Beginning of the new kingdom.... name Cho-sŭn adopted.... prophecies.... a man hunt.... a royal dream.... the wall of Seoul built.... capital moved.... diplomacy in the north.... Buddhism.... three ports set aside for the Japanese.... plot discovered.... back to Song-do.... king T‘ă-jo retires.... death blow to feudalism.... Chöng-jong abdicates.... T‘ă-jong’s sweeping reforms.... copper type.... sorcerers’ and geomancers’ books burned.... T‘ă-jong’s claims to greatness.... Se-jong reigns.... his habits.... literary work.... Japanese islands attacked.... gradual suppression of Buddhism.... trials for capital offenses.... numerous reforms.... wild tribe punished.... the far north colonised.... Japanese settlement in the south.... origin of Korean alphabet.... king Mun-jong dies from over-devotion to Confucian principles. It was on the sixteenth day of the seventh moon of the year 1392 that Gen. Yi ascended the throne of Koryŭ, now no longer Koryŭ. He was an old man, far past the age when he could hope to superintend in person the vigorous “house-cleaning” that the condition of things demanded. He called about him all the officials whom he knew to be personally loyal to himself and placed them in positions of trust and authority. Those who had contributed to his rise were rewarded, and a tablet was erected in the capital telling of their merits. He liberated many who had been imprisoned because of their opposition to the Wang kings and recalled many who had been banished. It was not long before a message came from the emperor saying, “A man can become king only by the decree of Heaven. How is it then that the people of Sam-han have made Yi king?” In reply the king hastened to send an envoy to explain matters and to ask the emperor whether he would prefer to have the new kingdom called Cho-sŭn, “Morning Freshness” or Wha-ryŭng, “Peaceful Harmony.” The emperor probably thought there was a great deal more morning freshness than peaceful harmony in the peninsula; at any rate he ordered the former name to be adopted. It was the doubtful loyalty of the Wang kings to the Chinese throne that made it easy for king T‘ă-jo to smoothe over the displeasure of the emperor. The seals of the Koryŭ kings were then delivered over to China and new seals received for the new dynasty.