Ch'oe Sŭng-no explained

Ch'oe Sŭng-no
Native Name:최승로
Office:Chancellor of Goryeo
Term Start:1 February 988
Term End:17 June 989
Birth Date:927
Death Date:17 June 989 (aged 63)
Children:Ch'oe Suk
Father:Ch'oe Ŭn-ham
Relatives:Ch'oe Ch'i-wŏn (great-grandfather)
Occupation:
  • Politician
  • Confucian scholar
  • Poet
  • Civil servant
  • Literary writer
Hangul:최승로
Rr:Choe Seung-no
Mr:Ch'oe Sŭngno
Hangulph:문정
Rrph:Munjeong
Mrph:Munch'ŏng

Ch'oe Sŭng-no (; 927 – 17 June 989[1] was a politician, Confucian scholar, poet, and literary writer in the early Goryeo dynasty. He came from the Gyeongju Choe clan, one of the third class noble families of Silla. He was famous for proposing 28 policies to King Seongjong, most of which were accepted and a became an important basis for state affairs such as Goryeo's political system and local government.

Life

Ch'oe Sŭng-no was born in Gyeongju. He was the son of Silla noble Ch'oe Ŭn-ham, a member of the head rank six class.[2] At age of 12, he had been highly praised by Taejo of Goryeo after reading the Analects in front of the royal court. Due to impressing the king, he was made a student of the Wŏnbongsŏng . In 982, Ch'oe submitted a memorial to King Seongjong, where he discussed the state policies of previous five kings of Goryeo and proposed 28 policies to reform the government. Later that year, Ch'oe was promoted to the office of Vice-Director of the Chancellery .[3] He spread Confucianism widely in Korea and set up the basic political structure of Goryeo at the era of Seongjong. Seongjong installed 12 provincial capitals and 3 small capitals which were Seoul, Gyeongju and Pyongyang.

In 988, he was promoted to Chancellor, and enfeoffed as marquis of Chungha. He died in 989, and was posthumously named as Munch'ŏng. In 998, he would also be posthumously promoted to Grand Preceptor.

Poetry

He composed "a significant corpus of poems".[4]

In popular culture

See also

Cited works

Notes and References

  1. 12th days 5th months on Lunar calendar.
  2. Web site: 하현강 . 최승로(崔承老). . . 18 November 2020 . ko.
  3. Kang . Hi-Woong . 1964 . The development of the Korean ruling class from late Silla to early Koryo . PhD . The Current of Thought . University of Washington . 18 July 2023 . .
  4. Paragraph 4 in Emanuel Pastreich "The Reception of Chinese Literature in Korea", chapter 53 in Mair 2001.