This paper examines the Tonkin Free School (Đông Kinh Nghĩa Thục) as a key site for the transmission and adaptation of East Asian reformist thought in early 20th-century Vietnam. Through an analysis of Văn Minh Tân Học Sách (New Learning Strategies for the Advancement of Civilization), it highlights how Vietnamese intellectuals engaged with and reconfigured ideas from Kang Youwei 康有爲 (1858-1927), Liang Qichao 梁啓超 (1873-1929), Fukuzawa Yukichi 福澤諭吉(1835-1901), and Zheng Guanying 鄭觀應 (1842–1922) within a localized vision of modernization. The study underscores that texts composed in Classical Chinese within the East Asian Sinosphere must be read in their original written language to fully reveal their intertextual references. Translating such texts into a non-Chinese language requires direct engagement with the original rather than reliance on intermediary versions, ensuring the preservation of intertextual richness. Without this process, translations risk distorting a text’s intellectual and cultural dimensions. By reassessing the textual strategies of the Tonkin Free School and subsequent translations of Văn Minh Tân Học Sách, this paper highlights Vietnam’s modernization as an active intellectual negotiation rather than a passive reception of foreign ideas.

The utilization and evolution of classical Chinese writing on the Korean Peninsula exhibit distinctive characteristics within the broader East Asian cultural sphere. In ancient Korea, despite the existence of multiple competing states, a shared cultural civilization emerged wherein Classical Chinese writing played a pivotal role. Subsequently, Korean intellectuals actively assimilated and reinterpreted Classical Chinese texts, significantly contributing to developments in literature, history, law, politics, economics, and various scholarly disciplines. Classical Chinese served not only as a medium for intellectual discourse but also facilitated the dissemination and exchange of shared knowledge. Even after the invention of Han’gŭl in the 15th century, Han’gŭl documents primarily remained restricted to personal correspondence, translations of royal protocols, women's writings, and fictional works. This paper provides an overview of the historical development of classical Chinese literature on the Korean Peninsula, categorizing its progression into three distinct stages: the formative period of classical Chinese textual conventions, the period of expansion, the era of transformation and diversification. During each period, state authorities rigorously upheld established literary genres and hierarchical writing practices, while simultaneously non-political and popular literary traditions emerged and evolved in opposition to state influence. This complex interplay led to a multilayered literary culture in pre-modern Korea. The classical Chinese literary tradition, forged through the interactions and tensions among state power, non-political literary hierarchies, and popular literary movements, generated an extensive corpus that includes fictional literature reflecting national sentiments or reality, scholarly treatises, historical documentation, and rhetorical documents employed in diplomatic exchanges and both public and private contexts.

In the face of the failure of both traditional European Sinology/Japanology and North American Area Studies to overcome anachronistic nation-centered methodologies, this article calls for a new East Asian Studies in a globe-spanning and comparative key, as part of the emerging Global Humanities. It illustrates ways to push for a new regionalism in East Asian Studies, in the overall frame of our shared global condition, and aims to empower the concept of the “region” as a unit of human experience and state-building, transcultural encounters and knowledge exchanges, and a zone of proximity and close difference that provides an alternative to essentializing notions of “cultures” or “civilizations” that could be academically incommensurable and incomparable or militarily and socially “clashing.”As a case study the article explores the rise of modern, Western-style literary historiography in East Asia, a process that has so far only been analyzed separately in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean studies and thus not been understood in its historical significance and complexity. The article proposes new tools for understanding the rise of this genre in the context of the emergence of the modern Japanese empire in the region, typologizing literary histories into “idiographic,” “heterographic,” and “xenographic” ones, written, respectively, on the historiographer’s own, a culturally related, or completely foreign literary tradition. Ultimately it aims to illustrate the need for a regionally-focused, globally framed, understanding of East Asia and also to showcase how a new focus on comparative studies of premodern macro-regions can help developed more nuanced methodologies for our understanding of the diversity of human culture.

Kaifūsō 懷風藻 from the Nara period is the oldest surviving collection of Japanese kanshi 漢詩. Its poems were in a formative stage, imitating the poetry of the Six Dynasties and early Tang periods. However, after the middle and later Heian period, distinctly Japanese forms of kanshi such as the seven-character regulated verse and kudaishi句題詩 began to emerge amidst the popularity of Bai Juyi’s poetry. During the Kamakura period, the practitioners of kanshi starkly shifted from aristocrats to Zen monks, marking the beginning of what is called gozan bungaku 五山文學, which continued into the Muromachi period. During this time, the literature of the Song and Yuan dynasties—especially Su Shi and Huang Tingjian’s poetry from the Northern Song—was held in high regard, as well as the poetry of Du Fu, who greatly influenced them. Influenced by these three figures, Zen monks of the Muromachi period not only composed kanshi, but also gave lectures on their poetry and preserved their teachings in shōmono. These shōmono hold unique significance in the history of Japanese kanshi studies as the first interpretive works. This paper outlines the reception of Du Fu’s poetry up until the early era of Gozan Bungaku and then introduces four shōmono on Du Fu’s poetry from the middle period and beyond.

