The History of Korea (vol. 1 of 2)Hulbert, Homer B. (Homer Bezaleel)
History
The History of Korea (vol. 1 of 2)
Hulbert, Homer B. (Homer Bezaleel)
Korea -- History
Approaching the capital of Pu-yŭ, they brought up at night before an
extensive marsh. The Pu-yŭ king, thinking to surprise them by a night
attack, attempted to cross the marsh, but became mired. The giant Kwe-yu
dashed into the swamp and brought to the Ko-gu-ryŭ king his rival’s
head. Upon this the Pu-yŭ forces surrendered; all but the brother of the
fallen king who fled with a hundred followers and settled near the Ya-lu
River, calling the place Kal-sa. This Ko-gu-ryŭ winked at.
In 24 A.D. the king of Sil-la died, having nominated as his successor
not his son but Sŭk-t’al-hă his son-in-law. After the obsequies had been
performed Sŭk-t’al-hă insisted that the prince assume the throne, but he
in turn insisted that the dead king’s orders be followed. As a
compromise Sŭk-t’al-hă proposed that they should find a man with sixteen
teeth in his upper jaw, as this was a sign of unusual wisdom, and that
upon him the throne should be bestowed. When it came to the test, it was
found that the prince himself was the man. He could no longer refuse and
ascended the throne under the title of Yi-sa-geum, or “Sixteen Teeth.”
The present word In-gum which means “king” was doubtless derived from or
is a corruption of this Sil-la word.
Meanwhile Ko-gu-ryŭ had been pushing her conquests steadily. Kă-ma and
Ku-da, two northern districts or “kingdoms” were absorbed and other
conquests were contemplated. The Emperor beheld these enlargements of
Ko-gu-ryŭ with some concern and in 27 A.D. sent a strong force to bring
her to terms. At the first encounter the forces of Ko-gu-ryŭ were routed
and fell back toward the capital which, as we have seen, was then at or
near the present town of Eui-ju. The king hastily summoned a council of
war at which it was decided to man the walls of the capital and try to
hold out until the enemy should be compelled by lack of food or the
severity of the weather to raise the siege. The Chinese knew that there
was little water within the wall and had high hopes of compelling a
speedy surrender. This was all too true and there was soon much distress
in the city; but a certain courtier said “If you will give me all the
fish in the city I will undertake to make the enemy raise the siege or I
will pay the penalty with my life.” He was given permission and soon he
had the soldiers along the wall going through the motions of a bath,
using fish scales for water. The scales glittered in the sun like drops
of water and the enemy supposing that there must therefore be a good
store of water in the city despaired of taking it by siege and so struck
their tents and returned to China.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account