Sino-NK

Miyoshi Jager, Sheila. The Other Great Game: The Opening of Korea and the Birth of Modern East Asia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2023. 624pp. ISBN 9780674303485.

Sheila Miyoshi Jager’s The Other Great Game: The Opening of Korea and the Birth of Modern East Asia offers a comprehensive analysis of the intricate geopolitical dynamics that shaped the Korean Peninsula and the broader East Asian region from 1858 to 1910. The book received the prestigious Robert L. Jervis and Paul W. Schroeder Best Book Award in 2024, underscoring its significant contributions to international relations and historical scholarship. It also received the Duke of Wellington Medal for Military History (RUSI) in the same year.

Although this review may appear somewhat overdue, given the prestige the book garnered two years ago, the paperback version was only released this month, and at less than half of the steep £65.00 official list price of the hard book edition. As such, the book is now more affordable for the average reader, and warrants further attention.

This work follows Jager’s Brothers at War: The Unending Conflict in Korea, an examination of the Korean War and its aftermath, published in 2013, a book I admired and which led me to review The Other Great Game. As a Korean with early education from Korean textbooks, before pursuing a history education in the West, I recognised the author’s distinctive lens for examining conflicts and issues in Korea, which diverges from that of most Western scholars. This approach has allowed Jager to navigate complex historical narratives with a nuanced understanding, which resonates with both Korean and Western academic perspectives. The Other Great Game is a book that successfully provides a comprehensive interpretation of the late 19th and early 20th century on the Korean Peninsula and wider region.

Jager’s balanced perspective likely stems from her unique background. As her name suggests, she has Japanese-Dutch heritage, complemented by an education entirely within Western humanistic and social-scientific frameworks. Drawing from my own experience, with one foot in Western education, the other rooted in non-Western cultural heritage, I recognise the productive tension this creates. Jager’s academic trajectory further contributes to her broad lens and understanding of cultures and history. She did not begin as an East Asian historian. In fact, she studied literature before transitioning to anthropology. This interdisciplinary evolution enables her to approach the landscape of history with a broader perspective. The Other Great Game builds on this ability to dissect the multifaceted nature of Korean history.

The book starts with Russian expansion and its influence on Qing China (Prologue), and moves on to Heungseon Daewongun, the Joseon regent, and his isolationist policies in Korea (Chapter 1). The Other Great Game excels in its meticulous depiction of the Korean monarchs during the Joseon dynasty. Furthermore, Jager adeptly incorporates major Korean historical events, such as the Imo Uprising (pp. 67-69), the Kapsin Coup (pp. 76-79), and the Tonghak Peasant Rebellion (pp. 125-128) by situating them within a broader strategic rivalry shaped by the divergent interests of neighbouring powers. These episodes constitute seminal moments in Korean history, familiar to those with minimal engagement in historical studies. By placing these internal upheavals at the heart of a “Great Game” involving China, Russia, and Japan, Jager challenges the conventional view of Korea as a passive victim, instead highlighting how local court politics and grassroots movements actively shifted amid the regional balance of power. She argues that the Joseon court frequently leveraged the competitive ambitions of these rival empires to preserve sovereign autonomy, thereby demonstrating a level of strategic agency often overlooked in Eurocentric accounts of late nineteenth-century diplomacy in Korea.

We often observe countries struggling to forge their own paths when examining today’s news. Far from being solely driven by great powers, the world features diverse voices, each representing its people, maneuvering within the broader international arena. In viewing contemporary issues through this lens, we can approach history by centering indigenous actors, whose interactions with expansive empires were not merely incidental but pivotal to shaping modern national myths and group identities. Jager’s book successfully delivers such narratives. The preface sets up this approach aptly, as Jager writes “that far from being acted upon (like a ‘shrimp among whales’), Koreans were key players in this history and the source of transformational change” (p. xvii). The phrase ‘shrimp among whales’ (고래싸움에 새우등 터진다), commonly invoked in Korean history, reflects a prevalent narrative in Korean education. It portrays Koreans as victims caught between great powers, forced to choose sides and swayed by their decisions. This perspective underscores a perceived lack of autonomous voice in history, an area where Korean historians should strive for greater emphasis.

This work also offers a retrospective insight into my own educational experience in Korea: personal historical studies were often compartmentalised, with separate courses for Korean and Western history, a common pedagogical approach in many nations. This disciplinary division, however, frequently overlooks the intricate interconnections and reciprocal influences that have collectively shaped the modern world. From a Korean perspective, this book effectively addresses that intellectual gap, and hopefully future Korean history curricula will adopt a similarly integrated methodology.

The Other Great Game concludes with the fall of the Joseon Dynasty. The subsequent era was drastically different, characterised by the onset of formal Japanese colonial rule and the subsequent dismantling of the traditional East Asian order. Korea underwent profound transformations following the Japanese occupation, and the subsequent period following the Korean War. Although the historical account in this work could benefit from further linkages to the present day and contemporary geopolitical dynamics, the author’s primary intent does not prioritise such connections. To draw on a mountain analogy (since Korea is a mountainous country), the book depicts past seasons, leaving it to readers – much like climbers navigating peaks – to forge interpretive bridges that reveal how the underlying terrain and trees shape the landscape’s current form. As such, the absence of explicit contemporary ties represents not a shortcoming but rather a refreshing breeze, invigorating hikers along the trail, which exists within its own surroundings, neither past nor present.

Methodological critiques will naturally vary depending on the reader. With a background in history and political science, I appreciated how the book masterfully employs multilingual sources to paint a Korea-centered history. This is no small achievement, considering the number of decades spanned in this single volume. The term “Game” in the title may lead political scientists to expect a deeper dive into strategic geopolitics, which the book does not pursue. Nevertheless, literary awards received attest to the book’s resonance among both historians and international relations scholars. Such interdisciplinary work in academia are most welcome, as historical narratives benefit from multifaceted interpretations, and rigorous scholarship emerges from diverse sources, and approaches.