546 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
of hallyang and retired officials, as well as officials of both high and low
ranks, to request an imperial decree with the royal seal that authorizes and
empowers our king. The petition they carried was as follows:
“Cho Chun, left chancellor of the Privy Council of Chosŏn, submits this
petition on behalf of all the officials and the people. When the royal Wang
clan of our small kingdom lost the trust of the people, Cho Chun and others,
together with people across the country, recommended that Yi [T’aejo] be
elevated to the throne. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the
twenty- fifth year of the reign of Hongwu, we reported it to the emperor by
dispatching Cho Pan, administrative commissioner of the Security Council,
to the imperial court in China. And following that, we dispatched Cho Im,
assistant grand councilor of the Chancellery, to submit a memorial that
explained what had happened. As a result, we obtained his sacred decree,
which appointed our king as the interim ruler of our kingdom.
“Then we received from the Ministry of Rites an official letter inquiring
about the new country name we had chosen. So we dispatched Han Sangjil,
administrative commissioner of the Security Council, to the capital of the
suzerain state [China] with a memorial to the emperor, and we received an
imperial decree which said, ‘For the country name of the eastern Barbarians
[Koreans], Chosŏn not only sounds appropriate, but also it has been used for
a long time. So the name is worth preserving as the foundation of the
kingdom.’ In accordance with the imperial decree, on the ninth day of the
third month of the twenty- sixth year of the reign of Hongwu, we sent Yi
Yŏm, assistant grand councilor of the Chancellery, and submitted to your
authorities the royal seal of the previous Koryŏ dynasty.
“On the eighth day of the twelfth month of the same year, the Chief
Military Commission of the Left Army sent us an official letter in which an
imperial decree was enclosed. The imperial decree stated, ‘You changed
your country name but still continue to refer to yourself as interim ruler
(kwŏnji kuksa) just as you used to, which I cannot understand.’ Upon
receiving this imperial decree, our officials as well as people across the
country were terrified and urged our king to follow the imperial instruction
immediately.
“However, though we are now able to refer to our ruler as king, we have
failed to receive either an imperial decree or the royal seal that authorizes
and empowers our king as the legitimate ruler of our kingdom. Hence, we
officials and the people of our country anxiously wish to receive them day