Editing Balhae (section)

==Society==

According to Korean scholars and other historians, Mohe made up the working class which served the Goguryeo ruling class.<ref name="Lee Ki-baik page 88–89" /><ref name="OwenMiller">{{cite book|last1=Injae|first1=Lee|last2=Miller|first2=Owen|last3=Jinhoon|first3=Park|last4=Hyun-Hae|first4=Yi|title=Korean History in Maps|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781107098466|pages=64–65|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=46OTBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA64|access-date=24 February 2017|language=en|date=15 December 2014}}</ref> Some historians believe that ethnic conflicts between the ruling [[Goguryeo]]s and underclass Mohe weakened the state.<ref name="Lee Ki-baik page 88–89">Lee Ki-baik. "''The Society and Culture of Parhae.''" The New History of Korea, page 88-89. Harvard University Press, 1984.</ref> Other historians offer dissenting views. Han Ciu-cheol agreed that Mohe people were the majority of Balhae's population but disagreed that they were any different from Goguryeo or Balhae. According to Han, the origins of "Malgal" and "Mulgil" lie in the Goguryeo language, and "the Malgal language and customs were the same as those of Goguryeo and Balhae."{{sfn|Reckel|2015|p=482}} On the other hand, the Russian historian Polutov believes that Goguryeo descendants did not have political dominance, and the ruling system was open to all people equally.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/gosudarstvennyy-apparat-korolevstva-bohay|title=Государственный аппарат королевства Бохай |trans-title=State apparatus of the kingdom of Bohai|author1=Polutov, Andrey Vadimovich |work= Siberian historical research|date=2014 |access-date=7 February 2019 }}</ref> Its ruling structure was based on the military leader-priestly management structure of the Mohe tribes and also partly adapted elements from the Chinese system. After the 8th century, Balhae became more centralized, and power was consolidated around the king and the royal family.<ref name="studies">{{cite web |url=http://contents.nahf.or.kr:8080/directory/downloadItemFile.do?fileName=jn_006_0090.pdf&levelId=jn_006&type=pdf |title=Balhae studies in Russia |author=Alexander lvliev |work=Northeast asian history foundation |date=2007 |access-date=24 February 2019 |archive-date=13 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213160222/http://contents.nahf.or.kr:8080/directory/downloadItemFile.do?fileName=jn_006_0090.pdf&levelId=jn_006&type=pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The class system of Balhae society is controversial. Some studies suggest there was a stratified and rigid class system similar to those of the related Korean kingdoms and pre-[[Qin dynasty|Qin]] northern China. Elites tended to belong to large extended aristocratic family lines designated by surnames. The commoners in comparison had no surnames at all, and upward social mobility was virtually impossible as class and status were codified into a caste system.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shirokov |first=Roman |date=2023-04-13 |title=J88 |url=https://j888.im |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=j888.im |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Crossley|1997|p=19}} Other studies have shown there was a clan system but no clear division of classes existed, whereas the position of the clan leader depended on the strength of the clan. Any member of the clan could become the clan leader if he had sufficient authority. There were also religiously privileged shaman clans. The clan struggles were also partly due to growing Tang influence and different attitudes toward further Sinicization. The main part of society in Balhae was free in a personal capacity and consisted of clans.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/k-voprosu-o-politicheskoy-situatsii-v-bohae-v-720-e-gg|title=К ВОПРОСУ О ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОЙ СИТУАЦИИ В БОХАЕ В 720-Е ГГ |trans-title=On the issue of the political situation in Bohai in the 720s|author=Kim, Alexander Alekseevich |work= BHumanitarian research in Eastern Siberia and the Far East |date=2013 |access-date=5 February 2019 }}</ref> By the time of the state's demise, the Balhae mode of living had come to resemble that of the northern Chinese. The Liao dynasty classified the Balhae population as Han in legal and taxation contexts, the same as those whose ancestry was traced to the Tang empire. Some Mohe groups did not adopt this manner of life and were excluded from the Liao's designation of Balhae. Instead, they remained as Mohe, and would become an important source of the [[Jurchen people]] in the future.<ref name="Crossley 2016"/>