Considering that the 1871 conflict between Korea and the United States has become such a popular posting here, I thought I would add my own.
The word Choson is said to mean “land of the morning calm,” but in the eyes of many Westerners, especially in the 1800s, Choson Korea was viewed as an almost mystical land that was violently disposed to anyone with the misfortune to be cast upon its shores. Hendrick Hamel’s famous account of the treatment he and his companions received at the hands of the Koreans has often been cited as proof of Korea’s ill treatment of shipwrecked survivors.
However, the account is clearly biased in that it emphasizes the negative aspects of Korean behavior and de-emphasizes the hospitality afforded to the Dutch, which was superior to what they would have received in northern Japan. The later accounts of Western contacts with Korea that are often used to validate Korea’s hostility toward foreigners are few, but the many accounts of kindness shown to the shipwrecked survivors are often ignored or merely mentioned as a footnote. One such incident was the Chusan, a small German schooner, wrecked off the coast of Korea just as hostilities erupted between the United States and Korea.
The article (part one) can be read here.
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Some have suggested that Hamel emphasized or exaggerated the negative in order to discourage European countries and companies from meddling in Korea.
Speaking of Chosŏn, aka 朝鮮, that “morning calm” thingy has always irritated me. How in botheration did 朝鮮 become Morning Calm?!? 朝 is, among other things, morning, indeed, but 鮮 means “fresh”, or “cool”, or the associated nouns [freshness, coolness]…
Of course, the folklore etymology of Morning Calm is, or so I hear, based on the fact that Koreans are usually too hung over in the morning to be their noisy selves, but who knows…
I thought this part was interesting:
Immediately upon landing, the shipwrecked survivors were surrounded by a group of startled Koreans who, instead of attacking them, greeted them with customary questions of where they were from,why they had come, and if they knew Korea had four distinct seasons. When Captain Scholke explained to them that he and his men were shipwrecked, a Korean official informed the captain that they should try kimchi, because kimchi can cure all problems, even the captain’s smashed hand. He told them they should eat it three times a day. Then he informed them that kimchi was too spicy for foreigners to eat.