In the aftermath of World War II, Hong Kong emerged as a prominent refuge for Chinese intellectuals fleeing the political upheaval in mainland China. Notable scholars such as Jao Tsung-I (饒宗頤, 1917-2018), Lo Hsiang-lin (羅香林, 1906-1978), and Qian Mu (錢穆, 1895-1980) engaged deeply with Korean historical studies, perceiving Korea as a critical case for examining the dynamics of Chinese cultural transmission abroad. This article employs textual analysis of their contributions to Korean historical discourse to elucidate how these scholars conceptualized cultural inheritance within the distinctive colonial context of Hong Kong. Their investigations, which underscored the Korean adaptations and preservation of Chinese traditions, reflected their own concerns regarding cultural continuity amidst the challenges of modernity and Western influence. By situating their scholarship within the broader academic and cultural landscape of Hong Kong, this study highlights the importance of Korea-focused research in shaping the intellectual milieu of post-war Hong Kong. It posits that their contributions to Korean studies not only significantly advanced global Korean scholarship but also enriched the discourse surrounding modern Chinese intellectual and cultural history, particularly in relation to the preservation and transformation of cultural identity within diaspora contexts.

The controversy regarding the late-compiled Ancient-Scrip Shangshu extended over several centuries. It was initially instigated by Song宋 and Yuan元 scholars, including Wu Yu吳棫 , Zhu Xi 朱熹, and Wu Cheng 吳澄, who introduced a skeptical approach toward the classic. Subsequently, during the Ming period, scholars such as Mei Zhuo梅鷟 and Hao Jing郝敬 conducted textual investigations that revealed significant doubts regarding the work. Amid this fervent debate, neighboring Korea and Japan—through diplomatic book acquisitions and cultural exchanges—gradually became attentive to the issues of authenticity associated with the late-compiled Ancient-Script Shangshu古文尙書, influenced by the scholarly debates of the Ming 明 and Qing 淸periods. A survey of Chinese texts in both countries, however, indicates that the debate resonated more profoundly in Korea than in Japan. This discrepancy can be attributed to the fact that Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism served as the foundational norm for all ritual practices during the formation of the Korean state. Zhu Xi regarded the sixteen-character method for cultivating the mind—“人心惟危，道心惟微。惟精惟一，允執厥中”—as the self-cultivation technique practiced by the ancient sage-kings of the Three Dynasties. Notably, the chapter Dayu Mo, which records this method, is included in the late-compiled Ancient-Script Shangshu. Accordingly, this paper focuses on seventeenth-century Korea, investigating how Korean Confucian scholars of that era perceived the authenticity issues related to the late-compiled Ancient-Script Shangshu.

This paper focuses on the theoretical and methodological issues in the study of East Asian Sinographic texts. Previous research has generally followed four basic models: the “Sinocentric perspective,” “influence studies,” the “challenge-response theory,” and the “internal development theory.” These models reflect nineteenth- and twentieth-century modes of thought, but their limitations have become increasingly evident today. In response, the author proposes the concept of the “Sinographic Cultural Sphere as Method,” which emphasizes viewing East Asian Sinographic texts as an integrated whole while recognizing both differences within similarities and similarities within differences. This approach seeks to move beyond the dichotomy of center and periphery, advocating for multidirectional book circulation and mutual interaction. In the era of globalization, research on East Asian Sinographic texts should focus on identifying commonalities through particularities, thereby contributing to cultural exchange, integration, and the development of East Asian scholarship in the 21st century.

This paper puts forward the concepts of “king’s words” and “king’s documents” and takes as its primary goal the extraction of a corpus of such “documents” from extant sources. In identifying and classifying primary sources found within epigraphic inscriptions and compiled texts, this paper investigates clues within that suggest the original format of “king’s documents.” Among “king’s documents” from ancient Korea, those that were disseminated for a domestic audience include ryŏng 令 “mandate,” myŏng 命 “order,” sŏ 書 “document; letter,” kyo 敎 “decree,” chemun 祭文 “sacrificial address,” and yujo 遺詔 “final testament.” Ryŏng were used for amnesties or calls for recommendations of talented individuals, while myŏng was used for matters such as the construction or repair of ceremonial facilities. Kyo were used to promulgate important policies or implement measures related to maintaining basic public order.
Before the kyo document form was adopted in the peninsular kingdoms, there was a type of “king’s document” known simply as sŏ. Sŏ appear to have been diplomatic documents originally, but their function was expanded as they were increasingly used in internal administration. In the mid-second century, kyo and ryŏng became the basic forms of “king’s documents,” but sŏ continued as lower-level correspondence or as diplomatic documents exchanged between kingdoms of equal status. Sacrificial addresses and king’s final injunctions existed since the beginning of the all three kingdoms, but these appear to have been performed orally until a certain point when they were “document-ized” in middle and late period Silla.

