The Author: Heo Kyun ('Huh Gyun') has spent most of his adult life studying Korean aesthetics as seen in traditional paintings, architecture, handicraft and Buddhist art, paying special attention to the symbols used in those art forms as well as the ideas Koreans read into them. Over the many years he spent immersed in Korean aesthetics, Heo Kyun became interested in Korean gardens as well, recognising that gardens, too, are an art form. He realised that Korea's gardens, no less than other traditional art forms, reveal much about the Korean view of nature and the Korean philosophy of life. Heo studied the history of Korean art at both the undergraduate and the graduate level at Hongik University, Seoul. He has worked for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism as a specialist, identifying and appraising cultural properties, and has also served as the director of a Centre for Research on Korean Culture. Currently, he is an editor for the Academy of Korean Studies, where he continues to research attitudes and philosophies behind Korea's traditional culture. His publications in Korean include a number of books on Korea's traditional culture, including "A Stroll Around Korea's Old Palaces"; "Explaining the Ideas behind Korea's Old Paintings"; and "The World of Symbols in the Art Decorating Korea's Temples". The Photographer: Lee Gapcheol ('Yi Gapcheol') has travelled to virtually every corner of South Korea, capturing the dynamic spirit of the Korean people in his photographs. Among the published collections (in Korean) of his photographs is Challenge and Response. The Translator: Donald L Baker taught English as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Gwangju in the early 1970s and obtained his PhD in Korean history from the University of Washington in 1983. Since 1987, he has been teaching Korean cultural history at the University of British Columbia, where he is the director of the Centre for Korean Research. He has published numerous articles on Korean religion, philosophy and traditional science, and was one of the editors of the Sourcebook of Korean Civilisation. He is currently working on a survey of religion in modern Korea as well as a study of the Joseon dynasty scholar, Dasan Jeong Yagyong. He was assisted in this translation by Javier Joohang Cha, a Korean Studies graduate student at UBC.

Of the three great civilizations of East Asia, Korea used to attract the least attention. Overshadowed by their neighbours in China and Japan, Koreans had trouble gaining recognition abroad for the many accomplishments of their ancestors in such fields as architecture, music, dance, and the arts. That has begun to change in recent decades. As South Korea has gained economic power, people outside of Korea have begun to notice that Korea's past is at least as distinguished as its present. It is now possible to find good English-language introductions to many aspects of Korea's ancient culture. However, one area of Korea's culture has remained relatively unknown - the beauty and extraordinary story of Korean gardens has remained largely hidden from those outside Korea. This book by Heo Kyun fills that gap. Heo Kyun shows in this book how the gardens of Korea were distinctive, reflecting the beliefs and values of the Korean scholars who designed them and enjoyed them. Korea's traditional gardens, whether inside palace walls or in mountain valleys, manifest the Korean desire to live in harmony with nature. The gardens worked with nature, fitting into their natural environment rather than drastically altering that environment to satisfy human whims. Moreover, gardens provided a sanctuary from the cares of everyday life. Koreans designed their gardens to invoke the realms of the immortals they worshipped. When they entered their gardens, the Korean literati, political exiles and other recluses hoped to leave their worries behind them and seek comfort in the natural beauty that surrounded them. With his descriptions of the ideals behind Korea's traditional gardens as well as depictions of many of the famous gardens, Heo Kyun takes us into the worlds those scholars created, allowing us to summon, in our own minds, their extraordinary beauty, tranquillity and power.