Goryeo culture and institutions: government, exams, Buddhism, celadon and the Tripitaka

A frame to start with

Goryeo was a dynasty that lasted from 918 to 1392, with its capital at Gaegyeong, today's Kaesong. Over more than 470 years it did not stay the same, so historians usually split it into the period when its institutions took shape after the founding, the era of military rule after the coup of 1170, and the period of Yuan interference following the 13th-century wars with the Mongols. This article focuses less on the sequence of events and more on how Goryeo was run and what culture it left behind. The broad sweep of Korean history is covered in a separate article, so here we look a little deeper inside Goryeo itself.

Central government: a Tang framework, adapted

Goryeo's central government is often summed up as two chancelleries and six ministries. It drew on the Tang dynasty's three-department, six-ministry model but adapted it to Goryeo's own needs instead of copying it. The Secretariat-Chancellery debated and decided policy, while the Department of State Affairs carried it out through the six ministries beneath it. Two councils in particular, where senior officials of the Secretariat-Chancellery and the Royal Secretariat met to discuss defense and law, are often described as institutions found only in Goryeo, with no Chinese counterpart. They show how Goryeo politics relied on consensus among aristocratic officials.

• Secretariat-Chancellery: deliberating and deciding policy
• Department of State Affairs: overseeing the six ministries
• Royal Secretariat: military secrets and transmitting royal orders
• Censorate: investigating misconduct by officials
• Finance Commission: accounting for state revenue and spending

Two routes into office

In 958, under King Gwangjong, civil service examinations were held for the first time, on the advice of Ssang Gi, a scholar who had come from Later Zhou. The main tracks tested literary composition and understanding of the Confucian classics, and there were also technical exams. Unlike in Joseon, military exams were rarely held during Goryeo. At the same time, descendants of officials of the fifth rank and above could enter office without an exam, a privilege known as eumseo. Because both exams and family background opened the door, powerful aristocratic clans that held high office for generations dominated the ruling class.

Local administration and land

The provinces were divided into five ordinary circuits, two military border regions in the north, and the capital region. King Seongjong set up twelve major districts and sent out the first centrally appointed governors, but not every county received one. Many subordinate counties had no governor, and local clerks handled their affairs. There were also special units called hyang, bugok and so, separate from ordinary counties. Land was managed through a stipend system that granted officials, according to rank, the right to collect taxes from certain land. The key point is that officials received the right to the tax, not ownership of the land.

A society of Buddhism and Confucianism

Goryeo held Buddhism in high regard. The Ten Injunctions left by its founder, Wang Geon, urged respect for Buddhism, and major festivals such as the Lantern Festival and Palgwanhoe were held as state events. There was a monastic examination, and titles of national and royal preceptor. Confucianism, however, was not pushed aside. After Choe Seung-ro submitted his 28-point policy memorial under King Seongjong, Confucianism became the governing ideology of the state, and a national academy was founded to teach it. It helps to think of a division of roles: Buddhism for personal faith and the afterlife, Confucianism for politics and institutions. Geomancy and folk beliefs also had their influence.

Goryeo's best-known cultural legacy

Many of Goryeo's cultural achievements are still widely known by name. These are good reference points when you first approach Goryeo culture.

• Goryeo celadon: famed for its clear blue-green glaze; around the 12th century the inlay technique, carving a design and filling it with different clay, developed
• The Tripitaka Koreana: woodblocks of the Buddhist canon carved during the Mongol invasions, kept at Haeinsa in Hapcheon
• Jikji: printed with metal type at Heungdeoksa in Cheongju in 1377, the oldest surviving book printed with movable metal type
• Samguk Sagi: compiled in 1145 by Kim Bu-sik and others, the oldest surviving Korean history
• Samguk Yusa: written by the monk Iryeon, it records the Dangun story and hyangga poems
• Wooden architecture: Goryeo buildings survive, such as the Muryangsujeon Hall of Buseoksa in Yeongju and the Geungnakjeon Hall of Bongjeongsa in Andong

A state open to the sea, and its society

Byeongnando, a port at the mouth of the Yeseong River near the capital, served as an international trading hub, and records say merchants from Song China and even far-off Arabia came there. A widely repeated explanation holds that the name Goryeo reached the West through such traders and became the origin of the English name Korea. Society was broadly divided into aristocrats, a middle stratum, commoners and the lowborn. In family life, property was divided among sons and daughters alike, and children were listed in household registers in order of birth, customs that differed from those of late Joseon. It is a reminder that family life and customs changed from era to era even within Korean history.

Common misconceptions about Goryeo

Fewer records survive from Goryeo than from Joseon, so it is easy to remember it through fragments. The following ideas often come from seeing only one side.

• Goryeo was purely Buddhist: its political ideology was Confucian
• Once exams existed, merit alone made officials: privilege and family mattered a great deal
• Institutions stayed the same throughout: they changed greatly under military rule and Yuan interference
• Every locality had a governor: many subordinate counties had none