[KS] New Book on Choi Chi-won

Sat Jun 4 06:41:49 EDT 2016

Dear Colleagues,

it is great to hear that we now have more studies on Ch’oe Ch’iwǒn! 

For those who are interested in Ch’oe Ch’iwǒn’s poetry and can read Russian, I would also recommend a publication of earlier date: 

L. V. Zhdanova. Poeticheskoe tvorchestvo Ch‘oe Ch‘iwona. Sankt Petersburg: Peterburgskoe vostokovedenie, 1998, 304 pp.

Larisa Zhdanova’s book is based on her PhD thesis (1983) and has a focus on two cycles of Ch’oe’s poems in Kyewǒl P’ilgyǒng and Tongmunsǒn. 

The poems are studied in regards to the spacial structure of the poems, related rituals and myths, aspects of the author’s originality and Chinese literary tradition.

Regards,

Sonja Haeussler

Von: Koreanstudies [mailto:koreanstudies-bounces at koreanstudies.com] Im Auftrag von Youngsook Pak
Gesendet: Freitag, 3. Juni 2016 12:39
An: David Mason; Korean Studies Discussion List
Betreff: Re: [KS] New Book on Choi Chi-won

Dear Colleagues,

I have just received the following publication from the author, 

Key Sun Ryang, Koun Ch'oe Ch'i-won (b. 857) and His Tang Poetry. 孤雲崔致遠唐詩. Chinese Text with Korean and English Translations and Commentary (漢文. 韓. 英. 譯註). Chicago Spectrum Press, 2016. 380pp including index glossary and Reference sources (ISBN: 978-158374-040-8).

Together with David Mason's new book we have now two publications on Ko Un 'Lonely Cloud'. 

Youngsook Pak

On 2 June 2016 at 14:39, David Mason <mntnwolf at yahoo.com> wrote:

Dear colleagues, 

I am pleased to announce my tenth book on Korea: 

Solitary Sage:  The Profound Life, Wisdom and Legacy of Korea’s “Go-un” Choi Chi-won

This is a comprehensive biography and legacy-evaluation of Choi Chi-won (857-?), one of Korea’s most interesting and iconic historical figures, the first such book ever written in English.  It is of academic quality, suitable for undergraduate or MA students of Korean or East Asian studies, and for courses of those levels on Korean history, culture and religion/philosophy.  

It includes well over a hundred photos of artworks and sites associated with him.  Full footnotes with Han-geul / Hanja and dates for every name or term, list of references, and useful Appendix charts of the 83 sites in Korea that have relics of him or memorial shrines to him (yes, 83 in this small country! and there are 4 more in China...).   Most of what can be known about the ancient background of his Gyeongju Choi (also spelled Choe) Clan, and Korean Confucianism and Daoism before him and in his days, are included to provide rich context. 

His amazingly broad and deep legacies over the millennium since Unified Shilla collapsed, right through the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties and the 20th century, are described and discussed, including sections on his Pungryu concept, the Cheonbu-gyeong (holy scripture of all branches of Seondo), his status as a progenitor of Korean Literature, the associated ceremonial and tourism sites, and modern national identity & spirit.

“Go-un” or Lonely Cloud, known by Koreans for a millennium simply as the Great Sage, is considered a primary ancestral-hero of traditional Korean Daoist, Buddhist and Confucian culture, of Oriental literature, education and diplomacy.  Following a remarkably successful career as a brilliant Confucian government official in Tang China and then back in his native Shilla Kingdom, he became a wandering historian of Korean Buddhism and then, supposedly, was one of few Koreans who achieved the highest level of Daoist sage-hood, achieving “Spirit-Immortal” status rather than dying.  He is claimed as a key progenitor of Korea’s Daoism, Confucianism and the 2.1-million-strong Choi Clan. 

Choi Chi-won has a tremendous legacy-significance to several contemporary issues of Korea, including its international “brand-image” & self-promotion, its diplomacy and relations with China (one of his poems was quoted by President Xi to President Park at their first summit!), government policy, tourism offerings, cultural themes and national identity.

It has long been difficult for scholars to separate the folklore myths and legends about the Solitary Sage’s life from the recorded facts, and make a coherent story out of them – this volume does-so in English for the first time.  Every Korean knows his name, and he is in all the school textbooks on history and literature; and over a thousand books have been published about him and his legacy in Korean, and a hundred or so in Japanese & Chinese...

At this probably-too-late stage, I am attempting to become a "21st-century scholar", keeping-up with the millennials we teach, and so this tome has been independently published (main ISBN: 978-1-329-56586-9), and my webpage showing the book and offering it for sale, including hardcover edition, is: 

 <http://www.san-shin.org/Goun-Solitary-Sage-Choi-Chiwon.html> http://www.san-shin.org/Goun-Solitary-Sage-Choi-Chiwon.html 

AND, in that attempt, it is available in 4 digital POD and E-book versions, at:

 <http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/David_A_Mason_Korean_Daoism> http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/David_A_Mason_Korean_Daoism 

Reviewers can get a free hardcover copy by mail within Korea, simply by contacting myself.  Reviewers outside of Korea are requested to download the black-white-photos E-book version from lulu as above (or Amazon, etc) and the publisher will repay the cost, by PayPal or etc.

The kind assistance of my fellow Koreanist scholars in 'spreading the word' about this new book, getting it onto publication-lists, library wish-lists, appropriate bibliographies and etc;  getting it linked-to from related webpages, and getting it reviewed in relevant academic journals -- will be highly appreciated.

Sincere Regards,

David A. Mason

Professor at Chung-Ang University, Seoul

Honorary Ambassador of the Baekdu-daegan Mountain-Range

tour-guide, lecturer and author on traditional cultural sites

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