Goryeo高麗

Goryeo — its forebears came out of Buyeo. They themselves say that their first ancestor was Jumong, whom the daughter of Habaek conceived after she was touched by the light of the sun. Jumong grew up with talent and cunning, and the people of Buyeo hated him and drove him out. He settled at Heuldugol fortress, called himself Goguryeo, and thereupon took Go (高) as his surname. His grandson Mangnae grew strong little by little, struck Buyeo, and made it a subject. Ryeon (King Jangsu), a later descendant of Mangnae, was the first to send envoys to the Later Wei.

Its land reaches Silla in the east and crosses the Liao River for two thousand li in the west. It borders Baekje in the south and neighbors the Malgal for more than a thousand li in the north. It has its seat at Pyeongyang fortress. That fortress is six li from east to west, and on the south it looks over the Paesu. Inside the fortress they store only grain and weapons, and only on the day when raiders come do they go in and hold it fast. The king builds a separate house beside it, but he does not live there always. Outside it are Gungnae fortress and Hanseong, which are also secondary capitals, and there are several tens of fortresses besides, such as Liaodong and Hyeondo, all with offices set up so that they hold one another in order.

Among the high offices there is the daedaero (大對盧). Below it come the taedaehyeong, the daehyeong, the sohyeong, the uisasa, the ojol, the taedaesaja, the daesaja, the sosaja, the yoksa, the yesok, the seonin, and with them the yoksal, thirteen ranks in all, and they divide between them the affairs within and without. As for the daedaero, men overbear one another by strength or weakness and seize it and make themselves daedaero. It is not a post the king appoints. Their penal law is this. Those who plot rebellion or turn traitor are first burned with fire and then beheaded, and their households are seized. A thief pays back ten times and more the worth of what he took. If he is poor and cannot make it up, or if he owes a public or a private debt, in every case they are allowed to reckon his sons and daughters as slaves in payment.

The men wear a jacket with straight sleeves, wide-mouthed trousers, a white leather belt, and yellow leather shoes. Their cap is called golso (骨蘇). It is mostly made of purple gauze, with gold and silver worked in for ornament. Those who hold an office rank also set two bird feathers in it, to show themselves plainly apart. The women wear skirt and jacket, and the hems and the sleeves are all edged with a border.

For books they have the Five Classics, the Three Histories (三史), the Sanguo zhi, and the Jin yangqiu. For weapons they have armor, crossbows, bows, arrows, halberds, long lances, mo, and yeon. For taxes they give silk, cloth, and grain, each according to what he has, graded by the measure of his poverty or wealth. The soil and the fields are barren and thin, and their way of living is sparing. Yet they set store by bearing and manner. There is much deceit among them, their speech is coarse and foul, and they do not tell close kin from distant, so that they go so far as to bathe in the same stream and sleep in the same room. Their custom loves license and they feel no shame in it, and there are women who roam, whose husbands are not fixed men. In the rites of marriage there is almost no bride wealth. If a man takes goods, they call it selling a maidservant, and the custom holds it deeply shameful.

For the mourning of parents and of a husband, their degrees of mourning dress are the same as those of the Huaxia. For brothers it is limited to three months. They revere and believe the law of the Buddha, and they are the fonder of unsanctioned sacrifices (淫祀). There are also two shrines of the spirits. One is called the spirit of Buyeo, and wood is carved into the image of a woman. One is called the spirit Deunggo, said to be the son of their first ancestor, the spirit of Buyeo. For both they have set up offices and sent men to guard them. These are said to be the daughter of Habaek and Jumong.

Seong (King Yangwon), a descendant of Ryeon in the fifth generation, sent an envoy in the twelfth year of Datong and presented the products of his land. Seong died and his son Tang (King Pyeongwon) ascended the throne. In the sixth year of Jiande, Tang again sent an envoy to bring tribute. Gaozu conferred on Tang the offices of Senior Commander Unequalled in Honour and Great General, founding duke of Liaodong commandery, and King of Liaodong.