Samguk Yusa

by Ilyon

  The author of Samguk Yusa was a man of the Kim family who was born in Kyongju, which had been the Silla capital, in 1206. He entered the order of Buddhist monks while still a child, and was given the religious name Ilyon. He passed the national examinations for monks of the Son (Zen) sect with the highest distinction at the age of 22, and thereafter devoted himself to teaching and study, residing at various temples at different times.

  There are few details available about his life, but it is said that he was greatly admired not only for his knowledge of the Buddhist scriptures but also for his mastery of the Confucian Classics, which were the basis of all secular learning in his time. He was also a very diligent author, and a stone monument erected in his honor on his death at 83 gives a list of his works. Samguk Yusa is not on the list, which leads one to suppose that the book was not printed until after his death, a supposition which is supported by the fact that at least two short sections of the work are added by Muguk, one of Uyon's disciples.

  Knowledge of his authorship barely survived. In the sixteenth century it was found that the carved wooden plates from which the book had originally been printed were so worn as to be nearly useless. A nobleman named Yi Kye-pok, however, managed to obtain a copy of an earlier printing, and from this he had a new edition prepared. It was found that Ilyon was named as author only at the beginning of the fifth volume, his name having been dropped, probably by accident, from the other four.

  Modern texts of the work are based on this 1512 edition, the earliest in existence. The translator has been permitted to consult an actual copy of this 1512 edition in making the present English version, based on the reprint of an original book of Chinese composition, known as “Chongdok-Pon” (Cheng-te Text), printed from hand-carved wooden blocks in the reign of King Chungjong (1488-1544) of the Yi Dynasty which corresponds to the reign of Emperor Cheng-te of Ming China, according to the postscript written by Yi Kye-pok.

  Samguk Yusa had a wide audience in former times as a reliable source of information for academic and popular interest, as its stories are included in Koryosa (History of Koryo), Yoji-sungnam (Places of Interest in the Eastern Nation) and Taedong-Unpu-kun-ok (Great Eastern Galaxy of Rhythmic Gems). Thus it was highlighted as an important work of literature although some Confucian scholars like Yi Kyukyong in the reign of Honjong, in his book “Demonstrative Essays on Historical Works” called it a collection of fantastic stories.

  More recently, in his book “Outline of Eastern History” Ahn Chong-hwa made an analysis of Samguk Yusa, but after that time its traces were lost to the world. Ch'oe Nam-son obtained only three of its volumes on Buddhist stories from temples. Then its treasured volumes in the possession of Sunam-Ahnsi were discovered and passed into the hands of a Japanese named Imanishi in Aichi. These were a full set of the five volumes of Chongdok Reprints, which appeared in about the 7th year of King Chungjong of the Yi Dynasty. In 1921 these volumes were reproduced in reduced size on glass plates as Facsimiles in Vol. VI, History Series of the Literary Department, Kyoto Imperial University, and in 1932 they were reprinted in the original large size by the Old Classics Publishing Society in Seoul. Before this, in 1928, its type-printed copies appeared in the name of the Chosun Sahak Hoe (Korean History Science Society) with Imanishi's proof reading.

  It is not clear when Samguk Yusa was first introduced into Japan, but according to “Samguk Yusa Haeje” by Choe Nam-son, one volume carried off during the Hideyoshi Invasion (l592-98) has been handed down in the families of Tokugawa in Owari and Kanda in Tokyo, with two leaves of the Royal Chronological Tables and several leaves in the text missing and some letters blank. This volume was published as research material in the History Series, Literary Department, Tokyo Imperial University in 1904. The Kanda copy bears the seal of Yoanin Library, signifying the house of a medical doctor in the Tokugawa shogunate, because this copy was given the doctor by Ukida Hideiye, one of the Japanese field generals fighting in Korea, in gratitude for the doctor's marvellous cure of his wife's singular malady, on his triumphal return from Korea after the Hideyoshi War with trophies including thousands of treasured books from Korea.

