Goryeo 2 — From King Hyeonjong to King Munjong高麗 二

Before this, in the third year, the emperor himself tested the candidates sent up from the various circuits, and by edict he granted passing degrees to Wang Bin, Choe Han, and the others, the presented scholars of Goryeo who had come as guest candidates. He gave them office and then sent them back to their own country. Now, when Jing and the others returned from their mission, Chi sent up a memorial of thanks. "The students Wang Bin, Choe Han, and the others entered the court and pursued their studies. By your grace they were all granted passing degrees, were appointed Gentleman for Rendering Service and acting collator of the Palace Library, and were then let go home to their own country. I think quietly that we have kept up our tribute for many years. But the superior country is high as heaven, and this far frontier is cut off by the sea, so we cannot go in person to the golden gate and knock at the jade steps. We have only the deep sincerity that circles the north star, and we cannot set out the rite of coming to your court. Bin, Han, and the others, from their youth, were like gourds hung up, and they grieved that their traces were mixed in Uyi (嵎夷). They did not shrink from drifting like mugwort, and early on they came as guests to court in the city of the Son of Heaven. In worn quilted coats and short hemp cloth, in a place where rice is like jade and firewood like cassia, they bore their poverty. How were they to finish out the year? Your Majesty the Emperor shone upon them and reared them with a love like heaven, and held them generously with a breadth like the sea. You made ample the means of their board and lodging, and you urged them on in the work of arts and letters. Last year you hung the bright mirror high and chose broadly among the scholars of Lu. Bin and Han followed one after the other to the archery hall and dared to set their hearts on striking the target. They mingled unworthily in the field of the talented and held only the empty wish of one who envies the fish. Your Majesty took pity on them for leaving home ten thousand li away and for looking upon the superior country for ten years. You had their names entered in the cassia register (桂籍) and ordered them rank in the Rue Terrace (芸臺). You pitied their hearts that longed for their own soil, you comforted those who watch leaning at the gate, and you sent down a separate command that they return to their old home. The dark maker of things has brought it all about in full, and this great grace cannot be repaid. Your servant cannot bear the fullness of his gratitude to heaven and of his reverence for the sage ruler."

There was also a man named Jang Injeon, a clerk of records under Baek Sayu, the tribute envoy. He sent up a document offering proposals of expediency (便宜). Sayu thought that he had reported the hidden affairs of the country, and Injeon was afraid and did not dare go home. The emperor ordered Jing and the others to take him back to his country, and by edict he had Chi release Injeon from blame. Chi sent up another memorial of thanks. "Chen Jing and Liu Shi, the envoys of state bearing the patent of office, arrived and passed on the sage command. It said that Jang Injeon, the records officer who went in the train of our tribute envoy, reached the palace and suddenly offered proposals of expediency, and then fell into worry and fear, and that he is now sent home with the envoys. Injeon is a small man of the sea coast and a lowly clerk of the harbour gate. Having gained leave to go up to the superior country, he dared to offer his foolish sincerity. He did not think of the fault of the wild and the blind, but suddenly reported matters of expedient measure (權宜), and so he idly soiled the imperial crown and offended the court above. Now, looking up, I have received your gracious words, which loose the net of his guilt. A small man chases profit, and how could he weigh how far he was overstepping? Yet the sage ruler's generous kindness has sent down from afar a command of pity. Jang Injeon has already been released from blame according to the will of the edict, and has been set to hold his post as before." He also stated that he wished to be given printed copies of the Nine Classics (九經) to make Confucian teaching firm, and this was allowed.

Before this, when Shi and the others reported back from their mission, Chi had sent the envoy Won Jeungyeon to see them off. Jeungyeon met a wind at the mouth of Anhyang Bay. His ship was damaged and the goods he carried were lost in the water. By edict Dengzhou gave Jeungyeon papers and sent him home, and two hundred bolts of cloth for clothing, two hundred taels of silver vessels, and fifty sheep were given to Chi.

