736 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
22nd Day (Kyŏngo)
Because the king paid a visit to Chich’ŏn Monastery, Controller- in- Chief
(tosŭngt’ong) Sŏlo returned from Mt. Kŭmgang.The king paid a visit to Chŏngnŭng.Prayer was offered at Chich’ŏn Monastery to prevent catastrophes brought
on by baleful stars.^323rd Day (Sinmi)
Prisoners both in the capital and the provinces were all released except those
sentenced to capital punishment either by beheading or strangulationThe king ordered Yu Un and Chŏng Yongsu to report back to work.^4The king pardoned Yi Pogyang, who committed slander. Earlier, Pogyang
said to Pyŏn Chungnyang, chancellor of the National Academy: “A man
named Hŭngdo, a nothos of the Wang clan of the previous dynasty, changed
his family name to Hwang and moved from Hayang to Miryang. Ŏ Yŏn,
magistrate of Hayang; Pak Sanggyŏng, magistrate of Miryang; Kwŏn Kan,
administrator; and others all knew about it but did not report it to authori-
ties. At the same time, Yi Sin, former fourth inspector; Ch’oe Kwan, instruc-
tor [of the provincial academy]; and others associated with Hŭngdo.” After
Chungnyang reported the information to the king, the king had Hŭngdo
interrogated by the Board of Punishments.
Hŭngdo said, “Previously, I recklessly changed my family name to Wang
but changed it later to Hwang because the [royal] Wang clan was ruined. In
fact, I am Yi Kŭm, a slave of Chŏng T’ak, assistant director of the Security
Council. I lived in hiding for years to avoid mandatory services, and that is
why I have kept such a family name until now.”
The king summoned T’ak to verify the truth and found that the statement
made by Hŭngdo was accurate. Then the king forgave all those involved in
this incident except Ŏ Yŏn, because he failed to thoroughly interrogate the- The details of the stellar catastrophes here are unclear.
- They were the grand councilors impeached for playing the go game during a Privy
Council meeting.