72 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
orders above from the Son of Heaven [the Ming emperor], consulting with
various groups in leadership positions such as royal family members, retired
elder statesmen, and civil and military officials, and, finally, following the
orders of Consort Dowager Chŏng of King Kongmin, Chancellor Yi deposed
U and Ch’ang, the father and son, and had me succeed the royal Wang clan
because I am the surviving royal family member who is the closest to the
royal line.
“Although I, lacking in virtue and talent, hardly deserve this grave
responsibility, Chancellor Yi set the names straight^142 and restored the royal
family. His great services to the country, therefore, are no less than those of
[Koryŏ] dynasty-founding merit subjects of T’aejo [Wang Kŏn]. His ser-
vices are indeed too outstanding to be forgotten until the mountains fall and
the rivers run dry.
“So I will have his portrait hung on the wall, confer titles of nobility on
his parents and wife, grant ŭm privilege^143 on his children, and make clem-
ency reach down as far as the tenth generation of his descendants.”
After reporting to the temple where the portrait of the founder king was
enshrined, Kongyang conferred the title of merit subject on nine officials.
The title he bestowed on T’aejo was “Merit Subject Who Suppressed Distur-
bances, Demonstrating Utmost Loyalty, Rendered a Great Service to Restor-
ing Peace in the State, and Carried Out His Duties Based on Principle,” and
the peerage title given to him simultaneously was Lord Hwaryŏng. The fief
(sigŭp) he received was one thousand households, and the number of house-
holds from which he could collect taxes (siksilbong) was three hundred
households. In addition, he received 200 kyŏl14 4 of land and twenty slaves.
The certificate of his title and stipend was made in accordance with the
example of dynasty-founding merit subject Pae Hyŏn’gyŏng. Hence, T’aejo- Setting the name straight or the rectification of names is a Confucian idea introduced
in the Analects: “If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of
things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on
to success.” (Book XIII, chapter 3, translated by James Legge, 263-64). King U and his son
Ch’ang pretended to have derived from the royal Wang family, but U was suspected of being
the son of Monk Sin Ton. That indicates that the family name of U and Ch’ang was actually
Sin, not Wang. Therefore, to remove them from the throne and restore the Wang family was to
set the names straight. - It is the protection privilege that allowed higher-ranking officials to have their chil-
dren, grandchildren, or other relatives appointed to posts in the central government. - A constant measure of crop yield produced by an area that varied from 2.2 acre to 9.0
acres depending on the fertility of the land. (Palais, 1169)