato left with Admiral Rodger’s

squadron of five ships on 16 May 1871. After the

failure of the diplomatic efforts, Beato was able

to photograph the conflicts of 10 and 11 June and

the carnage inside the captured forts. There is no

doubt that the Americans felt themselves vic-

torious; they had lost three men, the Koreans 350.

The Americans’ superior fire-power and military

experience and their determined and disciplined

force had been overpowering, but contemporary

reports speak of the ferocious fighting and the

willingness of many of the Koreans to fight to the

death. When the American ships left Korea on

3 July little, in truth, had been accomplished, and

the Koreans were able to regard it as a great

victory because the Americans had sailed away

without gaining any particular advantage, just as

the French had done in 1866.

Beato was back in Shanghai by 28 June,

having probably taken passage on the German

frigate Hertha which had come to offer any assis-

tance following false rumours that had been

circulating in Shanghai of an American defeat.

On 30 June, with the American fleet still in Korea,

an advertisement appeared in the Shanghai News

Letter announcing the sale of photographs from

the Korean expedition! (It is remarkable how

quickly Beato managed to produce and market his

Korean portfolio. We tend to think of the nine-

teenth century as having a rather more sedate and

measured business environment than the frenetic

pace of the late twentieth century. But is this really

the case?) The New York Times of 22 July 1871 de-

scribed and listed 47 views in bound volumes. The

Far East magazine of 1 August 1871 described

Korean photographs taken by ‘Mr. Beato and Mr.

Woolett’ (there seems to be no consistency in the

spelling of Beato’s assistant’s name). On 5 July,

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Beato and Woollett left Shanghai and returned to

Yokohama. Beato would never return to Korea.

Herbert George Ponting (1870–1935)

Another 33 years were to pass before another

major western photographer appeared in Korea.

Herbert George Ponting was an extremely gifted

artist, better known for his images of Antarctica

and Japan, but his work in Korea deserves recog-

nition, and a number of his photographs, taken in

1902–3, are included in this book.

Ponting, who was from a wealthy English

family, at first tried to follow in his father’s foot-

steps and pursued a career in banking. But in 1892

he set off for the United States and, with some

family money, purchased a fruit farm in Auburn,

California, and also invested in gold mining.

Married to an American woman in 1895, Ponting

became a father in 1897, but by this time the fruit

farm was in financial difficulties and the gold

mine project was proving to be an expensive

failure. It is said that Ponting was not a good busi-

nessman, and this lack of financial acumen cost

him dear in later life.

The Pontings left for London at the end of

1898, and their second child was born there in

March of the following year. The family returned

to California after a few more months, and it is

about this time that Ponting took up photography

seriously. His first fascination was for stereo-

graphic photography, a process by which a camera

8. General Prince Min Young-Hwan (1861‒1905), Commander-in-Chief of theKorean Army, at his villa in Seoul, 1902‒3.

Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen print stereograph.

Related to Queen Min, he committed suicide in 1905.

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with two lenses photographs a scene from slightly

different angles. When the two photographs are

mounted side by side and viewed through a special

stereoscopic viewer, the effect is three-dimensional,

and this can produce some stunning images. All of

Ponting’s Korean images illustrated in this book

were produced in this format.

Ponting’s talent was quickly recognized, and

offers of work started coming in. He travelled the

world continuously, pursuing his passion for photo-

graphy and carrying out various commissions. In

around 1906 he returned to the United States and

told his wife that he could not combine the

responsibilities of marriage with a demanding

photographic career. He effectively abandoned his

family and saw his children only occasionally in

later years, and although he never divorced, his

relationship with his wife was such that he sub-

sequently cut her out of his will.

In later years, when Ponting’s career was over

and had not proved to be financially successful,

there is evidence to suggest that he was desperately

lonely and regretted the break-up of his family life

and the alienation from his children. In fact, al-

though he had many friends throughout his life,

he had the reputation of being something of a

loner. He returned to Europe permanently in 1912

following his work on Scott’s Antarctic expedition

and from that time until his death in 1935, he suf-

fered continual disappointments and frustrations

in the commercial exploitation of his work.

Between 1901 and 1906, Ponting photo-

graphed extensively throughout the Far East.

He had numerous commissions from magazines,

periodicals and stereo-photograph publishers. It is

difficult to construct an accurate chronology of his

travels in this area but it seems most likely that he

worked in Korea in the second half of 1902 and

perhaps the early months of 1903. We know that

by 1904 he was in Japan, and in Manchuria at the

outbreak of the 1904–5 Russo-Japanese War. His

fame at this time was such that he was selected

from more than one hundred applicants to be the

official photographer of the 1910 expedition to

Antarctica.

Although he wrote several books about his

Japanese work, nothing appears to exist on Korea.

It is necessary, therefore, to allow the pictures to

speak for themselves.

Other Early Western Photographers

A succession of amateur photographers has left

behind a range of images. Whether they were

diplomats, missionaries or travellers, we are in-

debted to them all for adding to the far from

extensive stock of early Korean photographs.

One of the earliest was the American naval

attaché and diplomat George Clayton Foulk

(1856–93). In addition to being an accomplished

amateur photographer, he had privileged access to

King Kojong and the Court, and it is tempting to

speculate that some of the better known but so far

unattributed pictures of Korean royalty may have

come from his camera.

After graduating from the US Naval Academy

in 1876, Foulk served two tours of duty with the

Asiatic Squadron in the Far East. In 1883 he

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accompanied to Korea the first American minister

to that country, Lucius M. Foote, and was naval

attaché at the newly opened legation in Seoul. In

1884 he was promoted to lieutenant, and in the

following year he took over as acting head of the

legation. Although he received only limited assis-

tance (and interest) from Washington, he conducted

his office with great tact and skill against a

background of failing personal health, political

uncertainty and open local hostility. The Chinese,

who were worried about his close relationship

with the Court, successfully conspired to have him

recalled in June 1887. He then decided to move

to Japan, marry a Japanese and work for the

American Trading Company in Yokohama. In

1890 he accepted a professorship in mathematics

at Doshisha College in Kyoto and died there in

1893. W. R. Carles, who was British vice-consul,

acknowledges a debt to Foulk for the photographs

included in his 1888 book. Unfortunately the illus-

trations are either drawings or engravings!

Several photographs taken during the British

occupation of Port Hamilton on Komundo island

in 1885–7 have survived. Commander Edward Davis

(1846–1929) of HMS Daring and Commander

Harry Grenfell (1845–1916) of HMS Pegasus are

known to have taken landscapes and portraits of

the local inhabitants between May and August of

1885. The American Percival Lowell included 25 of

his own photographs – including one of King

Kojong – in his 1885 book.

In 1888 the so-called ‘Baby Riots’ broke out in

Seoul, when it was rumoured that foreign doctors

and photographers were kidnapping and murder-

ing Korean babies, and using the corpses to make

medicines and chemicals. Photographic studios

and dispensaries were targeted by rioters, as well

as orphanages run by foreign missionaries, who

were also suspected of involvement. This was

reported in the July 1898 edition of the Korean

Repository, when it was recalling the history of the

Methodist Episcopal Church in Korea. (See also

the account by Chaille-Long below.)

C. W. Campbell (1861–1927), assistant at the

British consulate at Seoul, visited the famous

Mount Paekdu in North Korea and successfully

took photographs in 1889. In the book Korea and

9. Koreans at Port Hamilton, c. 1885‒7.Photographer unknown. 128 x 93mm, albumen print.

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the Sacred White Mountain written in 1894 by

A. E. J. Cavendish (1859–1943) and H. E. Goold-

Adams (1860–1935), is a description of a trip in

1891 when photographs were taken, but only one

of the lake on the summit of the mountain was

successful. They acknowledge a debt to Campbell,

to Mr H. W. Brazier, an assistant at the Royal

Maritime Customs, and the British consul-general,

Sir Walter Hillier, for use of their photographs.

Walter Caine Hillier (1849–1927), diplomat

and sinologist, took many excellent photographs

during his stay in Korea and some 500 or so have

been preserved by members of his family. Hillier,

who was knighted in 1897, was born in Hong

Kong and joined the Foreign Office in 1867 as a

student interpreter in Chinese. From 1879 to 1885,

he was assistant Chinese secretary at the British

embassy in Peking, and Chinese secretary in

1885–9. In 1889 he was appointed consul-general in

Korea, where he served until 1896. He then held

various Chinese consular posts until 1900, when

he served as advisor to the British military author-

ities in China following the Boxer Rebellion.

Between 1904 and 1908 he was professor of

Chinese at King’s College, London. He wrote

numerous works on the Chinese language.

Colonel C. Chaille-Long (1842–1917), an

American diplomat, soldier and explorer, was sec-

retary at the United States legation in 1887–8

when he took photographs, mentioning in his

autobiography an interesting account of the ‘Baby

Riots’ of 1888, which he dates as 17 June 1888:

I varied the monotony of life in the Corean capital

with my camera, being the first [sic] to introduce

the photographic art into the country. It was

regarded with suspicion even by the yang-ban, or

nobles; to the coolie it was an object of super-

stitious dread and attracted great attention, [and]

almost precipitated a revolution!

One day a number of negatives of Corean

children disappeared from my camera obscura.

Soon after stories were in circulation – the same

old story used in China against the missionaries,

that missionaries stole children, killed them,

boiled them, ground their eyes to paste, which,

spread upon glass, produced the images . . . the

capital was soon in ferment and the missionary

compounds were surrounded by an excited and

riotous populace.

