Abstract:This article examines the ambiguous roles of birth and merit in Korea from around 900 to 1500 CE. Medieval Korea’s yangban aristocracy valued pedigree but did not guarantee heredity. Many illustrious houses failed to retain their status, and the void created opportunities for provincials to try establishing themselves as new and lasting capital-based yangban courtiers. The mesh of patron/client ties and conjugal bonds generated in this social process explain the centralization of authority and the consolidation of the peninsular society after the collapse of first-generation states in the Korea-Manchuria region.

中文翻译：

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建立中央集权制度：羊半贵族与中世纪的世袭制

摘要：本文考察了公元 900 年至 1500 年左右在韩国出生和功绩的模糊作用。中世纪朝鲜的两半贵族重视血统，但不保证遗传。许多显赫的房子未能保持其地位，而这一空缺为外省人创造了机会，试图将自己确立为新的、持久的首都两半朝臣。在这个社会过程中产生的赞助人/客户关系和婚姻纽带的网格解释了朝鲜-满洲地区第一代国家崩溃后权力集中和半岛社会的巩固。