EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

Book State and Society in Middle and Late Silla

Download or read book State and Society in Middle and Late Silla written by Richard D. McBride and published by Early Korea Project Occasional. This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volumes in the Early Korea Project Occasional Series focus on centralissues related to the study of early Korea history and archaeology. Thepresent volume addresses several seminal questions associated with themiddle and late periods of the Silla kingdom (ca. 668-935): What was thecomposition of Silla's ruling elite? How did the state administer localareas? What was the relationship between the Buddhist church and thestate? How did the government evolve over the course of the middle andlate periods of Silla's rule? And what were the causes of Silla'sdemise?

Book Silla

    Book Details:
  • Author : Soyoung Lee
  • Publisher : Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • Release : 2013
  • ISBN : 1588395022
  • Pages : 242 pages

Download or read book Silla written by Soyoung Lee and published by Metropolitan Museum of Art. This book was released on 2013 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Silla Kingdom, which flourished in Korea from 57 B.C. to 935 A.D., is known for its intricately crafted ornaments, many in resplendent gold, and for the creation of prominent Buddhist temples. Silla focuses on the striking artistic traditions of the Old and Unified Silla Kingdoms (4th-8th century), and is the first publication in English to explore the artistic and cultural legacy of this ancient realm. Among the topics explored are Korea's position as the eastern culmination of the Silk Road in the first millennium A.D. and the character and evolution of Buddhism, as illuminated by objects from major monuments, temples, and tombs. The book also presents new research about Silla's ancient capital, Gyeongju, which is known for the Gyerim-ro Dagger, as well as the pottery, glass, and beads discovered in tombs located there." -- Publisher's description.

Book The Three Kingdoms of Korea

Download or read book The Three Kingdoms of Korea written by Richard D. McBride II and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 2024-07-06 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An expansive and accessible introduction to the history of Korea during the first millennium CE. Korea’s Three Kingdoms period is a genuine “lost civilization,” during which ancient realms vied for supremacy during the first millennium CE. Nobles from this period’s feuding states adopted and adapted Buddhism and Confucianism through interactions with early medieval Chinese dynasties. It was not until the mid-seventh century that the aristocratic Silla state, with the assistance of the mighty Chinese Tang empire, unified the Three Kingdoms of Korea by conquering the kingdoms of Koguryo and Paekche. Weaving together legends of ancient kings with the true histories of monks, scholars, and laypeople, this book sheds new light on a foundational period that continues to shape Korean identity today.

Book A Concise History of Korea

Download or read book A Concise History of Korea written by Michael J. Seth and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2024 with total page 641 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now in a fully revised and updated edition, this comprehensive text surveys Korean history from Neolithic times to the present. All readers looking for a balanced, knowledgeable history will be richly rewarded with this clear and concise book.

Book A Concise History of Premodern Korea

Download or read book A Concise History of Premodern Korea written by Michael J. Seth and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-12-02 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now in a fully revised and updated edition including new primary sources and illustrations, this engaging text provides a concise history of Korea from the beginning of human settlement in the region through the late nineteenth century. Michael J. Seth’s 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. The book 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, Seth draws comparisons between developments in Korea and those in neighboring regions. All readers looking for a balanced, knowledgeable history will be richly rewarded with this clear and cogent book.

Book A Study of Korean Pagodas

Download or read book A Study of Korean Pagodas written by Go Yuseop and published by Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. This book was released on with total page 647 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Study of Korean Pagodas, a monumental work of research in which Korean pagodas are described by focusing on their stylistic history, is considered as the archetype of this field. In Buddhist art history this work is a classic that set the stylistic standard for studying stone pagodas, the periods of classification, and the basic framework of analysis. The theories first presented in this book have exerted a great influence to the present day. The author Go Yuseop 高裕燮 (1905–1944), a representative scholar in the field of Korean art history, studied at Gyeongseong Jedae 京城帝大, the only university during the colonial period, and served as director of Gaeseong Museum and professor at Yeonhui Professional School and Ewha Womans Professional School. His research was based on the direct exploration of scenic spots, historical remains, and Buddhist temples. In addition to A Study of Korean Pagodas, Go Yuseop left Songdo gojeok 松都古蹟 (Historical Remains at Songdo), Joseon misulsa nonchong 朝鮮美術史論叢 (A Collection of Studies on History of Korean Art), and other writings. A Study of Korean Pagodas explains that Korean pagodas originated from wooden and brick pagodas of the Three Kingdoms period; their size was reduced during the early period of the Unified Silla dynasty, in which the typical style was established; during the middle to the end of the Unified Silla dynasty, the atypical pagoda appeared. Go Yuseop explains the arrangement of buildings in temples in the Three Kingdoms period and its variations on the basis of the relationship between the main hall, Geumdang金堂, and pagodas. Although criticism and alternative theories have been advanced, his explanation is still valid to understand the emergence of the monastery arrangement with twin pagodas. The base text for this translation is the published edition by Eulyoo Munhwasa (1948), but references are made to other editions, including those of Donghwa Chulpan (1975), Tongmungwan (1993), and Yeolhwadang (2010).

Book Early Modern China and Northeast Asia

Download or read book Early Modern China and Northeast Asia written by Evelyn S. Rawski and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-06-11 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evelyn Rawski presents a revisionist history of early modern China in the context of northeast Asian geopolitics and global maritime trade.

Book Harmonizing the Hundred Teachings

Download or read book Harmonizing the Hundred Teachings written by Yi Neunghwa and published by Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. This book was released on with total page 638 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Baekgyo hoetong 百敎會通, originally authored by Yi Neunghwa in 1912, is a book of comparative religion written from a Buddhist point of view. As the first book authored by Yi, a prominent Buddhist scholar and one of the top three researchers of Korean folk culture during modern times, the Baekgyo hoetong is a significant work in the history of academic endeavors on Korean culture and Korean Buddhism. While the title of the book can be translated as “harmonizing the hundred teachings,” the content of the book reveals that the author considers Buddhism an important key in this harmonizing. Initially, Yi compares Buddhism with eleven teachings — traditional, foreign and indigenous — showing that Buddhism has points of similarity with all of them. After proceeding to produce an outline of basic Buddhist doctrine, he concludes by arguing against the common criticisms of Buddhism at the time, often using comparative examples from other religions. Although the Baekgyo hoetong is written in the traditional styles of arraying quotes in the structure of a series of questions and answers, it reflects well the complexity of Korea’s newly-modernizing society that was teeming with intellectual diversity for the first time in centuries. Yi, an avid scholar of Chinese classics, Buddhist scriptures, western science and Korean folk culture, makes the book possible by his broad erudition. Yi uses his newly acquired knowledge to “harmonize the hundred teachings” from a Buddhist point of view, warning readers that dogmatic belief in one’s own truth is in fact what is farthest from the truth.

Book Handbook of East and Southeast Asian Archaeology

Download or read book Handbook of East and Southeast Asian Archaeology written by Junko Habu and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-12-08 with total page 761 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Handbook of East and Southeast Asian Archaeology focuses on the material culture and lifeways of the peoples of prehistoric and early historic East and Southeast Asia; their origins, behavior and identities as well as their biological, linguistic and cultural differences and commonalities. Emphasis is placed upon the interpretation of material culture to illuminate and explain social processes and relationships as well as behavior, technology, patterns and mechanisms of long-term change and chronology, in addition to the intellectual history of archaeology as a discipline in this diverse region. The Handbook augments archaeologically-focused chapters contributed by regional scholars by providing histories of research and intellectual traditions, and by maintaining a broadly comparative perspective. Archaeologically-derived data are emphasized with text-based documentary information, provided to complement interpretations of material culture. The Handbook is not restricted to art historical or purely descriptive perspectives; its geographical coverage includes the modern nation-states of China, Mongolia, Far Eastern Russia, North and South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and East Timor.

Book Aspiring to Enlightenment

    Book Details:
  • Author : Richard D. McBride II
  • Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
  • Release : 2020-08-31
  • ISBN : 0824884132
  • Pages : 212 pages

Download or read book Aspiring to Enlightenment written by Richard D. McBride II and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2020-08-31 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Centered on the practice of seeking rebirth in the Pure Land paradise Sukhāvatī, the Amitābha cult has been the dominant form of Buddhism in Korea since the middle of the Silla period (ca. 300–935). In Aspiring to Enlightenment, Richard McBride combines analyses of scriptural, exegetical, hagiographical, epigraphical, art historical, and literary materials to provide an episodic account of the cult in Silla times and its rise in an East Asian context through the mutually interconnected perspectives of doctrine and practice. McBride demonstrates that the Pure Land tradition emerging in Korea in the seventh and eighth centuries was vibrant and collaborative and that Silla monk-scholars actively participated in a shared, international Buddhist discourse. Monks such as the exegete par excellence Wŏnhyo and the Yogācāra proponent Kyŏnghŭng did not belong to a specific sect or school, but like their colleagues in China, they participated in a broadly inclusive doctrinal tradition. He examines scholarly debates surrounding the cults of Maitreya and Amitābha, the practice of buddhānusmṛti, the recollection of Amitābha, the “ten recollections” within the larger Mahāyāna context of the bodhisattva’s path of practice, the emerging Huayan intellectual tradition, and the influential interpretations of medieval Chinese Pure Land proponents Tanluan and Shandao. Finally, his work illuminates the legacy of the Silla Pure Land tradition, revealing how the writings of Silla monks continued to be of great value to Japanese monks for several centuries. With its fresh and comprehensive approach to the study of Pure Land Buddhism, Aspiring to Enlightenment is important for not only students and scholars of Korean history and religion and East Asian Buddhism, but also those interested in the complex relationship between doctrinal writings and devotional practice “on the ground.”

Book Korean Literature Through the Korean Wave

Download or read book Korean Literature Through the Korean Wave written by Jieun Kiaer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-07-17 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Korean Literature Through the Korean Wave engages with the rising interest in both the Korean Wave and Korean language learning by incorporating Korean Wave cultural content, especially K-dramas, films and songs, to underline and support the teaching of Korean literature. It combines both premodern and modern texts, including poetry, novels, philosophical treatises, and even comics, to showcase the diversity of Korean literature. Particular care has been taken to include the voices of those marginalised in the often male, elite-dominated discourse on Korean literature. In particular, this book also distinguishes itself by extending the usual breadth of what is considered modern Korean literature up until the present day, including texts published as recently as 2017. Many of these texts are very relevant for recent discourse in Korean affairs, such as the obsession with physical appearance, the #MeToo movement and multiculturalism. This textbook is aimed at B1-B2 level and Intermediate-Mid students of Korean. On the one hand the textbook introduces students to seeing beyond Korean literature as a monolithic entity, giving a taste of its wonderful richness and diversity. On the other hand, it provides an entry point into discussions on Korean contemporary society, in which the text (and associated media extracts) provides the catalyst for more in-depth analysis and debate.

Book The Power of the Buddhas

Download or read book The Power of the Buddhas written by Sem Vermeersch and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Buddhism in medieval Korea is characterized as "State Protection Buddhism," a religion whose primary purpose was to rally support (supernatural and popular) for and legitimate the state. This study is an attempt to specify Buddhism's place in Koryo and to ascertain to what extent and in what areas Buddhism functioned as a state religion.

Book Pure Lands in Asian Texts and Contexts

Download or read book Pure Lands in Asian Texts and Contexts written by Georgios T. Halkias and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2019-03-31 with total page 808 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This diverse anthology of original Buddhist texts in translation provides a historical and conceptual framework that will transform contemporary scholarship on Pure Land Buddhism and instigate its recognition as an essential field of Buddhist studies. Traditional and contemporary primary sources carefully selected from Buddhist cultures across historical, geopolitical, and literary boundaries are organized by genre rather than chronologically, geographically, or by religious lineage—a novel juxtaposition that reveals their wider importance in fresh contexts. Together these fundamental texts from different Asian traditions, expertly translated by eminent and up-and-coming scholars, illustrate that the Buddhism of pure lands is not just an East Asian cult or a marginal type of Buddhism, but a pan-Asian and deeply entrenched religious phenomenon. The volume is organized into six parts: Ritual Practices, Contemplative Visualizations, Doctrinal Expositions, Life Writing and Poetry, Ethical and Aesthetic Explications, and Worlds beyond Sukhāvatī. Each part is introduced and summarized, and each translated piece is prefaced by its translator to supply historical and sectarian context as well as insight into the significance of the work. Common and less-common issues of practice, doctrine, and intra-religious transfer are explored, and deeper understandings of the meaning of “pure lands” are gained through the study of the celestial, cosmological, internal, and earthly pure lands associated with various buddhas, bodhisattvas, and devotional figures. The introduction by the volume editors ties the diverse themes of the book together and provides a historical background to Pure Land Buddhist studies. Scholars of Buddhism and Asian religion, including graduate and post-graduate students, as well as Buddhist practitioners, will appreciate the range of translated materials and accompanied discussions made accessible in one essential collection, the first of its kind to center on the formerly-neglected topic of Buddhist pure lands.

Book Doctrine and Practice in Medieval Korean Buddhism

Download or read book Doctrine and Practice in Medieval Korean Buddhism written by and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2016-11-30 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ŭich’ŏn (1055-1101) is recognized as a Buddhist master of great stature in the East Asian tradition. Born a prince in the medieval Korean state of Koryŏ (960-1279), he traveled to Song China (960-1279) to study Buddhism and later compiled and published the first collection of East Asian exegetical texts. According to the received scholarly tradition, after returning to Korea, Ŭich’ŏn left the Hwaŏm (Huayan) school to found a new Ch’ŏnt’ae (Tiantai) school when he realized that the synthesis between doctrinal learning and meditative practice in the latter would help bring together the discordant sects of Koryŏ Buddhism. In the late twentieth century, however, scholars began to question the assertion that Ŭich’ŏn forsook one school for another, arguing that his writings assembled in The Collected Works of State Preceptor Taegak (Taegak kuksa munjip) do not portray a committed sectarian but a monk dedicated to developing a sophisticated and rigorous system of monastic education that encompassed all Buddhist intellectual traditions. In this first comprehensive study of Ŭich’ŏn’s life and work in English, Richard McBride presents translations of select lectures, letters, essays, and poetry from The Collected Works to provide a more balanced view of Ŭich’ŏn’s philosophy of life and understanding of key Buddhist teachings. The translations center on the monk’s activities in the pan-East Asian Buddhist world and his compilation of scholarly texts, writings related to his interactions with royalty, and correspondence with his Chinese mentor, Jinshui Jingyuan (1011-1088). By incorporating Ŭich’ŏn’s work associated with doctrinal Buddhism and his poetry, McBride clearly shows that even in his most personal work Ŭich’ŏn did not abandon Hwaŏm teachings for those of the Ch’ŏnt’ae but rather he encouraged monks to blend the best learning from all doctrinal traditions with meditative practice.

