Samguk Yusa

by Ilyon

  Second, in the Jade Gate Pond at the Holy Shrine Temple a crowd of frogs gathered in winter (when frogs are normally hibernating) and croaked for three or four days. The people and courtiers wondered at this, and asked the Queen what its significance might be. She immediately commanded two generals, Alch'on and P'ilt'an, to lead two thousand crack troops to Woman's Root Valley on the western outskirts of Kyongju to search out and kill enemy troops hidden in the forest.

  The generals set off with a thousand troops each, and when they reached the valley found five hundred Paekje soldiers hidden in the forest there. The Silla soldiers surrounded them and killed them all.

  Then they found a Paekje general hiding behind a rock on South Mountain, whom they also killed. Finally, they intercepted a large Paekje force marching to invade Silla. This they routed, killing one thousand three hundred in the process.

  Third, one day while the Queen was still in perfect health, she called her courtiers together and said, “I will surely die in a certain year, in a certain month, on a certain day. When I am gone, bury me in the middle of Torich'on.” The courtiers did not know the place and asked the Queen where it was, whereupon she pointed to the southern hill called Wolf Mountain.

  On the very day she had predicted the Queen died, and her ashes were interred on the site she had chosen. Ten years later (656) the great King Munmu had Sach'onwang Temple (the Temple of the Four Deva Kings) built beneath the Queen's tomb. Buddhist scripture alludes to two heavens called—Torich'on and Sach'onwangch'on. All were amazed at the Queen's prescience and knowledge of the afterlife.

  (The second temple was presumably built further down the hill, not directly under the tomb. The four deva kings are the Buddhist guardian spirits of the four directions, and representations of them are to be found at the entrance gates of most Korean Buddhist temples. King Munmu (661-681) could have been living in 656 but could not have been reigning as the date is early in the reign of his predecessor King Muryol. 654-661.)

  During her lifetime the courtiers asked the Queen how she had been able to make these prophecies. She replied: “In the picture there were flowers but not butterflies, an indication that peonies have no smell. The T'ang Emperor teased my having no husband. As to the frogs at Jade Gate Pond, they seemed like soldiers, and Jade gate refers the female genitals (and so is similar to the name of the valley, which also contains the expression Okmun, jade gate). The female color is white, which is also the color symbolic of the west, so I knew the invaders were coming from the west (i.e. from Paekje). If a male organ enters a female organ it will surely die (lose its erection after orgasm), so I knew it would be easy to defeat the enemy.19

  (The Tang emperor who sent the picture of peonies in three colors meant it to symbolize the three queens of Korea, Sondok, Chindok and Chinsong, so perhaps he too had knowledge of the future. Chindok succeeded Sondok, reigning from 647 to 654, and Queen Chinsong did not ascend the throne until 888.)

  The book Yangjisa-jon contains a detailed description of Queen Sondok's erection of Yongmyo (Holy Shrine) Temple. It was also this queen who built the stone astronomical observatory called Ch'omsong-dae. (This last still stands in Kyongju and is one of the most famous sights in Korea.)

  32. Queen Chindok (647-654)

  Queen Chindok was the twenty-eighth ruler of Silla. During her reign she composed a poem called T'aep'yong-ga, the song of peaceful reign. This, together with a piece of silk brocade which she had woven and embroidered, she sent to the T'ang Emperor in China. In great delight, the Emperor invested the Queen with the title of ruler of Kerim. (Ilyon mentions a variant account from another source here, mostly because of a discrepancy in dates. But the real significance of this episode is that Silla was to conquer the other two kingdoms shortly with the help of T'ang Chinese armies, and subsequently to acknowledge T'ang suzerainty, though there was little Chinese interference at home. The Silla kings, however, agreed to seek official confirmation from the Chinese court of their accession to the throne, and no Korean monarch thereafter was regarded as a legitimate ruler unless he had the assent of the Chinese Emperor.)

  In her poem the Queen praised the power and virtue of the Emperor, whose military ability subdued all barbarians abroad and whose civil administration at home brought long peace and happiness. It was as follows:

  He presides over wide heaven and sends down sweet rain;

  He rules over the whole creation and gives luster to everything—

  His deep benevolence is matched only by the sun and moon.

  His circulating fortunes turn toward the world of Yao and Shun:

  Brightly his banners flutter, covering the sky, Loudly his gongs and drums ring, filling the earth.

  Foreign barbarians who disobey the Emperor's commands

  Fall to his swords and suffer heavy penalties;

  Love and respect for warm-heartedness under his sway

  Shine on myriads in light and shade.

