The History of Korea Volume 2

HOMER B. HULBERT

Seoul, 1905

The Methodist Publishing House

Chapter I

China’s reply to the Japanese.... the Chinese army.... the Chinese commander interviews the King.... march on P’yŭng-yang.... Chinese treachery.... the new year.... Chinese help not all a blessing.... P’yŭng-yang invested.... the Chinese force an entrance.... Japanese driven to bay.... how they escape.... they retreat.... they mass at Seoul.... Chinese stop at Song-do.... Koreans bridge the Im-jin.... Chinese retire to P’yŭng-yang.... Korean victory in the north.... great victory at Hăng-ju.... the Japanese sue for peace.... conference on the Han.... Japanese evacuate Seoul.... the terrible condition of the city.... Chinese enter Seoul.... they prevent pursuit.... Japanese desecrate a royal tomb.... Chinese accused of bad faith.... Japanese line of camps.... Chinese reinforced.... the great battle of Chin-ju.... a loyal dancing-girl.... admiral Yi still active.... Chinese troops retire.

We must now return to the north and witness the final struggle which was to begin the Japanese retreat from the whole north. It was not till long after the fifty days had expired that Gen. Sim Yu-gyŭng returned from Nanking. The Japanese had sent time and again, asking why he did not make his appearance, but now on the sixth day of the twelfth moon he entered the city of P’yŭng-yang, making no excuses for his tardiness but delivering his message as follows: “I have seen the Emperor and he says that if you wish to become vassals of China you must first give up all the territory taken from Korea. You must also give up the two princes whom you have captured. If you do not see fit to comply with these demands the Emperor will send a million men and destroy you.” He then gave to each of the Japanese leaders an ornament for the hat, from the Emperor. This was a trick to 2discover how large the Japanese force might be. It was determined that there must be about 20,000 Japanese troops in the city. What reply the Japanese gave to the Emperor’s demands is not told, but that it was a negative one seems sure from what followed.

The Chinese army of counter-invasion lay just beyond the Ya-lu River. It was an enormous host and, as armies went in those days, it was a thoroughly efficient one. In connection with this army was an official who held the rank of “Military Adviser,” by the name of Song Eung-ch’ang. The office carried no active power in the field but it seems to have been a sort of check upon the commander-in-chief, for the duties of the office were to keep the Emperor informed of what was going on at the seat of war. The actual General-in-chief was Yi Yŭ-song. Under him were three generals, of the right, left and center respectively. The General of the Left was Yang Wŭn and under him were Generals Wang Yŭ-jung, Yi Yŭ-mă, Yi Yo-o, Yang So, Sa Tă-su, Son Su-ryŭm, Yi Ryŭng and Kal Pong-ha. The General of the Center was Yi Yŭ-băk and under him were Generals Im Cha-yang, Yi Pang-jin, Ko Ch’ak, Chön Sŭ-jong, Ch’ŭk Keum, Chu Hong-mo, Pang Si-whi, Ko Seung and Wang Mun. The General of the Right was Chang Se-jak and under him were Generals Cho Seung-hun, O Yu-ch’ung, Wang P’il-jŭk, Cho Chi-mok, Chang Eung-ch’ung, Nak Sang-ji, Chin Pang-ch’ŭl, Kok Su and Yang Sim. The rear guard was under the command of Gen. Pang Si-ch’an and the engineering corps was commanded by Generals Yu Whang-sang and Wŭn Whang. The main army was composed of 43,000 troops, while in the rear was a reserve force of 8,000. This army crossed the Ya-lu on the twenty-fifth of the twelfth moon, the dead of winter. It is said that when on the march this army stretched along the road a thousand li (three hundred miles and more) and that the sound of their drums was continuous along the whole line.

General-in-chief Yi Yŭ-song, dressed in crimson robes and riding in a crimson chair, arrived in Eui-ju and immediately sought an interview with the king. The latter said, “I have governed this country badly. The Emperor has been put to a great deal of trouble on my account and all these 3good men have come a long, cold road to fight for us. Though I lay open my vitals with a sword I cannot repay you all for this kindness.” Gen. Yi smiled and said, “The Emperor’s might reaches to the heavens. For the sake of Your Majesty’s happiness we have been sent, and all your enemies will soon be put to flight.” To this the king rejoined, “Our nation’s life hangs by a thread, and the result lies with you.” Gen. Yi raised his two hands in salute and answered, “I am come at the Emperor’s orders and life or death are all one to me. When I started out my father said to me, ‘Fight valiantly for Korea and return victorious,’ and so how can I do less than my best?” The Koreans say that this man’s father was a native of Eun-san in the province of P’yŭng-an, Korea, but that for some offence he had fled to China and together with many of his relatives was enjoying high position under the Emperor.

Gen. Yi started for P’yŭng-yang with his whole army, 80,000 bags of rice and 20,000 pounds of powder. His troops were not provided with muskets but they had small cannon. The Japanese on the other hand had muskets but no cannon. Upon the arrival of the Chinese at An-ju they were met by the Prime Minister, Yu Sŭng-nyŭng, who laid before Gen. Yi a map showing the roads leading to P’yŭng-yang. Gen. Yi took red ink and indicated on the map the various routes by which he intended to lead his forces to that city. Calling Gen. Sa Tă-su he sent him forward to deceive the Japanese by saying that a few Chinese had come to effect a peaceful solution of the difficulty. The Japanese were pleased at this and sent twenty of their people to meet, as they supposed, Sim Yu-gyŭng at Su-an. Gen. Sa feasted them there but meanwhile had the place surrounded and in the midst of the banquet the Japanese were treacherously assaulted and cut down, only three escaping. From these the Japanese learned of the hostile intentions of the Chinese and were greatly disturbed, but being forewarned they put themselves in readiness for an assault.

And so the old year died—the terrible Im-jin year which witnessed the indescribable horrors of the ruthless invasion which swept it from end to end; which saw, too, the gradual awakening of the dormant military spirit of the people, until 4at its close the wave of invasion had not only broken and spent itself but had left the remnant of the invaders cut off from their home land by one of the greatest naval geniuses of his own or any other age, surrounded on all sides and hemmed in by forces which though perhaps unable to cope with them in the open field in a pitched battle could yet harrass and cut them off on every side. It must be clearly borne in mind that the Chinese did not raise a hand to help Korea until the invasion virtually collapsed. The Koreans without the aid of China could probably have starved the Japanese out of P‘yŭng-yang and driven them southward, cutting them off on the left and right till they would have been glad to take ship for home. In a sense the Chinese counter-invasion was an extremely unfortunate thing for Korea, for the dormant energies of the people were just rousing themselves to action. Armies were being levied, every day saw the Japanese forces melting away and there was a magnificent opportunity for Korea to turn upon her devastators and drive them headlong into the sea. It would have given a tremendous impulse to patriotism and national self-respect, and it might have been a stepping-stone to a strong national life; but the coming of the Chinese soldiery immediately threw everything into Chinese hands and they reaped all the benefits of the situation. Even the Koreans themselves did not realize how they were playing into the hands of China. The Japanese in P‘yŭng-yang were weary and sick, and at heart glad of any excuse for retreating if it could be done without too great a loss of dignity. It was at just this moment that the Koreans put the game, already won, into the hands of China to reap all the credit and all the prizes of success. The Koreans leaned back upon China and relapsed into their old self-complacent “fool’s paradise.”

With the beginning of the new year Gen Yi moved southward toward P‘yŭng-yang as far as Suk-ch‘ŭn where he intended to halt for the night, as the winter days were short, but hearing of the massacre at Sun-an and wishing to give as little time for preparation as possible, pushed on by night, and in the morning planted his banners before the ancient city of P‘yŭng-yang. The city was forthwith surrounded. The Japanese could be seen covering the slope of the hill within the wall with their blue and white flags, and soon they opened 5fire on the besiegers. At the same moment they rushed to the walls and manned them. The Chinese Generals of the Left, Center and Right were stationed with their respective forces before the three gates Ch’il-sŭng, Ham-gu and Po-t’ong. The General-in-chief Yi, with a banner in one hand and a drum-stick in the other, rode swiftly from one division to another encouraging the men. His forces could hardly be held in check, they were so eager, in spite of their long, cold night march, to rush at the wall and scale it. They were not long kept from their desire, for at eight o’clock word was given for the whole assaulting force to advance to the wall. The cannon thundered, the fire-arrows flashed through the air, the very ground fairly trembled with the noise of battle and the tramp of eager feet. One of the fire-arrows alighted in the quarters of the Japanese general-in-chief and it was soon in flames, which rapidly spread to all the surrounding buildings. The Japanese guarded the walls with the greatest gallantry, and with spear and arrow, hot water and stones they made it quite impossible for the Chinese to effect an entrance. The wall bristled with weapons, so that in the words of a native chronicler it was “a hedge-hog’s back.” So it happened that the Chinese forces fell back from the fierce defense of the Japanese. Many of them contemplated a general retreat and started to leave the field, but Gen. Yi, who was always found where most needed, saw the defection of his men and, pursuing them, struck off the heads of a few as an example to the rest. Then he turned and cried, “Fifty ounces of silver to the first man to set foot upon the battlements of P’yŭng-yang.” This was doubtless a more powerful appeal than he could have made had he called upon their patriotism or love of glory. Immediately the tide of battle turned. A Chinese captain, Nak Sang-ji, a man well along in years and whose proportions were so ample that the Korean chronicler says of him that he weighed a thousand pounds, led on a company of men and by a mighty effort succeeded in reaching the top of the wall. He held his ground there while others could scale the wall at his back, and so an entrance was effected. The Japanese began to desert the wall, and soon the Chinese entered by the Po-t’ong and Ch’il-sŭng gates, while Korean allies entered by the Ham-gu Gate. By this time the Japanese had entirely 6left the wall and had massed themselves as best they could in various parts of the city, determined to make a desperate stand. The Chinese infantry and cavalry both swarmed in on every side and all Japanese stragglers were cut off, while the fight throughout the city became general. Before the Japanese could firmly establish themselves upon the hill and in other defensible parts of the town they lost two captains, 2,285 men, and 45,002 weapons of various kinds, besides 1,051 Koreans whom they had held as captives.

Many of the Japanese had taken refuge in various government buildings which they had barricaded as best they could. The Chinese went to work systematically to burn these down, and in the few hours remaining before the fall of night nearly half of the entire Japanese force succumbed to the weapons of Chinese. One instance will suffice to illustrate the method of procedure. Many of the Japanese had taken refuge in a large building on the wall, well up on the side of the mountain and looking directly down upon the waters of the river. Gen. Yi had it surrounded with piles of wood, the timbers of houses and hewn logs, and these were set on fire. The entrapped Japanese then had the choice of roasting to death or leaping down upon the ice of the river. Hundreds chose the latter alternative, but the ice was not strong enough to stand the tremendous strain and they were all engulfed in the river and carried under the ice below. As for those that remained, it is said that the smell of burning flesh could be discerned a quarter of a mile away.

Gen. Konishi had taken refuge with a large body of troops in a building called the Yŭn-gwang-jŭng, very near the Ta-dong Gate which opens directly upon the water front. Night had fallen and the fight had lulled for a time. What took place at this time may be open to some doubt. The Korean account says that the Chinese commander sent a message to Konishi demanding the surrender of his whole force and that Konishi replied, “Our remaining force is small and we wish to evacuate the city and retreat if we may be allowed to leave quietly.” It is affirmed that Gen. Yi consented to this and left the Ta-dong Gate unguarded, and in the dead of night the Japanese troops passed swiftly out and crossed the river. On the face of it this statement is hardly credible, but judging 7from future events the Koreans believe that Gen. Yi received a large bribe from the Japanese as the price of this act of leniency. It is true that future events justified the Koreans in suspecting some such thing, but as the Japanese were immediately beside the Ta-dong Gate and, under cover of night, might easily have forced their way out, especially as the Chinese were exhausted by their long forced march and the fight about the city, we may well believe that the Japanese did not need to appeal either to the pity or the avarice of the Chinese in order to effect their escape. It may be, too, that Gen. Yi did not wish to be hampered with so many prisoners of war and was rather glad than otherwise to let them get away. Of course the Koreans who had suffered so terribly at the hands of the Japanese would have been glad to see every one of them massacred, and their anger at seeing them escape may have led them to impute wrong motives to Gen. Yi. Subsequent events, however, gave some color to these suspicious, as we shall see.

This retreat from P’yŭng-yang in the dead of winter was like Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow, on a small scale. The Japanese were without provisions or proper clothing. Many of them threw aside their arms and luggage and, turning from the main road, begged their way from house to house. When at last they reached the city of Seoul and found food and safety they were in a savage humor. Most of the Koreans who had fled from the capital had now returned, and on them these half-famished and wholly disappointed Japanese wreaked their vengeance. They seized hundreds of the unoffending people and put them to the sword. Scores of them were taken outside the South Gate and slaughtered like oxen.

Gen. Kato, who had led an expedition eastwards into Ham-gyŭng Province, hearing of the evacuation of P’yŭng-yang, immediately put his troops in motion and hastened down to Seoul, burning and ravaging as he came. And in a short time all the remnants of the Japanese army were congregated in the capital.

The Japanese retreat from P’yŭng-yang was not without its casualties. A Korean general, Ko On-băk, met a body of the Japanese, probably a part of the retreating army, at P’a-ju, seventy li out of Seoul, and punished them severely, taking 8as it is said, seventy heads; not a great achievement when we remember that the Japanese were practically unarmed.

But by this time the Chinese Gen. Yi was on his way south from P’yŭng-yang, rather tardily as the Koreans thought, but hearing of this engagement of Gen. Ko, he quickened his pace. Coming to He-on Pass, some seventy li out from Seoul, his horse slipped, throwing him heavily on his face. He was severely though not dangerously hurt. At that moment a company of Japanese was sighted on the mountain side and Gen. Yi ordered instant pursuit. The Japanese, probably a foraging party from Seoul, closed with them and as the Chinese were on a marshy piece of land, where they sank to their knees in the mud, and had no other weapons with them but their swords, the Japanese inflicted severe punishment on them, killing eighty of their number. Gen. Yi was so weak from loss of blood that he did not dare to prolong the fight. So he called a retreat and the next day went into camp at Tong-p’a, a hundred li from Seoul. From that point he immediately despatched a letter to the Emperor saying: “There are 20,000 Japanese firmly intrenched in Seoul and with my present force I dare not attack them. I am also ill and cannot fight. I would be glad if you would send someone to relieve me of the command.” Then he retreated fifty li further, to Song-do, in spite of the earnest entreaties of the Koreans. The Korean General Yi Pin said, “You came to render aid to our country. Why is it that you now retreat?” whereupon one of the general’s staff promptly kicked him out of the house.

Gen. Yi ordered Gen. Sa Tă-su to go and guard the ferry at the Im-jin river which was now partly frozen but impassable for boats and ordered the Koreans to go to work building a bridge for the transport of the Chinese army. Here was a piece of work that might have daunted a better engineer than the average Korean general. But the way the Koreans went about it and the brilliant success they achieved show what the Korean was capable of when really in earnest. And it shows as well how thoroughly they were determined to see chastisement inflicted upon the Japanese. A swift broad river partly frozen, no possibility of driving piles nor of erecting any supports from the bed of the river itself. It must be a suspension bridge or none at all. On either side of the 9river heavy timbers were planted firmly in the ground some twenty feet apart. Behind these horizontally were laid heavy logs. Then between these supports on either bank were stretched fifteen heavy strands of the tough fibrous vine called chik by the Koreans. It is the pueraria thunbergiana. Of course these sagged in mid-stream so that they swept the water. To remedy this, stout levers were inserted between the strands and twisted until the cables swung clear of the water by many feet. The foundation having thus been laid, willow branches were spread thickly upon the cables and finally a heavy layer of earth was added and the whole was packed down tight by the treading of many feet. And so was completed the first suspension bridge which history records. We see that during this war the Koreans had originated three important things, namely the iron-clad, the mortar and bomb, and now the suspension bridge. And on this bridge the whole Chinese army crossed in safety.

But Gen. Yi was tired of the war and was extremely anxious to get back to China. So when he heard that Kato was crossing the peninsula he said, “He may come to P’yŭng-yang and in that case I must hasten back to that place and hold it against him.” So he started back toward that city, leaving Gen Wang P’il-jŭk in charge of the forces that were advancing on Seoul.

At this point mention must be made of the victories of Gen. Chöng Mun-bu in Ham-gyŭng Province. In three successive fights he had defeated a large, though not the main, body of Japanese and seems to have entirely cut it off from forming a junction with Gen. Kato as he retreated toward Seoul with his dwindling though still formidable army. After the departure of the Japanese, Gen. Chöng went to the far north, even to the far Tu-man River and inflicted severe punishment on all those who had aided the Japanese or had sided with them in the betrayal of the two princes. This done, he pacified the disturbed province as much as he could and then disbanded the militia and sent them to their homes.

Kwŭn Ryŭl, the governor of Chŭl-la, of whom we have heard before, took 4000 men and marched on Seoul, not by the main road but by way of Yang-ch’ŭn. Crossing the Han 10at that point he went into camp at Hăng-ju and surrounded it with a paling of heavy logs. The Japanese in Seoul ridiculed it but sent a strong body of troops to attack it. A long fierce fight ensued and the result was doubtful. At last the Japanese succeeded in setting fire to the wooden paling and had it not been for the most strenuous efforts on the part of the Koreans they would have been burned out. But they succeeded in quenching the flames. When their arrows were gone their outlook was again apparently hopeless, but in the very nick of time Admiral Yi Pin of Chŭl-la Province came up the river by boat with 20,000 arrows and as the camp was immediately on the river bank the Koreans were saved, and soon the Japanese were driven back. Kwŭn Ryŭl took the bodies of the Japanese who had fallen, cut them in pieces and impaled the fragments on the top of the stockade. The next day the Chinese general Sa Tă-su arrived and, seeing these trophies of victory, praised Gen. Kwŭn highly and sent him to P’a-ju to guard against any possible northward movement of the Japanese. At the same time small companies were sent in all directions to cut off foraging expeditions of the enemy. In this way the Japanese in Seoul were cut off from all supply of fuel. The Japanese general who had suffered defeat at Hăng-ju thirsted for revenge, and he led many a fierce sally from Seoul, but always with great loss.

In the third month confidence was so far restored in the north that the king began to think of returning toward the capital. The first stage of this journey was as far as Yong-yu. At this same time the Japanese sent a letter to the Korean general Yu Sŭng-nyong saying that they wished to conclude a treaty of peace. Gen. Yu as in duty bound sent this message on to the Chinese Gen. Yi in P’yŭng-yang. He in turn despatched Sim Yu-gyŭng, who had before acted as an emissary of peace between the Japanese and the Emperor, to take charge of the negotiations and with instructions more or less definite. When this commissioner arrived in the vicinity of Seoul a meeting took place between him and the two Japanese leaders, Konishi and Kato, in mid-stream off the village of Yong-san. Gen Sim opened the conference by saying, “If you had listened to my advice in P’yŭng-yang you would have saved yourselves all this trouble. The Chinese, 1140,000 strong, are all about you. They have gone south to fortify the Cho-ryŭng Pass and thus cut off your retreat. The Han River is guarded so thoroughly that you cannot cross; Gen. Yi Yŭ-song is returning from the north with 300,000 fresh troops (an unblushing lie) and I am prepared to offer you the only possible way of escape. You must give up the two princes; you must leave the capital and move south to the coast of Kyŭng-sang Province. Then and not till then will we conclude peace and the Emperor will recognize your king as his vassal.” The vanquished invaders saw that there was nothing to do but comply, and so in the name of the thirty-seven Japanese generals they engaged to evacuate Seoul on the nineteenth day of the fourth moon. It was further agreed that they should leave untouched 20,000 bags of rice which were stored in the government granaries. The two princes were to accompany the Japanese as far as Fusan and were to be handed over to the Korean authorities there.

In accordance with their promise, the Japanese evacuated the city on the very day appointed, and Gen. Yi Yŭ-song, who seems to have recovered his health rapidly after he found that the Japanese did not mean fight, entered the city the following day. The condition in which he found things is almost indescribable. The Ancestral Temple and three palaces had been burned. Only the Nam-pyŭl-gung, which the invaders had used as headquarters, was standing. The country all about was lying fallow and a great famine stared the Koreans in the face. A thousand bags of rice were hastily brought and made up into soup or gruel, mixed with pine leaves, and a few of the starving thousands were fed. As Gen. Sa Tă-su was passing along the street he saw a young child trying to suck milk from the breast of its dead mother. The sight aroused his compassion and he carried the child to his quarters and ordered it to be cared for. Rice was so scarce that a whole piece of cotton cloth could be purchased with about three quarts of it. A horse cost but three pecks of rice. Famishing men fought and killed each other, the victors eating the vanquished, sucking the marrow from the bones and then dying themselves of surfeit. It is even said that when a drunken Chinese soldier vomited, half starved men would crawl to the place and fight over the possession of 12this horrible substitute for food. This state of things naturally brought on an epidemic of the native fever, a species of typhus, and the dead bodies of its victims lay all along the road, the head of one being pillowed on the breast of another. The dead bodies in and immediately around Seoul were gathered and piled in a heap outside the Water Mouth Gate and it is affirmed that the pile was ten feet higher than the wall.

It was on the twentieth of the fourth moon that Gen. Yi entered Seoul. He took up his quarters in the Nam-pyŭl-gung. He seemed to be in no haste to pursue the Japanese, so Gen. Yu Sŭng-nyong hinted that as the Japanese were in full flight it might be well to hurry after them and cut them down as occasion offered. The Chinese general had no intention of leaving his comfortable quarters that soon, but he gave consent to the project of pursuit and detailed 10,000 men under the lead of Gen Yi Yŭ-băk. A day or so later this doughty warrior returned saying that he had a pain in the leg. So ended the first attempt at pursuit. Then the Korean Gen. Kwŭn Ryŭl came in from P’a-ju and urged that there be immediate pursuit, but for some unexplained reason the Chinese commander forbade it, and the native accounts even add that he sent secretly and had the boats on the Han destroyed so as to render pursuit of the Japanese impossible.

After crossing the Han River, the retreating Japanese seem to have been in very ill humor, for they did not confine their exhibitions of temper to the living alone but even attacked the dead. They dug open the royal tomb at Chung-neung a short distance the other side of the river. Digging fifteen measures deep they found some rags and a few bones. These they scattered about on the ground. They then filled in the hole with rubble. Another royal tomb was opened and the casket and remains were burned.

In the beginning of the fifth moon a letter arrived from the Military Commissioner, Song Eung-ch’ang, in P’yŭng-yang, ordering a general pursuit of the Japanese. The Koreans believe this to have been a mere blind, for the Japanese had twenty days the start of them and pursuit was of course out of the question. At this point again the Koreans make a 13serious charge against the Chinese, asserting that the Japanese, before leaving Seoul, sent large sums of money toward P’yŭng-yang for Gen. Yi Yŭ-song and Song Eung-ch‘ang, and that by this means they secured immunity from pursuit. The delay was a cause of great wonderment to the Koreans and it is not unlikely that this theory of a bribe explained for them most fully the actions of the Chinese. And it must be confessed that there is little in the temperament or antecedents of the Chinese on which to base a refutation of the charge. An instance is cited to bring home the charge. A Korean who had come upon a Japanese straggler and killed him was severely beaten by order of the Chinese general in charge.

Finally, when all too late, Gen. Yi made a pretense of pursuit, but after crossing Cho-ryŭng Pass and still finding himself no nearer the enemy than before, he turned back and resumed his comfortable quarters in Seoul. If he thought the Japanese would hasten to take boat and return to their native land, he was much mistaken. It may be that they wished to do so, but the terrible punishment that Admiral Yi Sun-sin had inflicted upon the army of reinforcement made them wary of approaching the coast, and so the Japanese forces in the south found themselves practically entrapped. Had the Korean land forces been led at this time by a man of the skill and bravery of old admiral Yi the country would have been spared long years of war.

The Japanese in their flight south were brought face to face with this stern fact, and like the soldiers that they were they set themselves to solve the problem. They wanted to be near the sea, perhaps with a view to taking advantage of any opportunity that might present itself of slipping across to Japan, and yet they were so numerous that, living as they must on forage, it would be impossible for them all to encamp at the same place. So they adopted the plan of fortifying a long strip of the southern coast, reaching from the harbor of So-sang in the district of Ul-san in Kyŭng-sang Province to Sun-ch‘ŭn in Ch‘ŭl-la Province, a distance of over two hundred and seventy miles. There were in all between twenty and thirty camps. Being thus about ten miles apart they had room for forage and still were near enough each other to render assistance in case the Koreans or their allies the Chinese should besiege them 14at any point. These fortified camps were all of the same general kind, overlooking the sea from a bluff and on the land side surrounded by a moat and earthworks. These preparations were made with the utmost care, for there was no hope of immediate succor and the Japanese foresaw stirring times.

In course of time the Chinese court was informed of these events and the success of their generals in the north seems to have given them some enthusiasm for prosecuting the war; so additional troops were sent to the front under the command of Generals Yu Chung and Hŭ Kuk-ch‘ŭng. These troops numbered 5,000 and were from southern China. Among them there are said to have been many “ocean imps,” or savages from the southern islands. These men could enter the water, it is said, and scuttle the enemy’s ships from beneath. We are told that there were also in this army some men of immense stature who came in carts rather than on foot. These forces went into camp at Sŭng-ju in Kyŭng-sang Province. At this place there was also a large Korean army under Generals Kim Ch‘ŭn-il, Kim Sang-gön, Ch‘oé Kyŭng-whé, Ko Chong-hu, Yang San-do and Yi Chong-in. Under them were large numbers of militia and raw recruits, and this accounts in part for the speedy fall of the town and the terrible slaughter that ensued. The Japanese laid siege to the place and after nine days, during which time the Japanese made a hundred separate assaults, the latter were reinforced and the defenders, exhausted by the long struggle, were finally driven from the wall and the Japanese effected an entrance. But even after they got in, the Koreans fought desperately and sold their lives as dearly as possible. Of this most sanguinary battle only one incident is preserved in the Korean accounts. When the Japanese entered the city and had advanced to a point on the wall which overlooks the waters of the Nam-gang (river), a desperate encounter took place, in the midst of which the Korean general, Yi Chong-in, seized two of the Japanese about the waist and, dragging them to the brink of the precipice, threw himself and them into the water below. Korean accounts say that in this battle the almost incredible number of 70,000 Koreans were killed and that an equal number of the Japanese perished. This latter must be an exaggeration, 15for the loss of that number must have swept well-nigh the entire Japanese army from the country. We must remember that the Japanese army had received practically no reinforcements from the time it first landed on Korean soil, and it is safe to say that what with the losses by sickness and accident, together with the thousands who had fallen at the hands of the Koreans and Chinese, the original force must have dwindled to 150,000 or less; in which case the loss of 70,000 men must have put them hors de combat at once. This battle is called the greatest in the whole war, by the Koreans, though it is not considered the most important.

An interesting story is told of a dancing-girl of this town. When the Japanese took possession of the place she was appropriated by one of the Japanese generals. One day while they were feasting in a summer-house on the wall overlooking the river, she began to weep. He asked her the reason and she replied, “You have come here and driven away our people and our king. I do not know whether my sovereign is living, and yet I sit here and feast. I can hardly claim to be better than the beasts, to sit here and make merry. I must put an end to my life.” Thereupon she threw her arms about her paramour and flung herself and him over the edge, thus ending her weary life and helping to avenge her native land at the same time. For this reason she was canonized at a later date and her spirit was worshiped at this place each year by royal edict.

