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Goryeo Yejong's Reforms (1120s)

Type Event Region East Asia Time 1120–1122

In the later years of Goryeo's Yejong's reign (roughly 1120–1122), a series of domestic reforms were carried out, including restricting the tax-exemp…

Timeline

  1. 1120–1121Kaesŏng · KaesŏngYejong ordered reforms of temple landholdings and the tax-exempt system for monks and nuns, restricted the founding of new temples, and audited monastic registers, to curb the erosion of the state tax base by the expansion of Buddhist power. This provoked resistance from some monks, but the royal financial situation improved somewhat.
  2. 1121–1122Kaesŏng · KaesŏngYejong reformed central and local government systems, strictly investigated corruption, and standardized the procedures of the imperial examinations, emphasizing the assessment of talent through classical interpretation and statutes. The reforms strengthened the position of civil scholar-officials in court politics, laying an institutional foundation for the politics of Injong's reign.
  3. 1122Kaesŏng · KaesŏngYejong died in 1122, and the crown prince ascended the throne as Injong. Some of Yejong's late-reign reform policies concerning finance, the bureaucracy, and Buddhist management were continued by Injong, forming an important part of Goryeo's domestic adjustments in the 1120s.

Sources