This article examines the non-textual communicative functions of mokkan 木簡 (wooden inscribed documents) in early Korean writing culture, framing them not merely as textual carriers but as objects which material and aesthetic properties played a central role in meaning-making. While existing scholarship often prioritizes deciphering textual content, this study emphasizes the visual, tactile, and contextual dimensions of mokkan—including their shape, size, texture, inscription method, and spatial orientation—as active agents in the adaptation of Sinographic writing. It argues that wood’s pliability enabled a culture of writing deeply intertwined with experimentation and sensory engagement. From notation tags and practice multi-surfaced rods to carved amulets, mokkan embodied social, religious, and administrative functions beyond the semantic meaning of the script. By situating mokkan within broader East Asian material traditions, the article lays out a preliminary groundwork that underscores the importance of medium-specific aesthetics and tactile interactions in the formation of early Korean literacy and textual culture, revealing how writing was experienced as both a visual and bodily practice.

Ancient stone inscriptions composed in ancient script 古文字, known as epigraphic rubbings of ancient texts 古文碑帖, are confirmed to have been introduced into Chosŏn in large numbers beginning in the late sixteenth century. The interest in epigraphic rubbings of ancient texts 古文碑帖 during the late Chosŏn period stemmed from the fervent enthusiasm for epigraphy 金石 and epigraphic compilations 金石帖. Starting with the 17th-century envoy mission to Beijing 燕行 led by Rangsŏn’gun Yi U 朗善君 李俁, Chosŏn envoys who admired epigraphy and calligraphy acquired Shiguwen 石鼓文, Shenyubei 神禹碑, and Yishanbei 嶧山碑, thus giving rise to the epigraphy fever 金石熱 beginning in the 17th century, which extended to the domain of epigraphic rubbings of ancient texts 古文碑帖. What is especially noteworthy is that in the late Chosŏn period, epigraphic rubbings of ancient texts 古文碑帖 were not merely briefly described, but rather were subjected to in-depth analysis and decipherment of characters and texts from a philological standpoint.
Shiguwen 石鼓文, the first stone-carved poetic inscription in China, is confirmed to have been introduced already in the 15th century and was brought in repeatedly through 17th to 19th-century envoy missions to Beijing 燕行. Accordingly, Chosŏn literati revealed a general philological consciousness by citing works such as Rixia jiuwen kao 日下舊聞考, Daxing xianzhi 大 興 縣 志 , and Dijing jingwu lüe 帝 京 景 物 略 to investigate the textual transmission of the Stone Drums 石鼓. Shenyubei 神禹碑 is presumed to have been introduced during the 16th to 17th centuries, and it is confirmed that a rubbing 拓本 of Shenyubei had already been brought into Chosŏn by 1659, as evidenced through a classical Chinese poem by Yun Hŭk 尹鑴. Hŏ Mok 許穆 (1595–1682) identified the edition of Shenyubei purchased by Yi U, Nam Kŭk’gwan 南克寬 criticized the cultural value of Shenyubei with striking acuity, and Sŏng Haeŭng 成海應 synthesized and organized the theories concerning the transmission and excavation of Shenyubei. Moreover, Chosŏn literati appreciated the aesthetic quality of the calligraphy in the inscription of Yishanbei 嶧山碑 from the early stage of its introduction and actively embraced its calligraphic style 書法, exhibiting a philological attitude regarding issues such as the authenticity and authorship of the stele.

This paper identifies a case of textual dislocation in each of two chapters of the Shiji: the “Memoir of Li Shang” and the “Memoir of the Xiongnu.” Reconstructing these misarranged passages suggests that the Memoirs section of the Shiji was originally composed on bamboo slips containing approximately 21 to 23 characters each—a format consistent with other narrative texts of the period. This suggests that Sima Tan and Sima Qian may have directly excerpted or copied earlier source materials in their compilation of the Shiji.
The displaced slips in the “Memoir of Li Shang” were already present in the version known to Ban Gu, leading to longstanding misinterpretations and textual modifications beginning with the Hanshu. Once restored, the passage shows that Li Shang and Fan Kuai were appointed Right and Left Chancellors, respectively, and took command in suppressing the rebellions of Zang Tu and Chen Xi after Gaozu’s withdrawal from the front. This restoration offers new insight into the structure of the chancellorship in the early Han dynasty.
The disruption in the “Memoir of the Xiongnu,” on the other hand, suggests that prior to the Eastern Han, there were at least two competing accounts of the final years of Emperor Wu’s reign. Eventually, only the version aligned with the Hanshu narrative prevailed and was established in the received historical tradition.

