[LAUGHING THROUGH HISTORY 30] 'Do You Wash Your Face in the Nude?'

The joke presented here uses humor to criticize Western racism and arrogance. Set within a Korean humor collection, the characters are merely referred to as a Westerner and a Chinese individual from the Qing Dynasty. This period in China, known as the Qing Dynasty, concluded in 1911, which is five years before the publication of "Kkalkkal Useum."

Given that the joke involves a Chinese character rather than a Korean one, it can be inferred that the editor likely sourced it from an earlier Chinese work. The decision to use a Chinese protagonist instead of a Korean one makes this joke unique compared to most Korean humor from that era, which typically focuses on family dynamics instead.

The joke begins with the Westerner mocking the Chinese man, employing a common racist stereotype of Europeans being cleaner and more hygienic than other races. This idea was promoted to provide a pseudo-scientific backing for Western racial supremacy. This notion was part of a larger racist ideology that justified Western involvement in colonialism and the exploitation of resources in the East.