King Yuri瑠璃王

King Yurimyeong ascended the throne. His name was Yuri (類利), and he is also called Yuryu. He was the eldest son of Jumong, and his mother was of the house of Ye.

At first, when Jumong was in Buyeo, he married a daughter of the house of Ye and she was with child. She gave birth after Jumong had gone away, and this was Yuri.

In his young years he went out and was playing on the road, and shooting at a sparrow he missed and broke the earthen jar of a woman who was drawing water. The woman scolded him. "This child has no father, and that is why he is wild like this." Yuri was ashamed, and he went home and asked his mother. "What man was my father, and where is he now?"

His mother said. "Your father was no common man. He was not received in the country, and he fled to the land in the south and opened a country and called himself king. When he went he said to me, 'If you bear a boy, tell him that I have left something behind, and that it is hidden under the pine tree on the stone with seven sides. If he can find it, he is truly my son.'"

When Yuri heard this he went to the mountain valleys and searched for it, but he did not find it, and he came back worn out. One morning he was on the floor of the hall, and it seemed there was a sound between the pillar and its base stone. He went and looked, and the base stone had seven sides. So he searched under the pillar and found one piece of a broken sword.

He took it at last, and with Okji, Guchu and Dojo, three men, he came to Jolbon and saw the king his father and held up the broken sword to him. The king brought out the broken sword that he had himself and fitted them together, and they joined into one sword. The king was glad, and set him up as crown prince, and now he succeeded to the throne.

In the second year, in autumn, the seventh month, he took the daughter of Songyang, the marquis of Damul, as his queen. In the ninth month he hunted in the west and took a white roe deer. In winter, the tenth month, holy sparrows gathered in the courtyard of the king. Onjo, the founder of Baekje, ascended the throne.

In the third year, in autumn, the seventh month, a detached palace was built at Golcheon. In winter, the tenth month, the queen of the house of Song died.

The king took two more women as his wives after her. One was Hwahui (禾姬), the daughter of a man of Golcheon, and one was Chihui (雉姬), the daughter of a man of Han. The two women contended for his love and were not at peace with each other, so the king built two palaces at Yanggok, one to the east and one to the west, and placed each of them in one.

Afterward the king hunted at Gisan and did not come back for seven days. The two women quarreled, and Hwahui scolded Chihui and said. "You are a serving maid of a house of Han. How can you be so utterly without manners?" Chihui was ashamed and bitter, and she ran away home.

The king heard of it and whipped his horse and went after her, but Chihui was angry and would not come back. The king was resting under a tree, and he saw orioles flying and gathering there, and he was moved and sang.

"Fluttering, fluttering, the orioles, the male and the female lean on each other. I think upon myself, who am alone. With whom shall I go home?"

In the eleventh year, in summer, the fourth month, the king said to his officers. "The Xianbei trust in their steep land and will not keep peace with us. When it profits them they come out and plunder, and when it does not they go in and hold fast, and they are a trouble to the country. If there is a man who can break them, I will reward him richly."

Bubunno came forward and said. "The Xianbei are a country steep and strong, and their people are brave but foolish. They are hard to fight with force, but easy to bend with a plan."

The king said. "Then what shall we do?"

He answered. "Send a man in among them to sow discord, and have him say falsely, 'Our country is small and our soldiers are weak, and we are timid and slow to move.' Then the Xianbei will surely make light of us and will not prepare against us. Your servant will watch for that opening, and lead picked soldiers along a side road, and keep to the mountain woods and look out upon their fortress. If the king sends weak soldiers out to the south of that fortress, they will surely leave the fortress empty and pursue them far. Your servant will run into the fortress with the picked soldiers, and if the king himself leads brave horsemen and strikes them from the other side, they can be beaten."

The king followed his words. The Xianbei did indeed open their gate and send out soldiers in pursuit. Bubunno led his soldiers and ran into the fortress, and when the Xianbei saw it they were greatly startled and came running back. Bubunno held the gateway and fought against them, and those he cut down and killed were very many. The king raised his flags and sounded his drums and came forward, and the Xianbei had the enemy before them and behind them. Their plans were spent and their strength was bent, and they surrendered and became a vassal country.

The king thought upon the merit of Bubunno and rewarded him with a fief, but he declined it and said. "This is the virtue of the king. What merit is there in your servant?" In the end he would not take it, so the king gave him thirty geun of gold and ten good horses.

In the thirteenth year, in spring, the first month, Hyeonghok stayed over Simseong.

In the fourteenth year, in spring, the first month, Daeso, the king of Buyeo, sent an envoy to pay his respects, and he asked that they give hostages to each other. The king feared that Buyeo was strong and great, and he meant to send the crown prince Dojeol as the hostage, but Dojeol was afraid and did not go, and Daeso was angered.

In winter, the eleventh month, Daeso came to invade with fifty thousand soldiers, but a great snow fell and many of his men froze to death, so he went away.

