Excerpt from The Passing of Korea<br><br>Much that is contained in this present volume is matter that has come under the writer's personal observation or has been derived directly from Koreans or from Korean works. Some of this matter has already appeared in 7723 Korea Review and elsewhere. The historical survey is a condensation from the writer's History of Korea.<br><br>This book is a labour of love, undertaken in the days of Korea's distress, with the purpose Of interesting the reading public in a country and a people that have been frequently maligned and sel dom appreciated. They are overshadowed by China on the one hand in respect of numbers, and by Japan on the other in respect Of wit. They are neither good merchants like the one nor good fighters like the other, and yet they are far more like anglo-saxons in temperament than either, and they are by far the pleasantest people in the Far East to live amongst. Their failings are such as follow in the wake Of ignorance everywhere, and the bettering of their Opportunities will bring swift betterment to their condition.<br><br>For aid in the compilation of this book my thanks are mainly due to a host Of kindly Koreans from every class in society, from the silk-clad yangban to the fettered criminal in prison, from the men who go up the mountains to monasteries to those who go down to the sea in ships.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.