In Engraving Virtue, Young Kyun Oh investigates the publishing history of the Samgang Haengsil-to (Illustrated Guide to the Three Relations), a moral primer of Chosŏn (1392–1910), and traces the ways in which woodblock printed books contributed to shaping premodern Korea. Originally conceived by the court as a book with which to instill in its society Confucian ethics … [Read More]
Booklist: Pre-modern texts - non-fiction (page 3)
Korean Tea Classics by Hanjae Yi Mok and the Venerable Cho-ui
Publisher description: Three ancient texts expressing the essence of the Korean Way of Tea are here translated into English for the first time. The oldest, ChaBu (Rhapsody to Tea), by Hanjae Yi Mok (1471-1498), is a sophisticated and delicate celebration of tea. The author was a scholar of considerable attainments who died far too early. … [Read More]
Miracles in Korea
Miracles in Korea is a collection of thirty-eight stories about Korean mountain wizards, Taoist hermits with supernatural powers, divine Taoists, and divine beings, who enjoy perennial youth, longevity, and immortality, and sometimes ascend to heaven. Its author, Hong Manjong (1643-1725), drew upon A Survey of the Geography of Korea and several unauthorized chronicles and compiled … [Read More]
Admonitions on Governing the People: Manual for All Administrators
From the publisher’s website: This is the first English translation of one of Korea’s most celebrated historical works, a pre-modern classic so well known to Koreans that it has inspired contemporary literature and television. Written in 1821 by Chong Yagyong (Tasan), Admonitions on Governing the People (Mongmin simso) is a detailed manual for district magistrates on how … [Read More]
Jehol Diary
This is the first translation into English of the eighteenth-century Korean masterpiece entitled Yŏrha ilgi (‘The Jehol Diary’) by Pak Chiwŏn (1737-1805). The original text was written in classical Chinese and is a notoriously difficult work to translate. Pak Chiwŏn diarises the experiences of his remarkable overland journey on horseback from the northern border region of … [Read More]
Toegye and Gobong Write Letters
From the publisher’s website: Toegye and Gobong Write Letters is a unique look into the lives of two prominent Confucius scholars. This special edition of their letters highlights their personal struggles as civil servants and scholars. Set in the backdrop of the Four Seven debate, the greatest philosophical debate in Korean neo-Confucianism, these poignant letters have … [Read More]
The Book of Corrections: Reflections on the National Crisis During the Japanese Invasion of Korea, 1592-1598
The Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, known as the Imjin War, was one of the most tragic and traumatic experiences in Korean history. The magnitude of this tragedy was unprecedented. Hundreds of thousands died, and the country was devastated. It took many years for Korea to recover. Looking back upon this tragedy from start … [Read More]
Sources of Korean Tradition: Volume Two: From the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Centuries
Modeled after the classic Sources of Chinese Tradition, Sources of Japanese Tradition, and Sources of Indian Tradition, this collection of seminal primary readings in the social, intellectual, and religious traditions of Korea from the sixteenth century to the present day lays the groundwork for understanding Korean civilization and demonstrates how leading intellectuals and public figures … [Read More]
The Record of the Black Dragon Year
From the publisher’s website: The Imjin nok, or Record of the Black Dragon Year, is the first popular tale inspired by the Japanese invasion of Korea between 1592 and 1598. As a collection of folk narratives clustered around major events and characters, it exists in some forty manuscript and printed versions, long and short, in … [Read More]
The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment: Korean Buddhism’s Guide to Meditation (with Commentary by the Son Monk Kihwa)
From the publisher’s website: A concise guide to the key practice systems of the East Asian Meditational schools Ch’an, Son, and Zen. The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment, used in monastic education for more than a millennium, is a concise guide to the key paradigms of the practice systems of the East Asian meditational schools (Ch’an, Son, and … [Read More]
Sources of Korean Tradition: Volume One: From Early Times Through the Sixteenth Century
From the back cover: Drawn from Peter H. Lee’s Sourcebook of Korean Civilization, Volume One, this abridged introductory collection offers students and general readers primary readings in the social, intellectual, and religious traditions of Korean from ancient times through the sixteenth century. Sources of Korean Tradition is arranged according to the major epochs of Korean … [Read More]
Sourcebook of Korean Civilization: Volume 2: From the Seventeenth Century to the Modern Period
From the publisher’s website: This is the most comprehensive and authoritative English-language anthology of primary source material on Korean civilization ever assembled. Encompassing social, intellectual, religious, and literary traditions, this volume covers the seventeenth century to the modern period. Contemporary histories, social documents, Buddhist scripture, philosophical treatises, and popular literature selected for this book reflect … [Read More]
The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong
Lady Hyegyong’s memoirs, which recount the chilling murder of her husband by his father, form one of the best known and most popular classics of Korean literature. From 1795 until 1805 Lady Hyegyong composed this masterpiece, depicting a court life Shakespearean in its pathos, drama, and grandeur. Presented in its social, cultural, and historical contexts, … [Read More]
The Four-Seven Debate: An Annotated Translation of the Most Famous Controversy in Korean Neo-Confucian Thought
From the publisher’s website: This book is an annotated translation, with introduction and commentary, of the correspondence between Yi Hwang (T’oegye, 1500-1570) and Ki Taesung (Kobong, 1527-1572) and between Yi I (Yulgok, 1536-1584) and Song Hon (Ugye, 1535-1598), known as the Four-Seven Debate, the most famous philosophical controversy in Korean Neo-Confucian thought. The most complex … [Read More]
Sourcebook of Korean Civilization: Volume 1: From Early Times to the Sixteenth Century
This book is the most comprehensive and authoritative English-language anthology of primary source material on Korean civilization ever assembled. It begins with the Korean creation myth, covering the rise of Korea’s Three Kingdoms, then the history of the Kory dynasty and its lasting influences on Korean culture, and, finally the Early Choson period, with important … [Read More]
Tracing Back the Radiance: Chinul’s Korean Way of Zen
From the publisher’s website: Chinul (1158–1210) was the founder of the Korean tradition of Zen. He provides one of the most lucid and accessible accounts of Zen practice and meditation to be found anywhere in East Asian literature. Tracing Back the Radiance, an abridgment of Buswell’s Korean Approach to Zen: The Collected Works of Chinul, combines an extensive introduction … [Read More]