Yangban

Yangban or Ryangban was the upper class in Korea during the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasty. " Yangban " literally means both groups. As the word has become a socio-political term " upper class ", can be explained as follows.

Origin of Yangban - term

Korea was during its existence mostly a monarchy. There were two officers in traditional Korea properties: one is responsible for state administration and the other for military affairs. Since the state administration had to do with laws, contracts and writings were administrative officials as " Mun - gwan " ( Kor. 문관 ,文官, literally officials of the scriptures ), while one military officials " Mu - gwan " ( 무관 ,武官, officials of weapons) called. This division of the civil service was enshrined in the Goryeo Dynasty.

In discussions on matters of state, the king sat in the middle, on the left side of him were the administrative officers and on the right the military officials. The left side of the king pointed to the east, the right to the west. Thus, the Mun - gwan were sometimes called " Dongban " ( 동반, eastern group ), while the Mu - gwan as " Seoban " ( 서반, western group ) was called. These two groups, together referred to as " yangban " naturally took a leading positions both in the government and in the society, so that they formed from the Goryeo to the Joseon dynasty, the ruling class in the empire.

Theoretically, both groups were equivalent, but in practice the civil Mungwan were taken with their Confucian education higher, which led to rivalries between the two groups.