Queen Seondeok善德王

Queen Seondeok ascended the throne. Her name was Deokman (德曼), and she was the eldest daughter of King Jinpyeong. Her mother was Lady Maya of the house of Kim. Deokman was generous and kind by nature, and bright and quick. The king died and there was no son, and so the people of the state set Deokman up and offered her the title of Seongjo Hwanggo (聖祖皇姑).

In the time of the former king, a painting of peonies that had come from Tang, and the seeds of the flower with it, were obtained and shown to Deokman. Deokman said, "This flower is very fair, and yet it will surely have no scent."

The king laughed and said, "How do you know that?"

She answered, "The flower is painted and there is no butterfly, and by that I know it. When a woman is the beauty of a state, men follow her, and when a flower has scent, bees and butterflies follow it. This flower is very fair, and yet in the painting there are no bees and no butterflies. This is surely a flower without scent."

It was planted, and it was indeed as she had said. Such was her foreknowledge.

In the first year, in the second month, the whole government of the state was entrusted to Eulje, the great minister. In summer, the fifth month, there was drought, and in the sixth month rain came at last. In winter, the tenth month, envoys were sent to comfort the people within the country, and the widowers, the widows, the orphans and the old without children who could not keep themselves alive were relieved. In the twelfth month an envoy was sent into Tang with tribute.

In the second year, in spring, the first month, she sacrificed in person at the Singung, and a great amnesty was granted. The tax and the tribute of one year were remitted for the several provinces and commanderies. In the second month the earth shook in the capital. In autumn, the seventh month, an envoy was sent to Tang with tribute. In the eighth month Baekje raided the western border.

In the third year, in spring, the first month, the reign title was changed to Inpyeong (仁平). Bunhwangsa was completed. In the third month hail fell, and it was as large as chestnuts.

In the fourth year, Tang sent an envoy bearing the tally, and by edict invested the queen as Pillar of State, Duke of the Commandery of Lelang, and King of Silla, and in this she took up the title given to her father. Yeongmyosa was completed. In winter, the tenth month, Supum and Yongsu, of the rank of ichan, were sent to go about the provinces and the counties and comfort the people.

In the fifth year, in spring, the first month, Supum, of the rank of ichan, was made sangdaedeung.

In the third month the queen fell ill, and the medicine and the prayers of the physicians had no effect. So a hundred high seats were set out at Hwangnyongsa, and the monks were gathered to expound the Inwang gyeong, and leave was given for a hundred persons to take the robe.

In summer, the fifth month, toads gathered in great number at Ongmunji (玉門池), the pond west of the palace. The queen heard of it and said to those about her, "When toads make angry eyes, that is the look of soldiers. I have heard before that on the southwestern border there is also a place named Ongmungok (玉門谷). Can it be that the soldiers of a neighboring state have crept in there?"

Then the generals Alcheon and Piltan were commanded to lead troops and go and search the place, and indeed Uso, a general of Baekje, meaning to fall upon Doksanseong, had led five hundred armored men and come and hidden there. Alcheon fell upon them and killed them all.

The dharma master Jajang went into Tang to seek the Law.

In the sixth year, in spring, the first month, Sajin, of the rank of ichan, was made seobulhan. In autumn, the seventh month, Alcheon was made great general.

In the seventh year, in spring, the third month, a great stone south of Chiljungseong moved of itself thirty-five paces. In autumn, the ninth month, yellow flowers rained down. In winter, the tenth month, Goguryeo raided Chiljungseong on the northern border, and the people took fright and fled in disorder into the mountain valleys. The queen commanded Alcheon, the great general, to gather them and settle them in peace. In the eleventh month Alcheon fought the Goguryeo troops outside Chiljungseong and beat them, and those killed and taken were very many.

In the eighth year, in spring, the second month, Haseullaju was made the Northern Sogyeong, and Jinju, of the rank of sachan, was commanded to hold it. In autumn, the seventh month, the water of the Eastern Sea turned red and also grew hot, and the fish and the turtles died.

In the ninth year, in summer, the fifth month, the queen sent the young men of the noble houses to Tang and asked that they might enter the state academy.

