Читать книгу The History of Korea (Vol.1&2) - Homer B. Hulbert - Страница 19

Table of Contents

Revolt in Sil-la. … Ko-gu-ryŭ invaded. … Sil-la invades Păk-je. … China decides to aid Sil-la … war between Păk-je and Sil-la … relations with China … league against Sil-la. … China diverts Ko-gu-ryŭ’s attention … traitors in Păk-je. … Sŭng-ch’ung’s advice. … Chinese forces sent to Păk-je … portents of the fall of Păk-je … conflicting plans. … Sil-la army enters Păk-je. … Păk-je capital seized. … Păk-je dismembered … end of Păk-je … disturbances in Păk-je territory. … Ko-gu-ryŭ attacks Sil-la … final invasion of Ko-gu-ryŭ planned. … Păk-je malcontents … combination against Ko-gu-ryŭ … siege of P‘yŭng-yang raised. … Pok-sin’s fall. … Păk-je Japanese defeated … governor of Ung-jin. … Buddhist reverses in Sil-la. … Sil-la king takes oath. … Nam-gŭn’s treachery … the Mal-gal tribes desert Ko-gu-ryŭ … the Yalu defended. … Chinese and Sil-la forces march on P‘yŭng-yang … omens. … Ko-gu-ryŭ forts surrender. … Ko-gu-ryŭ falls.

Tong-man, the Queen ruler of Sil-la, died in 645 and was succeeded by her sister Söng-man. The Emperor confirmed her in her accession to the throne. It began to look seriously as if a gynecocracy was being established in Sil-la. Some of the highest officials decided to effect a change. The malcontents were led by Pi-un and Yŭm-jong. These men with a considerable number of troops went into camp near the capital and prepared to besiege it. For four days the rebels and the loyal troops faced each other without daring to strike a blow. Tradition says a star fell one night among the loyal forces and caused consternation there and exultation among the traitors. But the loyal Gen. Yu-sin hastened to the Queen and promised to reverse the omen. That night he prepared a great kite and fastened a lantern to its tail. Then he exhorted the soldiers to be of good cheer, sacrificed a white horse to the deities of the land and flew the kite. The rebels, seeing the light rising from the loyal camp, concluded that Providence had reversed the decree. So when the loyal troops made their attack the hearts of the rebels turned to water and they were driven over the face of the country and cut down with great slaughter. That same year the Emperor again planned to attack Ko-gu-ryŭ but the baleful light of a comet made him desist.

At the instigation of Hap So-mun, the king of Ko-gu-ryŭ sent his son to China, confessed his faults and begged for mercy, but the Emperor’s face was flint. The next year the message was again sent, but Ko-gu-ryŭ’s day of grace was over. China’s answer was an army of 30,000 men and a mighty fleet of ships. The fortress of Pak-chak in Liao-tung was besieged but it was so fortified by nature as to be almost impregnable. The Emperor therefore said “Return to China and next year we will send 300,000 men instead of 30,000.” He then ordered the building of a war vessel 100 feet in length. He also had large store of provisions placed on O-ho Island to be used by the invading army.

Meanwhile Sil-la had become emboldened by the professed preferencepreference of China for her and she arose and smote Păk-je, taking twenty-one of her forts, killing 30,000 of her soldiers and carrying away 9,000 prisoners. She followed this up by making a strong appeal to China for help, saying that unless China should come to her aid she would be unable to continue her embassies to the Chinese court. The Emperor thereupon ordered Gen. So Chöng-bang to take 200,000 troops and go to the aid of Sil-la. He evidently was intending to try a new way of attacking Ko-gu-ryŭ. As the Sil-la messenger was hastening homeward with this happy news emissaries of Ko-gu-ryŭ dogged his footsteps and sought his life. Once he was so hard pressed that he escaped only by a clever and costly ruse. One of his suite dressed in his official garments and personated him and thus drew the assassins off the scent and allowed himself to be killed, the real envoy making good his escape. It was now for the first time that Sil-la adopted the Chinese costume, having first obtained leave from the Emperor. It is said that it resembled closely the costume used in Korea today.

