HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The bone-rank system was the system of
aristocratic Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word's ...
rank used in the ancient
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
n kingdom of
Silla Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms of K ...
. It was used to segregate society, and particularly the layers of the aristocracy, on the basis of their
hereditary Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic inform ...
proximity to the throne and the level of authority they were permitted to wield. The idea of
royal blood A royal descent is a genealogy, genealogical Kinship and descent, line of descent from a past or present monarch. Both geneticists and genealogists have attempted to estimate the percentage of living people with royal descent. From a genetic ...
in other societies is a close analogue to the idea of "sacred bone" in Silla thought. Bone rank was strictly hereditary, and thus acted as a caste system. The scholar, Lee Ki-baik (1984, p. 43) considers it to have probably been adopted as part of the administrative law introduced from
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and promulgated by King Beopheung in 520. However, this likely did nothing but institute in legal fact what was already a society segregated by bloodline and
lineage Lineage may refer to: Science * Lineage (anthropology), a group that can demonstrate its common descent from an apical ancestor or a direct line of descent from an ancestor * Lineage (evolution), a temporal sequence of individuals, populati ...
. Although only two of the five known ranks were referred to as "bone" (골, 骨), the term "bone rank" has become widely used to describe the whole system. A person's bone rank status governed not only official status and marriage rights, but also the color of one's garments and the maximum dimensions of one's dwelling and carriage. These criteria are described in detail in the 12th century Korean history ''
Samguk Sagi ''Samguk Sagi'' (, ''History of the Three Kingdoms'') is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. The ''Samguk Sagi'' is written in Classical Chinese, the written language of the literati of ancient Korea, ...
'', particularly its
Monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...
s (''ji'' 志), book 2 (ranks and offices). The ''Samguk Sagis depiction of Silla life, however, has often been criticized for being excessively static. Unfortunately, since other sources are scarce, it is difficult to judge what sort of changes may have taken place in the bone rank system over the centuries.


Rank


Sacred Bone (Seonggol)

According to
Samguk Sagi ''Samguk Sagi'' (, ''History of the Three Kingdoms'') is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. The ''Samguk Sagi'' is written in Classical Chinese, the written language of the literati of ancient Korea, ...
, "the people of Silla divided the period from
Hyeokgeose of Silla Hyeokgeose of Silla (69 BC – 4 AD, r. 57 BC–4 AD), also known by his personal full name as Bak (Park, Pak) Hyeokgeose (朴赫居世), was the founding monarch of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was the progenitor of all B ...
to
Jindeok of Silla Queen Jindeok of Silla (?–654), reigned as Queen of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, from 647 to 654. She was the kingdom's 28th ruler, and its second reigning queen following her predecessor Queen Seondeok. During her reign, Silla ...
into Sacred Bone (Seonggol), and the king after
Muyeol of Silla King Taejong Muyeol (604–661), born Gim Chunchu, was the 29th ruler of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He is credited for leading the unification of Korea's Three Kingdoms. Background King Taejong Muyeol was born with the "sacred ...
into True Bone (Jingol). The highest level of the bone rank was the "sacred bone", or ''seonggol'' (성골, 聖骨), sometimes termed "hallowed bone". There is no specific record on exactly what the distinction between the Sacred Bone and the True Bone is set by, but is generally accepted that only the earliest kings were referred to as Seonggol. Because of this closed system of caste, when king
Jinpyeong of Silla Jinpyeong of Silla (567? – 632, reign 579 – 632) was the 26th king of the Silla Dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. King Jinpyeong followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, King Jinji, by reorganizing the central ruling system ...
had no son whom he could pass the crown to,
Queen Seondeok of Silla Queen Seondeok of Silla ( ko, 선덕여왕 ; 595~610 – 17 February 647/January 8, Lunar Calendar) reigned as Queen Regnant of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, from 632 to 647. She was Silla's twenty-seventh ruler, and its first re ...
became the first woman to ascend the throne. And after that, Kim Chun-chu, also referred to as
Muyeol of Silla King Taejong Muyeol (604–661), born Gim Chunchu, was the 29th ruler of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He is credited for leading the unification of Korea's Three Kingdoms. Background King Taejong Muyeol was born with the "sacred ...
ascended to the king as a Jingol status and since then, Jingol took over the throne for 281 years until Silla's demise.


True Bone (Jingol)

Below the sacred bone came the "true bone", or ''jingol'' (진골, 眞骨). Members of the true bone could hold any official position, up to the level of full minister. They could also attain office rank up to the highest, ''ibolchan'' (이벌찬). After the sacred bone rank was abolished under King Muyol, only those holding the true bone rank could become a king.


