Hendrick Hamel - The Dutchman Who Revealed Korea (Korean History)

Hendrik Hamel was a Dutch sailor born in the year 1630. He's known for having spent 13 years in the Korean kingdom of Joseon. He provided one, if not the first, western account of Korea. It was published in 1668 as Hamel's Journal and the Description of the Kingdom of Korea, 1653 to 1666. Joseon was a kingdom that ruled over the Korean peninsula from 1392 to 1897. Hendrik Hamel and his crew were sailing to the Dutch East Indies, now called Indonesia. On August 17th of 1653, 64 men were aboard the Sparrowhawk on their way to Japan from Tainan. They also had 30 pieces of artillery. The Dutch had an important trading mission on Dejima Island in Nagasaki Harbor. It was the only Japanese territory open to westerners. Hamel and his crew faced harsh weather conditions and crashed on Jeju Island to the south of the Korean peninsula. It was actually on Gapado, a very small island just south of the main Jeju Island. Following the crash, 28 men died and 36 survived. Joseon had a very strong isolationist policy at the time, so the crew wasn't allowed to leave the island. Jeju Island was where many politicians and even members of the nobility were exiled at the time. Hamel and his crew are described in the annals of King Hyojong. They had blue eyes, high noses, yellow hair, short beards, and mustaches. It mentions what they were wearing. Their clothes were long and came down to their ties. The hem of their shirts was split into four and there was a string tied to the side of the collar and under the sleeves. Their pants were wrinkled and looked like skirts. It's written that Hamel and his crew referred to Joseon as Goryeo. Him and his crew were called the Christians of the West. The Dutch called China, Ming, the Jurchen, and thus the Qing dynasty, as starters, and Ilbon, the Korean word for Japan, as Japan. When asked where they were going, they said Nagasaki. When he first saw Koreans, Hamel said that they were dressed like Chinese and had hats made of horsehair. He was afraid they might have been Chinese pirates. The next day, 1,000 to 2,000 men surrounded the Dutchman's tent. They took some sailors with them, put an iron chain around their necks, a little bit like sheep bells, and were forced to crawl on their hands and knees to meet the Korean commander. The commander asked the Dutch crew where they were going, gave them soju, and sent them back to their tent. The Koreans brought them small portions of The Koreans took the wood from the shipwreck and especially the iron. Some things, like jars of wine and silver plates, were given to the Koreans. Hamel says that the Koreans really liked the wine and it made them quite merry and more friendly. The Koreans continued to gather the wood and iron from the shipwreck and brought food for the Dutch twice a A couple of days later, the Korean commander asked the Dutch to bring their goods and seal them. Some Koreans, who stole things from the Dutch, were punished severely in front of the commander and the Dutch crew. Hamel and his crew met with the local governor, Lee Won-jin, in what is now Jeju City. Hamel wrote that he was around 70 years old and was a good and wise man. He had around 3,000 armed men with guns with him. The Dutch crew were frightened and thought that this would be their last day on this earth. They were interrogated and asked once again where they were going. They all said Nagasaki. The crew was then brought to a house where the uncle of the king had lived. Hamel must have been talking about Gwanghaegun. The crew was given protection and food. Lee Won-jin sent a message to King Hyo-jong requesting advice on what to do with the Dutch crew. While awaiting for an answer, he treated the men well and gave them some freedom to move. He also gave small parties for the Dutchmen and was curious about their language and ways. He assured them that they would soon get an answer from the king and be on their way back to Nagasaki. The answer came in the form of a fellow Dutch, Jan Jans Weltevray. He was a Dutchman who was shipwrecked in Korea 27 years before. Weltevray took a Korean name, Pak-kyon, married a Korean woman and had two children. Furthermore, he passed the gwago, civil service examination, and became a Korean official. When he was captured, Weltevray was ordered to produce artillery weapons by Joseon authorities. Hamel notes that Weltevray almost forgot his native language and was a little bit hard to communicate with. Weltevray brought some joy to the crew but also some sadness because Weltevray told them that most probably the king would not permit them to leave and would give them a chance to live their whole lives in Korea. Still, things were going not as bad for the Dutch. Sadly, that changed when Lee Won-jin was replaced by a new governor. Lee Won-jin treated the Dutch to a big party and regretted that he couldn't let them continue their mission to Nagasaki. The new governor didn't give them as much food and just made life more difficult for them. Some crew members attempted to steal some local