Silla Economy and Society

Chong Sun Kim. “Silla Economy and Society.” Korean Studies Vol. 28, (2004): 75-104. Accessed November 13, 2014.  http://www.jstor.org/stable/23720183.

Article Review: “Silla Economy and Society”

“Silla Economy and Society” by Chong Sun Kim provides a detailed analysis of the Korean text, the Samguk sagi, or “The Three Kingdom Story”. The article is divided into 3 sections, each detailing important pieces of the primary text. The first is a brief overview of the historiographical problems of the Samguk sagi. The second involves entries from the primary text dealing with Nogjajongbon (Agriculture-is-the-basis-of-the-government).  The journal concludes with a summary of scholarly writings on Silla economy and society. In the article, Kim gives compelling evidence for the utilization of the Samguk sagi in the research of Silla economy and society.

Kim opens his piece by explaining the background of the Samguk sagi. He states that the Samguk sagi is “the oldest surviving historical record of the Three Kingdoms and Unified Silla periods, and [sic] is the most helpful primary source in the study of the socioeconomic life of the early Korean people” (Kim, 75). Kim Pusik compiled the Samguk sagi in 1145 to “legitimize the monarchy and dynastic institutions in which he had vested interests… he also recorded the socioeconomic events faithfully” (ibid).  Kim investigates other supplemental sources, but notes that many do not provide as detailed information as the Samguk sagi (76). Chong Sun Kim criticizes the compiler of the Samguk sagi, Kim Pusik, noting his “inability to place events in a proper historical context” and that the Samguk sagi “was written and compiled to glorify the king’s achievements” (80). However, he states that “Despite these historiographical problems and drawbacks in the Samguk sagi, it is evident that Kim Pusik, the chief compiler, set out to record events conscientiously based on his available reference materials (ibid). With this criticism of the primary source, Kim provides evidence that supports his argument that the Samguk sagi may be trusted in the study of Silla economy and society.

Two major subtopics dominate the second section, which deals with Nogjajongbon, or the idea that agriculture is the basis of the government. First, Kim describes the economic policies as they pertain to the relationship between peasants and the government. Second, Kim discusses the extent of slavery in the Silla dynasty. Kim argues that “the Samguk sagi’s socioeconomic accounts revolving around the Nogjajongbon are the strength and the significance of this document, and our understanding of the essential characteristics of ancient Korean society hinges upon it” (82). To the people of the Silla period, land was the most important “instrument of production”, and “those who wielded it held great power” (ibid). The Samguk sagi describes the importance of land and the people that maintain it. Kim writes, “Since the peasants were the main producers… they had to be protected by the state so that they would be able to pay taxes… [and that] everything harmful to the conduct of agricultural management must be removed” (83).

Due to the importance of peasants, slaves were not needed in the economy. Kim provides the reason for this: “Since slaves had no obligation to pay taxes and corvee, an increase in their numbers could endanger state revenue, and for this reason the government introduced measures that would prevent peasants from becoming slaves due to debts and crop failures” (85). Even when at war, prisoners were killed rather than made slaves (ibid).

Modern relevance of this primary source may be seen in the partition of North and South Korea in the 20th century. Kim states that “The first scholar to engage in an intensive inquiry into this topic was Paek Namun… Paek asserted that Korean history developed from primitive communalism to a slave society in which slaves became the main producers… Paek’s discussion… seriously contradicted the accounts of the Samguk sagi and served as the basis for Marxist conceptualizations” (86). These claims were supported by North Korean followers, but have been refuted by modern scholars (ibid). Kim provides several examples of North Korean sources that have inaccurately interpreted the Samguk sagi. While North Korean scholars focus on the existence of a slave or feudal society, South Korean scholars use terms that agree with the nationalist stance that does “not add much to the understanding of the nature of early Korean society, but only demonstrated how they concentrated on the ancient world as a springboard for their own political polemics” (90).  Due to the varying political views of those who analyze the Samguk sagi, Kim states that “Scholarly writings on the Silla economy and society… have had very limited success” (ibid). These two ideologies are still debated today, and their respective interpretations of the Samguk sagi are significant to each.