Three Things Queen Seondeok Foresaw善德王知幾三事
1Three things she foresaw
第二十七徳曼〔一作万.〕謚善徳女大王姓金氏,父真平王.以貞觀六年壬辰即位御國十六年凡知㡬有三事.
The twenty-seventh ruler, Deokman (德曼) 〔It is written 万 in some places.〕, had the posthumous title Great Queen Seondeok (善德女大王). Her surname was Kim and her father was King Jinpyeong. She came to the throne in the imjin year, the sixth of the Zhenguan era, and ruled the country for sixteen years. The things she knew beforehand were three in all.
1. She knows the painted peonies have no scent
初唐太宗送畫牧丹三色紅·紫·白以其實三升.王見畫花曰,“此花定無香”,仍命種於庭.待其開落果如其言.
First. Emperor Taizong of Tang sent a painting of peonies in three colors, red, purple, and white, together with three doe of their seeds.
The queen looked at the painted flowers and said, "These flowers surely have no scent."
Then she had the seeds planted in the courtyard. They waited until the flowers bloomed and fell, and it was just as she had said.
2. The croaking of frogs in winter reveals a Baekje ambush
二於霊廟寺玉門池冬月衆蛙集鳴三四日.國人恠之問於王,王急命角干閼川·弼呑等錬精兵二千人,速去西郊問女根谷必有賊兵掩取殺之.二角干旣受命各率千人問西郊,富山下果有女根谷.百濟兵五百人來藏於彼並取殺之.百濟将軍亐召者藏於南山嶺石上又圍而射之殪,又有後兵一千二百人來亦擊而殺之一無孑遺.
Second. At the Jade Gate Pond (玉門池) of Yeongmyo Temple (靈廟寺), in the depth of winter, frogs gathered and croaked for three or four days. The people of the state thought it strange and asked the queen.
The queen quickly ordered Alcheon (閼川) and Piltan (弼呑), of the rank of gakgan, and others to pick two thousand crack troops and hurry to the western fields. If they found the Valley of the Female Root (女根谷), there would surely be enemy soldiers there, and they were to fall on them and kill them.
The two gakgan received the command and each led a thousand men to search the western fields. Below Mount Bu (富山) there was indeed a Valley of the Female Root. Five hundred Baekje soldiers had come and were hiding there, and all were seized and killed.
The Baekje general Uso (亐召) was hiding on a rock on the ridge of Namsan, so they surrounded him too and shot him dead. Twelve hundred more soldiers who came after them were also struck down and killed, and not one was left.
3. She tells the day of her death and her burial place in advance
三王無恙時謂群臣曰,“朕死於某年某月日,葬我於忉利天中.”群臣罔知其䖏奏云“何所”,王曰“狼山南也.”至其月日王果崩群臣葬於狼山之陽.後十餘年文虎大王創四天王寺於王墳之下.佛経云四天王天之上有忉利天,乃知大王之霊聖也.
Third. When the queen was in no way ill, she said to her ministers, "I will die in such a year, such a month, on such a day. Bury me in the Trayastrimsa Heaven (忉利天)."
The ministers did not know where that was, and asked, "Where is it?" The queen said, "South of Mount Nang (狼山)."
When that month and that day came, the queen did indeed die, and the ministers buried her south of Mount Nang.
Some ten years later, Great King Munmu (文武大王) built Sacheonwang Temple (四天王寺) below the queen's tomb. The Buddhist scriptures say that above the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings (四天王天) lies the Trayastrimsa Heaven. From this it is clear how divine and holy the great queen was.
4. The queen explains how she knew
當時群臣啓於王曰,“何知花蛙二事之然乎.”王曰“畫花而無蝶知其無香斯,乃唐帝欺寡人之無耦也.蛙有怒形兵士之像,玉門者女根也.女爲隂也,其色白,白西方也,故知兵在西方.男根入於女根則必死矣.以是知其易捉.”於是群臣皆服其聖智.
At that time the ministers asked the queen, "How did you know those two things, the flowers and the frogs?"
The queen said,
"The painted flowers had no butterflies, so I knew they had no scent. This was the Tang emperor mocking me for having no mate.
A frog has an angry look, which is the image of a soldier. The Jade Gate means the female root. Woman is yin, its color is white, and white is the west. So I knew the soldiers were in the west. When the male root enters the female root, it must die. From this I knew they would be easy to catch."
At this the ministers all bowed before her holy wisdom.
5. The three-colored flowers and the Cheomseongdae
送花三色者盖知新羅有三女王而然耶,謂善徳·真徳·真聖是也.唐帝以有懸解之明.善徳之創霊庙寺具載良志師傳詳之.别記云是王代錬石築瞻星䑓.
Was it perhaps because he knew that Silla would have three queens that he sent flowers in three colors? That is, Seondeok, Jindeok, and Jinseong. The Tang emperor had the clear sight to see what lay ahead.
Queen Seondeok's founding of Yeongmyo Temple is fully recorded in the Biography of Master Yangji (良志師傳), and can be read in detail there.
The Byeolgi (別記) says that in this queen's reign stones were dressed and the Cheomseongdae (瞻星臺) was built.