  Far and near happy people vie in raising voices

  To praise his august virtues.

  The four seasons rotate harmoniously like burning candles; From the high mountain descend his assisting ministers, The Emperor entrusts his administration to loyal vassals. The virtues of the five emperors and three kings in one Radiant body illuminate our T'ang sovereign. (A few notes will be helpful here. The seven lights were the sun and moon and the five planets then known, which were thought to correspond to the five elements which the Chinese believed were the basic materials of the universe. They were fire (Mars), water (Mercury), wood (Jupiter), gold (Venus), and earth (Earth). The “high mountain" referred to is in the Kunlun mountains far to the west, and the line is quoted from the Confucian Classic Book of Odes. Yao and Shun, together with the five emperors and three kings, were legendary rulers of China, whom its people believed had introduced the arts of civilization.)

  One day six of the Queen's distinguished courtiers—Alch'on-gong, Yimjong-gong, Suljong-gong, Horim-gong (father of the famous monk Chajang). Yomjang-gong and Yusin-gong—held a meeting on a giant rock on South Mountain to discuss state affairs. Suddenly a big tiger rushed in among them. The other courtiers shrieked in fear, but Alch'on-gong only laughed. He seized the tiger by the tail, swung it against a rock and dashed out its brains.

  In respect for his great strength and courage the courtiers offered Alch'on-gong the presiding seat at their meeting, but they admired most the majestic air and wise strategy of Yusin-gong. (This last was quite possibly the famous Kim Yu-sin, who comes next. “Gong” was evidently a title of rank.)

  Silla had four sacred places where state ministers held councils on national issues to insure success (i.e. the sacred nature of the places insured success). These were Ch'ongsong Mountain in the east, Kaeji Mountain in the south, P'ijon in the west and Kumgang Mountain in the north. During the reign of Queen Chindok the first royal audience was given on New Year's Day. The title of Sirang was first conferred on high dignitaries during her reign.

  . (Some Korean historians hold that these council meetings were a survival of the meetings of clan leaders that preceded the formation of the monarchical government. They ceased after the unification.)

  33. Kim Yu-sin

  (Kim Yu-sin was a close relative of the royal family and a famous general. It was mostly under his direction that the kingdoms of Paekje and Koguryo were conquered in cooperation with forces from T'ang China and the peninsula unified under Silla rule.)

  In the seventeenth year of King Chinp'yong, even in the year of Ulmyo (595) Kim Yu-sin was born to the royal Kim family of Sohyon-Kakkan, the son of Horyok-I Kan. (These last are evidently titles.) Seven star-crests were seen on the baby's back. His younger brother was Hum-sun and his two younger sisters were Po-hui (Ahae) and Mun-hui (Aji).

  From his childhood he was admired by all who knew him for his wonderful deeds, and they called him the seven-star general. At the age of eighteen he mastered the art of swordsmanship and became a Hwarang (the patriotic youth organization mentioned earlier)
.20

  Now among the Hwarang there was a doubtful character named Paek-sok (White Stone) who had mingled with them for many years, though nobody knew his origin. He knew that Yu-sin was making plans day and night to conquer Koguryo and Paekje. One night he whispered secretly to Yu-sin, “My comrade, we must spy out the enemy's true strength before we go to attack him.”

  Yu-sin gladly agreed, and soon thereafter they set out on their journey. One day as they paused on a mountain-top to rest, two girls appeared from the forest and followed after Yu-sin. When they arrived at the village of Kolhwach'on to put up for the night, a third girl appeared, and all three, in a most engaging manner, presented delicious cakes for Yu-sin to eat. (Paek-sok was presumably somewhere else and knew nothing of this.) Yu-sin was transported with joy and immediately fell in love with the three of them.

  “My beautiful ladies,” he said, “you are three laughing flowers and I am a humming bee. Will you suffer me to suck honey from your golden hearts the whole night?”

  “Yes,” they replied coyly, “we understand. Come to the forest with us and there we shall have our pleasure in beds of fragrant flowers, unseen and unheard by the other boy.”

  So Yu-sin went into the forest with the three girls, but as soon as they arrived the girls changed into noble goddesses. “We are no laughing flowers or nymphs,” they told Yu-sin, “but three goddesses who guard the three sacred mountains—Naerim, Hyollye and Kolhwa. We have come to warn you that you are being lured by an enemy spy. Be on your guard! Farewell!” And with these words the three goddesses rose into the sky and flew away.

