368 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
“After King Ch’ungnyŏl started serving the Yuan dynasty,^36 the eunuchs
and ladies, or envoys from the Yuan court who visited Koryŏ, often made
personal requests on behalf of the people they favored. Consequently, the
number of government posts increased, and those who were employed that
way were all assigned to the guard units. Boasting about the power behind
them, they acted arrogantly and neglected their guard duties. As a result,
the pubyŏng military system was thrown into such disarray that royal guards
of various security divisions (aema), including Holji and Ch’ungyong, were
created to carry out the royal guard duty properly. During the reign of the
false king U, the law deteriorated to the point that those who occupied the
posts of royal guard under the pubyŏng system only wasted government
stipends without doing anything, which eventually led to the loss of the
whole kingdom. This is what Your Majesty personally witnessed.
“Since Your Majesty, receiving the Mandate of Heaven, is now carrying
out great work, you must abolish the old abuses, strengthen the state, and
stop the wrath of Heaven so that a new way of government can be realized.
However, the people who are accustomed to what they have heard and seen
find it difficult to change their ways. The reason that a king who newly
receives the Mandate of Heaven always changes official uniforms and post-
humous epithets is to abolish old abuses and draw people’s attention by
making changes. Song Emperor Taizong^37 boosted the morale of the
Forbidden Troops (Kŭmgun)^38 by changing the old name of the division they
belonged to.
“Your Majesty has recently changed the titles of civil officials completely,
making their responsibilities clear and thus inducing them to exert them-
selves in their duties. However, you allowed the titles of military officials
and guards to remain unchanged. Hence, old abuses continue to take place
as before. Since I am in command of the Three Armies, I have to worry
about it. So I submit to you a list of things related to the reform of the royal
guards in the pubyŏng system, one by one, as follows:
“1. The name of the Left Guard of the Righteousness Flourishing Royal
Guards (Ŭihŭng ch’in’gun chwawi) should be changed to Ŭihŭng siwisa;
Right Guard of the Ŭihŭng Royal Guards (Ŭihŭng ch’in’gun u wi) to
Ch’ungchwa siwisa; Soaring Falcon Guard (Ŭngyangwi) to Ungmu siwisa;
and Internal Security Guard (Kŭmowi) to Sinmu siwisa. Each of these- Taizong (939–997) is the second emperor of the Song dynasty.
- Another name for Imperial Guards.