Yi Kwal’s grievance.... he raises an insurrection.... civil war....
rebels victorious.... the king leaves Seoul.... the rebels enter the
capital.... fight outside the West Gate.... Yi Kwal flees.... and is
slain.... the king returns to Seoul.... a royal proclamation....
tiled houses in P’yŭng-yang.... sons of concubines.... the Manchus
again.... an unsuccessful envoy.... death of Norach‘i.... Nam-han
completed.... the Manchus enter Korea.... efforts at resistance....
fall of Anju.... the king retires to Kang-wha.... Manchu
conditions.... panic in Seoul.... an interesting game of chess....
Korean hostage and tribute.... oath at the altar.... Koreans firm in
their loyalty to China.... the Manchus praise them.... Manchu
cruelties.... the Manchu garrisons.... opposed by the Koreans....
sound argument.... Japanese assistance declined.
The story of Yi Kwal’s rebellion shows how great a matter a little fire
kindles. The king wished to honor in a special manner the men who had
been instrumental in putting him on the throne. Among them were two
especially deserving men, Kim Nyu and Yi Kwal. Kim was from a higher
family than Yi but was less deserving of praise in this affair. When all
knelt before the king and Yi Kwal found that he was given second place,
he was enraged and refused to kneel, but stood glaring about him. He was
pacified, but was still very sore at heart. He was given the position of
governor of P’yŭng-an where there was a considerable force of soldiers;
among them three hundred Japanese, who had become naturalized and who
where excellent swordsmen. With the opening of the new year Gen. Yi Kwi,
who knew the calibre of Yi Kwal, obtained the post of military
instructor at Song-do. This he sought that he might have an opportunity
to stand between the king and any treachery that Yi Kwal might attempt.
A courtier, Mun Whe, told the king that Yi Kwal was gathering an army
with bad intent, and the king hastily called a council. Kim Nyu did not
believe it possible that Yi Kwal should revolt, but Ch’oe Myŭng-gil
insisted that it was true, and in the high words that followed Kim Nyu
was charged with being privy to the plot. But the remark passed
unnoticed. We shall see however that Kim had little to do in putting
down the insurrection. Perhaps it was because of a lurking suspicion
that he might be implicated. A large number of men known to be intimate
with the disaffected general were arrested and thrown into prison. Two
executioners were sent to kill Han Myŭng-yŭn who was said to be in
league with Yi Kwal, and to catch Yi Kwal’s son. Arriving in P’yŭng-yang
the messengers went boldly into the presence of Yi Kwal and announced
their message. As Yi was already on the point of marching on Seoul he
answered by taking off the heads of the messengers. Hastily summoning
all the neighboring prefects he addressed them as follows: “The king is
surrounded by bad men and I propose to go up to Seoul and clean things
out a little.” Then putting in motion his 20,000 troops with the
Japanese swordsmen at their head, he marched toward the capital. The
whole country instantly burst into a flame of excitement. The king
appointed Gen. Yi Wŭn-ik to lead an army in defense of the capital, and
he put Yi Si-bal second in command. Yi Su-il became general of P’yŭng-an
Province, and the combined forces marched northward to block the rebel’s
path. Gen. Wan P’ung-gun fortified Song-do in preparation for an attack.
O Yong-su fortified the banks of the Im-jin River at the ferry. The
eight provinces were all requisitioned for troops. Kang Kak was placed
at Su-an with militia from Su-an and Sö-heung to check the advance of
the enemy. Gen. Chöng Ch’ung-sin who had been stationed at An-ju north
of P’yŭng-yang, together with other leaders, moved southward on the
rebellious city, to take Yi Kwal in the rear. Chang Man asked him what
he thought were the chances of Yi Kwal’s success, and he answered, “If
Yi Kwal goes straight to Seoul and the king stays there till he arrives
the result will be doubtful, but if he delays a while in Whang-hă
Province, or if the king retreats southward and Yi Kwal delays in Seoul
we will kill him like a dog.”