Chaille-Long took his camera to a formal

luncheon given by Cho Pyong-Sik of the Korean

Foreign Office on 1 May 1888, and his efforts were

reproduced in the Illustrated London News. He

also refers to taking photographs in September of

the same year on Cheju island.

Charles-Louis Varat (1842–93) visited Korea

in 1888–9 to collect ethnographic specimens for

French museums. Although the published account

of the journey includes a number of photographs,

these are unattributed; however, Varat does men-

tion taking some photographs himself.

Mr and Mrs Edward C. Pauling collected a

number of photographs during their stay between

c. 1895 and 1901, and these were donated to the

Peabody Essex Museum by their descendants. A

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few of these photographs bear the names of

photographic studios, which were Japanese studios,

two being in Korea.

Henry (later Sir Henry) Norman, took some

photographs of Korea in the early 1880s and these

were reproduced in a book published in 1900.

The famous writer and traveller Isabella Bird

Bishop (1831–1904) was an enthusiastic and practised

photographer. She took numerous photographs in

Korea during her four visits there between 1894

and 1897. Many of these are illustrated in her 1897

book Korea and her Neighbours. Approximately 40

of these are kept in the archives of the Royal

Geographical Society, London, and three of these

are reproduced here (figures 10, 29 and 79).

Isabella Bird Bishop was the eldest daughter

of an English clergyman. From an early age, she

had a passion for travel, and she travelled exten-

sively around the world, although, after her arrival

in Japan in 1878, Asia remained her main interest.

10. Korean travellers, 1895.Isabella Bird Bishop. 105 x 135mm, albumen print.

The group on the left is the photographer’s travelling party.

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She was deeply upset by the death of her sister in

1880, and the critical acclaim received that year for

her book Unbeaten Tracks in Japan, did little to

relieve her feelings. In any case, in spring 1881 at

the age of 50, she married a Dr John Bishop, aged

40, whom she had known as the family doctor for

a number of years. There were no wedding guests,

and Isabella wore mourning clothes in memory of

her sister.

The years that followed were not happy, for

Isabella suffered from various illnesses and contin-

ued to be depressed about her sister’s death, while

her restless spirit did nothing to help her attempts

to play the domestic role of a doctor’s wife. Her

husband contracted a fatal illness, however, and

Isabella nursed him devotedly until his death in

1886. In 1889 she began to travel again, returning

to the Far East, and in the next eight years she

travelled in Tibet, Persia, Kurdistan and Korea

and took an incredible 3,000-mile journey through

China from Shanghai to the borders of Tibet. She

was a remarkable woman who left us with some

very fine photographs of Korea.

During the 1894–5 Sino-Japanese War, a

significant part of which was fought on Korean

soil, a number of photographers, both amateur

and professional, were engaged in recording the

conflict. George Bigot, a French illustrator and

cartoonist, was in Japan between 1883 and 1899.

He travelled with the Japanese Army in Korea

during the 1894–5 war as a correspondent for vari-

ous French and British newspapers. More of an

artist than a photographer, it is likely that he used

his photographs to assist in his artistic endeavours.

John Alfred Vaughan, an engineer on HMS

Undaunted, took the pictures of the Japanese

landing at Inch’on shown in figures 27 and 28.

The Korean Repository of November 1896 car-

ries a photograph of King Kojong that had been

taken by a Mrs L. B. Graham of the American

consulate, who is described as “a skilful and enthu-

siastic amateur photographer”. In 1900 a tour by a

Mr M. L. Goetz and a Mr H. H. Lawson was

photographed, and I have included here several of

the images. The naturalist and explorer employed

by the American Museum of Natural History, Mr

Roy Chapman Andrews (1884–1960), took rare

motion picture footage of Seoul in 1912. There-

after he travelled the interior with his Kodak

camera bringing back some 350 photographs,

which are held in the museum archives. Many of

these were taken in the far north, from where little

photography had previously emerged. Less than

twenty years later Chapman became famous

throughout the world for his discovery of dinosaur

eggs and fossils in the Gobi desert.

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P h o t o g r a p h y i n K o r e a 13

The Japanese Influence

Although the Japanese themselves came late

to photography, they were far ahead of the

Koreans. Japan had been closed for over 200 years

before the Americans opened the country in 1853.

Commodore Perry’s squadron included the expe-

dition’s official photographer, Eliphalet Brown,

who took the first photographs on Japanese soil

(or at least the first that have been authenticated

and dated). Between then and 1859, when the

country was formally opened for trade, some

photographs were taken but only a handful is extant.

The first Japanese professional photographers were

operating in Nagasaki and Yokohama from 1862,

probably at least 20 years before their Korean

counterparts.

The initiation of relations between the two

countries was to make its mark on the history of

Korean photography. The first port to be opened

under the terms of the Treaty of Kanghwa was

Pusan in 1876, where the Japanese quickly estab-

lished a significant trade presence. The same was

to happen in Wonsan and Inch’on when they

opened in 1880 and 1883 respectively. It is probable

that some Japanese photographic studios were

operating during this time. Unfortunately, having

searched the contemporary trade directories and

other sources, the earliest recorded Japanese studio

I have been able to locate dates from 1891. Before

we dismiss the 1880s for want of documentation,

however, there are some instances of Japanese in-

fluence on Korean photography which are worth

mentioning.

Of the three pioneers of Korean photography

described in a later chapter, two of them, Kim

Yong-Won and Ji Un-Young, are known to have

studied photography in Japan in the early 1880s.

Kim, who in 1883 was apparently the first to estab-

lish a studio in Korea, did so in collaboration with

a Japanese photographer by the name of Honda

Shunosuke. Unfortunately, nothing is known of

Honda; his name does not appear in any of the

standard Japanese sources, and both his back-

ground as a photographer and the extent of his

co-operation with Kim remain a mystery. Con-

sidering that anti-Japanese sentiment was a major

aspect of the popular suspicion with which the

first photographers in Korea were generally re-

garded, their relationship must have been placed

under considerable strain.

Until more information on Honda Shunosuke

is unearthed, however, the distinction of being the

first Japanese professional photographer in Korea

whom we can positively identify must belong to

the enigmatic Kameya Teijiro.

The Search for Kameya Teijiro

Korean and Japanese sources agree that Kameya

died in Korea in 1885, but apart from this, very

little is known, and the details of Teijiro’s brief life

are extremely sketchy. All that is known at present

is that his family name was Yoshii. His date of

birth is unknown, and his first recorded appear-

ance dates from 1871, when he began to study

photography under the Nagasaki photographer,

Kameya Toyo, who had adopted him as her son.

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14 K o r e a

Toyo was only nineteen at the time but, because

she was apparently an only child, this may have

been a family decision in order to carry on the

Kameya family line. Toyo, who had the honour of

becoming the first Japanese female to become a

professional photographer, started studying under

her father when she was sixteen years old. In 1872

she is reported to have photographed an attendant

in the emperor’s suite during the Imperial Tour.

She died in 1885 when she was about 33. The head

of the family, Kameya Tokujiro, died at the age of

59 in Vladivostok (where he had opened a studio

branch) in 1884. As well as being a successful

Nagasaki photographer, he is remembered for

recording the transit of Venus, in 1874, from the

top of Mount Nabekanmuri in Nagasaki.

Despite the family’s efforts to ensure the con-

tinuation of the Kameya name, it is ironic that all

three died within the space of one year. The fact that

the line ended in two or three different locations is

interesting. Does this reflect a conscious effort by

the family to establish branches of the business in

Russia and Korea? Or had the family split up?

Japanese studios in Korea after 1890

Returning to the contemporary trade directories

for Korea, the earliest Japanese studio I have been

able to locate is that of one H. Higuchi, who oper-

ated in Chemulpo (the treaty port area of Inch’on)

from 1893 to 1896. There is, however, a reference in

the Japanese publication Shashinshi Nenpyo to the

famous Japanese photographer Ogawa Kazumasa

(Isshin), who opened a branch studio in Seoul in

1891. The Seiyeikwan studio appears to have been

active in Korea from 1894 to 1895, and a Y. Takesita,

the Nagasaki-based photographer, was in Pusan in

1895 and 1896. In Seoul, the Gyokusendo studio

was in operation in 1899; and by 1916 (though

perhaps earlier), K. Iwata had a studio next door to

the famous Chosen Hotel (now the Westin Chosun).

The photograph illustrated opposite (figure 11) is

from the studio of a K. Murakami in Seoul and

appears to be dated around 1900.

It is also worth mentioning that photographs

of early Korean visitors to Japan still survive. The

Tokyo studio of Suzuki Shin’ichi received a visit

from the Korean intellectual and modernizer, Yu

Kil-Jun (1856–1916) around the year 1883. One of

the first professional Japanese photographers was

Ueno Hikoma, who opened his studio in Nagasaki

in 1862. That studio was visited by a Korean cus-

tomer, one Jeong Jin-Hong, and a photograph

survives from that sitting, which, according to an

inscription on the mount, took place in 1893

(figure 38).

During the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–5,

several Japanese photographers were employed in

an official or semi-official capacity to take photo-

graphs at the front line. Since much of the conflict

took place on Korean soil, this should have produced

a significant amount of good early photographic

material, but unfortunately – although perhaps pre-

dictably – the main focus was on Japanese military

activity and little attention was paid to the native

population or scenery.

