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Naval Surgeon in Yi Korea: The Journal of George W. Woods
Center for Korean Studies: Korea Research Monograph #10
138 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 26, 2013
Of all the Westerners who passed through Korea after it cautiously (albeit officially) opened its doors in the late 19th century, one would be hard pressed to find a more learned individual with a penchant for detail. Enter 46-year-old U.S. Naval surgeon George W. Woods, a career officer who eventually rose to the highest medical rank the Navy bestows. Woods kept an impeccable journal of his several month stay in and around Seoul in 1884 while serving aboard the USS Juniata.
What makes the annotated transcription of Woods' journal so significant, apart from his prosaic depictions of Korean life, is that his sojourn occurred before notable missionaries like Henry Appenzeller, Horace Newton Allen, and Horace Grant Underwood arrived and established themselves. In fact, Woods arrived less than a year after Lucious Foote, the American envoy, took up official residence in Seoul. Few others can claim such a distinction.
The old adage "don't judge a book by its cover" is especially accurate here. The cover of this 1984 publication is admittedly atrocious but the over twenty full page photograph reproductions admirably complement Woods' accessibly detailed and optimistically objective account. A lot of the characteristic air of superiority that was common of the time is refreshingly absent. We are quite fortunate that the editors, Bohm and Swartout, preserved and compiled this historically significant journal. If you can still find a copy, it's worth the trouble.
What makes the annotated transcription of Woods' journal so significant, apart from his prosaic depictions of Korean life, is that his sojourn occurred before notable missionaries like Henry Appenzeller, Horace Newton Allen, and Horace Grant Underwood arrived and established themselves. In fact, Woods arrived less than a year after Lucious Foote, the American envoy, took up official residence in Seoul. Few others can claim such a distinction.
The old adage "don't judge a book by its cover" is especially accurate here. The cover of this 1984 publication is admittedly atrocious but the over twenty full page photograph reproductions admirably complement Woods' accessibly detailed and optimistically objective account. A lot of the characteristic air of superiority that was common of the time is refreshingly absent. We are quite fortunate that the editors, Bohm and Swartout, preserved and compiled this historically significant journal. If you can still find a copy, it's worth the trouble.
July 19, 2022
I love these types of books, and for his time Woods seems to be pretty reliable and kept a very detailed journal. He seems to be quite taken with Korea and its people (again, given the times).
Some of my highlights:
"I have never been so surprised at any sight as I was at the beauty, symmetry, and one might say grandeur, of this gateway, as well as with the artistic construction of both gateway and wall" (p.36, in reference to Namdaemun (South gate)?
"She (Mrs. Foote) and Mrs. Mohlendorff are the only European ladies who have ever been in Seoul, and yet they have never met" (p. 43. Apparently there was some feud between their husbands?)
"After curfew, no man must go into the street, but women are allowed to wander until 1 a.m." (p. 52)
"The Colonel informed me - a Corean compliment - that I looked much older than 46" (P. 58)
"tea houses do not exist, because the people do not drink tea, as a rule" (p. 67)
"This is the sort of pageantry I like to see, something that in a few years will belong to the past, when the King will move like other civilised potentates and perhaps forget his ancestors, as our sceptical sovereigns have forgotten their religious duties" (p. 97, regarding a royal procession)
Some of my highlights:
"I have never been so surprised at any sight as I was at the beauty, symmetry, and one might say grandeur, of this gateway, as well as with the artistic construction of both gateway and wall" (p.36, in reference to Namdaemun (South gate)?
"She (Mrs. Foote) and Mrs. Mohlendorff are the only European ladies who have ever been in Seoul, and yet they have never met" (p. 43. Apparently there was some feud between their husbands?)
"After curfew, no man must go into the street, but women are allowed to wander until 1 a.m." (p. 52)
"The Colonel informed me - a Corean compliment - that I looked much older than 46" (P. 58)
"tea houses do not exist, because the people do not drink tea, as a rule" (p. 67)
"This is the sort of pageantry I like to see, something that in a few years will belong to the past, when the King will move like other civilised potentates and perhaps forget his ancestors, as our sceptical sovereigns have forgotten their religious duties" (p. 97, regarding a royal procession)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews