4 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
great friendship between us? This jade chalice is just a small token of my
warm affection for you.” Then they pledged not to forget each other. Mokcho,
in return, gave a daughter of his kinsman to Sanji and made her his wife.
He reached Siri (namely Isŏng)^15 over land and by sea, but a chiliarch
(qianhu)^16 blocked his way. When Mokcho explained that he intended to
defect to the Yuan forces, the chiliarch treated him with generosity and
words of comfort, holding a banquet in his honor. Mokcho returned the
favor with oxen and horses.
Mokcho finally arrived in Aldong^17 of Namgyŏng,^18 his final destination,
which belonged to the Kaiyuan Route.^19 The time was the second year
(1254) of Baoyou of Song Lizong^20 and the fourth year of Xianzong^21 of the
Yuan dynasty and forty-first year of King Kojong^22 of Koryŏ.
In the following Ŭlmyo year (1255), Sanji made a report to the emperor of
Yuan with regard to Mokcho. As a result, the Yuan government established
a chiliarchy (qinanhusuo) in Aldong and, bestowing a golden tally, appointed
Mokcho as the chief chiliarch of five chiliarchies in Namgyŏng and other
areas and concurrently Mongol overseer (daluhuachi).^23
Since Aldong was located over 90 li southeast of Namgyŏng, it is 30 li
east of the present Kyŏnghŭng Prefecture. Over 120 li northwest of Aldong
lay Tumun Ward (Tumunsŏng), and over 120 li west of Aldong was Aldong
Saori. Saori means “post station” (ch’am) in the Jurchen language. It was so
named because the post station was in the administrative domain of Aldong.
A large earthen fortress was on the plain (of Aldong), and a similar one was- Siri is an old name of Isŏng, located in South Hamgyŏng Province. It is close to
Tanch’ŏn and Pukch’ŏng. - Literally, qianhu means a military commander of 1,000 men, but Hucker translates it
as battalion commander. - A district 30 li east of Kyŏnghŭng. According to the Augmented General Overview of
Korean Administrative Geography (Sinjŭng tongguk yŏji sŭngnam), it was a place belonging
to Kyŏnghŭng Strategic Prefecture. - Namgyŏng is a town not very far from Kyŏnghŭng in North Hamgyŏng Province.
- It is one of the territorial-administrative regions in Yuan times, located in modern Jilin
Province and southern Liaoning Province. - Baoyou is one of the regnal name of Emperor Lizong (1253–1258) of the Song
dynasty. - Xianzong (1251–1259) is the fifth emperor of the Yuan dynasty.
- Kojong (1213–1259) is the 23rd king of the Koryŏ dynasty. Mongol invasions took
place during his reign. - When the conquest of China was completed, the Yuan government established a post
called “Mongol overseer” (daluhuachi) in order to control and supervise the local Chinese
officials who submitted themselves to the Yuan authorities. (Hucker, 67)