Count Kamei Koreaki (1861–96) was perhaps

the most famous photographer of the war, but,

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since he was attached solely to the Japanese

Second Army in Manchuria, he does not appear

to have followed the conflict as it unfolded in

Korea. The same can be said of other Japanese

photographers who were attached to the Japanese

army in either Manchuria or Formosa (present-

day Taiwan) and the only war photographer who

is definitely known to have visited Korea is Suzuki

Keikun. In November 1894, Suzuki photographed

P’yongyang, which had fallen to the Japanese First

Army earlier that year. His work was published in

an album entitled Nisshin Senso Jikkyo Shashincho

(‘Album of Photographs Showing the True Condi-

tions of the Sino-Japanese War’). This was published

under the auspices of the Nagoya branch of the Great

Japan Photographic Appreciation Society.

The formal annexation of Korea by Japan in

1910 led to several photographic projects, both

11. A Seoul(?) temple under construction, c. 1900.K. Murakami. 208 x 266mm, albumen print.

It is not immediately clear what kind of temple this is, and there appear to be bothKorean and Japanese officials at some kind of inauguration ceremony.

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16 K o r e a

official and unofficial, whereby Korea’s new

Japanese masters sought to record all aspects of

the latest addition to their empire. In the same

year as the annexation, two photographic collec-

tions were published, both issued as commemorative

albums. One, issued by the office of the newly

established governor-general of Korea and un-

imaginatively entitled Kankoku Shashincho (‘Album

of Photographs of Korea’) was an official survey

comprising 79 photographs. The other, edited by

Sugiichi Rohei, was a larger collection of 88

photographs, published simultaneously in Tokyo

and Keijo (as Seoul was called by the Japanese)

under the title of Heigo Ki’nen Chosen Shashincho

(‘An Album Commemorating the Incorporation

of Korea’).

More valuable surveys of Korea also took place.

The archaeologist and anthropologist, Professor

Torii Ryuzo (1870–1953) of Tokyo University, was a

pioneer in the use of the camera in anthropo-

logical field work. In 1911 he conducted a field

trip through the Korean peninsula, taking photo-

graphs of its inhabitants. Some of these images are

among the 200 or so which illustrate his expedi-

tions across the Far East, and are still held by

Tokyo University. Unfortunately, Professor Torii’s

photographs do not seem to have reached a very

wide audience. Perhaps the most significant cul-

tural survey of Korea to be initiated by the

Japanese was Chosen Koseki Zufu (‘The Illustrated

Record of Korean Antiquities’). The government-

general of Korea began publication of this massive

photographic survey in 1915. It stretched to 15

volumes, the last of which appeared in 1935.

Early KoreanPhotographers

It is difficult to find references to professional

Korean photographers and, at present, we know

of only a few individuals who operated studios in

Korea in the last two decades of the nineteenth

century. Even then, few biographical details are

available. Photography was not taken up as a pro-

fession until relatively late, and this may be partly

explained by the lack of commercial and economic

development inside the country.

The first professional Korean photographer

appears to have been Kim Yong-Won. As a mem-

ber of a cultural mission sent to Japan in 1876

following the Treaty of Kanghwa, and again in

1880, he had the opportunity to develop and pur-

sue an interest in photography. Through contacts

he made in Japan, Kim set up a studio in Korea in

1883, with the assistance of a Japanese photographer

called Honda Shunosuke. In 1884, Ji Un-Young,

who had studied photography in Japan, also estab-

lished a studio. He was followed in the same year

by Hwang Chul, who went into business using

equipment he had imported from Shanghai.

These three individuals are believed to be the

pioneers of professional photography in Korea.

The task which they faced was daunting.

Having acquired and mastered a new technology,

they then found themselves faced by widespread

ignorance and suspicion.There were popular super-

stitions, such as the belief that a tree exposed to a

camera would wither, or that anyone photographed

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in the middle of a group of three people would be

the first from that group to die. More pernicious

were the rumours circulated that photographic

solution was made from a stock created by cook-

ing children. Not surprisingly, popular feeling

could run high, and it is recorded that Hwang

Chul’s studio was stoned regularly by hostile crowds.

There was also a political dimension. Conservative

factions were suspicious of a technology which

they did not understand and chose to regard as a

manifestation of Japanese influence. It was on the

basis of anti-Japanese feeling that in 1884 the

newly established photographic studios were closed

down and destroyed, and Kim, Ji and Hwang had

to travel abroad in order to re-establish their busi-

nesses.

Given these difficulties, it is not surprising

that these early photographers confined them-

selves to portraiture, which they could practise in

relative safety. The most conspicuous example of

this occurred in 1884, when, in a desperate bid to

gain official recognition of his profession, Ji Un-

Young photographed King Kojong. This event

may not have saved Ji and his fellow photo-

graphers from losing their studios later that same

year, but it seems to have created some interest at

Court in photography. Many years later, Kim

Kyu-Jin (Haegang), an artist who went to Japan

to study photography around 1895, was appointed

the first official photographer at the Korean

Court. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find

out anything else about his life, nor to locate any

of his photographs.

It was Hwang Chul who took the bold step

of moving away from portraiture towards what we

would call today ‘documentary photography’. He

took numerous photographs of scenes and land-

marks in Seoul, although I have not managed to

locate any examples of his work. Unfortunately,

his efforts were not appreciated by his contemp-

oraries and, in addition to constant harassment

from stone-throwers, he was arrested on suspicion

of revealing national secrets to foreigners and

thrown into prison.

We hear little of any notable Korean pro-

fessional photographers until well into the next

century, although, as Choi In-Jin has pointed out

in his book, Hankuk Shinmun Sajinsa (‘The

History of Photojournalism in Korea’), events in

the following decade helped to improve the situa-

tion for photographers generally. In 1895, having

earlier taken the initiative himself and forced his

ministers and officials to do likewise, King Kojong

issued his famous ordinance prohibiting the

traditional topknot for all Korean males. While

conservatives bemoaned the break with tradition

and predicted the breakdown of Confucian values,

the ensuing uproar reinvigorated professional

photography in Korea. In the same way that

numerous Japanese had reacted to similar laws

passed in their country twenty years earlier, many

in Korea wished to keep some record of their ap-

pearance before complying with the ordinance.

While some die-hard conservatives may have

chosen to have their portrait painted, many others

overcame their earlier prejudice and acquired a

portrait by the more convenient and accurate

means of photography. Suddenly, photographic

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18 K o r e a

studios faced a huge demand, and as portrait

photographs became more widely accepted, the

idea of photography as a profession became firmly

established.

Korean sources then jump forward to 1923,

when a Mun Chi-Jang apparently became the first

news reporter in Korea working for the Dong-A

Ilbo newspaper. The amateur photographer Im

Eung-Sik had the distinction of being the first

Korean to have an art photograph published, in a

1934 issue of the Japanese magazine Photo Salon.

Other early photographers include Choi Su-Bok,

Chang Pyong-Jin, Oh Pyong-Do, Yi Song-Yun,

Park P’il-Ho, Park Sam-Sik, Chong Un-Sang and

Yi Hyong-Nok.

From about 1933, photographic societies began

to be organized. Amongst these were the All-

Korea Photographic League and the Amateur

Photo Club, established by the Japanese monthly

magazine, Photo Report. Both of these had Korean

membership, but they were dominated by the

Japanese. It was not until after the Second World

War, when all the Japanese had left, that organiza-

tions such as the Korean Photographic Institute

were formed. But photography made very little

progress until after the Korean War, when the

Korean Association of Korean Art was formed.

It is said that Koreans did not take photography

seriously until the Korean War. Before then there

had been a feeling that photography was deeply

inferior to painting, but confronting the realities and

tragedy of war seems to have significantly undermined

this attitude. A greater acceptance of ‘things foreign’

has also been a decisive factor, but it remains the case

that no photographs taken by a Korean in the nine-

teenth century have so far been positively identified.

Scarcity of Early KoreanPhotographs

Although there is no shortage of original

nineteenth-century photographs of many

Far Eastern countries, Korea is a notable excep-

tion. It is no exaggeration to say, for example, that

for every one Korean print dating from the 1880s,

I would expect to see 500 Japanese prints. The

ratio for the 1870s would be worse, and 1860s

Korean prints may be non-existent. Why is this

material so rare?

The fact that Korea was opened to the West

only in 1882, is the most obvious reason for this

relative shortage of material when compared with,

for example, photographs of India, China and

Japan. Even after the opening, Korea was not

thought to be a particularly attractive destination,

either for trade or tourism. By the mid-1880s,

numerous foreign tourists to Japan were taking

well-trodden paths inside the country and bring-

ing back photographic views that were freely

available from the commercially developed studios

of the time. These images were mostly hand-

coloured, which meant that they would become

desirable travel souvenirs and find their way back

to the travellers’ home countries.

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During the last hundred years or so Korea has

been ravaged by wars and rebellions – events that

are not conducive to the preservation of photo-

graphy – and the devastation of the most recent

Korean War would have exacerbated this situation.

The retired English missionary and collector,

Miss Jo Roberts, who was born in 1914, arrived in

Korea in 1959 and spent some 25 years collecting

Korean photographs. It is significant that although

the collection consists of some 2,000 images, almost

all of them were acquired outside Korea and only a

few are original nineteenth-century photographs.

