560
Book IX
Fifth Year of Reign (1396)
1st Day (Kyŏngsin)
Leading all officials, the king performed the ritual ceremony celebrating
the New Year facing in the direction of the Chinese emperor.
Then the king received congratulations from the officials and held a ban-
quet for them. All the officials enjoyed themselves very much, and Yi
Mubang, Great Lord of Kwangyang, became so animated that he got up and
danced. Chŏng Tojŏn, director of the State Finance Commission, offered a
toast to the king’s longevity: “Since New Year’s Day is the top of the year,
and the founder king, the supreme head of a nation, to bring a nation into
existence and serve as the supreme head is the foremost among all good
things; therefore, he who is the founder of a dynasty cannot but be careful
and discreet.” The king agreed.
3rd Day (Imsul)
Kim On, bureau section chief of the Board of Punishments, was incarcer-
ated in the Capital Constabulary Prison for writing the given name (whi)^1 of
the crown prince as it was in a transcript of a ruling of the court.
4th Day (Kyehae)
The king inspected the sites where the city walls are to be constructed.
- Whi originally meant the name of a deceased person or a man of high position. So one
had to be extremely cautious when mentioning or writing whi names. Perhaps for this reason,
whi also means “avoid.”
