King Jinheung眞興王

King Jinheung ascended the throne. His name was Sammaekjong (彡麥宗), and he was seven years old at that time. He was the son of Ipjong, the Galmunwang, the younger brother of King Beopheung. His mother was Lady Kim, a daughter of King Beopheung, and his queen was Lady Sado of the house of Bak. The king was young, and so the queen dowager governed in his place.

In the first year, in the eighth month, a great amnesty was given, and the civil and military officials were each raised one grade in rank. In winter, the tenth month, the earth shook. The peach and the plum came into flower.

In the second year, in spring, the third month, snow fell one cheok deep. Isabu was appointed byeongburyeong, the head of the office of the army, and given charge of the armies and horses within and without. Baekje sent an envoy and asked for peace, and it was granted.

In the fifth year, in spring, the second month, Heungnyunsa was finished. In the third month it was allowed that a man might leave his house to become a monk or a nun and serve the Buddha.

In the sixth year, in autumn, the seventh month, Isabu, of the rank of ichan, spoke to the king. "The history of a state sets down the good and the evil of rulers and ministers, and shows praise and blame to ten thousand generations. If it is not compiled, what will later ages look upon?"

The king held this to be deeply right, and he commanded Geochilbu, of the rank of daeachan, and others to gather men of letters widely and have it compiled.

In the ninth year, in spring, the second month, Goguryeo together with the Ye people attacked Doksanseong of Baekje, and Baekje asked for rescue. The king sent the general Jujin, who led three thousand hardy soldiers and struck them, and those killed and taken were very many.

In the tenth year, in spring, Liang sent an envoy together with Gakdeok, a monk who had gone there to study, and sent relics of the Buddha. The king had all the officials go out to receive them on the road before Heungnyunsa.

In the eleventh year, in spring, the first month, Baekje took Dosalseong of Goguryeo. In the third month Goguryeo overcame Geumhyeonseong of Baekje. The king seized upon the moment when the armies of the two states were worn out, and he commanded Isabu, of the rank of ichan, to send out troops and strike them. He took the two fortresses and built them up higher, and left a thousand armored soldiers to hold them.

In the twelfth year, in spring, the first month, the reign title was changed to Gaeguk (開國). In the third month the king, while on his royal progress, halted at Nangseong. He heard that Ureuk (于勒) and his disciple Imun knew music, and he called them to him particularly. The king stayed at the Harim palace and had that music played, and the two men each made a new song and played it.

Before this, King Gasil of the state of Gaya had made a zither of twelve strings, taking as its model the measures of the twelve months, and he commanded Ureuk to make the pieces for it. When that state fell into disorder, Ureuk took up his instrument and came over to Silla, and the name of that music is gayageum (加耶琴).

The king commanded Geochilbu and others to invade Goguryeo, and riding on their victory they took ten commanderies.

In the thirteenth year, the king commanded three men, Gyego, Juji and Mandeok, to learn music from Ureuk. Ureuk weighed what each man was able to do, and he taught Gyego the zither, Beopji the song, and Mandeok the dance. When their learning was complete, the king had them play, and he said, "It is no different from the music I heard before at Nangseong." He rewarded them richly.

In the fourteenth year, in spring, the second month, the king commanded the office in charge to build a new palace east of Wolseong, and a yellow dragon appeared on that ground. The king held it strange, and he changed it into a Buddhist temple and gave it the name Hwangnyong (皇龍). In autumn, the seventh month, the northeastern borderland of Baekje was taken, Sinju (新州) was set up there, and Muryeok (武力), of the rank of achan, was made its gunju. In winter, the tenth month, a daughter of the king of Baekje was taken as a lesser queen.

In the fifteenth year, in autumn, the seventh month, Myeonghwalseong was repaired and built up.

Myeongnong (明襛), the king of Baekje, came with Garyang (加良) and attacked Gwansanseong. The gunju Udeok, of the rank of gakgan, and Tamji, of the rank of ichan, and others met them in battle, but it did not go well for them. Kim Muryeok, the gunju of Sinju, went to them with the troops of his province, and when they closed in battle, Dodo (都刀), a vice general and a gogan of the commandery of Samnyeonsan, struck hard and killed the king of Baekje.

At this the several armies rode on their victory and beat them greatly. They cut down four jwapyeong and twenty-nine thousand six hundred soldiers, and not one horse went back.

In the sixteenth year, in spring, the first month, Wansanju was set up at Bisabeol. In winter, the tenth month, the king went in state to Bukhansan and widened and settled the border. In the eleventh month, coming back from Bukhansan, he sent down an instruction to the provinces and commanderies he had passed through, releasing them from one year of tax and tribute. He gave a partial pardon, and apart from the two crimes he released them all.

In the seventeenth year, in autumn, the seventh month, Biyeolholju was set up, and Seongjong, of the rank of sachan, was made its gunju.

In the eighteenth year, Gugwon was made a lesser capital. Sabeolju was done away with and Gammunju was set up, and Gijong, of the rank of sachan, was made its gunju. Sinju was done away with and Bukhansanju was set up.

In the nineteenth year, in spring, the second month, the sons and younger brothers of the noble kin and the well-to-do people of the six divisions were moved to fill Gugwon. Singdeuk, of the rank of nama, made a ponno (砲弩), a crossbow that throws stones, and presented it, and it was set upon the wall.

In the twenty-third year, in autumn, the seventh month, Baekje raided and plundered the households of the border, and the king sent out an army to hold them off and killed and took more than a thousand men.

