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The Gojoseon Chronicle

Episode 8: Gojoseon’s Hierarchical Society – Kings, Ministers, and the People

South Korea, 2025. Anyone can become president, anyone can build a fortune. At least, that’s what we’re told. But is it true?

2,300 years ago, ancient Gojoseon faced similar questions. Was the king’s authority absolute? Was social status predetermined at birth? Could a commoner rise to the corridors of power? These weren’t just philosophical debates—they were lived realities that shaped the destiny of Korea’s first kingdom.

Understanding Gojoseon’s class system isn’t merely an exercise in historical curiosity. It’s a window into the roots of Korean society—how kings and ministers, aristocrats and commoners, coexisted and clashed. For Western readers unfamiliar with ancient Korean history, this story reveals striking parallels to feudal Europe and ancient Rome, yet with distinctly Korean characteristics that would shape the peninsula for millennia. The story begins now.

◆ The Ancient Landscape

Early 2nd century BCE. Gojoseon stood at a crossroads. Across the Yellow Sea, the Qin dynasty had fallen, giving way to the Han dynasty. Political chaos engulfed China, sending waves of refugees eastward toward the Korean peninsula. In 195 BCE, a man named Wiman—a military commander from the Chinese state of Yan—led over 1,000 followers across the Pae River (패수, Paesoo) into Gojoseon territory.

King Jun, the ruling monarch of Gojoseon at the time, made a fateful decision. He appointed Wiman as a “博士” (Baksa, roughly equivalent to “Doctor” or “Scholar-Official”)—a high-ranking position—and granted him 100 li (approximately 40 kilometers) of borderland to defend the western frontier. Wiman adopted Korean dress, wearing his hair in a traditional topknot, and outwardly pledged loyalty to Gojoseon. But beneath this facade of allegiance, he was quietly consolidating power.

“Wiman, a man from Yan, fled and surrendered to Joseon by crossing the Pae River. King Jun trusted him, appointed him as Baksa, bestowed upon him a seal and ribbon, and enfeoffed him with 100 li of land to guard the western border.”

– 《Weilüe》(魏略, Records of Wei), Section on Eastern Barbarians

◆ Same Era, Different Worlds

🏛️ Han Dynasty China

Emperor-centered absolute power. Commandery-county system for direct imperial control, with a rigid bureaucracy and proto-civil service examination system

🗿 Roman Republic

Class struggle between Patricians (aristocracy) and Plebeians (commoners). The Senate and popular assemblies coexisted in republican governance

🏺 Mauryan India

Caste system firmly established throughout society. Rigid division: Brahmins-Kshatriyas-Vaishyas-Shudras with virtually no social mobility

[Image: Size comparison of Gojoseon tombs – Massive stone-piled wooden chamber tombs (jeokseok-mokgwakbun) for royalty versus simple pit graves for commoners, showing archaeological evidence of class disparity]

📜 Scene from That Day

“Early summer, 109 BCE. The royal court of Wanggeom-seong. News had arrived: Emperor Wu of Han was mobilizing his armies. War was imminent.”

King Ugeo sat on his throne, surrounded by several men bearing the title “Sang” (相, Minister). Joseon Sang Yeokgyeong rose to his feet. “Your Majesty, we must seek peace with Han. War will lead to our destruction.” The other ministers murmured. Ni-gye Sang Sam, another minister, objected sharply: “Surrender means annihilation. We must fight to the end!”

King Ugeo chose war. Yeokgyeong quietly stood and left the chamber. Days later, he departed southward, leading 2,000 households—approximately 10,000 people—into the Jin confederation states in the southern peninsula. Gojoseon was not an absolute monarchy. It was a kingdom where a minister could defy the king’s decision and take his followers to found a new life elsewhere. That was Gojoseon.

◆ Uncovering Historical Truth

What was Gojoseon’s class structure? Through official titles recorded in the 《Shiji》(Records of the Grand Historian) and 《Hanshu》(Book of Han), we can glimpse the social hierarchy of this ancient kingdom. At the apex stood the Wang (王, King)—monarchs like Dangun, King Bu, King Jun, and King Ugeo who inherited the throne. Yet unlike Chinese emperors or Roman dictators, Gojoseon’s royal authority was far from absolute.

Below the king was an intriguing class called “Sang” (相). While the term resembles the Chinese “Chancellor” (丞相, chengxiang), its nature was fundamentally different. Gojoseon had multiple Sangs simultaneously—Joseon Sang Yeokgyeong, Joseon Sang Noin, Ni-gye Sang Sam, and Sang Han-eum are recorded. Even more remarkable: these Sangs possessed their own power bases. When Yeokgyeong disagreed with King Ugeo’s war policy, he could lead his 2,000 households southward against royal wishes. This suggests Gojoseon operated more like a confederacy of powerful families than a centralized autocracy—closer to feudal Europe or the Roman Republic’s patrician system than to imperial China.