boats and failed. They were punished severely by the new governor. Hamel mentions that Jeju was populated and fertile with many cattle and horses. The population was poor though because that to give a lot of their income to the king. He said Jeju inhabitants were considered simple and poor by the mainlanders. A letter from the court finally arrived in Jeju stating that the Joseon government had a moral obligation to ease the existence of the Dutch crew. It also stated Hamel and his crew were to be sent to Hanyang, present-day Seoul. It was now June 1665. The journey from Jeju to the mainland took a couple of days because of the bad weather conditions. Hamel noted that most guards on board when leaving Jeju island to get to the mainland were seasick. Hamel documents all the cities they've been through on their way to the capital. It took them 14 days on horseback to reach Hanyang. Hamel and his crew along wealth of Ray met King Yojong. They begged the king to release them but he refused. Yojong asked them to entertain him with songs and dances from their homeland as well as clownish behavior. Hamel wrote that the crew did those things with little talent and enthusiasm but it pleased the king. They were sent back to their accommodation and received around 70 ounces of rice each monthly. They also received a round wooden disc. On it was engraved their name, age, country of birth and functions in service to the king. They all received a musket, gunpowder and lead and were obligated to pay their respect to the king each new and full moon. Hamel mentions that many Chinese were also enlisted like them as the king's bodyguard and that they participated in various military drills and shooting practices. They met important people in the city daily. Many Koreans thought that they would look like monsters and were disappointed when they saw the Dutchmen because they clearly weren't monsters. Koreans admired the whiteness of the Dutch skin and still do nowadays. They drew much more attention in the capital than on Jeju island. One summer a Manchu envoy from Qing China came to Hanyang to collect the taxes demanded from the Joseon nation to Qing China. When the envoy came the Dutch crew were forced to relocate in fortress until the Chinese envoy left. When they came back to the capital they were accommodated by Chinese who didn't treat them especially well. The winter was harsh because they didn't have any proper clothing but they found some work and could buy hides and even three little houses. In March of 1655 the Manchu envoy came back to the capital. Two crew members were out looking for wood. They approached the envoy, took off their Korean clothing and showed their Dutch clothes underneath while saying that they were kept in Korea against their will. The Manchu envoy was scared. His Korean guards didn't say or do anything. The court officials were displeased and sentenced the crew to 50 blows on their bare buttocks. The king didn't ratify this though and just asked the crew to stay in their homes for the time being. Following this there was pressure from the Manchu envoy to punish the two Dutch men who approached him that day. If they weren't punished he would inform the emperor in Beijing. But fortunately for the two men they were put in prison and eventually died there. The Manchu envoy came twice again and Hamel says that both times they were told to stay in their houses and not step out outside. It seems like the Manchu and some people at court had a grudge against the foreigners and wanted all of them dead. Hyojong and his brother Inpyong Daegun were both not favorable at all in punishing the Dutch crew. So in the end it was decided to banish them to a military garrison in Jeolla province. Jeolla though is situated in the southwest of the Korean peninsula. The king gave them 50 ounces of rice per month. The Dutchman reached Jeolla province in March of 1656 and were housed and fed at the government's expense. They were installed in Gangjin. Hamel's crew was 33 men strong at this point. Hamel wrote about the governor that was there when they arrived. He was a good man and well liked but lost his position because of bribery allegations. Like their time in Jeju this new governor wasn't good to them. For example the previous governor provided firewood to them but now they had to cut it themselves. He said that his crew was happy when the governor died of a heart attack. The next governor just gave them the rice that was demanded by the king. The Dutchman didn't have enough to survive though so they resorted to begging. Hamel says that monks were often seen begging because they were rejected by Confucian society. The governor allowed them to beg four times a week. It was very successful because the farmers and monks were very curious about them and their stories from abroad. A disease had broken out in their homes. Hamel mentions that the Koreans were very afraid of that so their movements were restricted. They couldn't go near the capital or the Japanese enclave. In April of 1659 King Hyojong died. Hamel writes that with the