Unfortunately for Sil-la the Emperor died in 649 and Ko-gu-ryŭ began to breathe freely again. It also emboldened Păk-je and she invaded Sil-la with a considerable army and seized seven forts. Sil-la retaliated by seizing 10,000 houses belonging to Păk-je subjects and killing the leading Păk-je general, Eum-sang. Sil-la lost not a moment in gaining the good will of the new Emperor. Envoys with presents were sent frequently. She adopted the Chinese calendar and other customs from the suzerain state and so curried favor with the powerful. The Păk-je envoy was received coldly by the Emperor and was told to go and give back to Sil-la the land that had been taken and to cease the hostilities. This Păk-je politely declined to do. Each emperor of China seems to have declined the legacy of quarrels handed down by his predecessor. So bye-gones were bye-gones and Ko-gu-ryŭ was accepted again on her good behavior.

With the end of Queen Söng-man’s reign affairs in the peninsula began to focus toward that crisis which Ko-gu-ryŭ and Păk-je had so long been preparing for themselves. In 655 a new combination was effected and one that would have made Sil-la’s horizon very dark had she not been sure of Imperial help. Her two neighbors formed a league against her, and of course the Mal-gal tribes sided with Ko-gu-ryŭ in this new venture. Păk-je and Ko-gu-ryŭ were drawn together by their mutual fear of Sil-la and soon the allied armies were marching on Sil-la’s borders. At the first onslaught thirty-three of Sil-la’s border forts passed into the hands of the allies. It was now China’s last chance to give aid to the most faithful of her Korean vassals, for otherwise she would surely have fallen before this combination. A swift messenger was sent imploring the Emperor for aid and stating that if it was not granted Sil-la would be swallowed up. The Emperor had no intention of letting Sil-la be dismembered and without a day’s delay troops were despatched into Liao-tung under Generals Chŭng Myŭng-jin and So Chöng-bang. Many of Ko-gu-ryŭ’s fortresses beyond the Yalu River were soon in the possession of China. This was successful in diverting Ko-gu-ryŭ’s attention from Sil-la, but Păk-je continued the fight with her. The advantage lay now with one side and now with the other. The court of Păk-je was utterly corrupt and except for a small army in the field under almost irresponsible leadership, she was weak indeed.

Now it happened that a Sil-la man named Cho Mi-gon had been taken captive and carried to Păk-je where he was employed in the household of the Prime Minister. One day he made his escape and found his way across the border into his native country, but there meeting one of the Sil-la generals he was induced to go back and see what he could do in the Păk-je capital towards facilitating an invasion on the part of his countrymen. He returned and after sounding the Prime Minister found him ready to sell his country if there was anything to be made out of it. It is said that here began the downfall of Păk-je. The king of Păk-je was utterly incompetent and corrupt. One of his best councillors was thrown into prison and starved to death for rebuking him ofof his excesses. But even while this faithful man was dying he sent a message to the king saying “Do not fail to place a strong garrison at ‘Charcoal Pass’ and at Păk River.” These were the two strategic points of Păk-je’s defenses; if they were guarded well, surprise was impossible. From that time affairs in Păk-je went from bad to worse. China kept Ko-gu-ryŭ busy in the north and nothing of consequence was gained by either side in the south until finally in 659 another Sil-la envoy made his appearance in the Emperor’s court. At last the great desire of Sil-la was accomplished. The Emperor ordered Gen. So Chöng-bang to take 130,000 men by boat to the shores of Păk-je and there coöperate with a Sil-la army in the utter subjugation of Păk-je. The Sil-la army went into camp at Nam-ch’ŭn and received word from the Chinese general to meet him at the Păk-je capital in the seventh moon.