Miss Roberts travelled extensively throughout South

Korea over many years; she spoke the language and

met many people. Nevertheless, she was disap-

pointed not to have been able to acquire material

from inside the country. Miss Roberts generously

donated her collection to the United Society for

the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG), London,

around ten years ago. Its importance to future

scholars and historians should not be underesti-

mated, although it is fair to say that the bulk of

the material dates from the early to mid-twentieth

century and has a heavy ecclesiastical bias.

Another collection in Britain, comprising

around 500 original photographs, is the Hillier

collection, mostly small format pictures, contained

in albums.They seem to have been compiled during

Walter Hillier’s term of office in Seoul, 1889–96,

and it is likely that most, if not all, were his own

work. The collection is now in the possession of a

family descendant, Michael Hillier, and represents

one of the largest holdings of Korean photographs

anywhere.

The virtual absence of Korean photographic

studios until early in the twentieth century is

certainly another major reason for the scarcity of

material. As has been said, photography was not

highly regarded until after the Korean War, and

even today, it is noticeable how few photographic

magazines are seen in Korean city stores, when

compared with New York, London or Paris. As

far as I could discover, no museums in Korea are

devoted to historical Korean photography, and

although one or two Koreans collect historical

images, no auctions or dealers specialize in the

subject. One individual who has collected some

200 original images over the last 20 years is Chung

Sung-Kil. He additionally has some 5,000 copy

photographs which he has obtained from collectors

and institutions in Europe, Japan and the United

States. A number of these were illustrated in his

excellent book, listed in the bibliography.

Institutions like Yonsei University have a few

images, but one forms the unmistakable impression

that the majority of important Korean images are

held outside the country. Some are in private

hands, the rest are in museums and libraries in

Japan, the United States and Europe. I have not

been able to uncover any significant collections of

original Korean photography inside Korea.

It is important to distinguish between collec-

tions of original material and of copy photographs.

By original, I mean, of course, photographs like all

of those illustrated in this book, that have been

printed from the original negative at, or shortly

after, the time the original photograph was taken.

Of the few Korean books of old photography that

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20 K o r e a

I have seen, most of the images appear to have

been taken from copies, rather than original

photographs. It was disappointing to discover

that the two apparently largest collections inside

Korea, important in themselves for the quantity of

images and subject matter covered, nevertheless

consisted of mainly copy images.

It must be noted, however, that the general

lack of interest inside Korea mirrors that in Japan

some thirty years ago. The difference, however,

is that when Japanese museums and libraries did

start collecting seriously, at least there was a

reasonable amount of material to acquire. The

Koreans will not be so fortunate.

A number of nineteenth-century travel books

on Korea include photographs as illustrations.

Invariably, however, the photographer is not

named. Only very rarely does a photograph, or its

mount, contain any clues to authorship. I consider

such attribution to be most important, and it mat-

ters to me who took a particular photograph and

whether the image was created by a Korean or

foreigner; knowing this can sometimes help to

explain its significance, date or purpose. It is my

hope that this book will, in some small way, help

to facilitate this task.

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ANDREWS, Roy Chapman (1884–1960), American.

Amateur, naturalist and explorer; took motion picture

footage of Seoul in 1912 and other photographs

throughout Korea.

BEATO, Felice (c. 1834–c. 1907), British citizen. The first

known photographer in Korea; official photographer

(with his assistant H. Woollett) to the US 1871

expedition under Admiral Rodgers.

BIGOT, Georges (1860–1927), French. Artist and illustrator,

amateur photographer; took photographs in Korea as a

newspaper correspondent covering the 1894–5 Sino-

Japanese War.

BIRD BISHOP, Isabella (1831–1904), British. Amateur,

writer and traveller, 1894–7; took many photographs,

which were reproduced in her 1897 book.

BRAZIER, H. W., British. Amateur, assistant at the Royal

Maritime Customs, c. 1890; provided photographs for

the book by Cavendish and Goold-Adams.

CAMPBELL, C. W. (1861–1927), British. Amateur, assistant

at British consulate, Seoul; photographed Mount

Paekdu in 1889.

CAVENDISH, A. E. J. (1859–1943), British. Amateur;

photographed, with H. E. Goold-Adams, on the

summit of Mount Paekdu in 1891.

CHAILLE-LONG, Colonel C. (1842–1917), American.

Amateur, diplomat, soldier and explorer, 1887–8,

attached to American consulate, Seoul; claimed to be

Index of Commercial and AmateurPhotographers in Korea

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22 K o r e a

the first to introduce photography to Korea, supposed

cause of the ‘Baby Riots’ of 1888; photographed in

Cheju island and Korean Foreign Office formal

luncheon in Seoul in May 1888.

CHILD, Thomas, (1841–1898), British. Photographed in

Peking from 1871 to 1890.

COCHRANE, Julian, American. Photographed in Korea on

behalf of the Keystone Stereographic Company c. 1900–2.

DAVIS, Commander Edward (1846–1929), British. Amateur;

took photographs of Komundo island (Port Hamilton)

in 1885 while serving on HMS Daring during British

occupation of 1885–7.

FOULK, Lieutenant George Clayton (1856–93), American.

Military and diplomatic career, in Korea in 1883–7;

talented amateur, photographed King Kojong,

photographs used by W. R. Carles in 1888 book.

GOOLD-ADAMS, H. E. (1860–1935), British. Amateur;

photographed with A. E. J. Cavendish on the summit

of Mount Paekdu in 1891.

GRAHAM, Mrs L. B., American. Amateur; took

photographs in Korea in the 1890s while working at the

American consulate; took photograph of King Kojong,

which appeared in the Korean Repository.

GRENFELL, Commander Harry (1845–1916), British. Took

photographs of Komundo island (Port Hamilton) in

1885 while serving on HMS Pegasus during British

occupation in 1885–7.

GYOKUSENDO, Japanese studio. Known to be operating

in Seoul in 1899.

HIGUCHI, H., Japanese. Operated in Chemulpo (Inch’on)

in 1893–6.

HILLIER, Sir Walter Caine (1849–1927), British. Diplomat,

scholar and accomplished amateur photographer; active

in Korea 1889–96.

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HONDA Shunosuke, Japanese. Apparently helped Kim

Yong-Won establish his studio in Korea in 1883.

HWANG Chul, Korean. One of the earliest Korean

photographers operating from 1884.

IM Eung-Sik, Korean. First Korean to have art photograph

published in 1934 in Japanese magazine Photo Salon.

IWATA, K., Japanese studio. Known to be operating next to

the Chosen Hotel, Seoul, in 1916.

JI Un-Young, Korean. One of the earliest Korean

photographers, operating from 1884, photographed King

Kojong in same year.

KAMEI, Count Koreaki (1861–96), Japanese. Photographed

the Sino-Japanese War in Manchuria.

KAMEYA Teijiro (d. 1885), Japanese. Said to have been the

first to introduce professional photography to Korea;

died in Korea; adopted son of Nagasaki-born Kameya

Toyo, the first professional female Japanese photographer.

KILBURN, B. W., American. Photographed in Korea for

the publishing company C. H. Graves c. 1900.

KIM Kyu-Jin (Haegang), Korean. Professional photographer

c. 1895; became Korean Court photographer after

studying in Japan.

KIM Yong-Won, Korean. Probably first professional Korean

photographer, operated from 1883.

LOWELL, Percival (1855–1916), American. Astronomer who

accompanied the 1883 Korean mission to the United

States. The following year he travelled throughout

Korea and published his photographs in his 1885 book.

MUN Chi-Jang, Korean. First Korean news reporter in 1923

working for Dong-A Ilbo newspaper.

MURAKAMI, K., Japanese. Had studio in Korea c. 1900.

NORMAN, Henry (later Sir Henry) (1858–1939), British.

Amateur; took photographs in Korea in the 1880s and

published in 1900.

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24 K o r e a

OGAWA Kazumasa (1860–1929), Japanese. Branch studio

operating in Seoul in 1891.

PONTING, Herbert George (1870–1935), British. In 1902–3

toured Korea on behalf of the stereo-photograph

publishers, Underwood & Underwood and C. H.

Graves; apart from Beato, probably the most talented

professional photographer to have worked in Korea.

SEIYEIKWAN, Japanese studio. Active in Korea 1890s.

SUZUKI Keikun, Japanese. Photographed 1894–5 Sino-

Japanese War; took pictures in P’yongyang.

SUZUKI Shin’ichi, Japanese. Studios in Tokyo and

Yokohama from 1860s, photographed Yu Kil-Chun in

Tokyo c. 1883.

TAKESITA, Y., Japanese. Had studio in Pusan in 1895–6.

TORII Ryuzo (1870–1953), Japanese. Amateur,

anthropologist; toured Korea in 1911 taking photographs

of ‘native types’.

UENO (UYENO) Hikoma, (1838–1904), Japanese.

Operated a studio in Nagasaki from 1862, one of the

very earliest professional Japanese photographers.

VARAT, Charles-Louis (1842–93), French. Visited Korea in

1888–9 as part of a special ethnological mission

sponsored by the French Ministry of Education.

VAUGHAN, John Alfred, British. Amateur, engineer on

HMS Undaunted; took photographs of the 1894

Japanese landing at Inch’on.

WOOLLETT, H., British(?). Beato’s assistant in Yokohama

1871–7 and accompanied Beato in 1871 to Korea.

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ALBUMEN PRINT. This refers to the popular form of

photographic printing paper introduced in 1850. It was

called albumen because the principal binding

ingredient was egg white.

