한국국제교류재단

“The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty” are a valuable treasury of the history of Korea’s longest-ruling Confucian dynasty, indispensable to any student and scholar of Korea’s history.

Although much work has been done to bring them to the modern world in Korean, “TheAnnals of King T'aejo: Founder of Korea’s Chosōn Dynasty” is the first time any part of theannals has been translated into English.

King Taejo was originally Yi Seong-gye, a general of the Goryeo Dynasty who led a coupagainst the monarchy, ascended the throne, and founded a new dynasty in 1392. His reignlasted for only six-and-a-half years, but he played a vital role in establishing the JoseonDynasty [Chosōn Dynasty by the McCune-Reischauer Romanization system] before abdicatingthe throne in 1398 in favor of his second son. Compilation of the official annals of his ruledid not begin until 1410, two years after his death, because it was thought that it would beimpossible to write an ive record while the former king still lived.

The annals are straightforward in terms of their structure. A general introduction thatdescribes Taejo’s rise to power is followed by the records of his reign, arranged according toyear. It is not light reading by any means, although the general introduction does read moreas a narrative than the official annals, with history interspersed with tales of Yi Seong-gye’sbravery and martial prowess, particularly his skill with a bow. The annals themselves arenecessarily more disjointed, consisting of separate entries for each day (sometimes skippinga day or so when nothing of import happened), but they contain a wealth of information.Memorials to the throne, generally the longest kinds of entries, comment on statecraftand proper leadership, offering insight into the political processes of the JoseonDynasty.

The shorter entries can be fascinating as well, with accounts of meteorologicalphenomena such as rain, hail, thunder, wind, fog, and frost; astronomicalphenomena such as the movement of planets and the moon in relation to thestars and constellations, solar halos, eclipses, and the appearance of meteors;and other natural phenomena such as the blooming of trees, insect damage toflora, and the appearance of certain portentous animals. Sometimes the interestin such phenomena is scientific, while at other times it is clear that they areaccorded deeper significance.

There are also, of course, discussions of political, economic, diplomatic,religious, and military affairs, giving readers a fuller picture of life at the time,while entries that detail the actions and interactions of the king often provide aglimpse into Taejo’s personality beyond his official role as head of state.

In addition to the text itself, the book benefits from meticulous annotations,glossaries of terms, people, and places, and a thorough index. Within the text,specific terms are often followed by the original (Romanized) Korean terms inparentheses.

This can slow down reading, but considering that this is a text forscholars as opposed to casual readers, such attention to detail is very welcome.Finally, the translation reads quite naturally and easily, avoiding the awkwardnessthat can sometimes plague translations of academic texts.

This may not be an entry-level text for readers new to Korea and her history,but for scholars who may not have the full command of Korean required to readmodern Korean translations it will be an invaluable resource. No serious scholarof Korean history will want to be without this book.

“An Intellectual History of Seonbi in Korea” provides a comprehensivelook at the historical development of an important socialand cultural concept in Korea, the “seonbi.” It is a translation of aKorean work, rather than a work written in English, and this doesshow — not in the quality of the translation itself, which is quitegood, but in the fact that it was clearly written for a Korean audiencealready familiar with the concept.

The book does define the term at one point (“We commonlycall Joseon Confucian scholars seonbi, and hence believe that themeaning of the word is limited to that.”), but this comes on page216, nearly halfway through the book. And the author does not mentionthe fact that “seonbi,” especially in modern usage, doesn’talways have positive connotations. In fact, one definition for the termin a Korean dictionary reads: “A figurative term for someone who isgentle in character but limited in knowledge of the real world.”

Without this basic understanding of the term, the Englishspeakingreader may be left confused at first. It may appear that the author is merely using “seonbi” as akeyword to encompass all that is goodin traditional Korean culture. In fact,while the author may not directly mentionit, he is addressing the modernmisunderstanding of “seonbi,” whichhas gone from referring to a respectedfigure to being used as a mildly derogatoryterm. The author maintains thatseonbi, far from being ivory tower idealistswith no grasp of the real world,were influential figures in Korean society.

They were, in the author’s words, “the intellectuals who haveshaped Korean history.”

The reader who keeps the above in mind will find a great deal ofinsight here into the minds that shaped Korea into what it is today.In particular, the seventh chapter, which focuses on the JoseonDynasty and comprises roughly half the book, shows how the preexistingseonbi culture fused with and expressed itself through thedominant ideology of Neo-Confucianism, as opposed to merelybeing a product of it.

The seonbi examined here include not justscholars but kings, warriors, idealists, reformers, and religiousleaders, illuminating a concept that has been an important part ofKorean culture for centuries.

While America has its superherocomics and Japan manga, Korea has“webtoons.” Webtoons are cartoonsd to be uploaded onto websitesmainly for mobile users. Cartoonswere invented in the 20th century, anddepending on the country concernedthey can vary greatly in representativegenres and styles, narrative development,and forms of publishing. Koreanwebtoons, which have grown into a full-fledged genre since 2000,broke from the past cartoon convention of horizontal presentationby adopting a vertical format. Mobile readers like this change, asvertical presentation immerses them in the content more easily.

At Korean webtoon sites, about 1,000 series are uploaded everyweek (webtoons are typically released in weekly installments),while leading webtoon sites attract an estimated 10 million visitorsper day. Riding this wave, various cartoon community sites overseasintroduce Korean webtoonsto readers in translation, but oftenwithout permission. While Korean webtoon artists and companies appreciate the keen interest of overseas readers, they find theunauthorized translation and distribution a matter of concern.

In response to this development, a number of webtoon artistsformed an association and opened Spottoon (www.spottoon.com), a webtoon site in English, in July 2015. About 40 serializedworks of cartoonists popular with both domestic and overseasreaders — Yoon Tae-ho, Kang Do-ha, Ko Young-hun, and Im Kanghyuk,among others — are uploaded in English. Readers can view10 episodes of a single work for free, and thereafter pay 99 centsper episode. Webtoons can also be read on smartphones.

Accordingto Spottoon’s management staff, since the English service waslaunched, readers from 170 countries have visited the site and thenumber of paying users is increasing steadily.

While Spottoon is operated by the contributing cartoonists,another English site, Webtoons (www.webtoons.com), is presentedby the portal site Naver. Series already popular overseas, such as“Noblesse” by Son Jae-ho, “The God of High School” by Park Yongje,and “Girls of the Wild’s” by Hun and Zena, are available for free.Tapastic (www.tapastic.com) welcomes anyone, whether professionalor amateur, to upload their own webtoon works. This siteis enjoying increasing popularity in North America as it featuresKorean as well as American cartoonists. For anyone who is curiousabout this new form of cartoon or is looking for something new toread, these sites are the places to go.