Chapter III.
Consternation upon the accession of Prince Yŭn-san.... his character.... avenges his mother’s disgrace.... reign of terror.... concubines of former King killed.... sporting proclivities.... noble women dishonored.... carnival of crime.... plot against the King.... prisons opened.... King banished.... royal proclamation.... a sad parting.... abuses corrected.... revolt of Japanese residents in the south.... diplomatic relations with Japan severed.... reforms.... money for army made from Buddhist image.... literature.... mistake in a Chinese history.... puritan simplicity.... color of clothes.... military activity.... Japanese pirates captured.... the first compass.... caste.... a Korean-Chinese dictionary.... an extreme Confucianist.... a dangerous regency.... evil advisers.... good men murdered.... Japanese return to the southern ports ... omens ... a Buddhist regent.... conscription.... invasions north and south.... signal victory over the Japanese.... rebellion.
It was in 1494 that Korea had the misfortune to come under the baneful rule of Prince Yŭn-san. As we have seen, he was the son of the discarded Queen. He inherited her evil disposition and he had sworn to her that he would avenge the stigma that had been cast upon her name. He was twenty years old when the load of empire was placed upon his unworthy shoulders.
No sooner had his accession been ratified by the Emperor than the Prime Minister resigned his position and hastened away to his country home. When asked his reason for such precipitation he replied, “Look at the pupil of his eye; with such a King it is difficult to keep the head on the shoulders. So I have come to the country.” Many tales are told illustrative of his character. Some time before the last King’s death, while he was walking in the palace grounds with his son, a tame deer had come and rubbed its nose on his arm. The youth in wanton cruelty had brutally kicked the animal and was sharply reprimanded for it by his father. Now that he had become King he sent for the harmless beast and drove a spear through it with his own hand. Beholding this vindictive act, and rightly gauging the evil mind that lay behind it, a high official, Pak Yŏng, immediately left the court and retired to the country. The next act of this King was to behead his old tutor, Cho Chi-sŭ, whom he had learned to hate when a boy, because the faithful instructor had tried to curb his wild excesses.
The year 1496 began with a demand for more revenue from Chŭl-la Province, and a consequent remeasurement of the land under cultivation. It is said that his mother, dying, had left a napkin, dyed with her blood, and had said, “When my son becomes King, give this to him and tell him not to forget his vow to avenge my death.” In pursuance of this injunction the young King now gathered together all the men in any way connected with the banishment and death of his mother, all those who recorded the facts, all the messengers who carried the hateful commands. In all there were several hundred people. These he decapitated and dismembered. He also dug up the bodies of those who had been implicated but had died in the interval, broke their bones in pieces and flung them into the river or ground them to powder and scattered them to the winds. The King wanted to have his mother’s picture hung in the ancestral temple and when he proposed it all the officials assented to it but three, who said. “She was a criminal and died a felon’s death; her picture cannot hang in the ancestral hall.” The King in a rage ordered their instant execution. Their families like wise perished and their houses were razed to the ground.
We have seen that Kim Chong-jik, the Prime Minister, had fled to the country. His enemies now accused him to the King asserting that he had said that, as King Se-jo had killed King Tan-jong, how could the son of the former become King. This story was believed and Kim and many of his friends were seized and beheaded. This was the signal for an exodus of the better class of the people from the city. The schools were all closed and a deadly silence reigned for the most part. No one knew who was to be taken next. As the years passed the reign of terror did not abate. Debauchery, oppression and theft were the daily practices of the court and the people were ground to the very lowest point. So much so, in fact, that in 1504 the people printed placards in the native character declaring the baseness of the King, and posted them throughout the city. “These must be the friends of the people whom I have banished” said the King. So he brought them back from exile and beheaded, poisoned or beat them all to death. The people of the eight provinces besought the King to do away with the native script which had brought such disaster.
Two concubines of the deceased King were still living and when they were accused to the King of having brought about his mother’s death, he sent for them and killed them on the spot. For this he was blamed by the widow of the dead King; so the wretch went into her apartments, ran at her and butted her with his head, knocking her to the ground. She said they might kill her if they wished; she did not care. Having stolen the beautiful wife of Whang Yun-hŭn the King could not induce her to smile upon him. So he said, “It is because her husband is still living.” He therefore sent and had the man killed.