In the ninth month Gaya rose in revolt, and the king commanded Isabu to put it down, with Sadaham (斯多含) as his second. Sadaham led five thousand horsemen and rode ahead, and he entered the Jeondan gate and set up a white flag, and those within the fortress were afraid and did not know what to do. When Isabu drew up his troops before them, they all surrendered at once.

When the merits were reckoned, Sadaham was first. The king rewarded him with good fields and three hundred of the captives, but Sadaham refused three times. The king pressed it upon him, and so he took it. He set the captives free and made them common folk, and he divided the fields among his soldiers, and the people of the state thought this a fine thing.

In the twenty-fifth year, an envoy was sent to Northern Qi with tribute.

In the twenty-sixth year, in spring, the second month, Emperor Wucheng of Northern Qi sent down an edict making the king Commissioner Bearing Credentials, Commandant of the Eastern Yi, Duke of the Commandery of Lelang, and King of Silla. In autumn, the eighth month, Chunbu, of the rank of achan, was commanded to go out and hold Gugwon. In the ninth month Wansanju was done away with and Daeyaju was set up. Chen sent the envoy Liu Si and the monk Mingguan on a friendly mission, and sent with them more than seventeen hundred volumes of the sutras and treatises of the Buddha.

In the twenty-seventh year, in spring, the second month, the two temples of Giwonsa and Siljesa were finished. The king's son Dongnyun was set up as crown prince. An envoy was sent to Chen, and the products of the land were offered as tribute. The work on Hwangnyongsa was finished.

In the twenty-eighth year, in spring, the third month, an envoy was sent to Chen, and the products of the land were offered as tribute.

In the twenty-ninth year, the reign title was changed to Daechang (大昌). In summer, the sixth month, an envoy was sent to Chen, and the products of the land were offered as tribute. In winter, the tenth month, Bukhansanju was done away with and Namcheonju was set up. Biyeolholju too was done away with, and Dalholju was set up.

In the thirty-first year, in summer, the sixth month, an envoy was sent to Chen, and the products of the land were presented.

In the thirty-second year, an envoy was sent to Chen, and the products of the land were offered as tribute.

In the thirty-third year, in spring, the first month, the reign title was changed to Hongje (鴻濟). In the third month the crown prince Dongnyun died. An envoy was sent to Northern Qi with tribute. In winter, on the twentieth day of the tenth month, for the soldiers who had died in battle, the Palgwan assembly (八關筵會) was held at the outer temple, and it ended after seven days.

In the thirty-fifth year, in spring, the third month, the sixteen-foot image of Hwangnyongsa was cast. The bronze weighed thirty-five thousand and seven geun, and the gold of the gilding weighed ten thousand one hundred and ninety-eight pun.

In the thirty-sixth year, in spring and in summer there was drought. The sixteen-foot image of Hwangnyongsa shed tears, and they ran down as far as its heels.

In the thirty-seventh year, in spring, the wonhwa (源花) were honored for the first time.

In the beginning the ruler and his ministers were troubled that they had no way to know men, and they wished to have them gather in companies and go about together, so that their conduct and their sense of right might be watched, and only then would they be raised up and used. So two beautiful women were chosen, one called Nammo (南毛) and one called Junjeong (俊貞), and more than three hundred followers were gathered.

The two women vied in their beauty and grew jealous of each other, and Junjeong drew Nammo to her own house and pressed wine upon her until she was drunk, then dragged her out and threw her into the river and killed her. Junjeong was put to death, and the followers lost their harmony and scattered.

After that, young men of fair face were chosen again, and they were adorned and named hwarang (花郞) and honored. The followers gathered like clouds. Some polished one another in the way of right conduct, some delighted one another with song and music, and they roamed the hills and the waters, and there was no place so far that they did not reach it. By this the wrong and the right in a man were known, and the good among them were chosen and recommended to the court.

So the Hwarang segi (花郞世記) of Kim Daemun says, "Wise ministers and loyal subjects rose up from this, and good generals and brave soldiers were born of it."

The preface to the stele of Nallang (鸞郞碑序), by Choe Chiwon, says, "There is in this land a deep and wondrous way, and it is called Pungnyu (風流). The source of its teaching is set out in full in the Seonsa (仙史). It holds within it all three teachings, and it meets and transforms the living. To be filial at home when one comes in, and loyal to the state when one goes out, this is the purport of the Minister of Crime of Lu. To dwell in doing nothing and to practice the teaching without words, this is the chief thing of the Keeper of the Archives of Zhou. To do none of the evils and to uphold and practice all the goods, this is the transforming work of the prince of Chukgeon."

The Xinluo guo ji, the record of the state of Silla by Linghu Cheng of Tang, says, "They choose the fair ones among the sons and younger brothers of the noble, and powder and adorn them, and name them hwarang, and the people of the state all honor and serve them."

The dharma master Anhong went into Sui to seek the Law, and he came back with two monks, the foreign monk Bimara and another, and he presented the Neungga Seungman gyeong and relics of the Buddha.

In autumn, the eighth month, the king died. His posthumous name was given as Jinheung (眞興), and he was buried on the northern peak by Aegongsa. The king ascended the throne in his young years and served the Buddha with a single heart. In his last years he shaved his head and put on the robe of a monk and called himself Beopun (法雲), and so he ended his days. His queen also took this for her model and became a nun, and she stayed at Yeongheungsa. When she died, the people of the state buried her with due rite.