Publishing Korea's first English-language academic journal
A copy of Transactions issue 93 / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar
By Steven L. Shields
The
Royal Asiatic Society-Korea Branch
(RASKB) has published the 93rd volume of its journal, Transactions. The book launch for the annual publication took place on June 1 during the annual Garden Party at the American ambassador's residence in Seoul. Ambassador Harry Harris was presented the first copy by Brother Anthony, president of RASKB.
The first Transactions was published shortly after the RASKB formed in 1900. Though comparatively slim, the journal included the first paper presented to the society. James Scarth Gale presented his thesis on
Chinese influence on Korean culture
at a meeting on Oct. 24, 1900. Gale was a Canadian Presbyterian missionary, as well as an educator and linguist. He was also an ardent student of Korean history and culture, publishing dozens of papers and monographs over his career. He was the first minister of Yondong Church in Seoul (from 1900 to 1927). The church is still operating at its original site on Daehangno. The RASKB office happens to be next door to this historic church.
Steven L. Shields
The second paper presented at the RASKB meeting was by Homer B. Hulbert. He countered Gale's thesis by providing an engaging treatise titled “
.” He argued that despite outside influences, Korean culture in its traditional form was still widely present among the people of Korea. He was an American missionary who taught English at the Royal English School in Seoul. One of his middle school students, Syngman Rhee, later became the first president of the Republic of Korea. Hulbert was a scholar and linguist, producing the first Korean grammar textbook. He was also a firm advocate of Korean independence.
Three volumes of Transactions were published in four parts between 1900 and 1903. The last few years of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century was a time of extreme turmoil, political upheaval, and social change in Korea. The Korean people suffered greatly during the wars and struggles between three world powers of the time: Russia, China and Japan. Amid the political issues, wars and the need to attend to their duties, the members of RASKB allowed the society to lapse for several years. The society did not meet or publish during the next few years as both the United States and Britain aligned with Japan and allowed Japan first to make Korea a “protectorate,” then force Emperor Gojong to abdicate in 1907, finally forcing his son Emperor Sunjong to cede the country to Japan in 1910.
The RASKB was revived early in 1911, at a meeting attended by nine people. Only two of the original founders were still in Korea. RASKB activity continued regularly until the outbreak of the Pacific War. The final publication of the society was the 1940 issue of Transactions. All Westerners were soon after expelled from Korea by the Japanese. The RASKB did not resume functioning until Nov. 26, 1947, when several former members who had returned to Korea after the end of the war met and decided to revive the society.
War again interrupted in 1950, during which most of the RASKB's library was lost. When the war ended, so bad was the devastation in Seoul, the RASKB had to print Transactions in Hong Kong for a couple of volumes.
By the end of the 1960s, the society was running full-speed. Some of the first and often only studies in English of many facets of Korea's history and culture have been published by the RASKB.
As Transactions volume 93 makes its debut, the contents continue the long history of insightful explorations into Korea's history, art, culture, and society. The volume includes Korea Times contributors including Mark Peterson's scholarly ruminations on social change in the mid-Joseon era, Robert Neff's exploration of Jeju's 19th-century fishing wars, and Matt VanVolkenburg's retelling of writer Jack London's visit to Korea to cover the 1904-5 Russo-Japanese War.
Students from Dongducheon Foreign Language High School hold copies of the 93rd volume of Transactions, the journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch since 1900, during the RASKB Garden Party at the U.S. ambassador's residence in Seoul on June 1.
One unique feature of the current volume is a series of four essays by high school students at Dongducheon Foreign Language High School. These four young women, reading the news last fall in Chosun Ilbo about RASKB's financial plight, teamed up to offer their contribution through the written word (since students have few personal financial resources). The RASKB officers, council and members were charmed and deeply moved by this new generation of scholars-to-be.
Transactions is available for free to members of RASKB, and costs 10,000 won for everyone else. If you aren't a member, it's easy to become one. The RASKB website has
, as well as provides
digital copies of Transactions going all the way back to volume 1
. Visit raskb.com to learn more about the world's oldest Korean studies organization and its publications.
Steven L. Shields, a retired cleric, serves as a vice president of the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (www.raskb.com) and is a columnist for The Korea Times.