Selected Writings of Han Yongun

Book excerpt: One of Korea’s most eminent Buddhists and political activists in the independence movement during the long years of Japan’s colonization of his country, Han Yongun , otherwise known as Manhae (1879-1944), was a prolific writer and outstanding poet, known especially for his poetry collection Nim ui ch’immuk (‘The Silence of the Lover’). This volume, however, concentrates on translations of his principal non-literary works, which are published here in English for the first time. It focuses on his ideas for the revitalization of Korean Buddhism in the modern world; the nature of Buddhism as a religion; his critique of the atheist movements fashionable among the communists of his time, together with memoirs of his early life and travels. Selected Writings of Han Yongun, published in collaboration with the Academy of Korean Studies, also contains an introductory essay on Manhae’s life, his relationship with socialist ideas as well as the significance of some of the ideas discussed in the translated writings. Students and researchers in Korean Studies, Studies in Buddhism and Comparative Religions will find this collection invaluable.