Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch
Encyclopedia
The Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch is a learned society
based in Seoul
, South Korea
. First established in 1900, it was founded to provide a platform for scholarly research on the history, culture and natural landscapes of the Korean Peninsula. It is thought to be the oldest English-language academic organization now existing that is devoted exclusively to the discipline known as Korean Studies
. Its annual journal, Transactions, has been described as being "for much of the 20th century, the most important Western-language source on Korean culture."
, Homer B. Hulbert , George Heber Jones
, Horace Grant Underwood
, Henry Gerhard Appenzeller, D. A. Bunker and William B. Scranton. Other missionaries who were members of the RASKB from the very start included the medical doctors Horace N. Allen, Oliver R. Avison and the Anglican priest (later bishop) Mark Napier Trollope
.
From the start, the Society's main activity was the presentation and discussion of scholarly papers by members at occasional meetings. These papers were then published in an annual journal titled Transactions of the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. From 1900 until the end of 1902, the Society met regularly, papers were presented and subsequently published. From early in 1903, however, its activities ceased and did not resume until a new president and council were elected early in 1911. Among the reasons for this interruption may be cited the death or departure from Korea of many of the founding members, and the troubling events of those years, including the Russo-Japanese War
and the annexation
of the Daehan-jeguk or Greater Korean Empire by Japan
in 1910. After 1911, however, the Society continued to meet and publish Transactions regularly until the outbreak of the Pacific War
at the end of 1941. Many of the papers published in Transactions continue to fascinate scholars of Korean culture even today. They cover a great variety of topics, ranging from the remotest origins of Korean culture, through descriptions of ancient monuments and temples, through lists of the plants and animals found in Korea, to surveys of contemporary gold-mining and ginseng-production. During this period the Society established a moderately sized lending library. After the surrender of Japan in 1945, a few former members returned to Korea, including Horace Horton Underwood, and the Society resumed its activities. However, the outbreak of the Korean War
in June 1950, led to the suspension of its activities. The president for 1950, the Anglican priest Charles Hunt, was among the many foreign missionaries and diplomats taken northward on the so-called Death March
by the North Korean forces. He died during the journey in November 1950.
before returning members were able to resume the Society's interrupted activities. Volume XXXII of Transactions dated 1951 and containing reports of activities in early 1950 was printed in Hong Kong
in 1951, during the war. Volume XXXIII was dated 1957 and although it still had to be printed in Hong Kong, it records how the first General Meeting of the revived RASKB was held on February 23, 1956. The revived Society quickly grew and flourished. There were increasing numbers of foreigners living in South Korea
, not only diplomats and missionaries but also military, educational and business personnel from many countries. For volunteers in the US Peace Corps
program, the meetings were especially important and many retained contact with the RASKB in the following decades. For a long period, the meetings of the RASKB provided a unique chance to learn more about Korean history and culture. Very soon, the Society began to organize field trips to places of interest, sometimes far removed from Seoul. The difficulties of transportation in post-war Korea were relieved by help from the ministries and military authorities of the Republic of Korea. For a considerable period, the RASKB was alone in providing such programs and the lists of members found at the end of most volumes of Transactions soon rose to over a thousand. It was at this time, too, that the Society began to publish scholarly and also more popular books about Korea in its own name. In the last decades of the century, it also imported and sold books about Korean topics that had been published abroad. From the late 1970s, it was able to rent an office / book-store and hire a full-time Korean General Manager. Leading figures in this period include the scholarly Anglican missionary Richard Rutt, Carl Ferris Miller
and the third generation of the Underwood family to belong to the RASKB, Horace G. Underwood II.
is a major figure on the international stage, with hundreds of thousands of foreign residents, the RASKB continues to offer a regular program of lectures, twice each month, and field-trips each weekend. It has recently (mid-2011) published the eighty-fifth volume of Transactions. It maintains a modest library of some 1,500 volumes and has, until recently at least, continued to publish occasional scholarly books. Since 2004, the RASKB has been registered with the Korean government as a non-profit cultural foundation.