permission of the Chinese emperor Hyojong's eldest son was crowned king. The crew continued their working and begging. The monks were more generous than the farmers and more inquisitive as well. A great famine struck Joseon in 1661 and 1663. Hamel wrote about highwaymen that roamed the country. Several villages were ransacked by marauding gangs and the king's storage rooms were broken into. People survived on acorns, tree bark and weeds. Interestingly enough there are similar stories about the Korean war and its aftermath. A new governor was appointed in 1661. He was very nice to the crew and gave them complete freedom. In 1663 the Dutchman sent a letter to the king asking them to be moved elsewhere because of the famine and lack of food. It was permitted and they were divided into three cities. At this point there were 22 surviving crew members. Hamel ended up in Yeosu where the left provincial naval district headquarters was located. It was an important base that was used by Yi Sun-Shin during the Imjin war with Japan from 1592 to 1598. His life for him and his friends were dependent on the governors assigned there. Many governors almost treated the Dutchmen as slaves. One governor was extremely nice to them though and invited them to his house. They talked about their homeland and other countries. The governor wondered why they didn't try to go to Japan adding that many ships were all around this city. The Dutchman said that they didn't have permission to do so from the king. The governor inadvertently gave them an idea. At the end of the year 1664 two comets arose in the sky. This caused panic in Korea. The war fleet was on standby. The guards of the ports were reinforced and fortresses were given extra ammunition and men. Koreans were told to not light up lamps along the coast. When the Manchus and Japanese invaded Joseon a couple of years earlier the same phenomena happened in the skies. So the Koreans were cautious. Governors succeeded one another and the Dutchman situation was getting worse by the day. 16 Dutchmen were left in Jeollado. In 1666 they finally acquired a small fishing boat but they had to be careful not to arouse suspicion around their real motive behind using the boat which was to escape Joseon by sailing to Nagasaki, Japan. Hamel and seven of his mates departed on September 4th of 1666. None of them have ever been to Japan before. A couple of days later they were accosted by Japanese and showed their colors of the Prince of Orange, an orange-white-blue flag that they made themselves before leaving. Hamel and his mates made it clear that they wanted to reach Nagasaki and reach their fellow countrymen there. A big ship with an important high official took them aboard and understood the situation. They told the Japanese that they came from Korea where they lived as quasi-prisoners for 13 years. The Dutch were relieved that the reception was so friendly because the Koreans told them that the Japanese would beat to death any foreigners who make it to their land. On September 12th they reunited with their fellow countrymen on Dejima Island. In Japan Hamel and his crew were interrogated by Japanese officials who were curious about Joseon. They asked questions about the land. Hamel answered that Joseon was divided into eight provinces, 360 cities and many islands. The Japanese wondered about the Joseon army. Hamel told them that they had muskets, swords, bows and arrows and some pieces of artillery. The fortresses have food and ammunition for three years. Hamel told the Japanese that Korea wasn't at war with any nation but had to pay tribute to the Manchus three times a year. He also said that they paid tribute to Japan. The tribute to the Manchus was a great burden on the Korean economy. Hamel says that before the Manchus took over, Joseon was a country full of bliss and friskiness. People did nothing but eat, drink and make love. That changed drastically with the taking over of Ming by the Manchus and the loss of the war against the Manchus in Korea. Hamel talked about the monks. There were many monks in Joseon and they made a living by begging and working. They dressed the same as the Japanese monks. Koreans dressed in the Chinese way according to Hamel and wore shoes and socks. The south of the country grows a lot of rice. The north grows millet and barley. They also grow cotton. Recently there was a big famine. Hamel said that there were very little cows in Joseon but many horses. There was a dangerous cattle disease recently which didn't help the cow population. When it comes to trading, only the Japanese trade with Joseon. The Chinese go and trade with the Japanese traders in Joseon according to Hamel. There were silver mines in Joseon wrote Hamel and a fourth of the proceeds went to the king. Ginseng root is given to the Manchus as part of the tribute as well as exported to China and Japan. Koreans have a lot of silkworms but according to Hamel, they don't know the art of spinning silk yarn sufficiently to weave clothes of highest quality. I find this interesting because I've never read that from