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many scholars from both the East and West, including academics from the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, and Tokyo University. In the scholarly world, the study of the Taiping, the Tonghak, Asian millenarianism, and generalizations about millenarian movements are of great importance because one can hardly appreciate China, Korea, and the East without understanding these two movements, and it is logical that one cannot fully comprehend millenarian movements without studying Asian millenarian movements. In the scholarly world, the study of millenarianism is becoming increasingly important and garnering more attention.
In order to study millenarian movements in a global context, the careful study of numerous resources in various languages in many different countries is necessary for the understanding of the different cultures. Dr. Hong Beom Rhee is up to the task to conduct such a study with his strong knowledge base and his international background.
In order to undertake such a scholarly feat, he spent many years at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, and Tokyo University, which provided the platform for his study of millenarianism. The end result is excellent—a mastery of East Asian millenarian traditions utilizing Chinese, Korean, and Japanese sources and concepts, coupled with the valuable combination of elements of Western, Middle Eastern, Russian, and African history and even natural science as appropriate. As I write this in 2007 when we have just recently transitioned from the 20th century to the 21st century, it is clear to me, as an emeritus historian, that Dr. Rhee's globalization of history and its meaning is very important, not only for understanding the course of human history, but also for resolving the problems we face in the present and future. There may not be a solution here, but there is a staggering abundance of ideas and possibilities—some brilliant and some eccentric—discussed and evaluated in this book, which suggests that this unusual and unique study of history (not unlike Arnold Toynbee's work) deserves a wide readership!
F. Hilary Conroy
Emeritus Professor of History
University of Pennsylvania