Acknowledgments
During the course of research and preparation of this manuscript I received
financial aid from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Joint
Committee on Korea of the American Council of Learned Societies and Social
Science Research Council. Mrs. Yun Whan Choe, the Korean librarian of the
East Asia Library at the University of Washington, rendered invaluable assis-
tance over the two decades of research involved in this project.
My greatest debt goes to the scholars listed in the bibliography of this work,
in particular the growing battery of scholars in Korea who, especially since lib-
eration from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, have made such enormous strides,
not only in filling the gaps in our knowledge of Korean history, but in reinter-
preting what we know of the facts. I apologize for differing with some of them
on occasion, but differences in viewpoint never lessened my admiration for the
quality of their work.
I benefited greatly from the comments and criticisms of a number of my col-
leagues at the University of Washington, including members of the History
Research Group. Jack Dull was unstinting over the years in correcting numer-
ous errors and filling embarrassing gaps in my knowledge about Chinese his-
tory. Kenneth Pyle, Clark Sorensen, Kent Guy, K6z6 Yamamura, and Susan
Hanley have discussed various aspects of the work with me.
r owe thanks for many discussions of various issues to my mentor and col-
league Edward Wagner and to my longtime colleague and friend Gari Ledyard.
A seminar held at Harvard under Carter Eckert's sponsorship was particularly
useful, especially discussions with Tu Wei-ming and Peter Bol. Conferences orga-
nized by Wm. Ted de Bary that I attended in Paris and Montreal were also enlight-
ening.
lowe special gratitude to those who read through the manuscript and offered
their kind guidance and advice: Bruce Cumings, Martina Deuchler, Michael
Kalton, and Young-ho Choe. I am especially grateful to Margery Lang for the
effort, care, and skill she displayed in editing such a large manuscript. Natu-
rally, all errors and mistakes are my own.
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