Book VI 439Yŏnggi [Chinese envoy]. Because Yŏnggi, who often visited Korea as an
imperial envoy, conducted himself in a discreet and humble manner, unlike
other eunuchs who acted tyrannically, the king appointed his father as an
official.The king appointed Cho Ku, a monk of the Ch’ŏnt’ae sect (Ch’ŏnt’aejong),^65
as national preceptor.
9th Day (Pyŏngo)
Satto, the king of Chūzan of the Ryukyu Kingdom, sent an envoy and sub-
mitted a letter and gifts. Returning twelve Korean men and women in cap-
tivity, he requested that Ofusato, the son of the king of Sannan, who had
defected to Korea, be repatriated. Bunei, the crown prince of Chūzan, also
sent a letter to our crown prince, along with gifts.The king sent officials to Hanyang in order to choose the sites of the Royal
Ancestral Shrine, the Altars of Earth and Grain, the royal palace, and the
markets and roads, and the officials he dispatched were Kwŏn Chunghwa,
assistant grand councilor of the Chancellery; Chŏng Tojŏn, director of the
State Finance Commission; Sim Tŏkbu, Count of Ch’ŏngsŏng; Kim Chu,
assistant grand councilor of the Chancellery; Nam Ŭn, left director of the State
Finance Commission; and Yi Chik, academician of the Security Council.
Kwŏn Chunghwa and others said that the old site of the royal palace,
which was constructed during the years of King Sukchong of the previous
dynasty, was too small, so they chose another place toward the south. The
site had a guardian mountain in the north-northwest direction (haebang),
facing south-southeast (pyŏngbang),^66 and the ground was flat and wide and
- It was a major Buddhist sect of Koryŏ established by National Preceptor Ŭich’ŏn (1055–
1101), the fourth son of King Munjong. Ŭich’ŏn tried to reform and reconcile the Koryŏ Buddhist
world, in which the Doctrinal (especially Hwaŏm sect) and Sŏn sects were in conflict. Urging
their unity, he propagated a doctrine that emphasized the concentration of one’s spiritual energy
by ridding the mind of random thoughts, to observe thus the nature of things with correct
insight, as the means by which a clear perception of ultimate truth might be achieved (Ki- baik
Lee, p. 133). Though Cho Ku became national preceptor, he died the following year. - Hae indicates the twelfth of the twelve earthly branches, while pyŏng the third of the
ten heavenly stems and im the ninth heavenly stem. All of these characters indicate various
directions. Though the cardinal directions in the Chinese system are four—i.e., east, west,
north, and south—they are subdivided into twenty- four altogether.