A tool for research collaboration and more, Doing East Asian History Right focuses on approaches, methodologies, and findings of East Asian history 東亞細亞歷史 and historiography to reappraise, rectify, and refine existing ones wherever deemed necessary, and innovate.
This blog seeks to look with fresh eyes at historical narratives that have hitherto been developed along the lines of Euroamerican-centrism and methodological nationalism obliging nation-state-centered approaches in linear teleological historiography, in order to overcome them and come up with perspectives that can lead to better appreciation of history of East Asia, through the creation of a network of learning resources and activities that include notes, writings, and interviews, as well as various kinds of primary and secondary sources. These resources and activities are designed for mutual learning and dialogue by bringing minds together in pursuit of enhanced understanding of aspects of a potential treasure chest, hitherto misrepresented, hidden, or unexplored.
Main Research Interests
As a student of East Asian history and languages, I am interested in the following thems, among other related ones:
(1) East Asian interpolity relations from around the tenth century to the late nineteenth century, in particular, objective conditions and subjective perceptions of the nature of Ch’ing-Chosŏn (淸-朝鮮) political union and their negotiated sovereignty (not strictly in the Western sense) and Euroamerican understandings of them during the late nineteenth century;
(2) the common written language and regionally different vernacular languages of East Asia, particularly in connection with Hunmin chŏng’ŭm 訓民正音 (Correct Sounds for Instructing the People);
(3) the sense of identities and political belongings of the elites as well as of the commoners in East Asian polities until the late nineteenth century;
(4) the sphere of influence of the Ch’ing dynasty (淸朝), its geographical extent, and temporal changes of it;
(5) the historical transition of the concept of “Central Dynasty” [中國], from the Spring and Autumn period, Warring States period, until the Ch’ing dynasty in the late nineteenth century;
(6) the transplantation of ‘nations’ and the birth of ‘nation-states’ from the latter half of the nineteenth century until the first half of the twentieth century;
(7) forced migration and Corean diaspora during the twentieth century;
(8) the division and reunification of Chosŏn (Corea).