View source for Bone-rank system

{{Short description|Caste system in Silla Korea}}
{{for|the Asian "bone" system outside Korea|seok (clan)}}
{{Infobox Korean name
|hangul=골품제도
|hanja={{linktext|骨|品|制|度}}
|rr=Golpumjedo
|mr=Kolp'umcheto
|title=Korean name}}
The '''bone-rank system''' ({{Korean|hangul=골품제도}}) was the system of [[Aristocracy|aristocratic]] rank used in the ancient [[Korea]]n kingdom of [[Silla]]. It was used to segregate society, and particularly the layers of the aristocracy, on the basis of their [[hereditary]] proximity to the throne and the level of authority they were permitted to wield. The idea of [[Royal descent|royal blood]] in other societies is a close analogue to the idea of "sacred bone" in Silla thought.

Bone rank was strictly hereditary, and thus acted as a [[caste system]]. The scholar, [[Ki-baik Lee|Lee Ki-baik]] (1984, p.&nbsp;43) considers it to have probably been adopted as part of the administrative law introduced from [[China]] and promulgated by [[Beopheung of Silla|King Beopheung]] in 520. However, this likely did nothing but institute in legal fact what was already a society segregated by bloodline and [[lineage (anthropology)|lineage]]. Although only two of the five known ranks were referred to as "bone" (골, 骨), the term "bone rank" has become widely used to describe the whole system.
[[File:Relationship of Bone-Rank Gradations in the kingdom of Silla, to Office Rank and Post.jpg|thumb|Relationship of Bone-Rank Gradations in Silla to Office Rank and Post<ref>Adapted from: Lee, Ki-baik. ''A New History of Korea'' (Translated by Edward W. Wagner with Edward J. Shultz), (Cambridge, MA:Harvard University Press, 1984), p. 51. {{ISBN|0-674-61576-X}}</ref>]]
A person's bone rank status governed not only official status and marriage rights, but also the color of one's garments and the maximum dimensions of one's dwelling and carriage. These criteria are described in detail in the 12th century Korean history ''[[Samguk Sagi]]'', particularly its [[Monograph]]s (''ji'' 志), book 2 (ranks and offices). The ''Samguk Sagi'''s depiction of Silla life, however, has often been criticized for being excessively static. Unfortunately, since other sources are scarce, it is difficult to judge what sort of changes may have taken place in the bone rank system over the centuries.

== Rank ==

=== Sacred bone (seonggol) ===
According to ''[[Samguk Sagi]]'', "the people of Silla divided the period from [[Hyeokgeose of Silla]] to [[Jindeok of Silla]] into Sacred Bone (Seonggol), and the king after [[Muyeol of Silla]] into True Bone (Jingol).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://db.history.go.kr/item/compareViewer.do?levelId=sg_005r_0030_0280|title=國人謂始祖赫居世至眞德二十八王 謂之聖骨 自武烈至末王 謂之眞骨.|date=654|publisher=三國史記|accessdate=2019-06-14}}</ref> The highest level of the bone rank was the "'''sacred bone'''", or '''''seonggol''''' (성골, 聖骨),<ref>{{cite book|author=Horowitz, S.|editor=D'Haeseleer, T.|year=2022|chapter=9. The Three Kingdoms and Social Hierarchies|title=Korean History|publisher=Muhlenberg College|url=https://open.muhlenberg.pub/koreanhistory/chapter/social-class-early-korea/}}</ref> sometimes termed "hallowed bone" or "holy bone".<ref>{{cite journal|author=McBride II, R.D.|year=2020|title=Making and Remaking Silla Origins|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=140|issue=3|pages=531–548|doi=10.7817/jameroriesoci.140.3.0531}}</ref> There is no specific record on exactly what the distinction between the Sacred Bone and the True Bone is set by, but is generally accepted that only the earliest kings were referred to as Seonggol. Because of this closed system of caste, when king [[Jinpyeong of Silla]] had no son and male heir whom he could pass the crown to, [[Queen Seondeok of Silla]] became the first woman to ascend the throne. And after that, Kim Chun-chu, also referred to as [[Muyeol of Silla]] ascended to the king as a Jingol status and since then, Jingol took over the throne for 281 years until Silla's demise.