Book Reinventing the Tripitaka

Download or read book Reinventing the Tripitaka written by Jiang Wu and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2017-09-20 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Chinese Buddhist canon is a systematic collection of all translated Buddhist scriptures and related literatures created in East Asia and has been regarded as one of the “three treasures” in Buddhist communities. Despite its undisputed importance in the history of Buddhism, research on this huge collection has remained largely the province of Buddhologists focusing on textual and bibliographical studies. We thus aim to initiate methodological innovations to study the transformation of the canon by situating it in its modern context, characterized by intricate interactions between East and West as well as among countries in East Asia. During the modern period the Chinese Buddhist canon has been translated, edited, digitized, and condensed as well as internationalized, contested, and ritualized. The well-known accomplishment of this modern transformation is the compilation of the Taisho Canon during the 1920s. It has become a source of both doctrinal orthodoxy as well as creativity and its significance has greatly increased as Buddhist scholarship and devotionalism has utilized the canon for various ends. However, it is still unclear what led to the creation of the modern editions of the Buddhist canon in East Asia. This volume explores the most significant and interesting developments regarding the Chinese Buddhist canon in modern East Asia including canon formation, textual studies, historical analyses, religious studies, ritual invention, and digital research tools and methods.

Book Sheaves of Korean Buddhist History

Download or read book Sheaves of Korean Buddhist History written by Gim Yeongsu and published by Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. This book was released on with total page 547 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sheaves of Korean Buddhist History, a brief history of Korean Buddhism, is one of the representative works on Korean Buddhism in the modern period. The author Gim Yeongsu was a scholar-monk, who was well known for his influential research on the systems of religious orders in Korean Buddhism by advancing such theories as Five Doctrinal [schools] and Nine Mountains [school of Seon], Five Doctrinal [schools] and Two [Meditative] schools, and Two Schools of Meditative practice and doctrinal Teaching. The first part on the Three Kingdoms and the Unified Silla period includes various topics, such as the introduction of Buddhism to Korean peninsula; the achievements of eminent monks in pursuing the Buddhist truth; the adoption and development of doctrinal learning; the establishment of Buddhist schools, such as the Hwaeom school; and the transmission of Chan and the formation of Nine Mountains school of Seon. The contents of the second part on the Goryeo period include the royal worship of Buddhism, monastic examinations; the activities of eminent monks; the establishment of the Cheontae 天台 school and the Five Doctrinal [schools] and Two [Meditative] schools; the carving of the woodblocks of the Goryeo Buddhist canon; Buddhist cultural exchange with neighboring countries; the flourishing of the Seon school and the introduction of Ganhwa Seon; and so forth. The part on the Joseon period describes the official policy of persecuting Buddhism during the early Joseon period; the forced unification of Buddhist schools; the activities of monk militias during the Hideoyoshi invasion of Korea (1592–1598); synthesis of the three practices of Seon, Gyo (Buddhist doctrines), and chanting the Buddha’s name during the late Joseon; the problem of Dharma lineage of the Imje school; and Buddhist educational systems and practices. The part on the modern period examines such topics as the Temple Ordinances issued by the Japanese Colonial Government and institutional changes in the Buddhist community.

Book Archaeology of East Asia

Download or read book Archaeology of East Asia written by Gina L. Barnes and published by Oxbow Books. This book was released on 2015-10-31 with total page 513 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Archaeology of East Asia constitutes an introduction to social and political development from the Palaeolithic to 8th-century early historic times. It takes a regional view across China, Korea, Japan and their peripheries that is unbounded by modern state lines. This viewpoint emphasizes how the region drew on indigenous developments and exterior stimuli to produce agricultural technologies, craft production, political systems, religious outlooks and philosophies that characterize the civilization of historic and even modern East Asia. This book is a complete rewrite and update of The Rise of Civilization in East Asia, first published in 1993. It incorporates the many theoretical, technical and factual advances of the last two decades, including DNA, gender, and isotope studies, AMS radiocarbon dating and extensive excavation results. Readers of that first edition will find the same structure and topic progression. While many line drawings have been retained, new color illustrations abound. Boxes and Appendices clarify and add to the understanding of unfamiliar technologies. For those seeking more detail, the Appendices also provide case studies that take intimate looks at particular data and current research. The book is suitable for general readers, East Asian historians and students, archaeology students and professionals. Praise for The Rise of Civilization in East Asia: “… the best English introduction to the archaeology of East Asia … brilliantly integrates the three areas into a broad regional context.” Prof. Mark Hudson