All this time the great Admiral Yi was in camp at Han-san Island off the coast of Kyŭng-sang Province. His force was not large, but during his enforced idleness he prepared for future work. He set all his men to work making salt by evaporating sea water, and by this means he got together a great store of provisions. Needing barracks for the soldiers, he offered to the carpenters and workmen about a bag of salt for a day’s work. His energy and patriotism were so contagious that many worked for nothing, and the barracks were soon built. At this point the king conferred upon him the admiralty of the three provinces of Ch’ung-ch’ŭng, Chŭl-la and Kyŭng-sang.

In the ninth moon the Commissioner Song Eung-ch’ang and Gen Yi Yŭ-song collected their forces and started back 16for China. They evidently considered the back bone of the invasion broken, and so it was; but like most spinal diseases it was destined to linger on for years before it came to an end. When these generals set out on their homeward way they left 10,000 Chinese soldiers in the hands of the Korean generals Yu Chŭng and O Yu-ch’ang to act as a bodyguard for the king. In spite of their suspicions of the corruptibility of Gen. Yi Yŭ-song, the Koreans speak in high terms of him. They describe him as a young man of thirty, of handsome person, broad mind and possessed of great skill in the art of war. When he was on the eve of returning to China he bared his head and showed the Koreans that his hair was already turning gray. He told them it was because he had worked so hard for them, which piece of bathos seems to have impressed them deeply.

Chapter I-A

The King re-enters Seoul.... temporary palace.... a royal lament.... a profligate prince.... imperial rebuke.... “The Flying General”.... uneasiness in Seoul.... revenue reform.... reforms in the army.... King refuses to make peace with the Japanese.... the Chinese retire.... plot against Konishi.... Japanese envoy in Nanking.... robbers put down.... a good man ruined.... Japanese trickery.... a patient envoy.... he absconds.... his flight covered by his second.... home-sick Japanese.... Konishi sarcastic.... Chinese envoy in Japan.... Korean envoy.... Japanese army leaves Korea.... prince refuses the crown.... rebellion.... death of a loyal general.... envoys ill-treated in Japan.... return.... a new invasion determined upon.... comparison of Japan and Korea.... Japanese scheme to get Admiral Yi into trouble.... Admiral Yi degraded.... second invasion.... Cho-ryŭng pass fortified.... Chinese give aid.... Admiral Yi’s successor a failure.... great naval victory for the Japanese.

It was on the fourth day of the tenth moon of the year 1593 that the king reentered the gates of Seoul after his long hard exile in the north. But he found the city almost a desert. The palaces were burnt and the ancestral temple was level with the ground. Under the circumstances he decided to stop for some time in that part of the city which is called 17Chong-dong, the present foreign quarter, near the West Gate. Here there had been the grave of one of the wives of the founder of the dynasty, but her body had long ago been disinterred and removed to a place outside the Northeast Gate. So the king took up his quarters at the Myŭng-ye-gung. It is the exact spot where the King of Korea lives today. A considerable tract of land about it was surrounded by a stake fence with a gate at the east and at the west. This royal residence was named the Si-ö-sa or “Temporary Residence.” Here the king lived thirteen years while the palace now known as “The Old Palace” was being built. The king was desirous of rebuilding on the spot where his palace had stood before, the Kyöng-bok-kung, but he was told by the geomancers that that would be an unpropitious site. In order to build the new palace a tax of half a piece of cotton cloth was levied upon each man throughout the country. In some cases rice was accepted as a substitute.

After the king had entered the city, one of his first acts was to go to the site of the ancient Confucian Temple and, standing on the melancholy spot, utter the following lament: “The spirit of Confucius permeates space as water permeates the soil beneath our feet. If my faithfulness is great enough, let the spirit of Confucius rest down upon this spot.” He noticed that none of the people were in mourning and so ordered that all those who had lost parents in the war should assume the mourner’s garb.

At this time a strong faction arose whose wish was to see the king lay aside his royal prerogative in favor of his son. This prince was a son by a concubine, for the queen had no children. He was an ambitious but profligate fellow and had in his heart no loyalty for his father. Some of the courtiers went so far as to memorialize the King to the effect that it might add to the contentment of the people if the king should put the reins of government into the hands of his son. He hesitated to do this, for he knew the young man and how unfit he was to rule. At the suggestion of Song Eung-ch‘ang, the emperor sent to the king appointing the Crown Prince to the governorship of the southern provinces in conjunction with the Chinese general, Yu Chung. The prince was delighted at this and hastened to his post at Chŭn-ju. He practically took 18the whole jurisdiction of the south out of the hands of the king and even held the competitive examinations for literary degrees, which was an exclusively royal prerogative.

Another of the Chinese generals accused the king before the emperor of effeminacy and love of luxury and suggested that one of the best of the Korean generals be elevated to the throne in his place, but Gen. Suk Sŭng, who was very loyal to Korea, induced the emperor merely to send a letter upbraiding the king for his love of luxury and claiming that this was the cause of Japanese successes in the peninsula. The letter ended with an exhortation to arouse himself, work up a competent army, and complete the work of driving out the Japanese. The envoy bearing this missive was met at P‘a-ju by Gen. Yu Sŭng-nyong and an escort. The Chinaman told him that his arrival in Seoul would be the signal for some very important disclosures. General Yu and Gen. Chŭk conferred together about this matter and decided that the king must in any event be prevented from abdicating, for their official heads depended upon his retention of the reins of power. They also persuaded the envoy to their view, so that when the king read the letter and declared his intention to abdicate, the envoy objected that this could not be done until he had sent a letter to the emperor and obtained his consent.

Meanwhile there was going on in the south a sort of geurilla warfare against the Japanese. It was led principally by Kim Tŭk-nyŭng, a self-made man who had the confidence of the prince. This man had put his whole fortune into the cause and had himself fitted out 5,000 men. His method was to pass from place to place with great rapidity and strike the enemy when they were least expecting attack. In this way he earned from the Japanese the name “The Flying General.” He is said to have been uniformly successful.

Of another ilk were Song U-jin, Yi Neung-su and Hyŭn Mong. These gathered about them bands of desperate men and went about the country looting and burning. In Seoul there was consternation. At any moment one of these bands might enter the city and work their will. The Crown Prince, a cause of great uneasiness, was still at Chŭn-ju and for aught anyone knew he might be plotting the overthrow of the government. 19In fact this impression was so strong that the highwaymen dared to write to him complaining of the king and asserting that they were going to make a clean sweep. The implication was plain, that they intended to put the prince upon the throne. The solicitude of the people in Seoul took form in the rumor that Yi Tă-hyŭng himself, the Minister of War, was in league with the rebels. For forty successive days this injured minister went and knelt at the palace gate and begged that the king would have him executed, as he could not endure the charge of unfaithfulness.

It was customary for the emperor to nominate an heir apparent for the Korean throne, but at the beginning of this war it had seemed necessary to appoint one immediately and so the king had informally promised the prince that he should be king. The latter now demanded that this be confirmed by the emperor and a messenger was sent to the Chinese court for that purpose; but as the emperor had no son himself except by a concubine and was loath to put him on the throne of China, so he was unwilling to see this prince put on the throne of Korea. The result was that he sent back a prompt refusal, which for the time dashed the hopes of the ambitious prince.

It appears that the rebuke which the emperor administered to the king was in some senses deserved. The king after all his wearisome exile in the north, probably paid more attention to the pleasures of peace than was for his own good or the good of the country. If so the rebuke had its effect, for the king immediately roused himself and set to work reorganizing the finances of the country and putting the army on a better working basis. Hitherto the revenue had all been collected in rice but now he allowed the revenue to be collected in any kind of produce, and the collection of it was farmed out to various individuals, a practice which at the time may have had its good points but which at the same time had within itself very bad possibilities. The reorganization of the army was a matter of great importance and the king set himself to it with a will. Heretofore each general had had his own following and there was no central power nor seat of authority. Each body of troops followed the caprice of its leader with no reference to any general plan. Before the 20Chinese general Yi Yŭ-song left he put into the hands of the king a book treating of the art of war, a work written by Ch’ŭk Kye-gwang. This book the king put into use and appointed Cho Kyŭng and Yu Sŭng-nyong to have charge of the whole matter of military reorganization. In order to put the new plan into operation a large number of poor and destitute soldiers were gathered. They had to pass a physical test which consisted in lifting a rice bag full of earth, and of leaping over a wall as high as their heads. In ten days two thousand men were found who endured the test. The drill consisted of three parts, (1) firing with guns, (2) shooting with bow and arrow, (3) using the battle axe. In time these men became the royal guard and escort. The number gradually increased to 10,000, 2,000 being attached to each of the government departments. The whole force was divided into two parts and while one part was drilling in the city the other was set to work farming in the suburbs. In this way they raised the food necessary for the sustenance of the whole force. The plan was extended to the country, and teachers were sent to practice the country soldiers. It became a species of militia. From this time the quality and discipline of the Korean army improved in a marked degree.

The Laundry

It appears that the Koreans were not the only ones who suspected Gen. Yi Yŭ-song of showing favors to the Japanese, for the emperor took notice of it and deprived him of his high rank. He was supplanted by Gen. Ko Yang-gyŭm. This new appointee advanced toward the border of Korea as far as Liao-tung and from that point sent a letter to the king saying that the Chinese had already lost enough men and treasure in the war and that the king had better hasten to make friends with the Japanese and induce them to come and do obeisance to the emperor. It appears plain that this man wanted peace to be patched up before he should be called upon to do active work in the field. When the king saw this letter he said, “When the Crown Prince becomes king he can do as he pleases but as for me I will never make peace or friendship with the Japanese.” But Yu Sŭng-nyong urged the helplessness of Korea alone and the need of securing China’s help at all hazards. Sŭng Hon urged the fact that the new Chinese general had a large force in hand and he 21must be conciliated at any cost. So the king reluctantly sent an envoy to China asking that overtures of peace be made with the Japanese. Even while this envoy was on the way, the emperor, apparently thinking the war at an end, sent an order commanding the immediate return of Gen. Yu Chung, with all his forces, from the province of Kyŭng-sang. The Crown Prince sent begging him not to go. The people all about the country were in distress about it. He was believed to be the only hope against the Japanese. The command of the emperor however was law and the general was forced to obey. Taking his army, together with the wives and children of those who had been married to Korean women, he went back to Liao-tung. It is said that over 10,000 of the Chinese took back their Korean wives to China, but six years later they all returned to their native land.

Kato was desirous of meeting and having a talk with the Korean general Kim Eung-sŭ, the general of Kyŭng-sang Province. To this end he sent a Japanese named Yo-si-ra to arrange a meeting, and in course of time they met at the town of Ham-an and had a conference. Kato opened the conference as follows: “If Korea will help us to become the vassals of China we will remove all our troops from Korea immediately and we will also consider it a great favor.” But Gen. Kim, who knew of the enmity which existed between Kato and Konishi, waved the main question by asking, “Why is it that you and Konishi cannot agree? It is plain that so long as he is here such a plan as you recommend cannot be carried out.” Kato answered, “I have long wished to make an end of him, but can never get a chance. If in some way we could work up a charge against him and circulate it among the troops we might be able to get all the army removed to Japan.” As to the further deliberations of these two men we are not informed, but we judge from this passing glimpse that Konishi the younger man was so firmly intrenched in the affection of his troops that Kato despaired of making head against him until that affection was in some way alienated. In this Kato acknowledges his virtual defeat at the hands of his youthful rival.

The emperor was not as anxious as his generals to make peace with the Japanese, and when he heard that his new appointee 22to the peninsula was in favor of a treaty with the invaders he promptly ordered his retirement, and Gen. Son Kwang was sent to take his place. Hardly had this happened when the envoy Ho Ok, from the Korean court, arrived, asking that a treaty be made with the Japanese. When his message was delivered all the court was in favor of the plan; but the Prime Minister said that as they had been deceived once by the Japanese general So Sŭ-bi, who had accompanied Gen. Sim Yu gyăng from Pyŭng-yang on a similar errand before, it would be well to test them with three propositions. “(1) We will give the king of Japan the royal investiture. (2) Every Japanese soldier must leave Korea. (3) The Japanese must promise never to disturb Korea again.” This plan pleased the emperor and Gen. So Sŭ-bi was sent for, that he might appear before the emperor and accept these conditions. On arriving at Peking the Japanese readily acceded to the terms and exclaimed, “We will gladly agree to this and will swear by heaven to abide by the terms.” Thereupon Sim Yu-gyăng, who had always had a strange leaning toward the Japanese, now exclaimed, “Japan now evidently desires to become China’s vassal. An envoy must be sent to invest Hideyoshi with the royal insignia, and all this trouble will end.” But Hŭ Hong-gang had a truer estimate of the visitor and remarked, “The Japanese are a subtle people, and all this talk of becoming vassals of China is mere pretense. There is no use in sending an envoy to Japan.” Gen. Sŭk Sŭng said, “This man seems to be honest in what he says. Gen. Sim Yu-gyŭng should accompany So Sŭ-bi back to Korea and there confer with the Japanese leaders and then arrangements can be made for investing the king of Japan.” The emperor so ordered and at the same time appointed Yi Chong-sŭng as envoy extraordinary to Japan to perform the ceremony of investiture. Yang Pang-hyŭng was appointed his second. These events all occurred in the latter part of the year 1593.

As the new year opened the political sky was dark enough. Not only were the Japanese intrenched in the south but predatory bands infested the country and the government troops had all they could do to hold them in check, let alone any offensive operations against the Japanese. However, after a hard chase a large band of the miscreants were brought to bay 23at Hoe-mun Mountain and cut to pieces. At this time also the king sent again to Nanking asking that his successor be nominated, but again he was refused.

The career of Gen. Kim Tŭk-nyŭng whom, as we have seen, the Japanese had dubbed “The Flying General,” affords us another example of the fatal weakness of Korea, in the envy excited against any really successful man; for even while Gen. Kim was successfully combatting the Japanese in his own way, his very successes aroused the spleen of Gen. Yun Keun-su who accused him to the king of having killed plenty of Koreans, but never a Japanese. On the strength of this groundless charge, and without questioning its truth, the king brought Gen. Kim to Seoul and imprisoned him a year. And so a man of highest loyalty, of such unselfish patriotism as to devote the whole of his private fortune to the fitting out of soldiers to fight his country’s foes, was dragged away from a successful field of work to languish in prison, simply because a less successful man begrudged him his fame.

And now began an amusing comedy between the Chinese, who took the Japanese seriously, and the latter who were merely playing off the Chinese in order to save time.

In the fourth moon of 1395 the embassy from China to Japan arrived in Seoul, and immediately Gen. Sim Yu-gyŭng posted southward to see Kato and tell him that the Chinese embassy had already come and that he must hasten to get all the Japanese troops out of the country before the embassy should arrive at Fusan. To all this the wily Kato answered gravely, “You had better stay here a few weeks while I take a run over to Japan and ask Hideyoshi about it, and if he gives the order to take the troops back, it can be done immediately.” When he came back, instead of answering the main question he said that it would be well for a Korean to accompany the envoy to Japan. Meanwhile the Chinese envoy Yi Chong-sŭng, in Seoul, sent messenger after messenger urging the speedy removal of the Japanese troops from the peninsula; but Kato kept putting it off on one ground or another, and made no move to go. When, however, this part of the comedy had proceeded to such a point that the Japanese began to fear the Chinese would see that it was indeed a comedy, Kato took a few regiments of men from Ung-ch’ŭn and Kŭ-je and made 24preparations as if to depart, meanwhile sending Gen. Sim to Seoul to say that he was waiting for the envoy and his suite to come south and accompany the departing army to Japan. Five months had already elapsed since the envoy had arrived in Seoul, and he therefore determined to accept this invitation. Moving southward, he came to Nam-wŭn in Chŭl-la Province where he stopped, fearing to go directly into the Japanese camp. While there he gained the soubriquet of “frog-eater,” for he was so fond of the flesh of that reptile that he compelled the people to hunt for and procure it for him.

Gen. Son Kwang, from his comfortable quarters in Liao-tung, sent him a letter charging him with cowardice and ordering him to proceed at once on his way. Under this stimulus he proceeded to Fusan; but Kato would not come to see him, saying, “I must receive instructions from Japan before I can take you across the straits, so I will cross once more and find out the will of my royal master in regard to the matter.” After an absence of two months he came back and opened another act of the comedy by asserting that he must first take Gen. Sim across to Japan and arrange the ceremony of investiture, and that the envoy proper might follow when all was ready. By this time, what with the fear of the Japanese and bewilderment at the intricacy of Japanese diplomacy the poor envoy was well-nigh distraught. When therefore, with the beginning of the new year 1596 a Chinaman named So Hak-myŭng came from Japan and informed him that Hideyoshi had not the remotest idea of becoming a vassal of China and that if the Chinese envoy should cross to Japan he would never come back again, it capped the climax, and that very night the wretched envoy, taking only one servant and a few clothes tied up in a cloth, made his escape from the Japanese camp and fled away northward. He traveled by night and hid by day, until at last he arrived at Seoul. And so the curtain drops on another act of the comedy.

When the Japanese found out that the envoy had made his escape they were in a quandary, fearing lest they might be punished for letting him go and so spoiling the fun. They therefore gave chase, but not being able to overtake the light-footed 25envoy, they contented themselves with surrounding the house of the vice-envoy Yang Pang-hyŭng. The latter knew of his chief’s flight, but to draw away suspicion from himself he pretended to sleep late that morning and claimed to know nothing about the matter. When at last he was told of it by the Japanese general Kuroda, he said quietly, “Well, he was a young man and a little nervous. He should have gone to Japan long ago instead of waiting around here. It will be of no use for you to chase him.” He then deliberately arose, went to the room lately occupied by his chief, took possession of the Emperor’s letter and returned to his own apartments. By his coolness and presence of mind he allayed the excitement of the Japanese and perhaps saved his own life.

The Japanese soldiers who had been detailed to return to Japan were of course delighted to go back to their homes and were eager to set sail from Fusan. They had their baggage all on board and were hoping to start at any moment. But when they heard of the flight of the Chinese envoy they knew there would be a long delay and they were sorely disappointed; so much so in fact that many of them wept aloud. It is probable that every Japanese soldier in the peninsula would have been glad of an opportunity to return to Japan. Only the severe discipline of the Japanese army and the lack of boats prevented them from deserting in large numbers; at least we may gather as much from the frequent references to the home-sickness of the Japanese soldiers.

Yang Pang-hyŭng called the weeping soldiers before him and said, “We have waited here so long that my chief got tired and went back. But I remain and the imperial missive is with me. He has fled only to Nam-wŭn and if you send there you will doubtless find him.” This led them to believe that their fond hope of returning home would soon be gratified.

All this time the young Konishi, the rival of Kato, sat disdainfully silent watching the empty game which his unpopular rival was playing with the Chinese. When he heard of the flight of the envoy he laughed and said, “I knew he was no genuine envoy from the Emperor, for if he had been he would not have dared to show his heels like this.” This remark 26was intended to imply that while Kato had been trying to hoodwink the Chinese, they, on the other hand, had hoodwinked him.

Yang Pang-hyŭng lost no time in informing the Emperor of the perfidy of his chief, and the Emperor immediately ordered the recalcitrant official to be caught and imprisoned. He raised Yang Pang-hyŭng to the position of Chief of the Embassy and appointed Sim Yu-gyŭng as his second. We will remember that Sim Yu-gyŭng had already gone to Japan with Kato, bearing the imperial gifts, which consisted of a royal robe with the embroidered design of a dragon, a jade belt, royal head-gear, a map of China, a book on war and various other kinds of treasures. He there married the daughter of a Japanese named Arima, and is said by the Koreans to have become a thorough Japanese. This may have been part of the game he was playing, and we may see the fruits of it later.

Kato was determined that a Korean envoy should accompany the Chinese one to Japan and to this end he told one of the Korean officials, “If a Korean envoy does not accompany the Chinese embassy to Japan the peace will be only between Japan and China, and Korea will have no part in it. This will lead to grave troubles.” Gen. Sim also sent his nephew back from Japan to ask that a Korean envoy accompany the Chinese embassy. So the king appointed two men, Whang Sin and Pak Hong-jang to this work, conferring upon them the title of T’ong-sin-sa or “Faithful Messenger.”

In the fifth moon of this year 1596 Gen. Konishi massed his troops in forty-six regiments on the southern coast and, leaving only four regiments to guard Fusan, set sail for Japan. With him went all the envoys, both Chinese and Korean.

Now that lasting peace seemed to be assured, the king no longer hesitated to hand over the reins of power to the Crown Prince. He accordingly sent the royal insignia south to him, and so doffed the responsibilities as well as the prerogatives of royalty. But, strange to say, the prince strenuously refused to accept them, insisting that he had no desire to take the scepter from his father’s hand. Seven times he sent to his father protesting his unwillingness to have the honor thrust upon him. But the king would not listen. It was 27only after the courtiers had assembled before the palace for twenty days in succession and besought him to retain the scepter that they finally prevailed and he consented to continue in the exercise of the royal prerogative.

Yi Mong-hak, an unprincipled ruffian, ignorant but ambitious, had joined the forces of Gen. Han Hyŭn and had fought during the war. Now he started out on an independent line. Gathering a force of over ten thousand men he attacked and took Hong-san in Ch‘ung-ch‘ŭng Province, and he followed it up by taking Im-ch‘ŭn, Ch‘ung-yang, Chöng-san and Hong-ju. Yi Mong-hak had been deceiving his followers by saying that Gen. Kim Tŭk-nyang was interested in this scheme. But now they found that this same Gen. Kim was arrayed against them and they saw they had been duped. That night every man deserted the adventurer and the next day he fell into the hands of the loyal troops and his head was forwarded to Seoul. This shows the extremely unsettled state of the country, and how any unprincipled man with money and effrontery could offer serious opposition to the government.

Here again we find a striking example of that petty jealousy which deprived Korea of most of her capable men. This Gen. Kim Tŭk-nyŭng was a celebrated man. He was known throughout the Korean army for his strength and prowess. It is said of him that single-handed he would attack a tiger and pin it to the ground with a spear. They also say that he rode into battle with an iron mace of a hundred pounds weight in each hand and he gave the Japanese so many hard knocks that they gave him the name, “The General from under the Rock.” The ministers at Seoul were suspicious of his rising fame and went their ways to have him dragged down. They charged him with having been in league with Yi Mong-hak and won the king over. He was arrested and brought to Seoul, where after a most disgraceful trial he was put to death. The Japanese had such a high opinion of this man’s parts that Konishi sent and had a portrait made of him. When he saw the picture he exclaimed, “This man is indeed a General.” When his death was announced, the Japanese held a great feast in honor of the event. This was just on the eve of their departure for home.

28As we have seen, it was in the summer of 1596 that the Chinese and Korean envoys crossed to Japan with the returning army of invasion. When they were brought into the presence of Hideyoshi he treated them with scant courtesy. When asked why he did not bow before the imperial missive he replied that he had a sore leg and could not. He treated the Korean envoy much worse than the Chinese, and said to him, “I sent back the two princes as I agreed, but your king never so much as thanked me. He has now sent as envoy a man of inferior rank on purpose to insult me. I believe the original Chinese envoy ran away at the instigation of your king. I will treat the Chinese envoy civilly, but as for you I shall send another army and be avenged on you.” After this there was but one thing to do. Both the envoys packed up their effects and started back home. When the Chinese envoy arrived at Nanking bringing insult instead of submission from Japan the Emperor was in a terrible rage and charged Sim Yu-gyŭng with having betrayed his country. The chief envoy was executed and the official who had advised the sending of an embassy was thrown into prison and starved to death, but Sim Yu-gyŭng in some way escaped with his head.

Chapter II

A new invasion determined upon.... comparison of Japan and Korea.... Japanese scheme to get Admiral Yi into danger.... Admiral Yi degraded.... second invasion.... Choryŭng Pass fortified.... Chinese give aid.... Admiral Yi’s successor a failure.... great naval victory for the Japanese.... Admiral Yi reinstated.... siege and fall of Nam-wŭn.... Korean naval victories.... Admiral Yi’s policy.... Japanese advance checked.... rejoicing in Seoul.... siege of Ul-san.... siege raised.... Roman Catholic missionaries.... the Japanese army.... the “ear and nose mound”.... number of Chinese.... a Japanese settlement.... Chinese admirals.... Admiral Yi’s diplomacy.... Gen. Yang Ho recalled.... the King accused.... the defense.

We have now reached the halfway point between the two invasions, or rather between the two parts of the double invasion. Hideyoshi was still furious over the failure of his great plan of invading China, and he must needs find some way to 29vent his spleen. He determined upon a second invasion of Korea, not this time with a view to the invasion of China but with the more modest desire to punish Korea, though what Korea had done to deserve punishment it would be hard to say. To be sure she had proved an obstacle to his vaulting ambition, for had Hideyoshi’s original army sailed straight for China instead of landing at Fusan, it probably would have overthrown the Chinese capital. We must notice the changed conditions which existed between the two countries. Korea had now experienced the worst possible at the hands of the Japanese and knew what to expect. Their soldiers had felt the prick of Japanese swords and had in turn tasted the delights of victory. That terrible glamor which surrounded the dreaded islanders upon their first appearance had worn off and some sort of equality had been effected between them. The Koreans had meanwhile become possessed of firearms and were measurably skilled in their use. They had learned never to trust themselves to open battle when geurilla warfare was feasible. They had demonstrated their great superiority on the sea in the person of the Admiral Yi. When therefore we remember that the Japanese had to leave their base of supplies and live on what they could forage in the peninsula, it appears that in spite of their prowess they had not much advantage over the Koreans. But before making this second descent upon the shores of Korea it was necessary for the Japanese to get the redoubtable Admiral Yi Sun-sin out of the way. No fleet from Japan would risk an encounter with him in his “Tortoise Boat.” The Japanese had seen how the mutual jealousies of the Koreans worked in their favor and they determined to use this in getting Admiral Yi removed. So one day a Japanese named Yo-si-ra made his appearance at the camp of Gen. Kim Eung-sŭ, saying that he was tired of being a Japanese and that he wanted to become a Korean. He dressed in Korean clothes and kept going back and forth between the Japanese and Koreans, giving the latter what seemed to be much valuable information. He seemed to be devoted to the Korean interests. One day he came in a state of great excitement and said that the Japanese General Kato was coming to Korea with a great fleet and that, as he was to pass a certain island off the coast, Admiral Yi ought to be sent 30to lie in wait there and drive the invading fleet back or to sink it. So Gen. Kim wrote to the king about it and asked for orders. The king, trusting in the prowess of Admiral Yi, gave his consent; but when that officer received these orders he promptly replied that it was a trick to entrap him and thus clear a way for a descent upon the mainland of Korea. He therefore declined to run the risk, especially as the place mentioned was studded with sunken rocks and was specially dangerous for navigation. But the Japanese Yo-si-ra kept urging Gen. Kim to see to it that the plan was carried out and at last the General wrote to the king saying that Admiral Yi declined to go. As may be supposed Admiral Yi had enemies at court who could not let such an opportunity pass of getting him into trouble. Consequently the iniquitous decree went forth that Admiral Yi be seized and brought to Seoul and that Wŭn Kyun be put in his place. The king intended to put Admiral Yi to death, but one of the officials urged his former services in palliation of his present offense and so the punishment was commuted to loss of position alone. So it was that Admiral Yi, the best soldier that Korea contained and to whom the king owed his crown twice over, was degraded to the ranks and became a common soldier. But most remarkable of all, he made no complaint, but went quietly about his work as if nothing had happened.

