From the publisher’s website: Diaspora: Korean Nomadism (Contemporary Korean Arts Series #2) is a brief study of international nomads, introducing those who contributed to the development of Korean art. By presenting Korean aesthetic sensibility and artistic creativity to the international world of art, they were responsible for introducing diverse artistry to Korea. Artists often leave their home countries … [Read More]
Archives: Books (page 93)
Financial Crisis and Transformation of Korean Business Groups: The Rise and Fall of Chaebols
From the publisher’s website: Sea-Jin Chang argues that the Korean financial crisis of 1997 was due to the inertia of both the business groups known as chaebols and the Korean government which prevented adaptation to changing external environments. Once the Korean government stopped central economic planning and pursued economic liberalization in the 1980s, the transition … [Read More]
Troubled Tiger: Businessmen, Bureaucrats and Generals in South Korea
From the publisher’s website: This analysis of modern Korea includes: the imprisonment and sentencing of two former presidents of South Korea for their role in the Kwangju uprising and on various charges of corruption; the death of Kim II Sung and the resultant North-South standoff; and recent labour and student protests. Originally published in 1994 … [Read More]
Buddhist Sculpture of Korea
From the publisher’s website: Buddhist culture and thought have had a tremendous impact on the lives and thought of Korean people ever since the religion was introduced to the Korean peninsula in the late fourth century. Most of the time, the religion received strong state support for the construction of temples and pagodas and the … [Read More]
Seasonal Customs of Korea
From the publisher’s website: In this fast-paced, rapidly changing world, Korea has not been unaffected. Many long-observed seasonal customs still practiced just a few short decades ago have now disappeared or are quickly disappearing. (Children prefer computer games to kite-flying and top-spinning on Lunar New Year’s Day.) Although a custom may no longer be explicitly … [Read More]
Korean Landscape Painting: Continuity and Innovation Through the Ages
From the publisher’s website: Korean Landscape Painting: Continuity and Innovation Through the Ages discusses the art form beginning at its earliest roots two millennia ago, in the Three Kingdoms period, right up until the 20th century. Accompanied by many maps, pictures and a glossary of names and terms, this book provides a complete overview of … [Read More]
Buddhist Architecture of Korea
From the publisher’s website: The easiest way to learn about Korea’s Buddhist culture is to visit the temples where the traditional practice of asceticism is still carried on today. People no longer live in other examples of traditional architecture, such as palaces and Confucian schools and academies; but in temples the monks and nuns eat, … [Read More]
Seowon: The Architecture of Korea’s Private Academies
From the publisher’s website: Seowon: The Architecture of Korea’s Private Academies takes a look at the private educational institutions that were dedicated to higher learning. These same institutions eventually became the crowning glory of Neo-Confucianism. This book examines the role these schools had on society during the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910) while also taking a closer … [Read More]
Palaces of Korea
From the publisher’s website: In “Palaces of Korea,” Kim Dong-uk, a renowned historian of Korean architecture, guides readers on a journey through the history of palaces in Korea, daily life and ceremonial events, and palace architecture. However, the author also writes extensively about the similarities and differences between palaces across East Asia, namely Japan and … [Read More]
Korean Painting: From Modern to Contemporary, 1945-1980s
This book is for people curious about the modern history of Korean art, especially in the field of the painting. Earlier books in this Contemporary Korean Arts series focused on specific topics such as diaspora artists, women artists, and abstract painting. Therefore, this newly released book is designed to share the history of modern and contemporary Korean painting. … [Read More]
Gugak: Traditional Korean Music Today
From the publisher’s website: Over the course of Korean history, gugak – traditional Korean music – developed in an intimate relationship with the lives of the people. During the 20th century, however, the introduction of capitalism coupled with a rapid influx of Western culture erected a barrier between Korea’s traditional music and daily experience. Still, … [Read More]
Harmonia Koreana: A Short History of 20th century Korean Music
From the publisher’s website: Harmonia Koreana: A Short History of 20th-century Korean Music is a brief overview of the introduction and development of Western classical music in Korea. This book discusses the distinguishing features of the Korean composer’s musical work in general and goes in to more depth on several of modern music’s most important … [Read More]
Selected Writings of Han Yongun: From Social Darwinism to ‘Socialism with a Buddhist Face’
From the publisher’s website: One of Korea’s most eminent Buddhists and political activists in the independence movement during the long years of Japan’s colonization of his country, Han Yongun, otherwise known as Manhae (1879-1944), was a prolific writer and outstanding poet, known especially for his poetry collection Nim ui ch’immuk (‘The Silence of the Lover’). … [Read More]
Scorched Earth, Black Snow: Britain and Australia in the Korean War, 1950
The first year of the Korean War was a tumultuous series of epic battles, ending in a legendary and harrowing retreat. In the summer of 1950, British and Australian troops were dispatched to fight with UN forces in the savage struggle against communism in Korea. After both triumph and tragedy while breaking out of the … [Read More]
To The Last Round: The Epic British Stand on the Imjin River, Korea 1951
From the publisher’s website: With even World War II now just on the edges of living memory, and with British forces now engaged in a lengthy, brutal and attritional old-fashioned war in Afghanistan, historical attention is starting to turn to the Korean War of the early 1950s. And remarkably, the most notorious and celebrated battle … [Read More]
Korean Traditional Landscape Architecture
From the publisher’s website: Korean traditional landscape architecture is among the most treasured cultural developments made over the thousands of years of Korean culture. This book illustrates the history and cultural background of Korean traditional landscape architecture, showing the characteristics of each type of Korean landscape architecture: royal palaces, residential areas, walled towns, retreat gardens, … [Read More]