534 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
“After the wine cups were passed around three times, you commanded
your servant Tojŏn, saying, ‘I have offered sacrifices to my ancestors and
reported to them that the royal palace in the new capital has been com-
pleted. So this banquet has been held so that the court officials may enjoy
this felicitous occasion together. Now I want you to make names for the
various palace buildings so that they may be praised forever along with the
c o u n t r y.’
“Upon receiving your order, your servant clasped his hands together and
did obeisance, chanting a verse from the ‘Odes of Zhou’ in the Book of
Odes: “We are already drunk with wine; we are sated with virtue and power.
Here’s long life to you, our lord; may resplendent blessings be vouchsafed to
you.’ So I request that the name of the new palace be Kyŏngbokkung, Palace
of Resplendent Blessings.^35
“Your Majesty and your descendants will enjoy ten thousand years of
peace, and the officials and people across the country will admire your
achievements forever. However, the Spring and Autumn Annals admonishes
the rulers to regard the people’s strength and be cautious in starting public
works. How then can one who is the Lord of Men harass the people to sat-
isfy his own interest? When he enjoys ease and comfort in his spacious
mansion, he should think of protecting the poor scholars who are suffering
from cold, and as he dwells in his refreshing residence, he should think
about sharing the cool shade with his people. Then it will not happen that he
will abandon his people. Therefore, I dare to add few more words.
“The reason I named the king’s main quarters Kangnyŏngjŏn is as fol-
lows: the third among the ‘Five Blessings’ (wufu) in the scheme of the ‘Great
Plan’ (Hongfan)^36 is the soundness of body and serenity of mind (kangnyŏng).
If the ruler rectifies his heart and cultivates virtue, and thus advances to the
perfection of the sovereign (hwanggŭk), he will be capable of enjoying the
five blessings. Since kangnyŏng is one of the five sources of happiness,- According to the commentary on this poem made by James Legge, “The uncles and
brothers of the king express their sense of his kindness, and their wishes for his happiness,
mostly in the words in which the personators of the dead had conveyed the satisfaction of his
ancestors with the sacrifice offered to them and promised to him their blessing.” - “The Great Plan,” or the grand model for the government of the nation, is one of the
sections in the Classic of Documents. It consists of the counsels of Count Ji (Jizi), the grand
master at the court of Shang, addressed to King Wu, the founder of Zhou. Though he refused
to join King Wu’s government that had overthrown Shang, Count Ji gave the king his counsel,
which became known as the Great Plan. (Legge, The Shu King, pp. 139–138, 149)