Chapter IX.
Attempts to secure aid from China.... divided counsels in Nanking.... an army sent.... a desperate envoy.... Gen. Suk Sŭng’s love for Korea.... the Emperor gives orders for the king’s entertainment.... great Korean victory in the south.... Japanese army of reinforcement defeated and destroyed by Admiral Yi Sun-sin.... Gen. Yi honored.... the back of the invasion broken.... a vainglorious Chinese general.... severely beaten.... the monks begin a Holy War.... a sharp answer.... various Korean forces.... a night adventure.... Japanese reverses in the south.... China awakens.... a grand conference.... a truce.... the time expires.... a celebrated soldier tracked down.... attempt to retake Seoul.... brave defense of Chin-Ju ... the first mortar and bomb ... various Korean attempts ... Korean victory in Ham-gyŭng Province ... another in the south ... Japanese confined almost entirely to P‘yŭng-yang.
The efforts that Korea put forth before she obtained aid from China make an entertaining story, and they show that China delayed it as long as possible and then complied, not so much because she wished to help Korea as because she desired to check the Japanese before they crossed the Ya-lu and began ravaging the fruitful plains of the Liao-tung peninsula. Before the Japanese ever landed in Korea the king had sent an envoy to Nanking telling the Emperor that an invasion was next to certain; and that envoy was still in Nanking. After the king’s flight to the north he sent Min Mong-nyŭng and Yi Tŭk-hyŭng as special envoys to ask aid again. On the arrival of these men with their urgent request there was a great council of war in Nanking. Some of the leading generals said, “There is no need for China to help those wild people. Let them fight it out themselves.” It would appear that the policy by which China disclaimed responsibility for Korea, when such responsibility involved sacrifice, is several centuries old. Other generals said, “No, that will not do. We must send troops and at least guard our own territory from invasion.” But the Chinese General-in-chief, Sŭk Sŭng, said, “We must, without fail, render Korea the assistance for which she asks. We must immediately despatch 2000 troops, and the Emperor must appropriate 2,000,000 cash for their maintenance.” The upshot of it all was that Gen. Nak Sang-ji took a small body of troops and marched eastward to the banks of the Ya-lu where he went into camp without attempting to render the Koreans any assistance.
In the seventh moon the king sent another envoy to Nanking on the same errand but with the same lack of success. Then the king called to him one of his most trusted officials and appointed him envoy to Nanking and said, “The salvation of the kingdom lies in your hands. Go to Nanking and leave no efforts untried whereby the Emperor may be induced to help us.” Charged with this important mission, this envoy Chöng Kon-su hastened to Nanking and, entering the enclosure of the war office, sat in the courtyard for seven days weeping; but the officials all turned a deaf ear to his entreaties, excepting the General-in-chief Sŭk Sŭng. Indignant at the apathy of his colleagues and in spite of the fact that his duty as general-in-chief demanded his presence in Nanking, he arose and said, “If none of you gentlemen will go to the aid of Korea I will go myself.” There were special and personal reasons for this man’s interest in Korea. In years gone by a Korean merchant, while in Nanking, had met in an inn a beautiful slave girl and upon inquiry had discovered that she was of noble family but had sold herself into slavery to obtain money wherewith to deliver her father from prison. The merchant was so touched by the sacrifice which she had made—for it meant the sacrifice of honor itself—that he gave all his patrimony and bought her and set her free. In after years she became the wife of this same Gen. Sŭk Sŭng, and thus it was that he was an ardent admirer of Korea and was determined to see that Korea received aid in her present extremity.
At this point the king sent a message to the prefect of Liao-tung saying, “The Japanese have come as far north as P‘yŭng-yang and I fear I shall have to cross the Ya-lu and take refuge in your district.” This the prefect immediately reported to the Emperor, who answered, “If the king of Korea enters your district, provide him with a fine house, give him food out of the imperial stores, each day four ounces of silver, a pig, a sheep, vermicelli and rice. Give him also an escort of a hundred men and let twenty women be detailed to wait upon him.”
We have now arrived at the threshold of the Chinese counter-invasion which was destined to be one of the main causes of the Japanese retreat, but before entering upon this narrative we must turn again to the south and witness some events which did far more to effect the withdrawal of the Japanese than did the coming of the Chinese armies.
The first of these was the utter defeat of a large body of Japanese who were scouring the province of Chŭl-la. Entering the town of I-ch‘i they were met by such a fierce attack on the part of Whang-jin the prefect of Tong-bok that they turned back and, crossing the Ung-ch‘i Mountain entered the prefecture of Chŭn-ju. Yö Pong-nam, the prefect of Na-ju, and Whang Pŭk, a volunteer general, lay in ambush with a large body of volunteer troops, and succeeded in driving the Japanese back, but the next day the invading host came fiercely to the attack and the Koreans had to give way. The Japanese in their exultation now thought they could go back to I-ch‘i and avenge themselves for their defeat there. Gen. Kwŭn Yŭl and the prefect of Whang-jin heard of this in time to fortify one of the mountain passes. The Japanese attacked in a desperate manner, creeping up the steep mountain sides on their hands and knees, shooting as they advanced. All day long the fight continued and the Japanese were utterly defeated. Their bodies were piled in heaps where they fell and the records say that the ground was covered with one crimson matting of leaves. This was one of the greatest land victories which the Koreans scored against the Japanese. Retreating to the valley with their dead the Japanese made two great heaps of bodies and buried them in trenches, marking the spot with rough monuments of wood. This was probably one of the bodies of troops for which the Japanese in P‘yŭng-yang were waiting, before attempting the invasion of China.
But meanwhile events of far greater importance were occurring farther south, where Admiral Yi Sun-sin with his wonderful “tortoise boat” was watching for Japanese fleets.
It was in the eighth moon that his watchfulness was rewarded and he beheld on the eastern horizon a vast fleet of Japanese boats bringing a hundred thousand men to reinforce the army of invasion and enable it to push on into China.
