564 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
24th Day (Kyemi)
The king summoned Yi Ch’om, former chief royal secretary, from Kyŏngsang
Province.The king gave the order to paint a portrait of Buddha to be hung in the new
palace and held Buddhist ceremonies.The consumption of oil and honey pastry (yumilgwa) was prohibited.When the crown prince finished his lessons, all the instructors left the room.
Then Ham Purim, second tutor of the Crown Prince Tutorial Office,
approached the crown prince and said, “I have heard something about you,
and it is not appropriate that you hide it from me.” The crown prince replied,
“Tell me what you have heard.” Purim said, “You allowed prostitutes to be
brought into the palace. Is that true?” Looking embarrassed, the crown
prince said, “It will not happen again.”2nd Month
5th Day (Kyesa)
There were strong gusty winds with sleet. More than eighty houses in the
Kŭmch’ŏn Bridge^6 area were destroyed by fire.9th Day (Chŏngyu)
Equipment Manager (t’agakbu) Kim Ŭlchin and Tribute Manager (ammul) Ko
Inbaek who had accompanied our embassy to Ming China to commemorate
the New Year, returned home with a letter from the Ministry of Rites of China.
The letter was as follows:
“Our Ministry of Rites received the following imperial instruction:
‘Because the king of Chosŏn has often caused trouble before, I reported it
to Yuezhen and Haidu [Deities of Great Mountains and Seas] and other- Kŭmch’ŏn Bridge was inside Ch’angdŏk Palace. However, Ch’angdŏk Palace was built
in 1411, during the reign of T’aejong, so the bridge in question was probably in a residential
area for commoners when this fire broke out.