Chapter 8: Koryo Dynasty
Intro
When the powerful warlord, Wang Kon, took over Silla and founded the Koryo Dynasty (935-1392 AD), he named the unified kingdom "Koryo," an abbreviation of Koguryo. The name Korea is derived from Koryo and the black belt poomse "koryo" is named after the dynasty.Koryo Dynasty
Wang Kon was well educated. He instituted many major reforms, such as redistribution of the land so that each farmer owned a piece, relieving the middle class of excessive taxes, universal education, and a rank system of authority based on merit. Wang Kon was skilled in Subak and he actively supported Buddhism, which was still very prominent in Korea. Buddhism was a religious philosophy at odds with the taking of life. The official promotion of this type of belief caused the common people to lose interest in the practice of martial arts.Meanwhile, only deep within the confines of the palace, the secret techniques of an esoteric and highly developed martial art were practiced in private. This marked the beginning of the Koong-Joong Mu-Sol (Royal Court Martial Arts), which were kept out of the reach of the common people. However, these Royal Court Martial Arts were not something which were suddenly created to fit new circumstances. Rather, they were an integration of ancient martial arts methods that had been handed down for countless generations.
After extending its borders northward, Koryo came into contact and conflict with the Manchurian Chitan Dynasty. In wars, lasting from 993 CE until 1018 AD, Koryo was able to maintain its position, until the Chitan Manchurians invaded Koryo in 1011 AD. In 1022 AD, Koryo gained a definitive peace, by accepting Chitan suzerainty.
The 11th century was marked by a stable government, many Buddhism inspired achievements in scholarship and art and a distinctive ceramics industry. Then in 1170 AD, a military coup seized control of the country and, by the end of the twelfth century, the Cho family ruled Korea and suppressed Buddhism. The Cho armies fought the Mongolians, but they were soon defeated by the sheer numbers of Mongol troops. Internal political conflict and external pressures from the Manchurian Jurchen Dynasty led to government instability. In 1231 AD, Mongols, under the leadership of Kublai Khan (who was greatly civilized by Confucianism), invaded Korea. In 1258 AD, the Cho regime was deposed and the Koryo government was returned to control, under the guidance of the Mongols.
The Mongols allied themselves with the Koryo ruling house by marriage and established a rule that lasted a hundred years. Koryo became a small fragment of the vast Mongol Empire was a full-fledged participant in the Mongol adventure of conquest. Koryo became the launching ground for Mongols attacks against Japan. Mogols forced Koryo to build two huge fleets of ships for an invasion of Japan; however, the invasion was unsuccessful. Thwarted by heavy storms which the Japanese called "divine wind" (kamikaze), the fleets were lost and Mongol power began to wane. The result was more war with large armies struggling to break the yoke of Mongol rule all over Central Asia and Korea.
With Mongol power weakened, the Japanese stepped up their harassment of Korea's coastal areas using organized pirate raids. Exhausted by centuries of invasion and a hundred years of Mongol domination, Koryo's government and social structures gradually disintegrated. In 1356 AD, Koryo revolted against Mongolian rule, which brought another period of disorder to the Korean Peninsula.
The 14th century saw the expansion of the Chinese Ming and the contraction of the Mongol Empire. Kublai Khan's forces were weakened by repeated attacks on Japan and by warfare with the Chinese under the Ming Dynasty, so the Koreans, under the leadership of General Yi Song Gye were able to defeat the Mongols in 1364. After years of internal guerrilla warfare, the Koryo Dynasty was overthrown in 1392 AD and the Yi Dynasty, who swore allegiance to the Ming Dynasty of China, came to power.
The Yi Dynasty rejected Buddhism and embraced Confucianism as the national religion. A well-functioning Confucian bureaucracy came into existence, which brought about an orderly social structure and rapid educational development.
