How Shall We Study East Asia?

The Academy of East Asian Studies in Sungkyunkwan University aims to focus on East Asia as a methodological approach, rather than simply treating the region as a topic of research. In order to clarify the meaning of East Asia as method I would like to discuss some examples in this preface. In approaching East Asia as a method the following two points should be kept in mind. First, the issues examined within the framework of the new East Asian studies should have a universal meaning going beyond the confines of East Asia. Second, the new approach should be informed by a critical reassessment of the conventional framework of East Asian studies. The first and foremost task in approaching East Asia as method is to conduct a fundamental review of the conventional binary division of world history into modern and pre-modern. In East Asian studies, it has been a convention to take the mid-nineteenth century as the dividing point between the two eras. Many recent studies on East Asia have revealed that too many subjects on East Asian history and society cannot be appropriately understood by applying the modern versus pre-modern scheme. Another serious problem caused by the dichotomy of pre-modern and modern is that it has created partitions not only in the fields of research but also more generally in the system of learning and knowledge. The book is composed of four sections. The first section, Questions for East Asian Intellectual History includes discussions on the methodology for studying East Asia. The second section, The Reinterpretation of Confucian Culture includes discussions on the problem of what conception of Confucian learning is indispensable for understanding East Asia. The third section, Rule and Historical Consciousness brings to light a wealth of literary sources and their usage in ruling the people in East Asian history. The last section, Memories and Narratives includes discussions on perceptions and representations of East Asia and Korea seen in literary works and narratives. Needless to say, the originality of individual articles lies with each individual author, yet the collection also reflects the success of fruitful academic debates conducted at the Academy of East Asian Studies. We are looking forward to comments and criticism from interested readers.