Korean History Up to 1800

Catalog description

This course traces roughly two thousand years of Korean history, from tribal federations to the rise of early states that vied with one another for supremacy and the eventual establishment of political rule over the peninsula by a succession of dynastic states Silla, Kory, and Chos. The goal is to familiarize students with the major social, cultural, political, intellectual and religious developments in the Korean peninsula up to the start of the nineteenth century, while at the same time placing these historical developments within the wider regional context of Korea?s relations with China and Japan. For most of East Asia’s history, the people of Korea had more culturally extensive and historically significant contacts with its two neighbors than they had with each other. For this reason learning about Korea?s history provides a unique window onto premodern East Asia, and the history of these interconnections in turn reveals something important about the formation of a distinctive Korean identity. In addition to reading and being tested on primary and secondary sources on Korean history, students will be expected to demonstrate their ability to discuss and think critically about the material through written assignments. This course is the same as