Watch now

Korea and Japan are at the other end of Eurasia from Britain and are connected in shared histories much like the British Isles and the European continent.

In this special talk for the Armchair Travel series, Professor Jay Lewis, Associate Professor at Oxford University, will take the long view over two millennia and consider migration, kingship and statecraft, Buddhism, warfare, Confucianism, trade, colonialism, and modernity, to better understand the similarities and the unique aspects of both.

Japan and Korea were on parallel tracks until about 1200. Both were coping with life as peripheries to the Chinese mainland. From about 1200, they diverged significantly thereafter to create the modern nations and cultures that we know today.

Schedule

6.00pm - Welcome from the Cambridge Alumni Office and Daniel Moore, Distant Horizons & Alice Burns Temple World

6.05pm - Talk from Professor Jay Lewis

6.45pm - Q&A with Jay, facilitated by Daniel Moore

7.00pm - Finish

This talk is part of the Cambridge Alumni Travel Programme and is organised by Distant Horizons and Temple World who will be arranging the alumni tours to Japan and South Korea in September 2023.

This event will be recorded.