Sangdaedŭng

Sangdaedŭng or Sangsin, was an office of the Silla state. The Sangdaedŭng was the head of the Council of Nobles and was considered as the highest and most prestigious office that one could attain next to the throne itself.
The position was established during King Beophung's 18th year as a king and survived until the end of Silla.

Selection

The Sangdaedŭng was chosen from among those men of "true bone" lineage in Silla's strict aristocratic social order. He presided over the Hwabaek Council, an advisory and decision-making committee composed of other high-ranking officials holding the office of Taedŭng. The council's primary duties lay in rendering decisions on important state matters, such as succession to the throne and declarations of war. Its existence dated back to the early Silla state and reflected that state's tribal origins. Throughout Silla history the Hwabaek Council led by the Sangdaedŭng served as a check on the king's authority.
During the middle period of Silla, following that state's unification of the peninsula, the focus of government authority shifted from the Hwabaek Council and Sangdaedŭng to the Chancellery Office and its Chief Minister, an office instituted in Silla in 651 as the highest organ in the central government apparatus. This reflected the monarchy's efforts to curb the power of an independent nobility by relying on the Chinese inspired Jipsabu rather than the Hwabaek Council, whose existence was predicated on age old aristocratic and clan prerogatives. In the wake of several challenges to his authority King Sinmun dared even execute the Sangdaedŭng Gungwan in 681 for complicity in the revolt of Kim Hŭmdol.
Despite these attempts to limit its power, the office of Sangdaedŭng remained until the end of Silla the highest and most prestigious office one could attain short of the throne itself. In the later period of Silla, during which the throne was continuously contested, several monarchs emerged from the office of Sangdaedŭng.