State Structure
Near the end of the Goryeo Dynasty,
in 1389, General Yi Seong-gye seized political and military power, deposing
King Chang (r.1388-1389) and placing King Gongyang (r.1389-1392) on
the throne. He and his faction then carried out sweeping land reforms.
Neo-Confucian ideology became the political capital in his fight against
the declining Goryeo monarchy and nobility.
The Gwajeonbeop (rank land law) was instituted, providing not
only land for General Yi to distribute but also the power to rule the
country. He and his group were well aware that the ability to bring
order and to end the decadent Goryeo Dynasty lay in the land tenure
system.
Under the terms of the status land system, land was ordinarily distributed
for life only, on the basis of one's status or rank. Recipients were
given the right to collect rents, while the peasant was given the right
to cultivate. The customary rent amounted to half the crop and was usually
paid as rent-tax to the state. |
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The Joseon Dynasty (15th century) |
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Since the peasant, as tenant, was guaranteed land tenure in terms of cultivation
rights, not subject to confiscation, his livelihood was improved. In addition,
the accumulation of land by the
yangban, or office-holding aristocrats,
was strictly controlled by the stipulation that status land would be granted
to them only in the Gyeonggi area around the capital, where the government could
easily maintain supervision and surveillance.
By resolutely carrying out land reform, Yi Seong-gye and his followers obtained
economic influence. King Gongyang was forced to abdicate and Yi Seong-gye's
followers placed Yi on the throne, bringing an end to the house of Wang. Yi
Seong-gye renamed the dynasty Joseon and he was given the dynastic name of Taejo.
The establishment of institutions of Confucian learning was given top priority
in order to institute a Confucian state. A college and five municipal schools
were set up in Hanyang, and local schools were established in all the magistrates.
From these schools, Confucian-oriented scholar-officials were recruited for
government.
The yangban class, acting in concert, had the power to influence the
monarchial administration and decision-making procedures. Under Confucian precepts,
the bureaucracy was to act as the agent of the monarch's will, since the monarch
had a vested interest in benevolent rule. The monarch in turn had to heed the
advice of the Confucian scholars. In this connection, the Office of Royal Lecturers
and the Office of State Councilors (Uijeongbu) were of prime importance. Below
this were the six boards of administration - civil appointment, taxation, rites,
military, punishment and public works - the principal government organizations
in the capital. In provincial areas administrative divisions and magistrates
under provincial governors carried out local administration.
The Censorate Offices submitted memorials and remonstrances to the monarch and
had the authority to ratify and rectify the monarch's appointment of officials
and his renovative decrees. The court historians, who were to record daily happenings
in the court and render verbatim records of the royal conversation, were empowered
to criticize the monarch and keep him under close surveillance.
In order to enhance Confucian learning, movable metal type was cast for the
printing of Confucian classics and historical literature in 1403. Typography
was developed and improved by the repeated casting of new fonts as a means of
promoting Confucian studies for the welfare and prosperity of the state.
King Sejong's Confucian Humanism
Joseon's fourth king, King Sejong the Great (r.1418-1450), was noted for his
mastery of Confucian learning. In addition to his embrace of Confucian values,
he showed himself able to successfully handle the yangban scholars. His rule
in the mid-15th century was marked by progressive ideas in administration, national
script, economics, science, music, medical science and humanistic studies. He
established the
Jiphyeonjeon (Hall of Worthies) in order to promote research
in institutional traditions and politico-economics.
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Hunminjeongeum; The Correct
Sounds for the Instruction of the People |
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The pluviometer in 1441. |
King Sejong showed great concern for the livelihood of the peasants, providing
relief in time of drought and flood. He had Jeong Cho compile the
Nongsajikseol
(Straight Talk on Farming), a volume replete with information collected from
experienced elder peasants throughout the country. The first of its kind in
Korea, this became the classic work on Korean agriculture. He also put into
effect a sliding tax scale which eased the peasants' burden. King Sejong ordered
the development of the pluviometer in 1441 and distributed duplicates to the
Office of Astronomy in Hanyang as well as to local magistrates to record precipitation.
