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Fascinated by "Hamel's journal" and his description of 17th century Korea, I went

IN SEARCH OF TRACES

of the 33 Dutchmen who lived in captivity in the
south of Korea during 10 years in the 17th century

by Jan Boonstra,

When driving comfortably in a car over road no. 835 in the beautiful and remote countryside in the utmost southwest corner of Korea, it requires some effort to imagine how things looked like 342 years ago. Why 342 years ago? Well, it was then that 33 of my fellow countrymen travelled the same road on the way to Byeongyeong, a village in Gangjin county. One of them, Hendrik Hamel, made a journal after they escaped 10 years later and it is this journal that is regarded as the first report about Korea by a westerner. The full account of this amazing part of Korean history can be read (in English) on the website Hollanders in Korea. The circumstances in that time must have been really different. In the first place, I did not shipwreck and wash ashore like they did; I came to Korea at my free will and I am not treated as a prisoner and a slave as they were. There is one similarity though: At that time they were in Korea for 3½ years and that's exactly matching with my Korea experience when I entered the village of Byeongyeong on February 8, 1998.

Mainstreet of the modern village of Byeongyeong

When entering the village, one does not immediately notice something special. It looks like a village as there are thousands in Korea; the centre is dominated by a branch establishment of the regional bank, a post office and a farmer's cooperative store, all labeled with their well known colourful logos. But Byeongyeong has two faces. The larger part, a little bit set aside along the brook that runs through the village, looks totally different. it breathes an ancient atmosphere, because it hasn't changed much during the last centuries. It must have been like this what the group of Dutchmen saw when they arrived here early March 1656. Hamel writes: (the original text can also be viewed)

In the morning we departed from Yeongam and in the afternoon we arrived in a large town with a fortress, called Daechang (big granary) or Jeolla Byeongyeong (Jeolla garison), where the Byeongsa, the commander of the provincial military, who was first in authority after the governer, has his residence. We were handed over by the sergeant, together with the letters from the King, to the commandant. We were immediately given a local house, where we could live together.

Remains of the wall around the fortress

According to Hamel's observation, Byeongyeong used to be an important town and military base. They say that in the old days, the town had about 3000 dwellings. The garison is not there anymore, only remains of the old surrounding wall are the heritage of the ancient grandeur. I was told that those remains could be seen near the present days primary school and it was not difficult to spot that location in this small village. We (I brought a Korean friend what turned out very useful, avoiding language barriers) found also an information board with a brief history of the place and Hamel and his 32 fellows were mentioned as having lived here. I wondered if this would be all that could be seen; it would be a bit disappointing after a long journey from Busan. Therefor, we decided to walk around and question villagers about what they knew about the Dutchmen who shared their lives here with these people's ancestors.

The old village

So we were directed to the old village. An enormous 800 years old ginkgo tree dominated the skyline and it was next to this tree where we found another information board which reads:

The Group of Dutch Mariners led by Hamel were kept in this area by the Korean government for about 7 years from March 1656 to February 1663. Among Hamel and his 32 fellow sailors, some of them married Korean women while they stayed here, Some others occupied themselves in menial work or in manufacturing Namaksins (wooden shoes) for money, Still others performed dances to make their living. It is assumed that Hamel and his fellows introduced how to make Namaksins which are made out of a whole piece of wood just like Dutch ones but unlike Japanese ones which are made out of several pieces of wood. Besides, some people think that the wall with a design of slant lines which remains only in some parts of this area might have been built by Hamel and his men. Looking at Suin Hill fort under this ginkgo tree, Hamel and his comrades are said to have missed their home. Finishing their stay here in Byeongyeong in 1663, twelve of them were sent to Jwasayeong, five to Suncheon, and five to Namwon. In September 1666, seven of the original members escaped from Yeosu, the last Korean place in which they stayed. Afterwards Hamel wrote his famous book An Account of the Shipwreck of a Dutch vessel in his home land, thus introducing for the first time their life in Korea, a small unknown country in the East at that time.

The old ginko tree

Sitting under the tree on this cold and snowy Sunday afternoon, I tried to imagine how they felt, longing for their warm and comfortable surroundings with their families so terribly far away. We went on and strolled through this beautiful village. My friend suggested to visit the county hall and find a county clerk who could tell us more interesting things. For me, that sounded like a silly idea, without prior notice, on a holiday. But this is Korea and a few minutes later we knocked on the door of the county hall, which appeared locked. But there were people inside and we were shown in and seated and we got a nice hot cup of coffee. We told of our mission and a girl called someone who appeared after 10 minutes. It was the vice mayor of Byeongyeong county, mr. Choi. This man knew a lot about the history of Byeongyeong; also he is a member of the regional cultural historic society. In his enthousiasm, he couldn't stop telling the most interesting details, first while sitting in the county hall, later while showing us around walking through "his" village, altogether for more than 3 hours. From him and from a periodical from the society, an edition wholy dedicated to the Hamel group, we learned more than we ever expected.

17th century wall

There are a number of curious things that originate from Byeongyeong county, of which the source is believed to be from the Dutchmen. It is known that the group was quite active in menial work and in handicraft. It is assumed that they were also involved in construction works and it is striking that some building patterns in old stone walls are not native to Korea. For instance some walls are much higher than can be found anywhere else in the country. In The Netherlands, high walls are very common. Also the building pattern, where the stones are laid in a slant position resembling the character W, giving the wall more strength, is typical and unique for this region. It is assumed that the Dutchmen were technically of a higher level than their Korean hosts. Still nowadays in Byeongyeong county, walls are made according to this principle. Another typical item from Byeongyeong is the wooden shoe. Everybody knows that the wooden shoe is a typical Dutch phenomenae, but also in Korea and Japan, shoes were made out of wood. It is of course not very likely that the Dutchmen introduced the wooden shoes here. But in Holland, wooden shoes are made out of one lump of wood. Isn't it striking that this kind of one piece wooden shoes were made in Byeongyeong, whereas nowhere else in the Far East wooden shoes were made in this way?