Admiral Yi and his lieutenant Yi Ok-keui met this powerful fleet in a place called Kyön-nă-ryang among the islands off the southern coast of Chŭl-la Province. The evident intention of the Japanese was to round the southwestern corner of the peninsula and sail up the west coast to P‘yŭng-yang. At first the wily admiral made as if he would betake himself to flight and the Japanese, by giving chase, threw their own line into disorder. When opposite Han-san Island, Admiral Yi suddenly turned his iron-clad about and rammed the nearest of his pursuers, and then engaged the others either singly or by the score, for his craft was impervious to their weapons. His attending fleet followed and completed the work, after he had disabled the enemy’s boats. Seventy-one of the Japanese boats were sunk that day and it is said the very sea was red. But soon a reinforcing fleet came up from An-gol Harbor near Han-san and the Admiral found that his day’s work was not yet done. The attack straightway began and soon the Japanese were in the same plight in which their comrades had been put. Many, seeing how impossible it was to make headway against this iron ship, beached their boats and fled by land; so on that same day forty-eight ships more were burned. The few that escaped during the fight sped eastward toward home. So ended, we may well believe, one of the great naval battles of the world. It may truly be called the Salamis of Korea. It signed the death-warrant of the invasion. It frustrated the great motive of the invasion, the humbling of China; and thenceforth, although the war dragged through many a long year, it was carried on solely with a view to mitigating the disappointment of Hideyoshi—a disappointment that must have been as keen as his thirst for conquest was unquenchable.
When the king heard of these splendid achievements he heaped upon Admiral Yi all the honors in his gift, and even those who hated him for his successes were compelled to join in his praise. Konishi had heard that an army was coming to reinforce him and he wrote an exultant letter to the king saying, “A hundred thousand men are coming to reinforce me. Where will you flee to then?” But before this letter reached its destination there came the news of the crushing defeat in the south. The whole success of the invasion depended upon forming a junction between the army in P‘yŭng-yang and this army of reinforcement, but Admiral Yi shattered the fleet, and the last hope of the invaders perished.
And now at last China bestirred herself and sent Gen. Cho Seung-hun with 5000 troops across the Ya-lu into Korea. This was a man whose vanity was as great as his ignorance of the Japanese. He loudly boasted “Now that I have come, no Japanese will be able to stand before me.” Penetrating as far south as Ka-san he enquired whether the Japanese had fled from P‘yŭng-yang, and being answered in the negative he exclaimed “Heaven is indeed good to keep them there for me.”
Two of the Korean generals ventured to offer him some advice, saying that it was now the rainy season and the roads were very bad, and that it might be well to wait until his army could move with greater ease and with better hopes of success. But he laughed and said, “I once took 3000 men and put to flight 100,000 Mongols. I care no more for these Japanese than I do for mosquitoes or ants.” And so his troops floundered on through the mud until they stood before P‘yŭng-yang on the nineteenth of the eighth moon. And lo! the gates were wide open. The Chinese troops marched straight up through the town to the governor’s residence, firing their guns and calling on the enemy to appear. But not a Japanese was to be seen. When the whole of the Chinese force had entered the city and the streets were full, the Japanese, who lay hidden in every house, poured a sudden and destructive fire into their ranks. The Chinese, huddled together in small companies, were shot down like rabbits. Gen. Sa Yu, the second in command of the Chinese, was killed and the boastful Gen. Cho Seung-hun mounted his horse and fled the city, followed by as many of his soldiers as could extricate themselves. Rain began to fall and the roads were deep with mud. The Japanese followed the fugitives, and the valley was strewed with the bodies of the slain. Out of 5000 men who entered the city only two thousand escaped. Gen. Cho fled two hundred li to An-ju before he stopped. He there gave out that as there had been much rain and the roads were heavy he was at a disadvantage in attacking, and when his second, Gen. Sa Yu, fell he saw that nothing could be done, and so had ordered a retreat. But the Koreans only smiled, for they knew that a sixty mile ride over those roads by a Chinese general meant more than an ordinary retreat. And so he returned to Liaotung, this valiant man, and fearing punishment, averred that “We whipped the Japanese but the Koreans turned against us and we had to fall back.” The Chinese general Yang Sa-heun was sent to investigate this charge but the king denied it and the truth was soon discovered.
And now a new element in this seething caldron of war rose to the surface. It was an independent movement on the part of the Buddhist monks throughout the country. Hyu Chŭng, known throughout the eight provinces as “The great teacher of So-san,” was a man of great natural ability as well as of great learning. His pupils were numbered by the thousands and were found in every province. He called together two thousand of them and appeared before the king at Eui-ju and said, “We are of the common people but we are all the king’s servants and two thousand of us have come to die for Your Majesty.” The king was much pleased by this demonstration of loyalty and made Hyu Chŭng a Priest General, and told him to go into camp at Pŭp-heung Monastery. He did so. and from that point sent out a call to all the monasteries in the land. In Chŭl-la Province was a warrior monk Ch’oe Yŭng, and at Diamond Mountain another named Yu Chŭng. These came with over a thousand followers and went into camp a few miles to the east of P’yŭng-yang. They had no intention of engaging in actual battle but they acted as spies, took charge of the commissariat and made themselves generally useful. During battle they stood behind the troops and shouted encouragement. Yu Chŭng, trusting to his priestly garb, went into P’yŭng-yang to see the Japanese generals. Being ushered into the presence of Kato, who had now joined the main army after his detour into Ham-gyŭng Province, the monk found himself surrounded by flashing weapons. But he was not in the least daunted, and looked about him with a smiling face. Kato addressed him good-naturedly and asked, “What do you consider the greatest treasure in your land?” Without a moment’s hesitation the monk answered “Your head,” which piece of subtle flattery made the Japanese general laugh long and loud.
Besides these there were other movements of a loyal nature throughout the country. At Wha-sun in Chŭl-la Province there was a little band of men under Ch‘oe Kyŭng-whe whose banner represented a falcon in flight. Also in Ch‘ung-ch‘ŭng Province a celebrated scholar Cho Hön collected a large band of men, but his efforts were frustrated by the cowardice and jealousy of the governor of the province who imprisoned the parents of many of his followers and so compelled them to desert.
