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PersonAD 960 – AD 997

King Seongjong

Sixth king of Goryeo, who adopted Choe Seung-ro’s 28-article memorial and built a Confucian central and local administration

He set up the central structure of two chancelleries and six ministries, along with the Security Council, the Finance Commission and the uniquely Goryeo councils, the Dobyeongmasa and Sikmokdogam. In 983 he established the Twelve Mok, sending out local governors for the first time and turning local magnates into hyangni clerks. In 992 he founded the Gukjagam in Gaegyeong and sent Confucian and medical instructors to the Twelve Mok; he also set up the Uichang and Sangpyeongchang granaries and minted the iron Geonwon Jungbo coin in 996. He scaled back the Yeondeunghoe and Palgwanhoe, and Seo Hui's negotiation turned back the first Khitan invasion of 993.

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7 related events

  1. 1
    AD 963 – 1112Goryeo Relief Policies and Institutionsmonarch

    Goryeo lent grain and steadied grain prices through the Uichang and Sangpyeongchang, and aided the poor and sick through the Jewibo, the East and West Daebiwon and the Hyeminguk.

  2. AD 982 – AD 997Seongjong’s Confucian Governmentleader

    Adopting Choe Seung-ro’s memorial, King Seongjong built the two-chancellery, six-ministry system, set up twelve provincial governorships and founded the National University.

  3. 2
    AD 982Choe Seung-ro’s Twenty-eight Articlesmonarch

    Choe Seung-ro presented King Seongjong with an assessment of the five previous reigns and twenty-eight articles on Confucian government.

  4. AD 993 – 1019Khitan Invasions of Goryeomonarch

    The Khitan Liao invaded Goryeo three times between 993 and 1019. Goryeo repelled them through Seo Hui’s diplomacy and Gang Gam-chan’s victory at Gwiju.

  5. 3
    AD 993Seo Hui’s Negotiationmonarch

    During the first Khitan invasion Seo Hui negotiated with the enemy commander Xiao Sunning, securing the Khitan withdrawal and the six garrisons east of the Yalu.

  6. 4
    AD 995 – 1018Two Armies, Six Guards and the Provincial Forcesmonarch

    Goryeo’s central army consisted of the Two Armies and Six Guards, and its provincial forces of the juhyeongun in the five circuits and the jujingun in the two frontier regions.

  7. 5
    AD 996Geonwon Jungbo Coins Mintedmonarch

    Under Seongjong, Goryeo cast the iron Geonwon Jungbo, the first metal currency issued by a Korean state.

People who appear alongside

  • Choe Seung-roAD 927 – AD 989

    Confucian scholar of Silla head-rank-six origin whose 28-article memorial shaped Seongjong’s Confucian state

  • King HyeonjongAD 992 – 1031

    Eighth king of Goryeo, who weathered the second and third Khitan invasions and began the first Tripitaka

  • Seo HuiAD 942 – AD 998

    Statesman who negotiated with Xiao Sunning in 993 and won the six garrisons east of the Yalu

  • King GwangjongAD 925 – AD 975

    Fourth king of Goryeo, who strengthened royal power with the Slave Review Act, the civil service examination and imperial titles

  • King Yejong1079 – 1122

    Sixteenth king of Goryeo, who sent Yun Gwan to build the Nine Forts and revived state schooling

  • Yang Gyu1011

    Defender of Heunghwajin who harried the retreating Khitans in 1011, freeing some 30,000 captives before he fell

  • Gang Gam-chanAD 948 – 1031

    Commander-in-chief who won the Battle of Gwiju in 1019 and proposed the outer wall of Gaegyeong

  • Emperor Shengzong of LiaoAD 971 – 1031

    Khitan emperor who personally led 400,000 troops into Goryeo in 1010, using Gang Jo’s coup as a pretext

Themes this person appears in

  • Song, Ming and Samurai JapanAD 960 – 1500

    The age when the civil-minded Song bought peace from Liao, Western Xia and Jin while the lower Yangtze boomed and Neo-Confucianism took shape, and the Ming, having driven out the Yuan, rebuilt the East Asian order through imperial autocracy, the sea ban and tribute — as Japan passed through the Kamakura and Muromachi warrior governments into the Warring States era, and Korea from Goryeo to Joseon

  • History of Korean CurrencyAD 996 – 1905

    From Geonwon Jungbo to the 1905 currency reform — how coins took hold in an economy of rice and cloth, and how monetary sovereignty was lost

  • Central Government Through the AgesAD 250 – 1899

    From the noble councils of the Three Kingdoms to the State Council, the Border Defense Council and the Gabo cabinet — how central government shifted between aristocratic consensus and royal power

  • Local Administration Through the AgesAD 250 – 1896

    From the five regions of the Three Kingdoms through nine provinces, the five circuits and two frontiers and the eight provinces to the thirteen — how directly the centre came to rule the regions

  • Military Systems Through the AgesAD 685 – 1907

    From the Nine Oath Banners to the Two Armies and Six Guards, the Five Commands and garrison system, the Five Army Camps and the Board of Marshals — armies rebuilt at every crisis

  • Educational Institutions Through the AgesAD 372 – 1943

    From the Taehak and Gukhak to the Gukjagam and Seonggyungwan, modern schools and the colonial education ordinances — state schools that trained officials and the private schools that filled the gaps