Head Ranks

Below the "true bone" came the head ranks (두품, 頭品), of which only the 6th, 5th and 4th are attested, 6th being the highest. The origins of these lower head rank classes and what defined one‘s status as such are obscure and still debated among scholars. As the ''jingol'' were prohibited from marrying into the lower ranks, though they could take concubines from them, it is feasible that one source of the head rank six were the children born from unions between ''jingol'' fathers and lower ranking concubines. In any case, members of the head rank six could rise to the position of vice-minister (''gyeong'', 경, 卿) and as high as the 6th level of office rank, ''achan'' (아찬, 阿餐) (two higher ranks of ''jungachan'' (중아찬, 重阿餐) and ''sajung achan'' (사중아찬, 四重阿餐) were later supplemented to that of ''achan'' but these still fell within the 6th level). Members of head ranks four and five could rise only to minor posts. Members of head rank five could reach the 10th level of office rank, ''daenaema'' (대내마, 大奈麻), while members of head rank four could attain only the 12th level of office rank, ''daesa'' (대사, 大舍). There were 17 levels of office rank altogether. One scholar has proposed that, "head-ranks three, two, and one, if they ever formally existed, must have designated the ... non-privileged general populace."Lee, Ki-baik. ''A New History of Korea'' (Translated by Edward W. Wagner with Edward J. Shultz), (Cambridge, MA:Harvard University Press, 1984), p. 50.


Evaluations

The frustrated ambitions of the head rank six class in particular seem to have played a prominent role in the politics of the late Silla period. Many men of head rank six status, proscribed from rising too high in the Silla administrative system defined by the bone rank system, sought to bypass this by studying
Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
(either in Silla or abroad in
Tang China The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
) or else turned to careers in
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
. The most prominent of the head rank six figures was undoubtedly
Choe Chiwon Choe Chiwon (; 857–10th century) was a Korean philosopher and poet of the late medieval Unified Silla period (668-935). He studied for many years in Tang China, passed the Tang imperial examination, and rose to the high office there before r ...
, who following an illustrious career in China returned to Silla only to see his attempts at administrative reform rebuffed by an entrenched aristocracy. In the early 10th century the nascent state of
Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificati ...
, which succeeded
Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled most ...
, tapped into the head rank six intellectuals from Silla and
Later Baekje Hubaekje or Later Baekje (, ) was one of the Later Three Kingdoms of Korea, along with Taebong and Silla. Later Baekje was a Korean dynastic kingdom founded by the disaffected Silla general Gyeon Hwon in 900, whom led the local gentry and popul ...
to man its bureaucracy. The bone rank system's extreme rigidity certainly helped to weaken Silla toward the end of the
Unified Silla Unified Silla, or Late Silla (, ), is the name often applied to the Korean kingdom of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, after 668 CE. In the 7th century, a Silla–Tang alliance conquered Baekje and the southern part of Goguryeo in the ...
period, although numerous other factors were at play. After the fall of Silla, the bone rank system was abolished entirely, although different and somewhat more flexible caste systems persisted until near the end of the
Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...
in the late 19th century.


See also

*
List of Korean family names This is a list of Korean surnames, in Hangul alphabetical order. Note: (S) denotes South Korea. (N) denotes North Korea. The most common Korean family name (particularly in South Korea) is Kim, followed by Lee and Park. These three family name ...
*
History of Korea The Lower Paleolithic era in the Korean Peninsula and Manchuria began roughly half a million years ago. Christopher J. Norton, "The Current State of Korean Paleoanthropology", (2000), ''Journal of Human Evolution'', 38: 803–825. The earlies ...
*
Three Kingdoms of Korea Samhan or the Three Kingdoms of Korea () refers to the three kingdoms of Goguryeo (고구려, 高句麗), Baekje (백제, 百濟), and Silla (신라, 新羅). Goguryeo was later known as Goryeo (고려, 高麗), from which the modern name ''Kor ...
*
Nine-rank system The nine-rank system, also known as the nine-grade controller system, was used to categorize and classify government officials in Imperial China. Created in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms, it was used until the Song dynasty, and sim ...
of China * ''
Songbun ''Songbun'' (), formally chulsin-songbun (, from Sino-Korean 出身, "origin" and 成分, "constituent"), is the system of ascribed status used in North Korea. Based on the political, social, and economic background of one's direct ancestors ...
'', a similar practice in modern
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...


References

Silla Korean caste system Ancient Korean institutions