  Since Ilyon was greatly interested in preserving legends and folklore, some knowledge of ancient beliefs and society is necessary for a full understanding of his book. Underlying the more sophisticated faiths which came from other countries there has always been in Korea a tenacious native animism. Mountains, rivers, trees and the like are all inhabited by spirits which frequently take a hand in human affairs. These blended inextricably with Chinese lore, with some Taoist ideas, and with the numerous supernatural beings of popular Buddhism. Many of the events of which Ilyon wrote were as remote in time from him as he is from us, and the beliefs and practices which he describes were frequently very ancient. As will be seen in the text, a good many of them probably antedate the coming of Buddhism to Korea.

  A good case in point is the Tangun story, which is found near the beginning of Book One. Tangun is often described as the “founder” of Korea, but it would be more accurate to say “ancestor of the Koreans.” The fact that his mother is said to have been a bear transformed into a woman is clear evidence of the existence in very ancient times of totemism, the belief that a given tribe or clan is identified with or descended from a certain animal. Moreover, the fact that this clan symbol, the bear, is female may be evidence of the existence of a matriarchal, or at any rate matrilineal, society in ancient times.

  Another element in ancient Korean religion was sun worship. This is shown by the fact that several of the legendary founders of states in this book are described as having been born from divine eggs which descended from heaven, the egg in this case being a sun symbol.

  Turning to the social structure of Silla, there are two matters of importance. First of all, this was a highly aristocratic society, much more so than China. The different classes of society were carefully distinguished, and crossing class lines was almost unheard of. The highest class consisted of the members of the royal clan and the important court and government posts were held by them exclusively. This was the Kim clan of Kyongju, whose founding legend is found in Book One.

  Secondly, mention must be made of the Order of Hwarang. The word may be translated “Flower Youth” and describes an institution resembling the order of knighthood in medieval Europe. It consisted of specially selected youths of aristocratic lineage and of superior mental and physical attainments. They were trained in the martial arts, but also in intellectual and religious matters, and then became the nation s military elite. Kim Yu-sin, who commanded the armies that helped conquer Paekje and Koguryo, is a good example.

  The book itself is not a systematic work. It was, we are told, an activity of the author's leisure hours and was probably put together bit by bit over a rather long period. The accounts are grouped by subjects, but within each section they vary extremely. Some consist of entirely legendary material, some are factual history, and a large number are a blend of the two. The first two parts relate to the foundations of the various kingdoms and to various events during the history of the Silla kingdom. The last three parts are devoted mainly to Buddhism, especially to the lives and miracles of famous monks.

  Ilyon is very particular as to names and dates, and frequently records disagreements on these matters in his source material. He is not, unfortunately, so meticulous in the citation of the sources themselves. He refers often to the Samguk Sagi, and since this book still exists the references can be checked. But for the rest, he is vague, For example, early in Book One he refers to a book which he calls the Wei Shu (“Wei Writing,” that is, the history of the Chinese kingdom of Wei). A book of this title does exist, but none of the quotations Ilyon uses are to be found in it. One can only conclude that there was more than one Wei Shu (as there was more than one Wei state) and that Ilyon has not indicated which one he means.

  In other places he is content simply to cite “an old book” or “an old Silla book.” It is certain in any case that he had access to
many documents which are no longer in existence. There appear to have been, for example, several collections of the lives of famous monks, some Korean and some Chinese, and these he quotes frequently.

  But perhaps more important even than his use of now lost documents is the fact that Ilyon records many of the beliefs and practices of the people of thirteenth-century Korea, a fact which makes his book extremely important for the study of that period as well as earlier ones. The Tangun story as given here, for example, is the earliest documentary evidence for this legend.

  One must add finally that this is a book which can be read simply for pleasure. Its tales are comparable, though on a more sophisticated level, to the fairy tales of Europe. The reader finds himself in a world of dragons, ghosts and miracles, superhuman kings and monks who can fly through the air. He also finds the wonderful laughter, the solid, earthy humor of Korea. Ilyon was no doubt a pious Buddhist, but he was no prude for all that, and he sets down the old tales as he heard them.

  This, then, is Samguk Yusa, a book of the highest value from every point of view and one deserving the attention of anyone interested in Korea, or, indeed, in East Asian civilization generally.

  The romanized spelling of Oriental proper nouns in this book is done, in principle, according to the standardized McCune-Reischauer system for easy reference to the original Chinese characters. The sexagenary years of the Lunar Calendar in the text and the appendix have been changed to the corresponding years of the Gregorian Calendar.

