Incarceration and the Incarcerated: Power and Resistance, by Saipin Suputtamongkol. (Bangkok: Thammasat University Press, 2002, 293 pp.)

Reviewed by Non Arkaraprasertkul (HYI Doctoral Scholar Candidate 2008-2012, Oxford University).

At the very fundamental level, Incarceration and the Incarcerated: Power and Resistance is an attempt to understand the prisoners’ lives and their inevitable process of adaptation to the social and cultural realms controlled absolutely by a set of formal rules and regulations that is by all means different from those of the world outside the prison.

Eye-opening and exhilarating! Incarceration and the Incarcerated: Power and Resistance not only brings back the childish joy of reading, but also presents substantial claims. First, not to be overly critical but it is one of the very few readable works on anthropology in Thailand with real intellectual rigor, especially in its task of scrutinizing both the marginal community of prisoners and the actual situation and showing us the various bodies and forms of tension and resistance that power brings to human beings at work. Second, this bold attempt to divulge the forms of individual and collective resistance in relation to the constructed environment for absolute discipline from an anthropological perspective reveals the social and theoretical mechanisms that undergird changes in the penal system in Thailand. Third, the author Dr. Saipin Suputtamongkol is a lucid writer who has mastered the highest level of academic writing in Thai; this book is straightforward, graceful, and concise. Furthermore, the comprehensive notes at the end of each chapter offer an extremely useful introduction to anthropology and sociology.

This book was the first to come to mind when I was asked to write a review of an important book published in the Thai language. Dr. Saipin Suputtamongkol is Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology at Thammasat University, Bangkok. Her degrees include Political Science (B.A.1983) and Anthropology (M.A. 1999) from Thammasat University. After receiving the “Thammasat University’s Best Dissertation Award,” she was awarded a Harvard-Yenching Fellowship to study Social Anthropology at Harvard University with Professor Michael Herzfeld, and received her Ph.D. in 2007. Incarceration and the Incarcerated won the Toyota Thailand Foundation Award for the Best Research in Social Sciences, the most prestigious award for a book on social science written in Thai. Saipin is an international scholar whose linguistic skills in Thai and English (and several other languages) are highest standard. In Incarceration and the Incarcerated, Saipin shows us her love of ethnographic fieldwork through semi-formal narratives about her interviewees. Her ability to be skeptical about rhetoric and tactical prose, while at the same time, faithful to the facts is what has led to these highly-accessible, dynamic, and sophisticated stories of the mechanism of incarceration and the people who are incarcerated. One of Saipin’s major triumphs lies in her use of reflexive anthropology. She makes sure that we always know where the anthropologist is – often through touches of self-deprecating humor – and how her presence affects the scene being described. Here the anthropological method is shown at its best: Saipin really knows these people and their ways. What she tells us here in Incarceration and the Incarcerated is the true portrayal of the exercise of power and its discourse at its most extreme.

From Cesare Beccaria to Herbert Hart to Michel Foucault, scholars have studied the institution of punishment in historical, socioeconomic, and psychodynamic contexts. Foucault, especially, reveals that prison is a place where the exercise of power and the body is seen in its clearest light and that the gist of such exercise resonates in institutions outside the prisons in subtler forms yet still with the same basic concept of surveillance and discipline which is concealed to the general public. Like Foucault’s Discipline and Punish, Saipin Suputtamongkol’s Incarceration and the Incarcerated is not a book about prisoners and their life in prison per se. As its heavily conceptual title could also be misleading, it would be short-sighted to think that this book is only suitable for the small group of scholars who are interested in the study of punishment and its corollary process of rehabilitation. In fact, it is a book about people and their connections to everyday-life: Punishment is after all a human institution. Saipin uses prisoners and prison to demonstrate that absolute power engenders a radical response that cannot be repressed. This book is for anyone who is interested in reading the work of a linguistically sensitive ethnographer with unsurpassed passion in unpacking the complexity of the practice of power in prison and its relationship to the world outside.

