A Concise History of Korea: From the Neolithic Period through the Nineteenth Century

by Michael J. Seth

This engaging text provides a concise history of Korea from the beginning of human settlement in the region through the late nineteenth century. Its thorough chronological narrative equally emphasizes social, cultural, and political history. Students will be especially drawn to descriptions of everyday life for both elite and nonelite members of society during various historical periods. A Concise History of Korea emphasizes how Korean history can be understood as part of an interactive sphere that includes three basic areas: China, Japan, and the Manchurian/Central Asian region. Throughout the book, comparisons are drawn between developments in Korea and those in neighboring regions, especially China and Japan. Michael Seth synthesizes recent scholarship to provide a straightforward understanding of Korean history, also addressing important historiographical issues in an accessible, nontechnical manner. Historical maps illustrate the changes in the region over time. The annotated bibliography of works in English is a useful addition for students, who will find this book to be a clear and comprehensive Korean history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Taylor Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Concise History of Korea proves to be entertaining, detailed, informative, and, in adherence to the suggestion of its title, characterized by concision. Dr. Seth does well to present a plethora of material swiftly, and in a manner that paints a broad image of Korea stretching two millennia. One might accurately categorize the material as a broad survey of early Korean history with emphasis on geopolitical influence well-suited for undergraduate purposes. Strangely, and certainly more the fault of editorial oversight than failure of authorial astuteness, the text is riddled with grammatical errors that, as they do in any professional or intellectual setting, detract from the work’s authority. Nonetheless, the book—which forms the first half of a comprehensive general history on the subject—remains well-written, engaging, and documented.

[Eugenia Kim]

Korean history presented along with the heavy geopolitical influence of its sisters, China and Japan, yet portrayed to highlight what distinguishes the ancient peninsula from all historic aspects. If there is only one history book you will read on Korea, this, or Pratt's EVERLASTING FLOWER, are both as thorough as one can be in this many pages, and very readable.

[Tom Mobley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I just need to find a good book that will cover the history from 1900 on.

[Edward Irons]

In A Concise History of Korea Michael Seth provides an excellent introduction to Korea’s pre-modern history. He attempts a thorough survey of religion, art, literature, and politics in all the key periods. Early Chinese sources provide most of the material we have on ethnic groups in Korea. Histories of the Three Kingdom period (c. 18 BCE-676) rely heavily on legend and dynastic accounts written later. But by the Silla, from 676 to 935, there are ample sources allowing a full description of daily life, religion and literature. While the chapters on the Unified Silla and Koryo (935-1392) dynasties are fully-fleshed, it is in his treatment of the Chosun (1392-1910) dynasty, to which he devotes four chapters, that Seth shines.

Seth does an excellent job of situating Korea within the northeast Asian sphere of cultural and commercial ties. Proximity to China has always shaped Korea in every period, leading to a type of “special relationship” between the two cultures that continues today. Korea under the name Choson, figured as early as the Shiji 史記, for instance (17).

Seth also takes pain to explain Korea’s uniqueness. By the Unified Silla in 676 Korea had become a society with a strong sense of its own identity (49). Linguistically, ethnically and politically Korea would continue to be an extremely homogenous culture. At the same time the cultural orientation was towards China, and Korea made part of a China-centric cultural sphere that absorbed Chinese religion and philosophy, chiefly Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism, as well as literature, music and fashion. Much of the governing principles as well as organization of succeeding dynasties would be modeled on that of China (52).

While not able to go into depth on religious ideas or concepts, Seth provides an admirable outline of key Buddhist, Neo-Confucian, and Christian individuals in Korean history. He mentions, for instance, Usang (625-702), founder of the Hwaom school, as well as Wonhyo (617-686), founder of the Popsang school. Uich’on (1055-1101) was instrumental in collecting Korea’s first vast collection of the Tripitaka, destroyed by the Mongol invasions of 1231-1232 (88). And Chinul (1158-1210) established the Chogye school and revitalized Buddhism through a unique synthesis of competing schools (104).

Several typographical errors mar the text. For instance, China was close enough to be make cross cultural exchanges easy…” (9). Insure is used instead of the more common ensure when meaning “to make certain” (53). “…it most likely” is missing the verb (81). On one page met is used instead of meet (212). More serious is the confusing reference to the term mandate of heaven as keming (Ch.)/hyongmyong (K.) on page 122, while it is (correctly) identified as 天命/tianming/chonmyong in a later entry (182). Perhaps the term hyongmyong is valid, but this is not the standard translation for “mandate of heaven.” The issue would have been clarified if the text had added Chinese characters when introducing proper names or concepts; hanja (漢字) was after all a major medium for writing in Korea throughout Korea’s pre-modern history, and could easily have been embraced in the text for clarity.

Seth is particularly adept in his discussion of the development of literature. Broad-ranging discussions of the earliest form of vernacular literature, the hyangga poetic form that date from the Silla, to such eclectic writers of the Chosun as Chong Yak-song (Tasan) show the depth of Korea’s literary heritage. He provides short excerpts of key poetry and prose works from each period at the end of each chapter, which is a good way of bringing Korea’s literary treasures to the reader’s attention. Seth also mentions important landmark documents in Korean history, including the Samguk Sagi (1145), a history of the Three Kingdoms, the Samguk Yusa, a history from mythical times through the Silla (1279), and the Koryo sa (1452), the major reference for the history of that dynasty.

A Concise History takes particular note of the status of women in Korean societies. Contrary to its image as a traditional patriarchy, women enjoyed many liberties during certain periods. Women in the Koryo could inherit property and pass it on to descendants, independently of their husbands (92). Widows could remarry, and divorce was practiced. It was only during the extremely neo-confucian Chosun dynasty that the lives of women became increasingly restricted (155).

Korea’s unique and often precarious position at the center of northeast Asia is accurately portrayed, but Michael Seth in this work succeeds in showing an expanded view of Korea as a unique and vibrant culture in its own right.

[Erlend Fleisje]

Based on first half of the book (to be completed later):
I read this as part of an East Asia mini-binge (or is that an oxymoron?), having been through books on Japan, China, Singapore.

The Concise History of Korea spans all the way from the remote past to the modern day (up to its publication in 2006). The earliest section are a bit of a struggle, partly because the names of places and individuals are so hard to keep track of, and because I lacked a frame of reference. The parts starting from "Korea in the age of imperalism, 1876-1910" were easier and frankly more interesting to read. From these chapters I learned a lot: About how Korea lost its independence, how Korean nationalism was never dead, how the Japanese occupation affected the development of political opinion, perhaps sowing the seeds of what was to become a fatal division between the communists and the nationalists/everyone else.

I think this book deserves a higher rating. It could just as well have had a 4.0 rating. Perhaps this book is more often assigned to HS or university students, who take revenge by posting poor ratings? That being said, the editing is not perfect; as other reviewers have pointed out, there are some repetitions that ought to have been culled in editing.
The prose is academic in style, but not as dense as a full-on reference work. I can imagine the book being used for introductory courses in Korean history or such.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little old fashioned and dense in its presentation, but a solid short history (which is challenging to find in English on this topic).