236 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
6th Day (Imja)
The king ordered the Privy Council to have a new fortress built in
P’yŏngyang.7th Day (Kyech’uk)
It being the second day the first lunar month, various subjects in the morning
audience congratulated the king, and the king bestowed upon them hairpins
(insŭng)^7 and salary certificate templates (nokp’ae).^8The king ordered the Prosperity Expansion Warehouse (Kwanghŭngch’ang)
to pay the stipend to all officials.Yi Kŏin,^9 who visited China as envoy to express condolences, returned home.The king dispatched Kwŏn Chunghwa, left director of the State Finance
Commission, with an order that his umbilical cord be buried in Chindong
District in Wansan Prefecture, promoting the status of Chindong from dis-
trict to subprefecture (chu) by changing its name to Chinju.^10
The king also said, “On the eighteenth of this month, I will take a trip to
Mt. Kyeryong. Let each official from the Censorate and Chancellery
(Taesŏng) and the Righteousness Flourishing Royal Guards escort me on
my trip.”- The so-called insŭng refers to the hairpins used by officials to bind their hair. Made
of gold, silver, and bronze, and shaped like a human, they symbolized longevity and bless-
ings in life, and they were traditionally distributed to the officials at the beginning of the
New Year. - No k p’a e was issued by the Board of Taxation to the officials twice a year, in the first
and seventh lunar months. Officials presented it to the Property Expansion Warehouse
(Kwanghŭngch’ang) to receive their salary. - Yi Kŏin (?–1402): an official of late Koryŏ and early Chosŏn. He served as assistant
administrator of the Chancellery, governor of Kyŏngsang Province, and chief magistrate of
Kaesŏng. He was impeached and dismissed for secretly trading while visiting the Ming
capital on a mission to express condolences. However, he became director of the State Finance
Com mission in 1400 and retired a little later. He was granted the posthumous title of
Kongchŏl. - Also called Chinsan, it is modern Kŭmsan County in South Ch’ungch’ŏng Province.