The literal translation of the title of the book is “Prison and People: Power and Resistance” (Kook kub kon: Um-Naj Lae Karn Tor Tan Kud-Keun). The first chapter of the book discusses the theoretical basis of the work and some history of punishment. Similar to other scholars who study prisons and asylums, Saipin relies on Michel Foucault, David Garland, and Clifford Geertz. Despite drawing on Western ideas and theories, she always ties these into the context of prisons in Thailand. In this chapter, Saipin explains not only the framework of her study but also problems and issues encountered in this research project.

Unlike many books where notes are only important for reference, Saipin’s style of extensive end-noting is another salient feature of the book. Reading each chapter’s notes is a pleasurable walk through core literature and theories in anthropology and the study of contemporary society. Given the extremely dense content of the book – especially the theories – the extensive notes demonstrate the author’s sense of responsibility to her readers at all levels. For instance, in chapter 1 where in the main text Saipin presents her arguments and explains the history of prison and how it became an important component of power and discipline in modern society, the 13-page long chapter notes elaborate literally every single theory and idea discussed in the chapter. In the notes, Saipin combines Foucault’s analysis of Jeremy Bentham’s panopticism with Irvin Goffman’s concept of “total institution” to explain the interesting feature of the so-called social hybrid residential community where the power of the authority determines the status and the mode of confinement down to the microscopic details of everyday activities such as eating, exercising, and sleeping.

As a trained architect, I read Incarceration and the Incarcerated with great interest, especially concerning the irreconcilable relationship between the object of architecture (the prison, the cell, the public space), and the people. The architecture of prison has been a topic of debate and scrutiny for architectural theorists and historians due to its deep psychological impact not only on the incarcerated but also on the world outside. How do we perceive prisons in the context of modern society? From the physical point-of-view, the thematic debate has always been the organization of space and how to define space by the use of power to control prisoners’ activities. Normally the process of familiarization is extremely crucial to architecture; for instance, if an architect is to be commissioned to design a museum, he has to visit museums to understand the desirable quality of space of a museum alongside the requirements of program and mechanical functions. But how much could an architect learn from a few visits to prisons? It would be difficult to see a designer who is willing to spend a week or a month in prison with prisoners to understand how things work in order to design the architecture inside. If the life of prisoners is similar to what has been painted in Stephen King’s Shawshank Redemption where the power of the prison guard presides over basically everything; then architects have little role here. Most of the time, the architecture of prison is not a product of architectural creativity, but functionalism: the function of confinement, punishment, and rehabilitation.

In 1785, one of the first prison designs proposed by the renowned Jeremy Bentham was a Panopticon that dismissed the role of architecture in the design of social network space, physical orientation, and aesthetics. However, since the provision of open space as distance between the observer’s tower and the cells are desirable in Bentham’s design, the orientation of physical space at least enables non-tactile social connections among the members of the society. In our time, the orientation of space that facilitates observation of the prisoners has been replaced by surveillance camera technology, which allows prisons to be ‘more separated’ in terms of spatial orientation. Throughout history, prisons have evolved from places for incarceration to instruments of punishment to a humanistic institution for rehabilitation. The latest stage of development – prisons as places for rehabilitation – sparks the most important debate on the relationship between function and form in the recent study of spatiality. This is a place where the sole knowledge of physical space is useless and where Saipin’s work fills in the gap. As an architect, what I learned from Saipin Suputtamongkol’s Incarceration and the Incarcerated is the condition of resistance in the confined environment of a prison, which should play a role in the design of social space. With such understanding, architecture could break new ground in design with an appreciation of anthropological realism. That is to say, even in a distant field of architectural studies, this book serves extremely well as a bridge between two seemingly unconnected realms of knowledge.

