2 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
daughter of Chancellor Mun Kŭkkyŏm and became the father of General
Yangmu. The general, in turn, married the daughter of General Yi Kangje.
Ansa was born of that union, and he is Mokcho [the fourth-generation
ancestor of dynasty founder T’aejo].
Being a man of a great personality marked with valor and magnanimity,
Mokcho had an ambition to rule the world. At first, he lived in Chŏnju,^4 and
he was known to be more distinguished than others in courage and wisdom
despite the fact that he was little over twenty years old at that time.
Then he fell into a trouble with the special commissioner for the moun-
tain fortress (sansŏng pyŏlgam) who came down to stay at the official guest-
house of the district. He had an argument with the latter over the matter
involving a female entertainer (kisaeng),^5 and due to this incident, his rela-
tionship with the local magistrate went sour and deteriorated. Consulting
with the surveillance commissioner (allyŏmsa), the magistrate tried to arrest
him after making a report to the court.
Having heard of his impending arrest, he immediately moved to the district
of Samch’ŏk^6 in Kangnŭng Province (Kangwŏn Province). Many people fol-
lowed him to the new place, and they numbered 170 households or more.
Earlier, he built 15 ships to repulse the attack of Japanese marauders [who
often invaded the seacoast]. A little later, Grand Prince (dawang) Yeku of
the Yuan dynasty invaded a number of districts,^7 but Mokcho managed toto this revolt, political power was passed from civil officials into the hands of the military.
(Ki-baik, Lee, 140)- Yi Ansa (Mokcho) was the grandson of Yi In, the younger brother of Yi Ŭibang, One
of the military generals who led the military revolt in 1170. When Yi Ŭibang was murdered in
1174, Yi In moved down to Chŏnju with his family. As a result, Chŏnju became the family seat
of the Yi clan. - Kisaeng refers to trained female entertainers who are similar to the Japanese geishas.
- Samch’ŏk was a place where Mokcho’s maternal family lived, but being located on the
seacoast, it was vulnerable to the attack by Japanese marauders. His decision to move to
Samch’ŏk indicates how desperate he was at that time. - The Mongol army led by Sartaq launched its first invasion of Koryŏ in 1231, and war
and peace alternated over the next three decades. Prior to the campaign of Yeku of the Yuan,
Koryŏ had moved its capital from Songdo (Kaesŏng) to Kanghwa Island which was close
across the water. In 1251, the Mongke Khan of Yuan who had just ascended to throne sent
envoys to Korea and demanded that King Kojong come to see him in person and move the
capital from Kanghwa back to Songdo. Koryŏ refused to comply with the Yuan order, saying
that the king was too old to travel. Koryŏ also postponed moving the capital as long as pos-
sible. Extremely displeased by the responses from Koryŏ, Mongke Khan ordered Prince Yeku
to lead another military campaign against Koryŏ in July 1253.