TRADITIONAL KOREAN HISTORY
Young Ick Lew, Ph.D.
GSIS, Yonsei University
Course Description:
This is a course designed to help English-speaking students assimilate the essences of traditional
Korean history and culture from antiquity to the mid-nineteenth century. It deals with political, socioeconomic, and religious history of traditional Korea with emphasis on the Chosŏn dynasty period (13921910). Special attempts will be made to highlight the unique features of Korean culture in the broad
context of East Asian civilization.
Course Requirements:
1. Regular classroom attendance for lectures and participation in discussions
2. Careful study of the textbooks and papers listed in this course outline
3. Mid-term and the final examination
4. A critical book review of:
Martina Deuchler. The Confucian Transformation of Korea: A Study and Ideology. Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992.
John B. Duncan. The Origins of the Chosŏn Dynasty. Seattle and London: University of
Washington Press, 2000.
or
Edward
J. Shultz. Generals and Scholars: Military Rule in Medieval Korea. Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 2000.
Textbooks:
Carter Eckert, Young Ick Lew et al. Korea Old and New: A History (KON), Seoul: Ilchokak for
the Korea Institute, Harvard University, 1990.
William E. Henthorn. A History of Korea (HK). New York: The Free Press, 1971.
James Huntley Grayson. Korea: A Religious History (KRH). Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1989.
Lecture Schedule and Reading Assignments
1. A Bird's-Eye View of Korean History
Readings:
KRH, pp. 1-12;
HK, pp. 1-5.
Young Ick Lew, A Brief History of Korea: A Bird's-Eye View (New York: The Korea Society,
2000).
2. Beginning of Korean History: Prehistoric Times
KON, pp. 1-23;
HK, pp. 6-17, 228-236;
KRH, pp. 15-26.
James H. Grayson, "The Myth of Tan'gun: A Dramatic Structural Analysis of a
Korean Foundation Myth," Korea Journal 37:1 (Spring 1997): 35-52.
Pyong-Choon Hahm, “Shamanism : Foundation of the Korea World-View,” Korean Culture 1:2
(1981)
3. Ancient (Ko) Choson, the Lelang Commandery, and Mimana
KRT, pp. 3-17;
HK, pp. 18-32.
Gari Ledyard, "Galloping Along with the Horseriders: Looking for the Founders of Japan,
Journal of Japanese Studies 1:2 (1975): 217-44.
4. History of the Three Kingdoms
KON, pp, 24-41;
HK, pp. 33-58;
KRH, pp, 27-66.
Chong-sik Lee, "(Chapter 6) History and Politics: The Textbook Controversy and
Beyond," Japan and the Korea: The Political Dimension (Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press,
Stanford University, 1985): 141-64.
Gari Ledyard, "Cultural and Political Aspects of Traditional Korean Buddhism," Asia 10 (Winter
1963): 46-61.
Donald Baker, "Buddhism," John H. Koo et al. eds., An Introduction to Korean Culture, 153-176.
5. History of the Unified Silla and Parhae Kingdoms
KON, pp. 42-62;
HK, pp. 59-84;
KRH, pp. 67-97.
Chong Sun Kim, "The Kolp'um System: Basis for Sillan Social Stratification," Journal
of Korean Studies 1:2 (Jan.-June 1971): 43-69;
Edwin O. Reischauer, "(Chapter VIII) The Koreans in China," Ennin's
Travels in T'ang China (New York: The Ronald Press Co., 1955): 272-294.
Mark Peterson, "Confucianism," John H. Koo et al. eds., An Introduction to Korean Culture,
135-151.
6. History of the Early Koryo Period
KON, pp. 62-85;
HK, pp. 85-112;
KRH, pp. 101-118.
Hugh W. Kang, "Institutional Borrowing: The Case of the Chinese Civil Service Examination
System in Early Koryo," Journal of Asian Studies 34:1 (Nov. 1974): 109-25.
Edward J. Shultz, "Military Revolt in Korea: The 1170 Coup d'Etat," Korean Studies 3 (1979):
19-48.
7. History of the Late Koryo Period
KON, pp. 86-106;
HK, pp. 113-135;
KRH, pp. 119-131.
James B. Palais, "Slavery and Slave Society in the Koryo Period," The Journal of Korean
Studies 5 (1984): 173-90.
M. S. Seoh, "A Brief Documentary Survey of Japanese Pirate Activities in Korea in the 13th15th Centuries," Journal of Korean Studies 1:1 (July-Dec. 1969): 23-39.
-- Mid-Term Examination --
8. History of the Early Choson Period
KON, pp. 107-154;
HK, pp. 136-185;
KRH, pp. 135-155.