In the first moon of the year 1597 the Japanese fleet set sail from Japan. This army was led by Kato and Konishi although the nominal commander in chief was a lad of seventeen named Hideyaki. It is said that it took a thousand boats to bring the army across the straits. Had Admiral Yi Sun-sin been at his old post this fleet would never have touched keel on the Korean coast but as it was there was no difficulty, and the entire army landed safely at So-sang Harbor and immediately threw up fortifications and went into camp.

The first thought of the Koreans was to fortify Cho-ryŭng Pass the one break in the mountain chain which the Japanese must pass if they wished to march on Seoul. Gen. Kwŭn Ryŭl with 23,000 men and other generals with troops hastily gathered from various districts hastened to that important pass and put the fortifications in good order, and the king forthwith sent Kwŭn Hyŭp as envoy to Nanking to 31implore the intervention of China. And now we see the evil results of Hideyoshi’s ill-treatment of the Chinese and Korean envoys in Japan; for instead of making the Koreans send time and again asking for help the Emperor was eager to send troops into the peninsula to avenge himself upon the Japanese. The Chinese army was put in charge of three men: Gen. Yang Ho with rank of Military Commissioner, Gen. Hyöng Kă as general-in chief and Admiral Ma Gwi as commander of all the naval forces. Under these were Generals Yang Wŭn, O Yu-ch’ung, U Păk-yŏng, Chin U-ch’ung, So Eung-gung, Chin Hyo and Tong Han-yu. Gen. Yang Ho came no further than P’yŭng-yang, his duties not requiring his presence on the field of battle. Admiral Ma Kwi and all the others came on to Seoul. From that point they branched out in several directions, one going to Nam-wŭn in Chŭl-la province, another to Song-ju in Kyŭng-sang Province, another to Chŭn-ju, Chŭl-la Province, and another to Ch’ung-ju in Ch’ung-ch’ŭng Province.

Admiral Wŭn Kyun, who had supplanted Yi Sun-sin, went to Han-san where Admiral Yi had worked so diligently to build barracks with the proceeds of salt manufacture. His first work was to overthrow all the rules and regulations which his predecessor had so wisely promulgated. He then drove away all who had been at all intimate with the former admiral, who was now a common soldier under Kwŭn Ryul. He then built a paling about the council-hall that Yi Sun-sin had built and there he housed his harem and spent his time in revelry and feasting. He would frequently have innocent men called up and severely punished for mere amusement. And thus he soon alienated the good will of all the troops stationed there.

But Kato, the astute Japanese general, through his tool Yo-si-ra, kept at Gen. Kim, urging him to have a fleet sent to intercept a fleet of Japanese boats. He named a day on which the Korean fleet would be sure to intercept a fleet of the enemy. At last the order was given for Admiral Wŭn Kyun to carry out this manoeuvre and though he had no stomach for the enterprise he could not well demur, for this was the very thing that had cost Admiral Yi his position. So he got his boats together and sailed out to Chŭl-yŭng 32Island off Fusan. But a strong breeze sprang up and the sea was rather rough and in the darkness of night the Korean fleet became scattered. The next day the larger part of them rendezvoused at Ka-dok Island where they unexpectedly met the Japanese fleet and were vigorously attacked. Almost immediately all Admiral Wŭn’s forces deserted him and his only recourse was flight. Beaching his boat on Ch‘il-ch‘ŭn Island he landed and drew about him what remnants of his force he could find. When Gen. Kwŭn Ryul heard of this he sent a stern order demanding that the admiral come out and fight. That valliant man first filled himself with wine then sallied forth only to be deserted again by his men. So the doughty admiral again ran his boat aground and took to his heels. He was so fat however that he could not run far, so he sat down under a tree to get his breath. There the Japanese overtook him and carried away his head in triumph. The second in command, Yi Yŭ-geui, fled by boat after burning all the barracks and provisions that were stored at Han-san.

When these events became known the whole country was in consternation. Yi Hang-bok, the king’s trusted councillor, said, “Yi Sun-sin must be reinstated in his former position.” It was a case of dire necessity and so the king sent and conferred upon that faithful man his former office. The trusty Yi set out on foot and rested not day nor night until he reached his former position, Han-san. On all sides he met the scattered and flying remnants of his former force. He rallied them about him, promising that the Japanese should still be held in check.

But before Admiral Yi arrived on the scene of action a tremendous force of Japanese both military and naval had landed on the southern coast. Their objective point was Nam-wŭn, where the Chinese general Yang Wŭn had pitched his camp. Upon the approach of the Japanese the latter burned all the houses outside the wall to prevent their offering cover to an attacking force; but the Japanese soon built a rough fence or palisade about the town, from behind which they picked off the Chinese soldiers on the wall, at leisure. The Chinese attempted to make a sortie but in their eagerness to get out of the gate they became jammed in it and were mown down by the long swords of the besiegers. Unfortunately 33for the Chinese and Koreans the following night was full moon and the Japanese cut down every man that attempted to escape. To the line of stakes which they had planted about the town the Japanese fastened swords, and when the people from the town tried to make good their escape they found themselves impaled upon these weapons. The Chinese commander, Yang Wŭn, rode at this barrier and his horse was so impaled, but he succeeded in getting over and making good his escape. The Japanese attacked the wall in its weakest point and forced an entrance. The massacre within the town beggars description. The Korean generals Chöng Keui-wŭn, Yi Pong-nam, O Eung-jung, Kim Kyöng-no, Sin Ho, Im Hyŭn, Yi Tŭk-whe and Yi Wŭn-ch‘un were all killed, which indicates how sanguinary must have been the fight.

Immediately all northern Chŭl-la was in confusion and the troops everywhere began to fall back toward the north. In Seoul itself there was consternation. The king called his officials about him and asked what should be done. They all urged that the king stay in the capital. The queen and the crown prince however were sent to Su-an in Ham-gyŭng Province and the king prepared to move whenever it should seem necessary.

But by this time Admiral Yi was again on the stage of action and as alert as ever. He had as yet only ten boats under him, but he had no lack of men, for the people all along the coast, when they heard of his reinstatement, flocked to him. He drew up his little fleet of ten boats in the shadow of a mountain on Chin-do (island) and sent out reconnoitering boats which returned just at night saying that the Japanese were approaching. As the moon dropped behind the mountain it left the Korean fleet in complete darkness and soon the Japanese boats came sailing along in single file. Admiral Yi deployed his boats in a long line and suddenly they all raised a loud shout and fired point blank at the unsuspecting Japanese. The latter thought they had run into a powerful fleet and soon scattered in all directions. The next day there was more serious work, however, for a fleet of several hundred boats appeared. The Koreans were in some trepidation, but the fearless admiral made straight for the 34enemy and though soon surrounded he succeeded in sinking thirty of the enemy’s boats. The rest evidently recognized the master hand of Admiral Yi and turned and fled. He gave chase, and before the battle ended the Japanese commander Ma-da-si was killed. Returning from this remarkable fight Admiral Yi proceeded to Han-san and set to work rebuilding the barracks and making salt. It is said that in two months time he stored away 20,000 bags of rice. His former captains and soldiers came back to him in “clouds.” He also found another source of revenue. The wealthy men all through the south desired to get away from the disturbed districts and so loaded their effects upon boats and sailed away. Admiral Yi however stood in the way and made them pay a toll of from one to three bags of rice for each boat. From this source alone he collected above a thousand bags of rice. He used this revenue in the purchase of copper for the casting of cannon, and for the building of boats. Thousands of people who feared to live on the mainland came and built huts about his camp, until the island actually became too small to hold more.

After the fall of Nam-wŭn the Japanese, flushed with victory, started northward toward Seoul, thinking without doubt that they would have as easy a victory as before. Yang Ho, hearing of the defeat of the Chinese, came post haste from P’yŭng-yang and severely upbraided the generals and charged them with lack of bravery. Without an hour’s delay it was arranged that Generals Ha Sang, U Pak-yung, Yang Teung and P‘a Sa should take a strong body of troops and move southward to Ch‘ung-ch‘ŭng Province and intercept the Japanese. This was done and the army ambushed at Keum-o-p‘yŭng in the district of Chik-san. Soon the Japanese came streaming along, neglecting all precautions, for they had no idea of meeting an enemy. When therefore the ambuscade opened fire on them it took but a few moments to throw them into utter confusion. In the rout which ensued an enormous number of the Japanese were killed. On the following day the Japanese, who had mended their broken ranks as best they could, came on to the attack, but their losses had been so great that in spite of wonders of bravery which they showed they were again crushed. The remnant 35of their force fled southward to Mok-ch‘un and Ch‘ung-ju. This was one of the three great battles of the war and in importance it was exceeded by none; for, though the forces engaged were not so numerous nor the number of slain so great, it broke once for all the self-confidence of the Japanese, and they never again had the hardihood to attempt the approach to Seoul. By this battle the war was definitely confined to the southern provinces. The Commissioner Yang Ho suggested to the king that he go out and survey the battle field, and so the royal cavalcade rode out the South Gate. One of the Chinese generals suspected that the king was something of a coward and so, to test him, he gave the horse the king was riding a sharp cut with a whip. The horse leaped into the air with terror but the king held his seat and showed no sign of fear. The Chinese were pleased at this and their respect for the king was visibly increased.

Seoul gave itself up to universal holiday in honor of the victory, for it was still fresh in the minds of many how Seoul had fared before at the hands of the invaders.

In the tenth moon Gen. Konishi built a strong fort on a bluff overlooking the sea at Ul-san in Kyŭng-sang Province. He named it To-san. The Chinese Yang Ho determined to cut the war short by attacking and taking this position and by so doing he expected to cut off the right arm of the invading army. Collecting all the forces that were within reach, he started south to attack Ul-san. The army consisted of 40,000 men and it went in three divisions. The left or eastern division being led by Gen. Yi Pang-ch‘ŭn, the middle division by Gen. Ko Ch‘ak and the western division by Gen. P ăng U-dŭk. Gen. Ma Kwi was sent on ahead and acted as avant-coureur. Stopping a few miles from the Japanese position he ordered Gen. P‘a Sa to go and make a preliminary attack upon the fort to discover something as to the lay of the land, and if possible to discover the number and equipment of the enemy. The attack was made with fire-arrows. Almost immediately the Japanese made a sortie, but were driven back with a loss of four hundred and sixty men. Shortly after this the three grand army corps arrived. The Japanese were arranged in three divisions. In the middle was the fort proper. On the north was a fortified camp called the Pan-gu-jun 36and off the south was another called the P‘a-wha-gang. It was the first business of the Chinese and Korean allies to drive these outer divisions into the central fort. To this end the left division of the army attacked the Pan-gu-jun and the right division the P‘a-wha-gang. Gen. Yang Ho put on his armor and went into the thick of the fight and urged on his men. The air was filled with the noise of drums, musketry-fire and shouts of the combatants, and a cloud of arrows concealed the heavens. Some of the Japanese huts were on fire and great clouds of smoke and flame rolled heavenward. Slowly the Japanese were forced back and finally they all entered the gates of the main fort of To-san. This fort was set on a rugged hill where it was difficult for an attacking force to manoeuvre, but there was little water in the fort and the Japanese were forced to come out secretly at night and draw water from a well nearby. Being aware of this, Gen. Kim Eung-sŭ, a Korean, placed an ambush about the well and caught upwards of a hundred of the enemy. They were badly emaciated and said that surrender was a matter of only a few days. It came on to rain, and this was followed by severe cold, as it was now the beginning of winter. Many of the besieging army had their hands and feet frozen. One of Gen. Konishi’s lieutenants wrote repeatedly to the Korean general Song Yun-mun asking for terms of peace. Gen. Yang Ho answered, “Konishi must come out and surrender and he will be treated well.” By this time the Japanese were well-nigh exhausted. They had neither food nor water, and every day they died in such numbers that it is said they had “a mountain of dead.” Many a time Gen. Konishi meditated suicide but each time was restrained by one means or another. As a last resort the Japanese threw gold and silver over the wall to bribe the soldiers without and keep them from making an attack.

But the tables were about to be turned. All the other Japanese forces in the south had become aware of the desperate straits to which their comrades were reduced at To-san. And so now at the last moment a large fleet appeared and the hard won victory was snatched from between the teeth of the Chinese and Korean allies. The exposure had greatly weakened the besieging force. Their provisions were almost exhausted 37and they had used up all their arrows. They were far stronger than the beleagured Japanese but were not fit to cope with the fresh army which was burning with zeal to avenge their starving compatriots. So it was that Gen. Yang Ho was compelled to raise the siege and fall back toward Seoul. During this siege the Chinese loss was fourteen hundred, though many thousands were wounded.

From this time date the first efforts of the Roman Catholic Church to enter Korea. Japan had already many thousands of converts to Romanism and Hideyoshi was determined to leave no means untried to eradicate the foreign cult. To this end he sent many of the Catholic converts to Korea. But the most distinguished of them all was the young and vigorous Gen. Konishi who had received baptism at the hands of the Catholics and had received the name of Augustine Arimandano. It may have been because of Hideyoshi’s desire to get the Catholics out of the country that Gen. Konishi was appointed to the post in Korea. Kato was as pronounced a Buddhist as Konishi was a Christian and this of course intensified the hatred and rivalry between them. Gen. Konishi was desirous of having Catholic teachers come over to the peninsula and attend to the spiritual needs of the Christians in the army; and to this end the Vice-provincial of the Jesuits in Japan appointed Padre Gregoris de Cespedes to this arduous and important post. With him went a Japanese priest. The two first went to Tsushima and finding no means of getting to the peninsula remained there over the winter and carried on a successful mission work. The next spring they made their way to Korea and finally reached Gen. Konishi’s headquarters at a place that the Japanese call Comangai, which was without doubt the fort of Ul-san. Here they worked a year but finally, through the machinations of Gen. Kato, who worked upon the prejudices of Hideyoshi, both the foreign and native priests were sent back to Japan, and this had no little to do with the return of Gen. Konishi, who went to clear himself before his master.

To anticipate a little, we might here say that many Koreans who were carried captive to Japan from time to time during this war, became Christians at Nagasaki and though slaves were so firm in their belief as to be willing to suffer 38martyrdom during the terrible persecutions which raged in Japan between 1610 and 1630, but with the departure of Cespedes from Korea the distinctive work in Korea was abandoned.

Let us pause a moment here to compare the two contending armies. In this second invasion the total number of Japanese that reached Korean soil was 105,400, or about half as many as formed the first army of invasion. They were led by twenty-seven generals, prominent among whom were Kato and Konishi. As a mark of his spiteful spirit, Hideyoshi ordered that in this second invasion the noses and ears of all Koreans killed or captured should be cut off and sent to Japan. And so from time to time these half-savage soldiers sent loads of Korean noses and ears, pickled in salt, and they were buried in the monastery of Ta-bul-sa in the city of Kyoto, there to remain to all ages a disgusting memento of the most unprovoked and wanton cruelty that ever disgraced the annals of a great people. Many of the Koreans who lost their noses or ears at that time survived many years, and it cannot be wondered at that the Koreans have never since cared to accept favors at the hands of their island neighbors.

The total number of Chinese was 210,000. With them came 2,000,000 ounces of silver to pay for their sustenance. From Shantung were sent by boat 200,000 bags of rice. There were also sent for the relief of the army 5,832,000 ounces of silver. And for the relief of the Korean famine sufferers an additional 3,000,000 ounces were sent. When we consider the vast number of men and the millions of wealth that China poured into Korea at this time it may well be believed, as the Koreans affirm, that China, by so doing, impoverished herself so that she became an easier prey to the Manchus who, a few years later, wrested the scepter from her.

Large numbers of Japanese who had been in the country for years and were tired of the war deserted from the ranks, married Korean women and settled down to farming in various places in the south. At Mi-ryang in the Province of Kyŭng-sang there was a whole settlement of them. It was called the Hang-wă or “Settlement of the Surrendered Japanese.” Some of them were also to be found in Ham-gyŭng and P‘yŭng-an Provinces. These had been left behind and 39abandoned by their fellows for one cause or another when the Japanese retired from the north. They were all destined to be destroyed a quarter of a century later during the rebellion of Yi Kwal.

About this time there arose in the Chinese court a determined enemy of Gen. Yang Ho named Chŭng Eung-t‘ă who accused Gen. Yang to the Emperor in twenty-five specifications, five of which implicated the king of Korea and which at a later date caused a deal of trouble.

We now enter upon a new phase of the war, the closing epoch. In the first moon of the following year, 1598, the Emperor sent two admirals to Korea, the one being Tong Il-wun and the other Chil Lin. The former was to have charge of the naval operations off the coast of Chŭl-la and the other of those off Kyŭng-sang Province. Chil Lin, under the title of Great Admiral came up the Han River with 500 boats as far as Tong-jak, the first village above Yong-san. The king and the court went down and reviewed this fleet and saw it start off to join Admiral Yi Sun-sin in the south. This admiral, Chil Lin, was a good soldier but inordinately vain. He would take no one’s advice, and it looked as if stormy times were in store for the plain, blunt Admiral Yi. The king told Admiral Chil Lin that he was not sure about Admiral Yi, and this of course had its influence with the Chinese admiral. Admiral Yi was then at Ko-geum Island off Chŭl-la Province. When he heard that Admiral Chil Lin was coming he showed by his first act that he was as good a diplomat as soldier. He may or may not have known what sort of man the Chinese admiral was but he knew that in any case it would not do to antagonize him, and he acted accordingly. He collected a great store of fish and game and wine and went out to meet the approaching fleet. Returning with the Chinese admiral he spread a great feast and the whole company got splendidly drunk and vowed that Admiral Yi was a royal good fellow. Admiral Chil Lin himself joined in the praise. Soon after this Admiral Yi had the good luck to take two score of Japanese heads, but instead of claiming the honor himself he handed them over to the Chinese admiral to forward as his own trophies. This finished Admiral Yi’s conquest of Admiral Chil Lin’s good graces. From this time on it was Gen. 40Yi who suggested and planned and it was Admiral Chil Lin who assented and reaped the praise. This course of conduct was a master-piece of genius on the part of Admiral Yi, for by so doing he accomplished at least three important things. In the first place he kept himself in his position, which he would have lost had he antagonized the Chinaman. In the second place he saved himself to his country at a time when she could not have spared him. He was willing to forego the praise and let others reap the commendation if only he might ward off the enemies of his country. In the third place he made the Chinese seem successful and so encouraged them and got out of them for Korea all that was to be hoped. He was willing to seem to be toadying to Admiral Chil Lin when in reality that gentleman was, to use a pregnant Korean phrase, “in his sleeve.” Being always near the Chinese admiral he could always see to it that no great blunders were made. At first the Chinese soldiery committed great excesses among the people of the country, stealing their valuables and otherwise injuring them. Admiral Yi quietly asked that the discipline of the army be put in his hands and from that day on the smallest irregularity was severely punished and the most perfect order prevailed. This did not escape the eye of Admiral Chil Lin, and he wrote to the king that Admiral Yi was a remarkable man and that the world did not contain another soldier like him. One day as they sat in a summer-house overlooking the sea a fleet of Japanese boats appeared in the distance. Admiral Chil Lin was much excited and a little nervous but Admiral Yi laughed and said, “Sit here and watch me give those fellows a whipping.” He got out his boats and in an hour he had forty of the enemy’s boats on fire and the rest fled. Admiral Chil Lin could not praise him enough after this and declared that the universe did not contain another man who could perform the feats that Admiral Yi apparently found easy.

In the seventh moon of this year the enemies of Gen. Yang Ho in Nanking were successful and he was called from Korea, much to the regret of the king who vainly sent an envoy to the Chinese court specially to plead that the decree be not carried out. Gen. Yang had been the best of all the generals that China had sent and his departure was a great loss to 41Korea. When he went, the king and a large number of the people accompanied him beyond the Peking Pass, and a stone tablet was raised there in his honour. All of this of course made Gen. Yang’s enemies hate the king as well, and so that official named Chung Eung-t’a fabricated some astonishing stories about him. He claimed that while he had been in Korea he had found a manuscript which proved that the king had received investiture from Japan. He also charged the Koreans with showing disloyalty to China by prefixing the word ta (great) to the posthumous titles of their kings. He also claimed that the first coming of the Japanese was with a secret understanding with the king of Korea that they would attack Liao-tung together. To these he added many minor charges. The Emperor apparently believed these things and immediately despatched an envoy, So Kwal-lan, to investigate the matter and report. When the king was informed of these charges he was dumbfounded. All his scrupulous care of the interests of his Chinese suzerain and the extremes of hardship which he and his people had endured, rather than grant the Japanese a free passage through Korea to strike China—all this was thrown back upon him and his devotion was counted treachery. He left his palace and took up his abode in a straw hut for one whole month as penance for having been even suspected of such baseness. The whole country was stirred to its depths by these unnatural and evidently baseless charges. The king immediately sent his most trusted councillors Yi Hang-bok and Yi Chung-gwi to Nanking with the following memorable reply to the charges which had been preferred:

“These charges which have been made against me are very grave and if they are true I deserve death. In order to answer them I must repeat them, even though it defile my mouth. In the first place the origin of the Japanese is far in the eastern sea. The way thither by boat is exceeding far. They are such barbarians that heaven has separated them far from other men. They have always been bad neighbors, for they live by piracy; they come like a flash and are gone as suddenly. Since the time of the fall of the Koryŭ dynasty great uneasiness has prevailed in Japan. Law has been in abeyance and bands of freebooters have been allowed to devastate our southern shores until nothing but weeds and 42briers grow there. The founder of our present dynasty drove them out for a time but they grew bold again and continued their depredations. The natives of Tsushima liked to come and trade with us and we permitted it at their request; then Japanese from the more distant islands came in flocks like birds. Our people never liked them, but we permitted the trade, as it was mutually profitable. We gave them rice to eat and treated them kindly. We built a house in Seoul for the reception of their envoys. In the days of king Se-jong they asked us to send an envoy to Japan and we did so, primarily to spy out the land and discover whether the country was rich or poor, strong or weak. The envoy obtained the information and we immediately reported the matter to China. We could not well refuse to send an envoy to Japan, but it does not argue relations of friendship, much less of intimacy. In the days of the Emperor Chong-t’ong the Japanese started to ravage a certain part of the Chinese coast and took Quelpart on the way, but we attacked and drove them out and sent their leader alive to China to be dealt with. Also in the time of King Chung-jong the Japanese attacked the China coast at Yong P’a-bu. They killed the Chinese general and then made off, but we caught them and sent them to the Chinese authorities. Since that time we have twice prevented Japanese attacks on the China coast. Not once nor twice have we received high commendation from the Chinese Emperor for our firm loyalty. We have always used our wits and our strength in the interests of China. This was the duty of a vassal and this we have done. We let the Japanese live in the three harbors of Ch’e-p’o, Pu-san-p’o and Yŭm-p’o but we prescribed limits of five or ten li beyond which they could not go. On the whole then is seems plain that the charge that we called in the Japanese and asked them for troops must be a pure fabrication. Again the book which Chung Eung-t’a claims to have found is an actual book and is named the Ha-dong Keui-ryak. It was written by Sin Suk-ju the envoy to Japan, on his return from that country, and it deals with the laws and manners of the Japanese. It contains a map of Japan, a genealogy and also the rules of etiquette to be observed toward the Japanese envoy. This book our accuser seized upon as a sure sign of our leaning toward Japan, and he twisted 43its meaning to correspond to his theory. The Japanese have a different name for the year from that which we use, and the writer of this book put the Chinese name beneath the Japanese name as a sort of commentary, so that the reader could understand what year was referred to. In a Japanese book one must put the Japanese name of the year and if he wants to make plain the meaning he must put the Chinese name underneath or in the margin. As to the charge that we gave too high a title to our deceased kings we can only say that we live beyond the sea and are ignorant and secluded. From the days of Sil-la until now we have been accustomed to name our dead kings in this way. The founder of the dynasty was scrupulously careful not to overstep the recognized limits of his authority as a vassal of China and we never for a moment have forgotten the gap which separates a vassal king from his suzerain. The custom of giving these posthumous titles dates from the days of Sil-la, so how could we be expected to know that it was wrong, especially as it has never been called in question before? If we are blamed for ignorance and boorishness we cry guilty, but if for lack of loyalty, we humbly deny it. We have our calendar, our official dress and writing all from China. This alone should speak for our loyalty. The year before the beginning of the present war Hideyoshi murdered his master and usurped his throne. Burning with a desire to spring at the throat of China he sent us letters inviting us to join in an invasion of that country. We sent his letter back with contumely. In all this we advanced solely the interests of China. This is as clear as day. When the invading army came it seemed as if all Japan had alighted upon our shores. They covered our whole eight provinces and ravaged them. They seized our three capitals and desecrated two royal tombs. They burned our ancestral temple and other sacred places and then swept northward to P’yŭng Yang. We were unable to hold them in check or save our capital from their hands. We were driven to the verge of desperation and were about to cross into the parent land to die. Is it conceivable that if we had the least friendship for Hideyoshi we would have suffered all this at his hands? If we look at nature do we find any analogy for such a thing? If this charge is true why did our forces join with yours in 44striking the invaders and why have we been hanging on their flanks and harassing them for years? Let the Emperor know that there is a reason why we have suffered this slander at the mouth of Chung Eung-t’a. It is because we took Gen. Yang Ho’s part when Chung Eung-t’a desired his recall from Korea in disgrace. Gen. Yang Ho was with us a long time and he was a true friend of Korea. We all had the utmost confidence in him and it was a great pity that so good a man should have met the reward he did. It is a cause of poignant grief to us. We are a small people and our destruction is a matter of small consequence, but for a general of China to be treated in this manner is a serious matter. We are an outside people and we have never had the pleasure of visiting the Emperor’s court, and so there is no one to plead our cause for us, but the Emperor will be able to judge our case without further plea. Chung Eung-t’a has called me a traitor, and I would rather die than live with such a charge upon me, even though it be untrue. Let the Emperor take this letter and sit in judgment on the case and if it appears that I am guilty let my head pay the penalty, but if not then let the Emperor acquit me before the world and I shall again be able to endure the light of day.”

This letter is clear, logical and to the point, and it breathes a spirit of self-respect which does credit to the king. It shows not a servile dependence but a true self-respecting loyalty, and in the firm denial of the charges and the final demand for condemnation or public acquital there is the ring of genuine manhood which would do honor to any man in any age.

When the Emperor read this letter his judicial mind found in it the ring of conscious rectitude and like the man he was he instantly acknowledged his error. He ordered the letter to be printed by the thousands and tens of thousands and scattered broadcast over his empire, for he apparently felt it a personal honor to have so true and genuine a man for a vassal. He answered the letter in the following terms:

“I believed the words of slander spoken by that small man Chung Eung-t‘a, and doubted in my mind as to the loyalty of the king of Korea. I cannot now be oblivious to the unmerited sufferings of Gen. Yang Ho. Chung Eung-t‘a is 45a radically bad man. I was on the brink of a disastrous mistake. I will now deprive him of rank and make him one of the common herd. Let him appear before me at once.”

When Chung Eung-t‘a arrived in Nanking he was cut in two at the waist.

Chapter III

Japanese mix with Koreans.... Chinese and Korean advance.... Japanese victory.... attempts at bribery.... Admiral Yi Sun sin’s last fight.... a young Korean captive.... Hideyoshi poisoned.... his character.... Japanese recalled.... a Korean teacher in Japan.... a memorial temple.... party changes.... Japanese envoy.... posthumous honors.... factional strife.... revenue.... envoy to Japan.... a welcome heir.... negotiations with Japan.... a dark outlook.... Chinese commissioner duped.... treaty with Japan.... reign of terror.... the young prince murdered.

