The Yangban were a well educated scholarly class of male Confucian scholars who were part of the ruling elite within Korea prior to 1945 and the republics period of Korean history. The yangban tradition of close links by education, teachers, family background, city of origin, has been perpetuated within the Korean ruling class of the partitioned Koreas, with the south forming a new yangban class of Christian educated leaders who share many of the values of earlier times; and the north forming a new yangban class based on military and educational fellowships and alliances. Hangul (한글) is the native alphabet used to write the Korean language, as opposed to the Hanja system borrowed from China. ... Hanja (lit. ... The Revised Romanization of Korean is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea. ... McCune-Reischauer is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems, along with the Revised Romanization of Korean, which replaced McCune-Reischauer as the official romanization system in South Korea in 2000. ... This article needs copyediting (checking for proper English spelling, grammar, usage, etc. ... Korea (한국/韓國/Hanguk, used by South / 조선/朝鮮/Joseon, used by North) is a formerly unified country, situated on the Korean Peninsula in northern East Asia, bordering on China to the northwest and Russia to the north. ... The Korean ruling class, or Korean power elite, is the relatively small number of people who through similar schools, education, family clans, upbringing, or corporate chaebol wealth and urban power control decision making and policy within either of the partitioned Koreas. ... A Christian is a follower of Jesus of Nazareth. ...

History

Yangban were the Joseon Dynasty equivalent of the former Goryeo nobles who had been educated in both Buddhist and Confucian studies. With the succession of the Yi generals within the Joseon dynasty, prior feuds and factionalism were replaced by a decisive attempt to instill administrative organization throughout Korea, and create a new scholarly class from new educational foundations. The yangban were in fact modelled on the Ming dynasty Chinese bureaucrats which helped Korea proceed towards their golden age of scholarship and civilisation. The Joseon Dynasty (alternatively, Choson or Chosun) was the final ruling dynasty of Korea, lasting from 1392 until 1910. ... The Goryeo (also Koryo) kingdom ruled Korea from the fall of Silla in 935 until the founding of Joseon in 1392. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

One could become a yangban by taking the civil service exams, the results of which determined placement into high ranking civil positions. In practice, however, the tests were rigged to favor those from wealthy families and the sons of yangban. The yangban dominated the Royal Court and Military of pre-Modern Korea and often were exempt from various laws including those relating to taxes.

In addition to stipend granted to them from civil service duties, the yangban often received bribes and other illegal forms of payment in exchange for positions in the Royal Courts and the Military. Often, corrupt yangban also confiscated land from the peasants by imposing ridiculously large taxes on the land and then seizing the land under the pretense of unpaid taxes.

In modern day Korea, the yangban no longer possess an advantage but many often boast of having a yangban ancestor. Yangban ancestry can be traced through the Chokbo or the Korean equivalent of a family tree which is passed down in each family through the eldest son. The Chokbo is a Korean genealogy equivalent to the family tree. ...

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• Korean culture
• History of Korea
• Korean Confucianism
• Korean ruling class
• Mandarin (China)