In the sixth month of the fifth year he sent the envoy Won Uk to beg for troops, complaining that the Khitan were invading his borders. The court held that the northern frontier had only just been quieted, and that arms could not be moved lightly to make trouble for the state. It only sent down an edict of comfort, and sent his envoy home with generous ceremony. From this time on Goryeo was held down by the Khitan, and its tribute was broken off in the middle.

Chi died, and his younger brother Song (Mokjong) ascended the throne. He once sent the military officer Seo Won to look into the news of the court, but Won did not arrive for a long time.

In the third year of Xianping, his subject Jo Jirin, vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel, ordered the aide-de-camp Ju Inso to go to Dengzhou and look into matters. The prefectural commander (州將) reported this, and the emperor summoned Inso and saw him in a special audience. Inso then set out for himself how the people of his country longed for the imperial civilizing rule (皇化) but were bridled and held down by the Khitan. So a single edict in an inlaid case (鈿函) was given to Song, and Inso was told to carry it home.

In the sixth year Song sent the envoy Yi Seongo, director of the Ministry of Revenue, to attend court and give thanks for grace, and he said as well: "The Jin (晉) cut off Yan and Ji and attached them to the Khitan. So a road toward Hyeondo came into being, and they have come many times to attack, and their demands do not end. We beg that the royal army (王師) be stationed on our border to hold them in check." The edict in reply was generous to him.

Song died, and his younger brother Sun (Hyeonjong) became acting head of state. Before this, after the Khitan had raided Goryeo, six fortresses were built on the border: Heungju, Cheolju, Tongju, Yongju, Guju, and Gwakju. The Khitan took this as a betrayal of themselves, and sent an envoy to demand the six fortresses, but Sun would not allow it. So they raised troops and came suddenly to the walls, burning the palace buildings and plundering the people who lived there, and Sun moved to Seungnaju to escape them. When the troops withdrew, he sent an envoy to ask for peace, but the Khitan held firm and made the six fortresses their pretext. From this time on he sent out troops and held the six fortresses.

In the third year of Dazhong Xiangfu the Khitan raised a great army and came to attack. Sun, together with the Jurchen, set surprise troops (奇兵) and struck them head on, and the Khitan were killed almost to the last man. Sun also built a fortress east of the Amnok River, facing the fortress of Naewon. He laid a bridge across the river and hid troops there to make the new fortress firm.

In the seventh year he sent Yun Jeunggo, the reporting envoy and vice minister of the Board of Works of the Eosa, to present as tribute two lengths each of a saddle woven with gold thread in dragon and phoenix figures and of saddle covers embroidered with dragons and phoenixes, two fine horses, and twenty ordinary horses. When Jeunggo went home, seven edicts were given to Sun, together with robes and belts, silver and coloured silk, and horses with saddle and bridle.

In the eighth year, by edict a guest house was set up by the sea at Dengzhou to receive envoys. In that year he also sent Gwak Won, vice minister of the Board of Population of the Eosa, with tribute. Won spoke of his own accord. "The walled city of our country has no outer wall. The capital is called Gaeseong, and it governs six counties, where the houses are not fewer than three to five thousand. There are more than a hundred prefectures and garrisons, and ten circuit transport offices are set over them. Each prefecture governs five or six counties, or three or four in the smaller ones, and each county has three or four hundred households. The borders of the country are fifteen hundred li from south to north and two thousand li from east to west. Soldiers and common people live mixed together, and even those on the army rolls are not tattooed on the face. The market opens at midday. Money is not used, and goods are traded only with cloth and rice. The land suits non-glutinous rice, and the customs are much like those of China. There are no sheep, rabbits, camels, water buffalo, or donkeys. In the climate there is little cold and rather more heat. There are monks but no Daoist priests. The vessels in the houses of the people are all made of copper. Music has two kinds (品), called Tang music and native music. Once in three years the candidates are tested. There are the presented scholar examination, the various fields, and mathematics. More than a hundred are tested each time, but those who pass are no more than ten or twenty. On the first day of the first month and the fifth day of the fifth month sacrifice is made at the shrine of the ancestors. On the seventh day of the first month, too, each house makes an image of the Queen Mother (王母像) and wears it. On the full moon of the second month monks and laymen light lamps, as at the first full moon festival in China. On the day of the first serpent, rice cakes coloured with green mugwort are the first dish of the tray. At Dano there is the game of the swing. In the dress of men and women, white is honoured. The land produces dragon whisker mats, rattan mats, white pounded paper, and brushes of weasel tail." Won was respectful and careful in speech and bearing, and whenever he received a banquet or a gift he always wrote his own memorial of thanks (謝表). These had some grace of style, and the court treated him generously as well. In the ninth year, when he took his leave to go home, seven cases of edicts were given to Sun, together with a set of clothing, a gold belt, vessels and bolts of silk, horses with saddle and bridle, the classics and histories (經史), a calendar, and the Shenghui fang. Won also asked to copy out the Guochao dengke ji and the poems the emperor had bestowed (御詩) and take them home, and this was granted.

