新羅 下代의 王位繼承과 遺詔

A Study on the Succession to the Royal Throne by the King’s Last Will in the Latter Period of the Silla Dynasty

Out of twenty kings in the latter period of the Salla dynasty, there were six kings - king Hunan, king Kyungmun, king Chungkang, queen Jinsung, king Hyokong, king Kyungae - who succeeded to the throne by the preceding king’s last will.(30%) The will was generally made when the reigning king couldn’t carry out his tasks any more because of illness or old age. And in his last will, the king designated the successor to the throne. Especially, under the following conditions, the king selected his successor. In the first case, the king had no son and, if not, the son had gone abroad or had forgiven his right of the succession since he had become a monk. And the second, the king’s son wasn’t accepted as a successor because his mother was not from Jingol in Golpum rules. And the third, the king judged that the political situation was instable. The six successors, who were designated, were related to the kings as follows ; unc1e(1), elder brothers(2), elder sister(1), son-in-law(1) and nephew(1). Before the succession, except the woman, they generally had a political career and competency, assisting their king. In his will, the king explained his situation, then designated a successor, emphasizing the important role of king, and demonstrated his choice on the ground of the ties of blood with the successor and the designated successor’s superior character and ability etc. Besides, the king asked earnestly to take care of the funeral ceremony for himself. Due to the king’s last will for the succession justifying and legitimatizing the status of his successor, the conflicts which probably can occur in the course of the succession were prevented, and the succession to the throne was confirmed through supplementing the defect of the successor. Therefore, although he had a flaw in qualification to succeed to the throne, he who was designated as a successor by the king’s last will could succeeded to the throne. Finally, it was achieved to succeed to the throne within the kinship, although there existed the complex political circumstances. As we have seen, in principle it was tried to keep the succession to the throne from father to son as a normal criteria in the latter period of the Silla dynasty.