Positives This book is highly praised for preserving a unique historical account from 1123 AD, penned by Song Dynasty official Xu Jing during his diplomatic mission to Korea. Readers will find extensive and detailed descriptions of Korean life, encompassing everything from the monarchy and military to the minutiae of everyday items like incense burners, sleeping clothes, and writing brushes. The editor, Sem Vermeersch, is commended for his incredible work in compiling and presenting this material, along with providing crucial historical and cultural context, ensuring the valuable primary source material is accessible to modern audiences.
Negatives While the detailed observations are a strength, some readers may find the sheer volume of descriptions regarding commonplace objects to be overwhelming or excessive. A significant drawback highlighted is the loss of Xu Jing's original illustrations over the centuries. This absence means that readers are left without visual aids for the many items described, diminishing the potential for immediate engagement and requiring a substantial effort from the reader's imagination to visualize the historical world depicted. The lack of these visuals makes the extensive item descriptions less impactful for some.
Conclusion Ultimately, this book stands as an incredibly valuable historical document, meticulously edited and presented. It offers a profound opportunity to delve into the past, provided readers are willing to actively engage their "mind's eye." It is particularly recommended for history enthusiasts who appreciate very granular details about daily life and cultural artifacts of a bygone era. It will appeal to those who enjoy primary source material and are prepared to exercise their creativity to reconstruct the historical setting from textual descriptions alone. The reviewer also notes a unique appeal in the original author's consistent cultural observations.