  The chronological list of the Kings and Queens of the Three Kingdoms and Karak, which appears at the beginning of the original work, appears in the present translation as an appendix.

  In the footnotes some identical annotations of Dr. Yi Pyung-do and Mr. Yi Chae-ho in their Korean Versions of Samguk Yusa are added, with quotations from some parts of Ch'oe Nam-son's Bibliography of Samguk Yusa (Haeje) in this Introduction for the benefit of the readers.

  —the translators

  BOOK ONE

  I. Wonder I (the Founding of the Kingdoms)

  Prologue

  The ancient sages founded nations by the use of decorum and music, and fostered culture with humanity and justice, not claiming marvelous strength or the aid of treacherous gods. But when a man worthy to receive the mandate of heaven appeared, the event was usually marked by some happy augury setting him apart from other people and showing that here was one able to ride the changing tide, seize the treasured regalia and accomplish the great work of founding a state.

  Thus in ancient days in China a dragon-horse with a picture on its back appeared on the surface of the Yellow River (Hwang-ho) and a godlike turtle with a character carved on its shell appeared on the Lo-sui stream on the eve of the rising of great sages. 1 Enveloped in a rainbow, the goddess-mother bore Fu-hsi; touched by a dragon Nu-t'eng gave birth to Yen-ti; Ohwang fell in love with a celestial boy who called himself the son of Pai-ti while she was playing in the field of Kung-hsiang, and bore Hsiao-ho; Chien-ch'i, after swallowing an egg, brought forth Ch'i; Chiang-yuan, after treading in the mark of a footstep, bore Chi; Yao was born after fourteen months in his mother's womb; and Peikung was a dragon's love-child, the result of an embrace in a large lake.

  No pen can describe all the wonders attending the births of the founders of states. These are set down here as precedents for the stories of the founders of the Three Kingdoms, to be found in the following chapters.

  1. Old Chosun (Wanggom Chosun)

  In the Wei-shu2 it is written, “Two thousand years ago (Traditional date: 2333 B.C.) Tangun, otherwise called Wanggom, chose Asadal, also described as Muyop-san in the province of Paekju east of Kae-song, at a place now called Paegak-kung (modern P'yongyang) as his royal residence and founded a nation, calling it Chosun, at the same period as Kao (legendary Chinese Emperor Yao).”

  In the Old Book it is written, “In ancient times Hwan-in (Heavenly King, Chesok or Sakrodeveendra) had a young son whose name was Hwan-ung. The boy wished to descend from heaven and live in the human world. His father, after examining three great mountains, chose T'aebaek-san (the Myohyang Mountains in north Korea) as a suitable place for his heavenly son to bring happiness to human beings. He gave Hwan-ung three heavenly treasures, and commanded him to rule over his people.

  “With three thousand of his loyal subjects Hwan-ung descended from heaven and appeared under a sandalwood tree on T'aebaek Mountain. He named the place Sin-si (city of god) and assumed the title of Hwan-ung Ch'onwang (another title meaning heavenly king). He led his ministers of wind, rain and clouds in teaching the people more than 360 useful arts, including agriculture and medicine, inculcated moral principles and imposed a code of law.

  “In those days there lived a she-bear and a tigress in the same cave. They prayed to Sin-ung (another name of Hwan-ung) to be blessed with incarnation as human beings. The king took pity on them and gave them each a bunch of mugwort and twenty pieces of garlic, saying, 'If you eat this holy food and do not see the sunlight for one hundred days, you will become human beings.'

  “The she-bear and the tigress took the food and ate it, and retired into the cave. In twenty-one days the bear, who had faithfully observed the king's instructions, became a woman. But the tigress, who had disobeyed, remained in her original form.

  “But the bear-woman could find no husband, so she prayed under the sandalwood tree to be blessed with a child. Hwan-ung heard her prayers and married her. She conceived and bore a son who was called Tangun Wanggom, the King of Sandalwood.

  “In the fiftieth year of the reign of T'ang Kao (legendary Chinese emperor Yao, traditional date some time before 2000 B.C.) in the year of Kyong-in (if it was Kyong-in, it must be the 23rd year) Tangun came to P'yongyang (now Sogyong), set up his royal residence there and bestowed the name Chosun upon his kingdom.

