| (1) The Founding of Koryo
and National Reunification |
At the end of the 9th
century, during the reign of Queen Chinsong, Shilla fell
into a state of confusion with a weakening of royal
authority. Rebellions sprung up everywhere and clan
chiefs dominated the local areas. In the territory of
Paekche, Kyonhwon established Later Paekche and in the
territory of Koguryo, Kung'ye established Later Koguryo.
In this way, Shilla was split into three territories
which became known as the Later Three Kingdoms. Kung'ye,
the King of Later Koguryo which was the greatest among
the Later Three Kingdoms, was driven out by his subjects
and then Wang Kon took the crown to found Koryo
(918).
Wang Kon, later known as King T'aejo, renamed
Later Koguryo as Koryo as an expression of its
restoration and moved the capital from Ch'olwon to his
hometown of Song'ak (Kaesong). This founding king
aggressively won the powerful local chiefs over to his
side, and adopted a policy of love for the people to win
over the hearts of the people. Thus, the power of Koryo
was strengthened.
King Kyongsun, the last sovereign
of Shilla, followed the popular sentiments of the people
and ceded his sovereignty to Koryo in 935. Thus Shilla
fell. In the following year, Koryo attacked Later
Paekche, which had been weakened as a result of
disputes, and destroyed it in 936. With this, the Later
Three Kingdoms, which were in a state of confusion for
over 40 years, were reunified by Koryo.
Even before
this, around the time of its downfall the majority of
the Parhae ruling class surrendered to Koryo. Koryo
received them and achieved national reunification.
In
order to restore the old territiory of Koguryo, King
T'aejo employed a policy to expand to the north.
P'yong'yang was referred to as Sogyong (Western capital)
in order to build it into an operational base to develop
the north. In the last years of the reign of King
T'aejo, the national territory expanded up to the
Ch'ongch'on River and Yonghung. |
| |
| (2) The Establishment of
the Ruling Structure |
In the early stage of Koryo,
local chiefs held a great deal of power, and as a result
of the King's political decision to enter into a
marriage of convenience, members of the Queen's family
entered the palace. The king's authority lacked
stability. Thus, Koryo needed to firmly establish a
central authority for political and social
stability.
In order to establish his own authority,
King Kwangjong suppressed the powers of the chiefs as
well as the Queen's family. He enforced a law governing
slaves and set free the slaves who were unlawfully owned
by the chiefs. He enforced a Kwago, civil service
examination system and employed officials based on the
results of these examinations. As a result, the powers
of the chiefs were weakened and royal powers were
strengthened.
Under the reign of King Songjong, more
refined institutions were adopted to maintain a system
of centralized ruling power. He adopted the ideas of
Ch'oe Sung-no, a Confucian scholar-statesman, to make
Confucianism the political ideology and reformed the
central government organizations and local
administrative organizations. Such measures were almost
completed during the reign of King Munjong.
As the
central political organization, King Songjong set up the
organizations of Naesa munhasong (later changed to
Chungso munhasong), Sangsosong and Chungch'uwon (central
council). The Chungso munhasong determined state
policies. The Sangsosong was the executive branch and
was composed of six departments-Personnel, Military,
Treasury, Justice, Rites and Construction-which covered
all the official administrative matters. The
Chungch'uwon was in charge of receiving and promulgating
the King's orders and military secrets. In addition,
accounts were kept by the Osadae (office of the
inspector) and Samsa, which was in charge of receiving,
delivering, and keeping the accounts of money and
grains.
In the Tobyongmasa (General Military
Command), composed of high officials from the Chungso
munhasong and Chungch'uwon, they decided on the
important policies of the state. The Tobyongmasa was
changed to Topyonguisasa in the latter period of Koryo
and developed as the supreme organization of the
state.
During early stage of Koryo, local
administration was left to the autonomy of the
chieftains, but under King Songjong, 12 divisions to
which governors were dispatched were established. Later,
local administrative organizations were gradually
readjusted and divided the whole country into five
provinces and two special provinces. In the two special
provinces, military commanders were dispatched and in
the five provinces, provincial governors were stationed
to govern the cities, counties and Hyon. Hyang, So and
Pugok were created, which were special administrative
districts where the menials lived.
As military
organizations, "Two Armies" and "Six Guards" were
established as central structures and local armies were
also set up. The Two Armies served as the King's royal
guards, and the Six Guards were charged with policing
the central city (Kaesong) and responsible for national
defense. The Supreme Commander of the Two Armies and Six
Guards was the Sangjanggun (High general). A military
council (Chungbang) gathered to consult on military
affairs.
