The Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning (review)

BOOK REVIEWS205 one immigrant family. The book, well written, candid, and entertaining, makes no pretense of offering a definitive statement on the Korean community. But for all students of twentieth century Hawaii, and for anyone interested in Koreans in America or the Asian immigrant in the United States, The Dreams of Two Yi-min provides, light, engaging, instructive reading. Edward J. Shultz University of Hawaii at West Oahu The Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning, translated, edited, and with commentaries by Michael C. Kalton. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988. xviii + 278 pp. $32.50. Michael Kalton's annotated translation of the last major work of the best known Korean thinker, W T'oegye (1501-1570), summing up some of his core ideas on Neo-Confucian thought, is a welcome contribution to a field which remains largely unknown to most Westerners. The book includes an Introduction, which presents the Chinese Neo-Confucian background as well as the parallel development in Korea. It also gives a brief biographical sketch of Yi T'oegye and of his "Ten Diagrams," originally presented as an Address to King Sönjo. The translation then follows, and the Ten Diagrams unfold themselves as T'oegye's responses, in the form of diagrams, but with comments and explanations, to the works of Chinese Sung dynasty thinkers. These include Chou Tun-i's Explanation ofthe Diagram ofthe Supreme Ultimate; Chang Tsai's Western Inscription, and his statement that "the mind controls nature and feelings;" Chu Hsi's Elementary Learning, as well as his Questions and Answers to the Great Learning, his "Rules for the White Deer Hollow Academy," and the "Treatise on Jen;" Chen Te-hsiu's Classic of the Mind-and-Heart, and his version of the "Admonition for Mindfulness Studio;" and Ch'en Po's "Admonition on Rising Early and Retiring Late." The translation from the original Chinese, in which T'oegye wrote, is generally sound and quite clearly expressed, and Kalton wisely avoids giving too many romanized terms. This reviewer does not agree with some of the English terms chosen, such as "mindfulness" for ching (reverence, seriousness), but I acknowledge the difficulty of finding the right word. The Appendix on Terminology is very good and fully appreciated. I would have been happy with longer discussions by Kalton himself, and also wonder why the bibliography is without any Japanese secondary references. Julia Ching University of Toronto ...