Yangban

A general term for civil and military bureaucrats in the Goryeo and Yi dynasties of Korea. In 958, Goryeo implemented a system in which some of its civil officials were appointed from local noble families through the civil service examinations. This led to the establishment of a centralized bureaucratic system, with civil officials called munban and military officials called muban, collectively known as yangban. In the Yi dynasty, most civil and military officials were appointed through the civil service examinations, and the yangban bureaucratic system was further developed. Many of the yangban were also local landowners, and in time, their descendants and families also came to be called yangban. The yangban had the privilege of being exempt from the heavy burden of physical labor and military service, and wielded power as rulers in the central and local areas. They created family trees showing the history of their families and boasted of their status, but the civil officials had a higher status than the military officials (civil officials were superior). After the second half of the 18th century, the yangban class system collapsed and the word later came to mean something more like "husband," but in Korea, where lineage is highly valued, the sense of pride in being of yangban descent remains strong even today.

[Yazawa Kosuke]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

朝鮮の高麗(こうらい)・李朝(りちょう)時代における文・武の官僚の総称。958年、高麗は文官の一部を科挙によって地方豪族などから登用する制度を実施した。これに伴って中央集権的官僚体制が整備され、文官を文班、武官を武班と称し、あわせて両班とよぶようになった。李朝では文・武の官僚はほとんどが科挙を通じてなるようになり、両班官僚体制がいっそう整備された。両班の多くは地方の地主層でもあり、やがて、彼らの子孫、一族も両班とよばれるようになった。両班は力役や軍役の重い負担を免除される特権をもち、中央・地方の支配者として勢力を振るった。彼らは家門の来歴を示す族譜(ぞくふ)をつくり、身分を誇ったが、武班よりも文班が地位が高かった（文官優位）。18世紀後半以降、両班身分制も崩れ、のちには「旦那(だんな)」という程度の意味で使われたが、家系を重んずる韓国では、いまでも両班出身を誇りとする意識が根強い。

［矢澤康祐］

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