The Precious Child Of Korea

A Korean Doll.

       "Precious child!" you exclaim. Yes, I should think that I am one of the most precious children in the world, for more than a hundred of my mother's neighbors took an oath, at the time when I came to live in her home, to do everything that they could to protect and care for me.

       Of course, I am only a dolly of that little-known land Korea, but you can see that I am a very beautifully made one, and on the day that I first came to my dear little mistress, Kwang-chu, she insisted on the usual national custom being carried out in my honor.

       All the children in our village were asked to come to my birthday, and it is here that the strange story begins, a story that is true of every little boy and girl that lives in that far-off country. When a new little baby is born, it is a time of the greatest rejoicing, and all the neighbors come swarming in, each one carrying a piece of stuff (usually silk) in one of the brightest colors they can find, as a present for the new child. The gift of this piece of silk is a symbol, and means that everyone who makes such a gift pledges himself or herself to do everything he or she can to guard and look after the little stranger; so that, you see, the Korean children are always well looked after, if they happen to stray away and be beyond their parents' control.

       It was a very wonderful idea of Kwang-chuto invite all the other little girls and boys to my first birthday, so that each one should bring me a piece of silk for my " precious child jacket," so that if any of them ever found me in danger, or lost, I should at once be brought back to her, the best place on earth.

       After the party was over and all the boys and girls had gone home again, Kwang-chu gathered together all the little pieces of stuff and began to stitch and sew them together into a coat with loose sleeves, so that it slipped on and off easily without bending my arms back too far. It took her a long time, you may be sure, because, you see the pieces were many different shapes and sizes, and they had to be fitted together so as to make the best use of the material. I was proud the first time she put my jacket on me and I saw all the wonderful bright colors looking so cheerful. I expect that I shall wear my "precious" jacket for as long as ever I am a dolly, but the live children in Korea, both boys and girls, only wear them until they are three and a half years old, when the boys are put into boys' clothing and the girls into girls'. Until that time they both wear very long skirts, so long that they completely hide the long trousers that come right down to the ankles. And then, my shoes! I must tell you about those. The soles are made of plaited fiber and the uppers of openwork twisted string. They are very "comfy " to wear, because they bend every time my foot does, and I should not like the hard boots and shoes that English dolls have to wear.

       Yea, altogether my land, Korea, is a very happy one to live in. Kwang-chu treasures me as the light of her eyes, I have a gorgeous " precious child jacket" that would make many other real live Koreans very envious, and over a hundred friends are pledged to care for me, and that is more than most people could say.

       By the way, I want you to take one more look at my picture and see how well Kwang-chu has made my coat. Every single piece stitched together by her own chubby hands. It is not an uncommon matter at all nowadays for cloth, all woven in one piece and dyed in different colors, to be sold in the markets to make the "precious child jackets," but mine is one of the real old-fashioned kind, with all the pieces sewn together by my mistress, and I am very proud of it and of her too.

This video is by Maqaroon; she has many sweet craft projects you can make.