The King placed dancing girls in all the 369 prefectures of the country and reserved three hundred of the fairest for the palace. For these he built sumptuous pavilions and a hospital for their treatment when ill. A special office was erected for the care of the dogs, falcons, nets and other instruments of the chase. The royal stables were in Chong-dong where the United States Legation now stands. Agents were sent into all the provinces to hunt for fair women and swift horses. Others were sent to wring from the people special taxes. The King thought the officials were blaming him behind his back, so he gave each of them a wooden tag on which was written, “The mouth is the avenue to misery. The tongue is a sword which may pierce the body. Watch the mouth and guard well the tongue; so shalt thou dwell in safety.” He changed the Confucian temple into a play-house, drove out all the students from the dormitories and put diviners and sorceresses in their places. When his grandmother died he did not assume mourning, but as two of the officials dared to do so he killed them. He wiped out the three districts of Ko-yang, P‘a-ju and Yang-ju to make a hunting ground and forbade anyone to settle there. Those who disobeyed were killed. This hunting park was then stocked with all manner of wild beasts. He stole the people’s boats to use in sport on the palace ponds and restricted the people to the use of a single ferry-boat on the river. This lessened the traffic to such an extent that the people of Seoul suffered severely and many inn-keepers were ruined. An aged eunuch remonstrated, but the King caught up a bow and shot him through. He taxed the people of the south a bolt of cotton a head, and they paid it only by taking the cotton out of their clothes and weaving it. He invited the wives of the courtiers to a feast and had each of them wear upon the breast the name of her husband. Of these he dishonored whom he would and gave the husbands official position. His uncle’s wife was enticed into his net, in consequence of which she committed suicide.
Such were a few of the acts of this depraved monarch. We need not multiply details of his execrable career. It was one long carnival of murder, lust and oppression. The people were simply the instrument by which the spendthrift King could fill his coffers.
It was in the twelfth year of his reign, 1506, that the people were brought to the limit of their patience. Three men. Song Heui-an, Pak Wŭn-jong and Yu Sun-jong, conferred together and agreed that unless there was a change the destruction of the kingdom was inevitable. They determined to drive the corrupt King from the throne and put in his place Prince Chin-sŭng, the second son of King Song-jong. One dark night they met at the Hun-yŭn-wŭn, near the East Gate, with a number of others who had been let into the dangerous secret. Not a light was to be seen, and they prepared to act. With a small band of picked soldiers whom they knew to be faithful they formed a line in front of the palace. The two Prime Ministers came out and joined them and soon a crowd of people gathered. Powerful men with iron bars soon forced an entrance and six of the King’s favorites were seized and beheaded. As a next move the prisons were all opened and crowds of innocent people were liberated. They thirsted for revenge and, finding weapons as best they could, joined the revolutionists. It soon appeared that there was to be no resistance for even the King’s friends were aghast at his enormities. The revolutionists proceeded to the Kyöng-bok Palace where the King’s step-mother lived, the one whom he had treated so brutally, and said to her, “The King is a wild debauchee. The people are scattered. The ancestral temple has been desecrated. The people desire to make your son King.” She modestly replied, “How can my son become King? The King’s son is old enough to assume the crown.” At this there was a general cry of dissent and all demanded that she comply and let her son become King. At last she consented and the youth was brought out. The assembled multitude bowed before him and swore fealty to him. They then crowned him and brought him to the palace. The deposed King was banished with his son to Kyo-dong Island. The honorary posthumous title was never conferred upon him but he is known as Yŭn-san-ju, or “Lord of Yŭn-san.”
Throughout the country there was universal holiday. The first proclamation of this new King who is known by his posthumous title Chung-jong Kong-eui Tă-wang, gave the keynote of his reign. “The most important thing in any country is the common people. If the people prosper the country prospers, if they suffer the country suffers. The late King was cruel and lawless, and so by the people’s will I have become King. I have ordered the discontinuance of the evil customs that have prevailed and I shall do all in my power for the people. Let everyone rejoice.”
But a sad event marred the happiness of the new King. His queen’s father had been on intimate terms with the deposed King and had been killed upon the day of his banishment. The officials therefore insisted that the Queen be put away and that another be selected. She was innocent of any crime, and the King said, “She is the wife of my youth and I cannot[cannot] put her away.” But they insisted until finally he was forced to comply and he tearfully parted from her.
One of his first acts was to do away with the “Dog and Falcon Bureau” which had in charge the implements of the chase. He abolished the “Woman Bureau” which looked after the procuring of concubines for the King. He gave back to their owners many houses that they had been despoiled of. He revived the law by which a written report of the proceedings of the criminal court should be submitted to him every ten days.
