Sangdaedŭng (, ''the First of Taedŭngs or Peers, Extraordinary Rank One'') or ''Sangsin'' (), was an office of the
Silla
Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...
state. The Sangdaedŭng was the head of the
Council of Nobles and was considered as the highest and most prestigious office that one could attain next to the throne itself.
The position was established during
King Beophung's 18th year as a king (531) and survived until the
end of Silla.
Selection
The ''Sangdaedŭng'' was chosen from among those men of "true bone" () lineage in Silla's strict
aristocratic social order. He presided over the
Hwabaek Council
The Hwabaek (), or council of nobles, served as the chief royal council in Silla; it is composed of the nobles of higher rank ( Jingol) and headed by the Sangdaedeung. The Hwabaek council decided the most important state affairs, such as success ...
(), an advisory and decision-making committee composed of other high-ranking officials holding the office of
Taedŭng (). The council's primary duties lay in rendering decisions on important state matters, such as succession to the throne and declarations of war.
[Lee, Ki–baik. ''A New History of Korea'' (translated by Edward W. Wagner with Edward J. Shultz). (Cambridge, MA:Harvard University Press, 1984), p. 53.] Its existence dated back to the early Silla state and reflected that state's tribal origins. Throughout Silla history the Hwabaek Council led by the ''Sangdaedŭng'' served as a check on the king's authority.
During the middle period of Silla, following that state's unification of the peninsula, the focus of government authority shifted from the Hwabaek Council and ''Sangdaedŭng'' to the Chancellery Office (''
Jipsabu'', ) and its Chief Minister (''Sijung'', , or alternately ''Jungsi'', ), an office instituted in Silla in 651 as the highest organ in the central government apparatus. This reflected the monarchy's efforts to curb the power of an independent nobility by relying on the Chinese inspired ''Jipsabu'' rather than the Hwabaek Council, whose existence was predicated on age old aristocratic and clan prerogatives. In the wake of several challenges to his authority
King Sinmun dared even execute the ''Sangdaedŭng'' Gungwan in 681 for complicity in the revolt of
Kim Hŭmdol ().
Despite these attempts to limit its power, the office of ''Sangdaedŭng'' remained until the end of Silla the highest and most prestigious office one could attain short of the throne itself. In the later period of Silla, during which the throne was continuously contested, several monarchs emerged from the office of ''Sangdaedŭng''.
List of Sangdaedŭng
Footnotes
{{Notelist
References
Government agencies of Silla
6th-century establishments in Korea
10th-century disestablishments in Korea