In Search of a History of East Asia = In Search of a History of East Asia

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

In this article the author supported by some 20 other scholars announces a new approach to writing a history of East Asia with emphasis on commonality among its major components, China, Korea, and Japan. The common denominators binding these countries are a culture formed by the use of the ideographic Chinese characters, Buddhism mediated by the Chinese characters, neo-Confucianism, and the penal and administrative codes. The entire history of East Asia is developed in four parts: Part 1 from prehistoric era to the 1st century B.C.; Part 2 from 1st century B.C. to 9th century A.D.; Part 3 from 9th century A.D. to mid-19th century; and part 4 from mind-19th century to the present. Readers will be impressed on this unique approach to capture the whole of history of East Asia.