The Production of Alternative Media in Mainland China: a Case Study of the Journal Friend Exchange (CAO Jin, Fudan University; HYI Visiting Scholar 2009-2010)

Mural Painting in Buddhist Monasteries (gamnur nao tam vatt (in Khmer)), by San Phalla.  Phnom Penh: Reyum Institute, 2007.

Reviewed by Heng Piphal (Department of Anthropology, University of Hawaii, Manoa)

Anthropological and historical research in Cambodia generally focuses on the glorified past of the Angkor period, which spans the 9^th to 15^th centuries CE. The post-Angkor period, which begins after the collapse of Angkor, constitutes a vast gap in Cambodian scholarship. The shift from Brahmanical and Mahayana Buddhist traditions of the Angkor period toward Hinayana tradition from the 14^th centuries CE onward is usually considered as a major cultural break in religious continuity between the Angkor and post-Angkor periods (see Bhattacharya 1961; Briggs 1958; Coedès 1967 for further discussion). During the early scholarship of Cambodian research, scholars were interested in the culture of post-Angkor society. For instance, the works of Adhémard Leclère and Étienne Aymonier mostly focused on the contemporary culture of late 19^th and early 20^th centuries CE (e.g., Leclère 1895, 1906; Aymonier 1900). Major contributions of scholars such as Madelain Giteau, Saveros Pou, Michael Vickery, Ang Choulean, Ashley Thomson, have portrayed the post-Angkor period as a continuous entity from the Angkor period, despite differences in several aspects of culture between these two periods, such as religion and temple construction (e.g., Ang 1988; Groslier 1958; Thomson 1997; Vickery 2004).

Recent research conducted by San Phalla and colleagues from the Reyum Institute on mural paintings in the Cambodian Buddhist tradition collected from 600 monasteries (out of 3000) in Cambodia has shed light on religious and social practices of the Cambodian people in the last century. The book entitled Mural Painting in Buddhist Monasteries provides an overview of the primary themes favored by Cambodian Buddhists as drawn on the walls and ceilings of the major buildings in each monastery, including the Vihear (principal shrine), Sala Chan (dining hall), Dhammasabha or Dhammasala (conference hall), Kuti (monk’s residents), and Hotrai (library). The mural paintings are depicted in two styles: ancient and modern. Ancient paintings refer to traditional drawings that resemble bas-reliefs carved on Angkorian temples. The modern style of painting refers to Western-influenced works, which employ perspective and naturalistic approaches. The author argues that the modern painting style has developed under the influence of the Royal University of Fine Arts, which was created in 1918 by George Groslier.

Common themes depicted in the mural paintings include life stories of the historic Buddha and his previous lives, known as Jataka, which are divided into 547 past lives (or 550 in some traditions). The historic Buddha’s life (from birth until death) and the last ten previous lives known as dasajataka are the most popular themes of all. Rarely do the stories of previous Buddhas become the subject of paintings. Besides these jataka there are other themes extracted from texts compiled in Southeast Asia during the 16^th century CE, called paññasjataka or 50 previous lives. Other themes of paintings consist of the Ramayana of the Brahmanical tradition, which was a popular theme for sculpture and bas-reliefs for pre-Angkor and Angkor traditions, as well. Heaven and hell are frequently depicted in paintings illustrating the after-life of each being, whether they were reborn in heaven or hell, depending on their accumulation of merit during their life-time. Various less important themes are also subjects of paintings, such as stories from the tripitaka (e.g., dhammapatthakatha and sandharanibvan) and local folklore related to legends, histories, and morals.

