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]
Booklist: Translated non-fiction (page 7)
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]
Eastern Sentiments
From the publisher’s website: The Confucian gentleman scholars of the Choson dynasty (1392-1910) often published short anecdotes exemplifying their values and aesthetic concerns. In modern Seoul one scholar in particular would excel at adapting this style to a contemporary readership: Yi T’aejun. Yi T’aejun was a prolific and influential writer of colonial Korea and an … [Read More]
The Unending Korean War: A Social History
Dong-Choon Kim seeks to understand the true impact of the Korean War (1950-1953) on South Korea’s people and society. How did key figures such as President Syngman Rhee respond when North Korean troops crossed the thirty-eighth parallel and what does this tell us about the nature of the South Korean state at the time? How … [Read More]
Min Yŏnghwan: The Selected Writings of a Late Chosŏn Diplomat
From the publisher’s website: This book contains selected writings of Min Yŏnghwan, a statesman and reformist of late-Chosŏn Korea. Min’s detailed descriptions of his journeys to Russia to attend Czar Nicholas II’s coronation and London for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee produce vivid images of the world at that time while also revealing Min’s perceptions from … [Read More]
Korean Nationalism Betrayed
Written by Joong-Seok Seo, an eminent Korean historian and a thinker of rare originality, this book examines the tumultuous history of modern Korea from the perspective of nationalism. Based on the author’s extensive research and wide-ranging experience, the book goes to the heart of critical questioning about the political uses and abuses of nationalism by … [Read More]
A History of the Early Korean Kingdom of Paekche, together with an annotated translation of The Paekche Annals of the Samguk sagi
From the publisher’s website: This volume presents two histories of the early Korean kingdom of Paekche (trad. 18 BCE–660 CE). The first, written by Jonathan Best, is based largely on primary sources, both written and archaeological. This initial history of Paekche serves, in part, to introduce the second, an extensively annotated translation of the oldest history … [Read More]
Korean Art from the Gompertz and Other Collections in the Fitzwilliam Museum: A Complete Catalogue
From the publisher’s website: The collection of Korean art in the Fitzwilliam Museum is one of the finest outside the Far East, containing rich holdings of early unglazed ceramics, celadon stonewares of the Koryo dynasty, punch’ong wares and porcelains of the Choson dynasty as well as items in glass, jade, bronze, brass, lacquer and wood. … [Read More]
The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag
From the publisher’s website: A magnificent, harrowing testimony to the voiceless victims of North Korea. Kang Chol-Hwan is the first survivor of a North Korean concentration camp to escape the ‘hermit kingdom’ and tell his story to the world. This memoir reveals the human suffering in his camp, with its forced labour, frequent public executions … [Read More]
Developmental Dictatorship and the Park Chung-Hee Era: The Shaping of Modernity in the Republic of Korea
By examining the most controversial Park Chung-hee period (1961-1979), Developmental Dictatorship and the Park Chung-hee Era helps the reader rediscover the socioeconomic origins of modern Korea. The essays in this book written by twelve noted Korean social scientists discuss the relationship between South Korea’s economic development and totalitarianism in the form of the Park dictatorship. … [Read More]
The Beauty of Old Korean Paintings: A History and an Appreciation
Publisher description: The Beauty of Old Korean Paintings originally was written in Korean under the subtitle A History and An Appreciation of Traditional Korean Paintings. As stated above the book began as an illustrated lecture by Lee Dongju 이동주 «李東洲», a self-trained art historian. The book evokes this passionate connoisseur’s acute, entertaining and at times uncomfortably frank … [Read More]
A Topography of Confucian Discourse: Politico-philosophical Reflections on Confucian Discourse since Modernity
From the publisher’s website: Throughout history, numerous scholars and intellectuals have tried to define Confucianism one way or another. Despite their efforts, the voices of those who claim to have found the essence of Confucianism are as much at odds as ever. A Topography of Confucian Discourse analyzes Confucian discussion in diverse historical settings, examining … [Read More]
Under the Black Umbrella: Voices from Colonial Korea, 1910–1945
In the rich and varied life stories in Under the Black Umbrella, elderly Koreans recall incidents that illustrate the complexities of Korea during the colonial period. Hildi Kang here reinvigorates a period of Korean history long shrouded in the silence of those who endured under the “black umbrella” of Japanese colonial rule. Existing descriptions of the … [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]
Korean Mask Dance Dramas: Their History and Structural Principles
From the publisher’s website: The Korean mask dramas have been performed by professional or non-professional players from among the common people over a long time. To correctly understand the mask dramas, both historical investigation through research materials and folkloristic investigation through field study are necessary. The author, an initiate of Bukcheongsaja-nori, a representative Korean mask … [Read More]
The Secret Spirit of Korean Architecture
From the publisher’s website: The Secret Spirit of Korean Architecture is a response to the growing international interest in Korean architecture, its tangible historical and contemporary forms, and a multidisciplinary contribution to the discourse that has resulted in new writing and audiovisual materials exploring principal features and themes, materials, techniques and methodologies particular to the genre. … [Read More]