CABINET CARD. An albumen print photograph that was

usually placed on a mount measuring approximately 165 x

108mm.The cabinet card came into use in the late 1860s

and early 1870s, and continued until the turn of the century.

LANTERN SLIDE. A slide on which a photographic positive

is printed on clear glass and the image projected onto a

screen. Many lantern slides were attractively hand-coloured.

STEREOGRAPHIC PRINT. In this process, invented by

Wheatstone in 1838, two photographs are taken of the

same object but from slightly different angles. When both

images are mounted side by side on stiff card and viewed

through a stereoscopic (binocular) device an illusion of a

three-dimensional view is created. A complete example of

a stereographic card is given on page 7 (figure 8), but for

the purposes of this book only the right-hand image is

reproduced from each stereograph.

HAND-COLOURING OF PHOTOGRAPHS. The

colouring with water-colours of photographs by artists.

The process, introduced in Europe but never popular

there, became an art form in Japan from the 1860s.

Felice Beato was the first to employ hand-colouring

consistently in that country. In fact, all of the coloured

photographs in this book came from Japanese studios.

Photographic Terms

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Contact and Conflict

12. Secretary Drew, Minister Low and Chineseinterpreters on board the flagship Colorado, May 1871.Felice Beato. 224 x 289mm, albumen print. Right

13. Korean villager on boardone of the American ships,holding empty beer bottles

and a copy of the Americanperiodical Every Saturday,

May–June 1871.Felice Beato. 265 x 213mm,

albumen print.

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14. Meeting of commanding officers on board the flagship Colorado,determining the place of anchorage, 19 May 1871.

Felice Beato. 185 x 275mm, albumen print.

From left to right:Ensign Pillsbury, Captain Kimberly, Commander McCrea, Captain Blake,

Captain Cooper, Captain Nichols, Admiral Rodgers, Lieutenant Wheelerand Secretary Fisher.

28 K o r e a

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C o n t a c t a n d C o n f l i c t 29

15. Korean prisoners on board one of the American ships, June 1871.Felice Beato. 187 x 271mm, albumen print.

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16. Marines outside a Korean temple, May–June 1871.Felice Beato. 231 x 295mm, albumen print.

30 K o r e a

Right

17. Villager with long pipe,May–June 1871.

Felice Beato. 265 x 192mm,

albumen print.

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32 K o r e a

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C o n t a c t a n d C o n f l i c t 33

18. Marines on top of thecaptured Tokjin Fort,Kanghwa island, knownas Fort Monocacy by theAmericans after thebombardment given it bythe warship of the samename, 11 June 1871.Felice Beato. 200 x 272mm,

albumen print.

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34 K o r e a

19. Interior of the main Fort du Coude, showing some of the 350 Korean deadafter the decisive battle, 11 June 1871.

Felice Beato. 225 x 281mm, albumen print.

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C o n t a c t a n d C o n f l i c t 35

20. Inside Fort du Coude. Picture taken immediately after the battle andbefore the dust of the conflict had settled, 11 June 1871.

Felice Beato. 241 x 285mm, albumen print.

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Right

22. The captured Koreanstandard taken from the

main fort, June 1871.Felice Beato. 228 x 276mm,

albumen print.

36 K o r e a

21. Korean prisoners on board an American ship, June 1871.Felice Beato. 192 x 240mm, albumen print.

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38 K o r e a

23. The British Garrison at Port Hamilton on Komundo island, c. 1885–7.Photographer unknown. 115 x 178mm, albumen print.

The occupation of this Korean island was thought necessary to neutralize Russian activityin the area. Although this encroachment on sovereign Korean territory caused great

resentment at the time, the Koreans were in no position to resist and eventually turned tothe Chinese who negotiated the British withdrawal.

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C o n t a c t a n d C o n f l i c t 39

24. Korean villagers at Port Hamilton, c. 1885–7.Photographer unknown. 156 x 190mm, albumen print.

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40 K o r e a

25. British warship, HMS Constance, at Port Hamilton, c. 1885–7.Photographer unknown. 137 x 195mm, albumen print.

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C o n t a c t a n d C o n f l i c t 41

26. The Boom, Port Hamilton, c. 1885–7.Photographer unknown. 99 x 140mm, albumen print.

A boom is a precautionary barrier, usually consisting of a line of spars boundtogether, which is extended across the mouth of a harbour to obstruct

navigation or passage of enemy vessels.

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42 K o r e a

27. Japanese troops landing at Inch’on during the Sino-JapaneseWar, 1894.

J. A. Vaughan. 208 x 265mm, albumen print.

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C o n t a c t a n d C o n f l i c t 43

28. Korean troops being drilled by foreign instructorsduring the Sino-Japanese War, 1894.

J. A. Vaughan. 205 x 266mm, albumen print.

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44 K o r e a

29. Korean soldiers withRussian drill instructors, 1895.

Isabella Bird Bishop.

105 x 135mm, albumen print.

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C o n t a c t a n d C o n f l i c t 45

Above

30. Japanese soldiers at Pusan, 1894.Georges Bigot. 105 x 135mm, albumen print.

Left

31. Japanese soldier,policeman and Korean coolie, 1894.Georges Bigot. 135 x 105mm,

albumen print.

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46 K o r e a

32. Japanese officer with two kisaeng girls, c. 1910.Photographer unknown. 90 x 138mm, albumen print.

The kisaeng were the Korean equivalent of theJapanese geisha and performed similar services.

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C o n t a c t a n d C o n f l i c t 47

33. Red Cross hospital at Pusan, 1894.Georges Bigot. 135 x 105mm, albumen print.

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48 K o r e a

34. Chinese and Tonghak prisoners at P’yongyang, 1894.Georges Bigot. 105 x 135mm, albumen print.

The Tonghak movement evolved in 1860 as an anti-foreign organization. But itwas not until 1894 that a nationalist uprising broke out. This provoked both

Chinese and Japanese involvement in Korea and was the effective cause of theSino-Japanese War.

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C o n t a c t a n d C o n f l i c t 49

35. Military post atPusan, 1894.

Georges Bigot.

105 x 135mm,

albumen print.

36. Entry-gate atP’yongyang, 1894.

Georges Bigot.

105 x 135mm,

albumen print.

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50 K o r e a

37. Korean Minister of War with his family at his home in Seoul, 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, an Underwood & Underwood albumen print stereograph.

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C o n t a c t a n d C o n f l i c t 51

38. Jeong Jin-Hong at Nagasaki, 1893.Ueno Hikoma. 137 x 98mm, albumen print on cabinet.

39. Korean emissary at Peking, c. 1880s.Thomas Child. 205 x 150mm, albumen print.

Following pages

40. First Korean Embassy to the United States, 1883.Photographer unknown. 160 x 218mm, albumen print.

The Korean delegation had visited the United States to ratify the treatysigned the year before. Although the two uniformed American officers

are unidentified, the man in the centre is Percival Lowell.

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52 K o r e a

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C o n t a c t a n d C o n f l i c t 53

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54 K o r e a

41. Korean soldiers outside the gate of the Kyongbok Palace in Seoul, 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen print stereograph.

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C o n t a c t a n d C o n f l i c t 55

Above

42. Execution of Koreansby Japanese, c. 1904.Photographer unknown.

96 x 136mm, silverprint.

The reason for theexecution is not known.

Right

43. Execution scene,c. 1904.

Photographer unknown.

96 x 136mm, silverprint.

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44. King Kojong (1852–1919) and the Crown Prince Sunjong, c. 1890.Photographer unknown. 139 x 100mm, silverprint.

Aristocracy andGovernment

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A r i s t o c r a c y a n d G o v e r n m e n t 57

Above

45. A Memorial to the late Queen Min, c. 1900.Photographer unknown. 83 x 86mm, silverprint.

This photograph appears in an album ofKorean photographs dated 1900, whichcovered the journey of two Westerners,Goetz and Lawson.

Right

46. Portrait of Queen Min (1851–95), c. 1890s.Photographer unknown. 143 x 100mm, silverprint.

The last queen of Korea was the victim of apolitical assassination by the Japanese in 1895.

This particularly striking image is her onlyknown photograph. It should be said, however,that two or three nineteenth-century English-

language works on Korea credit this portrait assimply a ‘Court Lady’.

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47. Prince Min Young-Hwan, c. 1885.Photographer unknown. 187 x 120mm, albumen print.

58 K o r e a

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A r i s t o c r a c y a n d G o v e r n m e n t 59

48. Emperor Kojong’s ‘Grand Master of Horse’ passing through Seoul(looking west), 1902–3.

Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, albumen print stereograph.

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49. Approaching the East Gate, March 1919.Photographer unknown. 77 x 132mm, silverprint.

Some remains of the winter’s snow canbe seen on the roofs.

60 K o r e a

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50. Funeral of ex-Emperor Kojong, March 1919.Photographer unknown. 77 x 132mm, silverprint.

Start of the procession with City Hall, Seoul in the background.Some Koreans at the time felt that the ex-emperor had beenpoisoned by order of the Japanese colonial authorities. This wasa prime factor in the rebellion against Japanese rule that tookplace shortly afterwards.

A r i s t o c r a c y a n d G o v e r n m e n t 61

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52. The royal hearse, March 1919.Photographer unknown. 77 x 132mm, silverprint.