By this time the Japanese were becoming mixed with the Korean people among whom and near whom their camps were placed. They were probably good customers and the people doubtless felt that it was not their business to fight them; so all up and down the coast for a distance of three hundred miles the Japanese lived in their “holes” as the Koreans called them, and in many cases they took wives from among the women of the country and devoted themselves to farming, except at such times as the Korean or Chinese forces came into their vicinity. There were three Japanese military centers. One was at Ul-san on the eastern coast, held by Konishi. In the west was Sun-ch‘ŭn in Chŭl-la Province where Kato had his headquarters, while half way between these two in the town of Sa-ch‘un on the Si-jin River a third station was held by Gen. Sok Mang-ja. These three stations kept up regular communication with each other, and in case of need rendered each other assistance.

We now enter the last campaign of this eventful war. We are not informed as to the numbers of the Japanese at this time but it probably fell short of 100,000 men. The Chinese had assembled again in force at Seoul and in the ninth moon 46of 1598 a grand move was made against the invaders. The Chinese forces were led by Generals Hyöng Kă and Man Se-dŭk. The whole army was divided into four grand army corps. Gen. Ma Kwi led the eastern division southward to attack Ul-san. Under him were eleven other generals and 24,000 men.

The central division, of 13,000 men, was led by Gen. Tong Il-wŭn under whom were eight other generals. The western division was led by Gen. Yu Chung and six other generals with a force of 13,000 men. The admiral of this campaign was Chil Lin who was already in the south with eight other commanders handling 13,200 men. It is said that the entire expedition numbered 142,700 men, but the above items sum up to less than half that and we must conclude that there were something less than 100,000 men in all.

On the last day of the ninth moon, already well on toward winter, the three divisions deployed before the walls of Ul-san. Kato had not been idle all this time; after the terrible scenes of the last siege he had made the best of preparations. He had accumulated an abundance of food, increased the garrison, strengthened the defenses, and he could laugh at any force that should try to sit out the winter before him. The Chinese soon discovered this and turned aside to work that promised better success. Gen. Tong Il-wŭn took a powerful force and advanced on Sa-chŭn, the central station of the Japanese. It is probable that the garrison here was smaller than those under either Kato or Konishi, for when its commander saw the force that was brought to bear upon him he hastily evacuated the place and crossed over to the island of Pom-neut and fortified it. Gen. Tong was over-confident and pressed after him. The Japanese craftily drew him on and on until his force was immediately under the wall, when a mine was exploded which, though it killed but a few hundred men, threw the whole attacking body into such confusion that the Japanese rushed out and found them an easy prey. The Chinese lay in heaps where they had been cut down. Gen. Tong barely escaped with his life and fled to Sam-gă, being chased as far as the Nam-gang (river) where the Japanese contented themselves with making way with 12,000 bags of rice belonging to the Chinese commissariat.

47Gen. Yu Chung was commissioned to take a strong body of men and attack the fortress at Sun-ch‘ŭn in Chŭl-la Province. Arriving at the neighboring village of Wă-gyo he determined to overcome the old veteran Kato by treachery. He sent to that general a proposition to make peace. Kato was now an old man and the war in Korea was bringing him neither fame nor advancement, so he was ready to give up the contest, now that it had been demonstrated that the Japanese arms could not penetrate the north. He gladly assented and sent Gen. Yu a present of two handsome swords. It was agreed that they should meet at a certain point, accompanied by only 3000 men each; but Gen. Yu secretly placed an ambush in such wise that when the Japanese force should come out it could be cut off from return to the fort. A whistle was to be sounded as a signal when the Japanese came out. But Kato was too old a bird to be caught by such a child’s trick. He had seen two or three of the Chinese lurking about in the vicinity of the gate and so delayed his coming out. By mistake the signal was given and the Chinese ambuscade rushed out only to become an object of ridicule to the Japanese. But even as it was some eighty or ninety Japanese stragglers were cut off and taken by the Chinese. Gen. Yu then surrounded the stronghold and at the same time sent an urgent letter to Admiral Chil Lin to come that very night and join in an attack on the Japanese. The admiral obeyed the summons and hurried up with his fleet. Not knowing about the tides and supposing that the shouts that he heard were the shouts of battle, he sailed straight up under the walls of the fortress. But he found that there was no fight on for Gen. Yu had failed to connect, and the ebbing tide left the astonished Admiral high and dry on the mud flats under the very noses of the enemy. In the morning the Japanese trooped out and burned forty-eight of the stranded ships and killed most of the men. Admiral Chil escaped in the early morning by boat and hurried to the camp of his tardy compatriot, Gen. Yu. In a rage he tore down with his own hands that general’s flag and rent it in pieces, meanwhile heaping upon him every species of abuse for having gotten him into such a plight. Gen. Yu was exceedingly ashamed and his face, they say, was “the color of dirt.” He beat upon 48his breast and acknowledged that he deserved death. So Chil Lin went back to his decimated camp to nurse his wrath.

But Gen. Yu knew that Kato really desired to put an end to the war, and so he sent another messenger saying, “This time I really mean peace. If you will take all your forces and depart I will give you a clear path to escape. Our army numbers 140,000 men and you cannot hope to face that number.” To this proposition Kato assented and began immediately to embark his soldiers to send them back to Japan. But as it happened they had to pass the position of Admiral Chil Lin who naturally sallied out and gave fight, sinking or burning a dozen or more of Kato’s boats. The rest put back in haste to the starting place and Kato blamed Gen. Yu for having deceived him; but the latter claimed that he had merely forgotten to inform Admiral Chil Lin of the agreement and that he would do so. At the same time he advised Kato to send Admiral Chil a slight testimonial of regard, which he did in the shape of a hundred ounces of silver and forty-five swords. So Admiral Chil acquiesced. Again the Japanese fleet set out and succeeded in getting by Admiral Chil Lin’s place; but they had not reckoned upon Admiral Yi Sun-sin and his faithful warriors. Kato was again obliged to turn back and go to work to bribe that doughty leader. He sent him guns and swords in large numbers but the old gentleman remarked that as for weapons he was already pretty well supplied, and sent them back. He was then approached with an offer of 1,000 ounces of silver if he would wink at Kato’s passage. This he likewise refused.

The Japanese were all embarked and it was determined to try and slip by the terrible Admiral in the gray of morning; but he was well aware of the intentions of the enemy, and before break of day he massed all the ships at his command and came down upon the Japanese fleet as it lay at anchor before the fortress of Sun-ch’ŭn. As he approached he is said to have uttered the following prayer to his gods: “To-day I am to die. Give me but one more victory over these Japanese and I shall die content.” He well knew that he had enemies at court who would eventually secure his downfall and so he determined to make an end in one last 49desperate struggle. The fight was short and fierce and when the morning breeze swept the smoke of battle away it disclosed fifty of the Japanese boats in flames and the water filled with struggling forms. The old veteran had taken upwards of two thousand heads in that brief time. But Gen. Kato had slipped away in a small boat and made his escape. The work however was only begun. The sea was covered with boats frantically endeavoring to escape from the dreaded arm of the merciless Admiral Yi. The good work went on and every hour added to the score that Admiral Yi had sworn to made before the night should fall. Notice reached him that a fresh Japanese fleet had come and was attacking Admiral Chil Lin’s fleet. Hurrying thither he found that it was indeed true. He now changed his tactics and without coming to a hand to hand fight he circled round and round the Japanese fleet driving them closer and closer together. When all was ready he began playing upon them with a new machine of his own manufacture called the pun-t’ong or “spraying tube.” What this was we can not exactly discover, but in a short time it sufficed to set the Japanese fleet on fire. A wind sprang up and fanned the flame and ere long the Japanese fleet was one mass of fire. Hundreds of boats were consumed with all their occupants. After seeing this well under way Admiral Yi turned his attention to the fugitive craft that were striving to make their escape. Standing in the prow of his boat in an exposed position he urged on the chase. While he stood in the midst of one of the grandest victories of the war, he was pierced by a bullet. They caught him as he fell, and his last words were, “Do not let the rest know that I am dead, for it will spoil the fight.” Then he expired—the man who may well be called the Nelson of Korea.

Yi Wan, the nephew of the fallen Admiral, still urged on the battle; but the work was almost done. The fugitive boats became fewer and fewer. Admiral Chil Lin happened to come near the boat of the dead admiral and noticing that the sailors in it were quarrelling over some Japanese heads he exclaimed, “The Admiral must be dead.” He entered the boat and found it even so. Throwing himself three times at full length on the deck he uttered this lament: “I thought 50that he would save me and still live, but here he lies dead and there is no soldier now left in Korea.”

We have now come to the end of actual hostilities in the peninsula but we must cross to Japan and inquire into the immediate causes which led to the final recall of all the Japanese troops. The Korean account of these events is very remarkable and faith is to be put in it only in-so-far as it is not directly antagonized by the Japanese account. For events that transpired in Korea the Korean account must be taken as the standard, but for events that transpired in Japan the Japanese account must of course be accepted as the more trustworthy. The Korean account is as follows.

The Farrier

When the Japanese first invaded Korea, in the year 1592, it so happened that a young Korean boy named Yang Pu-ha, a native of Tong-nă, became attached to the Japanese army as a slave, and was eventually taken to Tsushima. From there he made his way to the mainland of Japan and at last reached the court of Hideyoshi. That observant man spied him out and said, “Korean and Japanese boys resemble each other strongly. Take this boy and teach him Japanese, and if he does not learn well cut off his head.” With this incentive it would be strange if a less intelligent boy than Yang Pu-ha would not learn rapidly. In the space of three months he could converse creditably in Japanese, and Hideyoshi as reward made him one of his body-servants. For some years the boy performed the duties of this position, until at last the Chinaman Sim Yu-gyŭng arrived. That official was kept practically in confinement at the court of Hideyoshi. One day the Korean servant asked his master to be allowed to see Sim Yu-gyŭng. Permission was granted and the young man found the Chinese envoy in great perplexity, in fact in tears. This excited the pity of the young man and he secured the release of the Chinaman, who from that time was often called into the presence of Hideyoshi, with whom he soon became on familiar terms. One day as he sat with the great Taiko he took out a pill and swallowed it. He did the same on several days in succession until at last the curiosity of Hideyoshi was excited and he asked what it was. The Chinaman answered that it was an antidote to indigestion and that by eating it the strength and vigor of the body was preserved intact. Hideyoshi 51took one in his hand and eyed it suspiciously. On one side of the pill was written the Chinese character so meaning “hot.” The Japanese deliberately took a knife and cut the pill in two and handing half to Sim said, “You eat half and I will eat half.” Its immediate effects were stimulating and pleasant but in the end it proved a deadly poison for it slowly dried up the blood. Each day Sim shared one with his captor but upon retiring to his room swallowed a potion which entirely neutralized the effect of the poison. Before long Hideyoshi’s hands began to grow hard and dry and one day when he happened to cut his hand he was astonished to find that no blood followed. He called for a moxa and applied it to his hand and yet no blood came. Then he laughed aloud and cried, “I am a dead man. When I cease to breathe take out my bowels and sew my body up again with horse-hair; and then preserve my body in wine and do not let the outsiders know that I am dead.” He wanted to have the fact concealed for he feared it would have a dispiriting effect upon the troops in Korea. Shortly after this he died and his orders were minutely carried out. For two months no one outside the palace knew of his decease, but at last the stench became so great that they confessed that the great Hideyoshi had passed away. Such is the Korean story.

The Koreans sum up his character as follows: He was a crafty and cunning man, and by his talk, now sharp, now suave, now sarcastic, now bullying, he managed to sway the minds of all who came near him. He managed all his generals like puppets. He liked to take boys and girls under his patronage and see them grow up together and marry them to each other and thus have them completely under his control. His two most powerful generals were Whi Wŭn and Ka Kang. They hated him and would have been glad of an opportunity to overthrow him, but it was out of the question. He knew them well, and for fear they might combine against him he made one of them governor of the east and the other of the west and ordered them to keep watch of each other. By thus pitting them against each other he made himself safe. He loved intrigue and diplomacy and had a most restless temperament. He was ever on the lookout for some kind of excitement. Gen. Ka Kang was with him when he died, and, fearing 52lest rebellion should break out, he filled the body with salt and so preserved it. He made a wooden form which would hold the body stiff in a sitting position and placing it in a place where the light was not very bright with the eyes wide open, the people saw him sitting there day after day and supposed of course he was alive. It was in the eighth moon when the odor was so strong that the truth could no longer be concealed. Thereupon Gen. Ka Kang took the son of Hideyoshi and made him Shogun. He then threw into prison the wives and children of Generals Kato and Konishi and sent a messenger ordering them to collect all their troops and return immediately to Japan. The order was obeyed willingly and all that was left of the Japanese army of invasion set sail from Fusan, and the great invasion was a thing of the past.

The Korean annalists say that when the invasion began the Japanese arms were far superior to those of Korea; also that the Japanese displayed tiger skins, pheasant feathers, gilded masks and plumes; all which glitter and show terrified the Koreans. Thus at first the Japanese had an easy victory, but toward the last it was not so. The Koreans had improved their arms and had learned not to fear the grand rush of the Japanese in their hideous masks which made them look more like demons than men.

At the time of the second invasion a Korean named Kang Han was caught and sent to Japan and, being unable to escape, he set to work learning Japanese. He became a teacher of Chinese and had a large following of students who treated him very well and supported him in comfortable style. At the end of the war they clubbed together and bought a boat into which they put this man with all his goods and sent him back to Korea. On his return he wrote a book entitled Kang yang-rok or “Relation of Adventures among Sheep,” a sarcastic pleasantry.

The Chinese arms in Korea did not move till the following spring, and then the king sent to the Emperor asking that Generals Man Se-dok, Ta Cham and Yi Sung-hun be allowed to remain in Korea for a time until things should become thoroughly settled.

In the early centuries of the Christian era there was a celebrated Chinese general named Kwan U. He was of 53gigantic size and had a fiery red face, rode a powerful red horse, could walk a thousand li a day (!) and carried a sword that weighed 800 pounds (!!). It is said that while the Japanese were occupying Seoul the spirit of this great man appeared repeatedly near the South and East Gates and struck terror to the hearts of the Japanese. Now, as the Chinese generals were about to leave for China, Admiral Chil Lin built a shrine to this same Kwan U outside the South Gate. In the thirty-third year of King Sun-jo, namely 1600 A. D., the Emperor sent four million cash to build a temple to this Kwan U and the present temple outside the South Gate was erected. The Emperor at the same time ordered another to be built by the Koreans outside the East Gate, and it was done. The two temples are exactly alike. When the king asked the Emperor to name the temple he said “Call it the Hyöng-nyung-so dok-kwan-gong” which means “The great and bright appearance of the spirit of Kwan.” The king also built shrines to him in Song-ju and An-dong of Kyŭng-sang Province, and at Nam-wŭn in Chŭl-la Province.

We have already seen that factious fights had been a great cause of weakness all through the years of the invasion, and from this time on party strife was destined to grow more and more fierce and determined until it brought the country to the very verge of anarchy a century later. We must note here briefly the changes which had taken place in the parties. We will remember that at first there were two parties, the Tong-in and the Sŭ-in. During the war the court favorite was Yu Sŭng-nyŭng who gave office to so many men from Kyŭng-sang Province that the name of Nam-in or “South Men” sprang up and a party by that name quickly became organized, but their opponents in order to preserve the political equilibrium instantly seized upon the name Puk-in or “North Men.” At the close of the war the leader of the opposition, namely of the Puk-in, memorialized the king against Yu Sŭng-nyŭng the favorite, charging him with having desired to make peace with the Japanese, contrary to the honor of the country. The king listened to this and banished Yu, but his supporters turned the tables by a counter-memorial in which the charges were more than answered and Yu was restored to all his honors. With the rise of the Nam-in and Puk-in parties 54the old party lines of the Tong-in and Sŭ-in had not been broken up or lost. During the latter years of the invasion the Nam-in party lost its powerful grip and the Puk-in were often in power, but from the end of the invasion until far into the following reign the Tong-in held the power, and after that for a period of fifty years the Sŭ-in had control of affairs. It may be asked what principles underlay these parties, what settled policies they had that differentiated them either in domestic or foreign matters. We answer that the various parties had but one plank in their platforms, one settled plan of action, and that was to get the ear of the king and seize upon the office-making power and put in every position one’s own partisans. It was the spoils system sublimated, for there was absolutely no admixture of any other element.

Now that the war was over the Japanese on Tsushima desired to open again commercial relations with Korea, which had always been mutually profitable; and so in the following year, 1601, an envoy, Kuroda, came from that island bringing with him three hundred men and women who had been carried away captive during the war. This envoy asked that there might be reciprocity of trade. The king referred the matter to Nanking and the reply seems to have been in the affirmative, for we find that soon after this an envoy was sent over to Tsushima with credentials; but after all the Japanese petition was not at this time granted. At the same time the Emperor gave orders for the return to China of all the remaining troops, but at the earnest request of the king 8000 men were left to help guard the southern provinces. Posthumous honors were heaped upon Admiral Yi Sun-sin who had been the very salvation of Korea, but who had sought death in battle, knowing that if he lived his detractors would drag him down. Yi Hang-bok and eighty-five others received high commendation and additional honors also. The year ended with the unsuccessful attempt of an insurrectionary party in the south which was nipped in the bud, the ring-leader being forwarded to Seoul to be beheaded.

An unscrupulous man named Yu Yong-gyŭng was the court favorite at this time and upon him devolved the task of appointing and dismissing officials; consequently he was the recipient of countless presents, and on one occasion two men 55to whom he had sold the same office met at his gate and quarrelled over the matter, to the scandal of the court. The state of affairs at the capital was anything but satisfactory, the reason being that the strife of parties rendered honesty and fairness impossible. It was a constant fight to gain the king’s ear and, having gained it, to turn out all enemies and put in personal adherents. About this time a remeasurement of all the arable land of the country was ordered and it was discovered that the total revenue of the country was 1,515,500 kyul of rice, each kyul being about 120 pecks of rice, or over two hundred pounds. It also included 300,000 bags of other grains.

In the year 1605 the Japanese again asked that a treaty be made and that Korea send an envoy to the Japanese court. The king complied and sent the same monk, Yu Chung, ordering him to look carefully into the matter of the military strength of the Island Empire and the distance by boat. He returned the following year bringing with him, it is said, three thousand Koreans who had been taken to Japan from time to time during the invasion. The Korean accounts tell us nothing of the booty that the Japanese carried away to Japan during the war, nor of the transportation of Korean artisans and their employment in Japan in teaching the making of pottery and other works of use and art, but we may well believe the Japanese reports, that assert that immense amounts of treasure were carried away and that the making of the beautiful Satsuma ware was an outcome of the teaching of Korean artisans.

This year was also signalized by a fierce conflict between the savage tribe of Hol-cha-on, north of the Tu-man River, and the government troops under Gen. Song U-gil. The latter crossed the river by night and attacked the main settlement of the tribe and utterly destroyed it, and effectually broke up the tribe. Great quantities of goods which had been stolen from the border settlements were also recovered.

We are now on the threshold of events which led up to a very painful period in Korean history. It will be remembered that the king had no heir by the queen and had therefore nominated to the throne his heir by a concubine, the Prince Kwang-hŭ. This was a man of violent temper, bad instincts, corrupt, selfish, careless of the pubic good. When therefore 56the king, in the fortieth year of his reign, was presented with a son by his queen, his delight was as great as was the chagrin of the heir apparent. According to law it was impossible to set aside the man already nominated, but now that the king finally got the boy he had been looking for so long, his feelings got the better of his judgment and he was bent upon having the child receive all the honors due to the future wearer of the crown. So he sent out the order that officials should come to the palace, and do obeisance as when an heir to the throne is born. This was the most impolitic thing he could have done, for it aroused all the hatred there was in the Prince Kwang-hŭ, who had for so many years looked upon his eventual occupancy of the throne as fully assured, and who saw in these demonstrations of affection on the part of the king a latent desire to change the decree which had already gone forth. If the king really desired to set aside that decree he should have sent to Nanking and had the Emperor do it, but it was not so to be, and the infant boy entered the world with one deadly enemy ranged against him, whose first act would be to put him out of the way. Nor was it the boy alone who gained the hatred of this prince. The queen herself became the object of his special hatred, and the official who sent forth the order that honor should be done to the infant.

The Japanese kept urging their point, that relations of mutual benefit be resumed, and kept protesting their good intentions toward Korea. The king had just received an envoy bringing gifts and a congratulatory letter from the king of the Liu Kiu Islands, in which grave doubts were cast upon the intentions of the Japanese, and an offer of assistance was made in case of another invasion. But the king seems not to have put faith in these doubts, and replied, to the reiterated request of the Japanese, that an envoy would be sent to Japan, when the men who desecrated the royal graves beyond the Han River should be sent to the Korean Capital for punishment. The Japanese went home, but returned late in the fall bringing two men bound, whom they delivered over as being the ones demanded. But these were mere boys who themselves urged the fact that they were still babes in arms when the deeds of which they were charged had been committed. The Prime Minister urged the king to send them 57back to Japan, but the favorite, Yu, persuaded the king to have them beheaded, after which Yö U-gil, Kyong Sŭn and Chung Ho-gwan were sent as an embassy to Japan. Meanwhile Iyeyasu in Japan had deposed the son of Hideyoshi and usurped his place. So when the embassy arrived in Japan they were received with the utmost coldness, and the usurper said, “Who asked that envoys might be exchanged between Japan and Korea? But now that you are here we will receive you.” The treatment that they received was bad almost beyond description. As a sample of the way the Japanese baited them it is related that the Japanese brought a dish filled with ordure sprinkled with something the color of gold-dust, and when the Koreans innocently put their hands in the dish, supposing that it was some form of food, the Japanese had a good laugh at their expense. The Koreans did not appreciate this sort of practical joke, and forthwith returned to Korea.

Late in the autumn the aged king was taken sick and all knew that the end was near. The conditions were not propitious. The young prince was only two years old and Prince Kwang-hă was fierce in his resentments and jealous of anyone who should attempt to block his path to the throne. The people were in a very uneasy frame of mind. The king had gone either too far or not far enough in the advocacy of the infant prince, and now he felt that he was leaving the child to the tender mercies of a relentless enemy. He therefore called in the Prime Minister and said, “Everything looks dark ahead and I am dying. I suppose the Prince Kwang-hă must become king?” But the Prime Minister dared not answer the question as the king wanted it answered, and hung back. By so doing he sealed his own fate. There were only two things for him to do, either to boldly advocate the claims of the child or else boldly advocate those of Prince Kwang-hă. By doing neither he made an enemy of the one and spoiled the chances of the other, and thus signed his own death warrant. As it happened, Prince Kwang-hŭ had an elder brother, but why he had not been nominated to the throne we are not told. This prince, named Im-hŭ, was now induced to make the attempt to wrest the reins of power from his brother so as to save the people from what they feared at 58the hands of Prince Kwang-hă, but the latter got wind of the plot and the elder prince was summarily banished, together with all his coadjutors.

So matters went on until one day in early spring of the following year, 1608, when a servant came from the king’s private rooms saying that he was dying. All the officials assembled at the palace. It is said that Prince Kwang-hă had become impatient at the tenacity of life shown by the aged king and had assisted nature in taking him off, but this, we may surmise, is rather a general deduction from the character of the man than a proved charge, and this prince has so much else to answer for that we may well give him the benefit of the doubt and conclude that the king reached his end by natural causes alone. The assembled noblemen sat in the room adjoining the one in which the king lay dying. Presently a eunuch brought out a note which read thus, “When I am dead let Prince Kwang-hă be kind to the infant boy.” When the ministers had read it they sent it to the prince. Soon another note came from the sick room, “To the seven ministers of state; I am dying. I have but one cause of anxiety; the boy is young and I shall not be here to see him come to manhood. Let him be tenderly cared for.” This was the end. The king turned to the wall and expired.

Upon hearing the welcome news the Prince Kwang-hă hastened to assume the position he had coveted so long. His first act was to send the Prime Minister Yu Yöng-gyŭng into banishment. Then he sent an embassy to China to announce his accession to the throne. The Emperor replied, “Why is not the elder son, Prince Im-hă, made king?” and sent a commission to inquire into the matter. Prince Im was brought from Kyo-dong Island to which place he had been banished. One of the creatures of the newly crowned king advised that the head only of Prince Im be brought, but the aged Yi Hang-bok opposed it so strongly that the king dare not follow his inclination; but when Prince Im was brought he was “made up” for the occasion. He was unkempt and filthy, his clothes were in rags and the very sight of him decided the unsuspicious commissioner and he ordered the wretched man to be sent back to his place of banishment at once. For fear of further complications and to satisfy his vengeful nature, the king sent 59a secret messenger to the prefect of Kyo-dong and had Prince Im poisoned in prison. He next proceeded to kill the banished Prime Minister, and then had his body brought to the center of the capital and cut in half lengthwise.

The Japanese had for several years been pressing for the resumption of the old-time relations, half diplomatic and half commercial, which had been carried on through the southern port of Fusan. Now in the first year of the reign of Kwang-hă, consent was gained and Yi Chi-wan for Korea and Gensho and Yoshinao for Japan met and worked out a plan for a treaty. The Japanese insisted that all three of the ports which had formerly been open should again be opened, but this was peremptorily refused and only Fusan was opened. The number of boats that could come annually was reduced to twenty. Great diplomatic agents from the Shogun were allowed to stay in Korea one hundred and ten days. The agents from any daimyo of Japan could stay eighty-five days and special agents could stay fifty-five days. The strictness with which the Koreans bound down the Japanese as to number of ships and men and length of stay, and the refusal to open three ports, show that Korea was doing this all more as a favor than by demand, and history shows that at any time she felt at liberty to withdraw support from them. The amount of rice and other food that Korea granted was hardly more than enough to support the embassy when it came.

It will be remembered that the king was the son of a concubine and not of the queen. He now went to work to depose the queen and set up his mother, though now dead, as real queen. He gave his mother the posthumous title of Kong-söng Wang-ho and sent the deposed queen into semi-banishment to the Myŭng-ye Palace in Chong-dong, where the king now resides. This act was looked upon as utterly unfilial and godless by the officials, and they almost unanimously censured his harsh treatment of this woman.

The next three years were spent in killing off all who had been specially favored under the last king, excepting the venerable Yi Hang-bok, who stood so high in the esteem of the people that even the wicked king did not dare to lay hands upon him. One method of getting rid of objectionable people was to promise release to some criminal if he would swear that 60he had heard the men conspiring against the king; but the king’s thirst for blood could not be quenched so long as the young prince was living. The latter was now six or seven years old. No one dared to make a move against him openly, but the officials knew that if they wanted to become favorites with the king it could be done only by suggesting some plan whereby the boy could be killed without bringing on a general insurrection. It was accomplished as follows. Pak Eung-sŭ, a well-known resident of Yŭ-ju became a highwayman. He was captured and taken to Seoul for trial. After he had been condemned, Yi I-ch‘ŭm the court favorite sent to him in prison and said, “You are to die to-morrow, but if you will declare that you and several other men have conspired to depose the king and place the young prince on the throne you will not only be released but rewarded as well.” When therefore the king received the written confession of the wretch he feigned surprise but instantly caught and executed the principals named. His satellites also urged that he must kill the young prince and his mother, for they must surely be privy to the plot. And her father too must be beheaded. The king did not dare to go to these lengths all at once, but he began by beheading the queen’s father, and banishing the boy to Kang-wha. When the men came to take him he hid beneath his mother’s skirt but the brutal captors pushed her over and dragged the lad away. These acts enraged the people almost beyond endurance and memorials poured in upon the king from people who preferred death itself to permitting such acts to go unchallenged. The king however answered them one and all by killing the writers or stripping them of rank and banishing them.