This preceded Gastelli's pluviometer of 1639 by almost 200 years.
One of his most celebrated achievements was the creation of the Korean alphabet,
Han-geul. Aware that his people must have a writing system designed to
express the language of their everyday speech, and desirous that all his subjects
be able to learn and use it, King Sejong impelled scholars of the Hall of Worthies
to devise the alphabet. The Korean alphabet, which consists of 11 vowels and
17 consonants, possesses geometric beauty, simplicity and scientific accuracy,
and as such, can be learned by an uneducated man in a matter of hours.
Confucian scholars raised considerable opposition and protest to the use of
Korean script, which they thought would harm Confucian studies. King Sejong
persisted in his determination to promote
Han-geul for the benefit of
the people, and
Hunminjeongeum, or "The Correct Sounds for the Instruction
of the People," was distributed in 1446.
The official written language continued to be Chinese, as was Latin in Europe,
but now the Korean people had at their disposal a means of writing in their
own language. A poetic eulogy on the foundings of the dynasty,
Yongbieocheonga
(Songs of Flying Dragons), was composed in Korean as well as in Chinese, and
the
Seokbosangjeol (Episodes From the Life of the Buddha) was translated
into Korean. These works laid the foundation for the practical use of the Korean
script.
King Sejong also showed his concern for the health of the people by ordering
the compilation of medical books. A 365-chapter compendium on Chinese medicine
as well as the
Hyangyakjipseongbang (A Compilation of Native Korean Prescrip-tions)
in 85 chapters, was completed in 1433. This latter included 959 entries on disease
diagnoses, 10,706 prescriptions, and 1,477 items on acupuncture therapy. Another
book on how to collect local medicinal material was also published in Han-geul.
King Sejong's interest in astronomical science was comprehensive. Sun dials,
water clocks, orreries of the solar system, celestial globes, astronomical maps,
and atlases of the seven planets were produced on his orders. He had a notation
system for Korean as well as Chinese music, and had one of his talented subjects,
Bak Yeon, improve Korea? musical instruments and write of music for Korean musicians.
In foreign relations, King Sejong took strong measures against the Jurchen tribes.
The territory in the northeastern frontier area was restored, and six fortresses
were established after General Kim Jong-seo quelled the Jurchen invaders in
1434. In 1443 King Sejong installed four counties on the northern border, and
opened three ports to the Japanese to promote trade. King Sejong's land tax
reform, health policy and comissioning of the Korean alphabet all contributed
to the improvement of life of the people.
King Sejong was able to realize the Confucian state in the true sense of the
word. He also engendered a modern national consciousness in the minds of the
people. Although he had earlier confiscated temple lands and bondsmen and otherwise
restricted Buddhism, he later became especially devoted to that faith after
the death of his beloved Queen. His health declined during that period, and
he abdicated the throne to his son King Munjong (r.1450-1452). Unfortunately,
his legacy of stability and prosperity was not sustained by his short-lived
successors.
Monarchy Versus Yangban
King Munjong's death in 1452 brought an 11-year-old crown prince to the throne.
State affairs were left in the hands of state councilors, and monarchical power
declined. In 1455, the unscrupulous Prince Suyang daegun, uncle of the child-king
Danjong, usurped the throne by murder and regicide after quelling the opposition;
he also ruthlessly suppressed attempts to restore Danjong as king.
King Sejo (r.1455-1468), as Prince Suyang daegun is officially known, closed
the Hall of Worthies, abolished some posts in the Censorate Offices, and crippled
the Office of Royal Lecturers (
Gyeong-yeon), all measures designed to
loosen the ideological restraints on the monarchy. The Office of Study Promotion
was instituted, ostensibly as a means of promoting Confucianism. In fact, it
was used merely as a royal library rather than as an organization designed to
promote and propagate Confucian ideals. Further, he initiated the practice of
giving private audiences to individual officials, flouting the regulation which
made the presence of historians and censorate officials mandatory at royal audiences.
An attempt to raise the status of the monarchy was, however, justified, as the
Korean monarchs had formerly been vulnerable to inordinate
yangban pressure.
