King Hyegong惠恭王

King Hyegong ascended the throne. His name was Geonun (乾運), and he was the eldest son of King Gyeongdeok by the queen. His mother was of the house of Kim, Lady Manwol, the daughter of Uichung of the rank of seobulhan. The king was eight years old when he came to the throne, and so the queen mother governed in his stead.

In the first year, there was a great amnesty. The king went to the Great Academy and ordered an erudite to expound the meaning of the Shangshu.

In the second year, in spring, in the first month, two suns appeared side by side. There was a great amnesty.

In the second month, the king sacrificed in person at the Singung. At the house of Duke Yangni a cow bore a calf with five legs, one of them turned upward. In Gangju the earth sank and became a pond, more than fifty cheok from end to end and from side to side, and the color of the water was blue and black.

In winter, the tenth month, a sound like the beating of a drum came from the sky.

In the third year, in summer, in the sixth month, the earth shook.

In autumn, the seventh month, Kim Eungeo of the rank of ichan was sent into Tang to present the products of the land and to ask further that a patent of investiture be granted. The emperor came out to the Zichen Hall, held a feast and received him.

Three stars fell in the court of the royal palace and struck one another, and their light scattered like sparks of fire. In the ninth month, in Gimpo-hyeon the rice ripened all into hulled grain.

In the fourth year, in spring, a comet appeared in the northeast. Daizong of Tang had Gui Chongjing, director of the Bureau of Granaries, hold also the post of vice censor-in-chief, and sent him bearing the tally and carrying the patent. He invested the king as grand minister with honors equal to the three offices and King of Silla, and invested the king's mother of the house of Kim as grand consort.

In summer, the fifth month, crimes below the crime of death were pardoned. In the sixth month, thunder and hail struck the capital and harmed the grass and the trees. A great star fell south of Hwangnyongsa. The earth shook with a sound like thunder, and the springs and the wells all dried up. A tiger came into the palace.

In autumn, the seventh month, Daegong of the rank of ilgilchan rebelled together with his younger brother Daeryeom of the rank of achan. They gathered a host and surrounded the royal palace for thirty-three days. The king's troops struck them and put them down, and the nine degrees of their kin were cut down.

In the ninth month, an envoy was sent into Tang to offer tribute. In winter, the tenth month, Sinyu of the rank of ichan was made sangdaedeung, and Kim Eungeo of the rank of ichan was made sijung.

In the fifth year, in spring, in the third month, a feast was given for the many subjects at the Imhaejeon. In summer, the fifth month, locusts came and there was a drought. The hundred officials were ordered each to recommend those they knew. In winter, the eleventh month, some eight thousand rats of Chiak-hyeon set out toward Pyeongyang. No snow fell.

In the sixth year, in spring, in the first month, the king went to the Seowon capital, and by a special pardon released the prisoners held in the ju and hyeon he passed through. In the third month, a rain of earth fell.

In summer, the fourth month, the king came back from Seowon. In the fifth month, on the eleventh day, a comet appeared north of Wuche, and it vanished when the twelfth day of the sixth month came. On the twenty-ninth day, a tiger came into the Jipsaseong, and it was caught and killed.

In autumn, the eighth month, Kim Yung of the rank of daeachan rebelled and was put to death. In winter, the eleventh month, the earth shook in the capital. In the twelfth month, Sijung Eungeo withdrew, and Jeongmun of the rank of ichan was made sijung.

In the eighth year, in spring, in the first month, Kim Pyoseok of the rank of ichan was sent to court in Tang and to give greeting for the new year. Daizong gave him the office of supernumerary vice minister of the Court of the Guard and let him go home.

In the ninth year, in summer, in the fourth month, an envoy was sent to Tang to give greeting for the new year, and presented gold and silver, ox bezoar, eoaju silk, johaju silk and other products of the land. In the sixth month, an envoy was sent to Tang to give thanks for a favor, and Daizong drew him in and received him at the Yingying Hall.

In the tenth year, in summer, in the fourth month, an envoy was sent to Tang to offer tribute. In autumn, the ninth month, Yangsang of the rank of ichan was appointed sangdaedeung. In winter, the tenth month, an envoy was sent to Tang to give greeting for the new year. He was received at the Yanying Hall, given the office of supernumerary minister of the Court of the Guard, and sent off.

In the eleventh year, in spring, in the first month, an envoy was sent to Tang to offer tribute. In the third month, Kim Sun of the rank of ichan was made sijung.

In summer, the sixth month, an envoy was sent to court in Tang. Kim Eungeo of the rank of ichan rebelled and was put to death. In autumn, the eighth month, Yeomsang of the rank of ichan plotted rebellion together with Sijung Jeongmun, and they were put to death.

In the twelfth year, in spring, in the first month, an order was handed down that the titles of the hundred officials be put back, all of them, as they were before. The king went to Gameunsa and looked out over the sea.

In the second month, he went to the National Academy and listened to a lecture. In the third month, eight more clerks of the Changbu were appointed.

In autumn, the seventh month, an envoy was sent to court in Tang and presented the products of the land. In winter, the tenth month, an envoy was sent into Tang to offer tribute.

In the thirteenth year, in spring, in the third month, the earth shook in the capital. In summer, the fourth month, it shook again. Sangdaedeung Yangsang sent up a memorial arguing to the utmost on the government of the day. In winter, the tenth month, Juwon of the rank of ichan was made sijung.

In the fifteenth year, in spring, in the third month, the earth shook in the capital, the houses of the people fell down, and more than a hundred people died. Taebaek entered the moon, and an assembly of the hundred seats was held.

In the sixteenth year, in spring, in the first month, a yellow fog lay over the land. In the second month, a rain of earth fell.

The king had come to the throne at a young age, and when he grew up he sank into music and women and roamed about without measure. The cords and bonds of rule fell into disorder, disasters and strange things appeared again and again, the hearts of the people turned away, and the altars of the state stood in peril. Kim Jijeong of the rank of ichan rebelled, gathered a host, and surrounded and broke into the palace.

In summer, the fourth month, Sangdaedeung Kim Yangsang raised troops together with Gyeongsin of the rank of ichan and cut down Jijeong and the rest, but the king and the queen were killed by the rebel troops. Yangsang and the rest gave the king the posthumous name King Hyegong (惠恭王).

The first queen was Queen Sinbo, the daughter of Yuseong of the rank of ichan. The next queen was the daughter of Kim Jang of the rank of ichan, and the year and month of her entering the palace are missing from the history.