Korean sources. I suspect Hamel is comparing to Chinese silk yarn which he must have seen. The tigers are hunted for their fur which is sold to China and Japan. Hamel mentions that if the emperor of Japan write a letter to the king of Joseon about shipwrecked Japanese, they would be returned because the Japanese sent back the shipwrecked Korean to their country. Hamel was asked why the Joseon king didn't let them go. Hamel said that Joseon never let any foreigners leave because they didn't want Joseon to be known by any other foreign nation. While in Nagasaki, Hamel wrote an account of his time in Joseon. He talks in depth about the geography, fishing, climate, agriculture, the form of constitution of Joseon, the army, political organs, fiscal system and so on. Here are some things that caught my attention. It's worth noting here that his writings and opinions are his own and definitely not mine. High treason is punished very severely. The culprit's whole lineage is wiped out. His house demolished and no house is able to be rebuilt on that spot. His slaves and goods are confiscated as well. A woman who kills her husband is buried next to a crowded road with her head sticking out. The city where this happened loses the right to have a governor and it is instead administered by a neighboring governor or a nobleman appointed by the king. According to Hamel, many crimes are punished by beating a culprit's foot sole. He writes at length about the beating of the shins, soles, buttocks and other quite gruesome penalties for serious offenses. I'd rather not talk about those in this video. Concerning religion, Hamel talks about temples and monks and that the common people have more respect for the government than the many gods. Monks come to say their prayers to the family of the deceased, be it poor or richer people. They never discuss religious affairs and do not proselytize. On official holidays, many people went to the temples and the monks made strange noises by beating on drums and gongs as well as strange music with flutes and primitive instruments. Hamel wrote that everyone can become a monk and stop being one as they like. They are not highly esteemed in the country except for some high-ranked monks who are also considered members of the court. Men are branded on the right arm when they become monks. They are not allowed to speak with women. If they do so, they get 80 blows on their buttocks and are expelled from their monastery. Hamel says that the rich citizens of Joseon often spend their leisure time in mountain monasteries where they bring ladies and drink a lot of strong alcohol. Hamel thinks that many monasteries are more like a brothel than a place where one can repent. Hamel considered kising as unashamed ladies of the night that were good at pleasing men, singing, dancing, and playing musical instruments. When it comes to housing, the rich obviously live in nice houses. The poor live in slums and are not allowed to modify their houses, needing permission from the governor to get roof tiles. Hamel wrote about the ondol system which he describes as making a room warm like a baker's oven. Women live in the back part of the house where passerby can't see them. Houses are scarcely furnished. Koreans only keep the most necessary things in their homes. The cities have many public houses and brothels. There are no inns when traveling long distances. One must stay in a If high-ranking officials travel, commoners and nobles are obliged to share their space for them. Hamel talks about arranged marriages when the kids are between 10 and 12 years old. He talks a lot about how men can do anything they wish. It struck him as a 17th century Dutchman. He wrote that a man can repudiate his wife even if he had children with her. He can remarry also. A woman cannot do any of that except if a judge allowed it. A man can have as many wives as he can afford and can visit ladies of the night. He says that Koreans treat their women as slaves whom they can repudiate for any reason. If a man doesn't want a woman's children, she has to take them. Hamel ends by saying, no wonder this country is so densely populated. Hamel admires the education system though. He finds it admirable to see how diligently children study scriptures and the history of honorable people. He talks about the civil official examinations which are a great burden on the parents but if a child passes the exam, the sacrifices were worth it. Parents and children love each other a lot. Children will take the blame for a parent's mistake and vice versa. For slaves, it's looser because the children are taken from them from the slave owners as soon as they can work. Hamel talks about the mourning period and its strict rules. If a father dies, the sons observe three years of mourning. For a mother, two. During this time, they eat the same food as monks, meaning vegan on today's terms, and cannot carry public duty. During the mourning period, they cannot have intercourse with their wives. If any children are fathered during this period, they're considered illegitimate. They're