As the boy had been separated from his mother and banished to Kang-wha, he could be dealt with at pleasure. His death would remain unknown for a time, and the matter would pass by unnoticed. So in the following year, at the instigation of Yi I-ch’ŭm, the magistrate of Kang wha put the boy in a small room, built a roaring fire under it and suffocated him, an extreme of barbarity which the world can hardly parallel. The news soon spread among the officials. Scores of memorials poured in upon the king who answered them as before by banishment and death.

Chapter IV

The king insulted.... the “Mulberry Palace”.... plot against the Queen Dowager.... her indictment.... she is degraded.... inception of the Manchu power.... China summons Korea to her aid.... troops despatched.... first battle with the Manchus.... Korean treachery.... Koreans make friends with the Manchus.... the Manchu court.... a Manchu letter to the king.... its answer.... Manchu rejoinder.... message to Nanking.... Chinese refugees.... a Korean renegade.... the Queen intercedes for China.... Chinese victory.... Manchu cruelty.... offices sold.... plot against the king.... king dethroned.... Queen Dowager reinstated.... reforms.... a thorough cleaning out.

With the opening of the year 1615 the king further revealed his hatred of the deposed and degraded queen by publishing broadcast the statement that she had gone to the grave of his mother and there, by practicing sorcery against him, had tried to bring evil upon him. This also brought out a loud protest from all honest men, and banishment followed. Even the children on the street spoke insultingly of the tyrant saying that he was afraid of the imps at the Myŭng-ye Palace, but had let his mother stay there with them though he himself would not go near the place. The king feared everyone that was honest and upright even though they had nothing to say. His own cousin, Prince Neung-ch’ang, whose younger brother afterward became king, was a perfectly peaceable and harmless man, but the king feared him and could not rest satisfied until he had gotten his satellites to accuse him of sedition and had suffocated him in a heated chamber on Kyo-dong Island. About this time a monk, named Seung-ji; gained the confidence of the superstitious king and induced him to build the In-gyŭng Palace which is commonly known among foreigners as the “Mulberry Palace.” To do this, thousands of the houses of the common people were razed and heavy taxes were levied throughout the country; and yet there was not enough money. So the king began to sell the public offices. Some were paid for in gold, others in silver, others in iron, and still others in wood, stone or salt. The 62people derisively called it the O-hăng, referring to the “Five Rules of Conduct” of the Confucian Code. The boys also made up a popular song which ran as follows, “Did you give gold, or silver, or wood for yours?” and they put the officials to shame by shouting it at them as they passed along the street.

Yi I-ch’ŭm, the favorite, could not rest until he had carried out his master’s wish and had invented some way to destroy the degraded Queen. Finding no other way to accomplish this, he at last descended to the following trick. He instructed a man named Hŭ Kyun to write a letter to the imprisoned queen purporting to be from some party in the country, proposing a scheme for deposing the king. This letter was thrown over the wall of the queen’s enclosure and there found by the servants of the crafty plotter. The king was ready to believe anything against her and this letter fanned his hatred into flame. Yi I-ch’ŭm followed it up by joining with scores of others in memorials urging the king to put to death the hated Queen Dowager. The Prime Minister, Keui Cha-hön, stood in the way, however, and it became necessary to banish him to the far north. In the eleventh moon the king finally decided to drive the woman from Seoul, and made all the officials give their opinion about it in writing. Nine hundred and thirty officials and a hundred and seventy of the king’s relatives advised to do so, but the aged Yi Hang-bok with eight others utterly refused their sanction of the iniquitous plan; and so these nine men, the last of those upright men who had stood about the late king, were sent into banishment.

The year thus closed in gloom and the new one opened with a memorial from the Prime Minister Ha Hyo-san enumerating ten charges against the Queen Dowager: (1) that she had had the officials do obeisance to the young prince although the successor to the throne had already been appointed; (2) when the king was dying she asked him to set aside Prince Kwang-hă in favor of the young prince; (3) she prevented, as long as possible, the king from handing over the scepter to Prince Kwang-hă; (4) she wrote the letters purporting to be from the dying king asking that the young prince be carefully nurtured; (5) she instigated her father to conspire against the king; (6) she sacrificed in the palace and prayed 63for the death of Prince Kwang-hă; (7) she prayed for the same at the grave of his mother; (8) she corresponded with outside parties with a view to raising an insurrection; (9) she sent to the Emperor asking to have Prince Kwang-ă set aside, (10) she sent to Japan asking that an army be sent to overthrow the government.

The king feigned to be very loath to believe all these charges and to act upon them; he called heaven to witness that the very thought of it was terrible to him and averred that he would rather be banished to some distant shore than even to mention such a thing. But after a great deal of urging he was prevailed upon, and said he could no longer be deaf to the entreaties of his subjects and the welfare of the country. So he took away her title of Tă-bi and decreed that she should be called Sŭ-gung “West Palace,” and that she should receive no part of the government revenue, that officials should no more do homage to her, that her marriage certificate be burned and that all her wedding garments be taken from her. He determined also that in the event of her death no one should assume mourning, that her name should be inscribed in no ancestral temple, and that she should be shut up in her own apartments and strictly guarded.

And now there appeared in the northwest a cloud which was destined to overspread the whole of Korea, and China as well. Norach‘i was chief of the Manchu tribes. He was from the wild tribe of Kön-ju which, as we have seen, was broken up by a Korean military expedition. His grandfather’s name was Kyu-sang and his father’s name was Hapsiri. These had both been put to death by a Chinese general, A-t‘ă, and to the unquenchable hatred caused by this must be ascribed the terrible reprisals the young Norach‘i made on China, where his descendants occupy the imperial throne to this day. At the time of his father’s death he had fled eastward beyond the reach of China’s arm but gradually gaining power he crept slowly westward again until he had a footing on the great Manchu plains. But he was not yet ready to carry out his plans against China, and when the Mongol, Hapuigeukosip, entered the great wall and overthrew the Chinese general Yu Pu, Norach‘i caught him and sent his head to Nanking. The Emperor was pleased at this and gave him the rank of “Dragon 64Tiger General.” Having thus disarmed suspicion, the hardy northman began gathering and training troops until there stood about him 10,000 skillful archers. Some years before this he had killed his younger brother for fear of complications and now in the year of the events of which we are writing he had overcome the three great Chinese generals Yi Yong-bang, Chang Seung-yun and Yang Yö-gwi. The ruling dynasty of the Ming in China became well aware of the gravity of the situation and saw that it was necessary to square themselves for a desperate fight with the great Manchu leader. The first act of the Emperor was to send a summons to the King of Korea ordering him to send generals and troops at once to join the Chinese forces against Norach‘i. The king responded by sending a man to find out the exact state of affairs, whether China was weak or strong and whether it would pay to help her in the coming struggle. This was paying China back in kind for her delay in sending aid when the Japanese invaded the peninsula, but Korea was thoroughly loyal to the Ming power. She may be criticised in many ways but there was never shown a deeper loyalty or devotion than Korea showed the Mings during the years of struggle against the Manchus, a devotion that always worked against her own selfish interests.

The Chinese general Yang Ho sent back to the king and said, “When we ask for aid do you merely send a spy to find out how matters stand? This war is as much in your interests as ours, so you had best send an army at once to form a junction with us in Liao-tung.” However little stomach the king had for the war this appeal was too strong to be set aside. Even this base king could not overlook the tremendous obligation under which Korea lay on account of aid rendered by China against the Japanese. He therefore appointed generals Kang Hong-rip and Kim Kyöng-sŭ as first and second in command and under them three other generals, Chŭng Ho-sŭ, Yi Chung-nam and Chŭng Eung-jŭng. These men were put in command of 20,000 troops drawn from the five provinces of P‘yŭng-an, Ham-gyŭng, Kyŭng-keui, Ch‘ung-ch‘ŭng and Chul-la, and they were ordered to the northern border. This was toward the close of the year, but before its end the Chinese sent a messenger to hurry forward the Korean troops, as it 65was intended to make a grand demonstration with the opening of the new year.

In the first month of 1619 the troops went forward to the seat of war. It was in the middle of winter and most of the soldiers were going from a comparatively warm climate into the rigors of a semi-arctic region. The Chinese Gen. Yang Ho was advancing upon the Manchu position by four different roads. The whole army rendezvoused at Sim-ha in Liao-tung not far from the Korean border town of Eui-ju. The combined forces were led by four generals, Yang Ho, Yu Chŭng, Kyo Il-geui and the Korean Kang Hong-rip. Meeting a smallÖö body of five hundred Manchu troops they drove them back into the hills with considerable slaughter, and fondly supposed that all the Manchus could be put to flight as easily. In this preliminary skirmish the Koreans took a leading part, and one general was killed and another was wounded in the hand. The next day the whole force advanced to a place called Pu-go. The right and left flanks of the army were composed of Chinese and the center was held by Gen. Kang Hong-rip with his Korean troops. Suddenly, almost without warning, ten thousand Manchu horsemen swept down upon the right flank. The impetuosity of the charge carried everything before it, and almost instantly the whole right wing was thrown into confusion and took to precipitate flight, in which both Gen. Yu Chŭng and Gen. Yang Ho were killed. Then the Manchu chief Kwi Yŭng-ga with 30,000 men came across the Ka-hap Pass and fell upon the left flank, and that too was routed in short order. The center under Gen. Kang had not yet been attacked and stood unmoved by, and not unlikely unconscious of, the terrible destruction being meted out to their allies to the right and left. Now, Gen. Kang had been instructed by the king to watch the turn of events and if the Chinese could not hold their own to go over to the Manchus and make friends with them. This indeed does not look much like loyalty to China, but it must be remembered that we are dealing now not with the Korean sentiment as a whole but with the wretch who occupied the throne at the moment, and who had no more real loyalty toward China than he had love for his own country.

Gen. Kang followed his instructions and sent to the Manchu 66leader and said, “We are not enemies. There is no cause for hostilities between us. We have been forced into this unpleasant position against our wills. As the Chinese showed us favors during the Japanese invasion we have had to make some show of interest in order to reciprocate the favor, but as things have turned out we should be glad to make friends with you.”

The Manchu chieftain was willing enough to come to this agreement and so the whole Korean contingent went over en masse to the Manchus. Gen. Yang was brought before Norach‘i to make his obeisance. That powerful man was seated upon a throne, clothed in yellow silk, and on either side were many young women with jewelled pendants in their ears. Gen. Kang was told to stand some distance away and bow, but he said that in his own country his rank was sufficiently high to warrant a nearer approach. So he was led nearer. He then made only a slight genuflection. This did not please the choleric Norach‘i and the general was compelled to make a proper obeisance. Gen. Kim Kyöng-sŭ likewise went through this humiliating ceremony.

It appears that Gen. Kang had decided that it was to his interests to join himself permanently to the Manchus, for when soon after this Gen. Kim tried to despatch a letter to the king, giving a carefully detailed account of the Manchus and their strength, the letter was intercepted by Gen. Kang who gave it to Norach‘i and advised that Gen. Kim be killed. This was immediately done.

Three months later the Manchu chief sent a letter to the Korean king, couched in the following terms, “I have seven causes for hating the Ming dynasty and it is impossible for me to keep my hands off them. Now you and I are not enemies. To be sure you have injured us more or less in the past, but we will waive all that. It will be necessary for you however to break off all connection with China and stop aiding her in any way.” Gen. Kang also wrote at the same time saying, “The Manchus are training all their youth to war, and soon they will have the whole of Liao-tung.” When the king received these letters he referred them to the governor of P’yŭng-an Province to answer. The answer ran as follows, “For two hundred years both you and we have 67been the subjects of the Ming power and now that trouble has arisen between you and the authorities at Nanking it will be bad for you and us as well. China is like a parent to us and how can we refuse to aid her? We cannot listen to your demand and abstain from helping her. If you will make peace with us and clearly define our boundaries and abstain from conquest, China will not be only glad but will reward us both with gifts.” To this the Manchu replied, “If you think that China will give presents you have been grievously deceived by her. They are all liars and cheats and I hate them. Put away this idea and stand shoulder to shoulder with us. We must take an oath and sacrifice a white horse to heaven and a black bullock to the earth. After that I will send back all your generals and soldiers. Let there be no more weapons used between us, but only horse-whips.” This latter refers to friendly intercourse by means of horses. Gen. Kang also wrote, “Norach’i has taken Puk-kwan and Gen. Kim T’ă-sŭk is dead. Păk Yang-go has surrendered. Norach’i has joined the Mongol forces to his own and is advancing on Yo-gwang. His two sons Mangoda and Hongtasi advise him to first seize Liao-tung. Every day there are long debates to discuss whether it were better to strike Liao-tung or Korea first. This is a secret but I am sure of what I say. They are making great numbers of ladders and I am sure they are intending to invade Korea first.”

This letter troubled the King, for it interfered with his own personal comfort. So he sent a swift messenger to Nanking begging the Emperor to send a large force to “guard your eastern territory” which meant that the king wanted China to stand between him and this Manchurian scourge.

The relatives of Gen. Kang were kept informed by him of the state of affairs in the north, and they sent large sums of money to Norach’i to buy him off and prevent him from invading Korea; and it may be that it was this, at least in part, that delayed it for some time. The king’s messengers found the road to Nanking blocked by the Manchus and so had to turn back. The king thereupon sent envoys one after another by boat, but as the Koreans were poor sailors, they failed to land at the right place and fell into the hands of the Manchus or were wrecked by storms.

68The Manchus now, in 1621, held the whole of Liao-tung and the Chinese residents were fleeing in all directions. Thousands of them crossed into Korea and many crossed over to the islands of Ok-kang and In-san near the mouth of the Yalu River and there, huddled together in wretchedness and want, bewailed their pitiable condition.

The prefect of Eui-ju implored the king to forward troops to hold the Manchus in check and the Chinese Gen. Wang wrote the king demanding a contingent of Korean troops to oppose the wild horde that threatened the Ming power. But the king was utterly incompetent, and all Seoul was in a ferment. The king thought only of himself, and looked to it that a comfortable place was arranged for him on the island of Kang-wha, in case it should become necessary for him to leave Seoul. In the early summer a Korean named Yi Yöng-bang, who had gone over to the Manchus body and soul, and had become son-in-law to Norach’i, took a body of Manchu cavalry, crossed over to the islands of Ok-kang and In-san and massacred all the Chinese refugees he could lay hands on. This again struck terror to the heart of the king, and it threw Seoul into a fever of excitement. The king collected nine thousand troops from the southern provinces and stationed them at Su-wŭn, but there was no one whom he could appoint general-in-chief; so he had to recall from banishment Han Chun-gyŭm and confer this honor upon him. Han Myŭng-yŭn was made second in command. He was a man of low extraction but had acquired a certain amount of fame in the Japanese invasion.

In the following year, 1622, the Manchus entered China and were everywhere victorious. They wanted to make a treaty with Korea, but the king could decide neither one way nor the other. His envoys had not reached China and he had no word from the Emperor. The queen memorialized the king in the native script and said, “Those northern savages want to make peace with us, not because of any feeling of friendship for us but because they think they cannot handle China and Korea both at once. So they do this to keep us quiet until they finish with China. The king should make up his mind one way or the other and act. Think of what the Chinese did for us during the late invasion! We were on the very 69edge of destruction and they succored us. Both king and people should be of one mind and hasten to send soldiers to oppose this common enemy. Even if we do not succeed we shall have clear consciences, for we shall know that we have done what we could to aid China in the hour of her distress.” In the third moon a letter arrived from the Manchu headquarters which read as follows, “You say that you are the child and China is the parent. Well, I am now striking your parent, but you seem not to be able to help her. There is no use in trying to do so.” In answer to this grim pleasantry the craven king sent an envoy with gifts to the Manchu camp, but the gifts and envoy were both spurned with insults.

The Chinese general Mo Mun-nyŭng fled from Liao-tung by boat and landed at Yong-ch’ŭn in Korea. Finding there many Chinese fugitives, and among them not a few soldiers, he organized a little army and marched against the Manchus. In his first fight he was quite successful, coming from the field with the head of the Manchu general, T’ung Yang-jöng. He then made his headquarters at Ch’ŭl-san. With the approach of winter the Manchus crossed the Ya-lu in force and he was outnumbered and had to flee. He sent a letter to the king saying, “I am now here in your territory with a small force, let us unite and drive back this Manchu horde.” But nothing came of it.

The Manchus were exceedingly cruel toward their captives. Having collected a large number they made them sit down in rows and then the Manchu braves went along the line and shot arrows into their victims. If the wound was not instantly mortal the victim was compelled to pluck out the arrow with his own hands and give it back to his executioner.

Meanwhile Korea was going from bad to worse. For many years all official positions had been sold to the highest bidder. Governors and generals paid 30,000 cash, prefects 20,000 and clerks paid 3,000. No office could be procured without an immediate cash payment. The price put upon the office of Prime Minister was so great that for many years no one could afford to take it, and so the place remained vacant, perhaps to the benefit of the people. The king was ruled by a favorite concubine and she made use of her power to enrich 70her relatives and those attached to her. She and other concubines sent men to the country to peddle offices. Half the money they kept themselves and the other half went to the pockets of the concubines. Such was the desperate condition of affairs when the year 1622 came in; and we must now record the downfall of this wretched parody of a king.

A man by the name of Yi Kwi had desired for a long time to find some way of ridding the land of the desperate tyrant, and at last he found five men who were willing to engage with him in the good cause. They were Sim Kyöng-jin, Sim Keui-wŭn, Kim Cha-jŭm, Ch‘oe Myŭng-gil, Kim Nyu. After thinking the matter over and discussing it, they decided that if their plan succeeded they would put on the throne the grandson of Sŭn-jo Tă-wang. Kim Nyu was made the leader in this plot. Collecting money they fitted out a small but select body of soldiers and put Gen. Yi Heung-ip at their head, and the day for the event was set. But one of the men connected with the plot turned traitor and told the king the whole plan. The conspirators learned of it immediately and decided to carry out their program in spite of all. As it happened, the king was in a drunken carouse at the time this interesting bit of information was given him and he forgot all about it. That very night the band of conspirators met at the appointed rendezvous beyond the Peking Pass. But there was trouble, because some soldiers who were expected from Chang-dan had not yet arrived; so a swift messenger was sent to find them. They were met twenty li out and hurried forward. Yi Kwal, with several other generals, went to meet these troops beyond the pass and lead them into the city. They found several hundred soldiers ready for the enterprise; but a man named Chang Yu came in haste from the city and said, “The king has been told. The government troops are coming out to seize us.” Yi Kwi seized Yi Kwal by the hand and said, “Kim Nyu who was to lead us has not arrived and you must be our leader.” So he consented. He gave each soldier a piece of paper to fasten to the back of his collar so that they would be able to recognize each other and not be thrown into confusion. At the last moment Kim Nyu arrived and then there was a quarrel between him and Yi Kwal as to the leadership; but as day was about to dawn they let Kim Nyu take charge.

71Having heard that the government troops were coming out of the West Gate they hastened around the mountain and entered the Northwest Gate. When the government troops learned by the great noise and tumult in the city that they had been outwitted, they returned only to find the insurrectionary troops before the palace. They had cut their way through the gates with axes and were setting fire to everything inside. As they entered the king’s apartments he slipped out the back door and scaling the back wall found refuge in a monk’s room. From that place he made his way to the house of one An Kuk-sin where he secured a suit of mourner’s clothes and then went to the house of a physician, Chöng Nam-su. This man however informed the new government as to his whereabouts and he was seized. This occurred in the year 1622.

Prince Neung-yang, the nephew of the deposed king, was elevated to the royal position and crowds of people came and bowed to him as he sat in state before the palace. His posthumous title is In-jo Tă-wang.

His first act was to send a chair to bring back the queen dowager, from the Myŭng-ye Palace; but she, thinking that it might perhaps be a trick on the part of the wicked king, refused to go. She said, “The king himself must come and take me out.” So he came and showed her that the good news was indeed true. She sat on the throne just as she had done in the days of King Sŭn-jo, and when the new king came in he prostrated himself before her and wept; but she said, “Do not weep; this is a day of deliverance, and you should rather rejoice.” Then they brought in the depraved and fallen creature who had tried to play at king but had made a lamentable failure. The queen dowager exclaimed, “This arch-traitor and bloody man has come, and he must be judged here and now or I cannot leave this place. For ten years I have been imprisoned here. Day before yesterday I dreamed that the aged king Sŭn-jo came and said, ‘In a few days you will be delivered.’” The eunuchs brought the royal seals and the insignia of royalty and gave them to the newly appointed king. He banished the deposed king to Kang-wha and his son to Kyo-dong Island. He then gave posthumous honors to Princes Im-hă, Neung-chang, Yŭn-heung, Pu-wön and Yöng-ch‘ang whom the tyrant had caused to be murdered. He also called 72the queen dowager’s mother from exile on the island of Quelpart.

He found the government in a profoundly wretched condition and he forthwith began a systematic house-cleaning. He appointed new ministers to the six departments and a proclamation was sent to the eight provinces saying that every prefect who had bought his place should be driven from office and that all the land that had been stolen from the people should be returned to them; also that every prefectural clerk should pay up the arrears of revenue which he had withheld from the government. He drew up a company of soldiers at Chong-no, the center of the city, and there executed the former favorite Yi I-ch‘ŭm and seventeen other men who had aided and abetted the deposed king in his monstrosities. Sixty more were banished to distant places where they were confined in small enclosures surrounded with brier hedges, and their food was handed them through small holes in the hedges. Pang Yŭp, the governor of P‘yŭng-an Province, and two others in the country, were executed by special messengers sent down to the country for the purpose. This Pang Yŭp was a most desperate villain. As he had something of a body-guard, resistance was anticipated, but the special messenger of death managed to draw off the guard on some pretext or other and then the work was done swiftly and surely. This governor was so detested by the people that they cut his body into small pieces and each man carried away a small piece “to remember him by.”

The king made Yi Kwi General-in-chief, conferred upon his father the title of Prince Chong-wŭn and upon his mother that of Pu-pu-in and gave her a palace to live in where the government hospital now stands. He drove out from the palace all vile women, all musical instruments, and he burned at Chong-no the wooden semblance of a mountain which the former king had caused to be made and which was always carried in his procession. This “mountain” was covered with growing shrubs and flowering plants. He made Gen. Chang Man commander of all the provincial forces, with his headquarters at P’yŭng-yang. He beheaded the brother of the deposed queen and also the prefect who had suffocated the young prince at Kang-wha. Spies were sent 73throughout the country to ascertain the actual state of affairs.

This king was a deadly enemy of Buddhism, and he it was who ordered that no monk should set foot inside the gates of Seoul. The law was promulgated that whenever a common person entered the gates of Seoul he must dismount from his horse. Sacrifices were offered by the king in person at the tomb of Ki-ja and at the blood-marked stone at Song-do, the spot where Chöng Mong-ju had been murdered when the dynasty was founded. It was decreed that revenue should be collected to the extent of a tithe of the grain, which was much less than before, but was collected more regularly. We cannot but sympathize with the wife of the son of the deposed king, who had been banished to Kyo-dong Island. She followed him into exile and attempted to secure his escape by digging with her own tender hands a tunnel seventy feet long. She had no other implement than a piece of iron resembling a common fire-poker. At the very moment of his escape the plot was discovered and the poor wife hanged herself out of grief and disappointment. When the king heard of this he ordered that honorable burial be given her remains and he put the young man out of misery by administering poison. That same year the deposed queen died and the king gave her the burial honors of a princess. She had been a devoted Buddhist and had endowed many monasteries with wooden or clay images. But she was not happy as queen and prayed that when, according to the Buddhist doctrine, she should take on another life it might not be that of a queen.

Chapter V

Yi Kwal’s grievance.... he raises an insurrection.... civil war.... rebels victorious.... the king leaves Seoul.... the rebels enter the capital.... fight outside the West Gate.... Yi Kwal flees.... and is slain.... the king returns to Seoul.... a royal proclamation.... tiled houses in P’yŭng-yang.... sons of concubines.... the Manchus again.... an unsuccessful envoy.... death of Norach‘i.... Nam-han completed.... the Manchus enter Korea.... efforts at resistance.... fall of Anju.... 74the king retires to Kang-wha.... Manchu conditions.... panic in Seoul.... an interesting game of chess.... Korean hostage and tribute.... oath at the altar.... Koreans firm in their loyalty to China.... the Manchus praise them.... Manchu cruelties.... the Manchu garrisons.... opposed by the Koreans.... sound argument.... Japanese assistance declined.

The story of Yi Kwal’s rebellion shows how great a matter a little fire kindles. The king wished to honor in a special manner the men who had been instrumental in putting him on the throne. Among them were two especially deserving men, Kim Nyu and Yi Kwal. Kim was from a higher family than Yi but was less deserving of praise in this affair. When all knelt before the king and Yi Kwal found that he was given second place, he was enraged and refused to kneel, but stood glaring about him. He was pacified, but was still very sore at heart. He was given the position of governor of P’yŭng-an where there was a considerable force of soldiers; among them three hundred Japanese, who had become naturalized and who where excellent swordsmen. With the opening of the new year Gen. Yi Kwi, who knew the calibre of Yi Kwal, obtained the post of military instructor at Song-do. This he sought that he might have an opportunity to stand between the king and any treachery that Yi Kwal might attempt. A courtier, Mun Whe, told the king that Yi Kwal was gathering an army with bad intent, and the king hastily called a council. Kim Nyu did not believe it possible that Yi Kwal should revolt, but Ch’oe Myŭng-gil insisted that it was true, and in the high words that followed Kim Nyu was charged with being privy to the plot. But the remark passed unnoticed. We shall see however that Kim had little to do in putting down the insurrection. Perhaps it was because of a lurking suspicion that he might be implicated. A large number of men known to be intimate with the disaffected general were arrested and thrown into prison. Two executioners were sent to kill Han Myŭng-yŭn who was said to be in league with Yi Kwal, and to catch Yi Kwal’s son. Arriving in P’yŭng-yang the messengers went boldly into the presence of Yi Kwal and announced their message. As Yi was already on the point of marching on Seoul he answered by taking off the heads of the messengers. Hastily 75summoning all the neighboring prefects he addressed them as follows: “The king is surrounded by bad men and I propose to go up to Seoul and clean things out a little.” Then putting in motion his 20,000 troops with the Japanese swordsmen at their head, he marched toward the capital. The whole country instantly burst into a flame of excitement. The king appointed Gen. Yi Wŭn-ik to lead an army in defense of the capital, and he put Yi Si-bal second in command. Yi Su-il became general of P’yŭng-an Province, and the combined forces marched northward to block the rebel’s path. Gen. Wan P’ung-gun fortified Song-do in preparation for an attack. O Yong-su fortified the banks of the Im-jin River at the ferry. The eight provinces were all requisitioned for troops. Kang Kak was placed at Su-an with militia from Su-an and Sö-heung to check the advance of the enemy. Gen. Chöng Ch’ung-sin who had been stationed at An-ju north of P’yŭng-yang, together with other leaders, moved southward on the rebellious city, to take Yi Kwal in the rear. Chang Man asked him what he thought were the chances of Yi Kwal’s success, and he answered, “If Yi Kwal goes straight to Seoul and the king stays there till he arrives the result will be doubtful, but if he delays a while in Whang-hă Province, or if the king retreats southward and Yi Kwal delays in Seoul we will kill him like a dog.”

