644 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
everywhere, so he feels her absence more poignantly, doesn’t he? When she
was alive, she got up early to assist him to dress and made sure that he was
not late for his schedule, constantly checking the water clock. And when he
was late for dinner, being too busy with state affairs, she helped him to have
meals properly. When he went out to preside over the morning audience, she
saw him off with court ladies, and when he returned in the evening after
dark, she waited for him along with court ladies, holding a candle in her
hand, and escorted him to his bed chamber.
“Now she is gone forever and there is no one who looks at the mirror
hanging on the wall. Neither is there one who attends the king when he goes
out early to preside over the morning audience nor one who shares conver-
sation with him when he returns late to his bedchamber. The only ones that
he sees are the court ladies and female servants who shed tears, touching
and stroking her coffin. How sad!
“Ah, ah! After her death, time passes so quickly, like running water, that
the weeds on her grave grow tall and thick, and through the tangled weeds,
foxes and rabbits run back and forth. Near the grave, trees stand tall,
revealing their old trunks, and when the sun sets, birds come down in pairs
to perch on top of the branches. Shaken by the blowing winds, the trees let
out a hoarse cry, and the stream in the dark forest runs away making a mur-
muring sound. In the still of the night, the field of the suburbs is surrounded
with desolate quietness, and the messengers of death sing far across the
field, thick with grass. If the spirit of Lady Kang, the king’s first queen con-
sort, looks at the palace under such a circumstances, wouldn’t she feel sad
and deserted? Wouldn’t the king feel the same way? However, Lady Kang
has left permanently, and the king should take care of himself. Therefore,
the emperor sends these words to the king.”The sacred instruction and exhortation of the emperor were as follows:
“The king of Chosŏn did me a favor once. In the twenty- first year during
the reign of Hongwu, the army of a small kingdom arrived at the Yalu River
to attack China, but Yi [king of Chosŏn] turned his army around. Then he
became the king of Koryŏ, changing the country name to Chosŏn. This was
the natural order, showing the way of Heaven as well as his sincere respect
for the great kingdom.
“However, the relationship between the two countries has recently dete-
riorated because some scholar- officials [on your side] tried to be deliber-
ately disrespectful and insincere. When a small kingdom serves the great