Redwood, CA: Stanford University Press, 2022. xiv, 414 pp. (Figures, maps, B&W photos.) US$35.00, paper. ISBN 9781503629844.
Attempts to define Korea, the Korean people, the Korean ethnicity and identity, and “Koreanness” have challenged many scholars of Korean studies. By now, numerous textbooks on the collective history of Korea have been published, and still there is need for further work with diverse and impartial perspectives on Korean history. The historiography of one the world’s oldest cultures has attracted several authors from different backgrounds, as seen in Ki-Baik Lee’s A New History of Korea (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984), Keith Pratt’s Everlasting Flower: A History of Korea (London: Reaktion Books, 2007), Kyung Moon Hwang’s A History of Korea: An Episodic Narrative (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), Jingwun Kim’s A History of Korea: From ‘Land of the Morning Calm’ to States in Conflict (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2012), Andrew C. Nahm’s Korea: Tradition and Transformation – A History of the Korean People (Carlsbad, CA-Seoul: Hollym International Corporation, 1988; revised in 1996) to mention but a few.
Motivated by similar ambitions, Eugene Y. Park’s panoramic mode follows the chronological order of distinct historical periods of Korea. Korea: A History broadly covers and summarizes the history of the Korean Peninsula from around 2000 BCE, the “dawn of Korean civilization” (19), to December 2020. As the author has a research interest in sociopolitical history and genealogy coupled with a background in East Asian—especially Korean—regions, he depicts a complex but clear picture of the peninsula’s extensive history. Likewise, the work invites the reader to gain insight into the stages of the formation and evolution of the Korean identity. In this way, one can be a part of the country’s historical, economic, and cultural progress, and participate in the never-ending push and pull between North and South Korea, leading to South Korea as one of the most dynamic and North Korea as one of the most unique countries in the world.
The thematic structure and sequential narrative are based on a detailed introduction of the historical background of each era, followed by a deep analysis of the political conditions, followed by social stratification, economic production, technical development, and customs, and then finishes with a cultural description of the arts, lifestyle, and cuisine. The book is divided into fourteen chapters and four parts, in which the first two are devoted to pre-modern, classical, and post-classical (medieval) periods. The rich illustrations and maps grant additional aid for the reader to become familiar with each historical era.
At first, the names of the periods may seem peculiar, especially with regard to the periodization of the early times, as exemplified by “classical period,” followed by “post-classical period.” Typically, authors of Korean history textbooks divide and name the earliest ancient periods, such as “antiquity” or “ancient Korea.” Further, Park splits the modern age of Korea into two sub eras: early modern and late modern categories. In addition to the idea that there should be a shared agreement regarding the period names of Korea’s historiography, we must perceive their different spellings by particular authors as positive rather than textual errors or incorrect approaches.
The introduction on thinking of (East) “Asia” presents the structure of the work by opening with the foundation of Korean inception from historiographical, archeological, genealogical, and linguistic contexts. Part 1, “The Classical Period,” includes three chapters that cover the history of 2000 BCE to 918 CE. Chapter 2 demonstrates that economic productivity intensified during the era of the Three Kingdoms (Koguryŏ, Paekche, and Silla), and Puyŏ and Kaya (391–676). Chapter 3 continues to delineate the economic, social, educational, and cultural changes of the northern and southern states between 676–918.
Part 2, “Post-Classical Period,” details the rule of the first kingdom of a united Korea, the Koryŏ dynasty (918–1392), divided into two stages. Chapter 4 analyzes Koryŏ’s early period (918–1148) under the foundation of Wang Kŏn. In these years, the hierarchical feudal system became distinctly centralized when “Buddhism, shamanism, geomancy, and Daoism shaped daily life and a culture” (87). While this chapter emphasizes the rise and blossoming of Koryŏ, chapter 5, “Late Koryŏ (1146–1392),” reveals the decline and fall of the kingdom, which was rife with political turmoil, dynastic feuds and, finally, the Mongolian invasion.
Part 3 divides the Chosŏn dynasty in three chapters: from the promising early years under founder Yi Sŏnggye (1392) in chapter 6, through the political conflicts such as domestic rebellion and the Imjin War (1592–1598) in chapter 7, to the restoration and then fall of Chosŏn (1724–1864) in chapter 8.
Part 4 contains the last six chapters, beginning with chapter 9, and explains the reforms initiated by King Kojong (1864–1907), whose technological and modernization innovations were met with a double-edged sword. The relative peacefulness and independence of Korea were upset by Japanese repression, as specified in chapter 10, “Japanese Occupation,” which the author separates into three phases (242). Chapter 11 begins with Japanese liberation in 1945, which was also the dawn of national division leading to the disastrous Korean War. The next chapter carefully considers Korea’s division in an unbiased and balanced approach. The feud between the two Koreas peaks in chapter 13, which depicts the peninsula’s history between 1980 and 2000, detailing the psychological warfare then the rapprochement between the two sides. Chapter 14 continues the journey of inter-Korean kinship and its latest developments while providing insight into novel cultural influences and changes in North and South Korea.
Park’s book not only examines the political-historical evolution of the Korean Peninsula from the earliest times, but also provides insight into the everyday life of the Korean people through education reforms, the influence of religion, gender-identity shifts, ethnic minorities, fashion, demographic changes, housing, architecture, eating and drinking habits.
Korea: A History is another essential interdisciplinary work not only for the Korean studies community but also for wider audiences, transferring a clear-cut and detailed account of the peninsula’s history. It is an excellent historical textbook about Korea’s political, economic, and social background from its own unique historiographical point of view.
Gabor Sebo
Yonsei University, Wonju