Gen. Chang Man then called about him all the forces within reach, led by
fifteen captains and prefects. When he saw how small his army was
compared with that of Yi Kwal he despaired of doing anything, but
some-one said, “Many of those under Yi Kwal are not faithful to him. Let
us send and call out the loyal ones from among his army.” So they sent a
slave of Gen. Yi Yun-sŭ, who followed Yi Kwal, and told him to go and
bring his master out of the rebel ranks. They offered him a hundred
thousand cash but he refused it saying “I will go and save him from
rebellion if I can, and if I succeed it will be time enough to reward
me.” The slave entered the rebel ranks and that night the sentries heard
the voice of Gen. Yi Yun-sŭ calling aloud from outside the lines saying,
“I am going over to the side of the king.” Arriving at the camp of Chang
Man, the penitent general burst into tears at the thought of how near he
had come to being a traitor. Yi Kwal sent eight assassins to kill Chang
Man but they were caught and brought before their intended victim, who,
instead of punishing them, gave them a good dinner and sent them away.
Yi Kwal himself was so fearful of assassination that he not only slept
in a different tent each night but moved from one tent to another
several times during a single night.
Gen. Chang Man started for Seoul, the advance guard being led by
Chöng-sin, the skirmish line by Pak Yöng-sŭ, the right and left flanks
by Yu Hyo-gŭl and Chang Tŭn, the sappers by Ch’o‘e, while the
commissariat was in charge of An Mong-yun. The whole force consisted of
1800 men. The first day was spent in getting the army across the Ta-dong
River. The next three days brought them to Whang-ju, where they fell in
with part of the rebel army. After a brisk skirmish, two companies of
cavalry were seen riding out from the rebel ranks as if to surrender,
but when they had come close to Gen. Chang Man’s forces they made a
sudden charge which threw the loyal forces into confusion and soon the
entire army was routed. Turning from this complete victory, Yi Kwal led
his forces to Su-an. It was his intention to approach Seoul by way of
Sak-wŭn but as the government had a strong force there he changed his
plan and came by Keui-rin which is an exceedingly rough road. Meanwhile
Gen. Chang Man had collected the scattered remnants of his army and
followed as far Sö-heung where he was joined by Gen. Yi Su-il and
together they proceeded southward to P‘yŭng-san. There they were joined
by 800 more troops. On the sixth of the moon Yi Kwal arrived at the
Cho-t‘an ford and found it guarded by a royal force under Yi Chung-ho
and Yi Tŭk-bu. Yi Kwal forced the passage and put the government troops
to flight, taking the heads of both the generals. A day or so later,
being met by more loyal troops, he sent them the two heads as warning.
They did not heed it and in the fight that followed their leaders too
lost their heads.
Meanwhile interesting events were happening in Seoul. The king put to
death forty-nine men who were suspected of being privy to the plot,
though many of them were doubtless innocent. Yi Kwi begged him to spare
some of them, but he was obdurate. Gen. Yi Sö took 2,000 men and went to
the gate on the main road a few miles beyond Song-do and tried to hold
it against the insurgent army. Yi Kwal attacked at night and found
little difficulty in breaking through the barrier. But instead of
advancing on Song-do he made a circuit and thereby avoided both Song-do
and the force which was set to guard the passage of the Im-jin River. He
effected a crossing by a ford higher up that stream. Learning of this,
Pak Hyo-rip who was holding the ferry hastened back to Seoul where he
arrived at dusk and announced that the king had not a moment to lose but
must take to flight that very night. Without an hour’s delay the king
mounted his steed and fled by way of the South Gate, leaving the city in
a perfect frenzy of fear. He arrived at Han-gang in the dark and found
that the ferrymen had taken all their boats to the other side for
safety. They peremptorily refused to obey any summons, and at last U
Sang-jung was obliged to throw off his clothes and swim the stream. He
succeeded in getting six boats. It took all the rest of the night to get
the royal cavalcade across the river. It was on the ninth of the moon
when the king arrived at Sa-p‘yŭng just beyond the river. He had nothing
to eat till noon that day, when Sin Chun brought him a bowl of gruel and
a few dried persimmons. Night found him at Su-wŭn completely tired out.
After a rest of a few days he passed on to Kong-ju the provincial
capital and there he was made comfortable for the first time since his
flight from the capital. The governors of Ch‘ung ch‘ŭng and Chŭl-la
Provinces met him there. A strong guard was placed along the southern
bank of the Keum River.
