A History of Korea (29 page)

In the early period, domestic commerce formed the nucleus of commercial activity. From early times on, markets were established in the larger cities of Kaes
ŏ
ng, Pyongyang, and Ky
ŏ
ngju, where there were also shops specializing in books, tea, medicines, and so forth. Peddlers in the countryside engaged in itinerant trades in small-scale markets.

Later, Kory
ŏ
actively engaged in international commerce with neighboring Song China, Qidan Liao, Japan, and even the Saracens. Py
ŏ
ngnando, at the estuary of the Yes
ŏ
ng River, flourished both as the port for Kaes
ŏ
ng and for international trade. It was with Song China that Kory
ŏ
carried on its most active trade. Through the visits of official envoys and the travels of private merchants, Kory
ŏ
exported such items as paper, India ink, ginseng, and straw mats and, in return, imported products such as silk, books, porcelain, and medicines. Arab merchants entered Py
ŏ
ngnando, bringing goods like mercury, spices, ivory, and medicines. These Arabians introduced Kory
ŏ
to the West as “Korea.”

The development of commerce led to a need for currency. At first, both grain and cloth were used in commercial activity. Kory
ŏ
developed the necessary
metallurgy skills and scientific technology to mint coins displaying names on their faces. The first metal coins,
K
ŏ
nw
ŏ
n chungbo,
or Heavy Treasure of K
ŏ
nw
ŏ
n (era name), were minted in 996 and were made of iron. Then, in 1102, copper coins, called
Haedong t’ongbo,
or Circulating Treasure East of the Sea, were produced. At about the same time silver coins, called
hwalgu
(
ŭ
nby
ŏ
ng
), or silver jar money, were made in the shape of the Korean peninsula. These silver coins—each weighing 1
k
ŭ
n,
or 600 grams, were widely used among the aristocracy for large-scale transactions. Both grain and cloth, however, were still the currency used by the general population. Despite a remarkable growth in handicraft manufacturing and commerce, a monetary economy was never activated in Kory
ŏ
.

Kory
ŏ
’s class system was not as strict as Silla’s bone-rank institution, which conferred a variety of special privileges exclusively on the true-born aristocracy who lived in the capital of Ky
ŏ
ngju and monopolized the state’s economic wealth and political power. In Kory
ŏ
, however, schools and government jobs were open to the yangin class, which included everyone except slaves and inhabitants of the special settlements of hyang, so, and pugok. Intermarriage between commoners and slaves was prohibited. Although commoners were all legally freeborn, even they were never on an equal standing but were divided into several classes. By the beginning of the twelfth century the Kory
ŏ
’s class division was well established, with roughly four classes—upper, middle, lower, and humble.

The upper class comprised the ruling aristocracy. The governing elite in the earlier Kory
ŏ
period largely consisted of Silla’s head rank 6 aristocrats, those of the local gentry from the area around the capital of Kaes
ŏ
ng, and Wang K
ŏ
n’s merit subjects and their heirs. Those of head rank 6 lineage greatly contributed to the reordering of Kory
ŏ
’s political and social structure, in which they consolidated their position as the new ruling aristocracy. The members of the local gentry in the districts around Kaes
ŏ
ng, along with the merit subjects of T’aejo, ultimately emerged as central government officials in the new state. These new ruling elites from many different clans comprised the Kory
ŏ
aristocracy.

Kory
ŏ
society attached great importance to lineage and, indeed, the extended family system in the kingdom was even stronger than in China. Aristocratic clans adopted the areas from which their ancestors had originated as their
pon’gwan,
or clan seat, and therefore the pon’gwan represented aristocratic
power and privilege. The state, as discussed above, sometimes bestowed family names on the merit subjects. It also allowed some families to use surnames that had long been in use and then to adopt the places where they had long lived as their pon’gwan. Other families adopted Chinese surnames as their own. Thus most of contemporary Korean family names date back to the Kory
ŏ
period.

Because social status was inherited, few people could exceed their inherited social position. The state adopted a number of measures to ensure the inheritance of social status, establishing, for example, the
ŭ
ms
ŏ
and kong
ŭ
m-j
ŏ
n institutions, discussed above. Local functionaries and professional soldiers also passed on their occupations to their descendants. This inheritance of social status led to the emergence of several clans of famous lineage.

