Hwangwonjeong Pavilion and Geoncheong at Gyeongbok Palace in December 2012 / Robert Neff Collection

Homer Hulbert arrived in Jemulpo (now part of modern-day Incheon) on July 4, 1886. He was one of three American teachers hired by the Korean government to teach at the Royal College in Seoul. Their trip to Seoul and their subsequent adventures in Korea are interesting stories, but those will have to wait for another time. Since today is Christmas, however, it seems appropriate to recount the Christmas party of 1887, held at the home of Horace Underwood — an American missionary.

Before this party, Christmas celebrations in Seoul were small and rather spartan. Underwood, however, was determined to make this one special. In a letter home, he explained that even in Korea, he could arrange a simple yet memorable dinner using flowers and produce from his garden, along with the many gifts he received from Korean acquaintances and government officials.

Kim Dong-jin and Homer Hulbert's cabinet / Courtesy of Hulbert Memorial Society

As was the custom in Seoul, each guest brought one of their servants to assist in serving the dinner and cleaning up afterward. To make the evening more memorable, Underwood enlisted Hulbert to design the menu cards. Each card featured "two Korean dragons facing each other and their tongues running out into the initials [and] their long bodies going down on both sides of the page ending in arrow-headed tails." Printed in the center were the words "Merry Christmas 87" and "a la Koreanne," with a little piece of Korean silk cord, butterflies and flowers serving as an elegant finishing touch.

It appears all of the Americans in Seoul attended this party, except George C. Foulk, a naval officer temporarily assigned to the American Legation. Foulk, disgusted at being caught up in the vortex of Korean political intrigue, spent Christmas "in a purely Korean way" with a tiger hunt in the Bupyeong area of modern-day Incheon. Though he failed to bag a tiger, he succeeded in calming his nerves and returned to Seoul in time to partake in the New Year festivities.

It is unclear what, if any, gifts were exchanged among the party-goers, but it is likely that King Gojong sent presents to the Western diplomats and many, if not all, of the missionaries. These gifts typically included fruits, chestnuts, walnuts, pork, beef, fish and hundreds of eggs — sometimes even live animals such as pigs and chickens. Other items included rolls of cloth, fans and various knickknacks. Many Westerners regifted these presents — perishable goods were often passed on to their Korean servants, while silk and fans became popular gifts for family and friends back home.

Elaborate decorations partially marred by the passage of time / Robert Neff Collection

At times, the royal family was especially generous, providing more valuable and unusual gifts. The Korean queen once gave Rose — wife of Lucius Foote, the first American minister to Korea — her "most cherished worldly possession," the palanquin that had conveyed her back to the palace after the unsuccessful coup attempt in 1882. When the Footes left Korea and returned to San Francisco in early 1885, this palanquin accompanied them. Sadly, Rose passed away later that same year, and the fate of the palanquin has been forgotten.

At some point in the 1900s, King Gojong presented Hulbert with a beautiful mother-of-pearl inlaid cabinet. When Hulbert returned to the United States, he brought the cabinet with him and cherished it for the rest of his life. According to Hulbert family records, the cabinet was originally a gift from Korea to China but was later returned to King (or Emperor, depending on the date) Gojong. The Korean monarch then gifted it to Hulbert. Unlike Rose's palanquin, the fate of the cabinet is well-known — it remained with the Hulbert family.

Drawers covered with mother-of-pearl designs / Robert Neff Collection

According to Kim Dong-jin, the chairman of the Hulbert Memorial Society, he first saw the cabinet in 1989 during a visit to Hulbert's descendants in New York. While he found it beautiful, he did not pay much attention to it at the time. As the years passed, the cabinet faded from his memory until early October of this year, when Kimball A. Hulbert, a great-grandson of Homer Hulbert, offered to donate the cabinet to the Hulbert Memorial Society. The offer was readily accepted. At considerable expense, the cabinet was shipped by air to Korea, arriving in late November.

A note found in the cabinet describing its history / Robert Neff Collection

When asked why this cabinet was so valuable, Kim's eyes sparkled with excitement and pride. He revealed that three experts — museum curators and researchers — believe it to be a national treasure due to its rarity and artistic value.

The cabinet was crafted between 1890 and 1900 in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province. Only three cabinets of this design and quality are known to exist: two in Korea (including this one) and one in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow.

Kim suspects that the cabinet in Russia was received as a gift in 1896, either when King Gojong sought asylum in the Russian Legation in Seoul or when the Korean delegation attended the coronation of Russian Czar Nicholas II that same year.

The Hulbert Memorial Society plans to register its cabinet as a National Cultural Treasure and hopes to temporarily display it in a Korean museum until the society is able to build its own Hulbert Memorial Hall.

The passage of years has worn heavily upon the cabinet. The wood has cracked in several places, and it will require restoration. This restoration, however, will be bittersweet. As I examined the cabinet, I could feel history when I opened its wooden drawers — the musty scent emanating from them was like a breath from the past. Restoration will undoubtedly erase these subtle remnants of the senses — a loss that cannot be replaced.

Crabs and flowers on one of the cabinet's doors / Robert Neff Collection

There is another treasure associated with Hulbert: Kim Dong-jin. For several decades, Kim has devoted himself to researching and championing Hulbert's legacy.

According to Kim, he first became aware of Hulbert nearly half a century ago while he was a college student. He read Hulbert's book, "The Passing of Korea," and was "moved by (Hulbert's) depth of understanding about Korea and his unique assessment of the value of Korean ethics." Inspired, Kim founded the Hulbert Memorial Society, believing that Hulbert was "quite undervalued in Korea" and should be recognized as "the paramount historic figure in Korea's enlightenment period."

Somewhat shyly, Kim admitted that there was much more he wanted to say, but time constraints during our interview prevented him from elaborating. However, The Korea Times has published interviews with Kim in the past, and those articles can be easily found online.

Next month, to coincide with the anniversary of Hulbert's birth on Jan. 26, 1863, Kim will publish Hulbert's biography in English. He hopes that Hulbert's life story will serve as "an example of a righteous life for people across the globe." For Americans, in particular, Kim hopes it will inspire them to appreciate and value a "genuine hero" who has largely been forgotten.

Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including "Letters from Joseon," "Korea Through Western Eyes" and "Brief Encounters."