At noon of the day following the king’s flight, thirty followers of Yi
Kwal entered the city and announced that there was no need for fear, as
a new king had arisen. The next day Yi Kwal entered the town. Many small
officials and a great crowd of people went out to meet him and scattered
red earth along the road in front of him, which is a special prerogative
of royalty. Entering the city he pitched his camp where the Kyöng-bok
Palace now stands. Even the king’s own uncle went over to Yi Kwal,
perhaps through fear, or perhaps because the revolution was a success.
This uncle was proclaimed king and posters were sent out to quiet the
people. Thousands of adventurers and low fellows sought and obtained
official appointments under the new regime.
But what had been going on in the north? Chang Man, arriving at P‘a-ju,
learned that the king had fled, and immediately called a council of war.
It was decided that, as the people of Seoul were not largely in favor of
Yi Kwal, it would be a good thing to make a demonstration at once lest
the people should come to recognize the government. So one body of
troops was sent to watch the road outside the East Gate and to cut off
supplies. Another guarded the roads outside the South Gate. Gen. Chöng
Ch‘ung-sin said that they must encamp on the hills immediately outside
the West Gate and then Yi Kwal would be forced to fight. In order to do
this Kim Yang-ön took cavalry and surprised the signal fire station
beside the Peking Pass and so prevented any signal being given. That
night Chang Man and all his forces came around the hills and stationed
themselves behind the hill just back of Mo-wha-gwan. This movement was
further favored by a strong east wind that carried the sound away so
that all Seoul was ignorant of the extreme proximity of the enemy. At
the same time Yi Whak with two hundred troops secreted himself outside
the Northwest Gate, to enter the city when the insurgent troops should
go out the West Gate to attack Chang Man’s forces. The latter also sent
thousands of slips of paper into the city and had them distributed among
the people saying, “Tomorrow, anyone who refuses to stand by Yi Kwal and
remains loyal to the king, let him present one of these slips and he
shall receive a reward.”
In the morning Yi Kwal spied a small band of soldiers on the hill
outside the gate, for most of the force was concealed behind it, in
order to deceive the rebels. Some of Yi Kwal’s followers said, “They are
so few we had better go outside the Northwest Gate and so surround them;
but the enemy seemed so insignificant that Yi Kwal marched straight at
them. All Seoul was on the walls watching the fight with breathless
interest. Han Myŭng-yŭn, Yi Kwal’s right hand man, took the Japanese
contingent and moved up the steep hillside, and Yi followed with the
main body. The strong east wind that was blowing materially aided the
attacking force, for it lent speed to their arrows and they had the wind
at their backs instead of in their faces. The loyal forces were forced
to give way a little and their leaders had to strike down some in order
to prevent a general stampede. At this critical juncture the wind
suddenly veered to the west and drove the sand and dust into the eyes of
the attacking party. This was the turning point in the battle. Yi Kwal
was forced to give ground. Han Myŭng-yŭn himself was wounded by an
arrow. Gen. Chang Man fought fiercely for two hours, gaining ground all
the time. At this time the standard-bearer of Yi Kwal turned and fled.
The cry arose, “Yi Kwal is on the run,” and in less that a minute the
whole force was thrown into confusion and every man took to his heels,
including Yi Kwal himself, who hastened back toward the West Gate. But
the citizens on the wall had not been idle, and he found the gate locked
and barred. Turning aside he hastened along under the wall till he
reached the South Gate which he entered. Gen. Chang Man said, “Let us
not chase him, for his men might turn on us and beat us after all. Let
him go; the people will bring his head in soon enough.” So Yi Kwal with
a small band of followers fled out the Water Mouth Gate, crossed the Han
at Song-p‘a, killed the prefect of Kwang-ju, scaled Yi-bu-jă Pass and
fled away eastward. Gen. Chöng Ch‘ung-sin chased him as far as Kyöng-an.
By that time the traitor’s band had dwindled to twenty-eight men. He
fled by night as far as Muk-pangi in the prefecture of I-ch‘ŭn and there
two of his followers, seeing that the game had been played to a finish
and hoping to save their own lives, went into his room by night and
severed his head from the body. His son was treated in the same way, as
were also Han Myŭng-yŭn and six others. They carried the heads to Kongju
and laid them before the king. The king’s uncle who had been set up as
king fled to Kwang-ju, where he was caught and turned over to Gen. Chang
Man, who imprisoned him and waited the orders of the king. But another
man, Sim Keui-wŭn, said, “No, he is a traitor,” and slew him with his
own hand. When the king returned to Seoul this man Sim was imprisoned
for a few days as nominal punishment for having killed a relative of the
king.
