The Society of Daegaya

The inequal relations among people existed even in the premodern society, such as Daegaya. It was the social status system which formally institutionalized inequality among people. There is no concrete evidence on the social status system of Daegaya.

However, we can guess the existence of the social status system in Daegaya through the following two facts: One is the practice of the official uniform system that government officials wear clothes with different colors according to their status.

The other is the existence of the names of official post, such as Sangsuwi. The soical status system would have been completed between the late fifth and early sixth century, Daegaya’s heyday.

It is needless to say that the king and the royal family were the highest class among the members of Daegaya. They constructed huge tumuli in the place which looks down the Goryeong region. This is because they tried to show off their existence of the highest social class even after death.

Nobles, such as collateral royal family, were the second highest social class. They were divided into Hangi class and Suwi class. Hangi class was differentiated into Hangi and Hahangi (Chahangi: the second Hangi) and Suwi was differentiated into Sangsuwi (the first Suwi) and Yisuwi (the second Suwi).

The ruling class in the conquered region was incorporated into the noble social class. The graves constructed on the main ridge-line of the Jisan-dong Mounded Tomb Group are much bigger than those built on the branch ridge-lines. Kings and their direct royal families were buried in the former and nobles in the latter.

Commoners belong to the lower social class. They occupied the highest proportion among the members of Daegaya. They were objects for collecting taxes and mobilizing the work-force. In a word they were the basis for the state. They were free men who mainly engage in farming.

As can be seen from Ilbonseogi (Chronicle of Japan), they farmed themselves and were also mobilized for the construction work of castles. They were doubly subject to the king of Daegaya as well as their local heads. The lowest social class consists of the humble and servants. It is assumed that Daegaya like other states made the conquered people as the humble in the process of enlargement of territory, but we have no historical material proving this.

Archeological materials show the existence of servants, the lowest social class. Some of immolated people found in the Jisan-dong Tumulus No. 44 and No. 45 were servants who were treated as things. They did not lead their own family lives and were buried with certain articles, such as pottery.

They were the lowest social class of Daegaya society. Of course, all of immolated people were not servants.As shown in the above, Daegaya was a social status society which roughly had four social classes.