IX
KOREA AND ITS NEIGHBORS
Korea, or Chosen, as it is officially styled,—the Land of the Morning Calm,—has been for ages the scene of conflict between its ambitious neighbors. Its geographical position, a peninsula extending into waters which wash the shores of powerful and rival nations on the east, north, and west, has made it a constant sufferer from invading armies, kept it in subjection, and wasted its resources. It has been fitly termed "the Naboth's Vineyard of the Far East," coveted by great nations both in ancient and modern times.
Its people lay claim to a history of four thousand years. Centuries before the Christian era it had experienced invasion both from China and Japan, and through the succeeding ages it was dominated by one or the other at recurring periods. When the Mongols became powerful under the Manchu sovereigns, and before their conquest of China, Korea felt the devastating effects of their armies. In modern times the kingdom sent embassies and paid tribute concurrently to China and Japan, up to 1832, when these evidences of vassalage ceased respecting Japan, though China continued to exercise suzerainty until her overlordship was completely removed by the late Chinese-Japanese war. During the last half of the nineteenth century Korean