On the twenty-second of the month the king returned to Seoul. Gen. Chang
Man went to the river and escorted him in with a large retinue, but Gen.
Chöng Ch‘ung-sin did not go and bow before the king, for he said, “I did
not stop the traitor, but let him drive the king from the capital.” So
he went up to P’yŭng-yang without seeing the king. When the latter heard
of this he sent for him and gave him a present of gold and made him
governor of P‘yŭng-an. It is said by some, in extenuation of Yi Kwal’s
conduct, that he understood that the king had driven the former king
from the throne and was a usurper. This must be false, for Yi Kwal was
one of the principal actors in those events and must have known the
truth about them. He was simply jealous and, having a strong force,
thought to avenge himself. However that may be, the report was spread
that it was patriotism that prompted the revolt, and to dispel any such
idea the king made proclamation saying, “Kwang-hă, the former ruler, was
a wicked and undutiful man. He killed his father and elder brother and
imprisoned his mother. The country was on the verge of destruction and
so I could not but attempt to drive him out. It was not because I wanted
to usurp the royal honors, but it was for the sake of the line. Yi
Kwal’s raid was prompted by idle rumors gotten up by certain of
Kwang-hă’s men, but let all the people know surely that I have done this
for the sole purpose of saving the kingdom.”
In the ninth moon another revolt was attempted, with the object of
putting Prince In-sŭng, the king’s younger brother, on the throne. It
was discovered in time and the principal movers were killed and the
prince was banished to Kan-sŭng in Kang-wŭn Province.
On account of the frequent conflagrations in the city of P’yŭng-yang,
the governor petitioned the king to promulgate a law requiring all
houses in that town to be tiled instead of thatched. The king not only
complied but gave money for the purchase of tiles. That law has not been
abrogated to this day.
[Illustration: _THE SHIP-YARD._]
The year 1625 opened with warlike preparations. Gen. Yi Sö collected a
band of strong, stalwart men, the pick of the land, formed them into
companies and regiments and drilled them at the Hun-yŭn-wŭn, inside the
East Gate, and also at Mo-wha-kwan outside the West Gate. Near the close
of the year the king promulgated a most important law, sweeping away the
disabilities of sons by concubines and giving them the right to become
officials. One must know the prevalence of concubinage in Korea in order
to understand how vitally this law must have affected the whole body of
the people, of all ranks and classes. This was the more true from the
fact that concubines are commonly taken because of the lack of an heir.
Eligibility to office on the part of sons of of concubines worked
therefore in two directions. It elevated the position of the concubine
and at the same time made the position of the barren wife more
endurable.
We have already given a sketch of the beginnings of the Manchu
convulsion which was about to shake the whole of eastern Asia. During
the interval occupied by the events narrated above, the Manchus were
quietly preparing for the future. Gen. Kang Hong-rip, the Korean
renegade, was still with them. Another Korean went over to the Manchus.
It was Han Yun who fled to Kwi-sŭng in northern P‘yŭng-an, from which
place he crossed the Ya-lu and found Gen. Kang among the Manchus. To him
he said, “My relatives have now all been destroyed by the king and I am
an outcast. Let us get an army together and go and be avenged on the
Koreans.” Gen. Kang gave his hearty consent and together they sought the
throne of the Manchu chief to lay their plan before him.
Sŏ U-sin, the Ming governor of Liao-tung, heard of this plan and
despatched a messenger to the King of Korea setting him on his guard
against these two men. The king did not believe that Gen. Kang was
irrecoverably lost, for he appointed his son to go to the Manchus as
envoy. Had this young man succeeded in reaching his destination he might
have induced his father to remain faithful to Korea, but just beyond the
border he encountered Manchu soldiers who did not understand him and
would not let him pass. So he was compelled to return with his mission
unaccomplished. It is probable that there would have been an invasion of
Korea by the Manchus at that time had it not been for the arrival in
Liao-tung of the great Chinese general Wŭn Sung-whan. He was so skillful
in the handling of soldiers that superhuman powers were ascribed to him.