Yi Wŭn-ik, the governor of P‘yŭng-an Province and Yi Pin, one of the provincial generals, made a fortified camp at Sun-an, sixty li to the west of P‘yŭng-yang. At the same time generals Kim Eung-Sŭ and Pak Myung-hyŭn, with a force of 10,000 men, made a line of fortified camps along the west side of the town of P‘yŭng-yang. Kim Ok-ch‘u with a naval force guarded the ford of the Ta-dong. These forces advanced simultaneously and attacked the Japanese, cutting off all stragglers. Suddenly the Japanese army made a sally from the city and the Koreans were dispersed. When they again rendezvoused at their respective camps it was found that Gen. Kim Eung-sŭ and his troops were nowhere to be found. As it happened he was very near the wall of the town when the sortie occurred and he was cut off from retreat. But in the dusk of approaching night he was not discovered by the Japanese. A story is told of a curious adventure which he had that night. One of the Japanese generals in the town had found a beautiful dancing girl and had compelled her to share his quarters. On this eventful evening she asked him to let her go to the wall and see if she could find some one who would carry a message to her brother. Permission was given and she hastened to the wall and there called softly, “Where is my brother?” Gen. Kim, as we have seen was immediately beneath the wall and he answered, “Who is it that calls?” “Will you not help me escape from the Japanese,” she pleaded. He immediately consented to help her and, taking his life in his hands, he speedily scaled the wall and accompanied her toward the Japanese general’s quarters. Her captor was a terrible creature, so the story goes, who always slept sitting bolt upright at a table with his eyes wide open and holding a long sword in each hand. His face was fiery red. Gen. Kim, conducted by the dancing girl, came upon him unawares and smote off his head at a stroke, but even after the head fell the terrible figure rose and hurled one of the swords with such tremendous force that it struck through one of the house-posts. The Korean general concealed the head beneath his garments and fled, with the girl at his heels. But now for the first time he seemed to become aware of the extreme hazard of his position and fearing that he would not be able to get by the guard, if accompanied by the girl, his gallantry suddenly forsook him and he turned and smote off her head as well. Thus unencumbered he succeeded in making his escape.
We must here digress again to describe the final conflict that put an end to Japanese advances in the province of Chŭl-la. A general. Cho Hön, in company with a monk warrior, Yung Kyu, advanced on the important town of Ch‘ung-ju, then occupied by a strong Japanese garrison. They approached the west gate and stormed it with stones and arrows. In a short time the Japanese were compelled to retire and the Koreans began to swarm into the town, vowing to make a complete slaughter of the hated enemy, but at that moment a severe thunder shower arose and the darkness was intense. So Gen. Cho recalled his troops and encamped outside the gate. That night the Japanese burned their dead and fled out the north gate, and when Gen. Cho led his troops into the city the next day he scored only an empty triumph. He desired to push forward to the place were the king had found refuge, and to that end he advanced as far north as On-yang in Ch‘ung-ch‘ŭng Province: but learning there that a strong body of Japanese had congregated at Yö-san in Chŭl-la Province, he turned back to attack them. He made an arrangement by letter with Kwŭn Yŭl, the provincial general of Chŭl-la, to make a simultaneous attack upon the Japanese position from different sides. But when Gen. Cho arrived before the Japanese camp with his little band of 700 men Gen. Kwŭn was nowhere to be found. The Japanese laughed when they saw this little array and came on to the attack, but were each time driven back. But at last the Koreans had spent all their arrows, it was late in the day and they were fatigued and half famished. Gen. Cho, however, had no thought of retreat and kept urging on his men. If he had at this crisis withdrawn his remaining soldiers, the victory would virtually have been his for the Japanese had lost many more men than he; but he was too stubborn to give an inch. The Japanese came on to a last grand charge. Gen. Cho’s aides advised him to withdraw but he peremptorily refused. At last every weapon was gone and the men fought with their bare fists, falling where they stood. The slain of the Japanese outnumbered those of the Koreans and although they were victorious their victory crippled them. It took the survivors four days to burn their dead and when it was done they broke camp and went southward. The Japanese never regained the ground lost by this retreat and[and] it was a sample of what must occur throughout the peninsula, since Admiral Yi had rendered reinforcement from Japan impossible.
We return now to the north, the real scene of war. In the ninth moon the Chinese general, Sim Yu-gyŭng, whose name will figure largely in these annals from this point on, was sent from China to investigate the condition of affairs in Korea with a view to the sending of a large Chinese force, for by this time China had become alive to the interests at stake, namely her own interests. This general crossed the Ya-lu and came southward by An-ju as far as Sun-an. From that point he sent a communication to the Japanese in P‘yŭng-yang saying, “I have come by order of the Emperor of China to inquire what Korea has done to merit such treatment as this at your hands. You are trampling Korea under foot and we would know why.” The Japanese general, Konishi, answered this by requesting that the Chinese general meet him at Kang-bok Mountain ten li north of P‘yŭng-yang, and have a conference with him. To this Gen. Sim agreed and, taking with him three followers, he repaired to the appointed place. Konishi accompanied by Kuroda and Gensho came to the rendezvous with a great array of soldiers and weapons, Gen. Sim walked into their midst alone, having left his horse outside the enclosure. He immediately addressed them as follows; “I brought with me a million soldiers and left them in camp beyond the Ya-lu. You, Gensho, are a monk. Why do you come to kill and destroy?” Gensho answered, “For many a year Japan has had no dealings with China. We asked from Korea a safe conduct for our envoy to Nanking but it was refused and we were compelled to come and take it by force. What cause have you to blame us for this?” To this Gen. Sim replied, “If you wish to go to China to pay your respects to the Emperor there will be no difficulty at all. I can arrange it without the least trouble,” Konishi said nothing, but handed his sword to Gen. Sim in token of amity and after they had conferred together for some time it was arranged that Gen. Sim go to Nanking and represent that Japan wished to become a vassal of China. Fifty days was agreed upon for the general to make the trip to Nanking and return with the answer, and a truce was called for that time. A line was drawn round P‘yŭng-yang ten li from the wall and the Japanese agreed to stay within that limit while the Koreans promised not to cross that line. Gen. Sim was sent upon his way with every mark of esteem on the part of the Japanese who accompanied him a short distance on the road.
The Japanese lived up to the terms of the truce, never crossing the line once, but the fifty days expired and still Gen. Sim did not appear. They then informed the Koreans that in the twelfth moon their “horses would drink the water of the Ya-lu.”
During these fifty days of truce what was going on in other parts of the peninsula? Cho Ung a soldier of Ch‘ung-ch‘ŭng Province was a man of marvelous skill. With a band of 500 men he succeeded so well in cutting off small foraging bands of Japanese that they were at their wits end to get him put out of the way. One foggy day when the mist was so thick that one could not see his hand before his face the Japanese learned that this dreaded man was on the road. They followed him swiftly and silently and at last got an opportunity to shoot him in the back. He fell from his horse but rose and fled on foot. But they soon overtook him and, having first cut his hands off, they despatched him.
