Table of Contents

Preface to the Translation Author's Prefaces Maps, Charts, and Tables Chapter 1: The Communal Societies of Prehistoric Times 1. The Paleolithic Age 2. Neolithic Man in Korea 3. Society and Culture in the Neolithic Period Chapter 2: Walled-Town States and Confederated Kingdoms 1. The Use of Bronze and the Formation of Walled-Town States 2. The Formation and Development of Old Chosõn 3. The Formation of Confederated Kingdoms 4. Society and Polity in the Confederated Kingdoms 5. Culture in the Confederated Kingdoms Period Chapter 3: Aristocratic Societies Under Monarchical Rule 1. The Development of the Three Kingdoms 2. The Foreign Relations of the Three Kingdoms 3. Political and Social Structure of the Three Kingdoms 4. The Aristocratic Culture of the Three Kingdoms Chapter 4: The Fashioning of an Authoritarian Monarchy 1. The Silla Unification and the Founding of the Parhae Kingdom 2. The Government and Society of Unified Silla 3. The Flourishing of Silla Culture 4. The Society and Culture of Parhae Chapter 5: The Age of Powerful Gentry Families 1. Contradictions Within the Bone-Rank Status System 2. The Rise of Powerful Local Gentry 3. The Later Three Kingdoms Peasant Uprisings 4. Unification by Koryo 5. Culture of the Gentry Period Chapter 6: The Hereditary Aristocratic Order of Koryo 1. Beginnings of Kory 's Aristocratic Order 2. The Aristocratic Ruling Structure 3. Aristocratic Society and the Economic Structure 4. Foreign Relations 5. Aristocratic Culture 6. Disturbances in the Aristocratic Order Chapter 7: Rule by the Military 1. The Military Seize Power 2. Peasant and Slave Uprisings 3. The Military Rule of the Ch'oe 4. The Struggle with the Mongols 5. The Culture of the Age of the Military Chapter 8: Emergence of the Literati 1. The Pro-Yuan Policy and the Powerful Families 2. Growth of the Power of the Literati 3. The Founding of the Choso (Yi) Dynasty 4. The Culture of the New Literati Class Chapter 9: The Creation of a Yangban Society 1. The Development of Yangban Society in Choson 2. Administrative Structure of the Yangban Bureaucratic State 3. Social and Economic Structure of the Yangban Bureaucratic State 4. Foreign Policy of Early Choson 5. Yangban Bureaucratic Culture Chapter 10: The Rise of the Neo-Confucian Literati 1. Changes in Society under Rule by the Meritorious Elite 2. Emergence of the Neo-Confucian Literati 3. The Struggle Against the Japanese and Manchus 4. The Culture of the Neo-Confucian Literati Chapter 11: The Emergence of Landed Farmers and Wholesale Merchants 1. Government by Powerful Lineages 2. Changes in the System of Tax Collection 3. Economic Growth 4. Sirhak and Other New Intellectual Concerns 5. New Modes of Expression in the Arts Chapter 12: Instability in the Yangban Status System and the Outbreak of Popular Uprisings 1. Government by In-Law Families 2. Tremors in the Yangban Status System 3. Peasant Resistance 4. Development of a Popular Culture 5. The Reforms and Isolation Policy of the Taewon'gun Chapter 13: Growth of the Forces of Enlightenment 1. Enlightenment Policy and Reaction Against It 2. The Reform Movement of the Progressive Party 3. The Revolutionary Uprising of the Tonghak Peasant Army 4. The Reform of 1894 5. Commerce, Industry, and Currents of Thought in the Enlightenment Period Chapter 14: Nationalist Stirrings and Imperialist Aggression 1. Activities of the Independence Club 2. Japanese Aggression and the Struggle of the "Righteous Armies" 3. Japanese Economic Aggression and Korean Capital 4. The Patriotic Enlightenment Movement 5. The March First Movement Chapter 15: Development of the Nationalist Movement 1. Changes in Japan's Colonial Policy 2. Native Capital and the Condition of Korean 3. The Korean National Movement Enters a New Phase 4. The Preservation of Korean Culture Chapter 16: The Beginnings of Democracy 1. The Liberation of Korea, August 15, 1945 2. The Establishment of the Republic of Korea 3. The Korean War 4. The April 1960 Revolution Dynastic Lineages Select Bibliography Index-Glossary

Promotional Information

To praise the translation is to praise the original. The modern writing of Korean history by Koreans has been beset by difficulties: the restrictions imposed by their traditions, the near-impossibility of writing the history of one's own nation under severe colonial rule, and the passions raised by the still-continuing political division of a homogeneous nation. To have written under these circumstances a history of Korea which can be presented, without significant emendation or apology, to Western readers is no small achievement. -- W. E. Skillend Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

About the Author

Ki-baik Lee is Professor of History, Sogang University, Seoul. Edward W. Wagner is Professor of Korean Studies, Harvard University.

Reviews

Professor Lee’s work is exceptionally detailed and covers not only the political, social and economic history of Korea, but integrates developments in the arts, science and technology through the ages. Its wealth of material and comprehensive coverage make it an excellent textbook for the study of Korea.
*History*

Wagner must be lauded for bringing to the English reading community this comprehensive, precisely translated, well-crafted, and meticulously indexed work on Korean history, a translation that will undoubtedly remain for years as the standard overview of Korean history for both Korea specialists and nonspecialists… This project represents a marriage of revision and skillful translation with the ultimate result being the balanced and well-organized volume under review.
*Journal of Asian Studies*

This is a famous book, and its translation into English has long been awaited… The present elegantly written translation provides the reader, whether expert or amateur, with a good and entertaining introduction to the richness of Korea’s historical experience.
*Journal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs*

Painstaking translation and attentive editing and indexing combine with a consistent and logical system of dividing topics to provide easy access to both the events of Korean history and Professor Lee’s thoughtful interpretation.
*Asiaweek Literary Review*

To praise the translation is to praise the original. The modern writing of Korean history by Koreans has been beset by difficulties: the restrictions imposed by their traditions, the near-impossibility of writing the history of one’s own nation under severe colonial rule, and the passions raised by the still-continuing political division of a homogeneous nation. To have written under these circumstances a history of Korea which can be presented, without significant emendation or apology, to Western readers is no small achievement.
*Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London*