본고는 필자가 前稿에서 다룬 신라 下代 哀莊王代(800~809)의 정치변동에 대한 이해를 바탕으로 同王代에 단행된 정치개혁의 내용과 그 성격에 관하여 고찰한 것이다. 애장왕 2년(801) 五廟制와 內廷官制(御龍省)의 개정 외에 6년(805)ㆍ7년ㆍ9년에도 관제개정ㆍ佛事禁令 교서의 반포ㆍ지방 군현의 정비 등 다방면에 걸쳐 개혁이 추진되고 있는데, 전자와 후자는 개혁의 시기와 주체ㆍ내용 등에 있어 분명한 차별성이 엿보인다. 전고에서는 친정체제로의 전환과정과 말년의 정변에 역점을 두었으나, 여기서는 섭정기와 친정기로 구분하여 개혁의 구체적 내용을 분석ㆍ정리하고 이를 종합하여 그 의의를 살펴보는 데 초점을 맞추었다. 김언승 섭정기(원년~5년) 왕실세력에 의해 개정된 오묘제는 中代 말 혜공왕대 이래 不毁之宗이었던 태종대왕(무열왕)과 문무대왕의 2묘를 5묘에서 遷毁하여 別廟를 설립하고 시조대왕과 직계 4친으로 5묘를 구성하는 것이었다. 하대 원성왕계 新왕통의 확립이 제사제도의 개혁을 통해 실현된 것이다. 또한 섭정 언승은 內省 조직에 예속되어 있던 御龍省을 분리·승격시켜 일종의 攝政府로 만들고, 장관직인 私臣을 신설하여 스스로 그 자리에 취임하였다. 그러나 어룡성은 친정기 관제개정 때 개혁의 대상이 되어 섭정부로서의 기능은 폐지되고 이후 점차 虛設化되었으며, 私臣은 冗官으로 도태되어 갔을 것으로 추정된다. 친정기(6년~10년)의 諸개혁은 律令體制의 재정비라는 방향에서 추진되었다. 6년 公式 20餘條의 頒示는 친정 개시 후 새로운 법 질서를 수립하기 위한 것으로, 이와 연동하여 사원 성전과 영창궁 성전, 위화부, 예작부ㆍ선부ㆍ상사서의 관직명이 개칭되고 관원 수가 삭감되었다. 7년에 반포된 국왕의 교서는 사원의 창건을 금하고 화려한 佛事를 규제한다는 것이었다. 사찰과 진골 귀족들에게 집중된 富力을 분산하고 호사 극치의 풍조를 匡正해 보려는 조치로 이해된다. 9년에는 지방 군현의 疆境을 새로 조정함으로써 일부 군현이 置廢되거나 읍격의 昇降이 이루어졌다. 田丁을 고려한 군현 영속관계의 변경으로 조세 수취의 안정성을 확보하고자 하였다. 친정기의 개혁은 율령정치의 勵行을 통해 국왕중심의 지배질서를 회복하고, 중대 말 이래로 심화되어온 사회경제적 모순을 해결하기 위한 시도였던 것이다. 그러나 애장왕대의 정치개혁은 결국 실패로 끝났다. 그 원인으로는 친정기 개혁 추진 세력이 가진 권력의 한계와 더불어 개혁 자체의 내용이나 수준이 개량적 차원에 그친 한계를 지적할 수 있다. 하지만 內政과 外交에서 공히 儀式과 儀禮를 적극적으로 활용하고, 유교적 예악사상으로 군신관계를 강조한 것은 애장왕 정권이 친정체제로 전환한 이후 개혁정치를 펼치는 과정에서 나타난 정치운영상의 한 특징이라 할 수 있다.
The purpose of this article is to carefully consider political reforms during King Aejang's reign(哀莊王代 800~809) which took place during the lateperiod of Silla(新羅 下代) which I had examined in my previous paper. This is an advanced study on contents and characteristics of political reforms activated during King Aejang's reign. Except for reformations on the shrine of five ancestral tablets(五廟制) and the office in Aerongseong(御龍省) in his second year, most of his reforms were mainly propelled in his 6th, 7th, and 9th year. Compared to reforms made in his early years, there was a distinctive difference in the period, which affected the contents of his reforms. In my former paper, I focused on surveying the transforming process to the direct royal rule and the political change in his late years. Here I aimed to research detailed contents and characteristics of reforms during the period of his direct rule and the regency. In his 2nd year, the regency period, the reform of the Five-Ancestral Tablet seemed to be done by the power of King Wonseong's family(元聖王系) who destroyed the Mid-period royal family(中代王室), then started and founded the Late-period royal family(下代王室). According to this reform, two shrines of King Taejong Muyeul(太宗武烈王) and King Munmoo(文武王), the undestroyable shines, lost their position as the king's direct ancestors, then moved separately to other places. Because of this change, the prestige of King Muyeol's lineage(武烈王系) fell, and the new king's lineage, King Wonseonng's family, was established. The reformed five-ancestral tablets which stressed the king's direct four ancestors might have helped transform King Aejang's reign into direct rule. Kim Eon-seong(金彦昇), the king regent, separated Aerongseong, one sub-division of the government in court, from Naeseong(內省) and then raised its status as equal as Naesung. After that, he made a post of minister and he himself became the first. With his crucial position in the administration, now he took the power in the government of court and established a constituency. Most of the reforms performed during his direct rule (from the 6th to the 10th year) were mainly aimed toward the rearrangement of the law system(律令體制). The announcement of the 20 acts in his 6th year was likely to be the trial of consolidating the governing system based on the new law and order after beginning the king's direct reign. Related with this, the titles of government officials were changed into Chinese characters and the number of officials was reduced. The direction of unifying the administrative system was toward centralizing the nation's power with the king as the highest person in the bureaucratic chain. Therefore I viewed the weeding out process of sinecurists as a means to prevent wasting unnecessary administrative power and to overcome the nation's financial difficulties. The king's message in his 7th year strictly banned building new Buddhist temples and decorating them too ornately. In Silla, the Buddhist country, the unusual restriction meant that abuses caused by overly built temples were so sever that the government should do something about problems they were causing. The prohibition instruction was an attempt to distribute the political power and wealth of temples and the noblesse, and correct the tendency of extravagance, and at the same time it was understood as one of the policies which could control Buddhism. In his 9th year, the administrative districts, he boundaries among counties and prefecture, had been reorganized. I grasped that within the frame of the counties and prefectures system, there were some shifts of status between the upper and lower towns; some of them were abolished or newly established. The above mentioned management was hopefully to secure the stable tax revenue by adjusting it because the number of farmers who left their lands and then wandered across administrative boundaries were increased, and at the same time the number of counties and prefectures which lost their popularity were raised during the early late period. I pointed out that in addition to its superficial level of reforms themselves, another reason for failure was the limitation of political power from reformers. However, in both domestic and foreign policy, he let ceremonies utilized, and he also allowed for the sovereign and subject relations emphasized by Confucian concept of admiring courtesy and pleasure. These are the meaningful elements in King Aejang's political management.