The only books he caused to be published were four; on marriage, funerals, ancestor worship and “On Reaching Manhood.” He seems to have been an ardent Confucianist for among other things he ordered that widows should not be allowed to re-marry. This striking feature of Korean life dates from the days of this king. Before this there had been a certain amount of sentiment against the practice but it had been common even among ladies of the higher classes up to this time. His refusal to give books to the Japanese envoys would also lead us to believe that he was an active Confucianist.
All these years we hear of no dealings with China on the part of Cho-sŭn, but at this point we are told that the wild tribe of Yŭ-jin was harrassing[harrassing] the people of northern China and the Emperor sent a message to Korea calling upon her to combine with China in an attack upon this obnoxious tribe. The military policy of his predecessors now stood the King in good stead, for he was able to put a strong army in the field immediately and the tribe of Yŭ-jin was speedily chastised. The Emperor was highly pleased and sent the King a present of silk, gold thread and cotton cloth.
In the latter years of his reign the King had the Kuk-cho Po-gam written up to date, and he successfully withstood an invasion of the wild tribes of the north. One of his last acts was to order that all impurity and obscenity should be dropped from the songs and poems.
In 1482 the King built two forts on the Ya-lu near the town of Kang-gye because of threatened outbreaks of tribes living on the further side. In 1484 he built the Ch‘ang-gyŭng Palace east of what is now known as the “Old Palace.” In this same year the great historical work called the Tong-guk T‘ong-gam or “Complete Mirror of the Eastern Kingdom,” probably the most celebrated of Korean histories, was published. It brought the annals of the peninsula down to the beginning of the present dynasty. Its author was Sŭ Sa-ga, better known by his pseudonym Sŭ Ko-gan. He was a thorough master of Korean history.
A little glimpse of this King’s disposition is given in a memorial addressed to him in 1486 when, after a certain royal tomb had been struck by lightning he, in terror, asked his officials to mention his faults that he might mend them and so ward off the judgment of Heaven. One official brought four charges against him. (1) Love of money; (2) The selling of offices; (3) Cruel beating of criminals; (4) Unwillingness to be reproved. Two years later he ordered a remeasurement of the fields in Ham-gyŭng Province as he believed there was much taxable property there that was yielding no revenue.
The year 1489 was marked by a terrible scourge of cholera and one of the officials advised that the King pray to Buddha to stop it. The King promptly banished him. This man apparently thought that because the King’s mother was an ardent Buddhist this advice would not meet with punishment. But in this case even filial duty did not stand in the way of stern opposition to Buddhism. Soon a still more striking example was given. The Queen Mother had a Buddha made and placed in a monastery outside the East Gate, called Chöng-ok-wŭn. A man named Yi Pyŭk, passing by, asked what they were doing with the image and when he learned that the Queen Mother had ordered it set up he struck it and broke it in pieces. He finished the good work by burning the fragments. It can be imagined how angry the Queen Mother was and how she urged the King to destroy the contumacious subject, but in reply the King said “Instead of death he deserves a gift”, and there the matter dropped.
In 1490 one Kwŭn Chu memorialized the throne declaring that the musical instruments in use were those made by the corrupt Sin-don and that they were destructive of good manners. At his advice the instruments were destroyed and others were made. The style of music also was changed and it became purer and more serious. At this time the instrument of war called the so-ni, a kind of catapult, was invented.
The years 1491 and 1492 were occupied in border wars in Ham-gyung province, Gen. Hŭ Chŭng at last succeeding in clearing the northern borders of the enemy. The King died in 1494.
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.