Generals and Scholars: Military Rule in Medieval Korea

2 Myŏngjong’s Reign

28 When the military leaders enthroned Myŏngjong in 1170, they relegated this new king to a subservient position where he became a pawn in the ensuing power struggles. Myŏngjong’s reign, one of the most troubled periods in Koryŏ history, witnessed the near collapse of the Koryŏ state. Generals rose in rapid succession through coups and countercoups, and this plunge into anarchy was not arrested until General Ch’oe Ch’unghŏn launched his own coup in 1196 and forced Myŏngjong to abdicate in 1197. This chapter explores the social and political turmoil that besieged Myŏngjong’s period of rule. Although the new military leaders sought to redraw the lines of authority between military and civilian officials, they failed in arriving at a new balance. This period vividly shows what happens to any society that loses restraint and gives way to personal whim and cupidity . A product of this age of treachery, General Ch’oe Ch’unghŏn struggled to quell the unrest and find mechanisms to return the kingdom to its former days of glory under his personal authority. Military in Control In 1170 the military leaders quickly became the arbiters of power. Although they enthroned Myŏngjong to serve as king and relied on the dynastic institutions to assist in governing, the new regime depended on the military structure and military personnel to lead. In attempting to shape policy, Chŏng Chungbu, together with Yi Ko and Yi Ŭibang, turned to the Council of Generals for assistance. The council had played a significant role during the coup by deciding which civil officials should be spared from prosecution.1 Now that the 2 Myŏngjong’s Reign Myŏngjong’s Reign 29 revolt was over, Chŏng Chungbu and the other ringleaders worked through the Council of Generals to determine policy. As a supreme consultative body, the Council of Generals deliberated on proper punishments, judicial matters, and even the administration of the civil dynastic structure.2 In many respects, the Council of Generals assumed the key tasks that the State Council had performed previously . The council also constructed policy to curtail civilian power. It called for a reduction in the number of civil positions. It recommended that palace attendant positions be made concurrent with other offices.3 It oversaw the civil appointment process, as well, and managed military policy, ordering the dispatch of patrols and enforcing its own form of military justice.4 In operation the Council of Generals, like the State Council, depended on consensus in determining policy. Thus the essential oligarchic decision-making process that had been so basic to Koryŏ life before 1170 was carried into the Council of Generals. But now, in place of the ranking civil ministers, generals took over responsibility for many programs. During the first half of Myŏngjong’s reign, leaders in the Council of Generals oversaw much of the dynastic authority. In times of peace, this mechanism afforded a degree of stability. But within a few years it had immobilized the regime. With no single person, not even Chŏng Chungbu, able to dominate the state, ambitious officials resorted to power plays, assassinations, and counterassassinations to bolster their positions and control the state. Chŏng Chungbu was, at best, the first among equals. For Yi Ko and Yi Ŭibang were also contenders for power. Each of these men was in the Kyŏllyong army and, as noted earlier, played a key role in developing the 1170 coup. Through the Council of Generals they established the major contours of state policy. The ruling military leaders also incorporated many civilians into the governing process. The role of certain civilian leaders and their affiliation with military officers in the months before and after the 1170 coup is transparent. Civilian leaders helped stabilize the new military regime and through their efforts brought a degree of legitimacy to the period. Dynastic Structure An examination of the civil dynastic structure from 1175 to 1196, when Ch’oe Ch’unghŏn took control, illuminates the subtle changes that were occurring in this period. Among the striking develop- 30 Generals and Scholars ments were leadership changes—especially the new prominence of military officers—and institutional and social changes as seen in the weakening of class distinctions as a barrier to high office. Civilians continued to hold a majority of the of...