Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) 東國李相國集 · Yi Gyubo · Compiled 1241 (Goryeo, 28th year of King Gojong); revised and enlarged 1251 · 2 passages · 119 Chinese characters · reading time 1.2 min
Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) Former Collection, Book 4 The collected writings of Yi Gyubo of Goryeo, gathered and cut in woodblock by his son Yi Ham in 1241 and revised and enlarged by his grandson Yi Ikbae in 1251. It holds poems and rhapsodies, memorials and reports sent up to the king, records written for temples and pagodas, stele and tomb inscriptions, letters and prefaces, and the state letters that passed to and from the Mongols during the invasions. The Lay of King Dongmyeong, which sings the founder of Goguryeo, stands in volume 3 of the first collection, and the daily life of a man who called himself the White Cloud Layman — with his wine, his zither and his verse — fills the later collection. The book closes with the last poem he wrote as his eyes failed and he laid down the brush, and with the dirge and tomb inscription others made for him after his death.
The Jiegu lu (羯鼓錄) says: The drum is like a lacquered barrel; below, it rests on an ivory stand, and it is struck with two sticks. It suits a dawn scene from a high tower, a bright moon and a clear wind. Minghuang loved it all the more. Once when the spring rain had just cleared and the sights were bright and fair, the Emperor took up the drum and, leaning at the balustrade, beat it to his heart's content. The Guangji (廣記) also says: In a small pavilion hall the willows and apricots were about to burst into bud, and the Emperor took up the drum and beat it to his heart's content; the tune was called "Chunguang hao" (春光好). When he looked back, the willows and apricots had all opened, and pointing at them he laughed and said, "For this one thing, can you not call me the Lord of Heaven?"
高樓春曉響如雷。催却微紅杏拆開。一代繁華雲雨散。牙床玉索委塵埃。
From the high tower on a spring dawn the sound rolled like thunder,
urging the red apricot to burst into bloom.
The splendor of an age scattered like cloud and rain,
and the ivory stand and jade cords were cast away in the dust.