The Dreams of Two Yi-min (review)

BOOK REVIEWS203 action was inhibited to an impressive extent by a wide variety of institutional and ideological constraints. Even if one were to argue that there was a relative increase in royal prerogative toward the end of the Yi dynasty (an argument that I do not make), the reality of the situation was certainly far different from that presented by Sands, and by extension, by Patterson. To regard Kojong as "the law personified" is highly inaccurate. It seems to me that Patterson is confusing classical Chinese theories about the rise and fall of dynasties with the political and economic realities of late Yi Korea. Patterson's reliance on theoretical ideals of Chinese and Korean institutions is clear when he states at the end of Chapter 10: "At the end of a long dynastic cycle, late Yi Korea seemed enervated by corruption, high taxes, and general mismanagement, which added to the discontent of the people." In any case, his arguments about decline and corruption are not very credible when supported only by Western observers, of questionable authority. Even with these reservations, I found The Korean Frontier in America to be a highly readable and interesting look at the dynamics of a particularly important period of time. This book provides a worthwhile and unique perspective on the fall of the Yi dynasty and the tangled relationships among Korea, Hawaii, Japan, and the U.S. It will be useful even for those readers who might not have any specialized interest in Korean or Hawaiian immigration studies. ScottS. Burnett Brigham Young University The Dreams of Two Yi-min, by Margaret K. Pai. A Kolowalu Book. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989. iii + 200 pp. Photographs, glossary, index. $22.95. Nearly everyone born during Hawaii's territorial period has a story about growing up in the multiethnic cultural mix of the Islands. The Dreams of Two Yi-min, by Margaret K. Pai, is a combination of the typical and unique. It is a typical tale in that it traces the hard work that often led to success for the Asian immigrant, or "yi-min" as they are known in Korean. It is unique in that it is a story about Koreans, who constituted only 6 percent of the Islands' population from 1920 to the 1950s. This is decidedly an American story about two immigrants to the United States, who through hard work, intelligence, and ingenuity surmount language and cultural barriers and become very successful. For these immigrants, the author's parents Do In Kwon and Hee Kyung Lee, life was a constant struggle. If hard work helped the immigrant become successful, schools helped their children become Americans. Mrs. Pai details the esteem her family held for education and recounts vivid scenes from the school life of her childhood. There is a sense of nostalgia as she describes the sparkling sun streaming through classroom windows or the hoarding of crack seed under her house. She paints typical Island 204BOOK REVIEWS scenes that luckily can still be found in local schools. She also writes lovingly of life among a variety of ethnic families in Honolulu. Each family—Japanese, Korean, or Portuguese—was bound by its own cultural norms, but all shared a respect for others. This is an American tale with a distinct Hawaiian flavor. As with all households in Hawaii, Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor had an immediate, dramatic impact on Mrs. Pai's family. In recounting how her two brothers were swept into the army as she, her sister, and parents volunteered to help in other ways, this narrative epitomizes the lives of many Americans during World War II. It is a proud story that represents America and her people at their best. The Dreams of Two Yi-min is also a Korean story. It vividly describes the separation, tragedy, and loss that Koreans seem resigned to suffer. Yet in the midst of great adversity they refuse to be conquered, and through ongoing struggle they often succeed. The twentieth century has not been kind to Korea, and The Dreams of Two Yi-min reveals much of this travail. Japan seized Korea in 1910 and occupied the country until 1945. At first Mrs. Pai deals...