Gen. Chang Man then called about him all the forces within reach, led by fifteen captains and prefects. When he saw how small his army was compared with that of Yi Kwal he despaired of doing anything, but some-one said, “Many of those under Yi Kwal are not faithful to him. Let us send and call out the loyal ones from among his army.” So they sent a slave of Gen. Yi Yun-sŭ, who followed Yi Kwal, and told him to go and bring his master out of the rebel ranks. They offered him a hundred thousand cash but he refused it saying “I will go and save him from rebellion if I can, and if I succeed it will be time enough to reward me.” The slave entered the rebel ranks and that night the sentries heard the voice of Gen. Yi Yun-sŭ calling aloud from outside the lines saying, “I am going over to the side of the king.” Arriving at the camp of Chang Man, the penitent general burst into tears at the thought of how near he had come to being a traitor. 76Yi Kwal sent eight assassins to kill Chang Man but they were caught and brought before their intended victim, who, instead of punishing them, gave them a good dinner and sent them away. Yi Kwal himself was so fearful of assassination that he not only slept in a different tent each night but moved from one tent to another several times during a single night.

Gen. Chang Man started for Seoul, the advance guard being led by Chöng-sin, the skirmish line by Pak Yöng-sŭ, the right and left flanks by Yu Hyo-gŭl and Chang Tŭn, the sappers by Ch’o‘e, while the commissariat was in charge of An Mong-yun. The whole force consisted of 1800 men. The first day was spent in getting the army across the Ta-dong River. The next three days brought them to Whang-ju, where they fell in with part of the rebel army. After a brisk skirmish, two companies of cavalry were seen riding out from the rebel ranks as if to surrender, but when they had come close to Gen. Chang Man’s forces they made a sudden charge which threw the loyal forces into confusion and soon the entire army was routed. Turning from this complete victory, Yi Kwal led his forces to Su-an. It was his intention to approach Seoul by way of Sak-wŭn but as the government had a strong force there he changed his plan and came by Keui-rin which is an exceedingly rough road. Meanwhile Gen. Chang Man had collected the scattered remnants of his army and followed as far Sö-heung where he was joined by Gen. Yi Su-il and together they proceeded southward to P‘yŭng-san. There they were joined by 800 more troops. On the sixth of the moon Yi Kwal arrived at the Cho-t‘an ford and found it guarded by a royal force under Yi Chung-ho and Yi Tŭk-bu. Yi Kwal forced the passage and put the government troops to flight, taking the heads of both the generals. A day or so later, being met by more loyal troops, he sent them the two heads as warning. They did not heed it and in the fight that followed their leaders too lost their heads.

Meanwhile interesting events were happening in Seoul. The king put to death forty-nine men who were suspected of being privy to the plot, though many of them were doubtless innocent. Yi Kwi begged him to spare some of them, but he was obdurate. Gen. Yi Sö took 2,000 men and went to the gate on the main road a few miles beyond Song-do and tried 77to hold it against the insurgent army. Yi Kwal attacked at night and found little difficulty in breaking through the barrier. But instead of advancing on Song-do he made a circuit and thereby avoided both Song-do and the force which was set to guard the passage of the Im-jin River. He effected a crossing by a ford higher up that stream. Learning of this, Pak Hyo-rip who was holding the ferry hastened back to Seoul where he arrived at dusk and announced that the king had not a moment to lose but must take to flight that very night. Without an hour’s delay the king mounted his steed and fled by way of the South Gate, leaving the city in a perfect frenzy of fear. He arrived at Han-gang in the dark and found that the ferrymen had taken all their boats to the other side for safety. They peremptorily refused to obey any summons, and at last U Sang-jung was obliged to throw off his clothes and swim the stream. He succeeded in getting six boats. It took all the rest of the night to get the royal cavalcade across the river. It was on the ninth of the moon when the king arrived at Sa-p‘yŭng just beyond the river. He had nothing to eat till noon that day, when Sin Chun brought him a bowl of gruel and a few dried persimmons. Night found him at Su-wŭn completely tired out. After a rest of a few days he passed on to Kong-ju the provincial capital and there he was made comfortable for the first time since his flight from the capital. The governors of Ch‘ung ch‘ŭng and Chŭl-la Provinces met him there. A strong guard was placed along the southern bank of the Keum River.

At noon of the day following the king’s flight, thirty followers of Yi Kwal entered the city and announced that there was no need for fear, as a new king had arisen. The next day Yi Kwal entered the town. Many small officials and a great crowd of people went out to meet him and scattered red earth along the road in front of him, which is a special prerogative of royalty. Entering the city he pitched his camp where the Kyöng-bok Palace now stands. Even the king’s own uncle went over to Yi Kwal, perhaps through fear, or perhaps because the revolution was a success. This uncle was proclaimed king and posters were sent out to quiet the people. Thousands of adventurers and low fellows sought and obtained official appointments under the new regime.

78But what had been going on in the north? Chang Man, arriving at P‘a-ju, learned that the king had fled, and immediately called a council of war. It was decided that, as the people of Seoul were not largely in favor of Yi Kwal, it would be a good thing to make a demonstration at once lest the people should come to recognize the government. So one body of troops was sent to watch the road outside the East Gate and to cut off supplies. Another guarded the roads outside the South Gate. Gen. Chöng Ch‘ung-sin said that they must encamp on the hills immediately outside the West Gate and then Yi Kwal would be forced to fight. In order to do this Kim Yang-ön took cavalry and surprised the signal fire station beside the Peking Pass and so prevented any signal being given. That night Chang Man and all his forces came around the hills and stationed themselves behind the hill just back of Mo-wha-gwan. This movement was further favored by a strong east wind that carried the sound away so that all Seoul was ignorant of the extreme proximity of the enemy. At the same time Yi Whak with two hundred troops secreted himself outside the Northwest Gate, to enter the city when the insurgent troops should go out the West Gate to attack Chang Man’s forces. The latter also sent thousands of slips of paper into the city and had them distributed among the people saying, “Tomorrow, anyone who refuses to stand by Yi Kwal and remains loyal to the king, let him present one of these slips and he shall receive a reward.”

In the morning Yi Kwal spied a small band of soldiers on the hill outside the gate, for most of the force was concealed behind it, in order to deceive the rebels. Some of Yi Kwal’s followers said, “They are so few we had better go outside the Northwest Gate and so surround them; but the enemy seemed so insignificant that Yi Kwal marched straight at them. All Seoul was on the walls watching the fight with breathless interest. Han Myŭng-yŭn, Yi Kwal’s right hand man, took the Japanese contingent and moved up the steep hillside, and Yi followed with the main body. The strong east wind that was blowing materially aided the attacking force, for it lent speed to their arrows and they had the wind at their backs instead of in their faces. The loyal forces were forced to give way a little and their leaders had to strike down 79some in order to prevent a general stampede. At this critical juncture the wind suddenly veered to the west and drove the sand and dust into the eyes of the attacking party. This was the turning point in the battle. Yi Kwal was forced to give ground. Han Myŭng-yŭn himself was wounded by an arrow. Gen. Chang Man fought fiercely for two hours, gaining ground all the time. At this time the standard-bearer of Yi Kwal turned and fled. The cry arose, “Yi Kwal is on the run,” and in less that a minute the whole force was thrown into confusion and every man took to his heels, including Yi Kwal himself, who hastened back toward the West Gate. But the citizens on the wall had not been idle, and he found the gate locked and barred. Turning aside he hastened along under the wall till he reached the South Gate which he entered. Gen. Chang Man said, “Let us not chase him, for his men might turn on us and beat us after all. Let him go; the people will bring his head in soon enough.” So Yi Kwal with a small band of followers fled out the Water Mouth Gate, crossed the Han at Song-p‘a, killed the prefect of Kwang-ju, scaled Yi-bu-jă Pass and fled away eastward. Gen. Chöng Ch‘ung-sin chased him as far as Kyöng-an. By that time the traitor’s band had dwindled to twenty-eight men. He fled by night as far as Muk-pangi in the prefecture of I-ch‘ŭn and there two of his followers, seeing that the game had been played to a finish and hoping to save their own lives, went into his room by night and severed his head from the body. His son was treated in the same way, as were also Han Myŭng-yŭn and six others. They carried the heads to Kongju and laid them before the king. The king’s uncle who had been set up as king fled to Kwang-ju, where he was caught and turned over to Gen. Chang Man, who imprisoned him and waited the orders of the king. But another man, Sim Keui-wŭn, said, “No, he is a traitor,” and slew him with his own hand. When the king returned to Seoul this man Sim was imprisoned for a few days as nominal punishment for having killed a relative of the king.

On the twenty-second of the month the king returned to Seoul. Gen. Chang Man went to the river and escorted him in with a large retinue, but Gen. Chöng Ch‘ung-sin did not go and bow before the king, for he said, “I did not stop 80the traitor, but let him drive the king from the capital.” So he went up to P’yŭng-yang without seeing the king. When the latter heard of this he sent for him and gave him a present of gold and made him governor of P‘yŭng-an. It is said by some, in extenuation of Yi Kwal’s conduct, that he understood that the king had driven the former king from the throne and was a usurper. This must be false, for Yi Kwal was one of the principal actors in those events and must have known the truth about them. He was simply jealous and, having a strong force, thought to avenge himself. However that may be, the report was spread that it was patriotism that prompted the revolt, and to dispel any such idea the king made proclamation saying, “Kwang-hă, the former ruler, was a wicked and undutiful man. He killed his father and elder brother and imprisoned his mother. The country was on the verge of destruction and so I could not but attempt to drive him out. It was not because I wanted to usurp the royal honors, but it was for the sake of the line. Yi Kwal’s raid was prompted by idle rumors gotten up by certain of Kwang-hă’s men, but let all the people know surely that I have done this for the sole purpose of saving the kingdom.”

In the ninth moon another revolt was attempted, with the object of putting Prince In-sŭng, the king’s younger brother, on the throne. It was discovered in time and the principal movers were killed and the prince was banished to Kan-sŭng in Kang-wŭn Province.

On account of the frequent conflagrations in the city of P’yŭng-yang, the governor petitioned the king to promulgate a law requiring all houses in that town to be tiled instead of thatched. The king not only complied but gave money for the purchase of tiles. That law has not been abrogated to this day.

The Ship-Yard

The year 1625 opened with warlike preparations. Gen. Yi Sö collected a band of strong, stalwart men, the pick of the land, formed them into companies and regiments and drilled them at the Hun-yŭn-wŭn, inside the East Gate, and also at Mo-wha-kwan outside the West Gate. Near the close of the year the king promulgated a most important law, sweeping away the disabilities of sons by concubines and giving them the right to become officials. One must know the prevalence 81of concubinage in Korea in order to understand how vitally this law must have affected the whole body of the people, of all ranks and classes. This was the more true from the fact that concubines are commonly taken because of the lack of an heir. Eligibility to office on the part of sons of of concubines worked therefore in two directions. It elevated the position of the concubine and at the same time made the position of the barren wife more endurable.

We have already given a sketch of the beginnings of the Manchu convulsion which was about to shake the whole of eastern Asia. During the interval occupied by the events narrated above, the Manchus were quietly preparing for the future. Gen. Kang Hong-rip, the Korean renegade, was still with them. Another Korean went over to the Manchus. It was Han Yun who fled to Kwi-sŭng in northern P‘yŭng-an, from which place he crossed the Ya-lu and found Gen. Kang among the Manchus. To him he said, “My relatives have now all been destroyed by the king and I am an outcast. Let us get an army together and go and be avenged on the Koreans.” Gen. Kang gave his hearty consent and together they sought the throne of the Manchu chief to lay their plan before him.

Sŏ U-sin, the Ming governor of Liao-tung, heard of this plan and despatched a messenger to the King of Korea setting him on his guard against these two men. The king did not believe that Gen. Kang was irrecoverably lost, for he appointed his son to go to the Manchus as envoy. Had this young man succeeded in reaching his destination he might have induced his father to remain faithful to Korea, but just beyond the border he encountered Manchu soldiers who did not understand him and would not let him pass. So he was compelled to return with his mission unaccomplished. It is probable that there would have been an invasion of Korea by the Manchus at that time had it not been for the arrival in Liao-tung of the great Chinese general Wŭn Sung-whan. He was so skillful in the handling of soldiers that superhuman powers were ascribed to him. The Manchus could make no headway against him, and it is said that Norach’i’s chagrin at having failed to storm a town held by this famous general aggravated an illness caused by a carbuncle on his 82back and brought about his death. Upon his decease his second son Hongt’asi took the reins of government and carried to completion the ambitious plans made by his illustrious father.

It is apparent that the Korean court was well awake to the dangers confronting them, for we learn that in the seventh moon of this year 1626 the wall of Nam-han was completed. This is the great mountain fortress about twenty miles to the south-east of Seoul. It was formerly the site of one of the capitals of Păkje.

The year 1627 no sooner opened that the long dreaded event took place. On the fifth moon 30,000 Manchu soldiers crossed the Yalu River and a few days later stood before the city of Eui-ju. Approaching the gate a herald cried, “The second king of the great Golden Kingdom is now laying his heavy hand on Korea. If you do not come out and surrender we will raze your town to the level of the ground.” Unfortunately for the good name of Korea the prefect was at that moment sleeping off the effects of a drunken debauch in the house of a dancing girl. He came forth and tried to get the garrison together, but it was too late, for already the traitor Han Yun had entered the town in Korean clothes and had thrown the gates open to the ruthless invaders. The prefect and his whole garrison were set up in line and shot down by the savage Manchus, after which they boiled the body of the prefect in a kettle and sacrificed to heaven with the flesh. They then sent a letter to the king couched in the following terms: “You have committed four crimes. (1) You did not send an envoy to commiserate with us on the death of the great Norach’i. (2) You have never thanked us for sparing your army when we beat you and the Chinese together. (3) You afforded asylum to our enemy, Mo Mun-nyŏng. (4) Your people have killed many of the residents of Liao-tung in cold blood. It is for these reasons that our wrath is kindled against you.” And so the invading army moved southward, forcing the Koreans to cut their hair and compelling them to act as guides. But they did not come unopposed. They were met at Yong-ch’ŭn by its prefect at the head of 2,000 men, but a small official turned traitor and opened the gates to the Manchus. On the seventeenth they 83arrived at Kwak-san where they were told by the Korean garrison that death was preferable to surrender; the Koreans found it so, for they were soon overpowered and massacred. Two prefects whose wives had been confiscated by the Manchus thought to save themselves and recover their wives by going over to the enemy but when they did so they found their wives still held as concubines while they themselves were compelled to hold the bridles of the men who brutally refused to give back the women.

Seoul was meanwhile going through one of those periodical eruptions which she was destined to suffer for many years to come. Gen. Chang Man became general-in-chief, with Chöng Ch’ung Sin as second They immediately took all the available forces and marched northward. Gen. Sin was placed at the Im-jin River to block the approach of the enemy Gen. Kim went south to collect troops in Ch’ung-ch’ŭng Province, and others went in other directions. A call was made to all the eight provinces for men. Gen. Yi Sö was put in command of Nam-han. The king recalled many men from banishment, probably with a view to bringing into harmony all the different elements and securing unanimity among all classes.

On the twenty-first the Manchus arrived before Au-ju. They cried, “Come out and surrender,” and received the answer, “We are here to fight and not to surrender.” The next day at dawn in a heavy fog they approached the wall. They had an enormous ladder mounted in some way on the backs of camels. This was placed against the wall and the enemy swarmed over, armed only with short swords and knives; but these they used with such good effect that they soon gained a foothold. The commandant of the town, Nam Yi-heung, stood by the gate and shot many of the Manchus with his good bow and when his arrows were all gone he ordered bags of powder to be brought, and by exploding these he killed many of the enemy but was himself killed in the process.

P’yŭng-yang now being practically without defense, the prefect fled southward to the capital and told the king what had happened. The Crown Prince was immediately sent into the south for safety and the king himself with the ancestral 84tablets and with his court hastened to the island of Kang-wha, leaving the city of Seoul in a condition better imagined than described.

One of Gen. Kang’s grievances against Korea was that he thought the king had killed his son, but when he learned that this was not only not true but that the king had sent that son as envoy, though unsuccessfully, to the Manchus, there was a strong revulsion of feeling in his mind and he expressed his sorrow at the invasion but said that it was now too late to stop it. He however advised the king to send gifts to the Manchu chief and sue for peace.

When the Manchus arrived at Whang-ju they sent a letter forward to the king on Kang-wha saying, “There are three conditions on which we will conclude a peace with you. (1) You must hand over to us the person of Mo Mun-nyŭng. (2) You must give us 10,000 soldiers to help invade China. (3) You must give up the two northern provinces of P’yŭng-an and Ham-gyŭng.” On the ninth of the moon the envoy bearing this letter, accompanied by the Korean renegade Gen. Kang, took boat from Song-do for Kang-wha. The next day the king gave them audience and the envoy bowed before him, but the king did not bow in return. This made the envoy very angry, but the king said through an interpreter, “Tell him not to be angry, for I did not know the custom.”

The king sent one Kang-In to Whang-ju ostensibly to sue for peace but in reality to find out what the Manchus were doing there. Not long after this the Manchu envoy returned to the same place but Gen. Kang remained on Kang-wha. When the enemy had advanced as far as P’yŭng-san, only a hundred li from Kang-wha, the whole court urged the king to make peace on any terms, as all the soldiers had run away and the enemy were so near. When Gen. Kim, who had been left to guard Seoul, learned of the proximity of the Manchus, he fired all the government treasure and provisions and made good his escape. This was the signal for a general exodus of the people who swarmed out of the city and scattered in all directions seeking safety among the mountains or in remote provinces.

Yun Hŭn had been imprisoned for having fled from P’yŭng-yang without so much as attempting its defense, and 85many of the officials begged the king to pardon him; but they overdid it, and so many petitions came in that the king thought he was dangerously popular and ordered his execution. When the messenger of death reached the doomed man he found him playing a game of chess. The man with whom he was playing burst out crying, but he said, “What are you crying about? I am the man who am going to die, not you. Let us finish the game.” So they finished the game, after which Yun Hŭn quietly submitted to his fate. This is a sample of sang froid which never fails to elicit the applause of the Korean.

On the twentieth the Manchu general Yu Hă left P’yŭng-san and went to Kang-wha to have an audience with the king. He advised the king to discard the Chinese calendar and use the Manchu one instead and he also said the king must send his son to the north as hostage. The king answered that his son was too young, but that he would send his younger brother. Accordingly he sent Wŭn Ch’ang-yŭng, not his brother but a distant relative. At the same time he sent 30,000 pieces of cotton, 300 pieces of white linen, 100 tiger skins and 100 leopard skins. Gen. Yu Hă was pleased at this and said that he wished to have Korea at peace but that it would first be absolutely necessary for the king to take a solemn oath of fealty to the Manchus. And he said it must be done immediately, before the Manchus should enter Seoul.

The next day a letter came from the Manchu Prince Yi Wan urging that a treaty be made and the solemn oath be sworn, and he added, “Either there must be such a treaty or we must fight.” He ordered that the king have an altar made at once, on which to slay the animals and swear the oath. The Koreans hung back and said, “Have we not sent gifts and hostages to the north? Why then should we be compelled to take this oath?” In a rage the Manchu messenger rode away toward P’yŭng-san. This sudden departure was ominous and it frightened the Koreans, so that they hastened to set about building the altar. When, therefore, a few days later the Manchu generals Kang Hong-rip and Yu Hă came with an escort and demanded that a treaty should be ratified at once, the Koreans hastened to comply. The king went with Gen. Yu Hă to the altar and the king was ordered to plunge the knife into the victims, a white horse and a black bullock which 86signified the heavens and the earth respectively. At this the courtiers all exclaimed, “The king cannot do it. It must be done by deputy.” The king replied. “It makes no difference now. We have eaten their insults and the people are all about to perish. I will do it.” But still they opposed it so strongly that at last Yi Chŭng-gwi was appointed as substitute for the king.

It was on the third day of the third moon of 1627 when the ceremony was performed outside the West Gate of the fortress of Kang-wha. They killed the white horse and black bullock and sacrificed to heaven. The Manchu oath ran as follows: “The second king of the Manchus makes a treaty with the king of Korea. From this day we have but one mind and one thought. If Korea breaks this oath may heaven send a curse upon her. If the Manchus break it may they likewise be punished. The two kings will have an equal regard for truth and they will govern according to the principles of religion. May heaven help us and give us blessings.” The Korean oath was as follows: “This day Korea takes oath and forms a treaty with the Keum (Kin) Kingdom. We too swear by this sacrifice that each shall dwell secure in the possession of his own lands. If either hates and injures the other may heaven send punishment upon the offending party. These two kings have minds regardful of truth. Each must be at peace with the other.” The next day the three highest Korean officials went to the Manchu camp to settle the details of the treaty. They said, “As we have made a treaty with you, of course you will not let your troops advance on Seoul. It will be best for you to move backward at once. Now you are the ‘elder brother’ and we the ‘younger brother,’ so you will see the propriety of staying on the other side of the Yalu River. The Ming dynasty of China has been as a parent to us for two hundred years and our kings have always received investiture from the Emperor. We have made a treaty now with you, but that does not require us to cast off the suzerainty of China.” This raised a storm about the Koreans’ ears, and for days they disputed over the point with the Korean commission, but could not move them a hair’s breadth from this position. At last in astonishment Gen. Yu Hă sat down, folded his hands and said “The Kingdom of Korea is like a small island 87or like a hair, and if we should but raise our foot it would be destroyed, and yet though destruction stares them in the face they will not forswear their fealty to China. This is greatness. Such righteousness and faithfulness are admirable. If the Manchu king consents, you shall do as you please in this respect.” They sent to the Manchu Prince who was with the army at P‘yŭng-san and he gave his consent. Gen. Yu Hă then put in the Manchu claim for yearly tribute. It was an enormous amount but the Koreans decided they would send at least a small part of what was demanded.

The Manchu army then moved northward beyond P’yŭng-yang to An-ju, being opposed there by Gen. Chöng Ch‘ung-sin they told him that they had made a treaty with Korea and were on their way back to Manchuria. He thought they were retreating and were trying to deceive him, so he said, “I have received no intimation of all this from headquarters, so you will have to wait here until I get word from the king.”

The Manchu army on its way north through Whang-hă Province had stolen right and left, oxen, horses and women. They bored holes through the hands of children and fastened them together with cords and drove them north to make slaves of them. In the province of P‘yŭng-an they did not commit these outrages, for there was a large sprinkling of Manchus among the people. When they left P’yŭng-yang they burned it to the ground. North of that place they put a garrison in every large town, namely An-ju, Chöng-ju, Sŭn-ch‘ŭn and Eui-ju. Strangely enough Koreans were put at the head of these garrisons. Of course these bodies of troops had to live off the people, and it seems that they did not scruple to plunder and confiscate in a wholesale manner. This is indicated by the fact that Chöng Pang-su the prefect of Chŭn-san got out of patience and said it could no longer be borne. So gathering about him as many soldiers as possible, he began to make war on the Manchu garrisons wherever encountered. The Manchus were cut down by hundreds, as the country was being scoured by small bands of foragers who fell into this prefect’s hands. Three of the Manchu captains joined their forces and tried to make headway against this Korean combination, but they were all killed and their forces cut to pieces. The king, when he heard of these actions, was loud 88in praise of the Koreans who so successfully opposed the unlawful acts of the Manchu garrisons.

Not long after this a letter came from the Manchu headquarters saying, “Having made a treaty of peace with us, why do you now set upon and kill our people?” To which the Koreans boldly replied. “It was one of the conditions of that treaty that all Manchus should move beyond the Yalu. If they had done so, there would have been no trouble. But many of your people stopped in P‘yŭng-an Province and stole our cattle and our women. The people could not endure it and so revolted. But it was not at our instigation. It is evident that the trouble began with you. It would be well if you would send back the 2,000 people you have carried away captive to Manchuria.” The argument was conclusive, as the Manchus acknowledged by sending back the captive Koreans. When the Japanese heard that the Koreans had been successfully opposing the Manchus they sent a present of 300 muskets, 300 swords and 300 pounds of powder, but the Koreans wisely declined the gifts and sent them back to Japan.

Chapter VI

The king returns to Seoul.... military reforms.... message from China.... Manchu familiarities.... conspiracies frustrated.... Manchu complaints.... pacified.... Japanese offers.... a naval station.... a lawless Chinaman.... beheaded.... factional fights.... courier system.... a disloyal Chinaman.... envoy to China meets Roman Catholics.... quarrel with the Manchus.... tribute.... Chinese renegades.... two great Manchu generals.... a stirring memorial.... a frightened envoy.... war inevitable.... omen.... Emperor congratulates the king.... divided counsels.... fatal mistake.... panic in Seoul.... the king takes refuge in Nam-han.

On the tenth of the fourth moon the king started back towards Seoul, which he entered two days later. He was now fully awake to the need of a well drilled army, and he set to work in earnest drilling one. He stationed a general at Kang-wha permanently and instituted the custom of requiring military duty of every citizen under forty years of age and 89over fifteen. Some were sent to Seoul to drill for three years. The first year was spent in learning the methods of guarding gates and walls, the second in musket practice, and the third in swordsmanship and archery. When they had been thoroughly drilled they were sent to the country to drill the militia. In this way an available force of 700,000 men is said to have been trained. If this is the estimate of the number of able-bodied men between fifteen and forty it gives a valuable clue to the entire population of the country at the time. At this time the custom was revived of having the men stand in squads of ten, five in front and five behind. When the front rank had discharged their pieces they fell back and the rear line stepped forward and discharged theirs, while the others reloaded. A Chinese envoy was sent from Nanking with a message to the king but refused to come further than Ka-do Island, from which place he forwarded his message, which ran, “How does it happen that you have made peace with the Manchus?” The king made reply, “The Manchus overwhelmed us with their vast numbers and it meant either a treaty or our extinction. We had no time to send and explain matters to the Emperor.” The Emperor sent a reply to this saying, “I have received your reply and I am truly sorry for you. You are in no wise to blame. Now hoard your wealth and by-and-bye you and I will rise and strike these Manchus to the earth.”

It will be remembered that the king had sent one of his relatives as hostage to the Manchus, but now, according to the stipulations of the treaty, he came back, escorted by the Manchu general Yu Hă. The king sent high officials to meet them outside the South Gate, but this did not satisfy the Manchu, who was angry that the king did not come in person. So the king had to go out and meet them and give a feast to the returning party. When Gen. Yu Hă met the king he wanted to kiss him, saying that it was a custom by which he showed friendship and a demonstration that the oath still held firm between them; but the king refused the osculatory salute and so the general compromised by patting him on the back.

Late in this year two dangerous conspiracies were made against the government. The first was by Yi In-jo a former 90official living in Kang-wŭn Province. He had a goodly following among the people and made bold to liberate all the criminals. After looting several towns he went into camp on a mountain top. The government troops, however, surrounded him and finally captured him and sent him up to the capital where he was beheaded together with his two sons. The other attempt was of a different nature. Yu Hyo-rip, an exile in Che-ch‘ŭn, a relative of the deposed king’s wife, decided to work up an insurrection. He sent his son up to Seoul in disguise to make arrangements with a disloyal eunuch. Soldiers also came disguised as merchants, but all armed to the teeth. The palace was to be seized on the fourth day of the new year. As fortune would have it. Hŭ Chŭk, a relative of one of the conspirators, learned of the plot in time, but only just in time, to inform the Prime Minister. So when the attack was made the whole party was seized and with them Yu Hyo-rip himself, who had come up to Seoul in woman’s clothes and in a woman’s chair. Being questioned about the affair he testified that he was not the prime mover in the matter but that he had been set on by the queen dowager, who wanted to put the king’s uncle on the throne. That aged and respectable woman indignantly denied any knowledge of the plot and as proof of her innocence she urged that the said uncle be put to death. All united in this request and it was finally granted, though against the better instincts of the king who believed him innocent. We shall see later that the king was right.

