高麗時代の私兵について

Abstract

The National Army of the Goryeo dynasty consisted of 38, 000 soldiers who were in charge of the defense of the Royal Court, and they were assigned to yugwi 六衞 (Six Guards). However, some of them were concurrently assigned to the special units such as junggeum 中禁 (Inner Guard), doji 都知 (Supervisory Guard), baeggab 白甲 (White Armor Guard), and Gyeonryong-gun 牽龍軍 (Royal Horse Keeper). These soldiers could be categorized as private soldiers in a sense, because they served closely as personal guards and established a relationship of "master and servant" with the king. Similarly, there were some soldiers who served as Gusa 驅使 (Runner) of the officials of the central government, and they also could be categorized as private soldiers for the same reason. The military system of the Goryeo dynasty was largely changed after the Revolt of the Military Officers, and some of the powerful officers formed some units of private soldiers by which they maintained the power in the court politics. Subsequently, the kings also formed some units of private soldiers which were known generally as aimaq 愛馬 (Royal Private Units). These units were established to fill the vacancies in the National Army, but it could not be denied that the increase of the private soldiers reduced the National Army to mere form. For this reason, the bureaucrats of the last period of the Goryeo dynasty strongly insisted on the need for the reform of the military system. Their claims were as follows. First, aimaq (Royal Private Units) should be deminished, and they should be reorganized into the Six Guards of the National Army. Second, jabnyu 雜類, or people of base origin, should be cast out of the Six Guards. Third, the units of the wartime formation should be reorganized into those of the time of peace. These were the problems which were left to solve in the early period of the new Joseon dynasty.