648 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
Traveling ten thousand li crossing mountains and seas,
We pay tribute and will stay as your vassal state forever.
When we talked with the people on our way,
They said they owed their living to the grace of the emperor.Crossing the Yalu River
Lonesome border villages have only old trees that grow green,
And they are on the other side of Liaoyang, across the long river.
The grace of the emperor has no border, embracing both China and
Chosŏn.
Why then do the people set up borders, claiming their land?
Sitting on a small boat swaying with the waves, I joyfully watch
The sun sending its light as far as the distant, rugged land.
Who will understand my impatience to hurry the journey?
I am anxious to convey the gracious words of the emperor to my king.Passing through Liaodong
The Crane Fields^16 stretch afar and the roads are endless, and
Famous vassal states, all powerful, spread out like chessmen on
the board.
The countries in distant lands send their envoys pledging their
loyalty, and
Various generals expand the nation’s borders, displaying their power
and dignity.
Should I write my confidence on the column of the bridge?^17
The gate guard will laugh at me when I throw away the pass he
gives to me.^18- It refers to the Liaodong plains.
- When Sima Xiangru, a famous poet of the Western Han, traveled to the west, he hap-
pened to cross Shengxian Bridge. Before he crossed the bridge, he wrote his resolution on the
column of the bridge: “I will never cross this bridge again unless I succeed in my dream and
return home riding in a luxurious carriage drawn by four horses.” Later, he indeed returned
home riding in a luxurious carriage. - There was a young man during the Han dynasty, a son of an official serving as erudite.
At the age of eighteen, he was chosen as a candidate for the civil service examination at the
palace. As he was about to pass through the palace gate, a gate guard handed him a pass made
of silk, explaining that he needed to show it when the latter returned home. The young man,