The Manchus were still fretful. A letter came post haste from the north saying, “We have now sent back many captives and you agreed to pay for the rest, but when they got across the border and were lost to us we never saw the money. Not a year has passed since the treaty was ratified and yet you break it with impunity. When the Chinese acted thus we retaliated by seizing twenty-four of their districts. Now you must send those men straight back to us.” Among all the courtiers there was but one dissenting voice, that of Chang Yu, who said, “The government is for the people and if it gives up any of the people thus, from that hour it ceases to be a government. Sooner should we let the Manchus destroy the government outright than comply with such a demand.” 91This carried the day, and an envoy was sent north bearing a present of a magnificent sword, 300 pounds of ginseng, seventy sable skins, but only five of the men demanded. The Manchus were highly pleased and forgave all that had been done to displease them. The Japanese hearing of this again sent an envoy saying, “Those Manchus are a bold lot. They have made a treaty with you but they do not treat you well. Just say the word and we will come and whip them for you.” This frightened the king and he wanted to forward the message to the Manchus but Kim Sin-guk said, “If you do that you will get the Manchus and the Japanese to fighting each other on Korean soil and we will be the little fish between two whales.” This argument carried the day.

In the year 1629 the king established a naval station on Kyo-dong Island and placed there an admiral to guard that island and Kang-wha from attack from the seaward side. This was with the expectation that the court might again find it necessary to seek asylum on the island of Kang-wha.

A Chinese general. Mo Mun-nyŭng, had been stationed by the Emperor on Ka-do Island near the mouth of the Yalu, to withstand the Manchus, but this man was not loyal to China, and had a leaning himself toward the Manchus. He could see that the Manchus were destined to become masters of the situation. He was very angry when Korea made a treaty with the Manchus for he feared that they would try to hurt his reputation with them. When the Manchus attacked the Chinese in the neighboring mainland of Liao-tung he never raised a hand in their defense, though it is said, perhaps wrongly, that he had an army of 300,000 (!) men. On the other hand he vented his spite against Korea by harrying her northern shores and killing many captives on their way home from the Manchu territory. The Emperor tried to call him to account for this but received no reply. Meanwhile this Gen. Mo Mun-nyŭng styled himself “Son of Heaven beyond the Sea.” As he thus showed his hand, the question as to his disloyalty was settled, and Gen. Wŭn Sung-han came from China to call him to account, a thing he had not foreseen. When Gen. Wŭn approached and called on him to come and report to him, he dared not refuse, fearing that the troops under 92him would not be willing to attack their fellow-countrymen under Gen. Wŭn. As may be surmised he lost his head as soon as he arrived in the camp of the latter.

In spite of her military activity Korea was anything but strong. The two leading parties, the Noron and Soron were quarrelling like cats and dogs together. There was one constant succession of banishments and recalls, as one party or another obtained temporary control of the government. There was no sort of harmony or unanimity in the discharge of the public business and it had to look out for itself, while those who should have been attending to it were wrangling. There was a high honorary title called Chŭl-lang, and the leading men quarrelled so much over it that the king was at last compelled to abolish it altogether. And yet in the midst of this strife the king found opportunity to establish the Mu-hak, a body of 200 men to act as swift couriers. It is said they could cover 300 li a day, or 100 miles.

The Manchu Gen. Yu Hă, of whom we have spoken, was originally a Chinaman living in Liao-tung, but had gone over to the Manchus. The Emperor was furious at this and offered a reward of 1,000 ounces of silver and high position to anyone who should apprehend him. For a time he went under an assumed name, but finally with his three brothers he came to Gen. Mo Mun-nyŭng whom he knew to be secretly disloyal to China. When Gen. Mo had been executed Gen. Yu came of course under the jurisdiction of Gen. Wŭn. Shortly after this Gen. Yu was killed in a battle but his three brothers decided to rise up against the loyal Chinaman. In the midst of the funeral obsequies of their brother they rose and killed Gen. Chin who had been left in charge of the Chinese forces, and they tried to kill the Koreans as well, but in this they were unsuccessful and shortly afterward were driven out by the Korean forces. When the Emperor heard of this he was highly pleased and praised the Koreans.

The Manchus naturally considered this occupation of Ka-do as a menace to them and they sent a force of 20,000 men to attack the Chinese, at the same time demanding boats of the Koreans whereby to transport their troops. This was not granted, but the Koreans, in order to avoid the effects of a too evident leaning towards the Chinese, gave the Manchus 200 93bags of rice. But the Chinese did not wait for the Manchus to cross to the island. They crossed to the mainland and attacked the Manchus unexpectedly, killing 400 and putting the rest to flight.

During this year, 1631, an envoy to China, Chong Tu-wŭn, while in Nanking, fell in with an aged Roman Catholic priest named Jean Niouk, who engaged the attention of the envoy because of his venerable and almost saint-like appearance. This man was one of the companions of the celebrated P. Ricci. From him the envoy received some volumes on science, a pair of pistols, a telescope and some other articles. The mention of a cannon in the native records is probably a mistake of some copyist who wrote the word cannon in place of pistol.

The king was told by his officials that the Manchus were sure to invade Korea again before long and so the island of Kang-wha was well provisioned and arms were prepared. He was urged to form a junction with the Chinese on Ka-do Island and make an attack on the Manchus. The fortresses of Ch’ŭl-san and Un-san in P‘yŭng-an Province were built at this time and every effort was made to put the country in a state of defense against the northern hordes. A fortress was also built near Eui-ju, which was the equivalent of a declaration of war against the Manchus. The result was soon apparent. A Manchu envoy made his appearance bearing a missive which said, “Korea has seen fit to break her treaty with us and she is no longer to be called ‘younger brother,’ but a vassal state. She shall pay us annually a tribute of 10,000 ounces of gold, 10,000 ounces of silver, 10,000,000 pieces of linen.” The king replied that he had no gold but that he would give some tiger skins. These the envoy scornfully refused and returned to the north. The king was somewhat disturbed by this and ordered an envoy to go to Manchuria with gifts, but they were all returned untouched. At this the king was furious and ordered an envoy to go and say that Korea would never again send tribute nor make peace with the Manchus. Kim Si-yang expostulated with the king and told him that such a message would be suicidal, but he was banished on the spot. It is probable the message never reached the Manchu camp, for we learn that with the opening of new year the king had come to his senses and sent tribute 94to the north to the extent of 800 pieces of silk, 800 pieces of linen, 800 pieces of grass cloth, 800 pieces of cotton, 60 tiger skins, 300 sea-otter skins and 800 quires of heavy paper.

The Korean territory became the asylum for several renegade Chinese generals who demanded sustenance, and what between these and the Manchus it became well-nigh impossible to keep on good terms either with the Emperor or with the Manchus. The latter were continually ravaging the northern border and were, apparently losing all their former feeling of friendship. This cannot be wondered at, for the king was openly siding with the Chinese.

In the spring of 1636 the king ordered a remeasurement of all the arable land in the three southern provinces. It seems that the people were thriving and the margin of cultivation was broadening so that a remeasurement became necessary for a re-estimate of the revenue. At the same time he despatched two envoys to the Manchu court at Mukden. The Manchus had just begun to style their empire the Ch’ing or “clear.” And now for the first time we meet the names of the two great Manchu generals who were destined to play such a prominent part in the invasion of Korea. They were called Yonggoldă and Mabudă. These two men came to the Yalu River and received the king’s missive addressed to the son of the Ch’ing Emperor. The two envoys were brought into the Manchu Emperor’s presence, where they were ordered to bow, but refused. They were forced to a stooping position, but resisted, whereupon they were stripped, beaten and driven away.

The Manchus were now fully determined to invade Korea and bring her to her knees once more. In preparation for this the two generals above named were sent to Seoul as envoys, but in reality to spy out the land and learn the roads. The officials almost with one voice urged the king to burn the letters brought by these envoys and to kill the men themselves. To show the extent of the infatuation of the Koreans it is necessary to subjoin a memorial which was presented the king at this time. It said “Since I was born I have never heard of two emperors. How can these wild savages claim imperial power? Once before a rebel (referring 95to Kang Hong-rip) came with these robbers and the king was compelled to flee to Kang-wha. If at that time we had only cut off the traitor’s head it would have been to our honor and it would have shone like the sun and moon. These Manchu robbers are wolves and tigers. How can we think of casting off our allegiance to China? All our troubles have arisen because we did not kill Gen. Kang. This news about the Manchus rends my heart, for, though we live in a distant corner of the world, we have manners. From King T’ă-jo’s time till now we have been loyal to the Ming power. Now that the northern savages are growing strong and we, through fear, are compelled to follow them, we may for a time escape harm, but in the end the world will scorn us. It was a mistake for the government to give those envoys a polite reception, and now the officials sit still while the king is being insulted by outsiders. Our situation is not only dangerous, it is pitiable. Here we sit and do nothing to prevent the enemy entering our territory. I see what the Manchus want. They know we are weak, and they want to hold us in their hand and make a boast of us. If they want to play at empire why do they not do it among themselves and not come to us with it? They do it so as to be able to say that they have Korea in their train. Now let us be men and cut off these envoys’ heads and put them in a box along with their insulting letter and send the whole back to their so-called emperor. If the king does not like my advice let him cut off my head and send it. I cannot live to see and hear the insults of these savages. The people of the northern provinces grind their teeth at them and swear that they cannot live with them. Today must decide the continued existence or the destruction of this kingdom. The king should send out a proclamation far and wide for the people to flock to the support of the royal banners. Then would we all rejoice to die, if need be, for our country.” This speech is probably an exact expression of the feeling of the vast majority of the officials and people at that time, but most of them had the good sense to keep still, for such talk was sure to bring swift retribution. It is evident the king thought so, for he answered this warm appeal by saying, “You have spoken very well but it is a little premature for us to go to cutting 96off the heads of envoys from a neighboring power; we will consider the matter however.”

The Manchu envoys had with them some Mongol soldiers to prove to the Koreans that the Mongols had actually surrendered to the Manchu power. The envoys asked that these be treated well, but the king had them treated as slaves. The object of the embassy was nominally to attend the funeral of the king’s grandmother, but the king deceived them by sending them to an enclosure in the place where a screen was closely drawn around. The envoys supposed this was the obsequies and began their genuflections, but a violent gust of wind blew the screens over and they saw that they had been duped. They immediately were seized with fear lest they be foully dealt with and rushing out they mounted their steeds and fled by way of the South Gate. The boys pelted them with stones as they passed. The people knew that this was a serious matter and messenger after messenger was sent after the fleeing envoys pleading with them to come back, but of course without avail.

The Prime Minister told the king that war was now inevitable and that it was necessary to call the people to arms at once. The king consented and the proclamation went forth saying. “Ten years ago we made a treaty with these Manchus, but their nature is so bad and they are so insulting that we never before were so ashamed. From the king, down to the lowest subject all must unite in wiping out this disgrace. They now claim to be an empire and that we are their vassal. Such insolence cannot be borne. It may mean the overthrow of our kingdom but we could do no less than drive the envoys away. All the people saw them go. Of course it means immediate war and all the people must now come up to their responsibilities and swear to be avenged on the Manchus even at the cost of life itself.”

The Manchu envoys delayed on Korean soil long enough to secure a copy of the proclamation and, armed with this, they crossed the border and made their way to the Manchu headquarters.

In Seoul there were various counsels. One side argued that the palace at Kang-wha should be burned so that the king’s mind might not turn toward that as an asylum. Others said 97that the king should go to P‘yung-yang and lead the army in person. We are told that there were many omens of impending danger at this time. They are of course fictitious, but they show the bent of the Korean mind. They say that at one place large stones moved from place to place of their own accord. In another place ducks fought on the water and killed each other. In another place a great flock of storks congregated in one place and made a “camp.” Outside the South Gate there was a great fight among the frogs. In the south, toads came out and hopped about in mid-winter. A pond in the palace became red like blood. In summer the river rose so high that it lapped the foundations of the East Gate. At twenty-seven different places in Seoul the land rose and fell. Such are some of the popular superstitions.

The Chinese general in charge of troops on Ka-do Island sent word to the Emperor that Korea had broken with the Manchus, whereupon the Emperor sent a letter congratulating the king and praising his boldness. The Chinese envoy further said, “I came to bring the letter of praise from the Emperor but at the same time he recognises the great danger in which you are and he grants permission for you to conclude a peace with them if you so wish.” But the king had decided on the arbitrament of war and this pointed hint was not taken.

The king had now collected an army in P’yŭng-yang and he gave each soldier a present of cotton cloth. The whole number of the army is not given, but we are told that there were 10,234 skillful archers and 700 musketeers. It seems that the review did not satisfy all, for one of the leading officials said, “If we take this final step and go to war we shall all perish, so it might be well to send an envoy and try to patch up matters with them.” To this another replied hotly, “All the people are bent on war and are determined to rid themselves of these savages. You are a traitor to your country to talk of sending an envoy. You are insulting the king. You are over-riding the will of the great majority.” But the other answered calmly, “We have no army that can stand before them an hour and some fine morning we shall all he found dead in bed. There is no place to take the ancestral tablets, so my advice is to send generals to P’yŭng-yang and have 98soldiers well drilled, and at the same time send an envoy to the Manchus to see how they talk. It may be that things may be so arranged that we can go along quietly as before. At any rate it will give us time to prepare. If worse comes to worst and we have to defend the Yalu we will do our best, but it is evident that if they once cross we will necessarily become supplicants.” This was too good logic to be withstood and yet it was worse than nothing, for it was either just too strong or just too weak, and it threw the whole court into a fatal uncertainty.

In the tenth moon the Manchu general Mabudă, appeared on the west bank of the Yalu and sent word to the prefect of Eui-ju saying. “On the twenty-sixth of the next moon our armies are to move on Korea, but if within that time you send an envoy we will desist, even though it be at the last moment.” Gen. Kim Nyu told the king this and urged that the envoy be sent, but only an interpreter was sent with a letter to the Manchu chief. When the Manchus saw this man they said “Go back and tell the king that if he does not send his son and the Prime Minister and another high official to perform the treaty ceremony before the twenty fifth of the next moon, our armies will instantly be put in motion.” Yonggoldă brought out the copy of the proclamation he had brought with him from Korea and said, “Look at this. It cannot be said that it was we who broke the treaty first.” A letter was given the messenger for the king in which was written, “They say you are building many forts. Is it to block my way to your capital? They say you are building a palace on Kang-wha to find refuge in. When I have taken your eight provinces will Kang-wha be of any use to you? Can your councillors overcome me with a writing-brush?”

When this ominous letter reached Seoul the king and the highest of the officials wanted to make terms with the Manchus at once, but they were opposed stoutly by the whole mass of the lesser officials. At last however a man was dispatched to convey the acceptance by Korea of the Manchu terms; but the fatal day had passed, and when the messenger met the Manchus advancing upon Eui-ju, he was seized. As war was now beyond peradventure Generals Kim Nyu and Kim Cha-jŭm advised that the prefectural towns along the route that the 99Manchus would come be moved back from the main road. This was ordered and the prefectures of Eui-ju, P’yŭng-yang and Whang-ju were moved from ten to a hundred li back. All the towns along the way were deserted by their inhabitants.

Gen. Kim Cha-jŭm forced the people at the point of the sword to rebuild the fortress at Chöng-bang Mountain, but he did not attempt to guard the Yalu, for he was possessed by the the infatuation that the Manchus would not come after all. There was a line of fire-signal mountains from Eui-ju all the way to Seoul but he ordered the fires to be lighted only as far as his quarters, in case of war, as it would cause great consternation in the capital. His criminal incredulity and carelessness were so great that when in the twelfth moon the double fires gleamed forth along the line from the north telling of the approach of an invading army, he still averred that it was nothing more nor less than the envoy heralding his return. He sent no messages nor warnings to Seoul. He sent a messenger north to discover where the Manchus were. This man came running back and announced that the north was full of them. Still the general would not believe it and wanted to kill the man for deceiving him. The report was however confirmed by so many eye-witnesses that he was at last compelled to believe it and sent word to Seoul that the Manchus had come. On the twelfth a letter from the prefect of Eui-ju announced in Seoul that the Manchus had crossed the river 140,000 strong. The next day a letter from the tardy Kim announced that the Manchus had already traversed the province of P‘yŭng-an. This news was like a thunder-bolt from a clear sky to the people of the capital. They were thrown into a panic and are described as having resembled boiling water. The roads were choked with fugitives from the city. The king said, “Liberate all the captives and prisoners and grant an amnesty to all who have been banished.” All prefects who had not gone to their posts were sent forthwith. The king desired to start at once for Kang-wha, and he appointed Kim Kyŭng-jeung to have military control there with Yi Min-gu as second. An aged Minister Yun Pang together with Kim Sang-yong took the ancestral tablets and went ahead to that island. Then followed the Queen and the Princes, 100Finally the king appointed Sin Keui-wŭn to guard the capital.

On the fourteenth the Manchu army entered Whang-hă Province and almost immediately the news came that they had arrived at Chang-dan only 120 li from Seoul. There they caught the prefect, cut off his hair, dressed him in Manchu clothes and forced him to act as guide. At noon the next day the king and the Crown Prince passed out the South Gate on their way to Kang-wha, when suddenly messengers came hurrying up saying that the Manchu horsemen had already arrived at Yang-wha-jin on the river and that the road to Kang-wha was consequently blocked. The king and his immediate followers went up into the pavilion above the gate and conferred together. The native chronicler says that “their faces were white and their voices were like the croaking of country frogs.” And well they might be. Chi Yö-hă said, “They have come down from the border in five days and must be very tired. I will take 500 men and go out and hold them in check until the king can get to Kang-wha.” But Ch’oe Myŭng-gil said, “We must decide immediately, for the enemy is at our very doors. We cannot fight them, but I will go out the gate and parley with them and meantime the king can escape to Nam-han.” To this the king eagerly assented and Ch’oe took ten cattle and ten tubs of wine and went out to meet the enemy. All the gates on the south side of Seoul were closed and the king and his suite started for the East Gate. The crown prince’s groom ran away and the prince was compelled to hold the bridle himself. The people crowded around the royal party so closely that it was almost impossible to move, but finally the gate was passed and the party hurried forward. At seven o’clock that night the royal cavalcade entered the welcome gate of Nam-han. So rapid had been the pace that only six men in the king’s retinue remained until they arrived at their destination. The rest arrived some time before midnight. They all urged the king to start at day light and reach Kang-wha by a circuitous route. This was determined upon, but a storm of sleet and rain came on, which rendered the roads so slippery that the king was compelled to dismount and walk. It soon became evident that this would not do. The king was very cold and the progress was hopelessly slow. So they placed 101him in a litter hastily extemporised and brought him back to the fortress. It turned out that this was fortunate, for the Manchus had guarded every approach to Kang-wha so carefully that the king never would have been able to get through. Gen. Ch’oe, who had gone to parley with the enemy, went beyond the Peking Pass and met Gen. Mabudă and said, “We made a treaty with you some time since, but now you come down upon us with this great array. How is this?” The Manchu answered. “It is not we who have broken the treaty but you, and we have come to learn from the king the reason of it.” Gen. Ch’oe replied, “Well, you cannot see him. He has gone to the fortress of Nam-han.”

Together they entered Seoul and there the Manchu general had Gen. Ch’oe send a letter to the king as follows, “The Manchu general has come to make a treaty with us, but he says we are all afraid of him and that even the king has fled. He says that if the king wants to make peace he must send his son and the prime minister together with the man who advised the king to break the treaty. They demand an immediate answer.” That night no answer came and Mabudă charged Gen. Ch’oe with having deceived him and wanted to kill him on the spot, but the rest dissuaded him saying “Let us go to Nam-han ourselves.” They made Gen. Ch’oe act as guide and soon they stood before that renowned fortress. Gen. Ch’oe went ahead and entered alone. The king seized his hand and said, “You are come to save us.” But the general said “The Manchu general was exceedingly angry because you did not answer my letter last night, so he has now come with a third of his whole force. In order to pacify him we cannot but comply with his three conditions.” The king replied, “You are deceived by him. Do you think he has come all this way to be satisfied so easily as that?”

Chapter VII

Manchu camps.... the garrison of Nam-han.... a trick.... divided counsels.... the king determines to fight it out.... Koreans eager to fight.... the garrison put on half rations.... terrible cold.... message to the provinces.... successful sallies.... the king’s kindness.... the 102Manchu fence.... the gift refused.... help from the outside....unsuccessful venture.... plenty and want.... imperial edict.... the answer.... a night attack.... relief party defeated.... other attempts to relieve the king.... a cowardly general.... a clever trick.... Korean defeat.... mutual recriminations.... a ghastly trick.... desperate straits.... correspondence.... a starving garrison.... a heroic answer.... king wants to surrender.... Manchu demands.... fighting continued.

The Manchu army encamped along the southern side of the city from Mo-wha-gwan to the South Gate and outside the East Gate, and the air resounded with the sound of music and drums. At first the soldiers committed no excesses beyond the theft of a few cattle and an occasional woman, but now that it was learned that the king had run away to Nam-han the license became unbounded and men and women were killed in large numbers. The royal treasure houses were looted and nothing was too sacred to be dragged about the streets. That same night a band of the Manchus completely encircled Nam-han, which must be well-nigh ten miles around.

The king set a strong guard all about the wall, appointing Gen. Sin Kyöng-jin to guard the East Gate, Gen. Ku Kweng the South Gate, Gen. Yi Sö the North Gate and Gen. Yi Si-băk the West Gate. Generals Wŭn Tu-p‘yo, Ku In-hu, Han Whe-il and Pak Whan went all about the wall with strong bodies of troops, to prevent the entrance of any scaling party. The whole number of troops in the fortress was about 12,000. Gen. Nam An-gap held the important position of Commissariat Chief. The king’s retinue and court consisted of 200 officials, 200 of his relatives, 100 clerks, and 300 servants of different degrees. All these received their salary in rice. Officials of the first and second grades were allowed to have three servants and two horses, those of the third, fourth and fifth grades could have two servants and one horse, while those below these could have but one servant and one horse, The commander-in-chief was Gen. Kim Nyu. His advice to the king was to send the crown prince and the prime minister at once and make the best terms possible. It was decided to deceive the enemy if possible, so Neung Pong-su, a distant relative of the king, assumed the name of the king’s younger brother, and Sim Chip assumed the role of 103crown prince. Together they sallied out to try their hand on the Manchus. When they came before Mabudă, that hardheaded warrior looked them over, turned them inside out and sent them back to the king with the curt reply that, “As you have been trying to play a trick on us we will now consent to treat with no one whatever except the crown prince himself. If you will send him we will talk with you.” This they demanded in spite of the statements of the messengers that the crown prince was still in mourning for his mother.

When this ultimatum was delivered to the king there was a division of opinion. Gen. Kim Nyu and several others averred that there was nothing to do but comply with the demands But the king said, “I will die first.” Kim Sang-hön took the other side and said, “Whoever talks of surrendering so tamely is a traitor.” On the seventeenth the king sent Hong Sö-bong to the Manchu camp and said, “I am willing to send my second or third son to you but they are all in Kang-wha.” They answered as before, “We will see no one but the crown prince.” When the crown prince expressed his willingness to go, a courtier said, “We have a good strong garrison and shall we tamely surrender and send our future king into the clutches of these highwaymen? If he goes I shall strangle myself with my own bridle.” Another said, “Let us fight them. We are men, not straw manikins.” So the king made up his mind that it would be war and not surrender and he so proclaimed, “We shall fight to the bitter end. Let no one expect or hope for peace.” He then despatched a letter to Kim Cha-jŭm in P’yŭng-yang, saying “We are hemmed in here and our forces are small and food scarce, but we have determined to fight it out even though it ends the dynasty. So hasten and come to our aid with all the forces at your command.” The next day the guard of the North Gate made a successful sally, returning with six Manchu heads. This excited the soldiers almost to frenzy, and they were eager to rush out and engage the besiegers. Unfortunately all the rice that had been stored at the river for the provisioning of Nam-han had been seized by the Manchus, but the arms and ammunition were safe within the walls. The king took advantage of the elation of the soldiers over this successful sally to make them a little speech, in which he 104remarked, “Shall we surrender or fight? It is for you to say.” Sim Kwang-su answered grimly for them all and said “Show us the head of the man who advised to surrender.” This referred to Gen. Ch’oe Myŭng-gil, but the rest did not dare to second the request. From that time the walls were guarded with renewed vigilance. Day after day the smoke of the Manchu camps went up to heaven round about the beleagured fortress. On the nineteenth the king sacrificed at the tomb of On-jo, the founder of the ancient kingdom of Păk-je of which Nam-han was for many years the capital. On the same day Gen. Ku Kweng made a sally from the West Gate and took twenty Manchu heads. This again excited the garrison almost beyond control. The following day a renegade Korean who had gone over to the Manchus came near the gate and parleyed with the guard, urging that the king surrender and make peace; but when the king heard of it he ordered that if the man came again he should not be met at the gate but that the guard should only talk down at him from the top of the wall.

The matter of provisions was one of prime importance, and the king called the chief of commissariat and asked him how many days’ rations there were remaining in the store-houses. He replied that there were enough provisions to last sixty days, but that if great economy were exercised it might last seventy days. He said the horses could have but one measure of beans a day and the servants must get along as best they could, on barley and oats. Someone suggested that as there were a large number of people present who held no important position, the king ought not to feel obliged to support them, but the king vetoed this by saying, “They came here trusting in me and now shall I deprive them of food? No, we will all eat or go hungry together.” The weather was very cold and the men exposed upon the wall suffered severely. Their cheeks, being frost-bitten, cracked open in a very painful manner. In view of this the king ordered that night guards be dispensed with and that no old or feeble men should be put on picket duty in these exposed positions.

The king again sent out a letter to the governors of the different provinces saying, “We are here hemmed in; our life 105hangs by a thread. Let all loyal men rally to our support, and march against the besieging force.” To Kim Cha-jŭm he wrote, “For seven days we have now been immured and we have come to the brink of destruction. Come immediately to our aid.”

On the twenty-first there were two simultaneous sallies, from the East and West Gates respectively, and each resulted in the securing of a few trophies. For the encouragement of the soldiers Kim Sin-guk suggested that a schedule of rates be issued offering prizes for Manchu heads. The king’s intention not to surrender was still unshaken, for when a courtier memorialized him urging surrender he burned the document in anger. On the twenty-second a Manchu messenger rode up to the gate and asked if the king were ready to surrender yet. The answer came in the shape of fierce sallies on the South and East sides in which forty heads were taken and in which Gen. Yi Chi-wŭn, with an iron club, killed two mounted generals. The soldiers were so elated by these successes, which of course could make no difference in the strength of the besieging force, that on the following day they made simultaneous attacks on several sides, in each of which the Koreans had some advantage. The Koreans lost but twenty men while the Manchu loss was much greater. As the Manchus carried their dead from the field, however, the exact amount of their loss is not known. The king celebrated the victory by making a circuit of the wall. The next day was wet and foggy and the cold was even harder to endure than when the weather was clear. Both the king and the crown prince came out in the rain to encourage the soldiers and they and many of the officials gave mats and blankets and the mud-guards of their saddles to help the soldiers to keep dry. The inmates of Han-heung Monastery, inside the fortress, presented the king with forty quires of paper, and several bags of vegetables, but the king distributed them all among the soldiers. Other monks presented three large bowls of honey, for which the king thanked them and gave presents in return.

