King Sindae新大王

King Sindae's name was Baekgo (伯固), and he was the youngest brother of King Taejo. His bearing and his looks were outstanding, and his nature was kind and generous.

At first, King Chadae had no way in him, and the officers and the people did not draw close to him. So Baekgo feared that there would be disaster and disorder and that harm would reach him, and in the end he fled and hid in the mountain valleys. When King Chadae was killed, Eojiryu the jwabo took counsel with the many great officers and sent men to bring him and welcome him.

When he came, Eojiryu knelt and offered him the seal of the state and said. "The former lord has left the country, and that is our misfortune. Though he has a son, that son cannot hold the country. Now the hearts of heaven and of men turn to him who is kindest of all. I humbly bow and touch my head to the ground, and ask you to ascend the high place."

At this he bowed to the ground and declined three times, and then he ascended the throne. He was then seventy-seven years of age.

In the second year, in spring, the first month, he sent down an order and said.

"I was born, beyond my desert, a kinsman of the king, but from the first I had no virtue for a lord. A while ago I was attached to a rule that lay between brothers, and it went much against the plan of handing down to those who come after. I feared harm and could hardly be at ease, and so I left the company of men and fled far away. When at last I heard the ill news, there was nothing in me but the utmost grief and breaking of heart. How could I have reckoned that the people would gladly press me forward, and that the many great officers would urge me to come up? Wrongly, with a mean and slight body, I hold the high place, and I dare not have leisure to be at ease. It is like crossing a deep sea. It is right that I push my kindness out so that it reaches those far off, and that I make myself new together with the multitude. So let there be a great pardon within the country."

When the people of the country heard the order of pardon, there was none who did not cry out for gladness and clap his hands, and they said. "How great is the kindness of King Sindae."

At first, in the trouble of Myeongnim Dapbu, Chuan, the crown prince of King Chadae, fled and hid himself. But when he heard the order of pardon of the king who had followed to the throne, he went at once to the king's gate and told him. "A while ago, when calamity and disaster were in the country, your servant could not die, and he fled to the mountain valleys. Now I hear of the new rule, and I dare to speak of my offence. If the great king should fix my crime by the law and cast me out in the market place, I will hear only his command. And if he should grant me my life and let me go to a far place, that will be the kindness of bringing the dead to life and putting flesh upon bones. It is what your servant wishes for, but it is not what he dares to hope for."

The king at once gave him the two places of Gusannoe and Nudugok, and went on to enfeoff him as Lord Yangguk.

He made Dapbu guksang, the chief minister of the country, and raised his rank and made him paeja, and had him take charge of the soldiers and horses within and without, and hold the villages of Yangmaek as well. The changing of the jwabo and the ubo into the guksang began here.

In the third year, in autumn, the ninth month, the king went to Jolbon and made sacrifice at the shrine of the first ancestor. In winter, the tenth month, the king came back from Jolbon.

In the fourth year, Geng Lin, prefect of the commandery of Hyeondo in Han, came to invade and killed several hundred of the Goguryeo soldiers. The king himself surrendered and begged to belong to Hyeondo.

In the fifth year, the king sent Ugeo the daega and Yeonin the jubu and others to lead soldiers and help Gongsun Du, the prefect of Hyeondo, and put down the brigands of Busan.

In the eighth year, in winter, the eleventh month, Han turned toward Goguryeo with a great army. The king asked his many officers which was better, to fight or to hold.

Many of them took counsel and said. "The soldiers of Han trust in their numbers and make light of us. If we do not go out and fight, they will hold us to be cowards and come again and again. And our country has steep mountains and narrow roads. This is what is meant by saying that where one man holds the pass, ten thousand men cannot force it. Though the soldiers of Han be many, they can do nothing to us. We ask that soldiers be sent out to hold them off."

Dapbu said. "It is not so. Han is a great country and its people are many. Now they come far with strong soldiers to fight, and the point of their blade cannot be met. And again, it is the constant way of those who make war that he whose soldiers are many should fight, and he whose soldiers are few should hold. Now the men of Han carry their grain a thousand ri, and they cannot hold out long. If we dig our ditches deep and raise our ramparts high and empty the fields and wait for them, they will surely not pass a month before they go back hungry and worn out. If we press them hard with stout soldiers, we may have our will of them."

The king held this to be right. He kept within the fortress and held it firmly. The men of Han attacked it and could not win, and their soldiers grew hungry and drew off and went back. So Dapbu led several thousand horsemen and pursued them, and they fought on the Jwawon plain. The army of Han was greatly defeated, and not a single horse of theirs went back. The king was greatly pleased, and he gave Dapbu the Jwawon plain and Jilsan for his estate.

In the twelfth year, in spring, the first month, the many officers asked that a crown prince be set up. In the third month the king's son Namu was set up as royal crown prince.

In the fourteenth year, in winter, on the last day of the tenth month, byeongja, the sun was eclipsed.

In the fifteenth year, in autumn, the ninth month, Dapbu the guksang died, a hundred and thirteen years of age. The king went to him himself and grieved, and he stopped the court for seven days. Then he buried him at Jilsan with the rites, and set twenty households there to guard the tomb.

In winter, the twelfth month, the king died. He was buried in the valley of Goguk, and he was called King Sindae (新大王).