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. TThis volume contains twelve studies on the history and archaeology of the Koguryŏ kingdom, which existed from the first century B.C. to 668, its territories encompassing the northern part … [Read More]
Booklist: Pre-modern history (page 4)
Neo-Confucianism in Korea
From the publisher’s website: Chinese and Japanese Neo-Confucius scholars have traditionally claimed that Korean Neo-Confucianism was an imitation of Chinese Neo-Confucianism, a belief which was generally accepted by Western scholars. Now, this book edited from the theses of representative Korean Neo-Confucius scholars, shows that the three Korean scholars, T’aegye, Yulgok and Dasan in the Chosŏn … [Read More]
Kaesŏng Double Entry Bookkeeping (KDEB) in a Global Perspective (2 vols)
These two volumes represent a great contribution for a better understanding of the development of double-entry bookkeeping as a traditional accounting method used in East Asia. The chapters that follow compare the perspectives of scholars from South Korea, China, Japan, and Europe who argue that the economic history of East Asia can contribute to unveiling … [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]
Reconstructing Ancient Korean History: The Formation of Korean-ness in the Shadow of History
From the publisher’s website: This book examines the contested re-readings of “Korea” in early Chinese historical records and their influence on the formation of Korean-ness in later periods. The earliest written records on “Koreans” are found in Chinese documents produced during the Han dynasty, from the third century BCE to the third century CE. Since … [Read More]
A Chinese Traveler in Medieval Korea: Xu Jing’s Illustrated Account of the Xuanhe Embassy to Koryŏ
From the publisher’s website: “The king and ministers, superior and inferior, move with ritual and refinement. When the king goes on an inspection tour, everyone has the correct ceremonial attributes and the divine flag [troops] gallop in front while armored soldiers block the road. The soldiers of the Six Divisions all hold their attributes. Although … [Read More]
Archaeology of East Asian Shipbuilding
From the publisher’s website: North American Society for Oceanic History John Lyman Book Award in Naval and Maritime Reference Works and Published Primary Sources – Honorable Mention “The most comprehensive technical inventory of East Asian shipbuilding and shipwrecks available to date, this detailed analysis refines our understanding of East Asia ship construction.”-Hans Konrad Van Tilburg, … [Read More]
The Great East Asian War and the Birth of the Korean Nation
The Imjin War (1592–1598) was a grueling conflict that wreaked havoc on the towns and villages of the Korean Peninsula. The involvement of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean forces, not to mention the regional scope of the war, was the largest the world had seen, and the memory dominated East Asian memory until World War II. … [Read More]
The 1728 Musin Rebellion: Politics and Plotting in Eighteenth-Century Korea
The 1728 Musin Rebellion: Politics and Plotting in Eighteenth-Century Korea provides the first comprehensive account in English of the Musin Rebellion, an attempt to overthrow King Yŏngjo (1694–1776; r. 1724–1776), and the largest rebellion of eighteenth-century Korea. The rebellion proved unsuccessful, but during three weeks of fighting the government lost control of over a dozen … [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]
Korea’s Great Buddhist-Confucian Debate: The Treatises of Chŏng Tojŏn (Sambong) and Hamhŏ Tŭkt’ong (Kihwa)
This volume makes available in English the seminal treatises in Korea’s greatest interreligious debate of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. On Mind, Material Force, and Principle and An Array of Critiques of Buddhism by Confucian statesman Chŏng Tojŏn (1342–1398) and Exposition of Orthodoxy by Sŏn monk Kihwa (1376–1433) are presented here with extensive annotation. A substantial introduction provides a summary and … [Read More]
Pathways to Korean Culture: Paintings of the Joseon Dynasty, 1392–1910
Publisher description: Introducing the major works and currents of Joseon painting, Pathways to Korean Culture explores the various social, cultural and political perspectives of this dynamic, dynastic era (1392–1910), uncovering the fascinating history of more than 500 years of Korean art and visual culture. In this book Burglind Jungmann examines an array of themes and aspects … [Read More]
The Imjin War: Japan’s Sixteenth-Century Invasion of Korea and Attempt to Conquer China
Publisher information: In May of 1592 Japanese dictator Toyotomi Hideyoshi dispatched a gargantuan invasion army from Kyushu to Pusan on Korea’s southern tip. Its objective: to conquer Korea, then China and then the whole of Asia. The resulting seven years of fighting, known in Korea as imjin waeran, the “Imjin invasion,” after the year of … [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]
The Annals of King T’aejo: Founder of Korea’s Chosŏn Dynasty
From the publisher’s website: Never before translated into English, this official history of the reign of King T’aejo—founder of Korea’s long, illustrious Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910 CE)—is a unique resource for reconstructing life in late-fourteenth-century Korea. Its narrative of a ruler’s rise to power includes a wealth of detail not just about politics and war but … [Read More]
A Family of No Prominence: The Descendants of Pak Tŏkhwa and the Birth of Modern Korea
Koreans are known for their keen interest in genealogy and inherited ancestral status. Yet today’s ordinary Korean would be hard pressed to explain the whereabouts of ancestors before the twentieth century. With A Family of No Prominence, Eugene Y. Park gives us a remarkable account of a nonelite family, that of Pak Tŏkhwa and his descendants … [Read More]