Work · East Asian Philosophy
Korean History from the Standpoint of the Bible (later: Korean History in the Light of Meaning)
First serialised in 1934–35 and repeatedly revised: Korean history is a history of suffering, but suffering has a meaning – the Korean people as a “queen of suffering” bearing a task for the world.
Introduction
Ham Seok-heon first published his history of Korea in 1934–35 in the magazine Seongseo Joseon, and it appeared as a book in 1950. He wrote it as a Christian reading of history: the suffering that Korea had endured through invasions and foreign rule was not meaningless but part of a divine purpose. In later editions he broadened this frame beyond Christianity and retitled the work “Korean History in the Light of Meaning”. The book presents the Korean people as a “queen of suffering” whose history carries a task for the world. It became one of the most widely read works of modern Korean historical thought.
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