Letter of Congratulation Presented to the Earl of Yeongin at the New Year正旦賀狀 寧仁伯
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 · 78 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.
The first month of the Xia calendar now stands established, and the lofty calendar has just been promulgated. Looking about, all things flourish, answering to the head of the three months of spring.
In reverence I consider that Your Highness, my Lord (令公), is clear in bearing as polished jade and fragrant in pure virtue as the orchid. Sharing a carriage and sharing a quilt, You early received the ruler's love; wrapped about with thatch grass and given land set apart, You rose at once to a rank among the five grades of enfeoffment. Meeting now a fair season, You amply receive a great and shining blessing.
We, bound to our dwelling in a remote and distant place by the southern sea, cannot be numbered at the banquet revels of the Western Garden (西園).