In An Chunggŭn: His Life and Thought in his own Words, Jieun Han and Franklin Rausch provide a complete translation of all of An’s writings and excerpts from his trial and appeal. Though An is most famous for killing Itō Hirobumi, the contents of this volume show that there was much more to him than that. For instance, far from being anti-Japanese, An thought deeply about how China, Japan, and Korea could work together to build a regional peace that would eventually spread throughout the world. Now, for the first time, all of An’s extant writings have been assembled together into an English translation that includes annotations and an introduction that places An and his works in their historical context. This translation was funded by the Institute of Korean Studies, Yonsei University.

On October 26, 1909, the Korean patriot An Chunggŭn assassinated the Japanese statesman Itō Hirobumi in Harbin, China. More than a century later, the ramifications of An’s daring act continue to reverberate across East Asia and beyond. This volume explores the abiding significance of An, his life, and his written work, most notably On Peace in the East (Tongyang p’yŏnghwaron), from a variety of perspectives, especially historical, legal, literary, philosophical, and political. The ways in which An has been understood and interpreted by contemporaries, by later generations, and by scholars and thinkers even today shed light on a range of significant issues including the intellectual and philosophical underpinnings for both imperial expansion and resistance to it; the ongoing debate concerning whether violence, or even terrorism, is ever justified; and the possibilities for international cooperation in today’s East Asia as a regional collective. Students and scholars of East Asia will find much to engage with and learn from in this volume.

A critical introduction to how the Nagasaki atomic bombing has been remembered, especially in contrast to that of Hiroshima. In the decades following the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, the city’s residents processed their trauma and formed narratives of the destruction and reconstruction in ways that reflected their regional history and social makeup. In doing so, they created a multi-layered urban identity as an atomic-bombed city that differed markedly from Hiroshima’s image. Shadows of Nagasaki traces how Nagasaki’s trauma, history, and memory of the bombing manifested through some of the city’s many post-atomic memoryscapes, such as literature, religious discourse, art, historical landmarks, commemorative spaces, and architecture. In addition, the book pays particular attention to how the city’s history of international culture, exemplified best perhaps by the region’s Christian (especially Catholic) past, informed its response to the atomic trauma and shaped its postwar urban identity. Key historical actors in the volume’s chapters include writers, Japanese- Catholic leaders, atomic-bombing survivors (known as hibakusha), municipal officials, American occupation personnel, peace activists, artists, and architects. The story of how these diverse groups of people processed and participated in the discourse surrounding the legacies of Nagasaki’s bombing shows how regional history, culture, and politics—rather than national ones—become the most influential factors shaping narratives of destruction and reconstruction after mass trauma. In turn, and especially in the case of urban destruction, new identities emerge and old ones are rekindled, not to serve national politics or social interests but to bolster narratives that reflect local circumstances.

"In An Chunggŭn: His Life and Thought in his own Words, Jieun Han and Franklin Rausch provide a complete translation of all of An's writings and excerpts from his trial and appeal. Though An is most famous for killing Itō Hirobumi, the contents of this volume show that there was much more to him than that. For instance, far from being anti-Japanese, An thought deeply about how China, Japan, and Korea could work together to build a regional peace that would eventually spread throughout the world. Now, for the first time, all of An's extant writings have been assembled together into an English translation that includes annotations and an introduction that places An and his works in their historical context. This translation was funded by the Institute of Korean Studies, Yonsei University."--

Won Buddhism emerged in early twentieth-century Korea after a long period of anti-Buddhist repression. It is a syncretic tradition, a form of Buddhism strongly influenced by the Chŏson dynasty's Neo-Confucian ethical heritage and by Daoism. Seeking to deliver sentient beings from suffering and to create a just and ethical world, Won Buddhism stresses practical application of the dharma and service. It offers a vision of people as one family, morally perfected. This book provides the first English translations of the writings of Chŏngsan (1900–62), the second dharma master of Won Buddhism, who codified the new religion's central doctrines. The translations here include Chŏngsan's discussion of Buddha-nature, described as a mind-seal and symbolized by the Irwŏnsang (a unitary circle); his synthesis of Confucian moral and political programs with Buddhist notions of emancipation from birth and death; and his expositions on realizing the ideal of all people as one family.

Chi Sun Rhee’s work of four volumes, The Phantom of Greatness, is a masterpiece of twentieth century epic fiction. It consists of Book One (The Phantom of Greatness), Book Two (The Way to Greatness), Book Three (The Devastation to Greatness), and Book Four (The Triumph to Greatness). When the ravaging monster Tsunami of WWII ceases, the Korean expatriate survivors of the anti-Japanese guerilla fighters return to their motherland. Among them, to everybody’s great surprise is Kwyunsoo and Mija with her son come home from Manchuria and the Philippines. No one at home would have expected his or her return home alive. Soon after WWII, two Superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union cut Korea into the South and the North. Kwyunsoo dies a martyr to unify his country. Mija for a full year has been waiting for her husband, but there is no news about him. Hence, Mija, to pursue her great dream and to make a living for her son, registers at Chosun University. Following ending of WWII, Byunghong has become Chief of the Kwangju Police Station and waits for Mija to come home. Noticing that Ichiro does not return to Mija, Byunghong proposes her to marry him. However, she makes a resolution to keep her nuptial vow to Ichiro even though she loves Byunghong as much as Ichiro. Since Prof. Stewart recognizes Mija’s gifted talent, he tries to open her future by sending her to America. For that reason, she goes to the Seoul American Embassy to obtain visas for her son and herself. Next morning, she wakes up from startling booming and screaming and finds out the Korean Civil War has just erupted. In a flurry, Mija with her son gets out of the hotel, wedging her way through the flooding refugees in the streets. She keeps on, bound for Seoul Station. Author Chi Sun Rhee is a retired gynecologist/obstetrician. She is the mother of two sons and a daughter and is the author of several acclaimed novels. Her desire to write this unusual history of Korea in a four-part series of books, is a dream she has had for several years. A resident of Toledo Ohio, where she resides with her husband, John, she pursues gardening as her primary avocation. keywords: Korea, History, Culture, Japanese, Invasion, Romance, Fiction, Documentary, Struggle, Education, Family, Youth, War, Korean War