Harmony Between In-Laws

Bibliographic Data

ID5954541
AuthorsKing Kwong Wong (0009-0003-8601-6563, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume85
Issue1
Pages32-50
Publication date2025-11-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-9118 • E-ISSN: 1752-0401
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/00219118-12040494
OpenAlexW4415816145
LanguageEN
References cited12

This article examines the entanglement of diplomatic marriages and rulership in the context of the royal marriages between the Koryŏ (918-1392) and the Mongol-Yuan (1271-1368) ruling houses. This perspective offers an answer to why and how the two ruling houses perpetuated their marriages for almost a century. This article argues that the incentive rested on the power of diplomatic marriages to restructure rulership and intermonarchical relationships. Yuan-Koryŏ royal marriages provided both rulers with new political resources to claim and maintain rulership. Meanwhile, in this new context, the Koryŏ king was but one among many in Koryŏ who shared personal-cum-political ties with the Mongol emperor, creating situations where rivals used these ties to challenge the Koryŏ king. Rulership involved more than asserting dominance; it was also about managing a ruler's myriad relationships and the political resources therein. This examination shows that marriage was not only an option in the diplomatic repertoire but also an influential component in rulership that required a ruler's meticulous management

Context (archaeology) · Harmony (color) · Incentive · Politics · Power (physics) · Restructuring · Byzantine Studies and History · China's Ethnic Minorities and Relations · Eurasian Exchange Networks

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