Years before this in the days of King Sŭ-jong Japanese had been permitted to settle in the three harbors, namely Ch’e-p’o, Yum-p’o[Ch’e-p’o, Yum-p’o] and Pu-san-p’o. They were now having a difficult time. The prefects were oppressing them sadly, forcing them to work without wages and stealing their fish or game. This they could not endure; so two of their number, Ko-jo-mo and Ko-su-jang passed over to the islands of Tsushima and raised an expedition against the oppressive prefects. Two hundred boat loads of them crossed the straits and fell upon Fusan, killed its prefect, attacked Ch’è[Ch’è] Harbor and took its prefect alive. They carried fire and sword into all that region. They ravaged the prefectures of Ung-ch’ŭn and Tong-nă. The King sent a strong force by land and sea who cut off the retreat of the invaders and then attacked them. Three thousand were soon put hors de combat and many hundreds were chased into the sea where they were drowned. From this time, 1512, until 1572 diplomatic relations with Japan were practically suspended, though an occasional envoy came. A small number of Japanese boats were however allowed to come to the three harbors for the purpose of trade. Access to the court was strictly denied them.
King Chung-jong was as active in matters of reform as had been his father or grandfather. He put an end to the cruel custom of houghing robbers. He limited the number of blows that could be administered in the cross-examination of criminals. He published 2940 volumes of the Sam-gang-hăng-sil and circulated them among the people as well as another work on filial piety. He made a foundling asylum, or at least made provision for the support of abandoned children. The custom of punishing by striking the legs with short, thick clubs was done away, for this process was almost sure to shatter the bone.
In the seventh year of his reign, 1512, he turned his attention to the army and sent out an edict that arms should all be put in good order and should be ready for use at an instant’s warning. We are not told whether this was because of any expedition that he was contemplating or any hostile invasion that he feared. Whichever it was it was unrealized, for the army under his rule engaged in no offensive or defensive warfare. It was probably with a view simply of carrying out the policy so wisely begun by his ancestors of keeping the army in good order. He sent down to the town of Kyöng-ju in the province of Kyŭng-sang, which had once been the site of the capital of Sil-la, and brought up a great copper Buddha and broke it up in order to use the metal in making new arms for the soldiers. It was the common belief that if anyone prayed to this image barrenness might be cured. The people cried out against its being broken up, but the King said “Do not fear. I will take the blame.” Nothing could show us more clearly the position that Buddhism held at this time. It had reached its low water mark in Korea, and while it can scarcely be said to have strengthened its position up to the present time, it is very doubtful whether an emergency could arise so great as to induce a King of Korea in these days to break up an image of Buddha.
The reign of this king was marked by severe disturbances at different times. In his thirteenth year, 1518, there were severe earthquake shocks extending over a period of four days and causing much loss of life and property.
During his reign literature was on the increase. He ordered the publication of various books and established a headquarters for books at Seoul, a sort of central depot or depository. The only relations that he had with outside countries was the reception of a Japanese envoy who brought a gift of mirrors. They were considered very valuable.
In 1518 a historical work came from China in which it was asserted that king T’ă-jo was not the son of Whang-jo but of Yi Im-in, a traitor, and that he had founded the new kingdom as a result of treachery. The king sent an envoy immediately to the court of China asking that the mistake be corrected. The Emperor replied that it would be done in the next edition.
The king’s teacher, Cho Kwang-jo, called “The Confucius of Korea,” told his master that Buddhism and sorcery were alike useless and urged him to do away with the headquarters of the diviners and sorcerers. It was done and the teacher was given the title of “Guardian of Public Morals.” We are told that this reign was the golden age of Korean morals. The people revolting from the excesses of the deposed king took on a puritan simplicity. Men and women walked on opposite sides of the street. If any article was dropped in the road no one would touch it, but would leave it for the owner to recover. No one had to lock his doors at night. When the wild Ya-in of the north ravaged the border and one advised that a force be sent disguised as laborers to chastise them, the king decided that it was beneath his dignity to have recourse to trickery, and so sent the troops openly. The important decennial examination called the Hyŭn-yang-gwa was now established.
At this time white clothes were not largely worn. That custom did not come in till about 1800. Blue, red and black predominated. The king now established the custom of wearing very light blue at the time of ancestral worship.