In the nineteenth year, in autumn, the eighth month, the pig for the sacrifice at the altar ran away, and the king sent Tangni and Sabi after it. They came to the middle of the Jangoktaek marsh and caught it, and they cut the sinews of its legs with a knife. The king heard of it and was angry and said. "How can the victim for the sacrifice to heaven be hurt?" In the end he threw the two men into a pit and killed them.

In the ninth month the king fell ill, and a shaman said. "Tangni and Sabi are the curse upon you." The king sent a man to make apology to them, and at once he was well.

In the twentieth year, in spring, the first month, the crown prince Dojeol died.

In the twenty-first year, in spring, the third month, the pig for the sacrifice at the altar ran away, and the king ordered Seolji, who had charge of the victims, to go after it. He came to Winaam in Gungnae and caught it, and he tied it up in the house of a man of Gungnae and had it fed there.

He came back and saw the king and said. "Your servant followed the pig and came to Winaam in Gungnae, and I saw that the mountains and the waters there are deep and steep, that the land is fit for the five grains, and that there are many elk and deer and fish and turtles. If the king moves the capital there, not only will the good of the people be without end, but the trouble of war can also be escaped."

In summer, the fourth month, the king hunted at Wijungnim. In autumn, the eighth month, the earth shook.

In the ninth month the king went to Gungnae and looked at the lie of the land, and as he came back he reached the Samultaek marsh and saw a man sitting on a stone above the water. He said to the king. "I wish to be the servant of the king." The king was glad and allowed it, and for this he gave him the name Samul and the surname Wi (位).

In the twenty-second year, in winter, the tenth month, the king moved the capital to Gungnae and built the fortress of Winaam.

In the twelfth month the king hunted north of Jilsan and did not come back for five days. The daebo Hyeopbo remonstrated with him. "The king has newly moved the capital, and the people do not live at ease. It is fitting to work at it without rest and to care for punishment and government, yet the king does not think upon this, but rides out to hunt and does not come back for a long time. If he does not mend his fault and make himself new, your servant fears that the government will run wild and the people will scatter, and the work of the former king will fall to the ground."

The king heard him and was greatly angered, and he took away the office of Hyeopbo and set him over the garden of the officers. Hyeopbo was indignant and went away to Namhan.

In the twenty-third year, in spring, the second month, the king's son Haemyeong was set up as crown prince, and there was a great pardon within the country.

In the twenty-fourth year, in autumn, the ninth month, the king was hunting in the fields of Gisan and he found a strange man who had feathers under both his arms. He raised him to the court and gave him the surname U (羽), and had him take the king's daughter to wife.

In the twenty-seventh year, in spring, the first month, the crown prince Haemyeong was in the old capital, and he was strong and loved bravery. The king of the country of Hwangnyong heard of it and sent an envoy with a stiff bow as a gift. Before that envoy Haemyeong drew it and broke it and said. "It is not that I am strong. The bow itself was not stiff." The king of Hwangnyong was ashamed.

The king heard of it and was angry, and he sent word to Hwangnyong. "Haemyeong is not dutiful as a son. I ask you to put him to death for me."

In the third month the king of Hwangnyong sent an envoy and asked to meet the crown prince. The crown prince was about to go, and a man remonstrated with him and said. "Now the neighboring country asks to meet you without a cause, and its mind cannot be measured." The crown prince said. "Heaven does not wish to kill me. What can the king of Hwangnyong do to me?" So he went. The king of Hwangnyong had planned at first to kill him, but when he saw him he did not dare to harm him, and he sent him away with courtesy.

In the twenty-eighth year, in spring, the third month, the king sent a man to say to Haemyeong. "I moved the capital in order to make the people at ease and to make the work of the country firm. You did not follow me, but trusted in your hard strength and made an enemy of a neighboring country. Is this the way of a son?" With that he gave him a sword and bade him take his own life.

The crown prince was about to kill himself at once, but a man stopped him and said. "The eldest son of the great king is already dead, and the crown prince is the very one who should come after him. Now one envoy has come, and you kill yourself. How do you know that it is not a deceit?"

The crown prince said. "Before this, when the king of Hwangnyong sent the stiff bow, I feared that he made light of our country, and so I drew it and broke it and paid him back. I did not think that I would be blamed for it by the king my father. Now the king my father holds that I am not dutiful and has given me a sword to take my own life. How can I flee the command of a father?"

With that he went to the eastern plain of Yeojin, and he set a spear in the ground and ran his horse against it and died. His years at that time were twenty-one. He was buried in the eastern plain with the rites of a crown prince, and a shrine was set up, and that place was called Changgyeong (槍京).

Kim Busik comments.

When a dutiful son serves his parent, he ought not to leave his side, and so to fulfill his duty, as King Wen did when he was the heir apparent. Haemyeong was in another capital, and he was known for loving bravery, and that he brought guilt upon himself was only fitting.

