King Mu武王

King Mu (武王)〔An old book has Mugang, but that is wrong. Baekje had no King Mugang.〕

The thirtieth king, King Mu, was named Jang (璋). His mother lived alone in a house she built beside a pond south of the capital, and she had relations with the dragon of the pond and bore him. His childhood name was Seodong (薯童).

His capacity and character were hard to measure. He always dug yams and sold them for a living, and so the people of the country gave him that name.

He heard that Seonhwa (善花)〔In some places it is written Seonhwa (善化).〕, the third princess of King Jinpyeong (眞平王) of Silla, was beautiful beyond compare, so he shaved his head and came to the capital of Silla.

He fed yams to the children of the town, and the children took to him. Then he composed a song, coaxed the children, and had them sing it.

⟪Hyangga⟫

善化公主主隠 他密只嫁良置古 薯童房乙 夜矣卵乙抱遣去如

The children's song spread all through the capital and reached the palace. The officials pleaded with all their might, and the princess was banished to a far place. When she was about to leave, the queen gave her a mal of pure gold for the journey.

As the princess was nearing the place of her exile, Seodong came out on the road, bowed, and asked to escort her. The princess did not know where he had come from, but by chance she trusted him and was glad of him. So he went along with her, and they secretly became lovers. Only afterward did she learn Seodong's name and believe that the children's song had come true.

They came together to Baekje. When she took out the gold her mother the queen had given her and tried to plan how they would live, Seodong laughed aloud and said, "What is this thing?"

The princess said, "This is gold. It can bring a hundred years of wealth."

Seodong said, "In the place where I have dug yams since I was small, this lies piled up like dirt."

The princess heard this and said in great surprise, "This is the greatest treasure under heaven. If you know where the gold is, what if we sent this treasure to my parents' palace?"

Seodong said, "Good." So they gathered the gold, and it piled up like a hill.

He went to the master Jimyeong (知命法師) of Sajasa (師子寺) on Yonghwasan (龍華山) and asked how to move the gold. The master said, "I can move it by spiritual power. Bring the gold."

The princess wrote a letter and set it with the gold in front of Sajasa. The master moved it by spiritual power in a single night and set it down inside the Silla palace.

King Jinpyeong marveled at this divine wonder and honored him all the more, and he always sent letters to ask after him. By this Seodong won the hearts of the people and ascended the throne.

One day the king and his lady were going to Sajasa and came to the edge of a great pond at the foot of Yonghwasan, when the Maitreya Triad (彌勒三尊) appeared in the middle of the pond. They stopped the carriage and paid reverence.

The lady said to the king, "You must build a great monastery on this ground. It is truly what I wish." The king agreed.

He went to the master Jimyeong and asked about filling in the pond, and by spiritual power the master brought down a mountain in a single night, filled the pond, and made it level ground.

Then, modeled on the three assemblies of Maitreya (彌勒三會), they built a hall, a pagoda, and a cloister, three of each, and named it on the tablet Mireuksa (彌勒寺).〔The Guksa calls it Wangheungsa.〕 King Jinpyeong sent many craftsmen to help, and the temple still stands today.〔The Samguksa says he was the son of King Beop, but this account makes him the son of a woman living alone, so the details are not known.〕