5
Three indigenous Silla institutions:
Golpum
골품
(
) 'bone rank' system of hereditary rank and caste
骨品
seonggol
성골
(
)
聖骨
Hallowed Bone rank - rank of divine monarchs; became extinct in 654.
jin'gol
진골
(
)
眞骨
True Bone rank
aristocracy directly related to the Hallowed Bone monarchs; monopolized the first 5 of
–
the 17 ranks of government.
Head rank six
육두품
(
) - could hold all ranks of government office up to the 6th but no higher.
六頭品
Head ranks five, four - lower ranks entitled to government office.
Head ranks three, two and one - are not clear but likely indicated commoners.
Head rank six came into conflict with the more privileged True Bone aristocrats who threatened royal authority; they were
often better educated than the True Bone and as a result were more trusted by later monarchs.
Hwabaek
화백
(
) council
和白
Powerful advisory council of True Bone rank nobles.
Governed by unanimous decision on matters including declarations of war, and succession to the throne, as well as the
adoption of Buddhism.
Held their councils at four sacred locations around the capital: Cheongsong-san (
'green pine mountain') to the east,
靑松山
Uji-san (
) to the south, Pijeon (
) to the west and Geumgang-san (
'diamond mountain') to the north.
于知山
皮田
金剛山
Increasingly came into conflict with the consolidation of royal authority; following the death of Queen Jindeok, the last
김춘추
무열왕
Hallowed Bone rank monarch, and rise to the throne of Kim Chunchu (
King Muyeol
) who had
金春秋
武烈王
been a former head of the Hwabaek himself, its became greatly weakened.
With the process of Tang style Sinicization following the unification wars, the Hwabaek was marginalized; prime ministerial
power of the
sangdaedeung (
), head of the Hwabaek, was in part assumed by the royal office of the
上大等
Jipsabu (執事部
established 651) headed by the
jungsi (
).
中侍
Hwarang-do
화랑도
(
'flowering youth disciple') order:
花郞徒
An organization of aristocratic warrior youths, headed by True Bone rank, apparently formed in 517.
Presumed to have taken the Five Secular Injunctions (
) lain down by Buddhist monk Won'gwang (
541-630)
世俗五戒
圓光
in 613, as a code:
"...serve your sovereign with loyalty; tend your parents with filial piety; treat your friends with sincerity;
do not retreat from a battlefield; be discriminating about the taking of life."
7)
(Lee 1969:79)
미륵불
Was a martial cult based around belief in the Maitreya Buddha (
):
彌勒佛
"What sustained the hwarang was this belief in Maitreya, the patron saint of the institution, and the
belief that its members were no less than reincarnated Maitreyas." (Lee 1969:14)
Following the unification wars (against Baekje and Goguryeo), its martial vigour became diminished.
w
An alternative tradition, also recorded in
Samguk-sagi, describes the hwarang as elite youth selected by the court for their beauty
and ability in the arts.
w
Later itinerant musicians would also trace their tradition to the Hwarang.
Silla's most famous general:
김유신
Kim Yusin (
595-673):
金庾信
수로왕
금관가야
Gaya roots: was the 13th descendent of King Suro (
42-199), founder of Geumgwan Gaya (
); and
首露
金官伽倻
the great-grandson of its last king. Upon surrender to Silla in 532, the Gaya royal family was accorded True Bone rank
status and married into the Silla royal clan.
As a
hwarang
용화향도
Yusin led a small group called the Yonghwahyang-do (
'fragrant followers of the dragon
龍華香徒
flower' where dragon flower refers to the dragon tree in the prophecy of the Maitreya Buddha's coming.)
A one man war machine: decisively participated in some thirteen victorious battles!
Culminated in the final overthrow of Baekje.
7) Found in Lee, Peter H.
1969
The Lives of Eminent Korean Monks, The Haedong Kos ng Ch n, Cambridge, Massachusetts:
Harvard University Press; p79. Also found in
Sources of Korean Tradition, Volume 1.
6
Traditionally the most celebrated general of Korean history, there is less focus on him now since he participated in the
unification wars which saw Silla detroy Baekje and Goguryeo through an alliance with Tang China, and also failed to conquer
more of Goguryeo’s northern territories.
The Gaya states (
가야
伽倻
c.42CE~534,562)
Located in between Baekje and Silla around the Nakdong river basin.
금관가야
본가야
대
Two main "confederacy" states: Geumgwan Gaya (
also called Bon Gaya
) and Dae Gaya (
金官伽倻
本伽倻
大伽倻
가야).
Ultimately absorbed by Silla.
Gaya maintained links with early Japan and exported both bronze and iron culture, contributing to the formation of the
Japanese Yayoi period (
c.300BCE-300CE).
生
弥
Gaya and the Mimana controversy
임나국
(Korean: Imna
; Japanese:
Mimana)
任那國
任那
みまな
To help justify their colonization of Korea in 1910, Japanese historians claimed that the Gaya confederacy had been an ancient
Japanese colony called the Mimana Nihonfu (
‘Mimana Japan office’).
任那日本府
Mimana Nihonfu is a term found only in the Japanese history,
Nihon shoki (720) but Mimana/Imna is separately attested in
earlier sources, including the Gwanggaeto Stele.
百殘新羅舊是屬民由來朝貢
Baekje and Silla people originally people belonging [to Goguryeo] who paid tribute.
而倭以辛卯年來 渡海破百殘
羅 以爲臣民
□□□
But in the Sinmyo year {391}, Wae came across the sea and defeated Baekje [and Sil]la, making them {their} subjects.
However, Japanese archaeologists failed to identify the Mimana.
It was most likely quite the opposite circumstance, that from early on the region of Gaya transmitted Yayoi bronze and iron
culture to Japan and that the Gaya immigrants contributed to the formation of the proto-Japanese Wa ( ) people (prior to the
倭
subsequent Baekje migrations - if they happened).
The main thing to know is that Gaya exported iron to the Japanese isles as iron was not produced in Japan until the sixth
century (then using smelting techniques transmitted from Baekje).
남북국시대
Northern and Southern Kingdoms period (
)
南北國時代
consisting of
Unified Silla (668-935) and
Balhae
발해
(
698-926)
渤海
Balhae (698-926)
Established by the northern remnants of Goguryeo who refused to submit to Silla.
Vast continental empire covering much more of Manchuria than Goguryeo had, but with less territory on the Korean peninsula.
Ultimately conquered by the Khitan Liao dynasty (907-1125).
Balhae is a part of the same history dispute with China as Goguryeo:
Balhae was not included in the
Samguk-sagi and so was neglected from orthodox Korean historiography though it was
included in other early Korean sources; this fact was occasionally lamented by Korean scholars.
It was equally neglected by Chinese historiography!
Typical view of South Korean historians:
The Chinese are going to great lengths to make Balhae history Chinese history based on the fact that the former rulers of
Manchuria
the Goguryeo, Balhae and Manchus (descendants of the Malgal)
have since been assimilated as Chinese...
–
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