At this time Taizong called up in great number the famed scholars of all under heaven and made them teachers of the academy, and he went often to the Guozijian and had them expound and discuss. Students who were clear in one of the great classics or more could all be appointed to office. Twelve hundred bays were added to the school buildings, and the students were increased to fill three thousand two hundred and sixty places. At this the learners of the four quarters gathered in the capital like clouds. And so Goguryeo, Baekje, Gaochang and Tubo also sent the young men of the noble houses in to study.

In the eleventh year, in spring, the first month, an envoy was sent to Tang and offered the products of the land.

In autumn, the seventh month, Uija, the king of Baekje, raised troops in great number and struck and took more than forty walled towns in the west of the country. In the eighth month he plotted further with Goguryeo, meaning to take Danghangseong and cut the road that led to Tang, and so the queen sent an envoy to tell Taizong of the danger.

In that month Yunchung, a general of Baekje, led troops and stormed Daeyaseong, and the governor Pumseok (品釋), of the rank of ichan, and Jukjuk and Yongseok, of the rank of saji, and others died there.

In winter, the queen meant to strike Baekje and repay the battle of Daeya, and so she sent Kim Chunchu (金春秋), of the rank of ichan, to Goguryeo to ask for troops.

When Daeya first fell, the wife of the governor Pumseok died there, and she was the daughter of Chunchu. Chunchu heard of it and stood leaning against a pillar and did not blink the whole day, and when men or things passed before him he did not see them. After a while he said, "Alas, how should a great man not swallow up Baekje!"

He went at once to the queen and said, "Your servant wishes to go as envoy to Goguryeo and ask for troops, to repay the wrong done by Baekje." The queen allowed it.

Gojang (高臧), the king of Goguryeo, had long heard the name of Chunchu, and so he set his troops in strict guard and only then met him. Chunchu came forward and said, "Now Baekje has no way in it, and has become a long snake and a great boar, and raids and overruns our borders. My lord wishes to have the horse and foot of the great state and to wash away this shame, and so he has sent his humble servant to bring his word to those who serve below you."

The king of Goguryeo said, "Jungnyeong was our land from the first. If you give back the land northwest of Jungnyeong, troops may go out."

Chunchu answered, "Your servant came at his lord's command to beg an army. The great king has no mind to save us from our trouble and to be a good neighbor, but only threatens an envoy and demands that land be given back. Your servant has his death and nothing else. He knows nothing more."

Gojang was angry that the words were not humble, and shut him up in a guest house apart. Chunchu secretly sent a man to tell the king of his own country. The king commanded Kim Yusin, the great general, to lead ten thousand men sworn to die and go to him. Yusin led his army past the Han River and entered the southern border of Goguryeo, and when the king of Goguryeo heard of it he released Chunchu and let him return. Yusin was made gunju of Amnyangju.

In the twelfth year, in spring, the first month, an envoy was sent to Tang and offered the products of the land. In the third month Jajang, the eminent monk who had gone into Tang to seek the Law, came back.

In autumn, the ninth month, an envoy was sent to Tang and spoke thus. "Goguryeo and Baekje raid the country of your servant, and dozens of its walled towns have been struck and fallen upon again and again. The two states have joined their armies and are set upon taking it, and they will rise in great force this ninth month. The altars of our land will surely not be kept whole, and so we humbly send this vassal envoy to give up our lives to the great state, and we beg even a part of your army, to save us and hold us up."

The emperor said to the envoy, "I truly pity you for being raided by the two states, and for that reason I have often sent envoys to make peace among the three of you. But Goguryeo and Baekje turned on their heels and overturned their repentance, and their mind is set on swallowing you up and dividing your land. What rare plan has your country laid, to escape being overthrown?"

The envoy said, "Our king is at the end of his means and his plans are spent. He only tells the great state of his danger, and hopes by that to be kept whole."

The emperor said.

"I might send out a few troops of the border and lead the Khitan and the Malgal straight into Liaodong. Then your country would be loosed of itself, and the siege upon you could be eased for a year. But afterward, when they knew that no army was following, they would raid you and despise you the more without restraint, and the four states would all be in turmoil, and that would not be peace for you. This is the first plan.