1902-03: J. N. Jordon
1911: Arthur Hyde-Lay
1912-16: J. S. Gale
1916: Arthur Hyde-Lay
1917-19: Bishop M. N. Trollope
1920: R.S. Miller
1921-25: Bishop M. N. Trollope
1926: H.D. Appenzeller
1928-1930: Bishop M. N. Trollope
1931-1933: H.H. Underwood
1934: E.W. Koons
1935: Charles Hunt
1936: Hugh Miller
1937: W. M. Clark
1938-41: H. H. Underwood
1948-1949: H. H. Underwood
1950: Charles Hunt
1957: Horace G. Underwood
1958: George L. Paik
1959: Richard Herts
1960: Richard Herts
1961-5: Roger Chambard
1966: Robert A. Kinney
1967: David Steinberg
1968: Samuel H. Moffett
1969: Carl F. Bartz
1971: Nigel C.C. Trench
1972: Prof. Kim, Jungsae
1973: Amb. Pierr Landy
1974: Rt. Rev. Richard Rutt
1975: Edward R. Wright
1976: Prof. Song, Yo-in
1977: Dr. Karl Leuteritz
1978: Mr. James Wade
1979: Ms. Helen R. Tieszen
1980: Mr. Paul G. van Weddingen
1981: Amb. Roland van den Berg
1982: Dr. James Hoyt
1983: Mrs. Barbara Mintz
1984: Dr. James E. Hoare
1985: Mr. Duane C. Davidson
1986: Mr. Phillip Wetton
1987: Mr. C. Ferris Miller
1988-9: Dr. Kim, Young-duk
1990-1: Mr. Frederick Carriere
1992-3: Dr. Horace G. Underwood
1994: Mr. Samuel H. Kidder
1995-6: Dr. Suh, Ji-moon
1997: Mr. John Nowell
1998-9: Amb. Joost Wolfswinkel
2000-1: Dr. Horace G. Underwood
2002-5: Dr. Kim, Young-duk
2006-7: Mr. Jang, Song-Hyon
2008-10: Mr. Peter Bartholomew
2011: Brother Anthony of Taizé
Learned society
A learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline/profession, as well a group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies,...
based in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
. First established in 1900, it was founded to provide a platform for scholarly research on the history, culture and natural landscapes of the Korean Peninsula. It is thought to be the oldest English-language academic organization now existing that is devoted exclusively to the discipline known as Korean Studies
Korean Studies
Korean Studies can refer to:* Korean studies, the academic study of Korea* Korean Studies , an academic journal published by the University of Hawaii...
. Its annual journal, Transactions, has been described as being "for much of the 20th century, the most important Western-language source on Korean culture."
Early History
The Society was first established on June 16, 1900, when a founding meeting attended by seventeen men (all but four of them Protestant missionaries) was held in the Reading Room of the Seoul Union Club. On that day officers were elected and a constitution (based on that of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland) was adopted. The British RAS immediately acknowledged the establishment of the Korea Branch and authorized the use of its name. Among those present at the inaugural meeting were the acting British Chargé d’affaires, J. H. Gubbins, (who became the first president) and the missionaries James Scarth GaleJames Scarth Gale
James S. Gale was a Canadian Presbyterian missionary, educator and Bible translator in Korea.-Life:James Scarth Gale was born 31 January 1863 in Alma, Ontario, Canada. He married twice:...
, Homer B. Hulbert , George Heber Jones
George Heber Jones
George Heber Jones was an American Christian missionary in Korea. Jones, who grew up in Utica, New York, is notable as the first Protestant missionary in Korea who took an academic approach to the research of Korean religions...
, Horace Grant Underwood
Horace Grant Underwood
Horace Grant Underwood was a Presbyterian missionary, educator, and translator who dedicated his life to developing the Korean society and Christianity.-Early life:...
, Henry Gerhard Appenzeller, D. A. Bunker and William B. Scranton. Other missionaries who were members of the RASKB from the very start included the medical doctors Horace N. Allen, Oliver R. Avison and the Anglican priest (later bishop) Mark Napier Trollope
Mark Napier Trollope
Mark Napier Trollope was the third Bishop in Korea from 1911 until his death. Born on 28 March 1862 and educated at Lancing College and New College, Oxford, he was ordained in 1888. After a curacy at Great Yarmouth he spent a decade with the missionary team in Korea. Returning to England he was...
.
From the start, the Society's main activity was the presentation and discussion of scholarly papers by members at occasional meetings. These papers were then published in an annual journal titled Transactions of the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. From 1900 until the end of 1902, the Society met regularly, papers were presented and subsequently published. From early in 1903, however, its activities ceased and did not resume until a new president and council were elected early in 1911. Among the reasons for this interruption may be cited the death or departure from Korea of many of the founding members, and the troubling events of those years, including the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
and the annexation
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
of the Daehan-jeguk or Greater Korean Empire by Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in 1910. After 1911, however, the Society continued to meet and publish Transactions regularly until the outbreak of the Pacific War
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
at the end of 1941. Many of the papers published in Transactions continue to fascinate scholars of Korean culture even today. They cover a great variety of topics, ranging from the remotest origins of Korean culture, through descriptions of ancient monuments and temples, through lists of the plants and animals found in Korea, to surveys of contemporary gold-mining and ginseng-production. During this period the Society established a moderately sized lending library. After the surrender of Japan in 1945, a few former members returned to Korea, including Horace Horton Underwood, and the Society resumed its activities. However, the outbreak of the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
in June 1950, led to the suspension of its activities. The president for 1950, the Anglican priest Charles Hunt, was among the many foreign missionaries and diplomats taken northward on the so-called Death March
Death march
A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war or other captives or deportees. Those marching must walk over long distances for an extremely long period of time and are not supplied with food or water...
by the North Korean forces. He died during the journey in November 1950.
