From the publisher’s website: Of the three great civilizations of East Asia, Korea used to attract the least attention. Overshadowed by their neighbours in China and Japan, Koreans had trouble gaining recognition abroad for the many accomplishments of their ancestors in such fields as architecture, music, dance, and the arts. That has begun to change … [Read More]
Booklist: Translated non-fiction (page 8)
The Gwangju Uprising: The Pivotal Democratic Movement That Changed the History of Modern Korea
From the publisher’s website: The book explores the implications of the democratic movement that took place in Gwangju, a southwestern city of Korea, in May 1980 when military paratroopers brutally crushed a group of protesters who demonstrated against General Chun Doo-hwan, who was about to become the country’s president. Because of the event now known … [Read More]
Korea’s Pastimes and Customs: A Social History
From the publisher’s website: Why are there so many Gims (Kims), Yis (Lees) and Baks (Parks) in Korea? What was life like in Korea hundreds of years ago? What kinds of communities did the Korean people form? How did they celebrate their birthdays and holidays? What kinds of games did they play in their spare … [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]
Twentieth Century Korean Literature
From the publisher’s website: This short volume offers essential information and a basic framework for understanding twentieth-century Korean literature. Growing out of a continuous tradition of over 2,000 years, twentieth-century Korean literature, termed “modern Korean Literature” by Korean scholars, has been shaped by profound social and political transformations on the peninsula. Those decades of great … [Read More]
Mu-ga: The Ritual Songs of the Korean Mudangs
Introduced and Translated by Alan C. Heyman This work is mainly comprised of a translation into English of four complete large-scale Korean Shaman ritual songs transcribed from tape recordings, which, until the present time, have remained either entirely untranslated, or, if otherwise, are only quoted in the form of brief excerpts in a few short … [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]
Unbroken Spirits: Nineteen Years in South Korea’s Gulag
From the publisher’s website: This is the remarkable and wrenching memoir of a South Korean dissident who was unjustly accused of spying for the North Koreans and jailed for nineteen years as a political prisoner. The updated English-language edition traces Suh Sung’s experiences as a Korean citizen of Japan before his incarceration, his time in … [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 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]
Kim Whanki: A Critical Biography
From the publisher’s website: Kim Whanki (1913-1974) is one of the most representative painters in modern Korean fine-art. Combining eastern instinct with Western logic, his paintings describe Korean characteristics and a sharp modernity through his paintings which embrace both concrete and abstract themes. During his career, he consistently pursued the theme of “Korean eternity.” He … [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]
South Korea’s Minjung Movement: The Culture and Politics of Dissidence
From the publisher’s website: The minjung (people’s) movement stood at the forefront of the June 1987 nationwide tide that swept away the military in South Korea and opened up space for relatively democratic politics, a more responsible economy, and new directions in culture. This volume is the first in English to grapple specifically with the nature of … [Read More]
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women
From the back cover: Between 100,000 and 200,000 women were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military between the early 1930s and 1945. Yet successive post-war Japanese governments have refused to acknowledge what took place and no reparations have been made to the mainly Korean victims. The international community, in awe of Japan’s economic … [Read More]