Wooden shoes from Byeongyeong region, of which the design may very well be of Dutch origin.

Mr. Choi and some friendly grandmas who showed us their home

It is also possible that some men met local women and through marriage or otherwise fathered children, whose descendants still live here. The Dutch were given the Korean name Nam. There are several roots for the clan of Nam in Korea, but one originates from around Byeongyeong. And it is from this region, that many people named Nam have typical features like a large body and facial characteristics that may well be from the foreigners in the 17th century. When professor Kim Tae Jin of the Chonnam University in Gwangju did research on this subject, he encountered resistance and a lack of cooperation from the people, as it is regarded as shameful to have mixed blood and not to be of pure Korean breed. Maybe the grand grandparents of these nice old ladies could tell more! Long time ago, before the Korean war, a tall man from Byeongyeong with western facial features called Nam, moved to the north and became a general in the army. It is said that when the North Korean army raided this area, the village of Byeongyeong was spared on special orders from general Nam.

Irrigation canal

Back to our stroll trough the village, where the snowstorms eased and the sun sometimes peeped through the clouds so that I could make nice photographs. We came at the brook, that runs through the eastern part of the old village. Again we are standing at a possible heritage from the Dutch sailors. The water from the brook is deviated through a canal, the purpose used to be for the irrigation of rice fields located further down. These kind of waterworks were not common in Korea, but were most usual in The Netherlands. Given the fact that our friends were much involved in construction works, one can draw an easy conclusion. However, I think conclusions should be drawn with care, that also accounts for the wooden shoes, the eventual descendants and all other theories: one is easily subjected to wishful thinking. As an example, we heard that someone had the opinion that the wooden shoes in The Netherlands are possibly originated from these people after they were back home: they brought the idea from Korea. Mr. Choi many times used the word "maybe....." and I think he is right in this respect, we should not loose the sense of relativity.

Who made this typical statue?

Another exciting theory, based on remarkable facts, is the story about the statues called "boksu", that were placed on both sides of the road on the west side of an ancient stone bridge (the "Hong Gyo"), just west of the site of the ancient garison. The second one (not shown) resembles the one on the picture. The function of the statues at that place was to give important people a respectful welcome. They look a bit like the "Harubang" statues on Jeju-do. They are believed to originate from the 17th century. At that time, those kind of sculptures were not made in Korea, because the only common object of sculpting (woodcarving) was the "changsung". Changsung can still be found at the entrance of many villages in Korea and the technique of making them is quite simple, not allowing skilled techniques and not showing many details. Furthermore, changsung were only placed at the entrance of villages for deterring bad spirits, it was very unusual to place them (as an ornament?) near a bridge. Again, one can recall the fact that the Dutchmen were doing a lot of handicraft and so one can conclude: Maybe..... these "boksu" were made by the Dutch sailors. There is however a sad incident that occured with these statues: they were stolen, after this picture was taken in 1982. They disappeared without any trace and the villagers hope that one day, they will get this treasure back.

Mr. Choi presents the plans for Byeongyeong's future

It was not only coffee that was given to us in the county hall, we also got a presentation of the plans of the county administration for the future of Byeongyeong. The realization of those plans will mean that the look of the village and it's direct surroundings will change dramatically. The purpose is to attract tourists and boost the local economy. the plan is summarized in an artist's impression of the village, seen in a bird's eye view after the final completion, scheduled for the year 2002. The main objectives are: (follow the link above to see where the items below are located)
1. The restoration (or at least partly restoration) of the ancient garison. herefor, the primary school needs to be relocated and some 4 hectares of agricultural land needs to be acquired.
observed in Nov. 2005: the school was not relocated, the restoration of the garison was under progress but advanced very slowly. This because only work was carried out when funds were available

2. A long road that runs in the length through the entire old village, will be transformed back to the appearance of the era when Byeongyeong was an important garison town. Modern buildings will have to change their face, at least alongside the road. The asphalt pavement will be replaced by cobble stones.
Observed in Nov. 2005: no change

3. Near the old ginkgo tree a "Hamel museum" will be built, displaying artefacts and objects relating to the 7 years' stay of the Dutch sailors.
The museum is scheduled to be built as from beginning 2006

Site of the army garison to be restored

4. A "Holland Village" will be built, not far from the museum, next to the brook. Not of the size of the two Holland villages presently in Japan, but still with a full size windmill, Dutch style houses and some fields with tulips.
Of this plan and the next plan, nothing was realized in Nov. 2005

5. To further develop the local economy in an appropiate style, flower bulb farmers from The Netherlands should be attracted for the development of a flower bulb culture. The fields in the direct vicinity of the village should be made available for this.

Of course lots of souvenir shops are projected assuring the inflow of currency and the large tulip fields are not only to accentuate the ties with The Netherlands: export of flowers and bulbs to Japan is envisaged. One can wonder if this ambitious plan is realistic and if the economic development can go together well with the conservation of history. Strolling through the old village, with its natural beauty, I wondered.....

***

Some publications about this subject and related links


Gamsa Hamnida