Before the Mongol Subjugation period, the Goryeo king had the highest authority in Goryeo. The King was the sole center of ruling and governance. Yet ever since the Mongols came, the Goryeo kings had to accept certain changes. What kind of new facets ...
Before the Mongol Subjugation period, the Goryeo king had the highest authority in Goryeo. The King was the sole center of ruling and governance. Yet ever since the Mongols came, the Goryeo kings had to accept certain changes. What kind of new facets were added to their characters, and how such new facets changed the nature of their authority, are primarily examined in this thesis.
Even after the fall of the Choi House's Military regime, the Goryeo king still had to share power and authority with the ones who defeated the Choi family, the ones who were remnants of the Choi regime themselves. The king was still not able to independently rule Goryeo on his own, and was still without full control of the military. Such condition led to Im yeon(林衍)'s dethroning of the sitting king Weon-jong(元宗) in 1269.
With the active intervention of the Mongols, Weon-jong was reinstated and became the sole center of Goryeo governance once again. Yet there was a price. In earlier times, the authority of the Chinese emperor was only valid to the Goryeo people in diplomatic terms, yet the Mongol authority established itself also the highest one also inside Goryeo. This transformed the Goryeo kings into 'vassals' of the Mongol Emperor. And as a result, for all the political entities inside Goryeo, It became a top priority to find a way to be closer to such ultimate Mongol authority. Goryeo kings themselves had to maintain active efforts to continue their ties with the Mongol Imperial Family and Emperor, and used those ties to defeat other contenders in Goryeo and maintain their power. As a result, the Goryeo kings gradually turned into something else. They were no longer just "Goryeo kings." They became "Jeongdong Haengseong Provincial Governor(征東行省丞相) Son-in-Law [of the Emperor](駙馬) the Goryeo King(高麗國王)."
New additional character elements were added to Goryeo kingship during the reign of King Chung'ryeol-wang(忠烈王). One of them, the status of a Son-in-law of the Mongol Imperial family served as an important power base for the Goryeo kingship. Yet at the same time, this status also restricted the Goryeo king's authority in many ways. As time goes on, beside Goryeo kings, there came other persons from Goryeo families that attempted to reinforce their political position by arranging a marital relationship with members of the Mongol imperial family. With several of such new relationships forged between Goryeo houses and Mongol Imperial family members, the significance of the marriages between Goryeo kings and Mongol dignitaries was diminished. And that was certainly not helpful to the Goryeo royal familiy and its authority.
In 1280, Chung'ryeol-wang was officially named as the Governor of the Jeongdong Haengseong Provincial office. An official chain of command with the Mongol Emperor at the top was formed inside Goryeo, and in the Provincial office. Thanks to that, Chung'ryeol- wang was able to secure a stronger position in dealing with Mongol emissaries such as Hong cha'gu(洪茶丘). Also, although being named as a Mongol Provincial governor added nature as a bureaucrat of the Mongol Emperor to the Goryeo kingship, the fact that the Goryeo king came to assume that post, in turn changed the nature of the Mongol Provincial governor as well.
The seat of governor of the Jeongdong Haengseong provincial office and the son-in-law factor, were never formalized at the time, and removed from the Goryeo Kingship after the Mongol Subjugation period, at least in institutional terms. Yet it brought some new nature in the Goryeo Kingship, nature as a bureaucrat and as a son-in-law (of the Mongol imperial family). This played a significantly political role in this period.
The traditional 'Goryeo king', other than the fact of being the emperor's son-in-law or governor of a local office, still constituted a vital part of the Goryeo kingship. Yet with new facets added to the original design, the 'Goryeo king''s original authority was somewhat distorted and diminished. Its identity as a vassal of the Mongol Emperor was strengthened and came to have substantial meaning inside Goryeo as well. And the status of 'Goryeo king' relativized by the fact that it composed the Goryeo Kingship with other status, as the sons-in-law of the Mongol imperial family and as Governors of a Mongol-installed provincial government.
Hence, the Goryeo Kingship as a composition of three statuses also changed. All these changes made to the Goryeo kingship tell us three things. First, the Goryeo king's formal status as a vassal of the Mongol emperor came to have not only a nominal meaning but also a substantial meaning in Goryeo. Second, as their power were provided by the Mongol ruling authority, the Goryeo kings were forced to compete with other entities which enjoyed similar relationships with the Mongol court and the imperial family. And third, the legitimacy of the Goryeo royal family was partly compromised. All these changes can be identified from all the conflicts that were waged over the seat of the Goryeo king and the authority that accompanied it.
In 1298, Chung'ryeol-wang and Chung'seon-wang(忠宣王) clashed with each other, with the former forced to relinquish the throne, and the latter kicked in only to last 8 months. Going through this period, the Goryeo kings and vassals clearly saw what was the new status of the Goryeo king. Chung'ryeol-wang lost his position as the highest authority in Goryeo. Chung'seon-wang's emergence as a powerful contender was a serious blow to Chung'ryeol-wang's authority. Chung'seon-wang's short-lived first term in the throne even more strongly signified the Goryeo kings' new status as a 'vassal' of a higher figure, the Mongol Yuan Emperor. The Goryeo kings and governmental officials realized such new status of Goryeo Kingship and this strongly influenced their future political choices.
