News of a one-day workshop at SOAS this Friday. Historians, clerks and accountants: Methodological issues in the use of sources on Chosŏn History Date: 21 May 2010 Time: 10:00 AM Room: 4421 [4th floor Russell Square: College Buildings, Thornhaugh Street, London WC1H 0XG] Type of Event: Workshop The aim of this workshop is to discuss … [Read More]
Category: History (page 20)
Royal Ancestors: Preface
About this travel account These pages contain the record of nine days in Korea at the beginning of May 2010. The trip was at the generous invitation of the Korean Culture and Information Service, part of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The visit was part of their programme for meeting the needs of … [Read More]
The Korean War – a special interest weekend in Oxford
Details of an interesting couple of days next weekend at Christ Church, in an event organised by Holt Tours. Wish I’d known about it earlier. Special Interest Weekend Christ Church, Oxford 15th April – 18th April 2010 The Korean War was fought 60 years ago, and next year will be the anniversary of the Chinese … [Read More]
Conference Report: Joseon Dynasty Court Painting
LKL reports from the one-day seminar on Joseon Dynasty Court Painting held at SOAS on 29 March 2010. Last year, SOAS in conjunction with the Academy of Korean Studies and the British Museum presented a one-day workshop on folk art. As a follow-up event, this year the workshop looked at work from the other end … [Read More]
Changdeokgung room for hire
Perk up your boring business meetings: hold them in a royal palace. The Seonghyangjae, a room in the Changdeokgung, is available for hire. (Joongang) http://bit.ly/934Fhx # [Read More]
The Korean War in colour at the Smithsonian
Colour photos of the Korean War: John Rich, a US journalist took some personal photos: Smithsonian.com. Well worth a look. Sample below. http://bit.ly/b5tDMS # [Read More]
The world’s first jail for foreigners
If you’re going to get locked up in a foreign country, Korea doesn’t seem such a bad place to get jailed: a new facility in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, has Korean etiquette classes, Korean language classes, and satellite TV in your own language. Source: JoongAng Ilbo # [Read More]
Yulgok Yi I – a learned slouch with a stomach problem
LKL reports from the most recent Friday evening seminar at SOAS, in which Isabelle Sancho examined the letters of Confucian Scholar Yulgok Yi I What should one expect from the letters of one of the best-known Confucian scholars? In some respects, the sort of thing you might expect from any correspondence: pleasantries about health, about … [Read More]
Korean Soldiers in the Japanese Army – talk at the Senate House
The Comparative Histories of Asia Seminar is pleased to present: Global Japan Series: Professor Takashi Fujitani, University of California, San Diego ‘Korean Soldiers in the Japanese Amy: Some Reflections on Inclusionary or Polite Racism in WWII’ Thursday 25 February 2010, 5:30-7pm Room G37, South Block, Senate House Building, University of London All welcome. [Read More]
Book review: Hwang Sun-won – The Descendants of Cain
Hwang Sun-won: The Descendants of Cain Translated by Suh Ji-moon and Julie Pickering East Gate / UNESCO / Routledge 1997. Originally published 1954 Novels set in post-liberation Korea, or during the Korean war, often make uncomfortable reading, particularly those set in the Soviet sphere of influence, and where the story is set in the countryside. … [Read More]
A historical mystery that’s well worth a look
Eternal Empire (1995) – a nice-looking costume drama about murder and court intrigue in the Yi dynasty soon after the death of Prince Sado – and an adaptation of Yi In-hwa’s excellent novel (reviewed here). It’s one of Darcy’s top 10 K-films of the 90s. I’m not quite as enthusiastic, but it’s well worth a … [Read More]
A glimpse of a Confucian scholar’s intimacy
More details of this Friday’s free seminar at SOAS Friday, February 5th, 5pm, room G50 (main building) Isabelle Sancho, EHESS “A glimpse of Confucian scholar’s intimacy: the correspondence of Yulgok Yi I (1536-1584)” Abstract: The talk will focus on the correspondence of Yulgok Yi I (1536-1584), one of the most outstanding Confucian scholars of the … [Read More]
Free love, chastity and nationalism in Han Yongun’s novel “Death”
Brief notes from the recent talk at SOAS, which probably involve getting hold of the wrong end of several sticks… Han Yongun was the most renowned Buddhist nationalist poet of the colonial period. He was jailed for his involvement in the March 1st movement, and composed his famous poetry cycle “Silence of my love” while … [Read More]
Han Yongun: Questioning a monk’s nation-building project
More details about this Friday’s seminar at SOAS Friday, January 29th, 5pm, room G50 (main building) Jung-Shim Lee, Leiden University Han Yongun’s posthumous novel Death: Questioning a monk’s nation-building project Abstract: This paper will explore how a Korean monk Han Yongun produced Confucian-inspired nation-building ideas in his novel Death (죽음, 1924). Han Yongun (韓龍雲, 1879-1944) … [Read More]
Two Korea-related talks at the Senate House
News of two upcoming Korea-related seminars in the Comparative Histories of Asia Seminar hosted by the Institute of Historical Research at Senate House, University of London. Thursday 28th January, 5.30pm Dr Owen Miller (Cambridge / SOAS) “The Idea of Stagnation in Korean History from Fukuda Tokuzo to the New Right” Thursday 25 February, 5.30pm Professor … [Read More]
Kim Jeong-ho’s Daedong Yeojido online
An amazingly detailed 1861 pictorial map of the Korean peninsula is now available online. Well worth a look. # The Daedong yeojido was produced by the great Korean geographer Kim Jeong-ho. The map is at a scale of about 1:162,000 and is a wood block print that includes two inset maps of Seoul, texts and … [Read More]