This reign saw some notable advances along certain lines. Bows were made which were shot by putting the feet against the bow and drawing the string with both hands. They were to be used by women in defending walls while the men might be away. A small powerful bow was made which shot metal arrows called “needle arrows.” They carried four times as far as the ordinary bow, and an arrow from one of them would penetrate three men. A kind of bomb was also invented. It was probably projected from a catapult of some kind. A spring trap was made whose arrow weighed a[a] hundred and twenty pounds.
In 1521 a Japanese So I-jön sent an envoy named Song-gong Pu-su-choa with a curious gift of three stones that resembled mirrors. The king, however, declined to accept them. The following year a Japanese named Teung Wŭn-jung went to the Chinese district of Yŭng-p’a and ravaged, and on his way home landed with his booty on the coast of Whang-hă Province in Korea. He was there captured by a Korean and his whole company were sent to China much to the delight of the Emperor.
In 1524 P‘yŭng-yang was decimated by the cholera. It is said that there were 7700 deaths. The following year the envoy to Nanking, Yi Sun, brought back with him the first compass ever seen in Korea. In 1532 a royal concubine desired to have her son become king instead of the Crown Prince. In order to accomplish the destruction of the latter she took a dead rat, wrote his name on its belly and put it under the Prince’s room. This is a common way of attempting to do an enemy to death by witchery. She was discovered in the act and she and her son were put to death. Some three years later a great mock naval battle was fought on the river and the king went out and witnessed it.
The year 1536 beheld an important event in the bringing of the official history of the dynasty up to date. In the next year an important law was made, the one which commanded that the people of the upper class should be distinguished from the lower class by a difference in the clothes. Heretofore the style had been the same for both classes, but from this time on the lower class was not allowed to wear the long flowing sleeves which until recent years have distinguished the Korean gentleman.
In 1541 Chu Se-bung a noted scholar of Kyŭng-sang Province founded a school at P‘ung-geui in honor of a noted sage An Yu who had lived there during the Koryŭ dynasty. In digging the foundations he had found a bar of copper of three hundred pounds weight. With the profits of the sale he bought books for the school library.
The last recorded act of this monarch casts into the shade all his other work and tells us more by implication about the condition of the people than any other words could do. That act was the making of the Ok-pyŭn or Korean-Chinese dictionary, arranged in the order of the Chinese radicals. This important publication shows first a great advance all along the line of literature. The demand for such a work argues a constant pressure along literary lines that finally made it an absolute necessity. In the second place it showed that the native character, whatever may be said to the contrary, had taken a firm hold upon the people and had begun to bring forth substantial fruit. A standard for transliterating Chinese characters was demanded and the demand could have sprung from nothing less than a large and constant use of the native character. The publication of this work marks an era in the literary life of the peninsula. It fixed the native character firmly upon the people and made it a factor that can neither be ignored nor evaded. The Chinese character is still a favorite in Korea but it will go out before the native phonetic character as surely as the Latin tongue went out from England before the English.
It was in 1544 that King Chung-jong closed his long and eventful career. Forty years upon the throne had seen the country lifted out of the mire into which it had been trodden by his predecessor, and brought to the highest point of morals, of literature and of general culture that it has ever reached. He was succeeded by his son Yi-ho who is known by his posthumous[posthumous] title In-jong Yŭng-jŭng Tă-wang.
The career of this monarch affords another illustration of what Confucianism in its extremer moods can do. When his father died he fasted six days and became so weak that he could hardly stand even with the aid of a staff. He continued to refuse sufficient food and mourned continually for his father. He would sit on the bare ground all night long even in winter, asking Heaven to kill him or else give him back his father. He refused medicine saying that his trouble was one that drugs could not reach. Seeing that his end was approaching he asked that his half brother Prince Kyön-wŭn be made king after him. When he died the whole land resounded with wailing. It is said that in a single day the news travelled by the sound of wailing caught up from village to village, even to the limits of the kingdom. The new king is called Myŭng-jong Kong-hön Tă-wang.
This king at his accession was a lad twelve years old and consequently the regency devolved upon his mother. This was most unfortunate for she was a wholly unscrupulous woman and ere the king was old enough to assume the duties of his high office inflicted serious injuries upon the state. She had a brother, Yun Wŭn-hyŭng, who was her equal in daring and intrigue. Yun Im the uncle of the deceased king In-jong was holding office at this time. He was a faithful and honest man. Being the brother of the late king’s mother he formed a natural as well as moral antithesis to the brother of the new king’s mother. Yun Wŭn-hyŭng had a younger brother Yun Wŭn-no who was his equal in chicanery. They could not but be enemies and so the elder banished the younger to Hă-nam in the south.