The system of land distribution was overseen
by the Chonsikwa which was first organized during the
reign of King Kyongjong, and then reformed under King
Mokjong on the basis of official status. In Chonsikwa,
officials were divided into 18 classes and given farms
and forestland according to the ranks of the officials.
When the officials died, the land was, in principle,
returned to the state. Pieces of land referred to as
Kongsin-jon were given to meriting vassals, Kong'um-jon
were given to officials above the 5th rank, and
Naejang-jon were given to members of the Royal House.
These lands could be handed down to one's descendants.
|
| |
| (3) Centered on Family
Lineage |
During the Koryo dynasty,
family lineage was regarded as very important. Men born
to well-off families enjoyed many privileges as
aristocrats. They occupied high government positions and
possessed large acreages of farmland. The male children
of officials above the 5th rank became government
officials without having to pass the civil service
exams. This was referred to as the Umso system and
aristocrats from good families could retain a high
government office for many continuous years.
During
the middle period of the Koryo dynasty, powerful
families controlled the government. They married into
the royal house and became powerful members of the
Queen's family. Examples of such aristocratic families
were the Yi clan of Inchu, the Kim clan of Kyongju and
the Ch'oe clan of Haeju. |
| |
 |
Konwon-chungbo, Koryo period metal and
bronze coins.
10-11th
century. | |
| |
The Koryo society consist of
4 classes. The high class consisted of the royal family
and high aristocrats, the middle class consisted of
lower level bureaucrats and technical bureaucrats, the
lower class commoners, and the lowest class consisted of
menials and slaves. Thus, the middle classes composed of
the lowest group of rulers, commoners, and menials were
the governed.
Merchants and handicraft workers were
members of the commoner class. They were responsible for
production and bound to provide taxes, imposts and
corvee. Slaves, butchers, actors and residents of Hyang,
So and Pugok were considered menials.
In Koryo, the
government organizations of Uich'ang (righteous
warehouse), Sangp'yongch'ang (ordinary warehouse) and Bo
(foundations) stabilized the life of farmers. To provide
relief to poor peasants, the Uich'ang stored and loaned
grains during famines or in the spring. The
Sangp'yongch'ang purchased grains when prices were low,
and when prices soared, it sold the grains in order to
regulate the prices. So, Chewibo was a kind of
foundation which existed in order to relieve the poor.
In addition, the Tong-taebiwon and So-taebiwon
(emergency centers of the East and West) were medical
facilities for the poor.
Industry was centered on
agriculture, but the commerce and handicraft industries
developed gradually. With the rise in commercial
activities, pieces of iron "Konwon-chungbo",
"Samhan-t'ongbo" and "Tongguk-t'ongbo" as well as silver
bottles were used as currency. But these currencies were
not widely circulated.
In the Koryo dynasty,
"Yondunghoe" and "P'algwanhoe" were observed to offer
sacrifices to the indigenous gods. The people engaged in
playing ball, riding swings and wrestling during the
"Tano" festival which always fell on the fifth day of
the fifth month of the lunar calender. |
| |
| (4) The Military Regime and
Changes in the Ruling Power |
Entering the 12th century,
the foundations of the family-centered aristocratic
society began to shake. A member of the Queen's family,
Yi Cha-gyom declared war in 1126, and Myoch'ong began a
movement to relocate the King's court to Sogyong
(P'yong'yang) in 1135. These incidents were pacified,
but the abuses and contradictions within the
aristocratic society were not rectified. To compound the
situation, the practice of favoring civilians and
discriminating against the military within aristocratic
society became more acute.
The military, who were
long discontent over their discrimination, rose up with
disgruntled others with Chong Chung-bu as their leader
in 1170. They deposed and exiled King Uijong, and killed
many civilians in order to set up a military
government.
The new ruling power of the military
continued to engage in in-fighting over who would retain
power, and this further aggravated political and social
confusion. By the end of the 12th century, Ch'oe
Ch'ung-hon retained dictatorial power and settled the
confusion to some degree.
The military coup d'etat
shook the family-centered aristocratic society of Koryo.
It brought down the civilian structure of control and
the military occupied all of the high and important
positions. Corruption and tyranny ran rampant under
their rule and caused great suffering among farmers and
menials. As a result, the peasants everywhere rose up in
rebellion, shaking the very foundation of
society.
