Nam-in with Hŭ Mok as leader So-ron ” Yun Cheung ” ” No-ron ” Song Si-ryŭl ” ” Sŭ-buk ” Yu Yöng-gyŭng ” ” Among these the names of the Nam-in and No-ron were the most prominent and their leaders, Hŭ Mok and Song Si-ryŭl were deadly enemies of each other. There was no intermarriage between these different parties. Each had its separate color. The Nam-in was red, the So-ron blue, the No-ron white and the Sŭ-buk black. It was not the men but the women who wore these distinctive colors and even to this day it is common to see the party colors in the collars of women’s coats. The men were distinguished by the shape of the coat collar. The No-rons and Nam-ins had a collar cut square at the bottom; the So-rons had a bulging curve at the bottom and the Sŭ-buk had a plain curve. These things sound childish but in those days they meant life and death. The number of men who have been sacrificed upon the altar of party strife mounts up into the hundreds of thousands. The violent and unreasonable strife between them prevented anything like concerted action when the country was threatened from without. They made it impossible for any man to be judged according to his true merits. They effectually blocked the efforts put forth by honest men to secure a clean and honest government. There is nothing more despicable in political life than the continued excitement of fierce passions when there is no principle at stake and when personal aggrandisement is the only goal. But at the time of which we write the No-ron party, with Song Si-ryŭl at its head, was so overwhelmingly predominant that party strife was for a time almost held in abeyance. The remarkable character of this reign is largely due to his efforts. The reign from beginning to end was one grand march of progress, reform following reform with such rapidity that the reign fairly scintillates with them. To realise how great a part Song Si-ryŭl played in these movements it is necessary to know the enormous power wielded by a Prime Minister in Korea, especially when he enjoys the entire confidence of the king. His power to keep the king informed or misinformed makes him practically the ruler of the land. That Song Si-ryŭl was a real reformer is shown by the frequency with which, during many a decade after his death, statesmen would break out in panegyrics on his memory. It is shown also in the passionate hatred of political enemies who saw in him a successful rival. We have little evidence that this man ever lowered himself to the plane of common party politics. Let us then review the fifteen years of this reign and see the stamp of his great personality upon it.