The governor of Kyŭng-geui Province was Sim Tă. He had found asylum in the town of Sang-nyŭng, two hundred li north of Seoul. Having gotten together a considerable body of soldiers he formed the daring plan of wresting Seoul from the hands of the Japanese. For this purpose[purpose] it was necessary that he should have accomplices in that city who should rise at the appointed time and join in the attack. Through treachery or otherwise the Japanese became aware of the plot and sending a strong body of troops to Sang-nyŭng they seized the governor and put him to death.
Gen. Kim Si-min had charge of the defense of the walled town of Chin-ju in Kyŭng-sang Province. The Japanese invested the town with a very large force. Within, the garrison amounted to only three thousand men. These were placed on the walls in the most advantageous manner by Gen. Kim who was specially skilled in the defense of a walled town. All the soldiers were strictly commanded not to fire a single shot until the Japanese were close up to the wall. The Japanese advanced in three divisions, 10,000 strong. A thousand of these were musketeers. The roar of the musketry was deafening but the walls were as silent as if deserted. Not a man was to be seen. On the following day the assault began in earnest. The Japanese discarded the muskets and used fire arrows. Soon all the houses outside the wall were in ashes. Gen. Kim went up into the south gate and there sat and listened to some flute playing with a view to making the Japanese think the defending force was so large as to make solicitude unnecessary. This made the Japanese very careful. They made elaborate preparations for the assault. Cutting down bamboos and pine trees they made ladders about eight feet wide and as high as the wall. They also prepared straw mats to protect their heads from missiles from above. But the defenders had also made careful preparations. They had bundles of straw with little packages of powder fastened in them, to cast down on the attacking party. Piles of stones and kettles of hot water were also in readiness. As the assault might take place at night, planks bristling with nails were thrown over the wall. This proved a wise precaution for in fact the attack was made that very night. It raged fiercely for a time, but so many of the Japanese were lamed by the spikes in the planks and so many were burned by the bundles of straw, that at last they had to withdraw, leaving heaps of dead behind. More than half the attacking force were killed and the rest beat a hasty retreat.
In the ninth moon Gen. Pak Chin of Kyŭng-sang Province took 10,000 soldiers and went to attack the walled town of Kyöng-ju which was held by the Japanese. It is said that he made use of a species of missile called “The Flying Thunderbolt.” It was projected from a kind of mortar made of bell metal and having a bore of some twelve or fourteen inches. The mortar was about eight feet long. The records say that this thing could project itself through the air for a distance of forty paces. It doubtless means that a projectile of some kind could be cast that distance from this mortar. The records go on to say that the “Flying Thunder-bolt” was thrown over the wall of the town and, when the Japanese flocked around it to see what it might be, it exploded with a terrific noise, instantly killing twenty men or more. This struck the Japanese dumb with terror and so worked upon their superstitious natures that they decamped in haste and evacuated the city. The inventor of this weapon was Yi Yang-son, and it is said that the secret of its construction died with him. It appears that we have here the inventor of the mortar and bomb. The length of the gun compared with its calibre, the distance the projectile was carried with the poor powder then in use and the explosion of the shell all point to this as being the first veritable mortar in use in the east if not in the world. It is said that one of these mortars lies today in a storehouse in the fortress of Nam-han.
All through the country the people were rising and arming against the invaders. A list of their leaders will show how widespread was the movement. In the province of Chŭl-la were Generals Kim Ch’ŭn-il, Ko Kyung-myŭng and Ch’oé Kyăng-whe: in Kyŭng sang Province Generals Kwak Chă-o, Kwŭn Eung-su, Kim Myön. Chöng In-hong, Kim Hă, Nyu Wan-gă, Yi Tă-geui and Chang Sa-jin; in Ch’ung-ch’ŭng Province Generals Cho Heun, Yŭng Kyu (monk), Kim Hong-min, Yi San-gyŭm, Cho Tún-gong, Cho Ung and Yi Pong; in Kyŭng-geui Province Generals U Sung-jun, Chăng Suk-ha, Ch’oé Heul, Yi No, Yi San-whi, Nam On-gyŭng, Kim T’ak, Yu Ta-jin, Yi Chil, Hong Kye-nam and Wang Ok; in Ham-gyŭng Province Generals Chöng Nam-bu, and Ko Kyŭng-min; in P’yŭng-an Province Generals Cho Ho-ik and the monk Yu Chŭng. The country was filled with little bands of fifty or a hundred men each, and all were fighting separately. Perhaps it was better so, for it may have prevented jealousies and personal enmities that otherwise would have ruined the whole scheme.
Chöng Mun-bu was the “Military inspector of the north” and it was his business to investigate annually the condition of things in the province of Ham-gyŭng and to superintend the annual fair on the border at Whe-ryŭng in the tenth moon of each year. He was caught by the Japanese on the road and was held captive, but made his escape by night and found a place of hiding in the house of a certain sorceress or fortune-teller in Yong-sŭng. After five days of flight he reached the town of Kyöng-sung where he found the leaders Ch’oé Pa-ch’ŭn and Chi Tal-wŭn at the house of a wealthy patriot Yi Pung-su who had given large sums of money to raise and equip soldiers. The common people entered heartily into the plan and a force of 10,000 men, indifferently armed and drilled, was put into the field. This force surrounded the town of Kil-ju where the Japanese were encamped, and after a desperate fight the Japanese were totally defeated, leaving 600 heads in the hands of the victors. A few days later a similar engagement took place with a like result, sixty more heads being taken.
And so it was throughout the country. The Japanese were being worn away by constant attrition; here a dozen, there a score and yonder a hundred, until the army in P‘yŭng-yang, by no means a large one, was practically all that was left of the Japanese in the peninsula.
Kwŭn Yŭl, the governor of Chŭl-la Province, said to the provincial general, “If you will remain in Yi-hyŭn and guard the province I will take 20,000 men and move northward to the capital.” He advanced as far as Su-wŭn. The Japanese tried to draw him into a general engagement but he avoided it and kept up a geurilla[geurilla] warfare, cutting off large numbers of stragglers from the Japanese camp. By this means he accomplished the important work of opening up a way to the north, which had been closed; so that from now on messengers passed freely from the southern provinces to the king.
Transcriber’s Note
The use of digital editions is greatly enhanced through the use of text search features. That usefulness can be stymied by variations, intentional or not, in spelling. The decision was taken here to attempt to regularize spelling where printer or editorial errors were made, and to a great extent where there seemed to be gratuitous variations.
