Author: Yuwei Zhou

Instructor, History

“Block and Type: Publishing Official Histories of Koryŏ in the Chosŏn”

Time: Thursday, January 26, 4:00-5:30 pm CT

Location: John Hope Franklin Room, SSR Building

(please note the noncanonical meeting location and time)

★Co-Sponsored by East Asia: Transregional Histories Workshop★

Abstract: The History of Koryŏ and the Essentials of Koryŏ History are two early Chosŏn (1392–1910) court histories about Chosŏn’s predecessor, the Koryŏ (918–1392). This paper examines the manufacture and publication of these two official histories, arguing that the motives and means for publishing and circulating each history varied over the course of the dynasty and that court support for reproducing these texts was not guaranteed. In addition, this paper shows how economics, politics, and ideology informed the employment of different technologies—movable type and woodblock—as a means of production and circulation of court histories in Chosŏn’s non-commercial book economy. There were conflicting impulses within the early Chosŏn court about the distribution of these histories; some officials supported the circulation of histories on Koryŏ while others worried about leaking information abroad. Such court concerns joined with enthusiasm for metal movable type, an expensive prestige technology in the early Chosŏn, to bring about the modest print runs of the fifteenth and sixteenth-century typographic editions of the History and the Essentials. In contrast, the late Chosŏn court, simultaneously less inclined to either promote or fear the distribution of the histories of Koryŏ and motivated by the fear of loss due to the catastrophic damage of the Imjin war, sponsored the production of long-lasting woodblocks for the History (although the Essentials did not receive such attention). At the same time, the court did not embark on a campaign to distribute copies of the woodblock edition of the History. Instead, circulation was driven by literati interest as increasing numbers of scholars and schools used the woodblocks to print their own copy, resulting in a robust circulation of historical materials that substantially underwrote a boom in private history writing in the late Chosŏn.

Presenter: Graeme R. Reynolds is a historian of early modern Korea with interests in the production and circulation of knowledge, the history of the book, and historiography. He is currently working on a book examining the production, circulation, and reception of official histories of the Koryŏ in the Chosŏn dynasty.

Respondent: Hoyt Long is a Professor of Japanese Literature in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations. He has research and teaching interests in modern Japanese literature, digital methods, sociology of culture, and media studies.

Dear colleagues, faculty members, and friends,

The Arts and Politics of East Asia Workshop (APEA) is pleased to announce our Winter 2023 schedule. The workshop will meet on Fridays 3:00-5:00 pm in the Winter quarter unless otherwise noted. As usual, we will send reminder emails with location info prior to every workshop session, along with the link to the pre-circulated papers. Please sign up for our listserv if you have not already received those emails.

Winter 2023 Schedule

January 13th, Friday (in-person), 3:00–5:00 p.m.
Yukun Zeng, Ph.D. Candidate, Anthropology
“The Cultural Revolution in a Confucian School: Autonomy, Discipline, and Schismogenesis in the Dujing Movement in Contemporary China”
Discussant: Jacob Eyferth, Associate Professor in Chinese History, ELAC
Location: Center for East Asian Studies 319 (1155 E. 60th St.)

January 26th, Thursday (in-person), 4:00–5:30 p.m.
Graeme Reynolds, Instructor in History
“Publishing Official Histories of Koryŏ in the Chosŏn”
Discussant: Hoyt Long, Professor of Japanese Literature, EALC
Location: John Hope Franklin Room, SSR Building
★Co-Sponsored by East Asia: Transregional Histories Workshop★

January 27th, Friday (in-person), 3:00–5:00 p.m.
MAPH Research Embarkment Workshop
Presenters: Simon Lenoe, Amber Qi, Lucia Wang, Jinhee Kim, Rena Zhang
Discussants: Danlin Zhang, Nick Ogonek, Lilian Kong, Ethan Waddell
Location: Center for East Asian Studies 319 (1155 E. 60th St.)

February 10th, Friday (Zoom), 3:00–5:00 p.m.
Emily Yoon, PhD Candidate, EALC
[Practice job talk, title TBD]

February 17th, Friday (in-person), 3:00–5:00 p.m.
Dahye Kim, Assistant Professor, Asian Languages and Cultures, Northwestern University
“The Crisis and the Rise of the Non-Linear Alphabet: The Cultural Technique of Hangul Only Writing in the Age of Information”
Discussant: Thomas Lamarre, Gordon J Laing Distinguished Service Professor in CMS, EALC, and the College
Location: Center for East Asian Studies 319 (1155 E. 60th St.)
★Co-Sponsored by Digital Media Workshop★

March 3rd, Friday (in-person), 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Yueling Ji, Ph.D. Candidate, EALC
“Wind from the East: Classical Poetics in Mao Zedong’s Yan’an Talks”
Discussant: Qiyu Yang, Ph.D. Student, EALC
Location: Center for East Asian Studies 319 (1155 E. 60th St.)

March 9rd, Thursday (in-person), 3:30-5:00 p.m.
Viren Murthy, Professor, History, University of Wisconsin-Madison
[On Takeuchi Yoshimi, title TBD]
Location: Swift Hall, Room 201
★Co-Sponsored by Philosophy of Religions Workshop★

Please feel free to contact Yuwei (ywzhou@uchicago.edu) and Elvin (emeng@uchicago.edu) with any questions you might have, and we look forward to seeing you at APEA this winter!