The after effects of the 1298 situation can be more clearly identified from King Chung'seon-wang's governance. After being reinstated in 1308, he had the full support of Mongol emperors such as Kaishan(武宗) and Ayurbarwada(仁宗), so his status was more than stable. But the superior-inferior relationship between the Mongol Emperor and the Goryeo King became more evident than ever. Chung'seon-wang institutionalized the Goryeo kings' status as the Mongol Emperor's vassal. And he also strengthened the Goryeo kings' ties with the Mongol Emperor and the Imperial family. He was well aware of the special relationship between Goryeo and the Mongols, and also its potentials.
He recognized the importance of marital relationships between houses. He banned the Goryeo royal family's habit of arranging royal family members' marriages 'inside' the family, just as the Mongols demanded. He also tried to reinforce the relationship between the Goryeo royal family and the Mongol imperial family, by embracing the Mongol marital traditions which resulted in the selection of 15 prominent houses("Jae'sang'ji-jong(宰相之宗)") that could have a marital relationship with the Goryeo royal family. And his ruling of Goryeo from within the Mongol empire was intended to strengthen the personal relationship between himself and the Mongol Emperor.
The political campaigns launched to enthrone "Shim-wang"(瀋王) Wang Go(王暠), the nephew of Chung'seon-wang, during King Chung'suk-wang's(忠肅王) reign, was yet another example that shows us the Goryeo officials' having well accepted the reality of Goryeo kings being enthroned and dethroned by the Mongol Emperor. They came to embrace the relationship with the Mongol emperor as an important and crucial factor in either securing or maintaining the Goryeo throne, just as much as their authority inside Goryeo.
After the campaigns to enthrone Shim-wang failed, some of the operatives who led that campaign filed the arguments to "create a new Haengseong province upon Goryeo(Ibseong-ron, 立省論)." These 'arguments,' filed over 7 times, had different shapes and agendas. But the third one marked the Goryeo governmental officials' launch of a yet another new agenda, which was to use this 'Create a Province' argument as a tool and a platform to resist and reject and even boycott the sitting Goryeo king. The argument was officially about the status of Goryeo itself, yet from the king's standpoint it was nothing but an attempt to deny the Goryeo king's right to inherit the post of a Jeongdong Haengseong provincial governor, and turn the seat of the provincial governor into a political appointee. Such move would considerably undermine the Goryeo king's status as the legitimate ruler of the Goryeo dynasty. The 'Create a Province' argument was never widely heard, and failed to achieve its original purpose. Yet it was an eye-opening experience for the Goryeo kings and officials, as they came to learn that a sitting king could be opposed. King Chung'suk-wang's reign was when the Goryeo officials tried to fully utilize such changed condition to their advantages.
In 1343, the 7th 'Create a Province' argument, resulted in the dethroning of King Chung'hye-wang(忠惠王). Two things should be noted. Regardless of the character or talent of the kings, the weight of the Goryeo throne itself was still heavy. Then again, it became a precedent, of the governmental officials' successfully kicking out an immoral king unfit for the throne, with the support of a higher authority. This was another undeniable aspect of the Goryeo kingship of the time. And such aspect was brought upon the Goryeo kings because they were kings who were also sons-in-law of the Mongol imperial family and provincial governors inside the Mongol local hierarchy. This 7th presentation of the 'Create a Province' argument, led by no other than Gi Cheol(奇轍), a prominent member of the Dowager Queen Gi family, yet again revealed the changed nature of the Goryeo kings.
Then, during the reign of King Gongmin-wang(恭愍王), the Goryeo people witnessed the fall of the Mongol Empire, and also certain changes in the relationship between Goryeo and The Mongol empire. The power structure formed in the Mongol Subjugation period was changed and dissolved. In the early days of King Gongmin-wang's reign, he intended to reform the inside of Goryeo, and reinforce the king's power and authority.
Yet at the time, key members of the Gi family, who already had a strong connection with the Mongol imperial family, began to reveal their intentions to achieve an 'equal' footing with the Goryeo king. Such attempt was more than detrimental to the king's authority, and was blocking Gongmin-wang's reform efforts. Most importantly, the Goryeo royal family was no longer able to claim they had the closest relationship with the Mongol Imperial family, as the Gi house had its member already placed inside the Mongol imperial family, as no less than a Dowager Queen.
So, Gongmin-wang began trying to 'exclude' the Mongol authority factor from his authority as a Goryeo king. We can see that from his political decisions in the early days that led to the 1356 reform. His attempt was also made possible because he was witnessing the fall of the Mongol empire. His reform in 1356 achieved a considerable outcome, and the relationship between Goryeo and the Mongol Empire changed. And that change was again reassured when Queen Gi attempted to forcibly replace Gongmin-wang, and failed in 1362.
The process of Queen Gi's trial to dethrone Gongmin-wang, vividly displays how the relationship between Goryeo and the Mongol empire changed since 1356. Gi was enraged, as many of her family members were killed in 1356. Gi's attempt to dethrone Gongmin-wang was closely tied into her other attempt inside the Mongol court to consolidate the status of the Crown-prince, her own son. This can be identified from Wonja(元子) Gi Sam'bo'no(奇三寶奴) who came with Deok'heung-gun(德興君), the new Goryeo king.
The fact that Dowager Queen Gi named a member of her own house as the future candidate for the Goryeo throne, evidently shows us that the status of the Goryeo kingship relativized during the Mongol subjugation period. Yet Gi's attempt was thwarted by Goryeo's military response, and in the following period the Goryeo kingship was finally liberated from the clutches of the former relationship that existed between Goryeo and the Mongols.