348 LAND REFORMrelationship and ~lm residual privilege contained an inner logic. This attitude is
revealed in a brief discussion Yu conducted with his imaginary adversary.
The adversary charged that Yu's formulas governing the generational limits
for the inheritance of royal blood status and um privileges were inconsistent and
discriminated against the descendants of merit subjects and high officials. He
conceded that according to principle a strict distinction had to be made between
rulers and their relatives (kun) and subjects or officials (sin), but like the head
and feet of the human body, both were part of the same organism. I IO For exam-
ple, even though princes received ten times the salary of an official, there were
cases where officials (taebusa) also received large salaries. Furthermore, in
ancient times important officials were given extremely generous treatment by
the throne. Now, in establishing his regulations for members of the royal fam-
ily on the one hand and descendants of officials and merit subjects on the other,
Yu was not consistent; he wanted to eliminate brothers of high officials from
inheritance of the lim privilege but he was willing to allow retention of ch 'in or
royal blood relations even to the remotest degree of mourning - even to the fourth
generation of descent from queens or fourth cousins of queens. This was a vio-
lation of ancicnt principles.
Yu's rebuttal was based on a logical analysis of his perception of operative
rules. He asserted that a single principle governed both eligibility for Urn status
and the state's general treatment of members of the royal family. That was the
reason that the um privilege for heirs of high officials and merit subjects and for
members ofthe royal family did not run out until the fourth generation (hyonson),
but in both cases there should be no provision to extend those privileges to col-
lateral lines. The determination of ch 'in relationship, however, was a separate
problem altogcther; it pertained only to relatives of kings. and there was no prin-
ciple by which the state could confer ch 'in status on a subject or official. I I I Nor
should the rules pertaining to ch'in status be used to determine inheritance of
the um privilegc; it was not necessary to be consistent or uniform in dealing with
two separate categories.
Nothoi: Sons of Concubines (sMl)
Yu was clearly interested in improving the status and opportunities of nothoi.
According to his rules anyone inheriting the um privilege from an illustrious
ancestor, or any member of royalty designated as possessing the proper degree
of relationship to a king (ch'in) would be given a two-kyong basic land grant in
accordance with the grant allowed a regular student of an inner dormitory of a
school (naesasaeng). A soO! or nothoi (of a yangban or Yu's sadaehu) would
also be entitled to the same treatment. Sons of the concubines of officials and
degree-holders would also be entitled to membership in the Loyal and Obedi-
ent Guards along with legitimate sons. 112 He defined the general rule as follows:
"If a nothoi is a scholar, he should be treated as a scholar; if he is a member of