62 K o r e a

51. The royal chair, March 1919.Photographer unknown. 77 x 132mm, silverprint.

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A r i s t o c r a c y a n d G o v e r n m e n t 63

53. Ceremonial horse. March 1919.Photographer unknown. 77 x 132mm, silverprint.

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Following the 1876 treaty with and mission to Japan, a

second mission was sent in 1880. Fifteen hand-coloured

photographs from this mission were taken in an unknown

Tokyo studio (figures 54–68). The pictures are held in an

album in the archives of the Russian Geographical Society,

St Petersburg, which acquired them on 25 October 1885. The

captions have been translated from the contemporary

Chinese used.

Right

54. Kim Hong-Jip, Ambassador and Councillor of the Senior Third Grade, andhead of the mission, 1880.

Photographer unknown. Approx. 185 x 140mm, hand-coloured print.

Kim Hong-Jip (1842–96), Special Envoy to Japan in 1880, wasin favour of an open-door strategy for Korea. In 1896 he was murdered

by pro-Russian Koreans.

64 K o r e a

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A r i s t o c r a c y a n d G o v e r n m e n t 65

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66 K o r e a

55. Lee Yong-Suk, Special Delegate and High Steward of the Chinese ClassicsInstitution, the Junior First Grade, 1880.

Photographer unknown. Approx. 185 x 140mm, hand-coloured print.

In Chung Sun-Kil’s book this individual is identified as Shin Heon (1810–88) whoin 1876 was Minister Plenipotentiary for signing a treaty with Japan (1876) and

with America (1882).

Right

56. Lee Jo-Ham, First Secretary and Inspector of the Department of Justice, theSenior Sixth Grade, 1880.

Photographer unknown. Approx. 185 x 140mm, hand-coloured print.

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A r i s t o c r a c y a n d G o v e r n m e n t 67

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68 K o r e a

57. Kang Wui, Second Secretary and Official of the Munitions Office,the Junior Ninth Grade, 1880.

Photographer unknown. Approx. 185 x 140mm, hand-coloured print.

Right

58. Lee Jong-Moo, Negotiating General and Official of theSenior Third Grade, 1880.

Photographer unknown. Approx. 185 x 140mm, hand-coloured print.

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A r i s t o c r a c y a n d G o v e r n m e n t 69

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70 K o r e a

59. Yoon Ung-Yeol, Military Official of the Senior Third Grade, 1880.Photographer unknown. Approx. 185 x 140mm, hand-coloured print.

Right

60. Kim Yoon-Seon, Judge of the Senior Sixth Grade, 1880.Photographer unknown. Approx. 185 x 140mm, hand-coloured print.

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A r i s t o c r a c y a n d G o v e r n m e n t 71

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72 K o r e a

61. Byeon Jong-Seob, Judge of the Senior Sixth Grade, 1880.Photographer unknown. Approx. 185 x 140mm, hand-coloured print.

Right

62. Unidentified member of the Korean embassy staff in Japan, 1880.Photographer unknown. Approx. 185 x 140mm, hand-coloured print.

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A r i s t o c r a c y a n d G o v e r n m e n t 73

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74 K o r e a

63. Unidentified member of the Korean embassy staff in Japan, 1880.Photographer unknown. Approx. 185 x 140mm, hand-coloured print.

Right

64. Unidentified member of the Korean embassy staff in Japan, 1880.Photographer unknown. Approx. 185 x 140mm, hand-coloured print.

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A r i s t o c r a c y a n d G o v e r n m e n t 75

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76 K o r e a

65. Unidentified member of the Korean embassy staff in Japan, 1880.Photographer unknown. Approx. 185 x 140mm, hand-coloured print.

Right

66. Unidentified member of the Korean embassy staff in Japan, 1880.Photographer unknown. Approx. 185 x 140mm, hand-coloured print.

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A r i s t o c r a c y a n d G o v e r n m e n t 77

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78 K o r e a

67. Unidentified member of the Korean embassy staff in Japan, 1880.Photographer unknown. Approx. 185 x 140mm, hand-coloured print.

Right

68. Unidentified member of the Korean embassy staff in Japan, 1880.Photographer unknown. Approx. 185 x 140mm, hand-coloured print.

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A r i s t o c r a c y a n d G o v e r n m e n t 79

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80 K o r e a

69. Korean aristocrat, c. 1890.Photographer unknown. 135 x 95mm, hand-coloured albumen print.

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A r i s t o c r a c y a n d G o v e r n m e n t 81

70. Court lady, c. 1900.Photographer unknown. 143 x 100mm, silverprint.

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82 K o r e a

71. Aristocratic girl, c. 1900.Photographer unknown. 143 x 100mm, silverprint.

This subject may actually be a dancer.

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A r i s t o c r a c y a n d G o v e r n m e n t 83

72. Minister of War (Yun Woong-Niel), sitting on the left, and playing Go-ban(oriental chess) in his home, Seoul, 1902–3.

Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen print stereograph.

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84 K o r e a

73. Court official, c. 1900.Photographer unknown. 143 x 100mm, silverprint.

74. Court officials with attendant, c. 1900.Photographer unknown. 143 x 100mm, silverprint.

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A r i s t o c r a c y a n d G o v e r n m e n t 85

Left

75. Officials of the Imperial Department ofCommunications, 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood &

Underwood albumen print stereograph.

Below

76. Korean officials, 1894.Georges Bigot. 105 x 135mm, albumen print.

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86 K o r e a

Above

77. Korean official on pony, 1894.Georges Bigot. 135 x 105mm, albumen print.

Right

78. Korean official on pony with servant, c. 1901.Photographer unknown, possibly J. Cochrane.

80 x 155mm, Keystone View Company albumen

print stereograph.

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A r i s t o c r a c y a n d G o v e r n m e n t 87

79. Korean officials, 1895.Isabella Bird Bishop. 105 x 135mm, albumen print.

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80. Village just outside Seoul, looking north-west, 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen print stereograph.

Daily Life

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D a i l y L i f e 89

Left

81. The native quarter of Pusan,looking north-west, 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm,

Underwood & Underwood albumen

print stereograph.

Right

82. Korean peasants in a villagestore, in northern suburbs of Seoul,

1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm,

Underwood & Underwood albumen

print stereograph.

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83. A painted bride, in Seoul, wearing the crown of ‘good luck’, 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen print stereograph.

90 K o r e a

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D a i l y L i f e 91

84. A bridegroom, in Seoul, being escorted to his wedding, 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen print stereograph.

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92 K o r e a

85. Upper-class Koreans at meal-time, c. 1900.Photographer unknown. 100 x 140mm, silverprint.

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86. Korean at Port Hamilton smoking a long pipe, c. 1885–7.Photographer unknown. 155 x 112mm, albumen print.

D a i l y L i f e 93

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94 K o r e a

87. Middle-class Korean boys in a northern suburb of Seoul, 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen print stereograph.

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D a i l y L i f e 95

88. Korean woman in street costume, c. 1895–1901.Photographer unknown. 93 x 120mm, albumen print.

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89. Village woman carrying a pot, c. 1900.Photographer unknown. 100 x 140mm, silverprint.

96 K o r e a

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D a i l y L i f e 97

90. Pedlar and child, c. 1900.Photographer unknown. 100 x 144mm, silverprint.

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98 K o r e a

91. Pedlar with tray of pastries, c. 1900.Photographer unknown. 130 x 97mm, albumen print.

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D a i l y L i f e 99

92. Coolie buying pastry, 1894.Georges Bigot. 135 x 105mm, albumen print.

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100 K o r e a

93. Coolies at Pusan, 1894.Georges Bigot. 105 x 135mm, albumen print.

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D a i l y L i f e 101

94. Painted wooden idols, c. 1910.Photographer unknown. 80 x 155mm, Keystone View Company silver print stereograph.

These wooden idols are supposed to be friendly and to protect the villagers from harm.

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102 K o r e a

95. Buddhist monks outside a monastery, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen print stereograph.

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D a i l y L i f e 103

96. Head of P’yowoon Temple at Mount Keumkang, North Korea, c. 1889–96.Walter Hillier. 212 x 275mm, albumen print.

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104 K o r e a

97. Punishment,beating, c. 1900.

Photographer unknown.

100 x 140mm,

silverprint.

98. Punishment,wearing cangues,

c. 1900.Photographer unknown.

100 x 140mm,

silverprint.

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D a i l y L i f e 105

99. Hairdresser, 1894.Georges Bigot. 135 x 105mm, albumen print.

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106 K o r e a

100. Washing clothes near theroad leading to the North-west

Gate, Seoul, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm,

Underwood & Underwood albumen

print stereograph.

101. Gambling in the street,c. 1902–3.

Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm,

Art Nouveau Stereograph

(Universal Photo Art Co.)

silverprint.

Right

102. Riverboat crossing the river between Inch’on and Seoul, c. 1900.Photographer unknown. 210 x 270mm, albumen print.

From the 1900 journey of Goetz and Lawson.

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D a i l y L i f e 107

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103. Farmers, c. 1910.Photographer unknown. 83 x 100mm, hand-coloured glass lantern slide.

Farming and Industry

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F a r m i n g a n d I n d u s t r y 109

104. Farmer at Port Hamilton, c. 1885–7.Photographer unknown. 157 x 110mm, albumen print.

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105. Farmer and child at Port Hamilton, c. 1885–7.Photographer unknown. 157 x 110mm, albumen print.

110 K o r e a

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F a r m i n g a n d I n d u s t r y 111

106. Coolies flailing barley at Pusan, lookingeast towards harbour, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood &

Underwood albumen print stereograph.

