‘An Elementary Reader for Citizens’ (國民小學讀本)
At my own blog I’ve been writing a series of posts about some interesting old Korean books I’ve come across in the library of the School of Oriental and African...
Category: Late Chosŏn
Wages
Just a nugget of information I thought I might throw out to our readers, all comments or reflections are welcome: It seems that unskilled wage labourers in late...
Seasonal treat for Koreanists
It has been brought to my attention that historians of premodern Korea have a very special Christmas treat in the form of the annals of the Chosŏn Dynasty (Chos...
Demands of the Tonghak Rebels
Some fifteen years ago in a Journal of Korean Studies article entitled “The Conservative Character of the 1894 Tonghak Peasant Uprising” Lew Young I...
Western Perceptions of Koreans: Part V – The Korean Mind and other Characteristics
Before diving into some descriptions of the Korean mind and personality in the readings considered in this series of postings (Part I begins here), let me make ...
Western Perceptions of Koreans: Part IV – Women
As one might expect, descriptions of Korean women in the writings by Western visitors that I have looked at tend to be completely dominated by the theme of pity...
Online resources for Chosŏn history: Government annals
Following the lead of Konrad I thought I might start off my posts with something about finding Korean history resources online. It is now actually possible to d...
Early Western Perceptions of Koreans: Part III – Of Labor and Laziness
Western visitors to late 19th century and colonial Korea often write about the Korean worker’s laziness, or at least a profound indifference to their labo...
Early Western Perceptions of Koreans: Part II – Education and the Yangban Class
Western visitors to Korea are struck by the idleness and corruption of the Yangban class. While many of them live in considerable poverty at this point, and the...
Early Western Perceptions of Koreans: Part I – Introduction
What did visitors to late Chosŏn and colonial Korea have to say about the people and society they found there? When seen through the lens of imperialism and all...