Characteristics and Changes in the Political System during the Three Kingdoms Era
Journal Title: International Journal of Korean History - Year 2005, Vol 8, Issue 1
Abstract
A multitude of studies on Silla’s 6-Pu system(the political and rulling system) have appeared since the discovery of the Silla monuments in Pongpyŏng, Ulchin County in 1988(Ulchin Pongpyŏng Sillabi) and in Naengsuri, Yŏngil County(Yŏngil Naengsuri Sillabi) in 1989. In the aftermath of these discoveries, the trend has been towards explaining the political and ruling systems of the early Three Kingdoms using the socalled the theory of Pu system.1 According to this theory, while the ability to conduct foreign affairs of these pu during the early stages of the Three Kingdoms era was subjugated to that of their respective royal households, they nevertheless acted as autonomous political units which exercised a great deal of control over internal matters. Moreover, the ability of the pu to play a leading role in managing the nation’s political affairs made it possible for them to ensure their long-term survival. Furthermore, as the political and ruling structures were in effect regulated by the pu, the political system in place during the early period of the Three Kingdoms era has come to be known as a ‘Pu system’. This system was eventually abandoned in favor of a centralized political system revolving around the monarch during the middle stages of the Three Kingdoms as the increase in agricultural production brought changes to the village-based society.
Authors and Affiliations
Deog Jae Jeon
A Critical Review on the Issue of Proto-Nationalism during Late Chosŏn
Much as is the case with the dichotomous expressions ‘modern’ and ‘premodern’, so-called ‘modern people’ have a tendency to identify the short historical period to which they belong as the modern, while referring to t...
Popularization of Mongol Language and Culture in the Late Koryŏ Period
The Mongol conquest in the thirteenth century was accompanied by great destruction of life and property, but the advent of the Pax Mongolica opened an unprecedented opportunity for open and free exchange of peoples, i...
The Rural Control Policy and Peasant Ruling Strategy of the Government-General of Chosŏn in the 1930s-1940s
The rural control policy of the 1930s was rooted in the Rural Revitalization Campaign. To this end, the Rural Economic Rehabilitation Plan was implemented as the main measure used to actualize the campaign. However, the...
Bohai/Parhae Identity and the Coherence of Dan gur under the Kitan/Liao Empire
The Liao shi [Liaoshi] (遼史) suggests that in 926 the Liao empire destroyed the state of Bohai, and afterward forced the Bohai people into servitude and resettlement across the empire. Modern archaeology together with e...
Hydraulic Theory and Hydraulic Engineering Projects of the Wusong River (吳淞江) Basin Between the Sixteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
This paper attempts to explore the significance of the overall water control system and numerous water control projects in the Jiangnan region. Through a series of large-scale dredging projects, the Ming and Qing Dynasti...