Did you know that ... (21) The Eyes Have It

For many people, navigating the bustling streets of Seoul can be daunting and a little dangerous but can you imagine doing it blind? Percival Lowell, an American, was one of the earliest Western visitors to Korea to write a book about his experiences. Lowell, who stayed in Seoul during the winter of 1883-84, was extremely observant and wrote about anything and everything that caught his eye ­ including the plight of the blind.



Describing the male curfew at night, he noted that except for officials on government business, or those in need of medical assistance, only blind men were permitted to freely roam about.

“A thoughtful kindness has given them an immunity they could never abuse. Unable to travel fast they can easily be watched; and so blind men’s holiday in Korea is prolonged from the twilight on till dawn. But their journeys are not confined to travel at night. They frequent the streets at all hours; and the manner in which they are both able and dare to cross the city is something little short of marvelous, for they go entirely alone. No small boy or faithful friend shelters them from the crowd, or guides them into passages for the moment clear. Armed only with a long staff, they venture alone into the thick of the city’s throng. (They walk boldly forward, and somehow escape unhurt; and so erect is their bearing and straight their course, that at first you would never suppose that to them it was always night. Of course, carriages, fortunately, are wanting; there is nothing worse than a bull to collide with. Also the moderate pace of the human travel around them makes matters less dangerous. But allowing for all favoring conditions, the deed is very daring, and the confidence, begotten of consideration, sublime.)”

Lowell offers us no information as to the number of the blind or how they came to be in their situation but Horace N. Allen, an American missionary, does provide a rather strange anecdote.

According to him, if a man falsely accuses another man of a crime he is subject to be blinded for perjury. The wrongly accused or his family and friends could demand an eye from the false witness. Allen wrote:

“The culprit is made to stoop over and is then hit with the leaded end of a flexible stick upon a spot on the back of the head, where the eye protrudes sufficiently so that it may be cut off. If however the people who wish the eye are not prompt in doing the cutting operation the prisoner may quickly replace the eye and possess it thereafter in peace.”

Allen noted that despite the claims that this had occurred “many times” it had yet to be witnessed by a foreigner.

Speaking of eyes, did you know that one of Korea’s early Western advisors had a glass eye? Charles William Legendre, a French-American, lost his eye during the American Civil War and was fitted with a prosthetic or glass eye. Unfortunately, there are no amusing anecdotes involving his glass eye in Korea but if we are to judge from his exploits in Japan and China, he was quite the character.

During a dinner party in Japan he was seated next to a French noblewoman who was unaware he had a prosthetic eye. While they were talking, Legendre “removed his glasses, and taking hold of a four-pronged fork he then made a series of small taps on the pupil of his eye.” Not only did he succeed in nauseating the woman but also made her a devoted enemy.

While working for the Japanese government, Legendre also used his prosthetic eye as a tool during negotiations with the Chinese. The Chinese, masters of obstinacy, refused to accept Legendre as an equal so, “to the amazement and terror of the Chinese officials, he took out one eye, tossed it into the air, and deftly catching it as it descended, thrust it into its vacant orbit and then turned it upon them again in a fierce gaze.” The negotiations were quickly concluded to Legendre’s satisfaction.

Source: he Korea Times