In the first year of Tianxi he sent Seo Nul, vice minister of the Board of Punishments of the Eosa, to bear a memorial and present local products in the Chongzheng Hall, and to give congratulations on the enfeoffment of the prince of the Shouchun commandery.

In the ninth month of the third year Dengzhou reported that Choe Wonsin, the tribute envoy of Goryeo and chief minister of the Court for Guests, had reached the water mouth of Qinwang, met a wind, and had his ship capsize, so that the tribute goods were washed away. By edict a palace officer was sent to comfort him. In the eleventh month Wonsin and the others came in for audience. They presented wool brocade clothing and mattresses, black lacquered armour, a long sword and a dagger adorned with gold, horses with wool brocade saddles, ramie cloth, and medicines. They also presented two thousand bolts of medium cloth and asked for one collection (藏) of the Buddhist scriptures. By edict the scriptures were given and the cloth returned, and because Wonsin had gone into the water and was in want, clothing and silk were given to him besides. Mingzhou and Dengzhou reported many times that Goryeo sea ships had been driven by the wind onto their shores. An edict ordered that such men be comforted and given provisions for the sea crossing and sent home, and this was made the standing rule.

In the fifth year Sun sent Han Jo, the reporting envoy and vice minister of the Board of Rites of the Eosa, with a hundred and seventy-nine men, to give thanks for grace. He said as well that he had made peace with the Khitan again, and he asked by memorial for books on yin and yang and on geography and for the Shenghui fang, and all were given.

Kim Haengseong rose through office to become assistant director of the Palace Administration, and Chi sent up a memorial begging that he be let go home. Haengseong held that he had first taken office at the court, and he did not wish to go back to his own country. Yet he grieved that his father and mother were growing old, that he thought of them morning and evening beyond the sea, and that his support did not reach them. So he had a painter make their likenesses and set them in his main chamber. He lived with his wife of the Sa house in a side room, and morning and evening he paid his respects and set out food for them, and he never slackened in the least. At the beginning of Chunhua he became administrative assistant of Anzhou, and then fell ill. Li Fan, the prefect, came with several of his staff to ask after him. Haengseong's illness was already grave, and he wept and said: "Haengseong is a man of a foreign country, yet he became an officer of the court and helped in the government of a commandery. Now I am ill and about to die, and I have nothing with which to repay my lord's grace. Though I close my eyes, a regret is truly left behind. My two sons Jongmin and Jongnul are both young, my house has always been poor, and there is no other kin to lean on. Before long they will be cast into a ditch." Not long after, Haengseong died. His wife raised the two sons and swore never to marry again, and she wove straw shoes to keep them. Fan reported the matter in a memorial. By edict Jongmin was appointed a sacrificial attendant of the Grand Ancestral Shrine, Anzhou was ordered to give the household three strings of cash and five bushels of rice each month, and the senior officials (長吏) were to visit them at the turn of each season.

