Review: Transactions - Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 97

Transactions - Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 97 by Various
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An excellent read. I found every one of the essays/stories interesting in their own way. 

The first one, by Brother Anthony of Taizé, is about two very early Korean Catholics, one of whom was fairly quickly sanctified after his death (Andrew Kim Dae-geon), while the other has yet to be so (Thomas Choe Yang-eop).

Next are 2 student essays: "Is Retro the new Present?" (by Lee Chaemin) and "Walking 'Hand-in-Hand' toward Harmony" (by Kim Dongha), about the 1988 Olympics. I hadn't realized how important they were. With the 1980 Olympics having been boycotted by the US, and the 1984 Olympics boycotted by the Soviet Union, the 1988 Olympics finally featured everyone again in Seoul. 

The next essay is about how Western POWs were used by the Japanese Army as PR in Korea, being paraded through the country and as a showcase for how prisoners are treated well. This was all news to me. By Matt Van Volkenburg.

This is followed by another interesting piece of history, about when the Korean king hired some foreign bodyguards (which seems to have been a pretty misguided choice to say the least), by Robert Neff.

The essay by Nate Kornegay on late 20th century architecture in Korea was a throwback to me, and I was thankful for the photos, since that was when I first traveled to Korea. 

Then there followed 2 essays from the Youth Panel: One on Collectivism and Competition (and the harm created by Korea's mix) by Hyunjee Romy Cho, while the other was about a 'happy mutant' kid in Daechi-dong, against all odds, by Myungseo Kim. 

Then there is a somewhat long introduction to the Donghak (Cheondogyo) religion by Choe Chong-dae. It was interesting to read the founder's writings, although it became somewhat repetitive after a while. 

The final story was Kimchi Kitty, by Martin Limon, which I enjoyed. 

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Review: Transactions of the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 1

Transactions of the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 1 by Royal Asiatic Society
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a gem! A reprinting of the first-ever issue of Transactions. I got this at the RASK offices in Seoul. The first two essays concern the Chinese influence (one emphasizing that it is large, and the other rebutting saying it isn't so), and then there is some commentary, and an essay on the Buddha of Eun-jin. 

What is fascinating is that these discussions are taking place during the Chosun dynasty, so we get to see a foreigners' (quite well-informed, imho) view of Korea prior to any Japanese colonization, North-South division, etc.. 

An oddity: This claims King Se-jo (not Sejong) had metal types cast and developed a new alphabet (Hangul), and that it happened in 1406, so before Sejong's reign. This can't be right, can it? 

Some of my notes:

The author says he met people who still cut off their fingers (and fed the blood to their parents??) to show their filial piety. 

The Qing dynasty apparently wasn't respected in Korea during the Chosun dynasty, since they were Manchus. 

Korean native histories are almost impossible to find at this time. Almost all history in school and elsewhere deals solely with China (sort of like Taiwan now maybe??)

There is still native contempt for Hangul script. I guess it really was revived only after the Japanese occupation. 

A list of the most important Korean holidays are Samyungil, Hansik, Tano, and Chinese Harvest Home festival (Chuseok??)

文獻通考 is almost the only Chinese authority on Korea from back then. 

This claims King Sejo (世祖， not Sejong) had metal types cast and developed a new alphabet (Hangul), and that it happened in 1406, so before Sejong's reign. This can't be right, can it?

It says "The green cloak worn by women as a veil over their heads" is not Chinese but Korean. What is this??

 

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