=== True bone (jingol) ===
Below the sacred bone came the "'''true bone'''", or '''''jingol''''' (진골, 眞骨). Members of the true bone could hold any official position, up to the level of full minister. They could also attain office rank up to the highest, ''ibolchan'' (이벌찬). After the sacred bone rank was abolished under King Muyeol, only those holding the true bone rank could become a king.

=== Head ranks ===
Below the "true bone" came the head ranks (두품, 頭品), of which only the 6th, 5th and 4th are attested, 6th being the highest. The origins of these lower head rank classes and what defined one‘s status as such are obscure and still debated among scholars. As the ''jingol'' were prohibited from marrying into the lower ranks, though they could take concubines from them, it is feasible that one source of the head rank six were the children born from unions between ''jingol'' fathers and lower ranking concubines. In any case, members of the head rank six could rise to the position of vice-minister (''gyeong'', 경, 卿) and as high as the 6th level of office rank, '''''achan''''' (아찬, 阿餐) (two higher ranks of ''jungachan'' (중아찬, 重阿餐) and ''sajung achan'' (사중아찬, 四重阿餐) were later supplemented to that of ''achan'' but these still fell within the 6th level). Members of head ranks four and five could rise only to minor posts. Members of head rank five could reach the 10th level of office rank, ''daenaema'' (대내마, 大奈麻), while members of head rank four could attain only the 12th level of office rank, ''daesa'' (대사, 大舍). There were 17 levels of office rank (also known as 'capital rank'<ref>{{cite journal|author=McBride II, R.D.|year=2016|title=Can the Samguk sagi Be Corroborated through Epigraphy?: An Analysis of the Capital-Rank System and Councils of Nobles|journal=Seoul Journal of Korean Studies|volume=29|issue=1|pages=65-91|doi=10.1353/seo.2016.0007}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=McBride II, R.D.|year=2020|title=Blaming the Victim: Reconsidering Queen Chinsŏng and the Decline of Silla|journal=Tongguk sahak 東國史學|volume=69|pages=603-649|doi=10.22912/dgsh.2020..69.603}}</ref>) altogether.  One scholar has proposed that, "head-ranks three, two, and one, if they ever formally existed, must have designated the ... non-privileged general populace."<ref>Lee, Ki-baik. ''A New History of Korea'' (Translated by Edward W. Wagner with Edward J. Shultz), (Cambridge, MA:Harvard University Press, 1984), p. 50.</ref>

== Evaluations ==
The frustrated ambitions of the head rank six class in particular seem to have played a prominent role in the politics of the late Silla period. Many men of head rank six status, proscribed from rising too high in the Silla administrative system defined by the bone rank system, sought to bypass this by studying [[Confucianism]] (either in Silla or abroad in [[Tang China]]) or else turned to careers in [[Buddhism]]. The most prominent of the head rank six figures was undoubtedly [[Ch'oe Ch'i-wŏn]], who following an illustrious career in China returned to Silla only to see his attempts at administrative reform rebuffed by an entrenched aristocracy. In the early 10th century the nascent state of [[Goryeo]], which succeeded [[Goguryeo]], tapped into the head rank six intellectuals from Silla and [[Later Baekje]] to man its bureaucracy.

The bone rank system's extreme rigidity certainly helped to weaken Silla toward the end of the [[Unified Silla]] period, although numerous other factors were at play. After the fall of Silla, the bone rank system was abolished entirely by the Goryeo dynasty,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=이 |first1=정신 |title=신라하대 농민항쟁의 특징 |journal=International Journal of Korean History |date=2000 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=113–148 |url=https://ijkh.khistory.org/journal/view.php?number=293 |access-date=19 December 2023}}</ref> although different and somewhat [[Society of Joseon|more flexible caste systems]] persisted until near the end of the [[Joseon Dynasty]] in the late 19th century.

== See also ==
* [[List of Korean family names]]
* [[History of Korea]]
* [[Three Kingdoms of Korea]]
* [[Kabane]] of feudal Japan, a similar system often seen as derived from the bone-ranks
* [[Nine-rank system]] of China
* ''[[Songbun]]'', a similar practice in modern [[North Korea]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Culture of Silla]]
[[Category:Korean caste system]]
[[Category:Ancient Korean institutions]]