San Phalla has paid a lot of attention to the interpretation of each scene on paintings by individual artists. These include artists’ interpretations of social life, including aspects of the court, clothing, environment, individuals and daily life activities, which are used to correlate events of the sacred texts. The author argues that there were shifts from traditional dress toward adopting Western style clothing, particularly after Cambodia became a French protectorate in 1863. This can be seen in the replacement of traditional court guards with French soldiers or sometimes with the British style soldiers (or Indian soldiers during the British colonial period). Various local traditions, such as weddings, plowing ceremonies, music, dance, wrestling, and circuses, have been incorporated with the interpretation of jataka stories. Famous monuments in Cambodia have been included in particular scenes, for instance Angkor Wat is used as the palace of Indra, and the Royal Palace and garden were used to depict a scene when the prince Siddharattha visits the garden outside the palace in kapilabhastu. The author argues that this tradition continues from the post-Angkor period when Angkor Wat was considered to be Indra’s palace and also to represent the connection of Cambodia with Buddha’s life. Another important scene in paintings incorporates the King Father, Norodom Sihanouk, and the Queen Mother, Monineath. This scene integrates a 1953 trip by Norodom Sihanouk to obtain a Buddha relic from Sri Lanka with the cremation and sharing of Buddha relics to various kingdoms. Also, in some monasteries, prince Siddharattha and his wife, princess bimba, were depicted as Norodom Sihanouk and his Queen Monineath. San Phalla argues that this tradition is inherited from the 13^th century Angkorian period, when Buddha and Lokesvara statues were represented with King Jayavarman VII’s visage.

Overall this book offers a detailed introduction into Cambodian mural painting as well as the history of Cambodian society as depicted through paintings from various periods. This work has paved the way for further anthropological research on different issues, such as comparative studies between Cambodian mural paintings and other Southeast Asian paintings, the interpretation of concepts of Buddhism by various artists, depictions of social life, and the difference between bas-reliefs of Angkorian temples and mural paintings in modern monasteries.

References cited:

Ang, Choulean

1988 The Place of Animism within Popular Buddhism in Cambodia the Example of the Monastery. Asian Folklore Studies 47 (1): 35-41.

Aymonier, Étienne

1900 Le Cambodge: Le Royaume Actuel. Vol. 1. Paris.

Bhattacharya, Kamaleswar

1961 Les Religions brahmaniques dans l’ancien Cambodge: d’après l’épigraphie et l’iconographie. Paris: EFEO.

Briggs, L. Palmer

1951 The Ancient Khmer Empire. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. Philadelphia.

Coedès, George

1968 The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Edited by Walter F. Vella, Translated by Sue Brown Cowing, University of Hawaii press, Honolulu.

Groslier, B. P.

1958 Angkor et le cambodge au XVIe siecle. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.

Leclère, Adhémard

1895 Cambodge: Contes et Légends. Paris: Librairie Émile Brouillon.

1906 Les Livres Sacrée du Cambodge. Annals du Musée Guimet, Bibliothèque d’Études 20. Paris: Ernest Leroux.

Lewitz [Pou], Saveros

1974 Recherches sur le vocabulaire cambodgien (VIII) du vieux khmer au khmer moderne. Journal Asiatique 262: 143-170.

Thomson, Ashley

1997 Changing Perspectives: Cambodia after Angkor. In Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia: Millennium of Glory. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1997: pp. 22-32.

Vickery, Michael

1978 Cambodia after Angkor, the Chronicular Evidence for the Fourteenth to Sixteenth Centuries. 2 vols. Ph.D. Dissertation. Yale University.

2004 Cambodia and Its Neighbors in the 15^th Century. Asian Research Institute Working Papers 27: 1-71.

Reading Against the Grain: Collected Essays on Literary Studies, and Criticism on Thai and World Literature (Arn (mai) ao reuang: ruam bot kham dan wannakam lae bot wijan wannakam Thai lae thet), by Chusak Pattarakulvanit (Bangkok: Kobfai Publishing Project, 2005 (2^nd edition), 424 pp., paperback).

Reviewed by Janit Feangfu.

This book is a collection of thirty-one published essays on literary studies and criticism on both Thai and world literature written between 1993-2001 by Chusak Pattarakulvanit, the veteran literary critic and lecturer. The importance of the collection lies in its theoretical thrust in analyzing each selected literary text. The contribution of such a rigorous use of literary theory is crucial especially in the context of the paucity of theoretically grounded criticism of Thai literature as well as well-illustrated materials on literary theory available in Thai language.

