고려 현종대 軍律 제정과 戰歿者 예우

Abstract

King Hyunjong is considered to be the monarch who brought the Goryeo Dynasty back to its peak by conquering the interior and exterior difficulties through his reign and secured the foundation of the Goryeo Dynasty. But King Hyeonjong’s early reign was far from easy. King Hyeonjong’s political ground was unstable, for his ascension to the throne was accomplished by Kangjo’s rebellion, thus risking his legitimacy to a stake. What’s more, the Goryeo Dynasty had to confront the massive invasion of Khitans at the same time. The Army of the Goryeo Dynasty, which was drafted in a hurry, faced a crushing defeat, due to Kangjo’s foolish misstep. In such urgency, King Hyunjong had to abandon the capital and fled to Naju. He had suffered many hardships on his way to Naju. Many subjects attended for the king had abandoned their liege and fled. The king also had to bear humiliations from the prominent local vassals, who showed their hostility to the king. King Hyunjong experienced the agitated public sentiment directly and realized that he must attend to the urgent tasks at hand: both interior and exterior matters. After King Hyunjong overcame the crisis with the assistance from his royal subjects, the urgent priority was to stabilize both domestic and foreign situations. So, King Hyunjong decided to tighten the reins of bureaucratic and military discipline. According to the historical sources, the military law of the Goryeo Dynasty was established around the year of 1011 to 1018, which almost coincide with Goryeo-Khitan War. This fact shows that the military law of the Goryeo Dynasty was modified and organized due to wartime necessity. The enactment of military law in King Hyunjong’s reign was to establish strict military discipline, which was direly required for the war against Khitans. Considering that the military law is a principle required to control and manage the army, enforcement with severe punishment was inevitable. Yet regulation alone cannot secure loyalty, and harsh discipline can result in strong resistance from the soldiers in service. To prevent this situation, King Hyunjong rewarded those war veterans and fallen soldiers on a regular basis during the 10-years-war against Khitans. Such action was to minimize the resistance from the soldiers under regulation and secure their loyalty. A strategy to serve both ends he needed the most: establishing military discipline through the law enactment and inspiring soldiers’ loyalty by honoring the dead and the veteran. King Hyunjong tried to retain loyalty by soothing and rewarding contributors and planned to strengthen the internal unity by comforting and honoring soldiers and the war-deads. Such a carrot-and-stick strategy was one of the factors that lead Goryeo to take some upper ground in the war against Khitans. Furthermore, the military prowess enhanced through military law and the organized reward system had greatly influenced the aftermath of the war, allowing King Hyunjong to maintain the Goryeo-Khitan relationship and stabilize his reign.