  Yu-sin prostrated himself in amazement and gratitude before the departing goddesses and then returned to his tavern in Kolhwa-kwan where Paek-sok was fast asleep. Early next morning Yu-sin awakened him and said, “Look! We started on a long journey to a foreign country in such a hurry that I forgot my purse, and left it at home. Let's go back and get it before proceeding any farther.”

  Paek-sok suspected nothing, and they returned to Kyongju, where Yu-sin immediately had him arrested and bound hand and foot. “Fellow!” he roared, “drop your Hwarang disguise and confess the truth!”

  Completely cowed, Paek-sok confessed. “I am a man of Koguryo. The officials of my king's court believe that Kim Yu-sin of Silla is the reincarnation of Ch'u-nam, a renowned fortune-teller in my country.

  “Listen! On the frontier between Silla and Koguryo there is a river that flows backwards. So King Pojang (642-668) called Ch'u-nam to the inner palace and said to him, 'Look here! Why does the water of this river flow backwards, upside down and inside out? Why do they call it Ungja-su (male and female water) while all other streams are called Jaung-su (female and male water)? Can you tell me whether this has any unusual significance?'

  “'Your Majesty,' replied the soothsayer, 'the Queen acts against the natural course of urn (yin) and yang, and the abnormal situation in the royal bed-chamber is reflected on the mirror-like surface of the river.'”

  (This is in reference to yin and yang, the male and female principles whose interrelations are the basis of all natural processes in Chinese philosophy. Ch'u-nam is implying that the Queen is the real ruler and not the King, an evil situation from the contemporary point of view.)

  “'I am perplexed with shame,' the King said.

  “The Queen was angry. 'He talks nonsense,' she said. 'This is a disloyal libel by a cunning fox to undermine the Queen's position.'

  “'I have told the truth, Your Majesty,' said Ch'u-nam. “What is done in the shade is brought into the light by my magic art.”

  “O King,' said the Queen, 'if he knows everything let him answer one more question, and if he is wrong let him suffer a heavy penalty.' She retired to her inner chamber and returned with a box in which she had concealed a large rat.

  “'What is in the box?' the King asked.

  “'A rat,' said Ch'u-nam.

  “'How many rats?' asked the Queen.

  “'Eight.'

  “'Your answer is wrong,' the Queen said triumphantly, 'and you shall die.'

  “'When I am dead,' said Ch'u-nam, 'I shall be reborn as a great general who will destroy Koguryo.'

  “So they cut off Ch'u-nam's head. But when they slit open the belly of the rat they found seven unborn rats in it. Then everyone in the palace knew that Ch'u-nam had told the truth. On that very night King Pojang had a dream in which he saw the spirit of Ch'u-nam enter the bosom of the wife of Sohyon-gong (Kim Yu-sin's father) in Silla. The King awoke in astonishment and discussed the matter with his courtiers. They remembered Ch'u-nam's vow and sent me to take you to Koguryo. So here I am.”

  Yu-sin put the Koguryo spy to the sword and offered sacrifices of a hundred delicacies to the three goddesses who had saved his life.

  When Yu-sin's wife Lady Chaemae died, they buried her in the upper valley of Ch'ongyon (Blue Pool), which has been known as Chaemae Valley ever since. Every spring when the birds and flowers returned the royal Kim clan used to gather on the bank of a stream in a pine forest there to feast and do honor to her spirit. They also erected a small temple there called Songhwa-bang (Pine-Flower Hermitage) dedicated to her.

  During the reign of King Kyongmyong the fifty-fourth sovereign (917-924), the King conferred on Yu-sin the posthumous title of Hungmu-Taewang (Great King of Mars). His tomb now stands on a mountain peak, facing east, to the northeast of Moji Temple on the West Mountain.

  34. T'aejong Ch'unch'u-gong (King Muryol. 654-661)

  The twenty-ninth ruler of Silla was Kim Ch'un-ch'u, known as T'aejong the Great. His father was Yongsu-kakkan, his mother was Lady Ch'onmyong, a daughter of King Chinp'yong, and his Queen was Munmyong-hwanghu, Mun-hui, the youngest sister of Kim Yu-sin.

  One night Mun-hui's sister Po-hui had a dream in which she climbed up So-ak Mountain and urinated, and the stream of water from her body rolled down in cataracts and inundated the whole city of Kyongju. In the morning she told her sister about it.

  “That is very interesting,” said Mun-hui, “I will buy your dream.”

