The passing of RAS Korea

The Passing Of Ras Korea

By Mark Peterson
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Say it’s not so! I learn within the pages of The Korea Instances that Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) Korea, after 124 years, is dying a lonely and remoted dying. Can that be true?

For many who have no idea, RAS Korea is the Korea department of the Royal Asiatic Society of Nice Britain and Eire. The phrase royal is a reference to the royalty of England, the place the headquarters is situated. RAS Korea is one in every of a number of branches that has existed in varied locations in Asia.

RAS Korea was fashioned in Seoul in 1900 for the aim of studying about Korea for members of the overseas group — that means diplomats, missionaries and students. The driving pressure within the early days have been the missionaries who had a scholarly curiosity in studying concerning the nation during which they have been serving.

Once I first participated in RAS actions within the mid-60s and once more within the 70s and 80s, the important thing figures within the group have been nonetheless the long-term missionaries dwelling in Korea, however there have been diplomats and college students, too.

I served as an officer within the group on a number of events, as soon as as vice chairman. The president I served underneath was an envoy from the Netherlands — and I loved working with him very a lot. He was a very gracious diplomat’s diplomat.

My first tutorial presentation to a Korean viewers was at RAS Korea. Possibly I shouldn’t say that it was a Korean viewers as a result of the group was primarily for foreigners and displays have been all the time in English — nevertheless, as years progressed, the aim of the group was acknowledged as bringing Korean students and worldwide students collectively.

I used to be engaged on my doctorate dissertation and towards the tip of that yr, my Fulbright pupil yr in Korea, I used to be prepared to inform the world about my findings, and the RAS lecture sequence was my format. I used to be so delighted. However very nervous. I didn’t know the way the viewers would react and maybe criticize my analysis? Because it turned out, I didn’t know him, however within the viewers was William Skillend, the founding father of Korean research in England. I had learn his work and knew of him however had by no means met him. I quoted Marshall Pihl, my Korean literature professor at Harvard, in saying that the well-known pre-modern novel “The Legend of Hong Gildong” was written by Heo Gyun. Within the question-and-answer session Skillend scolded me for not understanding any higher! He stated it has been confirmed that the earliest textual content of the story couldn’t have been sooner than the 18th century, and Heo Gyun lived within the sixteenth century, so he couldn’t probably have written the story.

I realized in dramatic trend from one of many best pillars of Korean research concerning the authorship of Hong Gildong. The humorous factor is, at this time, should you ask 1,00 Koreans in the event that they know who wrote the story, 99 will say it was Heo Gyun, and the opposite one will say they don’t know. Now I, too, perceive Skillend’s frustration at discovering one’s analysis ignored!

RAS Korea as soon as had branches in different cities in Korea. I as soon as was in a position to give a lecture on the Daegu Department the place I used to be hosted by that chapter’s luminary, Sam Moffett, one of many best of the missionaries in Korea.

RAS Korea had 4 main actions — a biweekly lecture, weekend excursions, publishing an annual journal and a bookstore of Korea-related books in English. I had three articles printed in Transactions, thus deepening my gratitude for the group.

Transactions printed a number of main articles since its founding in 1900 together with the 1939 customary of romanization referred to as the McCune-Reischauer system, nonetheless in use in tutorial circles at this time, though the 2000 Revised Romanization system is most popular by Korean authorities sources and others.

The romanization system got here into existence when the illustrious scholar and founding father of Japanese research at Harvard, Edwin O. Reischauer, got here to Korea and appeared up one in every of Korea’s students from a missionary household, George McCune. The 27-year-old Reischauer is alleged to have requested 29-year-old McCune what romanization system one ought to use, to which reply, now we have not one but, spurred them to go forward and make the system, which they recorded for the world to see in Vol. 29 of Transactions, printed in 1939.

One among my most memorable moments within the RAS was after I led a tour to Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. I led a number of excursions, and the RAS excursions weren’t the run-of-the-mill excursions; they all the time had an off-the-beaten-track taste to enchantment to even long-time residents of Korea. The American ambassador on the time, Donald Gregg, tell us he could be on the tour that day. One thing got here up, and he couldn’t go, however he requested if I might give him and his spouse a private tour the next weekend. I consented fortunately, and we had an incredible two-day journey — me, my spouse, our toddler daughter, the ambassador and Mrs. Gregg. The friendship fashioned on that journey later performed out in quite a few actions for me with the Korea Society in New York, the place Gregg grew to become the president after his diplomatic profession.

So, if it stays true, if nobody steps as much as save RAS Korea if it dies a noble dying, I’ll all the time cherish my recollections of actions there. And I’m a lifetime member. Unhappy and ironic that I outlived my lifetime membership. Because you defaulted, RAS Korea, can I get a refund? (TIC, in case you missed it.)

Mark Peterson (markpeterson@byu.edu) is a professor emeritus of Korean, Asian and Close to Japanese languages at Brigham Younger College in Utah.

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