Book VII 469
allow your opinions to be restricted by those of the sages. You provided
causes and effects in detail in explaining occurrences, without being com-
plicated. Since your literary style is terse and far from being vulgar, it shows
the outstanding styles of historians such as Ban Gu and Sima Qian, not to
mention those of ancient scholars such as Ziyou and Zixia. Having read the
book, I cannot help admiring it. So I intend to award a prize to you for your
hard work.
“Ah! When the Xia historians recorded the life of Emperor Yao, they had
already established the tradition of upholding integrity in recording history,
and the Yin drew a lesson from the history of the Xia dynasty. Now let me
award you one nugget of silver, one horse from the Royal Stable, one bolt of
colorful silk, and one bolt of regular silk. I want you to accept them.”
The king also gave his royal decree to Chŏng Ch’ong: “The rise and fall of
the former dynasty is always recorded in history by its successors, and the
things that the kings of later generations should learn from are all recorded
in the Classics and histories. When we consider the Wang clan, they achieved
the unification of the Three Kingdoms after founding the Koryŏ dynasty
and served China since the Five Dynasties period.^4 Because they ruled the
country for many generations, many wars and disturbances took place,
destroying numerous historical records and materials. Besides, because its
dynastic records were made by more than one person, they are all inconsis-
tent in terms of content and style. Hence, they often failed to provide correct
judgments and properly distinguish between good and evil. So the task of
compiling the history of the dynasty required a person who is distinguished
in the three areas—i.e., talent, learning, and judgment.
“Your personality is pure and clean, your learning profound and plentiful,
your language clear and trustworthy, and your style refined enough to be
handed down to posterity. The critical judgments you made [in your book]
are cautious and discreet, as they are based on principle. The integrity in your
heart was so clean and trustworthy that at the beginning of my rule, I appointed
you to a high post for determining state affairs and concurrently assigned
you to the task of compiling the history [of the previous dynasty]. You
single- heartedly assisted me in carrying out my duty and simultaneously
devoted yourself to the assignment I gave. Emulating Gongyang Gao’s
- It refers to an era of political upheaval in China from 907 to 960. The above five dynasties
are Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou. Koryŏ was founded in 918.