not allowed to argue, fight, and get drunk. They wear special clothes too and bathe less often. Hamel writes, when somebody has died, his friends and relatives behave like madmen. They cry and shriek and pull their hair from their hands. Burial is determined by a fortune teller. Usually, the deceased are buried in the mountains where no water can reach them. He talks about small mounds on the graves as well as stones and statues placed for the wealthy or dead. Sometimes, a body is reburied because a fortune teller deemed the placement of the grave inauspicious. The eldest son acquires the main house. Other things and properties are divided amongst the other sons. When a father reaches 80 years old, he must hand over all his properties to his sons, who then should take care of him. 80 years old is a highly esteemed age. Hamel doesn't talk nicely about Koreans' morals. He wrote that Koreans cannot be trusted, that they lie and cheat, and are proud about cheating someone. Koreans are very gullible too. He wrote that him and his crew fooled Koreans often. He mentions that Koreans are cowardly and goes on to talk about the Japanese invasions and the attitude of the people, officials, and the king. When the Manchus invaded Joseon, Hamel says that more soldiers decided to, how should we say, give up instead of fighting. According to Hamel, Koreans cannot stand the sight of blood. They also fear diseases. When someone gets sick, they take that person out of their house and place him or her in a small hut outside the city or village. Only family members can care for that person then. In this case, if one has no family, things might get dire quickly. Koreans believed that the world had only 12 kingdoms and they were all tributary of the Chinese emperor. Hamel says that the Korean maps didn't reach further than Siam, Thailand. They laughed when Hamel mentioned that there were many countries out there. Hamel wrote that tobacco came from Japan who themselves got the seeds from Portuguese traders. Koreans smoke a lot, men and women, and even saw children as young as four years old smoke the pipe. When it comes to sickness, Hamel says that the common man cannot afford medicinal herbs and ginseng from doctors, so they go and see fortune tellers. They usually tell them to make offerings to the gods of the mountains and along the rivers or on the rocks. Apparently, they even called the devils a time, but the king forbade devil worshipping in 1662. Hamel talks about the Korean language, which is unlike any languages he has ever heard and it's very difficult to learn. He mentions that Koreans use three scripts, the one that looks like what the Chinese and Japanese use, another which is used by governors and high officials, and apparently looks more like Latin alphabet script. I have no idea what Hamel is referring to here. The third script is certainly Hangul. He says that it's used by the common man and all women. It's very easy to learn and write. Hamel and his crew had to stay in Dejima, Nagasaki for a full year. He wrote an account of his time in Joseon at that time. Dejima must have felt like a prison once more. It was small and the Dutch there weren't allowed to leave the man-made island without the permission of the Japanese governor. It was originally built for the Portuguese, but they were driven out because they tried to convert Japanese to Christianity. The Dutch were allowed to take it because they vowed they wouldn't try to convert Japanese. Most likely, it took the Japanese a full year to grant Hamel the right to leave because the Japanese asked the Korean authorities to ascertain the identity of the Dutchman and make sure they were who they said they were. It took many months of sending letters back and forth from Edo to Busan and then to Seoul. Also, they wanted to make sure that the Hollanders were not Christians, which the Dutch made sure to never tell the Japanese about their faith, to not have the same thing happen to them that happened to the Portuguese. In the letters, Japan also wrote that Holland was a vassal state of Japan and that the seven remaining Dutchmen in Joseon should be returned. The king of Joseon allowed that and Hamel was reunited with his mates. The eight Dutchmen probably got married and founded the Pyongyang Nam clan. In October of 1667, Hamel and his mates were allowed to leave Japan for Batavia, modern-day Jakarta in Indonesia, which was part of the Dutch East Indies. His crew brought with them his accounts of Joseon back to the Netherlands. Hamel's book was published in 1668 in his home country. It was later translated in French, German and English. His legacy is remembered in the Netherlands and South Korea and is used to Hamel stayed in Jakarta until 1670. The Dutch East Indian Company owed him 14 years of back salary and he tried to recuperate that. Unfortunately for him, they never paid him. He probably went back to the Netherlands after this. Thank you for watching. This was certainly an interesting topic to research. If you enjoyed the video, please leave a like, comment and subscribe.