The Swordswoman is very exceptional in that its protagonist is a swordswoman. The double-layered plot is also highly unusual: two women, a mistress and her slave, join forces for vengeance, after which the mistress takes her own life, and the protagonist the slave conceals her identity and becomes the concubine of a well-respected scholar. Some years later, this woman decides to leave the scholar upon realizing that his strengths consist of a handful of trifling tricks and that they fall far short of grand enough principles to govern the world and serve as norms for posterity. This man was So Eung-cheon (1704 1760), a scholar of some note in the mid-18th century. While this work recounts a tale of imaginary retribution and dazzling martial arts, it may ultimately be underhanded ridicule of the aristocracy of the time.

Korean Classic Stories: Avengers & Artists (vol 1)

Literature & Fiction

Hunggyu Kim

Short Stories & Anthologies

Seoul Selection

Wolchul Island is a story in which the leader of bandits is portrayed as a kind of popular hero. After the 17th century, in the Joseon Dynasty, the phenomenon of class differentiation in rural communities led to the emergence of groups of landless farmers that became nomads without any means of making a living, and eventually formed groups of bandits. Although they were outlaws preying on travelers and stealing from them, some folktales sympathized with them, as they had turned to banditry because of cruel exploitation by the bureaucratic system. Also at times, as in Wolchul Island, they were portrayed as heroic outlaws that possessed a deep understanding of society and acted according to strict principles and discipline.

Korean Classic Stories: All Walks of Life

This collection of stories from the Joseon Dynasty portrays the lives of people who were deeply immersed in Confucianism and its venerated ethics. The books in the series look at the lives of women, artists, lovers, aristocrats, and commoners, providing a vibrant understanding of the Joseon period. 1.Avengers & Artists : Folk Tales, Sagas, and Anecdotes 2.Confucians in Love : arly Fiction Part I 3.War & Exile : Early Fiction Part II 4.All Walks of Life : Historical Romance Part I 5.Lives of Women : Historical Romance Part II

Korean Classic Stories - Set

Literary Nonfiction. Cooking. Asian & Asian American Studies. For this book, Dr. Choi selected from her cooking classes 28 dishes that her foreign students have particularly enjoyed. In addition to the standard meat dishes (spicy stir-fried pork and braised chicken in soy sauce), and vegetarian options (kimchi, chilled white radish salad, and zucchini salad), it also features noodle options (noodles served with spicy squid, spicy noodle salad, and glass noodle salad), stone pot bibimbap, stews, and various other dishes. The author relied on the following three principles in selecting which recipes to include in the book. First, she wanted recipes that are easy to make. Second, she placed priority on ingredients that are readily found outside of Korea. Third—and most importantly—she selected dishes that taste great. While preparing the recipes, Dr. Choi took great pains to make them more accessible to her readers, who might otherwise find Korean cooking techniques confusing and complicated. She also throws in some handy tips. Readers are told that herbs or lemon chives can stand in for Korean garlic chives if the latter are hard to find, and that bulgogi, or marinated stir-fried beef, tastes great inside a sandwich.

A Korean Kitchen Companion: 28 Recipes for Korean Dishes

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Choi, Jia

Regional & International

Korean handicrafts are often overshadowed by those of China and Japan, preventing them from being recognized for their unique charm and cultural value. Frustrated with this widespread ignorance of Korean crafts, two American authors set out to write 100 Thimbles in a Box: The Spirit and Beauty of Korean Handicrafts, hoping that an English-language book on the topic would help bring some deserving global attention to Korea s strong crafting history. The book s title draws from a tradition dating back to the Joseon Dynasty in which a bride would present handmade thimbles to her husband s female relatives to wish them good fortune and a long life. The stunning beauty of 44 of Korea s traditional crafts sorted into ceramics, fiber arts, paper, inlay, metal, wood, and painting is presented in detail with over 400 pictures found in the book. While other publications have focused on one or two of these handicraft categories, this is the first English-language guide that brings these diverse genres together in a single volume.