  “What will you give me for it?” Po-hui asked.

  “I will give you my skirt of embroidered brocade.”

  “Very well, I agree.”

  Mun-hui spread her skirt and said, “I am ready to catch your

  dream.”

  “Fine!” laughed Po-hui. “I give you my dream of last night.” Mun-hui smiled. “Thank you, sister. Here is my skirt. Wear it and you will look more beautiful.”

  Ten days later while Yu-sin and Ch'un-ch'u were playing ball on the Festival of the Crow (see above. “The shooting of the harp-case"), he accidentally stepped on a ribbon which was trailing from Ch'un-ch'u's jacket and tore it off. “I am sorry, “said Yu-sin. “Come with me to my house and we will have your ribbon sewn back on.”

  “Don't worry about it,” said Ch'unch'u, and the two youths went off to the ladies' quarters. Yu-sin called to Po-hui to come and sew on the ribbon, but she was too shy and said it would be improper for her to be with a young man. Then he called to Mun-hui, and she came and sewed on the ribbon, blushing deeply all the while. Ch'unch'u fell in love with her on the spot and from then on visited her day and night.

  Somewhat later Yu-sin discovered that Mun-hui was pregnant, He was furious and immediately began preparations to have her burned to death as an example to all immoral women.

  That day when Queen Sondok went up South Mountain for a picnic she noticed flames and smoke rising to the sky. Upon inquiring of her attendants, she learned that Yu-sin was about to burn his sister to death because an illicit love affair had resulted in her pregnancy. The Queen looked around and noticed that Ch'un-ch'u was as pale as death.

  “So it was you!” she said. “Go quickly and save the girl!” Ch'unch'u leaped on his horse and galloped quickly to Yu-sin's house, shouting, “Queen's order! Queen's order! Do not put her to death!” And so Mun-hui was saved.

  A few days later Ch'un-ch'u and Mun-hui were formally married.

  Following the death of Queen
Chindok he was elevated to the throne in the fifth year of T'ang Kao-tsung (654) and ruled eight years, dying at the age of fifty-nine. They buried him near Aegong Temple and erected a magnificent stone monument with beautiful carvings on it which is known as Muryol-wang-nung (the Tomb of King Muryol).

  Because this king succeeded in conquering and adding to Silla the three Han territories (Mahan, Chinhan and Pyonhan, in the south) with the assistance of Kim Yu-sin, one of the most valiant and skillful generals Korea had ever produced, he was given the posthumous title T'aejong (T'ai-tsung in Chinese), which means “grand ancestor” (and was customarily given to the second ruler in a dynasty; Ilyon is pointing out that it was an exceptional mark of honor to award this title to Ch'un-ch'u.)

  His six sons, the princes Popmin, Inmun, Munwang, Notan, Chigyong and Kaewon, were all born of Mun-hui, who thus fulfilled her sister's dream, flooding the capital with the issue of her body. In addition she brought up eight children (three boys and five girls) born to the King of concubines and court ladies.

  As for meals, the King ate three bushels of rice and nine pheasants a day. After the conquest of Paekje in 660 he stopped eating lunch, but his daily food amounted to six bushels of rice, six bushels (?) of wine and ten pheasants. During his reign one roll (40 yards) of cotton cloth could be bartered for thirty to fifty large bags of rice, and all the people praised his benevolent rule. (It is unlikely that the King alone consumed such quantities of food. Probably the daily supplies of his court are intended here.)

  While he was crown prince he visited Changan, the capital of T'ang China, to ask for military aid in his coming conquest of Koguryo. The Emperor admired his majestic deportment and invited him to stay at the Chinese court, but he excused himself and returned to Silla.

  In those days the eldest son of King Mu of Paekje (600-641) was praised for his moral integrity and military valor. But no sooner had he ascended the throne, in the fifteenth year of T'ang T'ai-tsung (641) than he gave himself up to drink and debauchery and forsook the demanding duties of government. A loyal vassal, Song Ch'ung called Chwap'yong (this is an official title for Minister of State) remonstrated with the King, warning him of the imminence of foreign attack, for which patriotic action he was thrown into prison, where he died after sending a memorial to the throne advising the fortification of the mouth of the Paek-Kang (White River now Kum-gang) at Kibolp'o (Now Changhang) against the coming of a Chinese fleet and the strengthening of fortifications at T'anhyon (Charcoal Pass) along the border with Silla, but the dissolute King Uija paid no heed to this prophetic advice.