Empire and righteous nation : 600 years of China-Korea relations / Odd Arne Westad.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Westad, Odd Arne, author.

Series:

The Edwin O. Reischauer Lectures

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

China-Relations-Korea.

China--Relations--Korea.

China.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (176 p.)

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, [2021]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

From an award-winning historian, a concise overview of the deep and longstanding ties between China and the Koreas, providing an essential foundation for understanding East Asian geopolitics today.In a concise, trenchant overview, Odd Arne Westad explores the cultural and political relationship between China and the Koreas over the past 600 years.Koreans long saw China as a mentor. The first form of written Korean employed Chinese characters and remained in administrative use until the twentieth century. Confucianism, especially Neo-Confucian reasoning about the state and its role in promoting a virtuous society, was central to the construction of the Korean government in the fourteenth century. These shared Confucian principles were expressed in fraternal terms, with China the older brother and Korea the younger. During the Ming Dynasty, mentor became protector, as Korea declared itself a vassal of China in hopes of escaping ruin at the hands of the Mongols. But the friendship eventually frayed with the encroachment of Western powers in the nineteenth century. Koreans began to reassess their position, especially as Qing China seemed no longer willing or able to stand up for Korea against either the Western powers or the rising military threat from Meiji Japan. The Sino-Korean relationship underwent further change over the next century as imperialism, nationalism, revolution, and war refashioned states and peoples throughout Asia. Westad describes the disastrous impact of the Korean War on international relations in the region and considers Sino-Korean interactions today, especially the thorny question of the reunification of the Korean peninsula.Illuminating both the ties and the tensions that have characterized the China-Korea relationship, Empire and Righteous Nation provides a valuable foundation for understanding a critical geopolitical dynamic.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

LIST OF MAPS

INTRODUCTION

1. China and the Chosŏn State

2. The Internationalization of East Asia

3. China and Korea Today

CONCLUSION: What Can We Learn from History about China-Korea Relations?

NOTES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Index

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780674249639

0674249631

9780674249653

0674249658

OCLC:

1228038303