General Introduction (Ch’ongsŏ) 15
to the court, which stated, “Our people who had crossed the border all
returned home, following the orders they received.”
On the Kyŏngsul day^66 of the fourth month [of the same year], Hwanjo
passed away due to illness. He was forty-six years old. He was buried in
Kwijudong of Sinp’yŏngbu in Hamhŭng Prefecture, and his tomb named
Chŏngnŭng. King Kongmin was saddened to hear the news of his death. He
expressed his condolences by sending his royal messenger and also pro-
vided financial assistance so that his funeral would be appropriate to his
rank. The officials in the government were all surprised and said, “There is
now no one in the Northeast Region who can take his place.”
Hwanjo’s consort was Lady Ch’oe, honorifically referred to as Consort
Ŭi. She was the daughter of Ch’oe Han’gi, Great Lord of Yŏnghŭng, who
was posthumously appointed Chancellor and Duke Chŏnghyo.
In the first year of Zhiyuan, and on the eleventh day of the tenth month of
the fourth year (1335) of King Ch’ungsuk of Koryŏ, she gave birth to T’aejo
at home in Hwaryŏng Prefecture [later Yŏnghŭng Prefecture].
People could tell he was intelligent as soon as he was born. He had an
impos ing face like that of a king, as majestic and divine as a dragon. His
wisdom and courage surpassed everyone. As he spent his early years
between Hwaryŏng and Hamju, the people in the north engaged in trad-
ing hawks often said, “I wish I could catch a hawk as outstanding as Yi
Sŏnggye is.”
When T’aejo was young, Lady Kim, Princess-Ordinary (ongju) Chŏngan,
saw five magpies sitting on the corner of the fence. She asked T’aejo to
shoot them with his bow. With just a single arrow, T’aejo shot down all five
magpies, hitting their heads. Amazed at what she had witnessed, she told
T’aejo not to disclose his feat. Lady Kim was Hwanjo’s concubine who
came from a family of lower social status and later became the mother of Yi
Hwa, Prince Ŭian [T’aejo’s stepbrother].
On a hot summer day when T’aejo sat down near the stream after taking
a bath, he saw a marten that had suddenly jumped out of a large thicket.
Quickly drawing out an arrow, he shot the marten straightway and it fell
dead. Then another marten darted out, and he again shot that one with an
iron arrow. Martens kept flying out one after another, and he continued to
shoot them down as many as twenty times altogether, without missing a
single one. Such was his divine archery skill.
- It is not clear which day of the month it indicates. It could be the 30th day.