Yangban
| Korean spelling | |
|---|---|
| Korean alphabet : | 양반 / 량반 |
| Hanja : | 兩 班 |
| Revised Romanization : | Yangban |
| McCune-Reischauer : | Yangban |
Throne in Gyeongbokgung
Yangban or Ryangban was the upper class in Korea of the Goryeo and the Joseon dynasties . “Yangban” literally means both groups . How the word "upper class" became a socio-political term can be explained as follows:
- Korea was mostly a monarchy during its existence . There were two departments in traditional Korea: one was responsible for the administration of the state and the other for the affairs of the military. Since the state administration dealt with laws, treaties and scriptures, administrative officials were referred to as "Mun-gwan" ( Kor. 문관, 文官 , literally officials of the scriptures ), while the military officials were called "Mu-gwan" ( 무관, 武官 , officials of weapons ). This division of the civil service was established in the Goryeo dynasty.
- When discussing state affairs, the king sat in the middle, with the administrative officials on his left and the military officials on the right. The left side of the king faced east, the right west. The Mun-gwan were sometimes called "Dongban" ( 동반 , eastern group ), while the Mu-gwan was called "Seoban" ( 서반 , western group ). These two groups, together called "Yangban", naturally took leading positions both in the state and in society, so that they formed the ruling class in the empire from the Goryeo to the Joseon dynasties.
In theory, both groups were equal, but in practice the civil Mungwan with their Confucian education were more respected, which led to rivalries between the two groups.
See also
Web links
Commons : Yangban - collection of images, videos and audio files
