Generals and Scholars is the first work in English to examine fully military rule during the Koryo. Although it lasted for only a century, the period was one of dynamic change--a time of institutional development, social transformation, and the reassertion of the civil service examination and Confucian ideology coupled with the flowering of Son (Zen) Buddhism. (When confronted with fundamental matters of rule, however, Ch'oe leaders frequently opted for the status quo and in the end aligned with many traditional civil elites to preserve their power.) The traditional tension between civilians and the military was eased as both came to accept the primacy and necessity of civilian values. Koryo generals, unlike those in Japan, learned they could govern more readily by relying on civil leaders administering a strong central government than on a call to arms. Institutional innovations from this period survived well into the next and Son Buddhism continued to flourish throughout the country.
Author(s): Edward Shultz
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Year: 2000
Language: English
Pages: 272
City: Honolulu
Contents
Preface
Introduction
1 The Military Coup
2 Myŏngjong’s Reign
3 The Ch’oe House: Military Institutions
4 Civil Structure and Personnel: Ch’oe Ch’unghŏn and Ch’oe U
5 Civil Structure and Personnel: Ch’oe Hang and Ch’oe Ŭi
6 Peasants and Lowborns
7 Buddhism under the Military
8 Land and Other Economic Issues
9 The Ch’oe Dilemma
Appendixes
Notes
Bibliography
Index
