Koryo Flashcards
Today’s Outline
1.Building the Koryŏ state
2.The divisions of Koryŏ society
3.Women and the family in Koryŏ
4.Military rule
5.Mongol domination and the end of Koryŏ
10-14th cent = modern name of korea
Period of present shape of korea established
Begin to be intergrated in singular culture and society
VS parhae = mix korean/manchurian = single state with shared korean identity
The Foundation of Koryŏ (918-1392)
*Legacy of Silla facilitated reunification
*Threat of the Khitans made reunification more necessary
*Koryŏ marks the period when Korean identity was consolidated in approximate modern borders of Korea
*Koryŏ state was initially weak alliance of warlords
End of silla = centralized broken down = military leaders
History is distinctive = hadnt been fully united but own identity and distinct = difficulty of centralizing
Quickly reunified by wang fon/taejo //ten injunction = reunite korea 10th despite factors pulling it apart
How reunified?
- legacy of shilla but had 2cen of gov and norm
- silla = cultural unity in people, less strong than later but pulling korea back tgt
- threat of the khitan = wasnt to expand = need to cent authority to be more apparent to fight them = parhae former terr = would take refugees and brought to his capital = push border northward = make modern korea territoty
Not strong and cent gov first = alliance of war lords = mwrry women of powerful families = harem = rulling house of silla = positioning new state as legitimate successor = took two members of royal fam as consorts = take all influence (family and alliance with aristocrates)
Consolidating Central Governance
*Bone rank was eliminated, but elites developed the “ancestral seat” (pon’gwan) system.
*Fourth king, Kwangjong, pushed reforms
*Slave Review Law (956)
*Instituted exam system (958)
*System of nine court ranks, with standardized official dress
*Recruitment of those who passed the examinations prioritized to promote individuals with better understanding of Confucianism
Local strong men willing to cooperte = local lords and private armies - official appointements in exchange of support = prefeectur of local adm = pow aris to control counties
Bone rank disappears = ancestral seat = surname (began to take on) and place of origin
Transformation = slow process, 2 cent = 4th ruler = suppress influence of meriit subjects ?? = purge to establish more direct support
Slaev review law = weaken power holers = free slaves wrongly enslaves (prisonners of war, debt) = limit mnumbers in great lords and increase sources of revenue in taxes for commoners
Did not ban slavery
Taejo = gov service exam sessions = standarizeed ranks tied to position in the state = institutionalisation of military power
6th king = more cent gov = conf schoalrs in central of state = 6th rank bone rank = move them into pos of pwoer
Reformed recrust = promote individuals who know conf
The Koryŏ Elite
*Officials recruited by examination and by “protection appointment”
*Three kinds of exams: composition, classics, miscellaneous
*Civil and military officials become known as yangban (“two orders”
*Elite access to “merit proection land” even for the “idles” (hanin) who didn’t hold office
Division = civil and military exam
Civil = 3 types
-composition (most prestigeous, litterary taklent)
- classic (conf classics)
- mis (law, accounting, geograp) = lower
Open to everyone except slaves = candidates from hereditary arist and descendanst of strong men = small educated commoners mis
Protection appointement system = less talented of elite to have place in office even without exam depending on stuff
Civil and military officials = divisions in exams, bureaucracy, two orders = name of aristorcray in a whole
Monopolized power in office = exams, appointements, hard to get education, marriage ties (daughters to king)
Merit protection land = rank5 or higher (/9) = to their descendants too
Late 10th = military officials = land tied to rank to have land pack and woodlands = beenficiary for those who died
Rank land = not hereditary = eco privileges
The Koryŏ Population
*Widespread slavery – maybe 1/3 of the population
*Laws designed to ensure slave status passed across generations
*Public (service and out-resident) and private (resident and out-resident) slaves
*Commoners – taxpaying class
*Residents of special administrative districts had special additional duties
*State agencies like Bureau of Relief and Endowment for Emergency Relief provided some support to commoners
*Commoners organized “incense associations”
Slaves own = 1/3 of pop, still in choson
