This study examines, through an example of Lee Gyu-bo, how the persons who passed the state examination (hereinafter, “successful examinees”) during the military administration of the Goryeo Dynasty asked their recommendation, as well as the methods and procedures of recommendation for them and the process by which the successful examinees were appointed to first-time working position after recommendation.
The successful examinees used to ask for their recommendations from an officer of the 5th rank or higher or a Royal Attendants (近侍官) in order to be appointed to the first-time working position. The officer that successful examinees most frequently asked for recommendation was the Jwaju (座主). If the Jwaju refused to recommend or his recommendation failed, they asked other officials through their personal connections or various social meetings. When asking for recommendation, the successful examinees informed the recommender (擧主) of their study situation, abilities, and qualifications. If the recommender was not the Jwaju, they should also disclose to the recommender how they had passed the exam and who their Jwaju was. They also revealed the position they would like to hold. There was no special document format for successful examinees to request recommendations, but they usually presented poems or books to show their academic abilities.
The people who had the authority to recommend the successful examinees were the officials of the 5th rank or higher and the palace servants. A recommender could nominate one person at a time, and several officials could also recommend a person jointly. Unless there was a special order from the king, the person asked to recommend (被託者) had to give recommendation upon request by a successful examinee. The recommender used to make his own verification and confirmation process of the abilities and qualifications for the successful examinees, and recommended one who passed the verification and confirmation process. The recommender wrote the letter of Chaja (箚子) to recommend a successful examinee, in which the name, qualifications and abilities of the successful examinee, as well as the official position appropriate to the recommendee, were listed. After receiving the recommendation Chaja, the king checked whether the recommendee was worthy of the position and then decided whether to accept the recommendation. When the recommendation was accepted, the letter of Chaja and the Jeseo (制書) containing the king's permission were delivered to the Civil Personnel Ministry (吏部), which carried out an official ordination procedure of the successful examinee based on the Chaja and the Jeseo. The appointment of official position was made at the time of Daejeong (大政) and Gwonmu (權務).
If a commander made an inappropriate recommendation, he was punished by the recommender’s joint responsibility system (擧主連坐制). Once a recommendation was rejected, the recommendee was so hard to receive a recommendation from someone else that he had to make a lot of efforts to eliminate the reason why the recommendation was rejected. Additionally, a recommendation for a person whose recommendation had been rejected could not be made again to the same king.