Yang Seong-ji, a talented scholar under King Sejong, advocated the monarch's
cause in his memorials. Yang stressed Korea's unique position, asserting the
need to preserve indigenous traditions. Dan-gun, according to him, was the "Son-of-Heaven
Ruler." He formulated the proposition that Joseon, like China, was a nation
upon which the "Mandate of Heaven" was bestowed. This argument strengthened
King Sejo's hand vis-a-vis the bureaucracy.
King Sejo ordered the compilation of a detailed map of Korea to provide further
control of outlying areas. Census-taking of all soldiers and reserves in the
various districts was enforced, and the Civil Register Act required all citizens
to carry identification tags. He installed large military garrisons in each
province and ordered every town to produce arms.
By arranging generous land grants and medicine, King Sejo showed his concern
for the welfare of the army. He also ordered the migration of people to the
sparsely populated northern border areas.
The monarch acted decisively in matters relating to the recruitment of new officials,
increasing the number of military officers to further strengthen the monarchial
power. He also gave the title of "Meritorious Subject" to various officials
on three different occasions to widen the base of loyal support. With the increase
of inheritable land grants to meritorious subjects, however, land available
for the newly appointed officials decreased. To solve this problem and to limit
the economic power of the officials and
yangban, King Sejo instituted
the official land system, which allowed land grants for office tenure only.
Thus, the status land system by which the
yangban enjoyed life-time tenure
was discontinued, and those parties who refused to compromise lost their land
holdings altogether. This limitation of land grants to incumbent officials meant
that the old landed
yangban class changed to either an employed bureaucracy
with land or landless
yangban with prestige only.
King Sejo offered interim civil and military service examinations more often,
in addition to the time-honored examinations given every three years. Since
the number of successful candidates in the interim examinations exceeded those
from fixed examinations by a ratio of two to one, this soon brought the civil
examination system under the monarch's sway.
To divert the attention of the Neo-Confucian scholars, King Sejo defied Confucian
orthodoxy by supporting Taoism and Buddhism. An Office for Publication of Buddhist
Scriptures was established, where the compilation of Buddhist literature and
Korean translation of such literature became active. Fifty copies of the bulky
Tripitaka Koreana were printed for distribution. To equip the often Sinocentric
scholars with a comprehensive history of their own country, the compilation
of
Dongguktonggam (Comprehensive Mirror of the Eastern Kingdom) began
in 1458 and was completed after the king's death.
During this time, the compilation of the
Gyeonggukdaejeon (Grand Code
for State Administration) was initiated. The
Gyeonggukdaejeon became
the cornerstone of the dynastic administration and provided the monarchial system
with a sort of constitutional law in written form.
Resurgence of Neo-Confucian Rule
The ninth King of Joseon Dynasty, Seongjong (r.1469-1494) ascended to the throne
as a child and ruled under the regency of the dowager queen and minister-consultants.
The anti-Sejo literati used the institution of the royal lecture to try to abolish
Buddhist rituals and other anomalies in the life of the court, and even the
child king was subject to a rigorous schedule of two to four royal lectures
per day. The Office of Study Promotion was expanded to serve as a censorate
in addition to providing royal lecturers. Heavy Confucian indoctrination was
the order of the day, and state support of Buddhism gradually diminished. During
King Seongjong's reign, officials' rights to collect taxes and rent from official
land as personal income began to wane.
Young scholars were treated well and given opportunities at the newly established
Hall of Leave for Study, and Confucianism once again found its place in the
royal administration. An ambitious publication program was implemented, producing
such works as a compendium of Korean historical geography; also issued was an
anthology of Korean-Chinese literature, as well as an illustrated text on traditional
music.
Such efforts to restore Confucian rule were not sufficient to satisfy the scholarly
class in general, however. Those among them who had suffered discrimination
during King Sejo's reign gained a foothold at court, but economic conditions
did not greatly improve. Following the implementation of a central collection
and distribution of rent policy on the officials' land, the officials and
yangban
sought land control for the right to farm, thereby encroaching upon the peasant's
share of land ownership rights. Moreover, land area grew as a result of reclamation,
and this contributed further to the growth of agricultural estates, a process
which the dynasty attempted to prevent. Some agricultural estates gathered bondsmen
and peasants, many of whom abandoned their free status in order to escape the
heavy land tax, corvee, and tribute taxes that had been imposed on them.
