Ch'oe Pu's Drift Across The Sea, Impressions Assignment

Ch’oe Pu’s drift across the sea
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Ch’oe’s religious beliefs relate to those of his companions in several ways. First, they all believe in supernatural beings that they looked up to and prayed to for safety throughout their journey. Ch’oe believes in God. His beliefs appear through his various conversations with the other men, where he continually refers to Heaven as having control of their lives and permitting them to survive. Also, when they faced resilient winds, he joined his hands and prayed to the Heaven begging God to spare his life so that he could mourn his father and take care of his mother. Similarly, the other men in the boat believe in gods that they seek to appease and worship. For instance, on the sixth day, in disregard of Ch’oe’s orders, they threw their baggage and other things to the sea as a sacrifice to the Dragon god of the sea (Meskill, 1965, pp. 32-34). Additionally, on the fourteenth day the diary document, the men discussing their constant failures during the journey are due to inability to make sacrifices in various shrines such as Mundung and Kumsong to the gods (Meskill, 1965, pp. 43).
Ch’oe’s impressions of the character of the Chinese they met is mostly negative. The lack of complete honesty when they asked for assistance informs their attitude. He criticizes various actions for instance, during the seventeenth day, when they drifted to the coastline of Zhejiang in China, they found themselves surrounded by six boats and its occupants first asked for their possessions to help them (Meskill, 1965, pp. 46-47). The men then proceeded to give them contradicting information on the location of the settlement, a situation that creates doubt of their intentions and the feeling that they are likely to kill them. Moreover, after reaching the village, they meet villagers who threaten and strike them with sticks as they drive them off their homes, despite the rain, hunger, and lack of physical strength. Ch’oe praises the generosity of the Chinese men they met on the shores of China at Hsia-shan who supplied them with buckets of water to drink and showed them direction. Additionally, he praised...