For errors in the English text, corrections were made where they could be reasonably attributed to the printer or editor, or where the same English word appears as expected elsewhere.
On the other hand, the romanization of Korean words was changing even as this text was being written in the early 20th century. The author notes (p. [iv]) that a system of his own was adopted during the preparation of this text, but a more official system issued by the Royal Asiatic Society was employed later. The result, as he says, is that there are inconsistencies in the spelling of proper names. Since it is impossible to distinquish between printer lapses and this variability, Korean names are given here as they appeared in the text.
Exceptions are made where common names (e.g., ‘Ko-gu-ryŭ’) very occasionally appear without a diacritical mark. These are corrected without further comment. Where the quality of the source text is suspect, the most common version of a given name is used. The system in use seems to solely employ the breve ‘ŭ’, except for the occasional ‘oé’ or ‘ö’. The chapter summaries tend to not use the diacritical marks found in the text.
Another exception is made for the (presumable) misprinting of proper names, which, according to the author’s [Preface], have no hyphen between the patronymic and the following given names, which are hyphenated. Where this rule is violated (e.g., [Keum Su-ro] on p. 51), the hyphen is removed. Where a hyphen occurs at the end of a line, it is retained or removed depending on the preponderance of other instances of the same word.
There is no mention by the author regarding the use of the special characters ʻ and ʼ within Korean names. More modern romanization schemes utilize the apostrophe (ʼ) to indicate aspirated consonants (pʼ, tʼ, kʼ, and Chʼ). In this text, however, though the place-name ‘Pʻyŭng-yang’ can be found much more frequently than ‘Pʼyŭng-yang’, there seems to be no rhyme nor reason to the variations. The former appears most frequently in the first hundred pages, which may imply that it is related to the scheme employed. But both will occasionally appear in different words on the same page. Just the same, every attempt was made to follow the text, using ʻ and ʼ.
The author consistently uses the word ‘geurilla’, where modern usage would have us using ‘guerrilla’ or 'guerilla', and that has been honored here. The author uses ‘allegience’ and ‘allegiance’ interchangeably, and both are retained. ‘Buddhism’ appears twice (pp. 113 & 163) as ‘Budhism’, and has been corrected in both places. The word ‘strategem’ appears as ‘stratagem’ only once, in the description of Chapter XII. The word ‘emissary’ or ‘emissaries’ is misspelled twice, as ‘emmisaries’ and again as ‘emmisary’. Both are noted and retained.
The transition from p. 257 to 258 is corrupted. At the top of p. 258, a passage from mid-paragraph on p. 257 (‘these acts ... coolness to spring up between them.’) is repeated. This has been removed. The final phrase on p. 257 (‘Here, too, he was....’) is not taken up on the following page, which is indicated here with a bracketed ellipsis.
Corrections made to the text appear underlined. The original text can be viewed using a mouseover, as corrected text.
Corrections made to the text appear as links to the table below, or, for punctuation corrections, as a thin underline, e.g. corrected.
Substantive changes are summarized below. It is a lengthy list, so punctuation errors, such as missing full stops or comma/full stop errors, have been corrected with no further notice, except for the underlining just mentioned. The page numbers serve as links back to the correction.
| p. [iii] | than[g] in German. | Removed. |
| p. [v] | by the Tu-man River. [b/B]etween | Replaced. |
| p. [1] | He governed through his three vice-[ger/reg]ents | Transposed. |
| p. [4] | P’ang-o[-/ ]is erected there. | Removed hyphen. |
| p. [4] | and his whole e[n]vironment>. | Added. |
| p. [5] | traditon, is as follows. | Added. |
| p. [5] | the royal dupe, she said[./,] | Replaced. |
| p. [7] | ready communication be[t]ween> its parts. | Added. |
| p. [12] | In 403 the king of Y[u/ŭ]n sent | Replaced. |
| p. [15] | establishes his kin[dg/gd]om | Transposed. |
| p. [20] | the aged men of Pu-y[ü/ŭ] used to say | Replaced. |
| p. [25] | P[y’/’y]ŭng-an and the western part | Transposed. |
| p. [25] | (known also as the Mul-gil[)] | Added. |
| p. [27] | im[m]igration>.... customs | Added. |
| p. [28] | we can easly imagine | Added. |
| p. [30] | making certain kinds of[ of] vow or promises. | Removed. |
| p. [30] | occupying approxima[t]ely the territory | Added. |
| p. [33] | the great northern kingdom of Ko-gu[r-y/-ry]ŭ | Transposed. |
| p. [33] | The founding of Sil[-/ ]la, Ko-gu[r-y/-ry]u | Replaced. Transposed. |
| p. [33] | vicissitudes.... Ko-gu[r-y]/-ry]u.... four Pu-yus | Transposed |
| p. [33] | Chu-mong founds Ko-gu[r-y]/-ry]u.... growth | Transposed. |
| p. [33] | the capital moved.... siiuation si[i/t]uation of | Replaced. |
| p. [34] | great council at Yun-[e/c]hŭn-yang> | Replaced. |
| p. [35] | so the[ ]records | Added. |
| p. [35] | It would also indicate tha[e/t] | Replaced. |
| p. [35] | the little kingdo[n/m] of Sil-la | Replaced. |
| p. [36] | As this was the year, 37 B.C., w[e/h]ich marks | Replaced. |
| p. [36] | in the kingdom of Pu[-]yŭ, it will be | Added. |
| p. [36] | for us to examine b[a/r]iefly | Replaced. |
| p. [37] | Thus was his prayer answered[.]> | Added. |
