This year, 1575, was signalized by another event of far-reaching importance and one which exerted a powerful influence over all subsequent Korean history. It was the formation of the great political parties. At first there were only two, but soon they split into four, which are known as the No-ron, So-ron, Nam-in, and Puk-in. These mean “The Old Men’s Party,” “The Young Men’s Party[Party],” “The Southerners,” and “The Northerners.” These terms are not at all descriptive of the composition of the various parties but arose from trivial circumstances. These parties have never represented any principles whatever. They have never had any “platforms,” but have been, and are, simply political clans each bent upon securing the royal favour and the offices and emoluments that go therewith. The story of their rise shows how frivolous were the causes which called them into being, and the remainder of these annals will show how they have cursed the country.
During the palmy days of the odious “Little Yun” of the preceding reign, a man by the name of Sim Eni-gyŭm happening to see a blanket in the reception room of the universally hated favorite, asked to whom it belonged. When he was told that it belonged to one Kim Hyo-wŭn, he exclaimed “He is called a good man, but if so how can he sleep in the house of such a man as Little Yun.” So he opposed this Kim with all his might and was opposed by him in like manner. The matter grew into a family feud and kept on increasing until at the time of which we are writing two hostile clans had arisen, the one called Sŭ-in or “Westerners,” because their leader lived in the western part of Seoul. The other was at first called Tong-in or “Easterners,” perhaps because their leader lived in the eastern part of the city. The two men through whom the quarrel first arose had now left the field of active politics and the Sŭ-in and Tong-in parties were led respectively by Pak Sun and Hŭ Yŭp. It is said that from this time impartiality in the distribution of offices was a thing unknown in Korea. A Sŭ-in would help a Sŭ-in and a Tong-in would help a Tong-in, right or wrong.
The long fight was immediately begun. A slave in Whang-hă province was accused of murder and was held in prison waiting the decision of Pak Sun, the leader of the party in power. He did not believe the man guilty and delay followed. Hŭ Yŭp, the leader of the opposition, took advantage of this and accused his rival of neglect of duty. Then followed a running fire of charge and counter-charge between the leaders and between their partisans. The Tong-in, or So-ron as it soon came to be called, won in this first encounter and two of the opposing faction were banished. The Prime Minister urged that this fight was utterly useless and would cause endless trouble. The king agreed and determined to stamp out the cause of the disturbance; so he banished the two men Kim and Sim who had originated the factions. This had no effect however upon the now thoroughly organized parties and affairs kept going from bad to worse.
In 1579 Păk In-gŭl said to the king, “All the people have taken sides in this senseless war and even though a man be a criminal there are plenty who will defend him. This means the ultimate destruction of the kingdom, and the King should act as a peacemaker between the factions.” Others urged the same point before the king, but they were unaware that it was beyond the power of any king to lay the evil spirit of factional strife. In the fifteenth year of his reign the king threw himself into the cause of literature. He believed that neglect of the classics was the cause of the factional strife in his kingdom. He ordered the publication of the “Religion in the Mind,” “Picture of the Good and Evil Will,” and “The Legacy of Kim Si-seup.” He called together a large congress of scholars, and in company with them threw himself into the study of the classics.
The year 1583 beheld a fierce invasion on the part of the northern savages under Pon-ho. The prefecture of Kyöng-wŭn, in Ham-gyŭng Province, was taken by them, but Sil-Yip, the prefect of On-sŭng, went to its succour, and after a desperate fight before the town, broke the back of the invasion, drove the marauders back across the Tu-man and burned their villages.
THE HAN RIVER.
A novel method was adopted for raising recruits for the army on the border[border]. A law was made that sons of concubines, who had always been excluded from official position, might again become eligible by giving a certain amount of rice or by going themselves and giving three years’ time to border guard duty along the Ya-lu or Tu-man. Two chieftains, Yul Po-ri and Yi T’ang-ga, advanced by separate roads upon Kyöng-sŭng with 10,000 mounted followers, but the little garrison of 100 men fought so stubbornly that the siege was raised and the two chieftains marched on to attack Pang-wŭn. Fortunately government troops arrived just in time to drive the invaders back.
The Minister of War was working faithfully forwarding troops as fast as they could be gotten ready, but the opposition made charges against him on the ground of the neglect of some trifling technicality and he forthwith laid down his portfolio and retired in disgust. When the king asked the Prime Minister about it, that careful individual, fearing to compromise himself, would give no definite answer and the king consequently said, “If my Prime Minister will not tell me the facts in the case it is time he retired,” so he too lost footing and fell from royal favor.
Having reached now the threshold of the great Japanese invasion of Korea it will be necessary for us to pause and examine the state of affairs in Japan and institute a comparison between that country and Korea in order to discover if possible the causes of Japan’s early success and subsequent defeat.