246 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
14th Day (Kich’uk)
The king arrived in Ch’ŏngju^30 on his way back to the palace.15th Day (Kyŏngin)
Han Sangjil, who had visited China on a mission to submit a memorial to
the Chinese emperor, returned and delivered a letter from the Ministry of
Rites. The king performed a ceremony while facing towards the Chinese
imperial palace to express his gratitude to the emperor. The letter sent by
the Ministry of Rites of China read as follows: “Zhang Zhi, right vice min-
ister of the Ministry of Rites, and others received an imperial instruction on
the ninth day of the twelfth month of the twenty-fifth year of the reign of
Hongwu, and it said, ‘For the country name of the Eastern Barbarians
(Tongi),^31 Chosŏn not only sounds appropriate, but also it has been used for
a long time. So the name needs to be preserved, and one who rules a country
of that name should govern the people well in accordance with the will of
Heaven so that his posterity can prosper permanently.’ The Ministry of
Rites conveys the imperial instruction to your government.”
Deeply impressed and overwhelmed with joy, the king bestowed 50 kyŏl
of land on Han Sangjil and issued a proclamation as follows: “The king
addresses the people. Despite my lack of virtue, I founded a new dynasty
according to the will of Heaven. Last time, I sent Cho Im, director of the
Security Council, to China on a mission to present a memorial to the emperor.
Later the emperor sent us a reply, saying, ‘Report to me as quickly as possible
when you change the name of your country.’ So we immediately dispatched
Han Sangjil, senior secretary of the Security Council, and requested that a new
name for our dynasty be chosen. On the fifteenth day of the second month of
the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Hongwu, Han Sangjil returned with a
letter from the Ministry of Rites. The letter said, ‘For the country name of the
Eastern Barbarians, Chosŏn not only sounds appropriate, but also it has been
used for a long time. So the name needs to be preserved, and one who rules a
country of that name should govern the people well in accordance with the
will of Heaven so that his posterity can prosper permanently.’- A city in North Ch’ungch’ŏng Province, which is on the way to Seoul.
- Tong i , literally “Eastern Barbarians,” is an uncomplimentary name for Korea or
Koreans, which was used by the Chinese from antiquity.