Tradition says that the doom impending over Păk-je was shadowed forth in advance by many omens and signs. Frogs, it is said, grew like leaves on the trees and if anyone killed one of them he instantly fell dead. Among the mountains black clouds met and fought one another. The form of an animal, half dog and half lion, was seen in the sky approaching the palace and uttering terrible bellowings and roarings. Dogs congregated in the streets and howled. Imps of awful shape came into the palace and cried “Păk-je is fallen, Păk-je is fallen,” and disappeared in the ground. Digging there the king found a tortoise on whose back were writtenwritten the words “Păk-je is at full moon; Sil-la is at half moon.” The diviners were called upon to interpret this. “It means that Sil-la is in the ascendant while Păk-je is full and about to wane.” The king ordered their heads off, and called in another company of diviners. These said that it meant that Sil-la was half waned while Păk-je was at her zenith. Somewhat mollifiedmollified by this, the king called a grand council of war. The advice given was of the most conflicting nature. Some said the Chinese must be attacked first; othersfirst; others said the Sil-la forces must be attended to first. A celebrated general who had been banished was sent for and his advice was the same as that of the famous statesman whom the king had starved in prison. “You must guard the ‘Charcoal Pass’ and the Pak River.” But the majority of the courtiers said that the Chinese had better be allowed to land before they were attacked and that the Sil-la army should be allowed to come in part through the pass before being opposed. This latter point was decided for them, for when the Păk-je troops approached the pass they found that the Sil-la army was already streaming through, and at its head was the famous Gen. Kim Yu-sin. When the battle was joined the Păk-je forces held their ground and fought manfully; but victory perched upon the banners of Sil-la and when the battle was done nothing lay between the Sil-la forces and the capital of Păk-je, the place of rendezvous. It is said that Gen. Ke-băk the leader of the Păk-je forces killed all his family before starting out on this expedition, fearing lest the thought of them might make him waver. He fell in the battle.

The capital of Păk-je was situated on the site of the present town of Sa-ch’ŭn. When the Sil-la warriors approached it the king fled to the town now known as Kong-ju. He left all the palace women behind and they, knowing what their fate would be at the hands of the Sil-la soldiery, went together to a beetling precipice which overhangs the harbor of Tă-wang and cast themselves from its summit into the water beneath. That precipice is famed in Korean song and story and is called by the exquisitely poetical name Nak-wha-am “Precipice of the Falling Flowers.” The victors forced the gates of the capital and seized the person of the Prince, the king’s second son, who had been left behind. A few days later the King and the Crown Prince came back from their place of hiding and voluntarily gave themselves up.

The allies had now met as they had agreedagreed and Păk-je was at their mercy. The Chinese general said that the Emperor had given him full authority to settle the matter and that China would take half the territory and Sil-la might have the other half. This was indeed a generous proposal on the part of China but the Sil-la commander replied that Sil-la wanted none of the Păk-je territory but only sought revenge for the wrongs that Păk-je had heaped upon her. At the feast that night the king of Păk-je was made to pour the wine for the victors and in this act of abject humiliation Sil-la had her desire for revenge fully satisfied. When the Chinese generals went back to China to announce these events they took with them the unthroned King of Păk-je together with his four sons, eighty-eight of the highest officials and 12,807 of the people.

It was in 660 that Păk-je fell. She survived for 678 years and during that time thirty kings had sat upon her throne. A singular discrepancy occurs here in the records. They affirm that the whole period of Păk-je rule covered a lapse ofof 678 years; but they also say that Păk-je was founded in the third year of Emperor Ch’eng-ti of China. That would have been in 29 B.C. making the whole dynastydynasty 689 years. The vast burden of proof favors the belief that Păk-je was founded in 16 B.C. and that her whole lease of life was 678 years.

As Sil-la had declined to share in the dismemberment of Păk-je, China proceeded to divide it into provinces for administrative purposes. There were five of these, Ung-jin, Tong-myŭng, Keum-ryŭn, Tŭk-an. The central government was at Sa-ja the former capital of Păk-je. The separate provinces were put under the control of prefects selected from among the people. The country was of course in a very unsettled state; disaffectiondisaffection showed itself on every side and disturbances were frequent. A remnant of the Păk-je army took its stand among the mountains, fortified its position and bid defiance to the new government. These malcontents found strong sympathisers at the capital and in the country towns far and wide. The Chinese governor, Yu In-wŭn, found the task of government no easy one. But still Sil-la stood ready to aid and soon a Sil-la army crossed the border and attacked the fortress of I-rye where the rebels were intrenched. Taking this by assault they advanced toward the mountain fortress already mentioned, crossed the “Chicken Ford,” crumpled up the line of rebel intrenchments and lifted a heavy load from the governor’s shoulders.