Aristocratic families consolidated their privileges and political power through marriage. The most prominent aristocrats, in particular, strove to win places for their daughters as the kings’ consorts. Successful unions with the royal house enabled them, as royal in-laws, to monopolize the highest government posts and obtain more land. Such clans as the Ansan Kim and the Inju (Inch’
ŏ
n) Yi families are prime examples. The Ansan Kim clan monopolized power under four kings, for more than 50 years, from the time Kim
Ŭ
n-bu presented his three daughters as queens to Hy
ŏ
njong (1009–1031) down to Munjong’s reign (1046–1083), when the Inju Yi clan took over the monopoly of political power by marrying Yi Cha-y
ŏ
n’s three daughters to King Munjong. The Inju Yi family continued its domination for more than 80 years, until the reign of Injong (1122–1146). Its power was so strong that Yi Cha-gy
ŏ
m, a grandson of Yi Chay
ŏ
n, even dreamed of the Inju Yi clan founding a new dynasty. Other famous lineages of this time, which came into repute not by becoming the monarch’s in-laws but by scholarly attainments, included Ch’oe Ch’ung’s Haeju Ch’oe clan, Yun Kwan’s P’ap’y
ŏ
ng Yun clan, and Kim Pu-sik’s Ky
ŏ
ngju Kim clan.

In Kory
ŏ
, the aristocratic elite monopolized political power and economic wealth and made class position hereditary. Aristocrats, especially from famous lineages, were mostly concentrated in the capital in central government positions. Higher-level officials took posts in local administration only rarely and with reluctance. Returning to their former places of origin in the countryside was regarded as a bitter experience. They were forced to do so only if they were found guilty of official misconduct. Banishment from the court was considered one of the severest punishments for an aristocrat in the capital. Later the term
kwihyang,
or return to the rural life, evolved into
kwiyang,
or banishment to remote regions as a penalty for criminal activity.

The hereditary aristocracy was divided into the
mun-ban,
or civil official order, and the
mu-ban,
or military official order. Both were known as yangban, with the former filling civil offices and the latter filling military offices. Although they contributed to the security of the kingdom, military officers were left far behind in social standing within the ruling class.

Below the upper class, the middle class was primarily lower-government officials and their descendants. Called the
nam-ban,
or southern order, those in the court functionary sector filled various court service offices, and those in the
kun-ban,
or soldiering order, filled the military units. Specialists selected by the chap-
ŏ
p examinations filled offices demanding technical knowledge. The functionary force in the countryside, called
hyangni,
meaning local officials, also belonged to this middle class.

The lower class, the foundation of Kory
ŏ
society, was the most numerous and consisted of common people such as peasants, merchants, and artisans. The peasantry formed the majority of the population. Anyone without a fixed role in the service of the state, including military service, was commonly called paekch
ŏ
ng. Thus its meaning in Kory
ŏ
was quite different from that in Chos
ŏ
n, where it referred to butchers and wicker workers. Because they had no fixed role, they were ineligible to receive a land allotment from the state. The social standing of merchants and artisans was generally lower than that of peasants.

Below the common people were those living in special administrative districts such as hyang, so, pugok,
chang, ch’
ŏ
, chin, y
ŏ
k,
and
kwan.
Among them, inhabitants of the hyang, pugok, chang, and ch’
ŏ
settlements were assigned to farm labor, whereas the so residents engaged in handicraft manufacturing or mining. At important overland and sea routes throughout the country Kory
ŏ
established many y
ŏ
k, or post stations; chin, or ferries; and kwan, or hostelries. Anyone working in these transportation establishments was regarded with contempt. Another lowly despised status included the
ŏ
-gan,
or fishermen; the
y
ŏ
m-gan,
or salt makers; the
mokcha-gan,
or shepherds; the
ch’
ŏ
l-gan,
or miners; and the
ponghwa-gan,
or men of signal fire. At the time the term
nom,
or bastards, was synonymous with
gan
and
ch’
ŏ
k
.

