Homer B. Hulbert - The History of Korea

It was about this time that the wild tribes of the Mal-gal and Ye-măk began to realise that the continued progress of Păk-je and Sil-la meant extinction for themselves. So in 547 they joined Ko-gu-ryŭ in an attack upon Păk-je; but Sil-la and Ka-ya rendered aid to Păk-je and the northern allies were driven back. From this time on, during a period of several years, Ko-gu-ryŭ, Ye-măk and Mal-gal were allies, and Sil-la, Păk-je and Ka-ya were allies; a sort of dual arrangement, which preserved a nice equilibrium in the peninsula.

In 549 the king of Păk-je sent an envoy to present his compliments to the Liang Emperor. When he arrived at the capital of the Liang power he found the palace in ashes and the reins of government in the hands of the usurper Hu-gyŭng; so he took his stand before the Tan-mun (gate) and wept aloud from morning till night. The passers-by, hearing his story, stopped and wept with him. This of course did not please the usurper, and the envoy was seized and thrown into prison where he stayed until the rebellion was put down and the Emperor returned. As the Ch’i dynasty arose in 550 we are not surprised to learn that Ko-gu-ryŭ sent an envoy immediately to do obeisance and get into the good graces of the new power.

It must be confessed that meantime Buddhism had been making rapid strides in Sil-la. Monasteries had been erected and the new cult was winning its way into the hearts of the people. In 551 the public teaching of the eight laws of Buddhism against (1) the slaughter of animals, (2) theft. (3) licentiousness, (4) lying, (5) drunkenness, (6) ambition, (7) the eating of garlic, (8) levity, was decreed.

It is probable that the art of music was not highly developed at this time but in 552 the king of Sil-la sent three men to the Ka-ya country to learn music from a celebrated master named U Reuk; but that learned man had come to realise that Ka-ya was doomed and, taking his twelve-stringed instrument under his arm he went with his disciple Ni Mun to the court of Sil-la. The three men, Pŭp-ji, Kye-go and Man-dok, whom the king had appointed to study music, entered upon their duties under this mail’s tutelage. One of them studied singing, another the use of the instrument and a third dancing. When they had perfected themselves in these ornamental arts they proposed to alter some of the songs, on the plea that they were too licentious, but old U Reuk violently objected to expurgated editions of his works, and so it was stopped. From that time music became very popular and in many cases students of this great branch of art went among the mountains and spent years in practice. The instrument was called a Ka-ya-geum from Ka-ya where it originated. It is now called the ka-go and is shaped like a Korean zither but is smaller. Among the favorite songs that have come down to the present time are “The Ascent of the Mountain,” “The Descent of the Mountain,” “The Rustling Bamboo,” “The Stork Dance,” “The Blowing Wind” and “The Monastery on the Mountain.” But music was not the only art that flourished, for we are gravely told that an artist painted a tree on the wall of “Yellow Dragon Monastery” with such skill that birds tried to alight on its branches.

In 555 war broke out between Sil-la and Păk-je. We are not told its cause but Sil-la was victorious and added to her territory a large tract of country along the eastern side of Păk-je, which she erected into a prefecture under the name of Wan-san-ju (now Chŭn-ju). One authority says that in this war Păk-je lost one half of her territory to Sil-la. It seems that Sil-la had by this time developed the taste for diplomatic intercourse with China. Frequent embassies were sent on the long and costly journey. Each of the three powers sent two and three times a year to one or other of the various Chinese courts. The Emperor of the Ch’i dynasty sent Sil-la great store of Buddhistic books. It is said that as many as 1700 volumes were sent at one time.

When Păk-jong ascended the throne of Sil-la in 570 the Buddhistic tendencies had begun to bear their legitimate fruits. The king was so given over to it that he became a monk and the queen became a nun. All thought of progress seems to have been given up and the revenues were squandered in sending useless embassies to China. The style of Buddhism prevalent in Sil-la is illustrated by the fact that in the second year of this reign the minister of war took the king severely to task for spending so much time in the chase, though the killing of animals is the first prohibition of the Buddhist law. Tradition says that this faithful minister, Hu-jik, pleadin vain, and finally, when dying, asked to be buried near the road the king usually took when going to hunt. It was done and the king when passing the grave heard a noise of warning proceeding from it. When he was told that it was the faithful but neglected Hu-jik, the king determined on the spot that he would reform, and so the faithful minister did more by his death than by his life.

It was in the year 586 that Ko-gu-ryŭ again moved her capital northward to the old place near the present Eui-ju. Soon after this the Tsin dynasty in China fell before the victorious Sui, and Ko-gu-ryŭ, who had been friendly with the Tsin but had never cultivated the Sui, was left in an extremely delicate position. She immediately began preparations for repelling a Sui invasion. The Emperor however had no such intentions and sent a swift messenger chiding the king for his unjust suspicions and opening the way for a friendly understanding. This seemed a little strained to the king and he feared treachery; so, while he greatly desired to send an envoy, he hardly ventured to do so.

One of the famous traditions of Korea centers about this king. His daughter when of tender years cried so much that on one occasionthe king impatiently exclaimed “When you grow up you cannot marry a man of the nobility but we will marry you to an ondali .” Now an ondali is a very ignorant, foolish fellow, a boor. When the girl reached a marriageable age the king who had forgottenall about his threat was for marrying her to a high noble but the girl called to his remembrance the words he had spoken and said she would marry no one but an ondali . The king bound ten golden hairpins to her arm and drove theaway from the palace. She fled to the hut of an ondali on the outskirts of the town but he was away in the hills gathering elm bark to eat. His mother, old and blind, said “You smell of perfume and your hands are soft and smooth. My boy is only an ignorant ondali and no match for you.” Without answering, the maiden hastened to the hills and found the boy, but he thought her a spirit and took to his heels and ran home as fast as he could go. She followed and slept before his door that night. At last the youth comprehended the situation and accepted the hand of the princess. With the ten golden hairpins she set him up in the horse-raising business. He bought the broken-down palace ponies and by careful treatment made them sound and fleet again. In the chase he always led the rout and when the King asked who he might be the answer was “Only an ondali .” From this the youth advanced until he became a famous general and had the honor of defeating a Chinese army in Liao-tung. He was killed during an invasion of Sil-la but no one was able to lift his dead body till his wife came and knelt beside it saying “The dead and living are separated.” Then it was lifted and carried back to Ko-gu-ryŭ.

Ko-gu-ryŭ relations with the Sui court. … Ko-gu-ryŭ suspected … takes the offensive … submits … the Emperor suspicious … the great Chinese invasion. … Chinese allies. … Ko-gu-ryŭ’s allies. … Chinese cross the Liao … go into camp … naval expedition … defeated at P‘yŭng-yang … routes of the Chinese army. … Ko-gu-ryŭ spy. … Ko-gu-ryŭ lures the Chinese on … pretense of surrender. … Chinese retreat … terrible slaughter. … Păk-je neutral … second invasion … siege of Liao-tung fortress. … Chinese retire … and give up the contest … treaty with the T’ang Emperor … triangular war renewed. … China neutral … guerilla warfare … first woman sovereign. … Păk-je retrogrades … attacks Sil-la. … Păk-je’s terrible mistake. … Chinese spy … rise of Hap So-mun … the tortoise and the rabbit. … Taoism introduced. … China finally sides with Sil-la … and announces her program … preparations for war … the invasion … siege of Liao-tung Fortress … siege of An-si Fortress. … Chinese retire.