I have also heard that an old book says. "Love your son and teach him the way of right, and do not let him enter into what is crooked." Now the king at first never taught him, and when the evil in him was full grown he hated him beyond all measure and did not stop until he had killed him. It may be said that the father was not a father and the son was not a son.

In autumn, the eighth month, Daeso, the king of Buyeo, sent an envoy who reproached the king and said. "Our former king and your former lord King Dongmyeong were good friends, and yet he enticed our subjects to flee here, and would gather them whole and make a country of them. Now a country may be great or small, and a man may be old or young. That the small serves the great is courtesy, and that the young serves the old is right order. If the king can now serve us with courtesy and right order, heaven will surely help him and the fortune of his house will last long. If not, then he will hardly keep his altars of the land and the grain."

At this the king said within himself that the days since the country was founded were few, that the people were frail and the soldiers weak, and that as things stood it was fitting to bear the shame and bend, and so to plan for what might be won later. So he took counsel with his officers and answered. "I live far off in a corner by the sea and have not heard of courtesy and right. Now that I have received the teaching of the great king, how should I dare not to follow his command?"

At that time the king's son Muhyul was still young in years. He heard that the king was about to answer Buyeo in this way, and he went himself and saw the envoy and said. "My forefather was a descendant of holy spirits, and he was wise and full of talent, and the great king envied him and would have harmed him and slandered him to the king his father and shamed him with the herding of horses, and so he was not at ease and came away.

Now the great king does not think upon his fault of old, but trusts only in the number of his soldiers and despises our country. I ask the envoy to go back and report to the great king. 'Here now are eggs piled one upon another. If the great king does not break those eggs, then your servant will serve him. If not, he will not.'"

When the king of Buyeo heard this he asked those below him, and one old woman answered. "Eggs piled one upon another are danger. Not to break those eggs is safety." What she meant was that the king did not know his own danger, and yet wished another to come to him, and that it were better to change danger for safety and set his own house in order.

In the twenty-ninth year, in summer, the sixth month, black frogs and red frogs fought in crowds on the bank of the Mocheon, and the black frogs did not win but died. Those who discussed it said. "Black is the color of the north, and this is a sign that Northern Buyeo will be broken and destroyed."

In autumn, the seventh month, a detached palace was built at Dugok.

In the thirty-first year, Wang Mang of Han called up the soldiers of Goguryeo to attack the Hu. The people of Goguryeo did not wish to go, and when they were forced and driven out they all fled beyond the frontier, and by this they broke the law and became brigands. Tian Tan, the grand governor of Liaoxi, pursued them and attacked them and was killed by them, and the provinces and the commanderies laid the blame upon Goguryeo.

Yan You submitted a memorial. "That the Maek people have broken the law is a matter for the provinces and the commanderies, and they should first be soothed and set at ease. If a great crime is now laid upon them at random, it is to be feared that they will rebel in the end. Among the kindred of Buyeo there will surely be those who join them, and if the Xiongnu are not yet overcome and Buyeo and the Yemaek rise again, this is a great trouble."

Wang Mang would not listen, and he ordered Yan You by rescript to attack them. Yan You lured Huchu, a general of Goguryeo, and cut him down, and sent his head to the capital. Wang Mang was pleased, and he changed the name of the king of Goguryeo to the marquis of Haguryeo (下句麗侯), and proclaimed it through the realm so that all should know it. At this the plundering of the border lands of Han grew worse and worse.

In the thirty-second year, in winter, the eleventh month, the men of Buyeo came to invade, and the king sent his son Muhyul with an army to hold them off. Muhyul feared that his soldiers were too few to meet them, so he made a plan of surprise, and he himself led the army and hid in a mountain valley and waited for them. When the soldiers of Buyeo came straight down below Hakballyeong, the hidden soldiers rose and struck them when they did not look for it, and the army of Buyeo was greatly beaten and left its horses and climbed the mountain. Muhyul loosed his soldiers and killed them all.

In the thirty-third year, in spring, the first month, the king's son Muhyul was set up as crown prince, and the affairs of the army and the state were given into his hands.

In autumn, the eighth month, the king ordered Oi and Mari to lead twenty thousand soldiers and attack Yangmaek in the west, and they destroyed that country and pushed their soldiers on and fell upon the county of Goguryeo in Han and took it.

In the thirty-seventh year, in summer, the fourth month, the king's son Yeojin fell into the water and died. The king mourned bitterly and sent men to seek the body, but they did not find it. Afterward Jesu, a man of Biryu, found it and made it known, and so the body was buried with the rites at Wanggollyeong, and Jesu was given ten geun of gold and ten gyeong of land.

In autumn, the seventh month, the king went to Dugok. In winter, the tenth month, he died at the detached palace of Dugok. He was buried in the eastern plain of Dugok and was called King Yurimyeong (瑠璃明王).