It is rare when an edited volume on early Korea appears that is so topically comprehensive and impressively detailed, and not to mention on the topic of the ancient kingdom of Koguryŏ (trad. 37 BCE to 668 CE). Scholarship on Koguryŏ has been divided until now along academic field, modern nation-state, language, and political lines. However, in The History and Archaeology of the Koguryŏ Kingdom, the latest volume of the Early Korea Project at Harvard, editor and project director Mark Byington has shown us in a meaningful way the critical importance of the early history and archaeology of Korea and adjacent regions. This is a challenging task given the long, complex history of Koguryŏ and the fact that its territory spread over three modern nation-states. I would be remiss not to mention that I was involved in the production of the book.

The publication of this volume is especially welcome as it comes in the aftermath of the unfortunate “Koguryŏ controversy” that began in 2003, in which scholars and politicians of China and Korea bitterly argued and made counter-claims in extreme black-and-white terms about the ownership of Koguryŏ history. Byington organized what is perhaps the seminal conference on Koguryŏ at Harvard in 2005; it involved twenty scholars from six countries. According to him, the conference served to provide “… the basic material for a foundation of Koguryŏ studies in the English language” (p. 8).

Byington's chapter involves the question of the Xuantu Commandery as it relates to the formation and early development of the Koguryŏ state. Although military power is widely known to be a factor in its foreign relations, Yeo HoKyu finds that flexible adaptation and the independent worldview of Koguryŏ were key in the development and implementation of its relations with other polities. In Lee Sungsi's chapter on the political impact of Koguryŏ on polities in the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago, we learn about how Koguryŏ served as a cultural broker of political institutions, laws, structures of regional governance, defensive systems, and writing for similar institutions of Silla, Paekche, and Wa. Li Xinquan's work on the results of the archaeological excavation of fortresses and mortuary features of Liaoning reveals previously unknown intra-regional variation in material culture that will be critical to the way that we understand Koguryŏ. This is clear when one compares Li's findings with the more well-known Koguryŏ archaeology of Jilin as it appears in the chapter by Jin Xudong. Baek Jong-oh's chapter contrasts and compares some of the more well-known archaeological sites, features, and artifacts of the P'yŏngyang area with lesser-known sites in North Korea. Choi Jongtaik's chapter is an exploration of recent results of archaeological excavations in South Korea that focus on fortresses, including those north of the Han River and as far south as the Kŭm River basin. Azuma Ushio provides a comprehensive review of the development of Koguryŏ mortuary features. Nancy Steinhardt's analysis of the images of Koguryŏ painted tombs draws on comparisons with the art of China and the Korean peninsula, but she stresses that tomb mural paintings make Koguryŏ much more a part of the traditions of North Asian empires than of Korean peninsula polities. In her chapter on images of the four animals of the cardinal directions, Ariane Perrin delves into regional differences and offers a new interpretation of the images based on how they are associated with other funerary art. Song Ki-ho argues that Koguryŏ traditions are more representative of Parhae culture than those of the Malgal, based on records of how Parhae elite viewed themselves in addition to stylistic trends in ceramic roof-tiles. The legacy of Koguryŏ in Silla and Koryŏ is the topic of Noh Taedon's chapter.

The level of detail in this volume means that it is more suited to upper-level undergraduate courses in East Asian history, archaeology, and art history. The meaty and sophisticated material is a welcome addition to readings in graduate seminars. Scholars who conduct research on Chinese history and archaeology will be interested in this book, as will those who study early Korea and Japan.

It is difficult to find fault with this high-quality and meticulously edited volume, except that greater stylistic and structural consistency in the figures and maps would make it easier to read. I unreservedly recommend The History and Archaeology of the Koguryŏ Kingdom, mostly because it succeeds in helping us to clearly see Koguryŏ as a dynamic early state that is both a part of Korean historiography and a polity that must be considered on its own terms. This book sets the stage for Koguryŏ studies, and helps us to focus more on comparative research on Northeast Asian and Three Kingdoms archaeology and history.