On the twenty-fifth the Manchus completed a wattle fence completely encircling the fortress. It was thirty miles long and twice the height of a man. Some idea can be formed 106of the numbers in the Manchu army when we know that this was completed in seven days. Every eighty paces a bell was attached in such a way that if anyone attempted to break through, warning would be given to the sentinels.

There were those outside who sincerely desired to give succor to the king and the court. Gen. Kwŭn Chöng-gil, of Wŭn-ju, gathered a small force and camped on Kŭm-dan mountain in plain sight of Nam-han, and the king was greatly encouraged, hoping that the Koreans were rallying to his support. When this loyal band attacked the Manchus they were immediately overwhelmed and cut to pieces.

The Manchus caught every Korean they could lay hands on. The more vigorous of these they forced into their ranks, the old men were made hewers of wood and drawers of water, the young women were made concubines and the older women were compelled to cook and wash.

On the twenty-eighth the king sent a present of a bullock and ten bottles of wine to the Manchu headquarters, but received the reply, “Heaven has given us all Korea and we have no need of these things. Take them back to your starving soldiers.”

Chöng Se-gyu, the governor of Ch’ung-ch’ŭng Province, was consumed with grief on hearing that the king was reduced to two side-dishes with his rice; so he gave a monk two pheasants and told him to effect an entrance in some way or other and give them to the king. The governor himself came with a handful of men to Ma-heui-ch’ŭn, only forty li from the beleaguered fortress, and there he was attacked in the rear by the enemy. His whole force was annihilated, though he himself escaped by leaping into a deep gorge, intending to commit suicide. But the fall was not fatal. Nam Yang, also, the prefect of Yun-gye, wanted to do what he could, and when he learned of the distress of the king, he arose even on his wedding night and started for the seat of war. His little force was surrounded and he was ordered to surrender, and then it was that he made that memorable reply, “You can conquer my neck but never my knees.” His tongue was cut out and his body was dismembered.

Gen. Kim Nyu had the idea that the Manchu force was weakest on the south and that if a sudden, determined attack 107were made the line might be broken through. So on the twenty-ninth he called all the generals and gave his orders. They all disagreed with him and considered the project hopeless, but would not show insubordination. A considerable body, therefore, emerged from the South Gate, hastened down the valley against the surrounding line of besiegers. These men had no faith in the plan, however, and were prevented from turning back only by the sword of Gen. Kim Nyu which he used on a few as a warning to the rest. Gen. Sin said, “This is actual suicide. Let me take my company and go out here and show you at the cost of my life that this cannot be done.” He pushed rapidly forward and was soon surrounded by the Manchus who had lain concealed in a bend of the hills, and he and his men were all cut down. When the ammunition of his men was gone they clubbed their muskets and fought to the bitter end. Two hundred Koreans fell in this rash adventure and Gen. Kim returned crest-fallen and ashamed. Having no excuse, he tried to lay the blame on others, claiming that they did not support him properly. He also told the king that only forty men had been killed.

Sim Keui-wŭn who had been left as guardian of Seoul sent a letter to the king saying that he had made a fierce attack on the Manchus encamped at A-o-gă outside the West Gate, but the king afterwards learned that this was false, and that Sim had fled incontinently from before the face of the foe.

When the last day of the year 1636 arrived it found the relative position of the Koreans and Manchus as follows: The Manchu camps were filled with plunder and with women which the soldiers had captured; but what of the children? These the soldiery did not want, and so they were killed and their bodies thrown outside the camps. There they lay in piles and a pestilence was prevented only by the intense cold of winter. In Nam-han the greatest distress prevailed. The provisions had not held out as had been hoped. Food was all but exhausted and horses and cattle were dying of starvation. The king slept in his ordinary clothes, for he had given all his blankets to the soldiers. All he had to eat with his rice was the leg or wing of a chicken. On that last day of the year some magpies gathered and began building a nest in a tree near 108the king’s quarters. This was hailed as a hopeful omen. It shows to what straits the garrison was reduced that it should have pinned its faith to this childish superstition. It was the sole subject of conversation for some time, but it did the caged Korean king no good.

The next day was new years day of 1637 and the king sent Kim Sin-guk and Yi Kyŭng-jik to the Manchu camp to offer the compliments of the season. They were there informed that the emperor’s son had arrived and had inspected the army and the forts. Consequently on the following day Hong Sö-bong, Kim Sin-guk and Yi Kyŭng-jik hastened to his headquarters and were met, not by the emperor’s son but by a general who said, “You have called us slaves and thieves but our course has been straight and consistent throughout.” He then laid before them an edict of the emperor written on yellow paper, and they were ordered to bow before it. Its contents were as follows:

“The great, the good, the wise, the kind Emperor to the king of Korea. As you preferred allegiance to the Ming Emperor rather than to us and, not content with throwing us over, despised and insulted us, you now have an opportunity to see the fruits of your choice. Of a truth you acted wickedly in breaking your oath, in throwing off the Manchu yoke and in offering us armed opposition. I have now brought an immense army and have surrounded your eight provinces. How can you longer hope to render assistance to your “father,” the Ming Emperor? The Mings are now hung up by the heels, as it were.”

On the next day the king sent his answer couched in the following terms: “The great, the glorious, the righteous Emperor. The little country has indeed sinned against the great one and has drawn upon herself this trouble which lies hard by the door of destruction. We have long wanted to write thus but we have been so surrounded and hemmed in that it seemed well-nigh impossible to get a letter through the lines; but now that the Emperor’s son himself has come, we rejoice, and yet we tremble. The Ming Emperor is no longer our suzerain. In this we have completely reformed. The people on the border have acted badly in ill-treating the Manchu envoys. We are truly on the brink of destruction 109and we confess all our sin. It is for us to confess and for the Emperor to forgive. From this day forth we wash from our mind all other thought of allegiance and enter upon a new line of conduct. If the Emperor will not forgive, we can only bow the head and die.”

When this abject document was read before the court, before sending it, some thought it too humble, but the leaders said it was the only course left; so it was forwarded to the Manchu camp. Answer was returned that the Emperor’s son had not yet arrived but that when he came he would reply. Strange to say no truce was made and the Manchu soldiers, fearing perhaps that a truce might rob them of the pleasure of scaling those walls that had defied them so long, approached the wall that very night and with scaling ladders a considerable number effected an entrance. But they had underestimated the determination and courage of the defenders, and those who got in were quickly dispersed by Gen. Yi Si-băk. Many Manchus fell in this desperate assault. Almost at the same hour a similar attack was made on the south side but there also the Manchus were check-mated by the watchful guard.

And now a diversion occurred. Generals Hŏ Wan and Min Yöng from the provinces approached with a force of 40,000 men and seriously threatened the Manchu flank. They were stationed on two opposite hills with a line of sharpshooters between. In the fight which ensued the Koreans held their ground gallantly and at first even made the invaders retreat; but this exhausted their ammunition and when the enemy reformed his lines and came on again to the attack there was nothing to do but retreat. The retreat became a rout and large numbers of Koreans were cut down, including Gen. Hŏ Wan. The other part of the army under Gen. Min Yöng held out a little longer but an unfortunate accident occurred which threw his troops into confusion. A large quantity of powder which was being paid out to the soldiers suddenly exploded killing a large number of men and depriving the rest of means for continuing the fight. So they met the same fate as the others. Those that the Manchus killed they stripped and burned but many fugitives likewise died of exposure and fatigue.

110Gen. Sim Yun had been fortifying Cho-ryŭng (Pass) but when he heard of the rout of the 40,000 men he took fright and retreated precipitately, telling all he met that there was no use in attempting to do anything. Gen. Kim Chun-yong, however, had more perseverance and came and encamped twenty miles from Nam-han, occupying a position that was specially annoying to the enemy. A fight was the result, in which the Koreans were at first successful, but during the night the Manchus were reinforced and cannon were brought to bear upon the Koreans. All the next day the Koreans fought desperately. Night put an end to the battle and the Koreans finding that all their ammunition was gone, silently separated, burning all bridges as they went.

The admiral of Chŭl-la Province desired to render aid to the king and so getting together a little fleet of boats he came north to Kang-wha and joined the royal forces there. The governor of Kang-wŭn Province excused himself from taking active part in the relief of Nam-han on the score of scarcity of food. For this he was afterward banished.

Singular events were happening in the north where Gen. Yang Keun lay with a considerable force a short distance north of Seoul. He was however a coward and dared not move hand or foot. Two other generals felt that they might get into trouble if they did do not something, and they had the happy thought that they ought to report to their superior, Gen. Yang Keun, for they knew he would do nothing, and thus they would be safe, for their responsibility would cease. So they went to him and urged him to advance against the Manchus. But he declined to do so, and even gave them a written statement to that effect. Armed with that they felt quite safe. So there they lay a month till they heard at last of the fall of Nam-han.

Of another stamp was Gen. Yu Rim. He was on the road between Seoul and P’yŭng-yang and, being attacked by the Manchus, he and his little band defended themselves with such good effect that the Manchu camp resounded all night with wailings for their dead. The Koreans, finding that their ammunition was almost exhausted, then planned an ingenious retreat. Loading their muskets they tied them to trees, attached fuses of different lengths and then silently 111retreated. The guns kept going off all night and so the enemy knew nothing of the retreat until it was discovered in the morning.

Another effort that was made about this time was that of Generals Kim Cha-jŭm and Yŏk-dal who had a following of some 7,000 men. Starting from the north they came down to the vicinity of Song-do. Unfortunately they had no scouts out and suddenly falling in with a Manchu force in the narrow passage a few miles beyond Song-do, they were thrown into a panic and it is said that 5,000 men were killed, though it seems almost incredible that only 2,000 men survived out of 7,000. Gen. Kim escaped by scaling the steep mountain side but his second was caught and bound. The two thousand survivors rallied and attacked the Manchus with such fury that they were forced back and the captured general was rescued. Gen. Kim Cha-jŭm then made his way to where Gen. Yang Keun was idling away his time, and together they awaited the surrender of the king. We may anticipate a few months and say that after peace was made these two generals were banished to distant places for their criminal cowardice.

Gen. Sin Kyöng-wan, stationed at Ong-jin in Whang-hă Province, was surrounded by the enemy, but the place was so difficult of approach, owing to the roughness of the ground, that they could not reduce it; so, hoping to draw out the garrison they feigned retreat. Gen. Sin was not to be caught thus, and sent out one of his lieutenants to reconnoitre. That man happened to be just recovering from a wound, and so he did not go far, but spent the night in a neighboring inn. He came back in the morning and reported the enemy gone. Gen. Sin then led out his troops to take them to the vicinity of Seoul; but the Manchus, who were lying concealed in the vicinity, rushed out upon him and captured him. He was released only after peace had been declared.

At Nam-han a severe mental struggle was going on. They well knew that surrender and humiliation were inevitable but their pride revolted at the thought, and each tried to throw the blame on the other. This may be illustrated by a single case which will show how mutual recriminations were being made in the very presence of the siege-weary 112king. Yu Păk-jeung memorialized the king in these words: “Gen. Kim Nyu who holds the rank of General-in-chief is a man of no military skill, a man of jealous, vindictive temperament and his house is full of bribes. When the king came to Nam-han it was almost without retinue, but he, forsooth, must bring sixty horsemen at his back. And the females of his household came in litters. He it was who urged the king to give up the crown prince to the tender mercies of the Manchu wolves. He it was who compassed the humiliation of the king by advising him to send that self-effacing letter which, though so humble, was rejected. This is all the work of Kim Nyu.” Here as elsewhere we see that personal spite has always been the rock on which the interests of Korea have been wrecked.

The emperor knew that he had the king secure, and he determined to delay the ratification of a treaty until his captive was reduced to the last crust, in order to brand upon the memory of all Koreans the indubitable fact of their vassalage and to teach them a lesson that they should never forget. And so the days slipped by.

On the sixth of the moon Korean messengers succeeded in getting through the Manchu lines and brought the king letters from his two sons on the island of Kang-wha, but the Manchus were aware of this and redoubled their diligence in guarding the approaches, and so the king was completely cut off from the outside. A few days later a costly joke was played by the Korean Gen. Kim On-yun. He led a small party outside the West Gate and soon returned with two heads. The king praised him and gave him presents of silk. The heads were raised on pikes, but behold, no blood came from them. A soldier in the ranks cried out, “Why is my brother killed twice?” The truth is that the General had beheaded two corpses of Koreans whereby to obtain praise and favor from the king. The king replaced the heads by those of the general and his second.

On the twelfth the king’s emissaries went into the Manchu camp bearing a letter from the king. They were told that a great Manchu general was about to arrive and that they must come again the next day. The people in Nam-han were in desperate straits. All who had advocated continued 113resistance now urged surrender, excepting Kim Sang-hön and Chong On, who said, “Not till every soldier is dead, and all the common people as well, will it be time to think of giving in.”

The next day the messengers presented themselves in the Manchu camp as ordered. The general who received them said, “You broke your former treaty with us. Are you prepared to keep it if we make another?” The messengers beat upon their breasts and cried, “It was our fault and not the fault of the king. We are willing to prove this with our lives.” “But why do you not come out and fight?” “We are an insignificant power and how can we hope to cope with you?” was the humble reply. The Manchu then broke the seal of the king’s letter and read, “When we signed the former treaty you were the elder brother and we the younger brother. When a younger brother does wrong it is for the older brother to correct him, but if it is done too severely a principle of righteousness is broken, and the Supreme Being will be offended. We are dwellers in a corner of the sea. We know nothing but books. We are no warriors. We are weak and must bow before superior force. So we accept the clemency of the Manchus, and we are now vassals and you are our suzerain. When the Japanese invaded our land and we were on the verge of destruction, China sent her hosts and saved us. Our gratitude to them lives in the very fiber of our bones. Even at the risk of incurring your anger we could not bear to cast them off. If now the Manchu power shows us kindness and goes back across the Yalu, our gratitude toward them will be the same. We have been a long time imprisoned here and we are tired and cramped. If you consent to overlook our faults we will engage to treat the Manchu power rightly. These sentiments are engraved on our very hearts and we surrender ourselves to the clemency of the Manchu emperor.”

Food was now practically gone. The officials themselves were put on half rations and even the king’s daily supply was diminished by one third. At the very most there was enough to last but twenty days more. At this time the Manchus burned the buildings in connection with the royal tombs outside the east Gate, and also those near Nam-han. The smoke of the burning went up to heaven. These acts of 114vandalism must have been a bitter drop in the cup that was being put to the king’s lips. On the sixteenth Hong Sö-bong again went to the Manchu camp and asked why no answer was sent. The truth is that the Manchus had determined to first send and reduce the Island of Kang-wha. They answered, “Gen. Kong Yu-dŭk has gone with 70,000 men to take Kang-wha. We must wait till he returns.” The next day they sent the king an insulting letter saying, “Why do you not come out and fight? We thought we would get at least a little fight out of you. Have not your soldiers learned to load and fire? China is your good friend; why does she not send and help you? Now you are starving and yet you have the impudence to talk about righteousness. Heaven helps the good and punishes the evil. Those who trust us we aid, those who oppose we decapitate. As we have become your enemies you see us here in force. If you will come back to your allegiance we will treat you as a brother. If you wish to live, come out and surrender; if you will come out and fight so much the better. Heaven will decide between us.” This received from the Koreans, starving though they were, the following memorable reply, “We will die and rot here in our fortress before we will surrender thus. Then there will be no one to answer your insulting summons.”

On the eighteenth a Manchu general came near the South Gate and demanded that the king should come out and surrender or else come out and fight. The king thereupon sent a letter to the Manchu headquarters saying that he wanted to come out and surrender but that he did not dare to do so while the Manchu soldiers were prowling about the wall. As the king handed this letter to the messenger Kim Sang-hön snatched it from the messenger’s hand and tore it in fragments saying, “How can you bear to send such a letter. Heaven will still favor us if we are patient, but if we send this we are truly undone.” Then followed a scene in which the courtiers almost came to blows. Ch’oe Myŭng-gil took the fragments of the letter and pasted them together and the next day in company with another general took it to the Manchus. They were met with the gruff reply, “We do not want your letters. We want your king to come out and surrender.” That night the Manchus scaled the wall on the east side and a great panic 115followed, but Gen. Yi Keui-ch’uk, with a body of picked men succeeded in driving back the enemy. On the twentieth an answer was received from the emperor who said, “The reason why we demand that you come out and surrender is that we may have a visible proof of your sincerity. If we depart now leaving you still king of Korea all will be well. Why should I deceive you since I am conquering the whole world besides? Need I use guile? I desire to punish only those who advised you to cleave to China and prove untrue to us. Before surrendering you must send those men bound to me. I shall kill them but the rest of you will be safe. One thing is certain. I will read no more of your letters.” When the king saw this he cried, “I cannot send those men bound to him.” In spite of the ominous closing words of the emperor’s letter the king again wrote saying, “Korea to the worshipful, glorious, puissant, merciful emperor, greeting. We are narrow and provincial people and very deficient in manners but the contrast between our present mental attitude and that of a few months ago is surprising. Among our councillors some argued one way and some argued another but now starvation has brought us all to the same point and we know that we must become subjects of the Manchu power. But since the days of Silla there has never been seen such a thing as a king going out from his fortress to surrender. We cannot do it in that way. If you insist upon it you will soon have nothing left but a fortress full of dead. I have signified my willingness to surrender but if I should go out to you the people would never again recognize me as king and anarchy will result. I long ago banished the men who opposed the making of peace with the Manchus, so I cannot send them to you, but the emperor must now be gracious and forgive our mistake.” When the Manchu general was about to send this scornfully back Yi Hong-ju told him that it was written by the officials and that nothing more was possible; and that if anyone suggested to the king the advisability of coming out it would mean instant death. But the Manchu drove them away in a rage. One official named Chöng On violently opposed all these attempts at securing a cessation of hostilities and said it would be better to sit there and rot than to surrender. He urged that the fighting be continued.

Chapter VIII

The refugees on Kang-wha.... crossing the ferry.... the Princess blames the commander.... grain saved.... cross-purposes.... Manchu rafts.... Manchus gain a footing on Kang-wha.... Gen. Kim’s flight.... Koreans massacred.... royal captives.... suicide.... ancestral tablets dishonored.... list of the dead.... from Kang-wha to Nam-han.... fierce attacks.... bombardment.... the king learns of the fall of Kang-wha..... Manchu victims sent.... arrangements for the surrender.... the Manchu conditions.... the king comes out of Nam-han.... the ceremony.... disgraceful scramble.... the king enters Seoul.... condition of the capital.... Manchu army retires.... a high-priced captive.... king and Crown Prince part.... rewards and punishments.... the island of Ko-do taken.... an unselfish act.

We must leave the king and his court, facing starvation on the one hand and the deep humiliation of surrender on the other, and see how it fared with the people on Kang-wha. This island had earned the reputation of being impregnable, because of the failure of the Mongols to take it when the king of Koryo found refuge there. Kim Kyŭng-jeung was the commander of the garrison there and Im In-gu was second in command. Chang Sin had charge of the naval defenses. When the king sent the Crown Princess, the royal concubines, the second and third princes and the aged officials and their wives to Kang-wha a few days before his flight to Nam-han they were under the escort of Gen. Kim Kyŭng-jeung, who was also taking his wife and mother to the same place for safety. It was a long cavalcade, stretching miles along the road. Arriving at the ferry which was to take the party across the narrow channel to the island, Gen. Kim deliberately began by filling the boats with the members of his own family and fifty horse-loads of furniture which they had brought along, and the Princess and the other royal fugitives had to wait. For two whole days the Crown Princess was obliged to stay on the farther side in imminent danger of seizure by the Manchus. At last she summoned Gen. Kim and said, “Are not these boats the property of the king? Why then do you use them only for your relatives and friends while we wait here in danger?” As there was no possible excuse 117for his conduct he was obliged to accede to the demand, but only just in time; for, though there were thousands of people still waiting to cross, a foraging band of Manchus arrived on the scene and the terrified multitude rushed headlong into the water, “like leaves driven by the wind,” and multitudes were drowned. Large store of government rice was lying at Kim-p’o and Tong-jin, and as the Manchus had not as yet discovered it, Gen. Kim was able to get it across to the island; but no one excepting the members of his own family and following were allowed to have any part of it. He had such faith in the impregnability of Kang-wha that he set no guards and spent his time in feasting and playing chess. Prince Pong-im suggested that it would be well to keep a good lookout, but the general replied sharply. “Who is in command of this place, you or I?” This Gen. Kim was the son of Gen. Kim Nyu who had charge of the defence of Nam-han and between them they managed things about as they pleased. There was a running fire of dispute between Gen Kim and the other leaders on Kang-wha and anything but good order and concerted action prevailed among the forces set for the defence of the people there. The Manchus, although without boats, had no intention to leave the island untaken, and so they pulled down houses far and near and made rafts with the timbers.

As it was in the dead of winter there was much ice on either bank of the estuary, and as the tide rises some thirty feet there the crossing was a difficult feat, even though the actual distance was small. Soon the message came from the ferry guards that the Manchus had finished their rafts and would soon be attempting the passage. Gen. Kim called them fools for thinking the Manchus would dare to cross in the face of such obstacles, but when it was announced that they had actually embarked in their improvised craft he bestirred himself. He sent a force under Yun Sin-ji to guard the upper ferry, Yu Chŭng-nyang took charge of the middle ferry, Yu Sŭng-jeung guarded the lower ferry and Yi Hyŭng was on guard at Ma-ri-san, still lower down. Gen. Kim stationed himself at the middle ferry. There was a great lack of arms, but as there were plenty in the Kang-wha arsenal the soldiers demanded them; but Gen. Kim refused. It was the intention 118of the Manchus to cross under fire of certain huge cannon which they had planted on the opposite bank. When the shot from these began kicking up the dust about Gen. Kim he found he was urgently needed elsewhere and was hardly restrained by the indignant outcry of his lieutenants. The Manchus were then seen boarding their strange craft and in the very fore front came a raft with seventeen men who held shields in one hand while they paddled with the other. Admiral Chang Sin was lower down with a fleet of boats and he made desperate efforts to come to the place where this crossing was taking place, but the tide which runs there like a mill-race was against him and he could make no headway at all. He simply stood in his boat and beat his breast with anger and chagrin. Kang Sin-sŭk was farther up the estuary with other boats and he hastened to come down; but it was too late. The first raft full of Manchus had gained a foothold on the island. The Koreans found their powder wet and the arrows exhausted. As a consequence the whole force, numbering about two hundred men, turned and fled before seventeen Manchus. These men paced up and down the shore waiting for reinforcements, for which they had signalled. Gen. Kim had already fled in a small boat, which finally landed him far down the coast. Then the whole Manchu army made its way across, some on rafts and some in boats which were sent from the island. The Crown Princess wanted to make her escape with her little two year old boy, but the Manchu soldiers at the gate of the fortress would not let her come out. She then gave the boy to Kim In and he managed to get through the lines and escape to the main land with the child, which he took to Tang-jin in Ch’ung-ch’ŭng Province. The Princess attempted suicide with a knife but did not succeed. The Manchus called out to Minister Yun Pang and said, “We will occupy the right side of the fortress and you and the royal personages and other persons of high degree can occupy the other side.” They then took all the common people outside the North Gate of the fortress and set them in long lines. These people were all wondering what was about to happen, when out came a standard bearer carrying a red flag and behind him came a soldier with a bared sword. Walking along the lines they cut down every one of these innocent, unoffending 119people. The Manchus issued passes to the Koreans in the fortress and no one could go in or out without showing his credentials. All the people living in the vicinity who did not run away were massacred.

Having thoroughly subdued the island, the next move of the victors was to rejoin the main army encamped before Nam-han. As a preparatory measure they burned all the government buildings on the island and put to death all the people they could find, that had not already perished. Then taking the Crown Princess and her retinue, and all the officials, they crossed the ferry and marched toward Nam-han. The Princess was treated with all deference, as befitted her exalted station. As the company was about to leave the fortress of Kang-wha on their way to Nam-han, the aged Minister Kim Sang-yong was so deeply moved that he determined to end his life. He entered the pavilion above the South Gate where he found a box containing powder. Yun Pang also accompanied him, saying that he too was weary of life, but Minister Kim said to him, “You are in charge of the ancestral tablets, you must not prove recreant to that sacred trust.” So Yun Pang sadly went about that task. Divesting himself of his outer garments the Minister gave them to an attendant and told him to bury them in place of his body. Then lighting his pipe with flint and steel he thrust it into the box of powder. The explosion which followed blew the whole gate to fragments and Minister Kim Sang-yong and Kim Ik-kyŭm and Kwŭn Sun-jang and the minister’s little grandson, thirteen years old, were blown to atoms. In order to convey the ancestral tablets in safety to Nam-han, Yun Pang put them in a bag, but the Manchus, who did not care to be burdened with such impedimenta, threw the whole thing into a ditch. Yun recovered them and cleaned them off as well as he could, and managed to carry them along. Perhaps it was only because the Manchus wished to show an indignity toward these most sacred of all the royal treasures. The following are the names of the most noted men killed in the taking of Kang-wha. Sim Hyŭn, Yi Sang-gil, Yi Si-jik, Song Si-hyŭng, Yun Chŭn, Chöng Păk-hyŭng, Kim Su-nam, Kang Wi-bing, Yi Ton-o, Yi Ka-sang, and the following ladies of rank were killed: The wives of Sim Pyŭn, Yun Sŭn-gŏ, 120Yi Sang-gyu, Han O-sang, Kwŏn Sun-jang, Yi Ton-o, Hong Myŭng-il and the mother of Kim Kyŭng-jeung. These people died, some by the sword, some by strangling and some by drowning. There were darker crimes than murder too, for the Manchus did not hesitate to seize and insult many honorable women, and even to this day a slight taint clings to one family of the nobility because the wife and daughter-in-law were subjected to indignities than which death were preferable. From among the women taken there, the daughter of Whe Wŭn, a relative of the king, became sixth wife to the Manchu Emperor, but shortly afterward he gave her to one of his favorites as a present. And so we leave this long line of captives wending their way eastward, and find ourselves again within the grim walls of Nam-han.

The ravages of hunger were beginning to make the Manchu proposition seem more feasible. The council came to the conclusion that the men whom the Manchus demanded must be bound and sent to their fate. When the Crown Prince heard of this he said, “I have a son and several brothers and there is no reason why I should not go myself.” Then Chöng On said “I am the one who have most strenuously opposed the Manchu claims. Let me go.” Kim Sang-hon exclaimed, “Who opposed them more than I? I am surely the one to send.” Yun Whang, Yun Chip and O Tal-ch’e all offered to go and immolate themselves on the altar of Manchu vengeance. While the council was going on many of the soldiers came down from the wall and looked in at the doors and shouted, “As the Manchus have demanded these men why do you not send them rather than let us come thus to skin and bone?” It was with difficulty that they were sent back to their places. It was remarked that the soldiers under Gen. Yi Si-băk did not participate in this unruly demonstration. That night at nine o’clock a party of Manchus approached the West Gate and one of them actually scaled the wall before the guard was aware of it. He was speedily driven back with a battle-club, and stones and other missiles were rained down upon the assaulting party. Gen. Yi Si-băk was twice wounded but did not make it known until the skirmish was over. At the same time an assault was successfully warded off on the eastern side by Gen. Sin Kyŭng-jin who, not content with 121simply driving off the attacking party, sallied out and killed their leader and many of his followers.

CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX OF THE KINGS OF KOREA

The Farrier

Note. The names in the right hand columns are the posthumous titles of the various sovereigns. In the left hand columns are the ordinary names.

Ancient Chosun

Kingdom of Mahan

Kingdom of Silla

ngdom of Pakche

Kingdom of Koguryu

Kingdom of Koryu