Subak
Subak played an important role as a popular sport activity of the people in the dynasty. During the early days of the dynasty, subak proficiency was the only required qualification to join the military. Historical records indicate that people from both Chungchong and Cholla provinces once gathered at the village of Chakji, located along the provincial boundaries, to compete in Subak. Subak became an important national sport, practiced in contests called "subakhui." Historical records indicate that the format and judgment of such contests became fairly standardized with elements of sparring (kyorugi) and breaking (kyokpa) competition. Subak attracted much attention from both the royal court and the public but, since the early Koryo Dynasty was a time of peace, subak was of little use to the common man.The China invasions brought Chinese "kung-fu" to the Korean peninsula, greatly influencing subak, which became more militaristic in nature. Although subak was widely practiced, "kwon Bop" became a more popular art. There were two types of kwon bop, one primarily defensive, and the other more aggressive with jumping attacks and evasive movements.
During the Koryo Dynasty, Subak became known as taekkyon, which was written in Chinese characters meaning, "push shoulder." Weapons, such as swords, bow and arrows, etc., were the primary tools of war during this period. Since Subak was used as a supplement to these weapons, it concentrated on "quick kill" techniques. Taekkyon, as the immediate predecessor to subak, was a very aggressive hard style martial art system that was composed mostly of foot techniques.
As the time of peace came to an end, the focus of taekkyon changed. During the reign of King Uijong (1147-1170 AD), it changed from a system designed primarily to promote physical fitness into a fighting art.
A few extracts from the Historical Record of Koryo testify to the popularity of subak/taekkyon as a martial art:
"King Uijong admired the excellence of Yi Ui-min in subak and promoted him from taejong (military rank) to pyolchang"
"The king appeared at the Sang-chun Pavilion and watched subak contests"
"The king watched subak contests at Hwa-bi Palace"
"The king came to Ma-am and watched subak contests"
However, during the latter years of the dynasty, when gunpowder and new types of weapons became available, support for martial arts training slowed and martial arts training for soldiers was minimal. High levels of training were reserved for the personal troops of feudal lords, such as the "sambyolcho" (three special armies) of the Cho family. These troops studied the so-called "oryonkwon" (fist of five kinds), which included "pogakwon" (fist of cannon strike), "menhogwon" (fist of furious tiger), "hugwon" (fist of monkey), "hakkwon" (fist of crane), and "chilsonkwon" (fist of seven stars).
However, in the latter half of the dynasty, the importance of taekkyon as a martial art began to decline due to the negligence of the royal court, which was constantly dealing with strife between feuding political factions. As the attention of the Korean masses continued to turn away from the martial arts, they turned to philosophy and the arts. They felt hand-to-hand combat was barbaric and martial artists were looked down upon. In fact, King Chung Mok (1344-1348 AD) outlawed the practice of taekkyon by civilians.
The history scholar An Cha San, who wrote after the Japanese Occupation of Korea (after 1945) stated in his work Mu-Sa Young Oong Chun (Annals of Military Heroes) that Korean yu-Sool (soft-style martial arts, the name u-Sool was applied to both subak and kwon-bup and other arts) gradually became popular after the reign of Suk Chong (the 15th monarch of the Koryo Dynasty, 1095-1105).
The position of military officials started to become powerful again around the time of In Jong (17th Koryo monarch, 1122-1146). It is recorded that such military men as Chong Chung-Bu (who led a successful military revolt against the government in 1170), carried out their exploits by using sang-yae (common arts). Over time, the martial arts techniques of the common people and of the regular military gradually disappeared as a result of the preferential treatment given civil officials, the general contempt for military officials, and a government leadership that was weakened by literary pursuits at the expense of martial arts development.
In the 4th year of the reign of Ye Jong (16th Koryo monarch, 1105-1122), the Kukchagam (National University) was established. Mu-hak (martial studies) was included among the seven curricula offered. However, it only increased the friction between civil officials and military officials and the mu-hak course ended up being one in name only. Thereafter, as the development of martial arts had been thus officially thwarted, the practice of martial arts by common people took on an aspect of secrecy, with techniques being handed down from father to son.
Although taekkyon declined as a martial art, the subakhui remained as folk games and they carried over into the next dynasty. Taekkyon survived as the only fighting system with a link to ancient subak as it was carried into the Joseon Dynasty.
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