Fin struggling commoners = sell themselves
Limit number of slaves to have rtoo powerful power holders
Aristocrate = legal env = perpetuation of slavery
Offspring of a slave = slave
Choson - challenge them
Diff cate
- private = owned by arist or buddhist monastery
- punlic = gov
- service = labor inside gov offices
- out residence = cultivated land
- private = smae sepe
- service = domestic
- out res = help in land
Compare to serfs in europe, payment to their owners = sold as individuals and sent somewhere else
Out res= can acchieve eco security = tribute payments = cultivate other people land and do other activities
Commoners = pay taxes, labor and military services
Work on private landhouses
Ownership by land tax
+ land, pay to work for someone else private land, special administrative district = extra duties = local mineral products, candy craft prod = prohibited to move from them
Demoted if local rebellion = control used on trouble making regions
Commoners = support from state sometimes
1049 = medicare, help, disaster = state to help people (pretty new)
Collective labor = incecne assoc = wood for relgious salvation = project, buddhist rituals (statues, monasteries)
Gender and the Family
*Marriage within family was common
*Relatively high status for women – property rights, right to remarry
*Men and women mingled freely
*Elite status traced along male and female lines
*Some increase in restrictions, but most big changes not until subsequent period
Marriage = equal status = single couple
Elite = close relatives fairly common = royal, first cousin
Local = same name = then cenced
<women = relatively high status, property, devided equally, inherited property = upper class = independance
Members of own natal fam = property didnt pass to her siblings instead of husband if no children = no full control of married fam
Wife home in marrigae, ceremony there for 10 y
Marriage rules = divorce possible but uncommon = seperation is fairly popular= women can get out to their local fa
Widows = remarriages possible
Women and men can entingled
Elite = matrilineal line too = substantial status of women fam = similar of heian japan
Changes during period = increasing chinese influence = prohibited same fam marriage = women status declined slightly = laws to leave husband without consent = after koryo, most change
In koryo =strong secure idea, private very equal
Public = very unequal
Military Conflict
*Koryŏ wars with Liao (993-1019) eventually establish stable East Asian balance of power
*Koryŏ built walls to bolster northern defense
*Jurchens forced Koryŏ to agree to subjugation as a vassal
*Myoch’ŏng’s rebellion (1135-1136) over questions of reform
Military leadership =
War against khitan = liao = invades koryo = not clear boundaries and ended relationships with the song = open with liao = accept as successor state of koguryo
1009 = strongmen deposed korean king = attack again = khitan advance = defeat = and withdrew to defend own supply lines
1019 = final attack = end to warfare = sscity wall, and n border
Liao make peace = treaty between liao and song
- aris fam more powerful and take over officials
- jurchens = raid borders = new jin dynasty = submission as a vassal farced into = royal inlaw as regent = not king = royal power strength but conflict = monk for bigger reforms = new palace in pyongyang = new imperial title for the king and attack jin = vassals of chinese rulers so king previously = twosides and rebeliion had power = gov amy
Military coup = mistreat military offixals = state upset about it = launch a coup in 1170 = slaughters civil aristocrates = replace king = after council of generals power = key positions and competed for supreme power = massive instability = uprising by slaves and commoenr s = slave rebellion by myochong = outside the capital = kings and nobles questionned to be betterr = defeated
Military Rule and the Ch’oe Family
*Chŏng Chungbu launches coup in 1170, followed by a quarter century of conflict
*Numerous rebellions, including by the slave Manjŏk in 1198
*Ch’oe Ch’unghŏn establishes control of state by his family in 1196
*Parallel administration created
*Office of Decree Enactment
*Personnel Authority
*Household Secretariat
*Three Elite Patrols
- gain power in 1196 = coup against previous military dictator = relied on royal ctroups = more power within own house = provate army = stabilize territories = rank and offcied = take districts for regular counties = 4 generations
Maintain power = previous gov agencies = real power in parallel administration = slaves amd loyal officials
Office = power to collect taxes and wrongdoifgs by officials = appointed by king =