107. Winnowing barley in astreet in Inch’on, c. 1902–3.

Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm,

Underwood & Underwood

albumen print stereograph.

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112 K o r e a

108. Winter fishing, c. 1900.Photographer unknown. 100 x 140mm, silverprint.

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109. Pusan fishermen, 1894.Georges Bigot. 105 x 135mm, albumen print.

A drawing was made from this photograph by Bigot and was reproduced in the Englishperiodical The Graphic on 27 October 1894. It is almost indistinguishable from the originalphotograph. Bigot travelled with the Japanese forces, making sketches, many of which were

reproduced in The Graphic.

F a r m i n g a n d I n d u s t r y 113

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114 K o r e a

110. Junks laden with seaweed at Pusan harbour, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen print stereograph.

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F a r m i n g a n d I n d u s t r y 115

111. Baling dried fish, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Art Nouveau Stereograph (Universal Photo Art Co.) silverprint.

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112. Grinding beans on a street in Seoul,c. 1901.Photographer unknown, possibly

J. Cochrane. 80 x 155mm, Keystone View

Company albumen print stereograph.

113. Sampling beans on the street,Inch’on, c. 1902–3.

Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Art

Nouveau Stereograph (Universal

Photo Art Co.) silverprint.

116 K o r e a

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F a r m i n g a n d I n d u s t r y 117

114. Horseshoeing at a blacksmith’s shop, Seoul, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen print stereograph.

Even a blacksmith wears the traditional white clothing! Notice also how securelythe horse is tied. According to Western travellers at the time, animals were routinely

badly treated and horses would naturally develop sour dispositions – hence theblacksmith’s caution.

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118 K o r e a

115. Chicken pedlar, c. 1900.Photographer unknown. 140 x 100mm, silverprint.

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F a r m i n g a n d I n d u s t r y 119

116. Hat vendors, c. 1885.Percival Lowell. 115 x 195mm, albumen print.

117. Pottery pedlars on the streets ofSeoul, c. 1910.Photographer unknown. 80 x 155mm,

Keystone View Company silverprint

stereograph.

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120 K o r e a

118. Charcoal carriers, c. 1910.Photographer unknown. 80 x 155mm, Keystone View Company silverprint stereograph.

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F a r m i n g a n d I n d u s t r y 121

119. Selling persimmons, c. 1895–1901.Photographer unknown. 94 x 117mm, albumen print.

90. Painted wooden idols, c. 1910.Photographer unknown. 80 x 155mm, Keystone View Company silver print stereograph.

These wooden idols are supposed to be friendly and to protect the villagers from harm.

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122 K o r e a

120. Laden pack mules along themain street of Seoul, looking west,

c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm,

Underwood & Underwood albumen

print stereograph.

121. A convoy ofmerchants at Pusan,

1894.Georges Bigot.

105 x 135mm,

albumen print.

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F a r m i n g a n d I n d u s t r y 123

122. A pack train loaded with wood, c. 1910.Photographer unknown. 80 x 155mm, Keystone View Company silverprint stereograph.

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124 K o r e a

123. Sawing lumber in a yard in Seoul, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen print stereograph.

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F a r m i n g a n d I n d u s t r y 125

124. House-building, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen print stereograph.

A wall of stone and mud is placed against a framework of grass ropes and sticks.

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126 K o r e a

125. Hardening foundation for new post office outside the city wall, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen print stereograph.

The French legation at Seoul can be seen looking west over the wall.

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F a r m i n g a n d I n d u s t r y 127

126. Working on the foundation for the new post office using a man-power shovel,looking north-west towards the western suburbs of Seoul, c. 1902–3.

Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen print stereograph.

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128 K o r e a

127. Grist mill, beating turnip seed into meal, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen print stereograph.

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F a r m i n g a n d I n d u s t r y 129

128. Unsan Gold Minemachinery, c. 1920s.Photographer unknown.

82 x 82mm, glass lantern slide.

Right

129. Unsan Gold Mine,c. 1920s.

Photographer unknown.

82 x 82mm, glass lantern slide.

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130. The Pusan waterfront, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Universal Photo Art Co. silverprint stereograph.

City Life

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C i t y L i f e 131

131. Fish-drying sheds at Wonsan, the eastern port, c. 1910.Photographer unknown. 80 x 155mm, Realistic Travels silverprint stereograph.

132. The town of Mapo, on the Han river, near Seoul, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen

print stereograph.

133. Junks on the Han river at Yongsan, a logging town,near Seoul, c. 1902–3.

Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen

print stereograph.

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134. Chemulpo (Inch’on) main street, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood albumen print stereograph.

132 K o r e a

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C i t y L i f e 133

77. Coolies flailing barley at Pusan, lookingeast towards harbour, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood &

Underwood albumen print stereograph.

135. Seoul(?) city gateand wall, c. 1920s.Photographer unknown.

83 x 83mm,

glass lantern slide.

Right

136. A Korean village,c. 1895–1901.

Photographer unknown.

104 x 140mm,

albumen print.

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134 K o r e a

137. View of Seoul, c. 1889–96.Walter Hillier. 212 x 275mm, albumen print.

Right

138. From the South Gate at Seoul,looking north-east over the city, c. 1902–3.

Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood

& Underwood albumen print stereograph

.

The French and the American churchescan be seen in the distance.

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139. Outer gate to the Old Palace, c. 1885.Percival Lowell. 110 x 188mm, albumen print.

C i t y L i f e 135

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136 K o r e a

140. Summer Pavilion or Hall ofCongratulations at the KyongbokPalace, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Art

Nouveau Stereograph (Universal Photo

Art Co.) silverprint stereograph.

141. A bronze vase atthe entrance to theKyongbok Palace,

Seoul, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting.

80 x 155mm, Art

Nouveau Stereograph

(Universal Photo Art Co.)

silverprint stereograph.

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C i t y L i f e 137

144. Carved marble staircase at the Kyongbok Palace, Seoul, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Art Nouveau Stereograph

(Universal Photo Art Co.) silverprint stereograph.

143. Kyongbok Palace gardens, Seoul, c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Art Nouveau Stereograph

(Universal Photo Art Co.) silverprint stereograph.

142. Temple of Heaven, the Emperor’s place of worship,c. 1902–3.Herbert Ponting. 80 x 155mm, Underwood & Underwood

albumen print stereograph.

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145. Middle-class man and wife, c. 1900.Photographer unknown. 100 x 138mm, silverprint.

Right

146. Woman in sedan chair, c. 1901.Photographer unknown,

possibly J. Cochrane.

80 x 155mm, Keystone View Company

albumen print stereograph.

138 K o r e a

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C i t y L i f e 139

147. Kwanghwamun, the south main gate of the Kyongbok Palace, c. 1890.Photographer unknown. 207 x 267mm, albumen print.

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140 K o r e a

148. Electric tram, c. 1900.Photographer unknown. 100 x 140mm,

silverprint.

149. A middle-class family, c. 1900.Photographer unknown. 142 x 100mm,

silverprint.

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C i t y L i f e 141

150. A bullock cart, Chemulpo (Inch’on), c. 1930.Photographer unknown. 84 x 138mm, silverprint.

151. An early car showroom at Inch’on, c. 1930.Photographer unknown. 81 x 139mm, silverprint.

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<#> K o r e a

Arnold, H. J. P., Herbert Ponting: Another World,

Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1975.

Barr, Pat, ‘Isabella Bird, 1831–1904’. This is one of

the articles contained in Britain & Japan:

Biographical Portraits, edited by Ian Nish,

Japan Library, Folkestone, 1994.

Bennett, Terry, Early Japanese Images, C. Tuttle Co.,

Tokyo, 1996.

Bird Bishop, Isabella, Korea and her Neighbours,

John Murray, London, 1897.

— Views in the Far East–Photographed By Isabella

L. Bishop, F.R.G.S., collotyped by S. Kajima,

Tokyo, 1897. This was almost certainly a

private printing which contained 60 of the

author’s photographs, of which 12 are of Korea.

Carles, W. R., Life In Corea, Macmillan & Co.,

London, 1888.

Cavendish, A. E. J. and H.E. Goold-Adams,

H. E., Korea and the Sacred White Mountain,

George Philip, London, 1894.

Chaille-Long, Charles, ‘From Corea to Quelpaert

Island: In the Footprints of Kublai Khan’,

Bulletin of the American Geographical Society,

1890.

— My Life in Four Continents, Hutchinson &

Co., London, 1912.

Choi In-Jin, Hankuk Shinmun Sajinsa (‘The

History of Photojournalism in Korea’), Youl

Hwa Dang Publishers, Seoul, 1992.

Chosen Sotokufu, Chosen Koseki Zufu,

Tokyo/Keijo (Seoul). This photographic

survey of Korean antiquities was published by

Kokka-sha/Seiundo in 15 volumes, 1915–1935.

Chung Sung-Kil, Korea One Hundred Years Ago:

Photographs (1871‒1910), Korea Information

Cultural Center, Seoul, 1989. Korean text.

Clark, John, John Fraser and Colin Osman,

A Chronology of Felix (Felice) Beato, privately

printed by the authors, 1989.

de Rostaing, Vicomte, ‘Note sur une Récente

Exploration du Hang-Kyang en Corée par le

Vte. de Rostaing’, Bulletin de la Société de

Géographie, 5 série, XIII, February 1867, pages

210–55. In French.

