Person

Ssanggi (Shuang Ji)

Official from Later Zhou, naturalized in Goryeo, who proposed the civil service examination to Gwangjong

He came to Goryeo in 956 with an envoy from Later Zhou, stayed on through illness, and caught King Gwangjong’s eye, becoming naturalized and taking office. On his proposal Goryeo held its first civil service examination in 958, with him as chief examiner (jigonggeo). By having officials chosen for Confucian learning rather than as sons of merit subjects and magnates, it supported Gwangjong’s strengthening of royal power.

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2 related events

AD 949 – AD 975Reforms of Gwangjongparticipant
King Gwangjong strengthened royal power over the lords and merit subjects with the Slave Review Act, the civil service examination and imperial titles.
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AD 958First Civil Service Examinationcreator
On the advice of Shuang Ji, a naturalized official from Later Zhou, Gwangjong held Goryeo’s first civil service examination to recruit Confucian-educated officials.

People who appear alongside

King GwangjongAD 925 – AD 975
Fourth king of Goryeo, who strengthened royal power with the Slave Review Act, the civil service examination and imperial titles
GyunyeoAD 923 – AD 973
Hwaeom monk under King Gwangjong who led Gwibeopsa and wrote the hyangga cycle Bohyeon sibwon-ga

Themes this person appears in

Sui, Tang and the East Asian WorldAD 317 – AD 979
From the divided Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Gupta age through the Sui and Tang empires to the founding of the Song — the age when an East Asian world sharing law codes, Buddhism, Confucianism and Chinese characters took shape, and Korea and Japan built their states on its model