| p. [39] | probabl[e/y] refers to certain family clans | Replaced. |
| p. [40] | the deceased was exhaus[t]ed in the funeral ceremony. | Added. |
| p. [41] | went sadly home and a | Added. |
| p. [43] | where it remained for two hun[d]red | Added. |
| p. [44] | In the third y[r/e]ar of his reign | Replaced. |
| p. [48] | of compelling a speedy s[e/u]rrender. | Replaced. |
| p. [50] | Ham-ch’ang[,] Sŭng-ju, Ko-ryŭng a[h/n]d Ham-an. | Added. Replaced. |
| p. [51] | One of the[m] was Keum[-/ ]Su-ro | Added. Replaced. |
| p. [51] | became king of Ko-gu-r[y]u | Added. |
| p. [51] | noble lady of Sil-la i[a/s] sent to Japan. | Replaced. |
| p. [51] | traditions of[ of] Ko-gu-ryŭ this ruler professed | Removed. |
| p. [51] | on the one hand and s[ie/ei/zed all the Chinese territory | Transposed. |
| p. [52] | a hopeless struggle [s/a]gainst Păk-je. | Replaced. |
| p. [52] | avarice or [pusilanimity] | sic |
| p. [52] | e[n/m]bellish the legendary lore | Replaced. |
| p. [54] | one of his first acts was to[ a] arrest and put to death | Removed. |
| p. [54] | by opening roads [thro] to the north | sic |
| p. [58] | A courter>, Yu-ryu, offered to go | Added. |
| p. [59] | the weapon and p[l]unged> it into the enemy’s breast. | Added. |
| p. [59] | Two years lat[t]er [b/h]e made a treaty | Added. Replaced. |
| p. [59] | I[t/n] the third year of King Ch’ŭm-hă of Sil-la, 249 A.D. | Replaced. |
| p. [60] | be[ing/gin] at once. | Transposed. |
| p. [63] | Yong-whang, who had succeeded Mo [W/Y]ong-we, | Replaced. |
| p. [63] | Two years lat[t]er the capital was moved northward | Removed. |
| p. [63] | few years lat[t]er by sending his son | Removed. |
| p. [63] | In 344 new complications grew up be[t]ween> Sil-la | Added. |
| p. [64] | th[a/e]n at Nam-han. | Replaced. |
| p. [64] | arrow, but the assault failed | Removed. |
| p. [65] | Three years before this, [I/i]n 372, the Chinese had gained | Replaced. |
| p. [66] | the tenets of this cult through [emissaries] | sic |
| p. [68] | people, with a fine sense of justice, drove [Ch’ăm-nye] | sic |
| p. [69] | so skillful a di[lp/pl]omat that he soon brought | Transposed. |
| p. [69] | Then they tortur[t]ed their remaining victim | Removed. |
| p. [69] | b[e/y] torture. They burned him alive | Replaced. |
| p. [70] | investiture from the Emperor, no[w/r] that the latter | Replaced. |
| p. [71] | When [Pă-gy[ /ŭ]ng] | Replaced. |
| p. [72] | We will remember that Ko-[k/g]u-ryŭ had cultivated friendly | Replace. Removed. |
| p. [73] | asked openly that the Wei Emperor send a[t/n] army | Replaced. |
| p. [73] | cha[rg/gr]in | Transposed. |
| p. [75] | a calf, a colt, a dog[,] a pig and a woman | Added. |
| p. [75] | One of the visitors was Ko-hu[,] one was one was Ko-ch’ŭng[,] but the[ the] | Added. Removed. |
| p. [76] | bearing upon the wel[l]fare of the | Removed. |
| p. [79] | lavend[a/e]r. | Replaced. |
| p. [79] | This came to a climax when she stopp[p/e]d | Replaced. |
| p. [84] | this faithful minister, Hu-jik, [plead] in | sic |
| p. [84] | on one occasi[a/o]n the king impatiently exclaimed | Replaced. |
| p. [84] | the king who had forg[e/o]tten all about his threat | Replaced. |
| p. [84] | her arm and drove [the] away from the palace. | sic her? the girl? |
| p. [87] | the har[d]ihood of the Ko-gu-ryŭ soldiery | Added. |
| p. [88] | Only two courses were ther[e]fore open to an[d] invading army; | Added. Removed. |
| p. [90] | He entered upon a [geurilla] warfare | sic |
| p. [90] | very humble letter [sueing]> for mercy. | sic |
| p. [91] | Chinese covered four hund[er/re]d and fifty li | Transposed. |
| p. [91] | like the [paltroon] that she was | sic |
| p. [92] | u[y/p] as high as the wall of the town | Replaced. |
| p. [95] | specious promises so far mol[l]ified the dislike | Added. |
| p. [95] | [s/t]o secure a rabbit | Replaced. |
| p. [96] | to restore the territory to you.[”] | Added. |
| p. [97] | At the same time a Sil-la [emmissary] | sic |
| p. [97] | had neither the power of the one no[w/r] the peaceful disposition | Replaced. |
| p. [98] | that [was this/this was] an ancient feud with | Words transposed. |
| p. [98] | The Emperor listened to and [profitted] by this advice | sic |
| p. [99] | rest of Ko-gur[-]yŭ | Added. |
| p. [102] | p[er/re]ference of China for her | Transposed. |
| p. [104] | for rebuking him of[ of] his excesses. | Removed. |
| p. [105] | on whose back were writ[t]en> the words | Added. |
| p. [105] | Somewhat mol[l]ified> by this | Added. |
| p. [105] | must be attacked f[l/i]rst; other | Replaced. Added. |
| p. [106] | as they had agree[d] | Added. |
| p. [106] | the whole period of Păk-je rule covered a lapse of[ of] 678 years; | Removed. |
| p. [106] | making the whole dyna[a/s]ty 689 years. | Replaced. |
| p. [106] | dis[a]ffection showed itself on every side | Added. |
| p. [107] | She immed[ia]tately threw | Added. |
| p. [107] | but a remnant of his forces [e/i]ntrenched | Replaced for consistency. |
| p. [110] | who had been left in charge of th[e] Chinese | Added. |
| p. [110] | either money o[f/r] rice. | Replaced. |
| p. [111] | Sin-sŭng was therefore besieged and the st[r]uggle began. | Added. |
| p. [111] | but [t]his men thought otherwise | Removed. |
| p. [113] | disorder.... examinations.... Bud[d]hism | Added. |
| p. [114] | his kingdom would ex[t]end> to the Yalu River | Added. |
| p. [116] | The unfortun[a]te> Kim In-mun | Added. |
| p. [117] | to unite with the Mal[-]gal and Kŭ-ran forces | Added. |
| p. [118] | (1) Ung-ch‘ŭn-ju in the[ the] north, | Removed. |
