Government of Paekche

Paekche was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea which lasted from 18 BCE to 660 CE. The establishment of a centralized state in Paekche is usually traced to the reign of King Goi, who may have first established patrilineal succession. Like most monarchies, a great deal of power was held by the aristocracy. King Seong, for example, strengthened royal power, but after he was slain in a disastrous campaign against Silla, the nobles took much of that power away from his son.

The Hae clan and the Jin clan were the representative royal houses who had considerable power from the early period of Paekche, and they produced many queens over several generations. The Hae clan was probably the royal house before the Buyeo clan (扶餘氏) replaced them, and both clans appear descended from the lineage of Buyeo and Goguryeo. The "Great Eight Families" (Sa, Yeon, Hyeop, Hae, Jin, Guk, Mok, and Baek) were powerful nobles in the Sabi era, recorded in Chinese records such as Tongdian.