Wang Xizhi 王羲之 (ca. 303-ca. 361), the paragon calligrapher of the Eastern Jin dynasty, became a canonized figure in Chinese cultural history, particularly after Emperor Taizong of the Tang obsessively collected and reproduced his works. At that time, thus, one main criteria for ideal calligraphy was its resemblance to Wang’s style. In this context, stele inscriptions emerged that were composed by collecting, comparing, and imitating individual characters from Wang’s extant corpus—a practice known as “Collating Characters” 集字. One notable example in Korea is the Memorial Stele for Enshrining the Amitābha Buddha Statue at Mujangsa Temple 鍪藏寺阿彌陀佛造成記碑(801). Controversy has surrounded its calligraphic origins, however. In 1803, the prominent Qing scholar Weng Fanggang 翁方綱 (1733–1818) stated that the stele’s calligraphy was modeled on the Dingwu edition (1041) of the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion. In contrast, his son Weng Shukun 翁樹崑 (1786-1815) and the Korean antiquarian Kim Chŏnghŭi 金正喜 (1786–1856) maintained the traditional view, i.e., the brushwork to Kim Yukchin 金陸珍 (fl. tenth century), a Silla calligrapher. This case study of the Mujangsa Stele examines how the same inscription was interpreted differently by scholars in China and Korea, revealing divergent frameworks of copying, authenticity, and cultural authority. It then turns to ongoing debates among modern scholars, proposing that the two seemingly opposing theories—collation versus Korean inscriber—may in fact be complementary rather than contradictory.

The utilization and evolution of classical Chinese writing on the Korean Peninsula exhibit distinctive characteristics within the broader East Asian cultural sphere. In ancient Korea, despite the existence of multiple competing states, a shared cultural civilization emerged wherein Classical Chinese writing played a pivotal role. Subsequently, Korean intellectuals actively assimilated and reinterpreted Classical Chinese texts, significantly contributing to developments in literature, history, law, politics, economics, and various scholarly disciplines. Classical Chinese served not only as a medium for intellectual discourse but also facilitated the dissemination and exchange of shared knowledge. Even after the invention of Han’gŭl in the 15th century, Han’gŭl documents primarily remained restricted to personal correspondence, translations of royal protocols, women's writings, and fictional works.
This paper provides an overview of the historical development of classical Chinese literature on the Korean Peninsula, categorizing its progression into three distinct stages: the formative period of classical Chinese textual conventions, the period of expansion, the era of transformation and diversification. During each period, state authorities rigorously upheld established literary genres and hierarchical writing practices, while simultaneously non-political and popular literary traditions emerged and evolved in opposition to state influence. This complex interplay led to a multilayered literary culture in pre-modern Korea. The classical Chinese literary tradition, forged through the interactions and tensions among state power, non political literary hierarchies, and popular literary movements, generated an extensive corpus that includes fictional literature reflecting national sentiments or reality, scholarly treatises, historical documentation, and rhetorical documents employed in diplomatic exchanges and both public and private contexts. Keywords: Classical Chinese with Classical Grammar, hybrid Korean-style Chinese, transformation texts, rhymes, civil service examination composition, public literature, private literature, diplomatic documents

This paper applies a stratigraphic analytical method to the “Wuxing zhi” 五行志 chapter of the Han shu 漢書 and uses the results of this analysis to argue that the “Wuxing zhi” is a composite text. The contents of the “Wuxing zhi” reflect three major moments of authorship: a catalogue composed by Western Han scholar Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒 (179-104 BCE) that summarizes anomalies and calamities recorded in the Chunqiu 春秋 “Spring and Autumn Annals”; a catalogue composed by Western Han scholar Liu Xiang 劉向 (77-6 BCE) that expanded Dong Zhongshu’s list and applied the Hong fan Wuxing zhuan 洪範五行傳 theoretical framework to it; and Ban Gu’s 班固 (32-92) fusion of these two catalogues and addition of a catalogue of Western Han anomalies to form the main part of the contents of the “Wuxing zhi.” This view of the “Wuxing zhi” as a composite text breaks away from the traditional focus on whether it reflects a tendentious view of history and the extent to which its contents were fabricated, demanding that before such questions be asked, the “Wuxing zhi” must first be studied by its constituent layers. Indeed, stratigraphic analysis suggests that the contents of the “Wuxing zhi” reflect acts of rigorous historical study (not intentional deceipt or fabrication) carried out from the theoretical perspective of “heaven-human sentient response theory” 天人感應論 at separate points in time) and thus revitalizes this text as a source of Han intellectual history.