The Manchus could make no headway against him, and it is said that
Norach’i’s chagrin at having failed to storm a town held by this famous
general aggravated an illness caused by a carbuncle on his back and
brought about his death. Upon his decease his second son Hongt’asi took
the reins of government and carried to completion the ambitious plans
made by his illustrious father.
It is apparent that the Korean court was well awake to the dangers
confronting them, for we learn that in the seventh moon of this year
1626 the wall of Nam-han was completed. This is the great mountain
fortress about twenty miles to the south-east of Seoul. It was formerly
the site of one of the capitals of Păkje.
The year 1627 no sooner opened that the long dreaded event took place.
On the fifth moon 30,000 Manchu soldiers crossed the Yalu River and a
few days later stood before the city of Eui-ju. Approaching the gate a
herald cried, “The second king of the great Golden Kingdom is now laying
his heavy hand on Korea. If you do not come out and surrender we will
raze your town to the level of the ground.” Unfortunately for the good
name of Korea the prefect was at that moment sleeping off the effects of
a drunken debauch in the house of a dancing girl. He came forth and
tried to get the garrison together, but it was too late, for already the
traitor Han Yun had entered the town in Korean clothes and had thrown
the gates open to the ruthless invaders. The prefect and his whole
garrison were set up in line and shot down by the savage Manchus, after
which they boiled the body of the prefect in a kettle and sacrificed to
heaven with the flesh. They then sent a letter to the king couched in
the following terms: “You have committed four crimes. (1) You did not
send an envoy to commiserate with us on the death of the great Norach’i.
(2) You have never thanked us for sparing your army when we beat you and
the Chinese together. (3) You afforded asylum to our enemy, Mo
Mun-nyŏng. (4) Your people have killed many of the residents of
Liao-tung in cold blood. It is for these reasons that our wrath is
kindled against you.” And so the invading army moved southward, forcing
the Koreans to cut their hair and compelling them to act as guides. But
they did not come unopposed. They were met at Yong-ch’ŭn by its prefect
at the head of 2,000 men, but a small official turned traitor and opened
the gates to the Manchus. On the seventeenth they arrived at Kwak-san
where they were told by the Korean garrison that death was preferable to
surrender; the Koreans found it so, for they were soon overpowered and
massacred. Two prefects whose wives had been confiscated by the Manchus
thought to save themselves and recover their wives by going over to the
enemy but when they did so they found their wives still held as
concubines while they themselves were compelled to hold the bridles of
the men who brutally refused to give back the women.
Seoul was meanwhile going through one of those periodical eruptions
which she was destined to suffer for many years to come. Gen. Chang Man
became general-in-chief, with Chöng Ch’ung Sin as second They
immediately took all the available forces and marched northward. Gen.
Sin was placed at the Im-jin River to block the approach of the enemy
Gen. Kim went south to collect troops in Ch’ung-ch’ŭng Province, and
others went in other directions. A call was made to all the eight
provinces for men. Gen. Yi Sö was put in command of Nam-han. The king
recalled many men from banishment, probably with a view to bringing into
harmony all the different elements and securing unanimity among all
classes.
On the twenty-first the Manchus arrived before Au-ju. They cried, “Come
out and surrender,” and received the answer, “We are here to fight and
not to surrender.” The next day at dawn in a heavy fog they approached
the wall. They had an enormous ladder mounted in some way on the backs
of camels. This was placed against the wall and the enemy swarmed over,
armed only with short swords and knives; but these they used with such
good effect that they soon gained a foothold. The commandant of the
town, Nam Yi-heung, stood by the gate and shot many of the Manchus with
his good bow and when his arrows were all gone he ordered bags of powder
to be brought, and by exploding these he killed many of the enemy but
was himself killed in the process.
P’yŭng-yang now being practically without defense, the prefect fled
southward to the capital and told the king what had happened. The Crown
Prince was immediately sent into the south for safety and the king
himself with the ancestral tablets and with his court hastened to the
island of Kang-wha, leaving the city of Seoul in a condition better
imagined than described.
One of Gen. Kang’s grievances against Korea was that he thought the king
had killed his son, but when he learned that this was not only not true
but that the king had sent that son as envoy, though unsuccessfully, to
the Manchus, there was a strong revulsion of feeling in his mind and he
expressed his sorrow at the invasion but said that it was now too late
to stop it. He however advised the king to send gifts to the Manchu
chief and sue for peace.
