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As soon as King Taejo ascended the throne, he tried to restore those who had fallen into the status of slaves to their original status as Yang(良). However, due to resistance from political forces, it could not be implemented on a large scale, and only about 1,000 people were returned to the status of Yang(良) with royal finances. King Taejo called the people as ‘Jemin(齊民)’, ‘Yeowon(黎元)’, ‘Pyeonmaeng(編氓)’, ‘Jeokja(赤子)’ etc. However, King Taejo still did not classify everyone according to the standard of Yangcheon(良賤). This somewhat ambiguous concept of Yangcheon(良賤) reached a turning point in the 7th year of King Gwangjong(光宗)’s reign when Nobiangeombeob (奴婢按檢法) was implemented. This is because investigating a slave and revealing its status means that the standard for defining an individual’s status has already been established. It is clear that Gwangjong’s policy was aimed at suppressing the power of meritorious subjects. However, this was not limited to the central political forces but spread nationwide, and its targets included most slave owners. These measures were also aimed at getting more people to pay taxes to the country. As Yangcheon’s status concept became increasingly clear, laws related to Yangcheon’s status order were enacted. During the reigns of King Seongjong(成宗) and King Hyeonjong(顯宗), the method of dealing with Bangryang slaves(放良奴婢) and Hwancheon slaves(還賤奴婢) was decided. Finally, in the 5th year of King Jeongjong(靖宗)’s reign, Cheonjasumobeob(賤者隨母法) was established. And as the status order became established, Yangcheon became a standard for measuring specific rights and qualifications. Officials from Cheongu(賤口) could not receive Gongeumjeon(功蔭田), and if Yangcheon was uncertain, they could not inherit Jeonjeong(田丁) from their relatives. The early Goryeo Dynasty was a time when a new concept of status and order that was completely different from the previous era was formed, and various members of society had to be organized into the ruling order that Goryeo society aimed for. However, the establishment of a new status order could not be achieved in a short time, and the same was true for the Yangcheon system(良賤制). In this respect, the establishment of the Yangcheon system was to establish a new status order that was different from the ancient one. And at the same time, it also aimed for the dual purpose of securing Gongmin(公民) needed by the country in the form of ‘Min(民)’ or ‘Yangin(良人)’.

This paper examines the aspects of the faith in the Guardian Deities(神衆) during the Goryeo Dynasty, focusing on Sinjung-won(神衆院, Temple of Guardian Deities) and Sinjung-doryang(神衆道場, Ritual of Guardian Deities), while exploring its characteristics in relation to the worship of Indra(帝釋) and Navagraha(九曜) worship. The Sinjung serves as a protective deity in Buddhism, playing the role of praising the Buddha, safeguarding the Buddha-Dharma, and protecting those who are devoted to Buddhism. The earliest evidence of the faith in Sinjung during the Goryeo Dynasty can be found in the records of the founding of Sinjungwon in the seventh year of King Taejo’s reign (924). It appears that the temple housed such as the Arhats, Brahma(梵天), the Four Heavenly Kings(四天王), and the Eight Dragon Deities(八部衆) as independent deities. The faith in Sinjung is realized through rituals performed at the Sinjung-doryang, where prayers are offered while reciting the names of the Guardian Deities. A total of 39 sessions of Sinjungdoryang were held, with 38 of them occurring in the late Goryeo period, particularly concentrated during the rule of Choi Hang(崔沆). There are four types of Sinjung-doryang: Sinjung-doryang, Cheonbyeong Sinjung-doryang(天兵神衆道場), Hwaeom Sinjung-doryang(華嚴神衆道場), and Cheonbyeong Hwaeom Sinjung-doryang(天兵華嚴神衆道場). In the seventh year of the Taejo dynasty, Soryeong-won was founded along with Ojeoseok-won(外帝釋院, Temple of Indra outside the Palace) and Guyo-dang(九曜堂, Hall of Navagraha). During the concentrated establishment of Sinjung-doryang in Choi Hang’s rule, the king’s activities in Oejeoseok-won and Guyo-dang also appeared. These instances suggest that Indra, Sinjung, and Navagraha were perceived as interrelated forms of worship. Indra has the character of a heavenly deity that guarantees the king’s authority. The king’s visit to Sinjung-won was primarily conducted at the beginning of the year, similar to the rituals of Indra, as a New Year event to pray for the protection and blessings of the king and the state. On the other hand, it seems that Indra was considered to preside over Navagraha at the latest beginning of the military regime. In this way, the establishment of Sinjung-doryang during Choi Hang’s rule and the visits to Oejeoseok-won and Guyo-dang carried the significance of recalling the various sacred deities that King Taejo had relied upon when founding those shrines. It appears to be an effort to overcome the national crisis posed by the Mongol invasions through the worship of Indra, Navagraha, and Sinjung, who protect the nation.

The reorganization of transportation systems connecting the entire territory of the Joseon Dynasty, which coincided with the declaration of a new regime, suggests that unique spatial planning was practiced that continuously accepted the absolute conditions of the geographical environment from the past while converging on the spatial structure defined by the political entity in place at the time. In this context, this study focuses on Yeok(驛) as one of the institutional institutions that performed the function of controlling transportation and communication in the past. In this paper, we trace the changes in the distribution of Yeok(驛) during the Joseon Dynasty to analyze the political and environmental variables of each period, and visualize the intentionality of the distribution at one point in time through statistical and spatial analysis of before and after. To summarize the trend of change, the distribution of Yeok(驛) changed during the reorganization of the relationship between Gun-Hyeon(郡縣) and Yeok(驛) in the first half of the 15th century, and then remained largely unchanged, except in the Yanggye(兩界), where territorial expansion occurred. In the 18th century, the number of Yeok(驛) increased, centered on the Yanggye(兩界), and the distribution range was more extensive than before, but in the 19th century, it recovered to its pre-18th century scale. Considering the quantitative scale of the change, the projected intentions, and the resulting changes in the macro-structure, the trend of the station distribution after 󰡔Sejong Sillok(世宗實錄)󰡕 ｢Jiriji(地理志)｣ can be explained as a static and piecemeal change compared to the late Goryeo period to the early Joseon period. At any given point in time, the increase in the number of Yeok(驛) was directly related to the geographical expansion of the ruling realm. In short, the early 15th century, when the relationship between counties and stations was redefined by the political entity, can be described as a period when inertia begins to loom over the entire dominion. This rule of inertia also applied to expanded territories. The above examples twist conventional ways of imagining the past by showing how spatial planning and reorganization by political entities can take the form of accommodating and inheriting environmental conditions. For example, it can twist opposing or binary views of politics and nature. This imagining can be an experience that connects the past with the present.