The literal translation of the title Arn (mai) ao reuang is “read (not just) for comprehension” which, the author explains, calls attention to “reading that aims to analyze the construction of meaning, factors, and conditions which make possible the signifying process”. More importantly, it intends to uncover the ‘inconspicuous’ within a text” ([3]). The author emphasizes in the preface that reading literature is a social activity that is no less ideologically informed whether in the form of “common sense” or interpretive norms. Thus, it is crucial for the reader to be aware of such a controlling force, to resist, and to read against the grain ([4]-[5]).

The book is comprised of four parts and an appendix which includes the author’s two interviews on literary studies and the culture of criticism in Thailand, and a concise and virtuoso essay on the development of four mainstream literary theories namely Positivism, New Criticism, Structuralism, and Deconstruction. The four parts of the book are “On Literature”, “Criticism of Thai Literature”, “Criticism of World Literature”, and “On Literary Genres”. Essays in part one, “On Literature”, not only introduce the reader to the pertinence and challenge of reading critically, but also inquire into contemporary Thai reading culture and literary consumption as well as the construction of “professional writer identity”. In part two on Thai literature, the use of semiotic square, analysis of structural semantics, and narratology and deconstruction bring to the fore the richness of the selected novels, short stories and poems, and offer seditious interpretations of some well-analyzed, well-studied works such as Khang lang phap (Behind the Painting) by Sriburapha. Part three offers nine essays on world literature. The author demonstrates different theoretical approaches in reading the well-known works such as narratology and post-colonial theory in Albert Camus’ The Stranger and Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things. He also looks at the concept of time in Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude. “On Literary Genres” in part four, Chusak introduces Magical Realism and Cyber Punk to the Thai reader as he also discusses political ideology in detective novels.

Despite the fact that Reading Against the Grain deals academically with literary studies and criticism, it is suitable for a general reader who is interested in literature. The accessibility of the arguments is due to the author’s systematic prose presentation and clarity of thought. The book’s contribution to literary studies in Thailand is already highly significant. Its encouragement for critical culture, however, might require more time.

To help the Harvard-Yenching Institute’s partner institutions in Vietnam better understand the publication enterprise of Asian studies journals in the West, the Institute invited Professor Jeffrey Wasserstrom (University of California –Irvine), Editor of the Journal of Asian Studies, to give a series of lectures at three universities and research institutes in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

In addition to a joint-presentation with Peter Zinoman (UC Berkeley; Editor of the Journal of Vietnamese Studies) on June 29 at the College of Social Sciences and Humanities in Hanoi, Prof. Wasserstrom also gave a talk on “Asian Studies Journals in the West: a Look at a Changing Publishing Landscape” on June 30 and July 1 at the Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences (Hanoi) and the College of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City (with the participation of researchers from the Southern Institute of Sustainable Development), respectively.

Prof. Wasserstrom’s presentation described a variety of developments that have recently taken place in English language Asian studies journals specializing in the humanities and the social sciences. The well-attended talks received positive feedback from the Vietnamese audience—as described by attendees at the College of Social Sciences and Humanities in Hanoi, Prof. Wasserstrom’s talk not only helped Vietnamese scholars understand the paper submission procedure, but also provided them with a clear description of the paper selection process practiced in the West; through the talk, the audience also learned methods to better present their research.

Every year in the spring, the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) holds its annual four-day conference devoted to planned programs of scholarly papers, round table discussions and panel sessions on a wide range of issues in research and teaching, and on Asian affairs in general. The conference is one of the most important annual scholarly events in Asian Studies. For the year 2010, the AAS Annual Meeting will be held in Philadelphia (March 25-28, 2010).

