| Chapter : | Introduction |
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popular shamanistic beliefs. His ideas were thus eclectically shaped. It incorporated such practices as the chanting of magical formulas, worship of mountain deities, and aspects of traditional shamanistic beliefs that were readily understood by village people.11 Professor Peter H. Lee's book, Source Book of Korean Civilization, published by Columbia University, also argues: “Tonghak is an eclectic religion founded by Ch'oe Cheu. Borrowing from various teachings, such as Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, and Shamanism,”12 Both scholars' arguments are the same as the school of thought, advocated by the scholars employed by the Japanese colonial government to give a negative image to the Koreans. In reality, Tonghak's doctrine originated in ancient Korean millenarianism. Ancient Korean millenarianism greatly influenced Confucianism and Taoism.
The other reason why ancient Korean history, which has a relationship with East Asian millenarianism, has not been studied in scholarly depth is because it is a very difficult and thorny task to find and read ancient Korean, Chinese, and Japanese historical sources. Furthermore, since the Korean government adopted the policy to use mainly the Korean language, or Han'g
l, there are not many scholars who have the proficiency to read ancient Korean, Chinese, and Japanese documents. Therefore, few scholarly publications in English introduce ancient Korean sources. A colonial legacy on Asian studies still rules over scholarly circles. As suggested by the African work of Professor Lee V. Cassanelli, some misconceptions on Asian history, which have been caused by a colonial legacy, have influenced not only American scholarship but also world scholarship.
American scholars played an important role in creating a new friendship with Japan after World War II, at the Hakone Conference in Japan in 1964, held to change Japan's image from a warlike nation to that of a democracy. The American scholars' studies mainly focused on Japanese modernization, the Meiji Restoration, Taisho liberalist movements, Samurai culture, and Japanese expansion abroad. Edwin Reischauer, Albert Craig, and Akira Iriye,