| p. [119] | It was done in this way[;/:] There is a Chinese character | Replaced. |
| p. [121] | 'manag[a/e]ment [i/o]f Kŭl-gŭl Chung-sŭng. | Replace x 2. |
| p. [121] | the sea turned to b[i/l]ood> | Replaced. |
| p. [122] | as far north as the banks o[t/f] the Ta-dong River | Replaced. |
| p. [123] | of Han-ya[ ]ng (Seoul) | Space removed. |
| p. [124] | The outlying provinces practi[c]ally governed themselves. | Added. |
| p. [124] | of literar[ar]y attainment, | Removed. |
| p. [124] | the exp[id/edi]tion back to the capital | Replaced. |
| p. [127] | prophecy.... Wang-gön doe[t/s] | Replaced. |
| p. [132] | near to the prostrate f[ro/or]m of Wang-gön. | Transposed. |
| p. [132] | When the mock Buddha raised h[a/i]s head and repeated | Replaced. |
| p. [133] | must fall (Kung-ye).[”] | Added. |
| p. [134] | custom of granting a monop[o]ly | Added. |
| p. [137] | Mountain and made a rush down[ down] upon the unsuspecting | Removed. |
| p. [138] | the ravages of Ky[u/ŭ]n-whŭn. | Replaced. |
| p. [143] | ancient city of P‘yŭng-yang be remember[e]d>. | Added. |
| p. [144] | The latter’s posthumous [l/t]itle is Hye-jong. | Replaced. |
| p. [145] | th[o]roughly in the hands of the sac[a/e]rdotal power. | Added. Replaced. |
| p. [146] | The king manumitted ma[n]y of these | Added. |
| p. [156] | was put to Gen. Yi Hyŭn-un he replied[./:] | Replaced. |
| p. [157] | This attempt failing, the conqu[o/e]rors decided | Replaced. |
| p. [160] | and all to no[t] avail, he com[m]anded | Removed. Added. |
| p. [163] | in keeping pace with Bud[d]hism. | Added. |
| p. [163] | two from a five hun[d]red-house | Added. |
| p. [165] | the son of the first son succe[de/ed]s. | Transposed. |
| p. [168] | only by sending a[t/n] abject letter | Replaced. |
| p. [170] | The monk [Tosun] | sic To-sŭn |
| p. [179] | A civil official, returning from China, learned of[ of] | Removed. |
| p. [184] | with the throes through [ ] the country was passing. | sic which? |
| p. [184] | at once how superstitio[n/u]s they were | Replaced. |
| p. [184] | This same reformer [Cho‘e/Ch’oe] Chung-heun, | Replaced. |
| p. [186] | by far the most even[t]ful reign | Added. |
| p. [188] | The s[ei/ie]ge of Kang-dong | Transposed. |
| p. [190] | The envoy who brought this extra[d]ordinary letter | Removed. |
| p. [190] | be[t]ween 1200 and 1400. | Added. |
| p. [194] | of the first Mongol m[a/e]ssenger | Replaced. |
| p. [194] | But Pak Sö the prefect of Ku[-]Ju was an obstinate man | Added. |
| p. [198] | o[n/f] Kang-wha meanwhile | Replaced. |
| p. [199] | who kept to comparatively n[o/a]rrow lines of march. | Replaced. |
| p. [200] | charge of affairs during an[d] interval of four | Removed. |
| p. [201] | sent with instructions [the/to] settle | Replaced. |
| p. [202] | the redoubtable general app[r]oached> the | Added. |
| p. [202] | The commandant laugh[-/ed ]at | Replaced. |
| p. [202] | a portion of the w[e/a]ll, set fire to the buildings | Replaced. |
| p. [202] | I will give him just six day | Added. |
| p. [202] | Mongol forces turned ea[r]stward | Removed. |
| p. [209] | was away on a c[o/a]mpaign against the Sung Empire | Replaced. |
| p. [209] | It was decided to form a regency to[ to] | Removed. |
| p. [226] | entered a Ko[yr/ry]ŭ harbor. | Transposed. |
| p. [229] | the example of his for[e]bears | Added. |
| p. [230] | his daughter-in[-]law | Added. |
| p. [232] | He soon returned to[ to] China | Removed. |
| p. [232] | came to realise that it was Buddhism [w/t]hat had proved | Replaced |
| p. [232] | by priestcraft that [was it/it was] much pleasanter | Words transposed. |
| p. [234] | Meanw[h]ile the king was build[-/ing] | Added. Added. |
| p. [235] | Prince was [exhonerated] and sent back | sic |
| p. [236] | drunk[e]nness, he entered the harem | Added. |
| p. [236] | [humane] pastime. | sic |
| p. [236] | a thing of daily [occurence]. | sic |
| p. [236] | kick that sent him spraw[l]ing on the ground. | Added. |
| p. [246] | desp[a/e]rate stand on a hill | Replaced. |
| p. [252] | This man fought [aways] in front | sic |
| p. [254] | frequent [occurence]. | sic |
| p. [254] | and to co[n]voy the revenue junks, | Added. |
| p. [257] | Here, too, he was [...] | Missing text. |
| p. [258] | Sin[-]don with respect. | Added. |
| p. [258] | he ascribed to his having taken Sin[-]don | Added. |
| p. [261] | which read as follow | Added. |
| p. [263] | the emperor’s gfts and commands | Added. |
| p. [263] | of their Manchu conquer[e/o]rs. | Replaced. |
| p. [263] | more Chinese tha[t/n] the Chinese themselves. | Replaced. |
| p. [268] | to add to the dfficulties of the situation | Added. |
| p. [269] | were carrying fire and sword thr[o]ugh the south | Added. |
| p. [271] | were slaughtered almost to [a] man. | Added. |
| p. [273] | complacency upon the dis | Added. |
| p. [275] | at last tired of the er[r]atic | Added. |
| p. [277] | Gen. Yi [t/T]‘ă-jo was having a lively time | Replaced. |
| p. [280] | rode forth [preceeded] by a host of harlots and concubines | sic |
| p. [283] | Some of these the king s[ie/ei]zed and | Transposed. |
| p. [283] | But Gen. Yi remain[e]d impassive. | Added. |
| p. [283] | r[si/is]ing flood. | Transposed. |
| p. [284] | and so had come thus f[o/a]r north. | Replaced. |
| p. [284] | the march of the rebellous> | Added. |
| p. [284] | encounter our count[r]ymen many will fall. | Added. |
| p. [285] | food and the[m/n] leisurely arose, | Added. |
| p. [287] | He [plead] to be | sic |
| p. [287] | off the stage of histo[r]y>. | Added. |
