First letter presented to the Grand Commandant初投獻太尉啓
1I am a man of Silla
某啓。伏以嶽之高與海之深。物所歸而人所仰。迥拔千仞。平呑百川。其如巘崿擎天。波瀾蘸日。豁四方之眼。醒萬族之魂。是宇內之所歌謠。匪毫端之能贊詠。伏惟司徒相公獨抱神略。一匡聖朝。譽洽於良哉康哉。名標於可久可大。龔，黃德政。則郡民有遺愛之碑。韓，白功勳。則國史有直書之筆。況某劣同窺豹。淺比傾螺。難將篆刻之詞。輒頌陶鎔之業。但以間生賢哲。年當五百之期。廣集英豪。客滿三千之數。旣納之似水。則來者如雲。斯乃司徒相公鏡於心而寬兮綽兮。秤於事而無偏無黨。網羅雋彦。籠罩驍雄。於儒則沈，謝呈才。於武則關，張效力。遂使弓旌招隱士。巖谷爲之一空。介冑降叛夫。煙塵爲之四息。豈獨分憂於閫外。實惟稱慶於寰中。莫不信齊於春夏秋冬。恩播於東西南北。但日月照臨之所。是風雷變化之時。然則尼父堂中。亦有他鄕之子。孟嘗門下。寧無遠地之人。片善可稱。前賢不讓。永能執大邦之政。豈欲遺小國之賓。是以。敢寫微衷。輕投朗鑑。某。新羅人也。身也賤性也愚。才不雄學不贍。雖形骸則鄙。年齒未衰。自十二則別鷄林。至二十。得遷鶯谷。方接靑襟之侶。旋從黃綬之官。旣忝登龍。敢言絆驥。今者乍離一尉。欲應三篇。更願進脩。且謀退縮。獨依林藪。再閱丘墳。課日攻詩。虞訥之詆訶無避。積年著賦。陸機之哂笑何慙。俟其敦閱致功。琢磨成器。求魚道在垂竿而不掛曲鉤。射鵠心專撚筈而冀銜後鏃。端操勁節。佇望良時。竊見萬物投誠。八紘嚮德。不謁相公賓閤。不遊相公德門者。詞人之所懷慙。群議之所發誚。某固敢隳肝瀝膽。進牘抽毫。不避嚴誅。輒申素懇。謹錄所業雜篇章五軸兼陳情七言長句詩一百篇。齋沐上獻。冒犯尊威。不任戰懼之至。謹啓。
So-and-so states this. I humbly consider that the height of a mountain and the depth of the sea are what all things return to and what men look up to. The one rises sheer a thousand ren. The other swallows a hundred rivers level. Its crags hold up the sky, and its waves steep the sun. They open the eyes of the four quarters and wake the souls of the ten thousand tribes. All within the world sings of them. They are not what the tip of a brush can praise. I humbly consider that his lordship the Minister over the Masses alone holds a divine strategy and has set the holy dynasty right at a stroke. His repute is full of "Good indeed! Peaceful indeed!" His name is marked by "It can last long; it can grow great." His governing virtue is that of Gong Sui and Huang Ba, and so the people of the commandery have a stele of the love he left behind. His merit is that of Han Xin and Bai Qi, and so the national history has a brush that writes straight of him. Still more, I am as poor as one who peeps at a leopard and as shallow as one who tips up a conch. With carved and chiseled words it is hard to praise all at once the work of his forge and crucible. But a worthy and wise man is born between the ages, and the year meets the term of five hundred. He gathers heroes widely, and his guests fill the number of three thousand. Since he takes them in like water, those who come are like clouds. This is because his lordship the Minister over the Masses makes a mirror of his heart, and so is broad and easy, and makes a balance of affairs, and so is without partiality and without faction. He nets the outstanding and covers over the brave and the fierce. Among the scholars, Shen Yue and Xie Tiao offer their talent. Among the soldiers, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei give their strength. So bow and banner have called out the hidden scholars, and the rocky valleys are emptied of them at a stroke. Armor and helmet have made the rebels surrender, and the smoke and dust have ceased on all four sides. How should he only share the cares beyond the gate? Truly the whole world gives thanks. His faith is level through spring, summer, autumn and winter. His kindness spreads to east and west and south and north. Yet where the sun and the moon shine down is the time when wind and thunder change. That being so, in the hall of Confucius there were also sons of other districts. In the household of Lord Mengchang, could there have been no men from distant lands? A scrap of goodness may be spoken of, and the worthy men of old did not decline it. He will long hold the government of a great state. How should he wish to cast aside a guest from a small country? Therefore I dare to write out my small inward heart and throw it lightly before his clear mirror. I am a man of Silla. My body is lowly and my nature foolish. My talent is not grand and my learning is not ample. My frame is mean, but my years have not yet declined. At twelve I left Gyerim, and by twenty I was able to move to the oriole's valley. I came at last among the friends of the blue collar, and then I followed an office of the yellow cord. Having already been raised unworthily at the dragon gate, how should I dare to speak of a fine horse held back? Now I have just left one post as district defender and wish to answer the three essays. I wish again to go forward and cultivate myself, and I also plan to draw back for a time. Alone I lean on wood and marsh and read the old books once more. Day by day I set myself poems, and I do not shun the scolding of Yu Ne. Year upon year I compose rhapsodies, and why should I be ashamed at the laughter of Lu Ji? I wait until reading brings me to some skill, and until cutting and polishing makes me a vessel. The way to seek fish lies in dropping the line and not hanging a bent hook on it. The heart that shoots the swan is set only on holding the nock, hoping to bite the arrow behind. I will keep my conduct upright and my integrity firm, and I will look out for a good time. I see in private that all things throw their sincerity toward him and that the eight ends of the earth turn toward his virtue. The man who does not call at his lordship's guest hall, the man who does not walk at his lordship's gate of virtue, is one whom writers hold shameful and whom the general voice blames. So I dare indeed to break my liver and wring my gall, to send in a letter and draw out my brush, and without shunning stern punishment I set forth my plain earnestness. With respect I have copied out five scrolls of the various pieces I have worked at, together with one hundred poems in long lines of seven words that lay my feelings bare, and having fasted and bathed I present them. In trespassing upon his high dignity I cannot bear the fullness of my dread. Respectfully submitted.