  “Later Tangun moved his capital to Asadal on T'aebaek-san and ruled 1500 years, until king Wu of Chou (ancient Chinese dynasty) placed Kija on the throne (traditional date 1122 B.C.). When Kija arrived, Tangun moved to Changtang-kyong and then returned to Asadal, where he became a mountain god at the age of 1,908.”

  In the book of P'eichu-chuan of T'ang (Chinese dynasty, 618-907 A.D.) it is written, “Koryo (i.e. Koguryo) was originally Kojuk-kuk (now Haeju) and was called Chosun by the Chou emperor on the investiture of Kija. During the Han dynasty (Chinese, 206 B.C.-222 A.D.) Chosun was divided into three counties—Hyonto, Nangnang and Taebang.” The book T'ung-tien gives the same account. However, the Han-shu tells of four counties (Chinbon, Imtun, Hyonto and Nangnang) with names different from those in the other sources, for some unknown reason. (This is an allusion to a portion of northwestern Korea which was under direct Chinese rule from 108 B.C. to 313 A.D. The only one of any enduring importance was Nangnang, called Lolang in Chinese.)

  2. Weiman Chosun

  (The following account is a somewhat more detailed and historically more accurate description of the ancient Kingdom of Chosun and its wars with the Chinese Han dynasty under the Wu-Ti Emperor (141-87 B.C.) which resulted in the setting up of the Chinese colony of Lolang (Nang-nang) in northwestern Korea. The Yen here referred to was one of the “warring states “of China during the period immediately before China's unification by the brief Ch'in and subsequent Han dynasties. There were revolts early in the Han dynasty and an attempt was made to reestablish Yen, which adjoined Korea.)

  In the Chosun-jon (Chao-hsien-chuan) section of the book Ch'ien Han-shu it is written, “At the beginning of the Yen dynasty the invaders conquered Chinbon (part of northern Korea), stationed troops there and built defense barriers. (After the state of Ch'in conquered all China) Yen was made a frontier territory bordering the Liaotung peninsula. (When the Han dynasty arose after the breakup of Ch'in) the rulers, finding it difficult to control this remote territory, repaired the old barriers and established the frontier along the P'aisu River (possibly the Ch'ongchon River).

  “When Lu Kwan, King of Yen, rebelled (against Han) and took sides with the Hsiung-nu (nomad
ic tribes), Weiman, a Yen official, with a thousand followers, broke through the border defenses and fled east (i.e. to Korea). Crossing the P'aisu River, he took up residence in the buffer zone which had been established beyond the frontier. Here he gradually subjugated the native tribes with the aid of refugees from Yen and Ch'i (another rebellious state) and assumed the title of king, setting up a court at the city of Wanggom (location uncertain, but note the obvious connection with Tangun).

  “Weiman attacked the neighboring areas and Chinbon and Imtun (in present north Korea) were brought under his rule. Eventually he expanded his territory into a large realm extending several thousand li (about a third of a mile) in the four directions.

  “Weiman's son and grandson followed him to the throne without undue incident. During the reign of his grandson U-ko, Chinbon and Chinkuk (small principalities south of the Han River) wished to establish direct relations with the Han dynasty in China. U-ko, however, (probably seeing this as a threat to his power) intercepted the envoys and would not allow them to proceed.

  “In the second year of Yuanfeng (reign period of the Han emperor Wu-Ti, 109 B.C.) the Emperor sent She-ho to persuade U-ko to submit to the Han Empire. U-ko refused. Consequently, when She-ho crossed the P'aisu River on his return journey he ordered his coachman to kill the Chosun general who was escorting him and then hastened back to the Han court to report to the Emperor.

  “The Emperor thereupon appointed She-ho governor of East Liaotung county (bordering Chosun). Out of enmity, however, the people of Chosun killed him in a surprise attack. Incensed, the Emperor ordered admiral Yangp'u to sail from Ch'i (on the Shantung Peninsula) with a fleet of warships and transports carrying 50,000 men. At the same time Hsun-che, his general of the left, was to attack U-ko's kingdom from the Liaotung peninsula. Determined to meet force with force, U-ko stationed his troops in the mountain passes leading into his country to meet the Han army.