Koryo
KORYO DYNASTY
With the unification of the country under Koryo control, the capital was moved from KOmsong (Kyongju) to Songdo (Kaesong). The Koryo Dynasty (918-1392) took its name from Koguryo, and from it comes the English name Korea. Government was completely restructured, agricultural reforms were made, a new educational system was initiated, and diplomatic relations were strengthened with China, ushering in a 200-year period of relative peace and prosperity. Power was centralized in the king, and the administration was carried out by bureaucrats and scholars who had achieved their position by examination, not birth. Unlike United Silla's government, where power was "tribal," the Koryo system involved people from the whole peninsula and helped to create a unified national identity. Regional capitals were established, administered by appointed bureaucrats to check any possible emergence of a power base within the local gentry.
Rank and land became power and wealth, and this new bureaucratic social class eventually became hereditary. Increased interest in education led to the establishment of a national university and local schools. Although Confucianism continued to be important in politics, ethics, and daily affairs, Buddhism remained the primary spiritual inspiration and focus of religious fulfillment through the end of the dynasty. Land was given to Buddhist temples and monasteries, and certain Buddhist monks became involved in the mechanisms of power. At this time, the son (Zen) sect of Buddhism became the predominant order. Much of Koryo's art was religious in content; its most significant contribution, however, was the production of celadon, perhaps the best in the world. Other achievements of the dynasty were elegant wooden structures, literary histories, cast-metal movable type (created in 1234-200 years before Gutenberg!), and the production of gunpowder.
Early in the dynasty, additional territory had been added in the north, and Cheju-do was annexed in 1105. For a tighter defense, by 1044 a wall had been constructed across the peninsula -reminiscent of the Great Wall of China-from the mouth of the Amnok (Yalu) River to Ham
hOng. Civilian control ended in 1170, folowing a military coup that reduced the king to a figurehead. Power was concentrated in the Ch'oe family, whose head became a virtual dictator. Private armies were established, including the sambyolch'o, an ultra-nationalistic elite force loyal to the Ch'oes. This period saw harsh infighting and economic deterioration. It became obvious that the military was incapable of running the government properly, so civilian bureaucrats were soon reincorporated in large numbers.
In 1231, the Mongols invaded Koryo territory, taking the capital. The royalty fled to the island of Kanghwa-do, where it set up a govemment in internal exile. Although unable to capture the island, the Mongols controlled the rest of the peninsula as a vassal state. The Koryo king ordered the Koreana Tripitaka, a collection of more than 80,000 hand-carved wooden printing blocks of the entire Buddhist canon, be produced as a supplication to Buddha for aid in resisting the Mongols. (The Mongols remained for a century, but the printing blocks have survived until today and are kept at Haein-sa in Kyongsangnam-Do.) Resistance to the invaders was led by the military, but when the Mongols laid waste the country, resulting in incredible hardship for the common people, opposition dissipated. Finally, the king sued for peace and retumed to his rightful throne in 1270. The sambyolch'o, however, was not content with this settlement. This elite force struggled against a combined Silla/Mongol army, first setting up a small maritime kingdom on Chin-do, later being pushed south to Cheju-do where they finally met defeat in 1273.
In 1280 the Mongols took the dynastic name Yuan, and for the next century they ruled China with a strict hand, greatly influencing Koryo. Strong and independent before the Mongol invasions, Koryo became a tribute state afterward. Korean kings had little say in domestic or foreign affairs, and forced intermarriage reduced the royal family to a branch of the Mongol royal family. One of the dramatic consequences of this partnership was Koryo aid to the Mongol invasions of Japan in 1281, which led to untold human suffering and the destruction of the Koryo/Mongol military force in a typhoon.
During the 1300s, Koryo gained some independence while the Mongols were preoccupied with the rising power of Ming in south-central China. However, Japanese pirates were a constant nuisance to the peninsula's coastal regions, causing economic hardship. Extreme land reforms in the latter half of the century further ripped apart the fabric of this agricultural society, destroying the landed aristocratic class and Buddhist institutions, in turn worsening the situation for the common man. Neo-Confucianism, with its strict moral and ethical codes, stratified social hierarchy, and conservative doctrines of government and law gained strength, especially in the lower bureaucratic class, undercutting the influence of the nobility and powerabusing Buddhist monks. The once vibrant aristocracy and socially conscious Buddhist leadership began to sour.
In this setting of social and political turmoil and external badgering rose General Yi Songgye. After countering Japanese pirates along the southern coast, he was sent north to battle Mongol forces. Seeing this move as disastrous for the country, he returned to the capital, forced the abdication of the king, and put another on the throne. Still not satisfied with the state of affairs, he took the throne himself in 1392 and established the Choson Dynasty.