As the desire to hold landed interests became more intense, those
yangban
who had already established themselves as the owners of meritorious subject
land and secured special land grants or accumulated landed rights to cultivate
land suddenly became targets of criticism.
Those literati who could not afford land became impoverished as they had to
hold costly clan rites prescribed by Neo-Confucian doctrine. To maintain themselves,
they depended heavily on their kinship ties, relying on assistance given by
an appointed official of the same kin group. These mutual assistance relationships
affected both officials in the capital, and landed
yangban in the outlying
areas as well. This was also a key factor in the politico-economic life of
yangban
during the Joseon Dynasty. Kim Jong-jik (1432-1492) was a leading scholar-official
with many followers during King Seongjong's reign. He advocated the Neo-Confucian
rectification theory which implied condemnation of King Sejo's usurpation. His
success represented for a while the peak of the resurgent Neo-Confucian school.
Seongjong's successor in 1495 was King Yeonsan-gun, whose reign was noted for
his unscrupulous suppression of the literati. In the initial period, he was
hard-pressed by that clamorous group which opposed Buddhist rituals observed
at the death of the Queen Mother. Infuriated by the protests made by the Neo-Confucian
literati, King Yeonsan-gun lashed out at them. His first purge was based on
an accusation of treachery because one of Kim Jong-jik's students had implicitly
criticized King Sejo's usurpation in his historical notes. Through this purge
and another which followed in 1504, King Yeonsan-gun eliminated the checks on
him exercised by historians, the censorate, and state councilors. Confucian
statecraft almost collapsed. His extraordinary anti-Confucian and anti-Buddhist
acts contravened the
Gyeonggukdaejeon and dismayed the yangban as a whole
until he was finally deposed.
It fell to King Jungjong (r.1506-1544), supported by the officials who had deposed
King Yeonsan-gun, to restore Confucian rule. The resurgence of the Neo-Confucian
school made the enhancement of the economic status of the literati an urgent
necessity. Some were rewarded with meritorious subject land, but others found
a solution through securing charters for private schools endowed with some land
and bondsmen. Such local private schools became the intellectual training ground
for new thoughts.
The increase of refugee peasants contributed to the ever growing burden of taxes
upon the remaining peasants. Jo Gwang-jo, an influential official, advocated
the recommendation system for the recruitment of government officials and the
organization of local guilds to improve the impoverished condition of the literati.
The recommendation system was implemented and his group was recruited for official
posts, but this alone did not satisfy them since they were not rewarded with
appropriate land. In 1519, the year they achieved their goal of implementing
the recommendation examination system, these Neo-Confucian scholars faced spurious
charges of treason.
The ministers and the literati were often embroiled in royal succession struggles,
and competed among themselves for places in the bureaucracy, especially since
their numbers had rapidly increased with the expansion of private schools. Their
common interests based on local school and kinship organizations were bound
to spilt them into factions. The number of private schools exceeded one hundred
in the late 16th century, and eminent scholars of the Neo-Confucian philosophy
sought shelter in such institutions.
As for the people in general, they were hard-pressed by the levies of land tax,
corvee, military tax, service and especially tribute tax, which was collected
by authorized agents. The growth of agricultural estates accelerated, contributing
further to the decline of the peasant economy. A "righteous outlaw" named
Im
Kkeok-jeong rose up against the greedy officials. Recruiting a large group
of peasants, he confiscated the wealth of rich yangban officials and distributed
it to the poor. He seized government granaries and gave relief to hungry people
in the provinces of Gyeonggi-do and Hwanghae-do. Although he was caught and
beheaded in 1562, his chivalry and revolutionary ideas captured the admiration
of the people.
Resistance Against Japanese
The founder of Joseon Dynasty, King Taejo distinguished himself in his conquest
of Japanese marauders. After the latter's depredations had ceased, Korea opened
three ports for trade with Japanese feudal lords, giving investiture to the
Tsushima lord who had been engaged in lucrative trade with other ranking Japanese.