Dong-A Ilbo, 100 Years of Korean History in

photographs 1876‒1976, Seoul, 1978. In Korean,

edited by Oh Ki-Kwon.

Heigo Ki’nen Chosen Shashincho (‘An Album

Commemorating the Incorporation of

Korea’), Gengendo, Tokyo/Seoul, 1910.

Iizawa, Kotaro, Nihon Shashinshi wo aruku,

Shinchosha, Tokyo, 1992. Contains an article

Bibliography

KOREA CIT Part 6 6/1/09 10:07 AM Page 142

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B i b l i o g r a p h y 143

in Japanese on Torii Ryuzo, pages 91–102, and

on Kamei Koreaki, pages 63–76.

Japan Directory 1893‒1896, published by the Japan

Gazette, Yokohama, Japan. Provides references

to Japanese photographic studios in Korea.

Jouan, H. L., Expédition de Corée en 1866, épisode

d’une Station navale dans les mers de Chine,

Mémoires de la Société Nationale

Académique de Cherbourg, 1871. In French.

Kamei, Count Koreaki, Meiji nijushichi – hachi-

nen sen’eki sashincho, Kamei Koretsune, Tokyo,

1897. In Japanese.

Kankoku Shashincho, Government-General of

Korea, Seoul, 1910.

Kendall, Laurel, ‘Korea, 1912: Photographs from

the Roy Chapman Andrews Expedition’,

Korean Culture, vol. 9 no. 1, Spring 1988.

Kinoshita Naoyuki, ‘Bigo “Nisshin Senso

Shashincho” wo yomu’, Bessatsu Taiyo – Nihon

no Koroko, no. 95: ‘Bigo ga mita Seikimatsu

Nippon’, ed. Shimizu Isao, Heibonsha,

Tokyo, 1996, pages 77–87. Appears to be the

first publication to include attributed Bigot

photographs – many of which are included in

this book.

Korea: Its Land, People and Culture of All Ages,

Hakwon-Sa Ltd, Seoul, 1960.

Korean Repository, November 1896, page 423;

photograph of King Kojong taken by

Mrs L. B. Graham.

Ibid., January 1897, page 29; report on favourable

press comment on the portrait of the king,

carried in the previous November issue.

Lowell, Percival, Choson, the Land of the Morning

Calm, Tickner & Co., Boston, 1885.

Nihon Shashinkai (ed.), Nihon Shashinshi Nenpyo,

Tokyo, 1971. Japanese text.

Norman, Henry, The People and Politics in the Far

East, T. F. Unwin, London, 1900.

Schley, Winfield Scott, Forty-five Years under the

Flag, Appleton & Co., New York 1904. A

vivid eye-witness account of the 1871

American expedition.

Scranton W. B., ‘Historical Sketch of the Korea

Mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church’,

in Korean Repository, Trilingual Press, Seoul,

July 1898, page 260.

Suh Moon Dang, Resistance Movement under

Japanese Rule, Seoul, 1987. In Korean, with

text by Lee Kyu-Hun.

Underwood, Lillias H., Underwood of Korea,

Yonsei University Press, Seoul, 1983 (reprint).

Underwood, Peter A., Moffett, Samuel H., and

Sibley, Norman R., First Encounters: Korea

1880‒1910, Dragon’s Eye Graphics, Seoul,

1982.

Westin Chosun Hotel, The Heart and Tradition of

Seoul, Merit Communications, Seoul, 1990.

Published to commemorate in old

photographs the 75th Anniversary of the

Westin Chosun Hotel, founded in 1914.

English and Korean text.

White, Stephen, ‘Felix Beato and the First

Korean War, 1871’, The Photographic Collector,

vol. 3, no. 1, Bishopsgate Press, London, 1982.

Zuber, H., ‘Une Expédition en Corée’, Le Tour du

Monde, vol. XXV (1873), pages 401–16.

Contained are several illustrations of Zuber’s

sketches but no mention of photography.

In French.

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144 I n d e x

Andrews, Roy Chapman 12, 21

Beato, Felice xvi, 3, 4, 5–7, 21, 26–37Bigot, Georges 12, 21, 45, 47–9, 85,

86, 99, 100, 105, 113, 122Bird Bishop, Isabella 11–12, 21, 44, 87Blake, Captain 28Brazier, H. W. 10, 21Britain x, xii, 4, 38–41Broughton, Captain xBrown, Eliphalet 13Byeon Jong-Seob 72

Campbell, C. W. 9–10, 21Carles, W. R. 4, 9Cavendish, A. E. J. 10, 21Chaille-Long, C. 10, 21–2Chang Pyong-Jin 18Chemulpo 14, 22, 132, 141Child, Thomas 22, 51China ix, xii, xiii, 1, 9, 48Cho Pyong-Sik 10Choi Su-Bok 18Choljong, King xChong Un-Sang 18Chung Sung-Kil 19Cochrane, Julian 22, 86, 116, 138Cooper, Captain 28

Davis, Edward 9, 22Drew, Secretary 26

Fisher, Secretary 28Foote, Lucius M. 9Fort du Coude 34, 35Fort Monocacy 32–3Foulk, George Clayton 4, 8–9, 22France x–xi, 1–2, 3

General Sherman, USS xi, 2–3Goetz, M. L. 12, 57, 106Goold-Adams, H. E. 10, 22Graham, Mrs L. B. 12, 22Grenfell, Harry 9, 22Gyokusendo 14, 22

Han river xvi, 2, 131Higuchi, H. 14, 22Hillier, Walter Caine 10, 19, 22, 103, 134Honda Shunosuke 13, 16, 23Hwang Chul 4, 16–17, 23

Im Eung-Sik 18, 23Inch’on 13, 14, 22, 24, 42, 106–7, 111,

116, 132, 141Iwata, K. 14, 23

Japan ix, xii, xiii–xiv, 3, 13–16, 18, 42,45–6, 55, 64–79

Jeong Jin-Hong 14, 51Ji Un-Young 4, 13, 16–17, 23

Kamei Koreaki, Count 14–15, 23Kameya Teijiro 4, 13–14, 23Kameya Tokujiro 14Kameya Toyo 13–14, 23Kang Wui 68Kangwha xi, 1–2, 32–3Keumkang, Mount 103Kilburn, B. W. 23Kim Hong-Jip 64–5Kim Kyu-Jin (Haegang) 4, 17, 23Kim Yong-Won 4, 13, 16–17, 23Kim Yoon-Seon 71Kim Yoon-Sik 1Kimberly, Captain 28kisaeng girls 46Kojong, King (later Emperor) xi, xiii– xiv,

8, 9, 12, 17, 56, 60–3Komundo island (see also Port Hamilton)

xii, 4, 9, 38–41Korea

history of ix–xivphotography in 1–20

Kyongbok Palace, Seoul 54, 136–7, 139

La Perouse, Captain xLawson, H. H. 12, 57, 106Lee Jo-Ham 67Lee Jong-Moo 69Lee Yong-Suk 66Low, Frederick 3, 26Lowell, Percival 4–5, 9, 23, 52, 119, 135

McCrea, Commander 28Mapo 131Min, Queen xi–xii, xiii, 57Min Young-Hwan, General Prince 7, 58missionaries ix, x–xi, 9Mun Chi-Jang 18, 23Murakami, K. 14, 15, 23

Nichols, Captain 28Norman, Henry 11, 23

Ogawa Kazumasa 14, 24Oh Kyong-Seok 1Oh Pyong-Do 18Oppert, Ernest xi

Park P’il-Ho 18Park, President xivPark Sam-Sik 18

Pauling, Mr and Mrs Edward C. 10–11Pillsbury, Ensign 28Ponting, Herbert George 5, 7–8, 24,

50, 54, 59, 83, 85, 88–91, 94, 102,106, 111, 114–17, 122, 124–8, 130,131–2, 134, 136–7

Port Hamilton (Komundo island) xii, xiii,4, 9, 38–41, 93, 109–10

Pusan 13, 45, 47, 49, 89, 100, 111,113, 114, 122, 130

P’yongyang 2, 48, 49

Ridel, Father 1Roberts, Jo 19Rodgers, Admiral xi, 3, 6, 28Roze, Admiral 1–2Russia x, xii, xiii, 38, 44

Seiyeikwan 14, 24Seoul xii, xiii, 15, 50, 54, 59–63, 88,

89, 90, 91, 94, 106, 116, 117, 119,122, 124, 126–7, 133, 134–7, 139

Shin Heon 66Sunjong, Crown Prince xiv, 56Suzuki Keikun 15, 24Suzuki Shin’ichi 14, 24

Taewonkun (regent) x, xi–xii, xiiiTakesita, Y. 14, 24Thomas, Robert xiTokjin Fort 32–3Tonghak movement x, xiii, 48Torii Ryuzo 16, 24

Ueno Hikoma 14, 24, 51United States of America xi, xii, 2–3, 6,

8–9, 26–37, 52–3Unsan Gold Mine 129

Varat, Charles-Louis 10, 24Vaughan, John Alfred 12, 24, 42–3

Wheeler, Lieutenant 28Wonsan 13, 131Woollett, H. 3, 6–7, 24

Yi Eui-lk 1Yi Hyong-Nok 18Yi Song-Yun 18Yongsan 131Yoon Ung-Yeol 70Yu Kil-Jun 14Yun Woong-Niel (Minister of War)

50, 83

Zuber, H. 2

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