Vestiges of the Three Kingdoms of Ancient Korea (Samguk yusa) is the first annotated English translation of one of the most important premodern Korean historical texts. One of only two surviving works on the Three Kingdoms period (57 BCE–668) and Greater Silla (668–936), the Samguk yusa is a rich collection of historical, supernatural, and mythical stories, including one of … [Read More]
Booklist: Silla Kingdom
The Three Kingdoms of Korea: Lost Civilizations
Korea’s Three Kingdoms period is a genuine ‘lost civilization’, during which ancient realms vied for supremacy during the first millennium CE. Nobles from this period’s feuding states adopted and adapted Buddhism and Confucianism through interactions with early medieval Chinese dynasties. In the mid-seventh century, with the assistance of the mighty Chinese Tang empire, the aristocratic … [Read More]
Aspiring to Enlightenment: Pure Land Buddhism in Silla Korea
From the publisher’s website: Centered on the practice of seeking rebirth in the Pure Land paradise Sukhāvatī, the Amitābha cult has been the dominant form of Buddhism in Korea since the middle of the Silla period (ca. 300–935). In Aspiring to Enlightenment, Richard McBride combines analyses of scriptural, exegetical, hagiographical, epigraphical, art historical, and literary materials to … [Read More]
Shinra Myōjin and Buddhist Networks of the East Asian “Mediterranean”
This ambitious work offers a transnational account of the deity Shinra Myōjin, the “god of Silla” worshipped in medieval Japanese Buddhism from the eleventh to sixteenth centuries. Sujung Kim challenges the long-held understanding of Shinra Myōjin as a protective deity of the Tendai Jimon school, showing how its worship emerged and developed in the complex … [Read More]
Early Korea-Japan Interactions
From the publisher’s website: Volumes in the Early Korea Project Occasional Series focus on central issues related to the study of early Korean history and archaeology. The present volume presents seven studies of interactions between societies and polities on the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago from an archaeological perspective. The time periods reflected in … [Read More]
Hyecho’s Journey: The World of Buddhism
In the year 721, a young Buddhist monk named Hyecho set out from the kingdom of Silla, on the Korean peninsula, on what would become one of the most extraordinary journeys in history. Sailing first to China, Hyecho continued to what is today Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran, before taking the Silk … [Read More]
Gyeongju: The Capital of Golden Silla
From the publisher’s website: Gyeongju, the capital of the Kingdom of Silla, grew from a loose confederation of villages, called Saro, to become the capital of most of the Korean peninsula. Its relationships with Japan, the Eurasian Steppes, and countries along the Silk Road leading to Europe helped to make the city one of the … [Read More]
Solitary Sage: The Profound Life, Wisdom and Legacy of Korea’s “Go-un” Choi Chi-won
From the back cover: The ‘Lonely Cloud Scholar’ Go-un Choi Chi-won (857 – ?) is one of Korea’s most interesting and iconic historical figures. He can be considered a sort of hero of traditional Korean culture, particularly its Daoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Following a remarkably successful career as a brilliant Confucian government official in Tang … [Read More]
Under the Ancestors’ Eyes: Kinship, Status, and Locality in Premodern Korea
From the publisher’s website: Under the Ancestors’ Eyes presents a new approach to Korean social history by focusing on the origin and development of the indigenous descent group. Martina Deuchler maintains that the surprising continuity of the descent-group model gave the ruling elite cohesion and stability and enabled it to retain power from the early Silla (fifth century) … [Read More]
New Perspectives on Early Korean Art: From Silla to Koryo
From the publisher’s website: This volume, consisting of five chapters and an introduction, includes discussion of a variety of artworks, ranging from gold adornments found in Silla tombs to Koryŏ Buddhist paintings scattered in modern museum and private collections, that provide insight into the religious practices, aesthetics, cross-cultural exchanges, and everyday life of the people … [Read More]
State and Society in Middle and Late Silla
From the publisher’s website: Volumes in the Early Korea Project Occasional Series focus on central issues related to the study of early Korea history and archaeology. The present volume addresses several seminal questions associated with the middle and late periods of the Silla kingdom (ca. 668–935): What was the composition of Silla’s ruling elite? How … [Read More]
Across the Perilous Sea: Japanese Trade with China and Korea from the Seventh to the Sixteenth Centuries
Originally published as Le commerce extérieur du Japon des origines au XVIe siécle in 1988, this new edition of the landmark French study chronicles Japan’s transformation from an importer of continental luxury items, raw materials, and techniques to an exporter of high-quality merchandise over nearly a millennium. The vicissitudes of foreign trade policy, as well … [Read More]
Kyongju Things: Assembling Place
From the publisher’s website: A historical ethnography of place amidst objects in the contemporary city of Kyongju, South Korea Kyongju is South Korea’s preeminent “culture city,” an urban site rich with archaeological wonders that residents compare to those of Nara, Xian, and Rome. By examining these ancient objects in relation to the controversies that engulfed … [Read More]
The Book of Korean Poetry: Songs of Shilla and Koryo
From the publisher’s website: “Here at last in one English-language volume is the heart and soul of the Korean lyric tradition, brought to sensuous life by a poet who is our finest all-around translator of Korean literature.”—Bruce Fulton, Young-Bin Min Chair in Korean Literature and Literary Translation, University of British Columbia Korea’s history is divided … [Read More]
The Land of Scholars: Two Thousand Years of Korean Confucianism
This book discusses the historical development of Korean Confucianism in terms of its social functions. It also examines the types of transfiguration Confucianism underwent and the role it played in each period of Korean history. The Land of Scholars spans from the Three Kingdoms period in 18 BC to the Joseon dynasty in 1910. The … [Read More]
Currents and Countercurrents: Korean Influences on the East Asian Buddhist Traditions
From the publisher’s website: Soon after the inception of Buddhism in the sixth or fifth century B.C.E., the Buddha ordered his small band of monks to wander forth for the welfare and weal of the many, a command that initiated one of the greatest missionary movements in world religious history. But this account of a … [Read More]