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The Analects of Dasan – A Korean Syncretic Reading (five volumes)

From the publisher’s website:

With extensive research and creative interpretations, Dasan’s Noneo gogeum ju (Old and New Commentaries of the Analects) has been evaluated in the academia of Korean Studies as a crystallization of his studies on the Confucian classics. Dasan (Jeong Yak-yong: 1762-1836) attempted through this book to synthesize and overcome the lengthy scholarly tradition of the classical studies of the Analects, leading it not only to represent one of the greatest achievements of Korean Confucianism but also demonstrate an innovative prospect for the progress of Confucian philosophy, positioning it as one of the ground-breaking works in all Confucian legacies in East Asia. Originally consisting of forty volumes in traditional book binding, his Noneo gogeum ju contains one hundred and seventy-five new interpretations on the Analects, hundreds of “arguments” about the neo-Confucian commentaries, hundreds of references to the scholarly works of the Analects, thousands of supportive quotations from various East Asian classics for the author’s arguments, and hundreds of philological discussions. This book is an English translation of Noneo gogeum ju with the translator’s comments on the innovative ideas and interpretations of Dasan on the Analects.

  • Begins with a throrough introduction that gives crucial background history and context as well as history of Dasan scholarship and reception
  • Provides commentary, extensive, detailed notes, and the original Chinese characters for the key terms in Confucian philosophy to which Dasasn refers
  • Includes select passages in English of the Confucian works to which Dasan refers

Hongkyung Kim is Associate Professor of East Asian Thought and Religions, with a focus on Confucianism and Daoism, at Stony Brook University of New York. In addition to numerous articles and book chapters, he has published three single-authored monographs regarding Korean neo-Confucianism, Daoism, and Laozi.

  • Vol 1, pub 13 Oct 2016
  • Vol 2, pub 7 Dec 2017
  • Vol 3, pub 10 Jan 2019
  • Vol 4, pub 15 Apr 2021
  • Vol 5, pub 17 Jan 2024

External links:

* Where the book is available from a number of sources, they are prioritised as follows: (1) Amazon UK site, or Bookshop.org for the more recent uploads (2) Amazon US site (3) Other sites in US or Europe, including second-hand outlets (4) LTI Korea, where the title is advertised as available from there (5) Onlines stores in Korea. Links to Bookshop.org and Amazon UK site contain an affiliate code which, should you make a purchase, gives a small commission to LKL at no additional cost to you.