General Introduction (Ch’ongsŏ) 19paddle is called paeji, and hitting the ball with the backside of the ladle,
chipi. After he has hit the ball back and forth three times, he then races on
horseback down the field without letting the ball get away. When he pursues
the rolling ball, he at first holds his mallet crosswise, parallel to the horse’s
ears, and this is called pii. The next posture is to raise his hand high and aim
the mallet right at the ball. This technique is called suyang. Very few players
are able to strike the ball into the goal. Those who succeed in sending their
balls close to the goal are only two to three out of ten, and many are those
who give up in the middle of the game. If a player strikes the ball through
the goal, he and his teammates all dismount their horses and advance toward
the royal tent. Then they express their gratitude, bowing twice to the king.
T’aejo was one of those selected as a player. While he was striking the
ball, his horse ran so fast that when he was hitting the ball toward the goal,
the ball unexpectedly hit a rock and bounced back, passing through the four
legs of his horse. T’aejo instantly twisted his body backward and sideways
and then, reaching through his horse’s tail, got the ball to reverse direction
and come out through his horse’s two front legs. When he hit it again, the
ball passed through the goal. The technique he used was called pangmi in
his day. On another occasion when he was rushing the ball toward the goal,
it hit a pole and veered off to the left. Then T’aejo quickly pulled his foot out
from the right stirrup and, turning himself around on his horse, he sent the
ball right down the middle of the field. When he struck it again, it went right
through the goal. This technique was called hoengbang in his day. Everyone
in the country was amazed to see his great skill and said that such a talent
was unprecedented.
In the ninth month of the tenth year (1361) of King Kongmin, Pakŭi,
myriarch of the Tongnogang [Kanggye],^71 rose in rebellion, killing Chiliarchs
Im Chabu and Kim Ch’ŏllyong. The government ordered Minister of
Punishments Kim Chin to suppress the rebels, but Chin failed in his mis-
sion. At that time, T’aejo’s rank rose to grand master for transmitting dis-
cussions (t’ongŭi taebu), and he served concurrently as supreme general of
the Capital Patrol (Kŭmowi) and as senior myriarch (sang manho) of the
Northeast Region. The king ordered him to join Chin in suppressing the
revels. As T’aejo arrived at the troubled region, leading 1,500 soldiers under
his command, Pakŭi and the members of his clique had already fled to
Kanggye. T’aejo pursued them and finally captured and executed them all.
- An old name of Kanggye Strategic Prefecture in North P’yŏngan Province.