A heritage of kings: one man's monarchy in the Confucian world

by JaHyun Kim Haboush

Looking for an answer of social science, being able to maintain political independence without loosing genuine political orientation and responsibility, and at the same time maintaining a sophisticated balance of holistic orientation on the one side and discrimination on the other side is, of course, on the one hand bound to the objective conditions of society; on the other hand - and even more so - scientists have to accept their re-sponsibility of (re-)gaining independence in terms of looking for valid answers to assess development and to change them where necessary rather than fulfilling expectations of the development by simply maintaining the status quo. In this regard, the present contributions reach a high level of expertise in their independence of judgments. This is of particular interest, as they cover a huge variety of topics and areas, not least coming from different disciplinary backgrounds and as well looking at different aggregate levels.

Genres: Academic, History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 1987

About the author

JaHyun Kim Haboush Korean: 김자현, 金滋炫; born Seoul, Korea, 1940, died New York City, 2011) was a Korean-American scholar of Korean history and literature in the United States. Haboush was the King Sejong Professor of Korean Studies at Columbia University when she died on January 30, 2011.

Haboush attended Ewha Womans University and studied English literature in Seoul. She studied Chinese literature at the University of Michigan, where she graduated with an M.A. in Chinese Literature under the supervision of Professor James Crump in 1970. Haboush obtained her Ph.D. from the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University in 1978 under Professor Gary Ledyard. She went on to teach at Queens College of the City University of New York, The University at Albany, and the University of Illinois before her return to Columbia as a professor in 2000.

Haboush has contributed extensively to the fields of Korean studies, Korean history and literature, and gender studies. Her important writings include the books The Confucian Kingship in Korea, the paperback edition of her 1988 monograph, A Heritage of Kings: One Man's Monarchy in the Confucian World on the reign of King Yeongjo of Joseon of the Joseon dynasty, The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyŏng: The Autobiographical Writings of a Crown Princess of Eighteenth-Century Korea, a translation of the Memoirs of Lady Hyegyeong. Her scholarly work also includes several edited volumes related to the history and literature of early modern Korea, including Culture and the State in Late Chosŏn Korea, Women and Confucian Cultures in Pre-modern China, Korea, and Japan, and Epistolary Korea: Letters from the Communicative Space of the Chosŏn, 1392-1910.

(from Wikipedia)