Manjeok’s Rebellion

Manjeok, a slave of Choe Chung-heon, gathered slaves in Gaegyeong to plot their emancipation and seizure of power, but was betrayed.

Gathering slaves cutting wood on the hills north of Gaegyeong, Manjeok said: "Since the coup of 1170 many high officials have risen from the base-born. Are generals and ministers a breed apart? When the time comes, anyone can be one." They agreed to meet at Heungguksa, kill their masters and burn the slave registers, abolishing slavery in the land.

Too few came on the appointed day, and while they postponed, Sunjeong, a slave of the legal scholar Han Chung-yu, informed his master. Manjeok and some hundred others were thrown into the river. Its call for the end of status distinctions reflects the changing outlook of the lowest classes under military rule.