Personal = civil officails
Househ= literate men
3 = military under choe clan
Taxes, vast territories to get financing = use it as independant base = encourage of conf = civil exam = lrge support of civil officials = and some military ones
Patronize buddhist instituoons = monasteries also a threat = cadet branches of royal fam and arist = launch rebeliosn that is repressed
Similar to shogenate =
Mongol Rule
*Ch’oe court relocated to island of Kanhwado to resist Mongol invasions
*Wang family (kings of Koryŏ) and other Ch’oe opponents ally with Mongols to remove Ch’oe in 1258
*Mongols meddled heavily in Koryŏ affairs
*Annexed territory
*Special province for fighting Japan
*Tribute payments
*Intermarriage
*Crown princes as hostages
*Growing power of Mongol-allied elites
Demands = war = leader relacated court in island = refuge on island and fortresses = defensive efforts on normal armies = redirected ressources = monk and choe = kinf of koryo = 1258 = agree to submit to mongol rule and have a vassal state
3 special control troops = continue to resist = crushed of mongol and koryo army = cooperation
Mongol= downgrade them = annex territoty = mettle in affairs = heir to mongol princess = interest of the yuan state
Province = special officials = failed mongol attacks on japan = contribute
Tributes = goods and women for court
Opportunities for social up = personal ties and skills for mongols = builf connextions = imporve standingg back in koryo = expand agricultural expend
Reofrms to reduce abuses = didnt work = mongol power declined = break away from control
The End of Mongol Rule and the Fall of Koryŏ
*Under King Kongmin and his wife, Koryŏ broke away from Mongol control
*After Kongmin’s assassination in 1374, a leading military man, Yi Sŏnggye would rise to power, abolish the Koryŏ dynasty and declare his new Chosŏn dynasty in 1392
Kongmin = purge pro yuan figures from court = prohibit customs., abolished provicnes, took control of NE = in disaray in china = armies would invade manchuria = temporarely successful = late 14th cen = attacks by red turbans, ajapanese pirates = ourt forced to call private armies = dismantles army of koryo
1374 - assissinated = regent for young son - pro mongol policy = coup = new founder of new dynasty = 1392? =
Recap
*As it developed a new centralized state, the Koryŏ dynasty also created a new class of entrenched local powerholders – the yangban (who we’ll talk a lot more about on Wednesday)
*Koryŏ society was deeply stratified and heavily reliant on slavery, a system that would continue into the Chosŏn period
*But it had relatively high levels of gender equality, a pattern that would not continue going forward
*The period of military domination under the Ch’oe family marks a pattern similar to the shogunates of Japan, which we’ll study next week
The Ten Injunctions
debate on authenticity = associated to japanese colonialism
important historical text in korea attached to korean identity=8th, demonstrating mutual dislikes withing korea, not fully unified = disprove the idea linked with korean nationalism
not mentionned by previous sources, found in suspicious and reappeared at a convinient timing
became basis afterwards, but got lost at first?
analysis
- crossreferences
- inconsistencies and examples
- narrative of later century
- helpful
2 ideas = either when they found it or when taejo died = most likely to be one of these two eras, pretty compelling
broader context (forged documents)
evidence
- doesnt follow = direct patrilineage
- mother has power and demand son to be king
- took power from an irregular way
- needed to justify background
- liao justification = prove has regular to have the power
2 -
- convincing
- t after t’s death
- issues concerned only later = creating lavish buddhist temples and monasteries
- strict bureaucracy = limited building
- liked taejo and approved to justify under his ruling
4 -
- khitan invasion?
- h and k = thought against khitan = deteriorating relationship with koryo
8 - mountains and people are treacherous
- relevant before 20th cent
- fled south = traumatic experiences of one royal
- japan is wrong but still forged = taejo could not hate SW = but not all SW = forged anyways = fleeds from khitan invasion
- geomantic = justification to write something about it = make up justifications
monarchy cares with issues and had to deal with them and justify their ruling by forgeries
issues were contentious
greater voice of authority established ideals
values of the present into the past
still important and why they had to do it
