Two English books have been published by Harvard University as part of its project to look at early Korean history and archeology, often viewed and told from Japanese and Chinese perspectives.

Titled “New Perspectives on Early Korean Art: From Silla to Koryo” and “The Han Commanderies in Early Korean History,” the books are the fifth and sixth volumes of the Early Korea Project Occasional Series by the Korea Institute at the prestigious U.S. school. The project and its publications are sponsored by the Seoul-based Northeast Asian History Foundation run by the Korean government.

“The new books are a result of our on-going efforts with the Harvard unit to produce publications in English on the early history of the Korean Peninsula,” Woo Sung-min, an official at the foundation.

Books in the series are used in university classrooms in the United States, including Harvard, University of California, Los Angeles, and Hawaii University, she added.

“Five more volumes are in the pipeline, two possibly due out this year ― one in the first half and the other in the second half.”

The “New Perspectives on Early Korean Art: From Silla to Koryo,” edited by Kim Youn-mi, discusses a variety of artworks and provides insight into the cross-cultural interactions among the peoples and regions of Korea, China and South and Southeast Asia during the period.

“The Han Commanderies in Early Korean History,” edited by Mark E. Byington, deals with the period of history of the Korean Peninsula characterized by the presence of commanderies first established by the Chinese Han empire in B.C. 108.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)