A Korean War Captive in Japan, 1597â "1600 - Annotated by Jahyun Kim Haboush & Kenneth Robinson (Paperback)

About the Book

A Korean scholar-official taken prisoner in 1597 by an invading Japanese army ruminates on human behavior and the nature of loyalty during a time of war.

Book Synopsis

Kang Hang was a Korean scholar-official taken prisoner in 1597 by an invading Japanese army during the Imjin War of 1592-1598. While in captivity in Japan, Kang recorded his thoughts on human civilization, war, and the enemy's culture and society, acting in effect as a spy for his king. Arranged and printed in the seventeenth century as Kanyangnok, or The Record of a Shepherd, Kang's writings were extremely valuable to his government, offering new perspective on a society few Koreans had encountered in 150 years and new information on Japanese politics, culture, and military organization.

In this complete, annotated translation of Kanyangnok, Kang ruminates on human behavior and the nature of loyalty during a time of war. A neo-Confucianist with a deep knowledge of Chinese philosophy and history, Kang drew a distinct line between the Confucian values of his world, which distinguished self, family, king, and country, and a foreign culture that practiced invasion and capture, and, in his view, was largely incapable of civilization. Relating the experiences of a former official who played an exceptional role in wartime and the rare voice of a Korean speaking plainly and insightfully on war and captivity, this volume enables a deeper appreciation of the phenomenon of war at home and abroad.

Review Quotes

[A] valuable contribution to the Anglophone history of early modern northeast Asia... The work as a whole is a fascinating and illustrative exploration of the fear, loss, and dislocations of war, the complexities of the navigations of cultural difference, and the negotiations of power and identity amid overlapping and potentially conflicting discourses of the local and the universal.--Joshua Van Lieu, LaGrange College "The Journal of Northeast Asian History"

[A] very welcome addition to the growing literature on Korean-Japanese relations in general and the Imjin War in particular.--Martina Deuchler, University of London "Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies"

A benchmark for scholarly translations... The translation itself is eminently readable and at times extremely moving, while the annotations would satisfy even the most ardent student of East Asian history. I sincerely hope that this work will be recognized as a model for the scholarly translation of premodern Korean texts and that the meticulous approach of Kim Haboush and Robinson will be emulated by everyone engaged in this type of work.--Michael C. E. Finch, Keimyung University "ACTA KOREANA"

An excellent translation of an important work.-- "Monumenta Nipponica"

Artfully translated and informatively annotated.... A Korean War Captive in Japan, 1597-1600 should be a requirement for courses on Korean history and premodern East Asia. It provides an important primary source for students and scholars working in East Asian studies.--George Kallander "The Journal of Asian Studies"

The Kanyangnok takes us off the battlefield, through the palpable terror known to prisoners of war, and all the way to Japan and back. We meet Chinese ambassadors, other Korean captives, and Japanese intellectuals. We listen in on the machinations of the Japanese warlords--their subterfuges and constant jockeying for power--and we feel the despair of attempted suicide, the frustration of a betrayed escape attempt, and the exhilaration of final liberation.--J. B. Lewis, University of Oxford

This important text offers a fascinating glimpse into early modern Japan and Japanese-Korean relations from the perspective of a Korean official captured by Japanese invaders in 1597, contributing significantly to the growing body of scholarship on the largest military conflict (in terms of numbers) in the world in the sixteenth century. The translation is smooth and erudite and the notes are full of useful historical and cultural information, making it invaluable for students and academics.--Kenneth M. Swope, University of Southern Mississippi

About the Author

JaHyun Kim Haboush (1941-2011) was King Sejong Professor of Korean Studies at Columbia University. Her publications included Epistolary Korea: Letters in the Communicative Space of the Chosôn, 1392-1910 and The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong.

Kenneth R. Robinson is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Asian Cultural Studies, International Christian University, in Tokyo.