牛.李黨爭 시기의 원진의 役割 = Political Climate in Mid-T'ang Dynasty and Yuan Chen(원진)

국문 초록 (Abstract)

Yuan Chen(원진:779-831), who shared the literary limelight with Po Chu-i(白居易:772-846), has been overshadowed by his friend in politics as well as in literary frame. Still Yuan Chen is known to be one of the best poet who wrote a quantity of poems lamenting upon the shadowy side of society and the life of high officials in mid-T'ang dynasty.
His political career seems to be failed, because he served very short term as a minister in central government and most of his time spent as commissioner in province far out from the capital city of Ch'ang An (長安), and banishment from Ch'ang-an was regarded as punishment, because it was the hub of all cultural and political activities, where all the important decisions affecting the lives of the populace were made.
After the An-Shih Rebellion which marks a key turning point in T'ang history, Ch'ang-an was sacked once more in 783 by mutinous troops. And the tivetans, who also took advantage of china's internal troubles and military weakness, revolted and marched to the capital.
The bureaucrats in the court were divided in their views regarding the policies of the central government toward the outlying districts. Factions at court, divided politically and by social origin, became so strong that the entire administration was threatened.
The Yuan-ho(元和) era was inaugurated in 806 under the emperor Hsien-tsung(憲宗:r.806-820), who came to the throne with eunuch and military backing.
Meanwhile, under his own administration, new cliques formed around the aristocratic scholar-officials of the traditional hereditary ruling class on the one side, and newcomers or parvenus on the other. The latter, as a rule, were young intellectuals, whose backgrounds and sympathies identified them with the common people.
It is to this new faction that Yuan Chen seems to have belonged, although by lineage he was a descendant of the imperial house of the Toba-Wei(拓跋魏:386-552) that ruled North China during the Southern and Northern dynasties.
The so-called 'new faction' to which Yuan Chen belonged was led by Niu Seng-ju(牛僧孺:779-848) and Li Tsung-min(李宗閔:d.806), who represented the young intellectuals then rising to power through the examination system.
They were more conscious of the sufferings of the people caused by official injustice and corruption, and they believed that social and political rather than military solutions were needed to remedy the nation's ills.
The opposing faction was led by Li Te-yu(李德裕:787-850), son of the Chief Minister Li Chi-fu(李吉甫:758-812), who represented conservative elements with long ties of association to the imperial house and hereditary titles dating back to the founding the dynasty.
The struggle for political power between these two factions, intensified by personal feuds among the party leaders, continued for almost fifty years, and weakened the bureaucratic structure upon which the empire rested and strengthened further the power of the eunuchs who had entrenched themselves in the central administration and armies.
To stabilize its own position, each party tried to enlist the support of influential eunuchs. Yuan Chen began his own official career under complicated political climate and his political career fluctuated between high office and demotion and banishment, as if it had been planned long before his time.
The emperor Mu-tsung (穆宗:821-824) favored him with special affection and appointed him to the position of chief minister. But party factionalism, eunuch intrigue, and power politics were too violently antagonistic at that time, and Yuan Chen could not keep the position for long, and even the emperor was unable to protect him from such enmity.
Despite his brilliance as an administrator with high ideals, Yuan Chen was regarded, after all, as an 'upstart,' a parvenu. He pacifist policies antagonized the "palace guard" who believed that the authority of the central government must be restored by force. Moreover, too eager to have the clean government, he declared war against corruption and extortion wherever he found them.
As a consequence of his exposure of illegal dealings and corruption in high places, he aroused the wrath of powerful political leaders and eunuch factions.
Had Yuan Chen remained in the position of chief minister longer, it is possible he might have been able to accomplish some of the things he originally set out to do, and which party he had belonged to would never changed the matter. But his term in office lasted only a few months.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ. 서론
• Ⅱ. 원진의 生涯
• 1. 원진의 家系
• 2. 원진의 官職
• Ⅲ. 牛·李黨爭과 원진
• 1. 牛·李黨爭
• 2. 원진의 정치적 입장
• 3. 원진의 사회적 입장
• 4. 원진과 白居易
• Ⅳ. 결어