As the Harvard-Yenching Institute’s (HYI) alumni, you are encouraged to attend the AAS Meeting. The HYI will host a reception at the Meeting, and this will be an excellent opportunity for networking and getting to know scholars in your research fields. The HYI will reimburse travel expenses up to $1,000 if you present a paper which has been accepted by the AAS program committee as part of the official annual meeting. You may wish to submit proposals for organized panels (or individual papers) to the AAS.

THE DEADLINE FOR AAS’ RECEIPT OF ALL PROPOSALS IS AUGUST 7, 2009

For further information, please visit their website.

Furthermore, we also encourage you to submit your papers to the HYI working papers series to be posted on our website.

The Bahnar Epic Cycle in Kontum by Phan Thi Hong (Hanoi: Van Hoc Publishing, 2006, 463 pages).

Reviewed by Tran Thi Phuong Phuong (National University of Ho Chi Minh City)

The Bahnar is an ethnic group with a population of approximately 137,000, who live primarily in Kontum and Gia Lai provinces of Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands of Vietnam). Their language belongs to the Mon-Khmer language family. Like many other long-term inhabitants of Tay Nguyen, the Bahnar have created a unique culture, which is preserved in their epics known as “h’mon”.

The epics of the ethnic groups in Tay Nguyen were previously preserved in oral tradition by singing and retelling through generations, but since 1927, when the Ede’s epic of Dam San was first published in Paris by French folklorist L. Sabachier, they have also been recorded, compiled and studied. The Bahnar epics, such as Dam Noi and Xing Chi On, were introduced after 1975. These epics still remain in their performable form (h’ri) even in the present day.

Phan Thi Hong has spent years in Bahnar villages of Kontum, including the oldest Kontum Konam area. She has learned the Bahnar language and life style, and has communicated with the epic singers, few of whom survive today. Her book is the result of long-term hard work compiling, translating and analyzing the Bahnar h’mons in Kontum province.

The first part of the book is a survey on the collection of 19 h’mons that Hong has uncovered, recorded and translated from Bahnar into Vietnamese since 1985. Influenced by Propp’s conception of epic, Hong identifies those h’mons as heroic epics belonging to a Bahnar epic cycle with a central hero named Giông (the Giông cycle). Hong’s analysis focuses on the Giông cycle’s structure, the plots, the system of characters and motifs (such as motif of the kidnapped Beauty, motif of the heroic battle for the Beauty, motif of unsuccessful battle and so on). Additionally the central character Giông in the cycle and his deeds is examined in comparison with the heroic characters in the epics of other ethnic groups in Tay Nguyen as well as with the heroic characters in the ancient Greek and Indian epics. Hong also examines some characteristics of Bahnar language in Giông cycle.

The second part of the book contains the texts of some Bahnar folk tales and epics, including two typical epics from Giông cycle “H’mon Giông Bok Loa” (Giông in Hunting) and “H’mon trewet bogieng ko Giong” (Trewet hated Giong) in both Vietnamese and Bahnar.

The Bahnar epic cycle is a large group of approximately 30 or more epics. Hong’s survey in this book is only a small part of her overall research of Bahnar epics. A professor of Dalat University, Hong has participated in the government project “Investigation, Compilation, Translation, Publication and Preservation of Tay Nguyen Epics” implemented since the mid-1990s, and in the 62-volume “Treasure Trove of Tay Nguyen Epics” project, the most voluminous epic collection in Vietnam published by the Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences from 2004 to 2007.