100 Thimbles in a Box: The Spirit and Beauty of Korean Handicrafts (Seoul Selection Guides)

Arts & Photography

Debbi Kent

Joan Suwalsky

History & Criticism

Literary Nonfiction. Asian &amp; Asian American Studies. Art. Kimchi, K-pop, taekwondo, Samsung—the images that most people get when they think of Korea don't stray much beyond the usual ones. But there are so many more fascinating sides to Korea. A cultural anthropologist with over 20 years of personal experience in Korea, author Benjamin Joinau introduces readers to the various faces of Korea outside those that Koreans typically like to present, guided by Elodie Dornand de Rouville's refreshingly original and detailed illustrations—Korean society through the eyes of two foreigners. Grab a copy and let's take a look at the real faces of Korea, past and present.

Sketches of Korea: An illustrated Guide to Korean Culture

Joinau, Benjamin and

Literary Nonfiction. Asian &amp; Asian American Studies. Religion &amp; Spirituality. What exactly is this deep prajna practice? Prajna is the truth that governs the universe, the myriad things, society, and life. This truth is contained in everything. Thus, it is difficult to find it from the outside. We must search for prajna in our mind, which is closest to us. We must then use it to extinguish defilements and idle thoughts, do away with desires, and train the mind in mercy, wisdom, and liberation in order to reach the other shore, in other words, to become a buddha. This process is called the profound prajna practice.

The Shore of Freedom

Politics & Social Sciences

Kyongsan, Prime Dharma Master

Philosophy

Literary Nonfiction. Asian &amp; Asian American Studies. Religion &amp; Spirituality. In the broad sense, Timeless Zen is a compound term that refers to Zen when we do and do not have activities, and thus is a concept that encompasses all Zen. It is a dharma of Zen that embraces not only action and rest but also walking, abiding, sitting, lying, speaking, and silence, and because Timeless Zen is a general term for the Zen dharmas performed at any time or place, all Zen dharmas ultimately converge on this dharma of Timeless Zen. In other words, the concept of this dharma of Timeless Zen includes senses of both seated meditation and placeless Zen. The spirit of the Timeless Zen dharma is, at its core, about consistent practice of Zen, without being bound by concepts of time or space. This greater principle must underlie our Zen practice from the beginning.

Commentary on the Dharma of Timeless Zen

Religion & Spirituality

Chw, Prime Dharma Master Emeritus

Buddhism

Art. Asian &amp; Asian American Studies. History. The court paintings of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) were artwork created for the appreciation of the king, his family, and high-ranking officials. The type of the court paintings hardly deviated from those pieces created for the common people; in essence, court painters did not adhere to any particular genre, though pictorial style would vary over time. Unlike pieces created for the general public, however, court paintings served a more speci c function than those done outside the palace. One of the major functions of Joseon court paintings was education. Pictures of significant moments of history were used to help the king and prince learn from the past and cultivate a heightened sense of morality and leadership. Another crucial function of court paintings was both the documentation and conservation of the visual culture of the eras in which they were created. During the Joseon Dynasty, a period whose philosophical foundation rested on Confucian ideals, images played an essential role in the efficient management of the state. The Joseon court paintings are the pinnacle of contemporary artwork of their time, produced by anonymous court painters to meet the tastes of the commissioners while abiding by past customs.

Court Paintings from the Joseon Dynasty (Visual Korean Heritage)

Park, Jeong-Hye

Poetry. Translated from the Korean by Brother Anthony, President of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch and translator who has introduced international readers to several Korean works. An English rendition of a collection of poetry by Do Jonghwan, one of Korea's most beloved poets. Do's literary career started in 1984, when he released Age of Division while teaching Korean language and literature to highschool students. His second poetry collection, You the Hollyhock, sold over a million copies and was made into a film, and he became one of Korea's most influential poets during the 1980s, popular among critics and readers alike. Through poetry, Do found beauty in the poverty of his youth and in the sadness and pain from losing his wife to illness. He portrays flowers, trees, creeks, wind, mountains, and other shifts in nature through a unique poetic sensibility. Having accepted poetry as his "fate and companion," he conveys simple truths and wisdom, such as how life matures and finds beauty amid pain and suffering.

No Flower Blooms Without Wavering

Do, Jong-Hwan

Poetry

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