A History of Korea (20 page)

Parhae produced fine pottery, which was light in weight, lustrous, and varied in size and shape. The kingdom exported its pottery to Tang. Parhae’s pottery seems to have influenced the well-known Kory
ŏ
porcelain. In short, by actively accepting advanced Chinese culture, Parhae developed its own superior indigenous culture.

Integrating Paekche and Kogury
ŏ
into its domain, Silla greatly increased its territory and population. Silla’s unification inevitably led to profound changes in its politics, economics, society, and culture. The people of Silla themselves described these changes as “
ilt’ong samhan,
” or unification of the three Hans (Mahan, Chinhan, and Py
ŏ
nhan, or Kogury
ŏ
, Paekche, and Silla). The most important political changes accompanying Silla’s unification included the weakening of the bone-rank system and the consolidation of the centralized bureaucracy.

In the Three Kingdoms period the kingship had been monopolized by those of sacred-bone lineage, but the highest bone-rank lineage came to an end with the death of the two queens, S
ŏ
nd
ŏ
k and Chind
ŏ
k. The next monarch was King Muy
ŏ
l (654–661), a man from true-bone lineage. King Muy
ŏ
l (Kim Ch’un-ch’u) ascended the throne after he suppressed the rebellion of Pidam, then a sangdaed
ŭ
ng, or one who represented the interests of the aristocracy. King Muy
ŏ
l was also victorious in a keen competition for the kingship with Arch’
ŏ
n, another sangdaed
ŭ
ng. Both men were of prominent aristocratic lineage and were Kim Ch’un-ch’u’s archrivals for the kingship. To consolidate his royal authority, King Muy
ŏ
l abolished the honorific title kalmun wang, and, instead of the hitherto used Buddhist title, he adopted the posthumous title King T’aejong, as in the Chinese system. He also chose the younger sister of Kim Yu-sin, Mun-h
ŭ
i, as his queen consort, breaking away from the tradition that the king’s queen come from the former royal house of Pak. Kim Yu-sin’s Kaya royal lineage was called the “new house of Kim.” Finally, King Muy
ŏ
l strengthened royal authority by establishing a system whereby successors to the throne had to be his direct lineal descendants.

MAP 3.1.
Northern and Southern States

At the suggestion of the Buddhist monk
Ŭ
isang that the nation’s tranquility be achieved by constructing a “castle of popular confidence,” King Munmu (661–681) pursued a civil administration, adding the word
mun,
or learning, to his posthumous title. His successor, King Sinmun (681–692), carried out a determined, large-scale purge of the high aristocracy and firmly established royal authority. Taking advantage of an abortive coup in 681 led by Kim H
ŭ
m-dol, the father of his first queen, he searched out all implicated aristocrats and had them slaughtered. The king restructured administrative and military institutions so as to better serve the throne. Finally, in the reign of King S
ŏ
ngd
ŏ
k (702–737), the power of the monarch was firmly secured, and Silla was able to enjoy unprecedented domestic tranquility.

As royal authority was further consolidated, some important changes occurred in the balance of power between the two highest central government organs. The position of sangdaed
ŭ
ng, which had been established in 531, remained intact as before. But the creation of the Chipsabu, or Chancellery Office, in 651, inevitably reduced the powers of the sangdaed
ŭ
ng. The Chipsabu, now the highest administrative apparatus, executed the dictates of the throne. The head of the Chipsabu,
sijung
(at first
chungsi
), served in effect as a prime minister. Based on the strengthened regal power, the highest executive official became politically more important than the sangdaed
ŭ
ng.

Although royal authority was considerably consolidated, the traditional bone-rank system itself was not shaken. Those of true-bone lineage continued to form the dominant power center and monopolized high-level government posts. As the monarch’s power became increasingly strong, however, the power of the true-bone aristocracy inevitably weakened. Instead, those of head rank 6 lineage began to come to the fore in politics. As this politically less important aristocracy was still barred from serving in the topmost positions, members of head rank 6 background naturally allied with the monarch to check the power of the true-bone aristocracy. Because of the deeper learning and insight of these discontented men of head rank 6 status, the king sought their advice on governmental affairs. Thus such persons of head rank 6 lineage as Kangsu, S
ŏ
l Ch’ong, Yi Sun, and Kim Chi-s
ŏ
ng played an important political role. Immediately after unification, in other words, royal authority grew strong, and
the power and influence of the high aristocracy of true-bone lineage became increasingly weakened.

To effectively administer its enlarged domain, unified Silla created an expanded system of provincial and local government. Local administration was restructured along Chinese lines, specifically the system of 9 provinces and 5 secondary capitals. Thus, in 685 King Sinmun established nine provinces called
chu
(
-ju
) and five “secondary capitals” called
so-gy
ŏ
ng.
In addition to the three provinces in the old Silla-Kaya territory (Sangju, Yangju, and Kangju), Silla created three provinces for the old Paekche territory (Ungju, Ch
ŏ
nju, and Muju) and three in the old Kogury
ŏ
territory (Hanju, Sakchu, and My
ŏ
ngju). During the Three Kingdoms period governors of these provinces were called
kunju,
or military commandant. After unification they were renamed
ch’onggwan,
or general commandant, and their functions changed from being more military in nature to more administrative. This tendency was further strengthened in the ninth century, when the title was changed again to
todok,
or governor, modeled on that of the Chinese Tang dynasty. These 9 provinces were divided into 117 prefectures (
kun
), headed by
t’aesu,
or prefects, and these prefectures in turn were subdivided into 293 counties (
hy
ŏ
n
), headed by
y
ŏ
ng,
or magistrates. Each county consisted of villages (
ch’on
) headed by
ch’onju,
or village headmen, as well as special settlements known as
hyang, so,
and
pugok.

