Woo-Keun Han

Humans are particularly horrible animals. All the incursions into Korea described in this book reinforced that statement for me but what did impress me is the resilience of the Korean people.
I now have an adopted Korean grandson and I wanted to delve into what might have made him who he is. This book to me a long way into that but I need to read something that takes me into recent history and discusses the Korean War, why it happened and how the split country developed into the technological powerhouse it now seems to be.… (més)

Korean history is remarkably stable and long, with the recorded history going back about 2000 years. As a piece of land jutting off the NW corner of China-central, Korea is geographically isolated and yet a dangerous extra front in all the various Chinese-vs-Steppes nomads wars. Everything in China had an effect on Korea. And yet Korea remained unconquered and totally independent until Mongols invasions in the thirteenth century. Even the Chinese Tang dynasty was held in check by the Korean military. Among other oddities, Korea has the distinction of having created its own alphabet under the guidance of King in about 1450, which is still in use today and generally considered exceptionally nice, maybe the world’s best.

Woo-kuen Han wrote this history for Koreans in Korean. It was translated, and then edited for western readers. The result can be awkward, but is nice in that Han covers every stage, in roughly equal weight, from pre-history (Main themes are the Three Kingdoms, the Koryo dynasty, the Mongol control, and the Yi Dynasty – which lasted until the Japanese finally dispensed with it - and then the Japanese takeover). It’s a mostly chronological history. It has its limits. It’s an older book and only spends about four pages on the Korean War and few more on its aftermath. All-in-all this probably isn’t the best history of Korea available, but it was still fascinating and I’m happy to have read it.

Han’s writing can be dry and slow, but his analysis was interesting, and occasionally he can add an elegant touch, such as here at the end of the Three Kingdoms period (italics are mine):

"Meanwhile King Kyongsun and the Silla aristocracy were facing the bleak realities of their situation. Beset on every hand, without allies, and powerless to defend themselves, they made a rare and difficult decision. The power of Wang Kon was growing daily, and the days of Later Paekche, and of Silla itself, were plainly numbered. Together with all the leading government officials, King Kyongsun surrendered himself and his country to Wang Kon in 935. Perhaps this goes against the patriotic tradition of fighting to the last, but compared to the scenes of chaos, slaughter and flight which have marked the collapse of other monarchies, the end of Silla has a certain dignity. It had lasted, according to the traditional dates, which may not be accurate, for 992 years."

2010
http://www.librarything.com/topic/90167#2202704… (més)