Product Description

During the seventh century, the land which is now Korea was fraught with political and religious intrigue. The country was spilt into Three Kingdoms, each fighting for supremacy. Besides this, three religions are in conflict: Shamanism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. In this atmosphere of conflict, we meet 14-year old Sondok, eldest daughter of King Chinp-yong, ruler of Silla.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #105433 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 187 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6-Set in ancient Silla, part of modern-day South Korea, this diary follows the life of Princess Sondok. Although little is known about the subject's childhood, Holman has written a discerning novel to reflect what life may have been like for the princess who became the first ruling Queen of Silla in A.D. 632. When the book opens, the protagonist has just become guardian of the ancestor jar. She writes notes to her dead grandmother, describing activities in the royal court or asking advice. These are the diary entries. What is known about Queen Sondok's reign is that Buddhism flourished, and that she built the oldest standing astronomical observatory in Asia. Thus, Holman has created an intelligent, spiritual princess with a passion for astronomy. The powerful influence of China and Confucianism in Silla is revealed through the fictitious character of Lin Fang, a Chinese Ambassador who becomes Sondok's teacher. She feels torn between the ancient, feminine practice of shamanism, the contemporary ideas of Buddhism, and the infiltrating authority of Confucianism in her country but she learns to take what is useful from each practice to find a balance for herself and the country she will soon reign. A well-written story that will inspire young readers to learn more about other wise women from Asia.
Be Astengo, Alachua County Library, Gainesville, FL
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

A book of astronomic quality!
In ancient Asia, females, as a general rule, were not allowed to rule. They could only be the wives of kings and emperors. However, in Silla in 595, it's a girl who is heir apparent to the throne of Silla (now called South Korea). Fourteen-year-old Sondok has no brothers and her mother is too old to have any more children. Her father's brothers are all dead and they didn't have any sons either. Thus, it is she who must inherit the throne.

Sondok thinks she's up to the job. She comes across as forthright and intelligent as she writes in her diary. She's especially fascinated by astronomy, and displays her skill at it by correctly predicting an eclipse. Unfortunately this earns her the wrath of the Chinese ambassador, also an astronomer, who predicted the wrong date. "Astronomy is not for women," Lin Fang says. "Go do something female like look after silkworms." Sondok tries to win him over, but he is unmoved. Worse yet, her father agrees with the ambassador and forbids his daughter to study the moon and stars!

This is the principal conflict in this narrative. There are some others: Sondok's father casts aside his old wife and takes a new, younger one whom he hopes will bear him a son. Sondok is in love with someone whom she cannot marry, as he is below her station, and when he goes off to be a Buddhist monk she wonders if she'll ever see him again. She wonders a lot about religions: Korean Buddhism vs. Chinese Confucianism.

Sondok: Princess of the Moon and Stars is one of my favorite books in the royal diaries, entertaining and quite historically accurate. I'd recommend it to young girls nine and up, especially those interested in Korean culture and astronomy.

Sondok: Princess of the Moon & Stars,Korea, 595 A.D.
This Book is about Sondok,Princess of Silla(present day South Korea). Sondok has a lot of troubles for a 14 year old girl.Her mother becomes a nun and leaves her because she failed to produce a male heir. Sondok has a dream to build a observetory. But because of her gender, it is forbidden. Oh,and she is also the future Queen of Silla. Sondok was the first Queen to rule in her own right.
If you like this book I Guarantee you will like Lady of Ch'iao Kuo, Warrior of the South, Southern China, 531 A.D.
This book is about Princess Red Bird. She is 16 years old. She is Princess of The Hesian People in southern China.

Sondok, Princess of the Moon and Stars
This is a book about a 14 year old Korean princess who, because of her mothers failure to bear a son, is the heir to her kingdom's throne. Sondok has a dream of building a great stargazing tower for she has a love of astronamy, although, because of her gender her father forbids her to measure or calculate the stars. From the haughty Chinese Lord Lin Fang who comes to teach her and her sisters the wisdom of Confucsism to her fear of the spirit possesed mudangs, this book is filled with adventure and the thoughts of a girl who is easy to relate to. This is a fabulous book.