I can also give you several thousand red robes and red banners. When the troops of the two states come, set them up and spread them out. Those who see them will take them for my troops and will surely all run away. This is the second plan.

The state of Baekje trusts in the steepness of the sea and does not keep its arms in repair. Men and women mix in disorder and gather at feasts with one another.

I will load armored men on scores and hundreds of ships and cross the sea in silence and fall straight upon that land. But your country has a woman for its ruler, and so it is despised by the neighboring states, and it loses its lord and draws in robbers, and there is no year of rest. I will send one of my own kin to be the lord of your country. He cannot go alone, so troops must be sent to camp and guard him, and when your country is at peace I will leave you to keep it yourselves. This is the third plan.

You should think on this. Which of them will you follow?"

The envoy only said yes and yes, and had no answer. The emperor sighed at his dullness and his meanness, and said that he was not a man fit to beg an army and to tell of danger.

In the thirteenth year, in spring, the first month, an envoy was sent to Tang and offered the products of the land.

Taizong sent Xiangli Xuanjiang, the sinong cheng of the court of agriculture, bearing a letter under the imperial seal, and gave it to Goguryeo. "Silla has given its life into the hands of our state and has not failed in its tribute. You and Baekje should draw back your troops at once. If you strike it again, next year an army will go out and strike your country."

Gaesomun said to Xuanjiang, "Goguryeo and Silla have held grudge and breach between them for long. In days past, when the house of Sui came to invade, Silla took the chance of it and seized five hundred li of the land of Goguryeo, and took all the walled towns and villages for its own. Unless the land is given back and the towns returned, this war, I fear, cannot be stopped."

Xuanjiang said, "How can things already past be pursued and argued?" Somun in the end did not follow him.

In autumn, the ninth month, the queen commanded Yusin and made him supreme general, and he led troops and struck Baekje, and won a great victory and took seven walled towns.

In the fourteenth year, in spring, the first month, an envoy was sent to Tang and offered the products of the land.

Yusin came back from striking Baekje and had not yet seen the queen when a great army of Baekje came again and plundered the border. The queen commanded him to hold them off, and so he did not reach his house at all, but went and struck them and broke them, and took two thousand heads.

In the third month he reported to the queen, and he had not yet gone home when word came in haste that Baekje was invading once more. The matter was urgent, and the queen said, "The life and the death of the state hang upon your one body. Do not shrink from the labor. Go and see to it."

Yusin again did not go home, but drilled his troops by day and by night. On the road west he passed before the gate of his own house, and all the men and women of the household looked out after him and wept, but the lord did not turn his head, and went on.

In the third month the pagoda of Hwangnyongsa was begun, and this was done at the asking of Jajang.

In summer, the fifth month, Taizong went in person against Goguryeo, and the queen sent out thirty thousand troops to help him. Baekje took the chance of the emptiness and fell upon seven walled towns in the west of the country and took them.

In winter, the eleventh month, Bidam (毗曇), of the rank of ichan, was made sangdaedeung.

In the sixteenth year, in spring, the first month, Bidam and Yeomjong and others said, "A woman ruler cannot govern well," and for this reason they plotted a revolt and raised troops, but they did not prevail. On the eighth day the queen died. Her posthumous name was given as Seondeok (善德), and she was buried on Nangsan.

Kim Busik comments.

Your servant has heard that in old times there was Nüwa, who was not a true son of heaven but only helped Fuxi to govern the nine regions. As for such as Lü Zhi (呂雉) and Wu Zhao (武曌), they met with young and weak rulers and came to the court and ruled in their stead, yet the histories could not openly call them king, and wrote only Empress Gao of the house of Lü, and Empress Zetian of the house of Wu.

Speaking of heaven, the yang is firm and the yin is yielding. Speaking of men, the man is honored and the woman is lowly. How then can an old woman be allowed to come out of the inner rooms and decide the affairs of a state? Silla raised a woman up and set her in the seat of the king. It was truly the work of an age of disorder. That the state did not perish was good fortune.

The Shu jing says, "The hen announces the dawn." The Zhou yi says, "A lean pig leaps about." How should this not be taken for a warning?