The Japanese liaison officers living at these ports caused trouble at times,
however, and the amount of Joseon's grant was reduced.
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A picture depicting a Geobukseon
(turtle ship), which successfully harassed the invading Japanese forces
off the southern coast in the 16th century |
In Japan, after the assassination of Oda Nobunaga, who temporarily called a
truce among Japan's warring lords, Toyotomi Hideyoshi rose to power in 1590.
Hideyoshi needed to find a way to weaken the powerful feudal lords in the western
part of Japan. In this explosive domestic situation, he looked abroad and decided
that an invasion of China would provide the outlet needed to obtain a peaceful
solution at home. When Joseon rejected Hideyoshi's request for aid in attacking
China, he ordered his generals to invade Ming and Joseon in 1592. The Japanese
army, armed with matchlock guns with which Joseon soldiers were not familiar,
reached Hanyang within a few weeks. They had attempted to invade the granary
Jeolla-do Province, only to meet the strong resistance of the people led by
General Kim Si-min at Jinju. They then turned back towards Hanyang.
King Seonjo and the royal princes fled to the northern provinces and appealed
to the Ming Emperor for aid against the invaders. The Japanese generals squabbled
among themselves, while Joseon's Admiral Yi Sun-sin conducted a brilliant series
of operations in the South Sea, destroying many Japanese ships. The ironclad
Geobukseon (turtle ships), which Admiral Yi improved with plated armor
resembling a turtle shell, protected the sailors and marines, and were more
than a match for anything else afloat.
With the appearance of allied Ming contingents, the Japanese were forced to
fight a combined Ming-Joseon army. Cut off from supplies and reinforcements
owing to Admiral Yi's control of the sea, the Japanese were severely weakened.
A Joseon volunteer army organized in the southern provinces harassed them with
guerrilla tactics, while disease and malnutrition took its toll. Peace negotiations
were held between the Ming general and the Japanese, who had by then lost the
will to fight and started to retreat, stalked by volunteer peasant forces and
contingents of Buddhist monks.
Peace negotiations dragged on for five years but proved fruitless, and Hideyoshi
sent his army to Joseon again in 1597. The invasion this time encompassed only
Gyeongsang-do province and part of the Jeolla-do province, as the invaders were
intercepted by the volunteer army.
The Japanese retreated and Hideyoshi's death forced the withdrawal of his forces.
Admiral Yi, in his attempt to smash the Japanese retreat, was struck by a stray
bullet and killed during a climactic naval battle. The war ended at long last,
with grave impact upon Joseon, Ming China and Japan.
Impact of the War
The results of the Hideyoshi invasion brought about the destruction of government
records, cultural objects, archives, historical documents and many works of
art, the devastation of land, decrease in population, and the loss of artisans
and technicians. Arable land amounted to only one-third of the prewar acreage,
and the resulting decrease of revenue necessitated additional taxation on less
devastated provinces such as Gyeonggi-do or Chungcheong-do. The government resorted
to selling official titles and yangban status, and on occasion, held an examination
for government service open to the bondsman class. The loss of artisans brought
a decline in handiwork quality, as well as in manufactured goods such as pottery
and book printing. The Neo-Confucian norms and values were shaken, and the class
distinctions which the
yangban tried to uphold began to slowly crumble.
The Japanese, on the other hand, achieved a peaceful, centralized feudal society
under Hideyoshi's successor, Tokugawa Ieyasu. Importation of the political philosophy
of Neo-Confucianism and the study of medicinal materials and therapy developed
in Joseon also helped Japanese scholars make significant contributions to their
society. The introduction of typography with movable metal type expedited book
printing, and Joseon artisans captured by the Japanese army developed ceramic
and textile products. After the Tokugawa takeover, Japan wanted peaceful diplomatic
relations with Joseon in order to benefit further from the Joseon version of
Chinese culture.
For Ming China, however, the results were catastrophic. The economic setback
suffered in the campaign later led to the collapse of the dynasty in 1644.