In Korea, the New Year began with change and trepidation. December had been brutally cold but the first week of January 1898 was pleasantly mild. There was the promise of prosperity. The rice prices, which had been extremely high due to the failure of the crops in the capital region the previous year, continued to fall as more shipments of rice arrived. There were probably some who believed that the supernatural was responsible for this change of fate.
In Korea, the New Year began with change and trepidation. December had been brutally cold but the first week of January 1898 was pleasantly mild. There was the promise of prosperity. The rice prices, which had been extremely high due to the failure of the crops in the capital region the previous year, continued to fall as more shipments of rice arrived. There were probably some who believed that the supernatural was responsible for this change of fate.
In the early 1880s, the first “products of Western civilization” that really appealed to Korean consumers were beer, matches and kerosene. During the 19th century, kerosene was the United States number one export item to the Korean Peninsula. In 1885, more than 162,400 gallons (614,750 liters) of American kerosene arrived in Jemulpo (modern Incheon).
As a boy, I often looked forward to wandering the snow-covered streets of my city to admire the Christmas decorations. Houses were lit up with countless lights - some were obviously color-schemed while others were haphazard assortments of whatever colors could be found - snowmen (when there was enough snow) stood silent guard in the front yards and sometimes Santa and his sleigh could be seen on the occasional rooftop.
“The introduction of kerosene,” according to John Jordan, the British consul in Seoul, “has worked a veritable revolution in village life in [Korea, with almost] every cottage possessing [a] Japanese lamp.”