Great King Wonseong元聖大王

Great King Wonseong.

Gim Juwon, of the rank of ichan, was at first the chief minister, and the king, of the rank of gakgan, held the second minister's seat.

He dreamed that he took off his headcloth, put on a white hat, took up a twelve-stringed zither, and went into the well of Cheongwan Temple.

When he woke he had a man divine it, and the man said, "Taking off the headcloth is a sign of losing office. Taking up the zither is a sign of wearing the cangue. Going into the well is a sign of going into prison."

When the king heard this he was very troubled, shut his gate, and did not go out.

At that time Yeosam, of the rank of achan, or Yeosan in some books, came and asked to see him. The king pleaded illness and did not come out.

He asked again, saying, "I wish to see you just once."

The king agreed.

The achan said, "What is it that you fear?"

The king told him in full why the dream had been divined so. The achan rose, bowed, and said,

"This is a lucky dream. If you rise to the highest seat and do not forget me, I will explain it for you."

The king then sent away his attendants and asked him to explain, and he said this.

"Taking off the headcloth means no one will be above you. Putting on a white hat is a sign of the royal crown. Taking up the twelve-stringed zither is a sign that twelve generations of descendants will succeed one another. Going into the well of Cheongwan Temple is an omen of entering the palace."

The king said, "Juwon is above me. How can I be in the higher seat?"

The achan said, "Please make a secret sacrifice to the god of the North Stream. That will do."

He did so.

Not long after, King Seondeok died. The people of the state wished to make Juwon king and were about to bring him into the palace.

Juwon's house was north of the stream, and suddenly the stream rose and could not be crossed.

The king entered the palace first and ascended the throne.

The chief minister's followers all came over to him and offered congratulations to the newly risen ruler. This was Great King Wonseong.

His name was Gyeongsin, and it was indeed a rich answer to the dream.

Juwon withdrew and lived at Myeongju.

By the time the king had ascended the throne, Yeosan had already died, so he summoned his descendants and gave them rank.

The king had five grandchildren: Crown Prince Hyechung, Crown Prince Heonpyeong, Yeyeong, of the rank of japgan, Lady Daeryong, and Lady Soryong.

The great king truly understood the changes of hardship and success, and so there is the Singong sanoe song (身空詞腦歌).〔The song is lost and the details are not known.〕

The king's father, Hyoyang, of the rank of daegakgan, passed on to the king the Flute That Calms Ten Thousand Waves, handed down from his ancestors.

Because the king obtained it, he received the deep grace of Heaven, and his virtue shone far.

On the eleventh day of the tenth month of the second year of Zhenyuan, a byeongin year, King Mungyeong of Japan〔Looking at the Nihon teiki, this is probably King Mundeok, the fifty-fifth ruler. There is no one else named Mungyeong. Some books say it was this king's crown prince.〕 raised troops meaning to attack Silla, but when he heard that Silla had the Flute That Calms Ten Thousand Waves, he withdrew his troops.

He sent an envoy with fifty nyang of gold to ask for the flute.

The king said to the envoy, "I have only heard that it existed in the reign of King Jinpyeong in an earlier age. Now no one knows where it is."

On the seventh day of the seventh month of the next year, he sent an envoy again with a thousand nyang of gold and asked, saying, "I wish only to see the divine object and then return it."

The king declined again as before, gave the envoy three thousand nyang of silver, and returned the gold without accepting it.

In the eighth month, when the envoy had gone home, the flute was stored in the Inner Hwang Hall.

In the eleventh year after the king ascended the throne, an eulhae year, a Tang envoy came to the capital, stayed a month, and went home.

One day after that, two women came into the inner courtyard of the palace and said,

"We are the wives of the two dragons of the East Pond and the Blue Pond〔The Blue Pond is the spring of Dongcheon Temple. The temple record says, 'The spring is the place where the dragon of the East Sea came and went to hear the Dharma.'〕.

The Tang envoy brought two men from the state of Haseo. They cast a spell on our husbands, the two dragons, and on the dragon of the well at Bunhwang Temple, three dragons in all, turned them into small fish, put them in a tube, and went home.

We beg Your Majesty to command those two men to leave our husbands here, for they are the dragons that guard the state."

The king pursued them as far as the Hayang lodge, gave a banquet in person, and commanded the men of Haseo,

"How is it that you have taken our three dragons and brought them here? If you do not tell the truth, you will surely suffer the utmost punishment."

At this they brought out the three fish and presented them. The king had them released in the three places. In each place the water leaped up more than a gil, and the dragons went off leaping for joy.

The Tang men bowed before the king's clear and holy wisdom.

One day the king invited the monk Jihae of Hwangnyong Temple to expound the Avatamsaka Sutra in the palace for fifty days.

The novice Myojeong always washed his bowl by the Geumgwang Well〔It got its name from Dharma Master Daehyeon.〕, and a soft-shelled turtle would rise and sink in the well.

The novice always fed it his leftover food and played with it in fun.

When the assembly was about to end, the novice said to the turtle, "I have been kind to you for a long time. How will you repay me?"

A few days later the turtle spat out a small pearl, as if to give it to him as a gift.

The novice took the pearl and tied it to the end of his belt.

From then on the great king looked on the novice with love and esteem, brought him into the inner hall, and kept him always at his side.

At that time a japgan was going to Tang as envoy. He too loved the novice and asked to take him along, and the king allowed it.

They went to Tang together, and the Tang emperor too saw the novice and favored him, and there was no one among the chancellors and attendants who did not honor and trust him.

A physiognomist reported, "Looking at this novice, he has not a single lucky feature, yet he wins people's trust and respect. He must be carrying some unusual object."

A man was sent to examine him, and the small pearl at the end of his belt was found.

The emperor said, "I had four wish-fulfilling pearls, and last year I lost one. Now that I see this pearl, it is the one I lost."

The emperor questioned the novice, and the novice told the whole story.

The day the emperor lost the pearl in the palace was the same day the novice obtained it.

The emperor kept the pearl and sent him back.

After this no one loved or trusted this novice.

The king's tomb is at Gok Temple〔The present Sungbok Temple.〕 in the western valley of Mount Toham, and there is a stele composed by Choe Chiwon.

He also founded Boeun Temple and built the Mangdeok Tower.

He gave his grandfather Hunip, of the rank of japgan, the posthumous title Great King Heungpyeong; his great-grandfather Uigwan, of the rank of japgan, that of Great King Sinyeong; and his great-great-grandfather Beopseon, of the rank of daeagan, that of Great King Hyeonseong.

The father of Great King Hyeonseong was Majilcha, of the rank of japgan.