Beneath the Sang class were officials titled Daebu (大夫, “Grand Master”), Baksa (博士, “Scholar-Official”), and Janggun (將軍, “General”). Daebu governed regions and commanded troops; Baksa managed border defense and diplomacy. General Wang-geop, who led the king’s direct forces, exemplified professional military officers. Below these aristocratic classes lived the Seoin (庶人)—free commoners: farmers, artisans, merchants. At the bottom were Nobi (奴婢)—slaves who could be war captives, criminals, or debt bondmen.

Top Tier

Wang (King) – Hereditary monarch, religious leader

Aristocracy

Sang, Daebu, Baksa, Janggun – Possessed independent power bases

Commoners

Seoin – Free farmers, artisans, merchants

Lowest Class

Nobi (Slaves) – War captives, criminals, debtors

🔍 Academic Perspectives

Mainstream View (Professor Noh Tae-don)

Gojoseon operated as a proto-federal system (bu-che) where the king and multiple Sangs governed through council assemblies. The Sangs represented regional power blocs with substantial autonomy.

Alternative View

Some scholars interpret Sangs as unitary officials under royal authority. General Wang-geop’s existence suggests the king controlled direct bureaucratic apparatus to check other power centers.

◆ What the Ground Reveals

The existence of class divisions becomes undeniable through burial practices. Elite tombs were monumental. The stone-piled wooden chamber tombs (jeokseok-mokgwakbun, 積石木槨墳) along the Yalu River basin required massive timber frames surrounded by thousands of stones. Their scale alone testified to enormous power. Some contained over 100 slaves buried alongside the deceased—a grim testament to inequality comparable to ancient Egyptian or Mesopotamian royal burials.

Commoners’ graves were starkly different: simple pit tombs (togwangmyo, 土壙墓) where bodies were placed in excavated earth and covered with soil. Grave goods tell the same story. Elite tombs yielded bronze daggers, bronze mirrors, and jade ornaments. Commoner graves held a few plain pottery vessels and stone tools. Housing showed similar disparities—large above-ground structures for nobles versus semi-subterranean pit dwellings for ordinary folk.

Yet social mobility wasn’t entirely impossible. The Eight Prohibitions’ redemption system allowed payment of 500,000 “jeon” (錢, ancient bronze coins) to escape slavery—though this sum equaled approximately 100 households’ annual living expenses, making it functionally impossible for most. Still, the theoretical possibility existed: wealth could alter status, distinguishing Gojoseon from the more rigid caste systems of India or the strictly hereditary nobility of later Korean dynasties.

[Image: Comparison of burial artifacts – Left: Bronze daggers, mirrors, jade ornaments (royal/aristocratic graves); Right: Plain pottery and stone tools (commoner graves)]

◆ Speaking to Our Present

How different is 2,300-year-old Gojoseon from modern South Korea? Formally, hereditary class systems have vanished. Anyone can theoretically become president; anyone can build wealth. Yet reality tells a different story. Korean society coined terms like “gold spoon” (금수저) and “dirt spoon” (흙수저) to describe inherited privilege versus disadvantage. Parental wealth increasingly predicts children’s futures—not unlike ancient class systems, just with different terminology.

Minister Yeokgyeong defied his king and departed with 10,000 followers. In modern terms, imagine a cabinet minister resigning over policy disagreements and leading supporters to establish a new political movement. Gojoseon’s weak monarchy paradoxically enabled diverse voices. Today’s South Korea has a powerful presidency, yet maintains checks and balances through parliamentary oversight and an independent judiciary. Like Yeokgyeong’s departure, citizens can “exit” through democratic processes—changing governments through elections when dissatisfied. The forms change; the fundamental questions endure: Who holds power? Can it be challenged? What enables social mobility?

Category	Gojoseon Era	Present
Politics	Council governance by king and ministers; ministers could defy royal decisions	Presidential system with parliamentary and judicial checks; impeachment provisions exist
Class	Royalty-aristocracy-commoners-slaves; redemption fees enabled limited upward mobility	Legal equality; de facto economic stratification increasingly rigid
Opportunity	Limited but possible status change through wealth	Formally open system; reality shows weakening “social mobility ladder”

📚 Diving Deeper

Archaeological excavations in North Jeolla Province (where Yeokgyeong migrated) have uncovered Gojoseon-style artifacts, confirming the historical reality of his southward migration with thousands of followers.
Gojoseon’s “Sang” council system was inherited by later Goguryeo’s “jegahoeui” (諸加會議, council of nobles), where kings and aristocrats jointly deliberated state affairs—a distinctive feature of early Korean governance.
The 500,000 jeon redemption fee in the Eight Prohibitions equaled about 500 seok (石, approximately 75 kilograms each) of rice—roughly 100 households’ annual sustenance. Self-redemption from slavery was virtually impossible, though the provision’s existence shows economic pathways to status change were conceptually recognized.

The Voice of Living History

Gojoseon was neither a perfect meritocracy nor an absolute despotism. Kings and nobles, commoners and slaves coexisted, clashed, and shaped history together. Class existed, but didn’t determine everything. People transcended status barriers through wealth, ability, and sometimes betrayal. This complexity—neither utopian equality nor rigid caste—characterized Korea’s first kingdom.

“History repeats itself, though forms may change. Gojoseon’s class society asks us today: What does true equality mean?”

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Episode 9: Confrontation with Yan

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