1094 NOTES TO CHAPTER 10They were assigned to the Ministry of War, divided into four groups of 150 men each
and served on guard duty at the palace, three days on and nine off, not a very demand-
ing schedule. The unit was established after Sejong had come to the throne, but the retired
T'aejong was himself still in command of the armed forces. The unit was abolished in
T456 and restored in 146g but without any quota limit.
After Sejo usurped the throne, he rewarded his own merit subjects by allowing their
descendants to enlist in the Loyal and Righteous Guards, and in 1456 he expanded oppor-
tunities for special service for descendants of minor merit subjects (wonjang lwngsin)
who had been previously excluded from the other elite guards by abolishing the Loyal
and Obedient Guards and replacing them with new units - the Loyal Assistant Guards
(Ch'ungch'anwi) and the Tiger Wing Guards (Hoigwi). He intended by this means to pla-
cate local yangban who might be upset over his usurpation. King Yejong restored the
Loyal and Obedient Guards in I46g. The Loyal Assistant Guards were divided into four
groups and served rotating nine-day shifts on palace guard.
In T 47T, the terms of service of all three guard units were changed by King Songjong.
The quota limits were eliminated, the Loyal and Righteous Guards were converted into
long-term service while the other two were divided into five groups rotating on and off
every four months. The duties of the Loyal and Obedient Guards were later increased
by dividing them into seven groups serving every two months, a measure adopted because
of financial problems.
For a discussion of these privileged guard units in the early Choson period, see Ch'a
Munsop, "Sonch'o i1i Ch'ung'i1i, Chungch'an, Ch'ungsunwi [The Loyal and Righteous
Guards, Loyal Assistant Guards, and Loyal and Obedient Guards of the early Choson
period], in idem, Chason sidae kunje yon 'gu, pp. gO-I35. For discussion of the deple-
tion of students in the National Academy, see ibid., p. 13 T.
TOg. PGSR 2T:gb-TOb.
T TO. Ibid. 2 T: Tob, I2a-b. See Ch'a Munsop, "Chungjongjo i1i Chongnowi [The
lurchen Quelling Guards of Chungjong's reign], in idem, Chason sidae kunje yon 'gu,
pp. 136 -57.
I I 1. PGSR 2 I :38b-39b.
r 12. Ibid. 2 I A2a, 44a.
- Ibid. 2I:43b.
I 14. Ibid. 2 I :44a. - Ibid. 2I:44b.
- Ibid. 2I:38a-b.
- Ibid. 21 :2gb, line 6. For a discussion of the origin ofthesagbgun, see Ch'aMunsop,
"Sog'ogun yon'gu [A study of the sago soldiers], in idem, Chason sidae kunje yon'gu
[Studies in the military system of the Choson period] (Seoul: Tan'guk taehakkyo
ch'ulp'anbu, Ig73), pp. 179-228.
I 18. PGSR 2 I :37a, 38a.
I Ig. Ibid. 2I :2gb, 32a. - Ibid. 2 I :38a-b.
- Ibid. 2I:39b.
- Ibid. 2 r :3ga-b, 40b.