[Primary Source Analysis] The Ten Injunctions Of Wang Kon Primary Source Analysis (Made 2024 Spring Semester)

The Ten Injunctions of Wang Kon, on the surface level, have little to do with his legitimacy as a ruler, however when one looks beneath the surface it’s clear that they have much to do with legitimizing himself. A large theme throughout the Injunctions is that of meritocracy, something he fought for during his rule, and something which inherently legitimizes him. He took his position from somebody who, by birth, was more qualified than him, chosen by those who overthrew his predecessor after his despotic ways were deemed too intolerable. This meant that Wang Kon was in a precarious position, not being protected by any sort of social more against the idea of overthrowing a ruler and also with the knowledge that he was not protected by any argument of birthright to the throne. By emphasizing the importance of merit and by telling people that the person most fit to rule should rule, he was implanting the idea that he deserved his place and that it meant something that he was the ruler of Koryo. Further he talks about Buddha and the ideas of geomancy and terrestrial forces, connecting them to himself, his actions, his creations, his victories, warning that those who are dangerous to Koryo might try to use things like shrines or where they live in order to do evil things, inherently placing Wang Kon and whoever succeeds him as being good people who are using where they live and shrines for good things. He is quite adept at creating in-group/out-group dynamics, comparing and contrasting Koryo to Tang China and to Khitan, making it clear that they are not the same as Koryo and that Koryo must be its own nation, have its own culture, etc., which does little to emphasize his right to rule but does much to keep people from thinking about him, instead pushing them to think about those who might be bad influences, people who of course are not him since he’s the one warning about said bad influences. Wang Kon connected himself to the spirits, to the gods, to Buddha, to geomancy, made himself the wise man warning about potential threats to the good of Koryo, painted himself as a ruler who exists due to his merit, makes himself out to be wise and encouraging of wisdom rather than ignorance, while also pushing people to look suspiciously at those who are not him. All of these things legitimized his rule and would legitimize the rulers of Koryo in the centuries to come.

Bibliography

Schneewind, S. "An Outline History of East Asia to 1200, third edition" (2022). Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9d699767

From
 Sourcebook
 of
 Korean
 Civilization,
 edited
 by
 Peter
 H.
 Lee,
 vol.
 1
 (New
 York:
 Columbia
 University
 Press,
 1993),
 263‐266.



 ©
1993 
Columbia
 University 
Press.
 Reproduced 
with 
the 
permission 
of 
the 
publisher. 
All 
rights 
reserved.