240 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
chancellor; Yi Chiran, assistant grand councilor of the Chancellery; Nam
Ŭn, commissioner of the Security Council; and others followed the king.21st Day (Chŏngmyo)
Passing by Hoeam Monastery,^17 the king asked Royal Preceptor Cha Ch’o to
join him on his trip to Mt. Kyeryong.The Board of Personnel requested that the guardian deities of famous moun-
tains, rivers, towns, and islands across the country be invested with titles of
nobility. As a result, the guardian deity of Songak, the nation’s capital, was
named Duke Chin’guk; the guardian deities of the districts, including
Hwaryŏng, Anbyŏn, and Wansan, as Count Kyeguk; the guardian deities of
mountains Chiri, Mudŭng, Kŭmsŏng, Kyeryong, and Samgak, as well as
the subprefecture of Chinju, as Count Hoguk; and the rest of the deities as
the nation’s guardian deities (hoguksin). This request was originally based
upon the proposal made by Yu Kyŏng, chancellor of the National Academy,
and the Board of Rites worked on rules and details.Yi Saek had an audience with the king and expressed his gratitude for being
pardoned.^18- A Buddhist temple located in Yangju, Kyŏnggi Province.
- Yi Saek and Yi Sŏnggye (later King T’aejo) became assistant grand councilors in 1371,
and King Kongmin was proud of making their appointments. Yi Sŏnggye, a military leader at
the time, had great respect for Yi Saek because the latter generally represented the Confucian
scholars and civil officials. Yi Saek, on the other hand, tried to keep a distance from Yi
Sŏnggye because he was afraid of his ambition to become king. After Yi Sŏnggye finally
rebelled against the regime and turned his army around at Wihwa Island to march back home,
he wanted to choose a king among the members of the royal Wang family. Cho Minsu, a mili-
tary commander who joined Yi Sŏnggye in the military expedition against Ming China, how-
ever, insisted on having Ch’ang, the son of King U, as the new king (with the support of Yi
Saek), because Minsu was related to Yi Im, the father-in-law of King U. Yi Saek was well
aware that the prevailing political system was corrupt and in disarray and that changes had to
be made, but what was more important to him and his conservative supporters was to bring
about changes without changing the order of the society or the regime. Yi Sŏnggye and his
followers, including Chŏng Tojŏn and Cho Chun, former students of Yi Saek, all advocated for
drastic changes, starting with abolishing private landholdings, which could hurt most conser-
vative and established officials and royal in-law families. Having aligned himself with this
group, Yi Saek stood against Yi Sŏnggye, but he completely lost in the power struggle after
Chŏng Mongju, his former disciple, was assassinated. Yi Saek was finally exiled to Changhŭng,
a remote district in South Chŏlla Province. However, thanks to T’aejo’s policy of reconcilia-
tion and his personal respect for him, Yi Saek, along with others, was allowed to live near the