James B. Palais, "Political Leadership in the Yi Dynasty," Dae-sook Suh and Chae-jin Lee eds.,
Political Leadership in Korea (Seattle and London: University of
Washington Press,
1976): 3-38.
______________, "Confucianism and the Aristocratic/Bureaucratic Balance in Korea," Harvard
Journal of Asiatic Studies 44: 2 (Dec. 1984): 427-68.
9. History of the Late Choson Period
KON, pp. 155-192;
HK, pp. 186-226;
KRH, pp. 156-193.
Gari Ledyard, "Confucianism and War: The Korean Security Crisis of 1598," Journal of Korean
Studies 6 (1988-89): 81-119.
James B. Palais, "Political Leadership and the Yangban in the Chosŏn Dynasty," La societe civile
face a 1'East dans les traditions chinoise, japonaise, coreenne et vietnamienne (Paris: Ecole
Franciase E'Extreme-Orient, 1994): 391-408.
10. Political Institutions of the Choson Dynasty
Chai-sik Chung, "Chong To-jon: 'Architect' of Yi Dynasty Government and Ideology," in deBary
and Haboush, eds., The Rise of Neo-Confucianism in Korea (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1985): 59-83.
Pow-Key Sohn, "Power versus Status: The Role of Ideology during the Early Yi Dynasty," [東方
學志](Tongbang hakchi), 10 (1969): 209-53.
11. Foreign Relations During the Chosŏn Dynasty
Key-Hiuk Kim, “(Chapter I) Korea in Traditional East Asia,”The Last Phase of East Asian
World Order: Korea, Japan and the Chinese Empire, 1860-1882 (Berkeley and Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 1980); 1-38;
Hae-jong Chun, "Sino-Korean Tributary Relations in the Ch'ing Period," John K. Fairbank, ed.,
The Chinese World Order: Traditional China's Foreign Relations (Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 1968) : 9-111.
George M. McCune, "The Exchange of Envoys between Korea and Japan during the Tokugawa
Period," The Far Eastern Quarterly 5:3 (May 1946): 308-25.
12. Socio-Economic Institutions of the Chosŏn Dynasty
Martina Deuchler, "The Confucian Transformation of Korea: A Study of Society and Ideology,"
한림과학원, ed., [지성의 현장] 4 (1994): 299-327.
_______________, "The Tradition: Women during the Yi Dynasty," Sandra Mattielli, ed.,
Virtues in Conflict: Tradition and the Korean Woman Today (Seoul: Samhwa, 1977): 1-47.
Pyong-Choon Hahm, "(Chap.3) An Historical Study of Discriminatory Legislation against the
Descendants of Concubines in Korea, 1415-1894 A.D.," The Korean Political Tradition and
Law (Seoul: Hollym Corporation Publishers, 1967): 108-130.
13. Intellectual Development and Education During the Chosŏn Dynasty
Michael Kalton, "T'oegye and the Korean Way," Korean Culture 9:3 (Fall 1988): 5-15.
______________, "An Introduction to Silhak," Korea Journal 15:5 (May 1975): 29-46.
Songmu Yi, "The Influence of Neo-Confucianism on Education and the Civil Service
Examination System in Fourteenth-and Fifteenth-Century Korea," Wm. Theodore de Bary
and JaHyun Kim Haboush, eds., The Rise of
Neo-Confucianism in Korea (1985): 125-160.
14. Cultural Developments During the Chosŏn Dynasty
Song-nae Pak, "The Scientific Tradition in Korea," Introduction to Korean Studies (Seoul: The
National Academy of Sciences, R.O.K., 1986): 771-85;
Pow-key Sohn, "Early Korean Printing," Early Korean Typography (Seoul: Korean Library
Science Research Institute, 1971): 31-48.
S. Robert Ramsey, "The Korean Alphabet," Young-Key Kim-Renaud., King
Sejong the Great: The Light of Fifteenth Century Korea (International Circle of Korean
Linguistics, 1991): 43-50;
Gari Ledyard, "(Chap. IX) Afterthoughts," The Dutch Come to Korea (Seoul: The Royal
Asiatic Society, Korea Branch/Taewon Publishing Co., 1971): 99-119.
15. Retrospections on Korean History and Culture
James B. Palais, "A Search for Korean Uniqueness," Harvard Journal of Asiatics Studies, 55:2
(Dec. 1995): 409-25.
________________, Views on Korean Social History (Seoul: Institute for Modern Korean
Studies, Yonsei University, 1998).
Fujiya Kawashima, What is Yangban? A Legacy for Modern Korea (Seoul: Institute for
Modern Korean Studies, Yonsei University, 2002).