Letter of Congratulation Presented to the Marquis of Yeonchang at the Winter Solstice冬至賀狀 上延昌侯
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 · 1 passages · 80 Chinese characters · reading time 0.9 min
Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) Former Collection, Book 32 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.
Blowing reed ash to match the breath, we observe the season by the pitch of the Yellow Bell (黃鍾); offering up socks, we tread upon the lengthening of the day, and in Your vermilion mansion a grand ceremony is spread.
In reverence I consider that Your Highness, my Lord (令公), spreads forth an excellence like a golden corolla and flows apart from the branches of the royal house. Following the law, You uphold the hedge of the realm and amply tread the goodness of Prince Xian of Pei (沛獻王); cultivating learning and loving what is old, You take rightly for Your master the worthiness of Prince Xian of Hejian (河間獻王). Meeting now the day of the winter solstice, the auspiciousness of friends coming gathers thickly.
We, bound to the tallies we hold in separate charge, cannot come forward to the seat where You take Your pleasure with the carriage-canopies flying.