738 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
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The king ordered the Privy Council to grant tax- exempt status on the lands
belonging to the two Buddhist monasteries, Pongnyŏngsa and Haeinsa.^629th Day (Chŏngch’uk)
A streak of white energy stretched up to the sky.The king watched people hunting with newly trained hawks in the northern
suburbs of Kwangju.The king bestowed 100 sŏk of rice and beans on the parents of Cho Sŏ.^72nd Month
1st Day (Muin)
Remonstrator Yu Kwan and others submitted a memorial to the King:
“Since the three years’ mourning [for parents] is universally observed
throughout the world, all officials should be allowed to observe it to the end
regardless of whether they are currently employed. It is already stipulated
by law that those who are engaged in serious affairs of state be allowed to
return to work during their mourning. As we have observed, however, those
who are neither employed nor involved in any work of significance in the
government take off their mourning robes, ignoring the institution [of
mourning] made by sage kings. Upon fulfilling a hundred days of mourning,
which is the minimum requirement sanctioned by old practice, they put on
white robes and hats and walk vigorously through government offices,
showing no shame on their faces. This is not only against the sacred institu-
tion created by the sages but also is actually an affront to the outstanding- Pongnyŏngsa was located on Mt. Songak in Kaesŏng, and Haeinsa in Hapch’ŏn, South
Kyŏngsang Province. - Earlier, Ming China detained Korean officials in its capital for purposely including
insulting words in drafting memorials to the emperor and later executed some of them,
including Chŏng Ch’ong. Cho Sŏ was the one who drafted a memorial of felicitations to the
emperor for New Year, and the Ming government, still finding fault with the memorial,
demanded that he be sent to the Ming court. The king obviously felt sorry for him as well as
his family, so he bestowed rice and bean upon his parents.