There was also Gang Jeon, a man of Yeongnyeong in Sinju in Goryeo, whose courtesy name was Hyuu. With his father Yun, three generations of his house served as vice minister of the Ministry of War. Jeon loved learning when young. At that time Heulseung was at war with the Khitan, and Jeon followed Yun into battle below Mount Muye. He was struck by two arrows one after the other, yet his look did not change. Later he fell into Khitan hands. He hid at Modouling, went on to Huanglongfu, and by back roads got home to Goryeo, where Yun was still alive. In the Kaibao years Yun sent Jeon to follow the guest candidates and study in the National Academy. In the fifth year of Taiping Xingguo he passed the presented scholar examination and began office as a judge of the Court of Judicial Review, taking charge of Xiangxiang county. He moved twice more, and as assistant editorial director he took charge of the Jiangyin garrison and of Jiangzhou. In his offices he was known for purity and ability, and he was moved to erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Su Yijian, who was then in the Hanlin, praised his talent as an official, and he was named vice transport commissioner of the Guangnan West circuit and given the crimson robe and the fish tally. He was soon moved to full commissioner (正使), and moved again to vice director of the Bureau of Revenue and administrator of the Ministry of Revenue. He went out to take charge of the two prefectures of Xiazhou and Yuezhou, and edicts came one after another praising his good government. He also became transport commissioner of the Jingxi circuit, Director of the Ministry of Works was added, and he was given the gold and purple. Wherever Jeon went he liked to get things done, and he sent up many documents with proposals, taking it on himself to give his whole sincerity. In the third year of Jingde he died, and Emperor Zhenzong made his son Huiryeong a ceremonial usher of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices as a special favour, and gave him his salary until the mourning was over.

In the second month of the first year of Qianxing, Han Jo and the others took their leave and went home, and gifts were given to Sun as in former cases. Just then Emperor Zhenzong passed away, so they carried the keepsakes he left home as well and bestowed them on Sun.

In the eighth year of Tiansheng, Sun again sent Won Yeong, vice minister of the Board of Population of the Eosa, and two hundred and ninety-three others. They bore a memorial and came in for audience in the Changchun Hall, presenting gold vessels, swords with silver and wool trim, horses with saddle and bridle, fragrant oil, ginseng, fine cloth, copper vessels, sulphur, grey squirrel hides, and other goods. In the second month of the next year they took their leave and went home, gifts were given to them by rank, and envoys were sent to escort them as far as Dengzhou. After this there was no dealing with China for forty-three years.

Sun's grandson Hwi succeeded and ascended the throne. This was King Mun (Munjong).

In the second year of Xining, the Court for Guests of that country sent a dispatch to Luo Zheng, transport commissioner of Fujian. "The merchants of this dynasty, Huang Zhen and Hong Wan, came and said that the commissioner had received a secret command to invite us and open friendly relations. We have received the will of our king, and we set it out in this dispatch. Our country lies out of the way in the valley of the sunrise, and from afar we have longed for the heavenly court. Since the time of our ancestors it has always been our wish to send ship after ship and ladder after ladder. Our small Pyongyang is close to the Great Liao (大遼). To attach ourselves to them is to have a harmonious neighbour, and to keep away from them is to have a strong enemy. Fearing that the trouble on our border would not cease, and heaping up our dread until we had no leisure, long bridled and held, we found it hard to plan a second course, and so we have failed in our duty of service for many years. Many times we read the auspicious clouds and praised the sage days of China, yet we knew only that the sun was far off, and it was as if we had lost the old road to Chang'an. Now fortune has opened wide, and we look to the rites by which our congratulations may be set out. The civilizing rule of the Great Court (大朝) covers all and has no outside, and its breadth embraces even the rough. The mountain does not refuse the finest dust, and the sea does not turn away the branch streams. We shall follow the road that is open and hurry to Gaojie (藁街). Yet this is word carried a thousand li, and we fear it may not be the regard that bends down from the high heavens. We now send this official letter back west with Zhen and Wan, and when we have an answer we shall make ready the rites and send tribute." Hwi also said of himself that he had once dreamed of coming to China, and he made a poem to record the matter. In the third year Zheng reported this. Those at court who deliberated also said that Goryeo might be bound to them in order to plot against the Khitan, and Emperor Shenzong allowed it and ordered Zheng to let Goryeo know that it would be provided for generously. Hwi then sent Kim Je, vice minister of the Board of Population, and a hundred and ten others, and by edict they were treated as the envoys of the Xia state (夏國) were.