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| A heavy load of tables circa 1900s. |
By Robert Neff
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| A Korean coolie circa 1900s. |
He walked long distances with heavy loads, sometimes accompanied by other coolies, and almost always had a pipe near at hand and a song in the air to lighten his burden.
In the early 1890s, a Western merchant in Jemulpo challenged a coolie to demonstrate his strength by carrying a 250-kilogram bale of cloth a kilometer up a couple of steep hills. It is not clear what the merchant offered as a prize, but the coolie readily accepted the challenge and succeeded.
The merchant was readily impressed. However, a number of other coolies were furious and fell upon the unfortunate winner giving him "a most unmerciful beating."
They reasoned that all of the Western merchants in Jemulpo would use this as a standard and would require their Korean employees to carry similar loads.
By showing off, he had further burdened his peers with his ability and deserved the beating.
Unfortunately for them, the local magistrate did not agree with their actions and made this clear with the "vigorous application of the paddle."
