Myths and Truths about Premodern Korea

Professor John Duncan provides an overview of Korea’s long premodern history, emphasizing four key themes. One, Korea has an exceptionally long history as a unified polity; its considerable institutional and organizational capacity was marked by a sophisticated centralized bureaucracy; two, Korea made active contributions to East Asian civilization in arts and thought; three, living in the shadow of China stimulated Koreans to develop a strong sense of local identity; and four, aspects of Korea’s premodern