Unified Silla also designated five strategically important towns as the secondary capitals—Namw
ŏ
n-gy
ŏ
ng (present-day Namw
ŏ
n, North Ch
ŏ
lla province), K
ŭ
mgwan-gy
ŏ
ng (present-day Kimhae, South Ky
ŏ
ngsang province), S
ŏ
w
ŏ
n-gy
ŏ
ng (present-day Ch’
ŏ
ngju, North Ch’ungch’
ŏ
ng province), Chungw
ŏ
n-gy
ŏ
ng (present-day Ch’ungju, North Ch’ungch’
ŏ
ng province), and Pukw
ŏ
n-gy
ŏ
ng (present-day W
ŏ
nju, Kangw
ŏ
n province). The capital city of Ky
ŏ
ngju, then called K
ŭ
ms
ŏ
ng or S
ŏ
rab
ŏ
l, was located in the southeastern corner of the peninsula. In 689 King Sinmun considered moving its capital westward to Talgub
ŏ
l (present-day Taegu). Because of stiff opposition by the true-bone aristocracy that had established its power base in the capital, however, he failed to do so. As a result, the secondary capital system functioned as a counterbalance to the capital’s unfavorable geographical location. Since some members of the capital and local aristocracy were forced to resettle in the secondary capitals, these “little capitals” became political and cultural centers second to Ky
ŏ
ngju. Members of the central aristocracy were appointed to head these local
administrative units of the provinces, prefectures, counties, and secondary capitals. Inspectors, called
oesaj
ŏ
ng,
were periodically dispatched to supervise their conduct.

As the lowest local administrative unit, villages consisted of scattered hamlets and were administered by village headmen who were from influential local households. To prevent these local elites who were allowed to govern themselves from growing too strong, the central government instituted the system of
sangsuri,
in which representatives of these powerful local households, their eldest sons in particular, were required to undertake low-level military or court duties in the capital on a rotational basis.

The people formerly of Peckche and Kogury
ŏ
were absorbed into this newly created administrative structure. Some were given a bone-rank status and office rank in accordance with their previous social status in their own societies. Prisoners of war were enslaved, and the inhabitants of rebellious districts were reduced to un-free status and forcibly transported to the special settlements of hyang, so, and pugok. These new systems of local administration, ranging from the institution of provinces, prefectures, counties, and secondary capitals to the institution of sangsuri, allowed the central government to effectively control the countryside and thus consolidate regal authority.

Before unification, Silla possessed six ch
ŏ
ng as the nucleus of its army. After unification, they ceased to exist. Instead, in the reign of King Sinmun, a new pattern of military organization was instituted, with nine s
ŏ
dang divisions as the central army and ten garrison units, again called ch
ŏ
ng, as the local army.

The system of nine s
ŏ
dang was completed in 687. Stationed in the capital, the s
ŏ
dang military units were differentiated by their tunics. Each unit had collars of a distinctive color—green, purple, white, scarlet, yellow, black, cobalt, red, and blue. The s
ŏ
dang army drew its recruits not only from the natives of Silla but also from the people from the former Paekche and Kogury
ŏ
states, and even from the Malgal tribesmen. The s
ŏ
dang forces seem to have been placed under the direct command of the monarch, to whom each unit took an oath of loyalty. Thus the establishment of the nine s
ŏ
dang army represented the monarch’s deliberate effort to consolidate royal authority.

The ten ch
ŏ
ng garrisons were stationed outside the capital. The creation of the ten ch
ŏ
ng divisions was closely related to the establishment of the nine chu provinces. Two ch
ŏ
ng were deployed in Hanju province, the largest province
and strategically important for the defense of the state, and the remaining eight ch
ŏ
ng were positioned in each of the other eight provinces—Namch’
ŏ
n-j
ŏ
ng at present-day Ich’
ŏ
n, Ky
ŏ
nggi province; Kolnaeg
ŭ
n-j
ŏ
ng at present-day Y
ŏ
ju, Ky
ŏ
nggi province;
Ŭ
mrihwa-j
ŏ
ng at present-day Sangju, North Ky
ŏ
ngsang province; Koryangburi-j
ŏ
ng at present-day Ch’
ŏ
ngyang, South Ch’ungch’
ŏ
ng province; K
ŏ
samul-j
ŏ
ng at present-day Namw
ŏ
n, North Ch
ŏ
lla province; Samyanghwa-j
ŏ
ng at present-day Tals
ŏ
ng, Taegu; Sosam-j
ŏ
ng at present-day Haman, South Ky
ŏ
ngsang province; Midaburi-j
ŏ
ng at present-day Naju, South Ch
ŏ
lla province; P
ŏ
ly
ŏ
kch’
ŏ
n-j
ŏ
ng at present-day Hongch’
ŏ
n, Kangw
ŏ
n province; and Ihwahye-j
ŏ
ng at present-day Ch’
ŏ
ngsong, North Ky
ŏ
ngsang province. In other words, these ch
ŏ
ng units were stationed throughout the nation, including in old Paekche and Kogury
ŏ
. Unified Silla reorganized its military system so as to promote efficiency in national defense and internal security, which conformed with the monarch’s efforts to consolidate kingly authority.