| p. [291] | Chong Mong-ju real[l]y believed | Added. |
| p. [296] | made it easy for king T‘ă-jo to [smoothe] over the | sic |
| p. [297] | an official more imag[a/i]native than discreet | Replaced. |
| p. [298] | into 3 semi-independent district | Added. |
| p. [299] | should become the[ri/ir] | Transposed. |
| p. [303] | Under his supervision a [clypsehydra] | sic clepshedra |
| p. [307] | govern[n]ment to fifty | Removed. |
| p. [309] | refo[r]ms>.... official history of the land | Added. |
| p. [315] | T[‘]ă-jo> to observe carefully the precept | Added. |
| p. [315] | at one ti[n/m]e he distributed large | Replaced. |
| p. [315] | the soldiers on the northe[r]n border | Added. |
| p. [315] | In his fifth yea[a]r he codified the laws | Removed. |
| p. [318] | d[i/e]finitely adopted and written out | Replaced. |
| p. [318] | nominated to the throne Prince[-]Cha-san | Removed. |
| p. [318] | H[e/is] posthumous title is Sŭng-jong | Replaced. |
| p. [319] | allegiance to [Cho-săn]. | sic |
| p. [319] | were driven from Seoul and [and] forbidden to enter it | Removed. |
| p. [319] | “Five Rules of Conduct[./,]” [H/h]e also built | Replaced. |
| p. [321] | tribe of Yŭ-jin was [harrassing] the people | sic |
| p. [327] | c[o/a]nnot put her away.” | Replaced. |
| p. [327] | Ch’e-p’o[,] Yum-p’o' and Pu-san-p’o. | Added. |
| p. [327] | attacked [Ch’è] Harbor | sic |
| p. [330] | whose arrow weighed a[ a] hundred and twenty pounds | Removed. |
| p. [331] | his posthum[o]us title | Added. |
| p. [333] | it was mere he[re/ar]say | Replaced. |
| p. [334] | felt in all the adjo[ur/i]ning prefectures. | Replaced. |
| p. [334] | It was in 1550 that an[d] astronomical inst[r]ument | Removed. Added. |
| p. [339] | “The Young Men’s P[a]rty>,” | Added. |
| p. [340] | army on the b[ro/or]der. | Transposed. |
| p. [343] | inability to hold the[ the] Japanese | Removed. |
| p. [344] | he could not do without finding a field[ a field] | Removed. |
| p. [344] | It is well known that the govern[n/m]ent of Japan | Replaced. |
| p. [344] | and from this po[u/i]nt of vantage killed | Replaced. |
| p. [344] | send an[d] envoy to Japan. The only no[r/t]ice taken | Removed. Replaced. |
| p. [344] | W[h]en> Yasuhiro placed this missive | Added. |
| p. [344] | from outbreaks of the far norther[n] border | Added. |
| p. [344] | Being successful in this h[ə/e] | Replaced. |
| p. [344] | simultaneosly and attacked the Si-jun tribe | Added. |
| p. [346] | he was a good scholar and an ex[a/e]mplary man. | Replaced. |
| p. [346] | The king the[m/n] threw upon the floor | Replaced. |
| p. [347] | Whang Yun[n]-gil was chief of the Korean embassy, | Removed. |
| p. [347] | realizing how[ how] such action would bring Korea | Removed. |
| p. [348] | You dou[tlb/btl]ess will be angry | Transposed. |
| p. [349] | and ap[p]ointed> Gen. Sil Yip | Added. |
| p. [350] | regular army consi | Added. |
| p. [351] | having been baptized by the [Portugese] | sic |
| p. [352] | and the beleagu[e]red town of Tong-nă, | Added. |
| p. [352] | An instant lat[t]er the prefect | Removed. |
| p. [353] | Tradition, which delights to embel[l]ish such accounts, | Added. |
| p. [353] | his fort[r]ess and defied the invaders. | Added. |
| p. [355] | came the news of [t]he fall of Fusan, | Added. |
| p. [355] | rolls were look[e]d up | Added. |
| p. [355] | men wold> follow him. | Added. |
| p. [356] | as it does for his patrotism. | Added. |
| p. [357] | That very night the Japan[ese] | Added. |
| p. [358] | One of [t]his captains told him | Removed. |
| p. [360] | hundred hands were stre[t]ched> out | Added. |
| p. [360] | “Where shall [b/w]e go?” | Replaced. |
| p. [360] | b[o/e]come customary for the gover[n]ment | Replaced. Added. |
| p. [364] | their kne[s/e]s in mud and were well[-]nigh | Replaced. Added. |
| p. [364] | they had been forgott[o/e]n they began to | Replaced. |
| p. [366] | d[i/e]sirous of getting to Seoul | Replaced. |
| p. [366] | This great trip[p]le army | Removed. |
| p. [367] | that the city could not [h/b]e held | Replaced. |
| p. [367] | bef[e/o]re those of Kato hastened | Replaced. |
| p. [368] | I[n/t] is said so many perished | Replaced. |
| p. [370] | the northern bo[th/rd] guard, | Replaced. |
| p. [370] | and the generals were mutu[r]ally suspicious | Removed. |
| p. [370] | at the gates of Na[n]king | Added. |
| p. [373] | governors of C[h]‘ung-ch‘ŭng and Kyŭng-sang Provinces | Added. |
| p. [374] | headl[i/o]ng up the slope | Replaced. |
| p. [378] | his praises were on[e / e]very lip. | Moved space. |
| p. [380] | And so the conference was[ was] broken up. | Removed. |
| p. [384] | but another said, “P[‘]yŭng-yang is a natural | Added. |
| p. [384] | Yi Hang-bok insisted upon the nec[c]essity of going north | Removed. |
| p. [389] | f[a/o]rces in Ham-gyŭng Province. | Replaced. |
| p. [391] | he walled town o[n/f] Yŭn-an | Replaced. |
| p. [391] | we are in je[apo/opa]rdy of our lives. | Replaced. |
| p. [391] | boiling water thrown [wond/down]. | Replaced. |
| p. [391] | pon them. The fight lasted three days and finally the | Added. Removed. |
| p. [392] | a [geurilla] campaign. | sic |
| p. [393] | [harrassed] and worried | sic |
| p. [396] | of course a [geurilla] warfare | sic |
| p. [396] | but the utter [pusilanimity] of the Koreans, | sic |
| p. [405] | this retreat and[ and] it was a sample of what must occur | Removed. |
| p. [406] | For this purpo[r]se it was necessary | Removed. |
| p. [409] | and kept up a [geurilla] warfare, | sic |