From the time when King Chung-jong died the two rival leaders Yun Wŭn-hyŭng and Yun Im, the trickster and the statesman, had been wooing fortune for the premiership. The people called Yun Im the “Big Yun” and Yun Wŭn-hyŭng the “Little Yun.” The people are not seldom the best judges of their rulers. During the short reign of King In-jong the friends of Yun Im had been in power and they had sedulously kept all evil-minded men, including Yun Wŭn-hyŭng, out of office. For this reason it was that when the latter came into power he found himself at the head of a crowd of malcontents who thirsted first for the sweets of office and secondly for the sweets of revenge. Before King In-jong died “Little Yun” had poisoned the mind of the incoming king’s mother against “Big Yun” by asserting that he and his friends were conspiring to prevent the accession of her son. The Queen Mother, as soon as she came to the regency sent word to “Little Yun” to put “Big Yun” and his associates to death. He called the Chief of Police and gave orders to that effect but that careful individual said that the men he was ordered to kill were honest men and that he would have nothing to do with it. “Little Yun” then sought audience with the boy king and urged the matter, the Queen Mother adding her voice to his arguments. The courtiers said that it was mere hearsay[hearsay] and so long as the new king had ascended the throne without any attempt at sedition the matter ought to be dropped; whereupon the Queen Mother flew into a passion and screamed, “Do you want my son to sit here and be murdered? I will have those men killed like snakes in the fire.” She then ordered the courtiers to retire, and the bowl of poison was sent to “Big Yun” and his friends. A relative of the king, whom the Regent believed they intended to make king instead of her son, fled to Sŭ-gwang Monastery and hid in a cave behind it, but he was tracked down and seized. They brought him to Seoul and killed him by searing his body all over with red hot irons. “Little Yun” was now the royal favorite, or at least the Regent’s favorite, and the men who had opposed the appointment of himself and his friends to official position were banished right and left or else killed.
We will remember that the Japanese settlers had been driven from the three southern ports during the reign of King Chung-jong. An envoy now came saying that the Japanese settlers were not to blame for that uprising but that it was done by a band of ruffians from the islands, and they asked to be allowed to resume the old friendly relations. Consent was given but on condition that twice a year tribute should be brought to Fusan from Tsushima. The Japanese who headed this embassy was called So-i Jön-sa. This occurred in the year 1548. The same year saw the famous books Kang-mok Chŭn-p‘yŭng and Sok-kang-mok, dealing with Chinese history, and the military works Pal-myŭng Kang-eui, and Mu-gyŭng Ch‘ong-yo copied in Korea and disseminated throughout the country. These are among the best known works in Korea today. The common people execrated the favorite Yun Wŭn-kyŭng and chafed under the regency of the Queen Mother. They went so far as to put out posters stating that “We are ruled by a woman, and her creatures are fattening off the revenues of the land. It means the destruction of the kingdom.” So far from learning a lesson from this, the Regent said, “It is because we did not make thorough work with the followers of ‘Big Yun’.” She therefore seized and killed above seventy more of them, all good and honest men.
It is generally believed that the hardships endured by the people during this reign, because of famines, pestilences and other calamities, were a forerunner of the terrible cataclysm that swept over the land during the following reign, in the great Japanese invasion. These calamities had begun in the very first year of the reign when a pestilence swept the province of Ham-gyŭng. The same year an enormous mass of rock became detached from the side of Sam-gak mountain back of Seoul and fell with such a tremendous crash that it was heard and felt in all the adjoining[adjoining] prefectures. This was followed by disastrous floods in various parts of the country whereby thousands of people perished and vast amounts of property were destroyed. In the city of P‘yŭng-yang alone 720 houses fell and 209 lives were lost.
It was in 1550 that an astronomical instrument[an astronomical instrument] was made, called the Sŭn-gi-ok-hyŭng or “Heaven Measure.” We are not told the exact nature of the instrument, but it implies a considerable degree of intellectual activity and an inclination toward scientific pursuits that is rare in Korea.
