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A New History of Parhae, the English edition of the title published by the NAHF in 2007, translated by UCLA professor John B. Duncan, has been published by Global Oriental of the international publishing corporation Koninklijke Brill NV. It became the first Korean book on the history of Balhae ever translated into English. John B. Duncan, the translator of this book, is the former director of the UCLA Center for Korean Studies and a renowned scholar in the international community of Korean Studies and in the field of Korean History. He is a great contributor to the development and spread of Korean Studies within the United States, having trained numerous researchers in the related fields. His exchange with the Korean academia is current and ongoing, and he is involved in a variety of academic projects. His extraordinary passion for Korean history and language is also what made the translation of this book possible.
Above all else, this is the first book on Balhae for the general public, written and compiled by experts in the history of Balhae from Korea and around the world. It consecutively presents the establishment and growth of Balhae, Balhae's history, Balhea's relations with its neighbors, Balhae's culture, and other countries' perception of Balhae. As the Prosperous Country in the Ocean East (海東盛國), the successor state of Koguryo, Balhae occupied the largest land in the history of Korea and established a splendid history and culture. The significance of the history of Balhae lies in its political, cultural, and racial continuity perceived in the Gojoseon-Koguryo-Silla·Balhae line in Korean history. It is also highly significant in that an attempt has been made to explain the history of Balhae in an easy-to-understand way for the general public of Korea, despite the facts that it is difficult for South Koreans to access the three provinces in Northeast China, the Maritime Territory in Russia, and the northern Korean peninsular, regions where the history of Balhae unfolded, and that not a sufficient number of studies have been done on the history of Balhae.
As the translator of this book, Professor John B. Duncan commented that the book's important significance lay in its attempts to make critical review of China's claims on Balhae and prove the political, cultural, and racial connections between Koguryo and Balhae. He also said that the views on the history of Balhae presented by the authors of his book were much more convincing than a majority of explanations offered by Chinese scholars.

The Consilience (統攝) Progress Model for the Studies of the History of Balhae in the 21st Century

This means that global studies and explanation for consilience are needed more than ever. It is now time for us to keep our perception of the history of Balhae in line with this trend of historical studies. The first and foremost motivation behind planning and publishing this book was to meet the needs of the Koreans with increased interest in the history of Balhae and offer guidelines for better understanding the history of Balhae. Balhae is the successor state of Koguryo, founded in 30 years after the collapse of Koguryo. Therefore, a look into the extent to which the culture and tradition of Koguryo continued and evolved in the history of Balhae will clearly reveal the characteristics of the history of Balhae.
This is the first attempt ever made to create a comprehensive book on the history and culture of Balhae for the general public. It covers major topics chosen by experts in the history of Balhae from Korea and around the world that will illustrate the history and culture of Balhae. This book presented Balhae in such a way that it could be understood easily by not only students but anyone interested in Korean history. It offers important resources that allow readers to gain a systematic understanding of the history of Balhae that has been unfamiliar to them, and tell them what they should do about it.
The authors of this book are a large number of researchers specialized in the history of Balhae.

The book consists large of: Part 1 'The Establishment and Growth of Parhae'; Part 2 'Aspects of Parhae's History'; Part 3 'Parhae's Relations with Its Neighbors'; Part 4 'Aspects of the Culture of Parhae'; Part 5 'Parhae as Seen from Various Countries'; 'Timeline of Parhae History'; and 'Lineage Chart of Parhae Kings.'
In detail, Part 1 consists of 'The Founding and Naming of Parhae', and 'The Ethnic Composition of Parhae's Population', Part 2 consists of 'The Territory of Parhae', 'The System of Local Administration in Parhae', 'The Fall of Parhae', and 'The Movement to Revive Parhae.' And Part 3 consists of 'Enduring Window between North and South: Parhae and Silla', 'Parhae's War with Tang China: Background and Significance', 'Exchanges between Parhae and Japan ', and 'Parhae as an East Asian Maritime Power.' Part 4 'Aspects of the Culture of Parhae' consists of 'Parhae's Burial Culture', 'Clothing in Parhae,' and 'Parhae's Architectural Culture.' Finally, Part 5 'Parhae as Seen from Various Countries' consists of 'Chinese Perceptions of Parhae' and 'Perceptions of Parhae in North Korea, Japan, and Russia.'

More Books on Korean History Need to Be Translated and Published in Other Languages

Based on the experience of writing such a book for the general public, the NAHF has published The History and Culture of Balhae, a compendium of the history of Balhae based on the latest studies in the Korean and international academia. The History and Culture of Balhae described the entire history of Balhae divided into chapters on Balhae's foundation, Balhae's changes and prosperity, Balhae's fall and the movement to revive it, Balhae's systems and relations with its neighbors; Balhae's society, economy, and culture, perception of, and references related to, the history of Balhae. In particular, this book maintains balance in academic view by involving experts from China, Japan, and Russia as well as from Korea.
The publication of the English edition of A New History of Parhae has laid a foundation for effectively communicating the Korean perception and understanding of the history of Balhae to the Western academia. Until this book, there were no books for the general public, no textbooks, and no specialized research books on Balhae available in the Western academia. Therefore, this book will help English-speaking researchers and students to broaden their understanding of Korean history as well as the history of Balhae. Furthermore, the NAHF should step up its efforts to translate and publish books on Korea into English and other languages to make them available to the international academia and researchers so as to actively promote and spread the logic of our interpretation and understanding of history to the international academia.