Wrongful Deaths: Selected Inquest Records from Nineteenth-Century Korea - Korean Studies of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies

Commendation Quotes: This is an important contribution that significantly advances our knowledge of nineteenth--century Korean legal history. The translated cases shine by being able to introduce daily struggles of nonelites and illustrate the complex dynamics of the judiciary system during the last century of the Choson dynasty. Marc Notes: Translated from the Korean.; This collection presents and analyses inquest records that tell the stories of ordinary Korean people under the Choson court (1392-1910). Extending the study of this period, usually limited to elites, into the realm of everyday life, each inquest record includes a detailed postmortem examination and features testimony from everyone directly or indirectly related to the incident. The result is an amazingly vivid, colloquial account of the vibrant, multifaceted societal and legal cultures of early modern Korea. Commendation Quotes: This book provides an extremely rare view into social interactions among people of quite different classes in Choson Korea. Points of interest abound. Biographical Note: Sun Joo Kim is the Harvard-Yenching Professor of Korean History at Harvard University. Jungwon Kim is assistant professor of Korean history at Columbia University. Table of Contents: Acknowledgments -- Translators' Notes -- Map of Nineteenth-Century Korea -- Introduction Choson Korea in Its Last Century -- Case 1. An Adulterous Widower Meets a Violent Death / Yang Hang-nyon (Pyongyang, P'yongan Province, 1866) -- Case 2. A Family Activist Confronts a Local Magnate / Ms. Pak (Yongin, Kyonggi Province, Late Eighteenth Century) -- Case 3. A Defiant Slave Challenges His Master With Death / Yi Pong-dol (Anui, Kyongsang Province, 1842) -- Case 4. Two Widows Fight / Madam Chang, Ms. Un (Yech'on, Kyongsang Province, 1842) -- Case 5. A Heartless Wet Nurse Abuses An Infant / Mun Chong-ji (Chunghwa, P'yongan Province, 1866) -- Case 6. A Widower Seeks Private Settlement / Ms. Chong (Yongch'on, Kyongsang Province, 1889) -- Case 7. Adultery Leads to Murder / Ms. Paek (Anak, Hwanghae Province, 1897) -- Case 8. An Illegal Burial Begets a Son But Kills a Relative / Kim Kap-san (Hoeyang, Kangwon Province, 1899) -- Notes -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index. Publisher Marketing: This collection presents and analyzes inquest records that tell the stories of ordinary Korean people under the Choson court (1392-1910). Extending the study of this period, usually limited to elites, into the realm of everyday life, each inquest record includes a detailed postmortem examination and features testimony from everyone directly or indirectly related to the incident. The result is an amazingly vivid, colloquial account of the vibrant, multifaceted societal and legal cultures of early modern Korea. Sun Joo Kim is the Harvard-Yenching Professor of Korean History at Harvard University. Jungwon Kim is assistant professor of Korean history at Columbia University."This book provides an extremely rare view into social interactions among people of quite different classes in Choson Korea. Points of interest abound." --Robert E. Hegel, Washington University, St. Louis"This is an important contribution that significantly advances our knowledge of nineteenth-century Korean legal history. The translated cases shine by being able to introduce daily struggles of nonelites and illustrate the complex dynamics of the judiciary system during the last century of the Choson dynasty." -Jisoo Kim, George Washington University

Contributor Bio:  Kim, Sun Joo Sun Joo Kim is an architect and writer based in Boston, Massachusetts. A contributing editor for architecture and design at SmartPlanet, Sun Joo has also been published as an architect in Out of the Ordinary: Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Associates Architecture, Urbanism, Design. Sun Joo received a Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University. Her writing and designs focus on the social and cultural aspects of public spaces.