When the Manchus arrived at Whang-ju they sent a letter forward to the
king on Kang-wha saying, “There are three conditions on which we will
conclude a peace with you. (1) You must hand over to us the person of Mo
Mun-nyŭng. (2) You must give us 10,000 soldiers to help invade China.
(3) You must give up the two northern provinces of P’yŭng-an and
Ham-gyŭng.” On the ninth of the moon the envoy bearing this letter,
accompanied by the Korean renegade Gen. Kang, took boat from Song-do for
Kang-wha. The next day the king gave them audience and the envoy bowed
before him, but the king did not bow in return. This made the envoy very
angry, but the king said through an interpreter, “Tell him not to be
angry, for I did not know the custom.”
The king sent one Kang-In to Whang-ju ostensibly to sue for peace but in
reality to find out what the Manchus were doing there. Not long after
this the Manchu envoy returned to the same place but Gen. Kang remained
on Kang-wha. When the enemy had advanced as far as P’yŭng-san, only a
hundred _li_ from Kang-wha, the whole court urged the king to make peace
on any terms, as all the soldiers had run away and the enemy were so
near. When Gen. Kim, who had been left to guard Seoul, learned of the
proximity of the Manchus, he fired all the government treasure and
provisions and made good his escape. This was the signal for a general
exodus of the people who swarmed out of the city and scattered in all
directions seeking safety among the mountains or in remote provinces.
Yun Hŭn had been imprisoned for having fled from P’yŭng-yang without so
much as attempting its defense, and many of the officials begged the
king to pardon him; but they overdid it, and so many petitions came in
that the king thought he was dangerously popular and ordered his
execution. When the messenger of death reached the doomed man he found
him playing a game of chess. The man with whom he was playing burst out
crying, but he said, “What are you crying about? I am the man who am
going to die, not you. Let us finish the game.” So they finished the
game, after which Yun Hŭn quietly submitted to his fate. This is a
sample of _sang froid_ which never fails to elicit the applause of the
Korean.
On the twentieth the Manchu general Yu Hă left P’yŭng-san and went to
Kang-wha to have an audience with the king. He advised the king to
discard the Chinese calendar and use the Manchu one instead and he also
said the king must send his son to the north as hostage. The king
answered that his son was too young, but that he would send his younger
brother. Accordingly he sent Wŭn Ch’ang-yŭng, not his brother but a
distant relative. At the same time he sent 30,000 pieces of cotton, 300
pieces of white linen, 100 tiger skins and 100 leopard skins. Gen. Yu Hă
was pleased at this and said that he wished to have Korea at peace but
that it would first be absolutely necessary for the king to take a
solemn oath of fealty to the Manchus. And he said it must be done
immediately, before the Manchus should enter Seoul.
The next day a letter came from the Manchu Prince Yi Wan urging that a
treaty be made and the solemn oath be sworn, and he added, “Either there
must be such a treaty or we must fight.” He ordered that the king have
an altar made at once, on which to slay the animals and swear the oath.
The Koreans hung back and said, “Have we not sent gifts and hostages to
the north? Why then should we be compelled to take this oath?” In a rage
the Manchu messenger rode away toward P’yŭng-san. This sudden departure
was ominous and it frightened the Koreans, so that they hastened to set
about building the altar. When, therefore, a few days later the Manchu
generals Kang Hong-rip and Yu Hă came with an escort and demanded that a
treaty should be ratified at once, the Koreans hastened to comply. The
king went with Gen. Yu Hă to the altar and the king was ordered to
plunge the knife into the victims, a white horse and a black bullock
which signified the heavens and the earth respectively. At this the
courtiers all exclaimed, “The king cannot do it. It must be done by
deputy.” The king replied. “It makes no difference now. We have eaten
their insults and the people are all about to perish. I will do it.” But
still they opposed it so strongly that at last Yi Chŭng-gwi was
appointed as substitute for the king.
It was on the third day of the third moon of 1627 when the ceremony was
performed outside the West Gate of the fortress of Kang-wha. They killed
the white horse and black bullock and sacrificed to heaven. The Manchu
oath ran as follows: “The second king of the Manchus makes a treaty with
the king of Korea. From this day we have but one mind and one thought.