The Modern Period
It was several years after the end of the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
before returning members were able to resume the Society's interrupted activities. Volume XXXII of Transactions dated 1951 and containing reports of activities in early 1950 was printed in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
in 1951, during the war. Volume XXXIII was dated 1957 and although it still had to be printed in Hong Kong, it records how the first General Meeting of the revived RASKB was held on February 23, 1956. The revived Society quickly grew and flourished. There were increasing numbers of foreigners living in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, not only diplomats and missionaries but also military, educational and business personnel from many countries. For volunteers in the US Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
program, the meetings were especially important and many retained contact with the RASKB in the following decades. For a long period, the meetings of the RASKB provided a unique chance to learn more about Korean history and culture. Very soon, the Society began to organize field trips to places of interest, sometimes far removed from Seoul. The difficulties of transportation in post-war Korea were relieved by help from the ministries and military authorities of the Republic of Korea. For a considerable period, the RASKB was alone in providing such programs and the lists of members found at the end of most volumes of Transactions soon rose to over a thousand. It was at this time, too, that the Society began to publish scholarly and also more popular books about Korea in its own name. In the last decades of the century, it also imported and sold books about Korean topics that had been published abroad. From the late 1970s, it was able to rent an office / book-store and hire a full-time Korean General Manager. Leading figures in this period include the scholarly Anglican missionary Richard Rutt, Carl Ferris Miller
Carl Ferris Miller
Carl Ferris Miller , was an American expatriate living in Korea, eventually becoming one of few Americans to be naturalized as a Korean citizen. He is best known as a world-famous arborist and founder of the in South Chungchong Province, Korea....
and the third generation of the Underwood family to belong to the RASKB, Horace G. Underwood II.
The Present
Today, when South KoreaSouth Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
is a major figure on the international stage, with hundreds of thousands of foreign residents, the RASKB continues to offer a regular program of lectures, twice each month, and field-trips each weekend. It has recently (mid-2011) published the eighty-fifth volume of Transactions. It maintains a modest library of some 1,500 volumes and has, until recently at least, continued to publish occasional scholarly books. Since 2004, the RASKB has been registered with the Korean government as a non-profit cultural foundation.
Presidents of the RAS-KB
1900: J. H. Gubbins1902-03: J. N. Jordon
1911: Arthur Hyde-Lay
1912-16: J. S. Gale
1916: Arthur Hyde-Lay
1917-19: Bishop M. N. Trollope
1920: R.S. Miller
1921-25: Bishop M. N. Trollope
1926: H.D. Appenzeller
1928-1930: Bishop M. N. Trollope
1931-1933: H.H. Underwood
1934: E.W. Koons
1935: Charles Hunt
1936: Hugh Miller
1937: W. M. Clark
1938-41: H. H. Underwood
1948-1949: H. H. Underwood
1950: Charles Hunt
1957: Horace G. Underwood
1958: George L. Paik
1959: Richard Herts
1960: Richard Herts
1961-5: Roger Chambard
1966: Robert A. Kinney
1967: David Steinberg
1968: Samuel H. Moffett
1969: Carl F. Bartz
1971: Nigel C.C. Trench
1972: Prof. Kim, Jungsae
1973: Amb. Pierr Landy
1974: Rt. Rev. Richard Rutt
1975: Edward R. Wright
1976: Prof. Song, Yo-in
1977: Dr. Karl Leuteritz
1978: Mr. James Wade
1979: Ms. Helen R. Tieszen
1980: Mr. Paul G. van Weddingen
1981: Amb. Roland van den Berg
1982: Dr. James Hoyt
1983: Mrs. Barbara Mintz
1984: Dr. James E. Hoare
1985: Mr. Duane C. Davidson
1986: Mr. Phillip Wetton
1987: Mr. C. Ferris Miller
1988-9: Dr. Kim, Young-duk
1990-1: Mr. Frederick Carriere
1992-3: Dr. Horace G. Underwood
1994: Mr. Samuel H. Kidder
1995-6: Dr. Suh, Ji-moon
1997: Mr. John Nowell
1998-9: Amb. Joost Wolfswinkel
2000-1: Dr. Horace G. Underwood
2002-5: Dr. Kim, Young-duk
2006-7: Mr. Jang, Song-Hyon
2008-10: Mr. Peter Bartholomew
2011: Brother Anthony of Taizé