A Cliometric Review of Late Chosŏn History (Edited by Rhee Young Hoon, in Korean, Seoul National University Press 2004, 409 pages) 數量經濟史로 다시 본 朝鮮後期 (李榮薰 編, 韓國語版, 서울大學校出版部2004年版 409쪽)

Reviewed by Ilsoo David Cho (Ph.D. Student, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University)

A Cliometric Review of Late Chosŏn History is a collective effort by eight Korean scholars in the quantitative economic history of late Chosŏn Korea. Produced as a part of a larger institutional effort by the Naksungdae Institute of Economic Research to review and analyze economic statistics of Korea from 1650 to 2000, this volume focuses on late Chosŏn (circa 1650-1910) using a number of important but previously unused or underutilized sources. Through careful analysis of diverse and original sources such as financial records of local governments, lineages and private academies, individual diaries, land transaction records, and central government wage records, the authors of this book analyze diverse aspects of late Chosŏn economy including population, wages, interest rates, prices of rice paddies, prices of commodities, rice productivity, rice markets, and forestry. While individual arguments of the eight main chapters of the book are as diverse as the different topics they touch on, they come together in making three sweeping points about economic history of late Chosŏn Korea: 1) non-capitalist economic institutions remained powerful to the end of dynasty; 2) 18th century Korea experienced relative stability; 3) 19th century Korea faced serious economic deterioration to a point that, according to the book’s editor, it practically “self-destructed” even before Japanese colonized the country.

The overall arguments of this book are provocative in the sense that they fundamentally challenge the still-dominant current of Korean historiography in Korea—“internal development” theory. It was formulated largely in response to the so-called colonialist historiography that justified Japanese colonization of Korea. For example, economic historian Fukuda Tokuzo (1874-1930) had argued that Korean society around the time of colonization was stagnant and stuck at the stage of ancient village economy. Clearly aware of the political repercussions of such an understanding of Korea during the colonial period (1910-1945), Korean economic historian Paek Nam’un (1895-1974) had fought back with “capitalist sprouts” theory. Paek argued that capitalism was already emerging in late Chosŏn, but Japanese imperialism later distorted its development. Korean historians led by Kim Yongsŏp (1931- ) continued to develop such meta-narratives into “internal development” theory, arguing for Korea’s autonomy in its historical development. “Internal development” theory has already faced criticisms from a number of scholars who argue for the importance of external stimuli in Korea’s development and post-modern scholars who reject the validity of Marxist meta-narrative itself. Rhee Young Hoon et al.’s findings, however, are particularly devastating to “internal development” theory as they empirically “prove” that late Chosŏn Korea was stagnant and deteriorating. As Rhee notes, this book’s findings throw the field of Korean history, if not the entire Korean society, into disarray.

This book is not without shortcomings. Most sources used in the book are fragmentary and were excavated from the Chosŏn Korea’s southern provinces. Limitations in terms of sources make it difficult know whether the book’s findings reflect national trends or whether significant differences existed in northern Korea. As the authors acknowledge, more research is needed to fully establish the book’s arguments. Nevertheless, A Cliometric Review of Late Chosŏn History is an important work that fundamentally challenges older views and suggests new directions in historical research.

To view images from the recent reception, please visit our event photos page:

http://www.harvard-yenching.org/events/photos/

Ogyû Shigehiro, Kindai, Asia, Yômei-gaku [Modernity, Asia, and the Yangming School], (Tokyo: Perikan-sha, 2008) 512 pp.
荻生茂博『近代・アジア・陽明学』（東京：ぺりかん社、2008年）

Reviewed by Dr. Makabe Jin (真璧仁), Associate Professor, Graduate School of Law and Politics, Hokkaido University; Harvard-Yenching Visiting Scholar 2007-2008.

This collective treatise of Ogyû’s works makes us aware again that Japanese intellectual history must be considered not as a historical development peculiar to one nation, but in relation to the overall development of the East Asian intellectual world. For many years, Ogyû focused on the special role of the “Yômei-gaku” movement in modern East Asia. His argument shows that the narrative of “the collapse of Neo-Confucian thinking” was invented in late nineteenth century Japan as a “modern” understanding of “Yômei-gaku,” and then in the early twentieth century it was exported from Japan to China and Korea as a “modern narrative” of nationalism in East Asia. As the author Ogyû regrettably passed away in 2006 at age fifty one, his magisterial project on Modern “Yômei-gaku” ended, but we are now able to trace the development of his academic interests through his posthumously published book.