Fifteen Years Among the Top-Knots; Or, Life in Korea

The narrative recounts a woman's fifteen years as a missionary physician in Korea, blending personal memoir, travelogue and cultural observation. It describes arrival and early hospital work, gaining the queen's confidence, marriage to a fellow missionary, and arduous itinerant journeys into the interior facing poor accommodations, disease, robbers and wild animals. Episodes include a severe cholera season when medical and clerical workers remained at their posts, accounts of baptisms and seed-sowing efforts, and sustained attention to local customs, superstitions, social degradation, and the particular needs of women. Practical missionary methods and candid reflections on successes and challenges are presented throughout.