The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong

Author: JaHyun Kim Haboush
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520957296
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 400

Book Description
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, this first complete English translation opens a door into a world teeming with conflicting passions, political intrigue, and the daily preoccupations of a deeply intelligent and articulate woman. JaHyun Kim Haboush's accurate, fluid translation captures the intimate and expressive voice of this consummate storyteller. Reissued nearly twenty years after its initial publication with a new foreword by Dorothy Ko, The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong is a unique exploration of Korean selfhood and an extraordinary example of autobiography in the premodern era.

The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong

Author: Hyegyŏnggung Hong Ssi
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520200555
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 404

Book Description
Lady Hyegyong married Crown Prince Sado when they were both nine years old. The prince descended into violence and insanity in adulthood, and was killed by his father. Lady Hyegyong chose to live, and her son was later crowned king. She wrote the collected four memoirs in an attempt to weather the storms of political intrigue surrounding her. Contains introductory material, a glossary, and genealogical tables. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong

Author: Hyegyŏnggung Hong Ssi
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520200543
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 396

A Korean War Captive in Japan, 1597–1600

Author: JaHyun Kim Haboush
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231535112
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 271

Book Description
Kang Hang was a Korean scholar-official taken prisoner in 1597 by an invading Japanese army during the Imjin War of 1592–1598. While in captivity in Japan, Kang recorded his thoughts on human civilization, war, and the enemy's culture and society, acting in effect as a spy for his king. Arranged and printed in the seventeenth century as Kanyangnok, or The Record of a Shepherd, Kang's writings were extremely valuable to his government, offering new perspective on a society few Koreans had encountered in 150 years and new information on Japanese politics, culture, and military organization. In this complete, annotated translation of Kanyangnok, Kang ruminates on human behavior and the nature of loyalty during a time of war. A neo-Confucianist with a deep knowledge of Chinese philosophy and history, Kang drew a distinct line between the Confucian values of his world, which distinguished self, family, king, and country, and a foreign culture that practiced invasion and capture, and, in his view, was largely incapable of civilization. Relating the experiences of a former official who played an exceptional role in wartime and the rare voice of a Korean speaking plainly and insightfully on war and captivity, this volume enables a deeper appreciation of the phenomenon of war at home and abroad.

The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong

Author: Hyegyŏnggung Hong Ssi
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520280482
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 400

Sources of Korean Tradition: From the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries

Author: Peter H. Lee
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231120302
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 516

Book Description
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 in Korea have looked at life, the traditions of their ancestors, and the world they lived in.

Unspoken Voices

Author: Jin-young Choi
Publisher: Homa & Sekey Books
ISBN: 1931907064
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Book Description
BOOK DESCRIPTION The stories in this collection are written by twelve Korean women writers whose experience, insight, and writing skill make them truly representative of Korean fiction at its best. "The Rooster" is a comical revelation of an old man who accepts the truth that Man and Nature revolve around the same immutable natural law. In "The Fragment," refugees who flee to Pusan during the Korean War suffer the unspeakable squalor and despair when jammed in a warehouse. "The Young Elm Tree" tells the story of a high school girl who falls in love with the son of her mother's new husband. What all these twelve writers share in common is a keen eye that penetrates into the lives of Korean women from the early part of the 20th century to the present. THE AUTHORS Authors included fall into two groups-those born during the Japanese occupation of Korea (1910-1945) and those born after 1945. All the eight authors in the first group experienced the Second World War in childhood and the Korean War as adults. They saw pain, hardship, and death, but they observed courage, resilience, humor, and love even in the most dire times. The four younger writers are active creators of works that have won top literary awards. Their fresh new look at life, their bold experimental style, and their refreshing voices are a reflection of their generation. THE TRANSLATOR Dr. Jin-Young Choi is Professor of English at Chung-Ang University in Seoul. She has translated two novels, numerous short stories and tales. Her Saturday columns in The Korea Herald were collected into one volume form One Woman's Way. All of her translated short stories were published in Korean Literature Today.

The Annals of King T’aejo

Author:
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674281306
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1057

Book Description
Never before translated into English, this official history of the reign of King T’aejo—founder of Korea’s long, illustrious Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910 CE)—is a unique resource for reconstructing life in late-fourteenth-century Korea. Its narrative of a ruler’s rise to power includes a wealth of detail not just about politics and war but also about religion, astronomy, and the arts. The military general Yi Sŏnggye, posthumously named T’aejo, assumed the throne in 1392. During his seven-year reign, T’aejo instituted reforms and established traditions that would carry down through the centuries. These included service to Korea’s overlord, China, and other practices reflecting China’s influence over the peninsula: creation of a bureaucracy based on civil service examinations, a shift from Buddhism to Confucianism, and official records of the deeds of kings, which in the Confucian tradition were an important means of educating succeeding generations. A remarkable compilation process for the sillok, or “veritable records,” was instituted to ensure the authority of the annals. Historiographers were present for every royal audience and wrote down each word that was uttered. They were strictly forbidden to divulge the contents of their daily drafts, however—even the king himself could not view the records with impunity. Choi Byonghyon’s translation of the first of Korea’s dynastic histories, The Annals of King T’aejo, includes an introduction and annotations.

Wrongful Deaths

Author:
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN: 0295804963
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 271

Book Description
This collection presents and analyzes inquest records that tell the stories of ordinary Korean people under the Choson court (1392-1910). Extending the study of this period, usually limited to elites, into the realm of everyday life, each inquest record includes a detailed postmortem examination and features testimony from everyone directly or indirectly related to the incident. The result is an amazingly vivid, colloquial account of the vibrant, multifaceted sociocultural and legal culture of early modern Korea.

Lady of Chʻiao Kuo

Author: Laurence Yep
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
ISBN: 9780439164832
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 312

Book Description
In 531 A.D., a fifteen-year-old princess of the Hsien tribe in southern China keeps a diary which describes her role as liaison between her own people and the local Chinese colonists, in times of both peace and war.