The
nobi,
or slaves, constituted the absolutely lowest stratum of Kory
ŏ
society. The term
no
meant male slaves, and the term
pi
(
bi
) meant female slaves. Slaves inherited their status and could be bought or sold. There were government slaves who belonged to the state and private slaves owned by individuals. Temple slaves were owned by Buddhist monasteries. Government slaves performed miscellaneous duties in the palace and government offices. Otherwise,
they did farm work and paid their harvest as rent to the government. Government slaves were freed from all duties when they reached the age of 60. Private slaves were owned by members of the royal household and the aristocracy, and mainly worked at household chores. Private slaves included nonresident slaves who cultivated their masters’ farmland and paid rent, but some owned their own property. There were also outcast groups such as
hwach’
ŏ
k,
or butchers;
chein,
or clowns;
yangsuch’
ŏ
k,
or wicker workers; and
kisaeng,
or female entertainers, many of whom were of Qidan and Nuzhen stock. Because their occupations were deemed contemptible, they were treated socially as slaves.

All these class positions were inherited, although some significant changes, such as upward mobility to a higher status, often occurred. Although this class structure provided stability to Kory
ŏ
society, its underlying unfairness, where, except in rare cases, personal talents were totally ignored, frustrated people and made them dissatisfied with their society.

Qidans of Mongolian stock established their country, Liao, in the upper reaches of the Liao River in 907 and later moved eastward to destroy Parhae in 926. Qidans even invaded northern China, occupying the so-called Yanyun Districts, including present-day Beijing, in 936, and calling their country Liao in 946. In 960 the Song empire was established in China proper, bringing an end, in 979, to the turbulent period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. Qidan Liao and Song China competed keenly for supremacy over northern China.

After Qidans destroyed Parhae and now shared a common border with Kory
ŏ
, they attempted to make peace with Kory
ŏ
. Confronted by Song China, Qidans tried to prevent Kory
ŏ
from harassing the rear. In 942 they sent more than 30 envoys and 50 camels to Kory
ŏ
. T’aejo, however, refused the gift, as he regarded Qidans as an immoral people who renounced an alliance with Parhae and ruined it “overnight.” In his
Hunyo sipcho,
T’aejo described Qidan Liao as a “state of brutes.” He banished the envoys to an island and starved the camels to death under the Manbu-gyo bridge in Kaes
ŏ
ng. At the same time he welcomed refugees from Parhae and sought to recover the former territory of the Kogury
ŏ
kingdom. Thus, in his time, Kory
ŏ
’s northern boundary expanded to the Ch’
ŏ
ngch’
ŏ
n River. Kory
ŏ
also pursued a pro-Song policy after the Chinese empire was founded. T’aejo’s successors continued his anti-Qidan policy. To
prepare for an eventual conflict with Qidans, King Ch
ŏ
ngjong organized and trained some 300,000 troops, called the
Kwang-gun,
or Resplendent Army, as a reserve force in 947. To defend against Qidans, Kwangjong built fortresses along the northwestern frontiers.

As expected, Qidan Liao sought to counter regional isolation by invading Kory
ŏ
in 993. At the time the kingdom of Ch
ŏ
ngan (Dingan in Chinese) was founded by some Parhae refugees along the middle reaches of the Yalu River and, using Nuzhen (Jurchen) envoys, communicated with Song to launch a pincer attack on Liao. Feeling insecure, Liao destroyed the Ch
ŏ
ngan kingdom in 980 and built a fort at Naew
ŏ
n-s
ŏ
ng (fortress) in the lower reaches of the Yalu River, severing communications between Song and Nuzhens. Then, in 993, to prevent Kory
ŏ
from forging a military alliance with Song, Liao sent a large-scale invasion force, said to have been some 800,000-strong, across the Yalu River under the command of Xiao Xunning. Kory
ŏ
checked the advance of the Liao forces at the Ch’
ŏ
ngch’
ŏ
n River and resolved the crisis through the diplomatic maneuvers of S
ŏ
H
ŭ
i. S
ŏ
H
ŭ
i not only managed to persuade Liao forces to voluntarily withdraw but, with Liao’s approval, incorporated the area up to the Yalu River into Kory
ŏ
territory. In his negotiations with Qidans, S
ŏ
H
ŭ
i stressed that Kory
ŏ
was the successor to Kogury
ŏ
, which had occupied the Manchurian territories. He promised that Kory
ŏ
would enter into friendly relations with Liao once the Nuzhen lands south of the Yalu had come into Kory
ŏ
’s possession, opening a land link between Kory
ŏ
and Liao. Kory
ŏ
also agreed to end its ties with Song China. Because at the time Liao was entrenched in an armed struggle with Song China, it was forced to be satisfied with Kory
ŏ
’s promise. Thus, without a single battle, Kory
ŏ
triumphed over Liao by taking advantage of the contemporary international situation.