To the Diamond Mountains: A Hundred-Year Journey through China and Korea (Asia/Pacific/Perspectives)

This compelling and engaging book takes readers on a unique journey through China and North and South Korea. Tessa Morris-Suzuki travels from Harbin in the north to Busan in the south, and on to the mysterious Diamond Mountains, which lie at the heart of the Korean Peninsula's crisis. As she follows in the footsteps of a remarkable writer, artist, and feminist who traced the route a century ago―in the year when Korea became a Japanese colony―her saga reveals an unseen face of China and the two Koreas: a world of monks, missionaries, and smugglers; of royal tombs and socialist mausoleums; a world where today's ideological confrontations are infused with myth and memory. Northeast Asia is poised at a moment of profound change as the rise of China is transforming the global order and tensions run high on the Korean Peninsula, the last Cold War divide. Probing the deep past of this region, __To the Diamond Mountains__ offers a new and unexpected perspective on its present and future. This compelling and engaging book takes readers on a unique journey through China and North and South Korea. Tessa Morris-Suzuki travels from Harbin in the north to Busan in the south, and on to the mysterious Diamond Mountains, which lie at the heart of the Korean Peninsula's crisis. As she follows in the footsteps of a remarkable writer, artist, and feminist who traced the route a century ago--in the year when Korea became a Japanese colony--her saga reveals an unseen face of China and the two Koreas: a world of monks, mission-aries, and smugglers; of royal tombs and socialist mausoleums; a world where today's ideological confrontations are infused with myth and memory. North-east Asia is poised at a moment of profound transformation as the rise of China is transforming the global order and tensions run high on the Korean Peninsula, the last Cold War divide. Probing the deep past of this region, To the Diamond Mountains offers a new and unexpected perspective on its present and future. --Book Jacket Prologue: May Day on the Yalu River On the move : to Harbin and Hulan Manchurian ghosts : Changchun and Shenyang Of sacred mountains : Liaoyang and the Thousand Peaks Borderlands : from Shenyang to Dandong Across the bridge : to Sinuiju and beyond Diversion : on time The new Jerusalem : Pyongyang Both sides now : Kaesong, Dorasan, and the line in between In the palace of the murdered queen : Seoul Islands in the bay : to Busan The road to the mountains : south from Wonsan Traveling hopefully. Following in the footsteps of a writer, artist, and feminist who traveled the route a century ago, To the Diamond Mountains takes readers on a unique journey through China and North and South Korea. By probing the deep past of Northeast Asia at a present moment of profound change, this book offers a fresh perspective on the region's future.