The Queen Mother, as seems to have been common with women of high degree in Korea, became a confirmed Buddhist. This tendency became so strong that in 1552 she had a law made requiring government sanction for a man to enter the priesthood, and special examinations were also required. A monk named Po U, an unscrupulous but capable man, exercised immense influence at the palace. The courtiers besought the king to drive him away but as yet the Regent was too strong.
The following year the custom of filling the ranks of the army by conscription was inaugurated. All men over fifteen years of age were supposed to give two or three years’ service. But it was not a success. The military spirit has never been really strong in Korea since the downfall of ancient Ko-kuryŭ. The profession of arms has always been looked down upon as an inferior calling and so long as a living could be gained some other way the army has been shunned. The law of conscription was soon modified so that the payment of a modest sum, three hundred and fifty cash a year, bought exemption from service. Later the sum was raised to 10,000 cash and even to 20,000 in some cases, but this included a large “squeeze” on the part of the officials.
The Queen Mother’s power came to an end in 1554 when the king reached his twenty-first year. From that point matters began to mend. The ex-Regent and her minions lost a large part of their power, but other difficulties came up which took the place of those which were thus overcome. The wild tribe of Kol-gan-bul crossed the northern border and harried the border towns. When sixty of them had been caught and beheaded the remainder retired. A Japanese marauding band, returning from the coast of China laden with booty, landed on the Korean coast and were there captured and sent to Nanking. The next year seventy boat-loads of Japanese landed on the Chul-la coast and killed several prefects but the governor called about him a band of soldiers and routed the invaders. A hundred and twenty Japanese were killed and all their arms were captured.
One of the most signal victories the Koreans ever scored over the pirates occurred in 1556. A thousand or more of these unwelcome neighbors landed at Tal-yang in Chŭl-la Province and besieged the town. Government troops were sent against them but were driven back with great loss. The O-ran, Ma-do and Ka-ri harbor forts were besieged and taken and the towns of Chang-heung and Kang-jin were swept by the remorseless foe. Kim Pin the admiral of Chul-la Province, and the prefect of Kwang-ju were both badly defeated in their attempts to check this hostile advance.
Yi Yun-gyŭng, the prefect of Chŭn-ju raised a force of 2000 men and marched toward the seat of war. An experienced general warned him that he could do nothing but he replied “Then let my head pay the price.” He gave a written promise that if any of his men deserted he would forfeit his life, so great was his confidence in the quality of his soldiers. Pushing rapidly forward he first encountered the Japanese at Hyang-gyo where he threw up breastworks. He was to have been reinforced by his brother but the latter sent, warning him that it was a hopeless case and urging him to retreat. He replied by decapitating the messenger and attacking the enemy single-handed. He warned his men that the first one to retreat would lose his head.
The leader of the Japanese rode a powerful white horse and bore in his hand a yellow flag, and he kept beating his sword against the flagstaff with terrible clamor. Gen. Yi began the attack not by shooting at the Japanese themselves but by shooting fire arrows into their camp and among their baggage. When this was seen to be well ablaze he ordered a charge and singling out the conspicuous Japanese leader soon laid him low with one of the famous “needle arrows.” The enemy was soon in full retreat but their progress was stopped by a high ledge of rocks and there they were brought to bay. It is said that 1800 Japanese perished at this point. This is but another sample of what Korean soldiery can do when properly led. The brilliant young leader was made governor of the province. The Japanese who escaped made their way across the straits into the island of Quelpart, where they demanded arms of the prefect, for they had cast away theirs in their precipitate flight. Instead of complying the prefect attacked them, brandishing an enormous battle-club. The victory was complete and the plain was strewed with the dead bodies of the foe.
When the king heard of these victories he praised the troops and remitted all the revenue from the prefectures where the Japanese had created the disturbance.
A serious rebellion occupied public attention in the year 1563. A butcher of Yang-ju named Im Ko-jung gathered about him a band of desperate highwaymen and began to plunder and burn in that and the neighboring prefectures. Government troops chased them into Ku-wŭl Mountains where they were tracked with difficulty owing to the fact that they wore their shoes reversed in order to deceive their pursuers. But the army surrounded the whole mountain and, gradually working their way up, at last brought the offenders to bay and cut them down.
In 1566 the Queen Mother died, and no sooner was it announced than the monk who had been such a favorite with her was banished to Quelpart and there beaten to death. This done, the officials demanded the death of Yun Wŭn-hyŭng. The King refused to kill his uncle but deprived him of all official position and drove him away from the capital.