18 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
only recourse was to turn around immediately and flee on horseback over a
frozen pond. The ice at that time was not solid enough even for a man to
walk on it; nevertheless, he crossed it on horseback. As the hooves of his
horse hit the ice, the ice cracked and water shot up, but he managed to keep
ahead of the breaking ice without falling into the water.
In the fifth year (1356) of King Kongmin of Koryŏ (the sixteenth year of
Zhizheng), T’aejo became an official for the first time, at the young age of
twenty-two. According to Koryŏ’s customs, during the Tano festival^70 every
year, some young military officers and the sons of officials were selected to
play a ball game on horseback (kyŏkku). They turned a large downtown
road into a playing field, placing a goal gate in the middle. Then they set up
a royal tent decorated with the paintings of dragons and phoenixes, and the
king held a banquet for high officials and noble ladies. The king watched
the game from the tent along with his officials while entertaining girls
danced to music. The ladies, wearing their best silks, watched the game
from tents along a side road. A huge crowd of spectators gathered to watch
this spectacle.
The dress and equipment of the players was so luxurious that the cost of
a saddle alone equaled that of the properties of ten ordinary households.
The players were divided into two groups, each standing on one side.
Then a female entertainer before the king sang, holding a ball in her hand:The field rings with the flutes and drums
And the balls fly high in the air.
Long poles with strings and red nets
Scoop up the balls and lift them into the air.Stepping to and fro according to the rhythm of the song, the entertaining
girl threw a ball out into the middle of the playing field. The players on both
sides immediately rushed forward on horseback to hit the ball, vying against
each other, and the one who hit the ball first was allowed to continue to hit
the ball while his competitors withdrew and awaited their turn.
The way to play the game is as follows: a player on horseback runs across
the playing field, hitting a leather ball stuffed with feathers with a mallet
whose head looks like a rice ladle. Hitting the ball with the inside of the- A Korean traditional holiday that falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar
calendar.