Koryŏ and Korea Today

Edward J. Shultz, emeritus professor of history at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, will discuss the value of studying the history of the Koryŏ kingdom (918-1392). Koryŏ now seems largely forgotten. Shultz will suggest, however, that one who does not know and appreciate the history of Koryŏ misses one of the great stories of Korea's past and is ill prepared to understand Korea today. What happened one hundred or even five hundred years ago still carries meaning today. The actions of people and nations of previous times can provide a window into a greater appreciation of contemporary society.

The study of Koryŏ has much to offer for the kingdom was very much in the mainstream of world historical developments. It was a society that early on embraced merit as an avenue for advancement, it led the world in printing technology, it demanded that its historians be free from outside influences, it grappled with issues of nationalism versus internationalism, it pursued a foreign policy based on hard realism, it openly borrowed from other cultures, it developed a clear identity of being Korean, and it produced artistic masterpieces of world renown. All this was made even richer by its embracing of a pluralist posture that allowed competing ideologies and points of view to exist side by side. In this respect Koryŏ was very modern.

Shultz is the author of Generals and Scholars: Military Rule in Medieval Korea and numerous articles on the history of Koryŏ.

Event Sponsor
Center for Korean Studies, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Merclyn Labuguen, 956-7041, merclyn@hawaii.edu, http://www.hawaii.edu/korea/

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