With the intention of solving certain problems that could happen when the “Bu-system theory” is fully applied in the analysis of Shilla history, and to recognize the reality of the Bu units and the changes they would have gone through as described in written records, in this article the Shilla epigraph materials from the 6<SUP>th</SUP> century are examined, in order to determine how the status of the Shilla Six Bu units changed after the “Yul’ryeong” law was enacted.
In part one of Chapter 2, it is determined that before the enacting of the Yul’ryeong law, the term ‘Bu’ was never used in Shilla epigraph. Then, examined in part 2 are the entry of Pasa Isageum’s 23<SUP>rd</SUP> year and the entry of Jima Isageum’s enthronement year, which both contain the term “Buju(部主, leader of Bu),” to confirm that there was no “Bunaebu (Bu inside a Bu)” to exist back then, and while there was no Bujang(Bu’s Superior) figures inside the Bu units, there were a lot of influential classes instead, which apparently established their presence in the capital by forming relations with the royal family, showing the royal family had already been quite powerful from fairly early on. And finally in part 3, it is discussed that during the era of Jungseong’ri-bi and Naengsuri-bi monuments, the Tak(喙) and Satak(沙喙) figures were in control of state administration, while other Bu units were only mildly involved in governmental deliberation, revealing that at this time Shilla operated on a Two-Bu system with Tak and Satak at the helm.
Next in Chapter 3, based upon several accounts including Yangseo’s Shilla-jeon segment, reference to the Shilla Six Bu units in the Bongpyeong-bi epigraph, and the fact that Gweong-wi and We-wi systems were implemented at this time, it is argued that in Shilla, after enacting the Yul’ryeong law the Six Bu units turned into the Capital city, and the residents of the Six Bu units became citizens of that capital. It also seems that the term ‘Bu’ was used dominantly in some monuments, while not so much or not at all in others. The usage of a honorific word-ender “Ji” suggests that unlike before, the general status of the capital citizens were elevated after the law enactment. In institutional terms, the Six Bu units were united and then formed the capital together, but at least in the early days not all the residents from the Six Bu were able to join actual governing. Only during the era of the Chang’nyeong-bi monument, members of the four Bu units like “漢只□-屈珎智/大一伐干” or “夲浟-末□智/及尺干” seem to have come to harbor high-ranking statuses, and the Six Bu units finally came to have the status of a state capital.