Under the guidance of Mang'i and Mangsoi,
peasants and menials rose up and in Myonghak-so, Kongju
and in Chonju, government slaves rebelled. In
Kyongsang-do peasant rebellions under the leadership of
Kim Sa-mi and Hyo Sim broke out, and in Kaegyong, Ch'oe
Ch'ung-hon's slave Manchok planned a movement to
emancipate slaves. |
| |
| (5) Struggles Against the
Northern Tribes |
In the Koryo dynasty, the
northern tribes of Qidan, N zhen, Mongols were very
strong, but by waging fierce struggles against them
Koryo safeguarded the country and its people.
Koryo
implemented a policy of expanding northward from the
beginning of its national foundation. Qidan, which stood
in confrontation with Song, felt uneasy with Koryo's
pro-Song and northward expansion policies and frequently
tried to invade Koryo. Under the reign of King Songjong,
Koryo's So Hui had a bout with the invading Qidan
commander, and retrieved six towns south of the Yalu
River. During the reign of King Hyonjong, the Koryo army
under the command of Kang Kam-ch'an nearly destroyed the
Qidan army which invaded Koryo in Kwiju for the third
time. This is known as the Victory of Kwiju (1019) In
the 12th century, the N zhen tribe expanded their power
to cover the northeastern frontier territory of Koryo. A
special unit led by Yun Kwan conquered and built nine
walls around the area because of the repeated appeals by
the N zhen tribe when this territory was
returned.
Afterwards, the N zhen, which had regained
much strength, founded the nation of Jin and became a
powerful nation dominating northern China. Koryo
received pressure from Jin for a time, and to repel
this, the monk Myoch'ong proposed relocating the capital
to Sogyong and sending an expedition against
Jin.
Ch'oe Ch'ung-hon's dictatorial regime was
succeeded by his descendants for four generations during
60 years while the Ch'oe clan strengthened their
military government. The Mongols became a powerful world
empire in the Asian continent during the 13th century.
By demanding that Koryo pay unreasonable tributes the
Mongols oppressed Koryo during the reign of King Kojong.
The Mongols launched a full-fledged invasion of Koryo in
1231. Military dictator Ch'oe U moved the King's court
to Kanghwa Island and prepared to engage in battle. The
Mongols invaded Koryo many times for 40 years, but Koryo
resisted with the solidarity of the whole nation. The
valiant struggles of the peasants and menials were
particularly worth noting.
But a coup took place in
Kanghwa. Ch'oe's military regime crumbled and an
approchement appeared between Koryo and the Mongols.
Finally, peace was negotiated and the King's court
returned to Kaegyong. However, the military unit, the
Sambyolch'o, under the command of Pae Chung-son opposed
the return of the capital to Kaegyong and continued the
war against the Mongols. They moved their base of
operations to Chindo and Chejudo, where they continued
the resistance struggle for four years. They were
finally suppressed by the allied forces of Koryo and the
Mongols in 1273. |
| |
| (6) Safeguarding
Independence |
After the end of the
resistance of Sambyolch'o, Koryo was invaded and
pressured by the Yuan (the Mongols named their dynasty
Yuan) and Koryo independence was challenged. As a result
of pressure by Yuan, Koryo was forced to provide ships
and military forces to two expeditions to Japan by the
Yuan. Yuan established the Ssangsongch'ong branch of
government to govern the land north of Ch'ollyong. With
the intervention of Yuan, the official organizations of
Koryo were restructured.
But even under the
intervention of Yuan, Koryo maintained national
sovereignty and made efforts to drive out the forces of
Yuan. In the mid-14th century, when Yuan was driven back
northward by the newly rising kingdom of Ming, King
Kongmin adopted an anti-Yuan policy of self rule and
enforced reform in politics.
King Kongmin attacked
the government branch, Ssangsong, and recovered the land
north of Ch'ollyong. He restored the official
organizations of the nation, expelled pro-Yuan officials
and prohibited the practice of Yuan customs. At the
time, powerful aristocrats occupied large tracts of land
and owned many slaves. The King returned these
unlawfully occupied lands to their rightful owners and
liberated the slaves. Due to opposition by powerful
aristocrats, the King's reform measures
failed.
Japanese pirates and the Chinese Red Turbans
invaded frequently, bringing heavy losses to the Koryo
people. In the process of repelling these invasions,
military power increased. Ch'oe Yong and Yi Song-gye
became famous generals. At the end of the 14th century,
an expedition to conquer Liaodong was discussed among
the circles of Ch'oe Yong, but on his march north, Yi
Song-gye, who led this expedition, went as far as Wihwa
Island on the Yalu only to do an about-face. In
Kaegyong, he took power and made preparations to
establish a new dynasty with a group of new scholars.
| |