Ko-gu-ryŭ soon heard the ominous news and she took it as a presage of evil for herself. She immediatelyimmediately threw a powerful army across the Sil-la border and stormed the Ch’il-jung Fortress. The records naively remark that they filled the commander as full of arrows as a hedgehog is of quills.

Now that Păk-je had been overcome China took up with alacrity the plan of subduing Ko-gu-ryŭ. The great final struggle began, that was destined to close the career of the proudest, hardiest and bravest kingdom that the peninsula of Korea ever saw. The Păk-je king who had been carried to China died there in 661. In that same year Generals Kye-p’il, So Chŏng-bang and Ha Ryŭk, who had already received their orders to march on Ko-gu-ryŭ, rendezvoused with their forces at Ha-nam and the warriors of the Whe-bol together with many volunteers from other tribes joined the imperial standards. The plan was to proceed by land and sea. The Emperor desired to accompany the expedition, but the death of the empress made it impossible.

Meanwhile matters in Păk-je were becoming complicated again. A man named Pok Sin revolted against the government, proclaimed Pu-yŭ P‘ung, the son of a former king, monarch of the realm and planned a reëstablishment of the kingdom. This was pleasing to many of the people. So popular was the movement that the Emperor feared it would be successful. He therefore sent a summons to Sil-la to send troops and put it down. Operations began at once. Gen. Yu In-gwe besieged Ung-jin the stronghold of the pretender and chased him out, but a remnant of his forces intrenchedintrenched themselves and made a good fight. They were however routed by the combined Sil-la and Chinese forces. But in spite of this defeat the cause was so popular that the country was honeycombed with bands of its sympathisers who gained many lesser victories over the government troops and their Sil-la allies. The Sil-la general, Kim Yu-sin, was very active, passing rapidly from one part of the country to another, now driving back to the mountains some band of Păk-je rebels and now holding in check some marauding band from Ko-gu-ryŭ. He was always found where he was most needed and was never at a loss for expedients. It is said that at this time rice was so plentiful in Sil-la that it took thirty bags of it to buy a single bolt of grass cloth.

That same autumn the Chinese engaged the Ko-gu-ryŭ forces at the Yalu River and gained a decided victory. Then the fortress at Ma-eup San fell into their hands. This cleared the road to P‘yŭng-yang, and the Chinese boldly advanced and laid siege to that ancient stronghold. At the same time the Emperor ordered Sil-la to send troops to coöperate with the imperial army. She obeyed, but with great trepidation, for the fame of Ko-gu-ryŭ’s arms made this seem a matter of life and death. She was obliged to comply, however, or lose all the vantage ground she had gained in the Emperor’s favor. There were still some Ko-gu-ryŭ forces in the north and they were attempting to check the advance of a large body of Chinese reinforcements. It was late in the autumn and the Yalu was frozen. Taking advantage of this the Chinese crossed in the night and falling suddenly upon the unsuspecting army of Ko-gu-ryŭ inflicted a crushing defeat. It is said that 30,000 Ko-gu-ryŭ soldiers were killed in this engagement. The speedy downfall of Ko-gu-ryŭ seemed now inevitable, but a sudden timidity seized the Emperor, who feared perhaps to let his army winter on Korean soil. So he sent orders for an immediate retreat back to Chinese territory. The generals before P‘yŭng-yang were deeply chagrined and indeed found it impossible on account of lack of provisions to obey the command at once. Soon the Sil-la army arrived before P‘yŭng-yang with full supply of provisions. These the Chinese took and the greater part of them reluctantly broke camp and marched back to China, leaving Sil-la in a frame of mind better imagined than described.