Professor Kim Sun-hee’s Book Seohak Selected as 2025 Best Academic Book of the Year N
- Date2025.12.31
- 370
Seohak(Academy of Korean Studies Press, 2025), authored by Professor Kim Sun-hee of the Department of Philosophy, has been selected as the Best Academic Book in the “2025 Outstanding Books of the Year” awards organized by the Korean Association of University Presses.
This initiative was launched to encourage publishing activities at member universities and to identify and promote outstanding academic books. A total of 130 titles from 17 universities nationwide were submitted, and evaluations were conducted from December 11 to 19, 2025. As a result, 22 titles were selected, including four Best Books by category and 18 Outstanding Books.
Selected as the Best Academic Book,Seohakis a scholarly work that offers a multidimensional examination of the translation and reception of Western knowledge, culture, and technology in premodern East Asia from the late 16th to the early 20th century through the concept of “Seohak” (Western Learning). Moving beyond the limitations of earlier studies that tended to generalize Seohak as merely the influx of Western civilization in late Joseon or as part of a linear modernization process, the book closely analyzes why and how East Asian intellectuals reconfigured Western knowledge within their own systems of thought.
In particular, the book traces how philosophical, religious, and scientific knowledge introduced by missionaries was “translated” as it passed through China and Joseon, transforming into concepts such as soul (靈魂) and Lord of Heaven (天主) within the traditional Chinese lexical framework. It further examines how, through processes of Confucianization, these ideas were detached from their original contexts and newly positioned within the East Asian intellectual sphere. Joseon intellectuals, upon encountering Seohak, recalled analogous themes within their own traditions and used them as mediators to selectively adopt or reject foreign knowledge. Knowledge that was accepted ultimately shed its Western originality and was subsumed as subordinate learning within Confucianism, becoming a new intellectual resource in the Joseon knowledge system.
Through this analysis,Seohakexpands the subject of Western Learning beyond “the West” as a mere transmitter to include Joseon Confucian scholars and anti-Catholic thinkers who actively interpreted, accepted, and critiqued it. In doing so, the book offers a fresh perspective on how knowledge was formed and transformed in premodern East Asia. By interpreting the motivations, contexts, and processes of Seohak reception in a nuanced and multidimensional way, it also opens up new possibilities for understanding the intellectual and political changes of late Joseon beyond teleological or generalized narratives. The book is part of the “Korean History of Thought” series planned and published by the Academy of Korean Studies Press, contributing to the reexamination of Korea’s intellectual traditions and cultural foundations through the internal logic of Korean thought and philosophy.
Professor Kim Sun-hee is a professor in the Department of Philosophy at Ewha Womans University and currently serves as Director of the Institute of Korean Culture. She has drawn scholarly attention through numerous works on Seohak and East Asian thought, includingThe Challenge of Civilization and the Transformation of Knowledge in the Reign of King Sukjong,Seohak: A Strange Mirror Encountered by Joseon Confucianism, andMatteo Ricci, Zhu Xi, and Jeong Yak-yong.
Professor Kim commented, “As a researcher who has long focused on studies of Seohak, I am grateful to have this work recognized as representative in the field. Following the selection of my first academic book as a Best Academic Book by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism 12 years ago, this honor allows me to view my scholarly path as having received a meaningful affirmation.”