The Annals of King T\'aejo. Founder of Korea\'s Choson Dynasty - Byonghyon Choi

Book III 235

as well as two copies of Extended Meaning of the Great Learning, and

Wodu li^3 presented a live tiger.

Then the king treated the officials with a banquet. Left Chancellor Cho

Chun offered a toast, lifting his chalice of wine toward the king: “On the

morning of New Year’s Day, with a heart filled with joy, we wish Your

Majesty to live a thousand years.” Following his remark, all the officials

chanted “Long live the king!” three times. As the king emptied his chalice

of wine and allowed the officials to take a seat, they prostrated themselves

before him twice and returned to their seats. They enjoyed themselves fully

until the banquet was over. In the evening, they had the Directorate for

Armaments stage a fireworks display for them to watch.

The king pardoned thirty people, including U Hyŏnbo, Yi Saek, and Sŏl

Changsu, and allowed them live wherever they chose, either in the capital or

the provinces.

2nd Day (Musin)
Kwŏn Chunghwa, who was on a mission to search for a site for burying the
umbilical cord of the king, returned and spoke to the king: “I found an aus-
picious site in Chindong District^4 of Chŏlla Province. Then he presented a
topographic map of the site along with the territorial map of Mt. Kyeryong
in Yanggwang Province,^5 [a potential candidate for the capital of the new
dynasty].

5th Day (Sinhae)

The king paid a visit to Yŏnbok Monastery^6 to see a new pagoda.

3. Woduli here is perhaps not an individual name. It may refer to the chief of the
   Woduli tribe.


4. Also called Chinsan, it is modern Kŭmsan, which became part of South Ch’ungch’ŏn
   Province.


5. During the Koryŏ period, Ch’ungch’ŏng Province was called Yanggwang Province.
   Mt. Kyeryong, located in South Ch’ungch’ŏng, is presently Kyeryongsan National Park.


6. A Buddhist temple in Kaesŏng, presumably built in the early 11th century. King
   Kongmin tried to build a five-story pagoda in the precinct of the temple, with no success. King
   Kongyang resumed the construction later, in 1391. The new pagoda mentioned here probably
   indicates this one, which took a long time to complete.