If Korea breaks this oath may heaven send a curse upon her. If the
Manchus break it may they likewise be punished. The two kings will have
an equal regard for truth and they will govern according to the
principles of religion. May heaven help us and give us blessings.” The
Korean oath was as follows: “This day Korea takes oath and forms a
treaty with the Keum (Kin) Kingdom. We too swear by this sacrifice that
each shall dwell secure in the possession of his own lands. If either
hates and injures the other may heaven send punishment upon the
offending party. These two kings have minds regardful of truth. Each
must be at peace with the other.” The next day the three highest Korean
officials went to the Manchu camp to settle the details of the treaty.
They said, “As we have made a treaty with you, of course you will not
let your troops advance on Seoul. It will be best for you to move
backward at once. Now you are the ‘elder brother’ and we the ‘younger
brother,’ so you will see the propriety of staying on the other side of
the Yalu River. The Ming dynasty of China has been as a parent to us for
two hundred years and our kings have always received investiture from
the Emperor. We have made a treaty now with you, but that does not
require us to cast off the suzerainty of China.” This raised a storm
about the Koreans’ ears, and for days they disputed over the point with
the Korean commission, but could not move them a hair’s breadth from
this position. At last in astonishment Gen. Yu Hă sat down, folded his
hands and said “The Kingdom of Korea is like a small island or like a
hair, and if we should but raise our foot it would be destroyed, and yet
though destruction stares them in the face they will not forswear their
fealty to China. This is greatness. Such righteousness and faithfulness
are admirable. If the Manchu king consents, you shall do as you please
in this respect.” They sent to the Manchu Prince who was with the army
at P‘yŭng-san and he gave his consent. Gen. Yu Hă then put in the Manchu
claim for yearly tribute. It was an enormous amount but the Koreans
decided they would send at least a small part of what was demanded.
The Manchu army then moved northward beyond P’yŭng-yang to An-ju, being
opposed there by Gen. Chöng Ch‘ung-sin they told him that they had made
a treaty with Korea and were on their way back to Manchuria. He thought
they were retreating and were trying to deceive him, so he said, “I have
received no intimation of all this from headquarters, so you will have
to wait here until I get word from the king.”
The Manchu army on its way north through Whang-hă Province had stolen
right and left, oxen, horses and women. They bored holes through the
hands of children and fastened them together with cords and drove them
north to make slaves of them. In the province of P‘yŭng-an they did not
commit these outrages, for there was a large sprinkling of Manchus among
the people. When they left P’yŭng-yang they burned it to the ground.
North of that place they put a garrison in every large town, namely
An-ju, Chöng-ju, Sŭn-ch‘ŭn and Eui-ju. Strangely enough Koreans were put
at the head of these garrisons. Of course these bodies of troops had to
live off the people, and it seems that they did not scruple to plunder
and confiscate in a wholesale manner. This is indicated by the fact that
Chöng Pang-su the prefect of Chŭn-san got out of patience and said it
could no longer be borne. So gathering about him as many soldiers as
possible, he began to make war on the Manchu garrisons wherever
encountered. The Manchus were cut down by hundreds, as the country was
being scoured by small bands of foragers who fell into this prefect’s
hands. Three of the Manchu captains joined their forces and tried to
make headway against this Korean combination, but they were all killed
and their forces cut to pieces. The king, when he heard of these
actions, was loud in praise of the Koreans who so successfully opposed
the unlawful acts of the Manchu garrisons.
Not long after this a letter came from the Manchu headquarters saying,
“Having made a treaty of peace with us, why do you now set upon and kill
our people?” To which the Koreans boldly replied. “It was one of the
conditions of that treaty that all Manchus should move beyond the Yalu.
If they had done so, there would have been no trouble. But many of your
people stopped in P‘yŭng-an Province and stole our cattle and our women.
The people could not endure it and so revolted. But it was not at our
instigation. It is evident that the trouble began with you. It would be
well if you would send back the 2,000 people you have carried away
captive to Manchuria.” The argument was conclusive, as the Manchus
acknowledged by sending back the captive Koreans. When the Japanese
heard that the Koreans had been successfully opposing the Manchus they
sent a present of 300 muskets, 300 swords and 300 pounds of powder, but
the Koreans wisely declined the gifts and sent them back to Japan.