814 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
Sŏk Kuji, a servant of Panggan, Prince Hoean, visited the house of Yi Hang,
recorder of the Directorate for Shipbuilding and Transportation. Relying
on the power of his master, he tried to seize a female servant from Hang.
When the Board of Punishments interrogated him and requested his pun-
ishment, the king ordered him beheaded.13th Day (Chŏngsa)
Mun Ikchŏm, former counselor of the left grand master (chwa saŭi taebu),
died. He was a native of Kangsŏng District of Chinju. His father, Suksŏn,
passed the civil service examination but did not serve in the government.
Carrying on his family tradition, Ikchŏm studied and passed the civil ser-
vice examination during the reign of King Kongmin and was appointed
record keeper (sarok) of Kimhae Prefecture. In the Kyemyo year (1363), he
was promoted from first proctor of the National Academy to fourth censor
of the left (chwa chŏngŏn) and visited the Yuan court as secretary of a dip-
lomatic mission led by Yi Kongsu, left chancellor and chief envoy respon-
sible for presenting the case. On his way back home, he saw cotton plants on
the roadside. He gathered ten of their seeds and brought them home in his
pocket. In the Kapchin year (1364), he arrived home in Chinju and gave half
of the cotton seeds to Chŏng Ch’ŏnik, a resident of his hometown, who was
retired as manager of receptions (chŏn’gaengyŏng), so that the latter could
plant and cultivate them, and only one of the seeds survived. In the autumn,
Ch’ŏnik gathered over a hundred seeds, and every year he planted and gath-
ered more and more seeds. In the spring of the Chŏngmi year (1367), he
distributed the cotton seeds to the residents of his district, encouraging
them to grow cotton. However, all of the seeds that Ikchŏm planted failed
to grow.
Hongyuan, a Tibetan monk, visited Ch’ŏnik at his house and was deeply
moved to see the cotton plants growing in the field. Shedding tears, he said,
“I never imagined that I would find those plants from my land here today.”
Entertaining the monk with all his heart for several days, Ch’ŏnik asked
him about the techniques of spinning thread and weaving cloth. The monk
explained the techniques in detail and even made necessary devices to pro-
cess cotton. Ch’ŏnik had one of his female servants learn the skill and finally
produced a bolt of cotton fabric. Then the residents of neighboring villages
vied with each other to learn the skill, until it spread throughout the district
and, in less than ten years, throughout the country.