1
建隆三年十月，昭遣其廣評侍郎李興祐、副使李勵希、判官李彬等來朝貢。
In the tenth month of the third year of Jianlong (962), King Zhao of Goryeo sent his Broad Evaluation Vice Commissioner Li Xingyou, Vice-envoy Li Lixi, Judge Li Bin, and others to the Song court with tribute.
2
四年春，降制曰：「古先哲後，奄宅中區，曷嘗不同文軌于萬方，覃聲教于四海？ 顧予涼德，猥被鴻名，爰致賓王，宜優錫命。 開府儀同三司、檢校太師、玄菟州都督、充大義軍使、高麗國王昭，日邊鐘粹，遼左推雄，習箕子之餘風，撫朱蒙之舊俗。 而能占雲候海，奉贄充庭，言念傾輸，實深嘉尚。 是用賜之懿號，疇以公田，載推柔遠之恩，式獎拱辰之志。 於戲！ 來朝萬里，美愛戴之有孚。 柔撫四封，庶混並之無外。 永保東裔，聿承天休。 可加食邑七千戶，仍賜推誠順化保義功臣。」 其年九月，遣使時贊等來貢，涉海，值大風，船破，溺死者七十餘人，贊僅免，詔加勞恤。
In the spring of the fourth year (963), the court issued an edict that read: 'From antiquity sage-kings past and present have ruled the central realm—when did they not seek a single culture and a single path for all lands, spreading their civilizing influence to the four seas? Reflecting on my modest virtue and the great title I have undeservedly received, now that a tributary king has arrived, he deserves a generous grant of honors. Zhao, King of Goryeo, Grand Preceptor of the Palace with Protocol Equal to the Three Dukes, Acting Grand Preceptor, Commander of Xuantu Prefecture, and Commissioner of the Dayi Army—a man of refined excellence from the eastern marches, hailed as a hero in Liaodong, steeped in the civilizing legacy of Jizi and faithful to the ancestral ways of Jumong. He reads the heavens and watches the seas, brings tribute that fills our halls, and shows a wholehearted devotion that we deeply commend. We therefore bestow on him a splendid title and grant him public fiefs, extending our policy of cherishing distant peoples and rewarding his steadfast loyalty to the throne. Ah! He has journeyed ten thousand li to pay court—a devotion both admirable and sincere. May you gently govern your four frontiers, until all are brought within and none remain outside. Guard your eastern realm forever, and so receive Heaven's blessing. He is granted an additional fief income of seven thousand households and the honorific title Meritorious Minister of Sincere Submission, Pacification, and Righteous Guardianship.' That September, envoys led by Shi Zan brought tribute. At sea they met a violent storm; their ship was wrecked and more than seventy men drowned. Zan alone survived, and the emperor issued an edict of consolation and relief.
3
開寶五年，遣使以方物來獻，制加食邑，賜推誠順化守節保義功臣。 進奉使內議侍郎徐熙加檢校兵部尚書，副使內奉卿崔鄴加檢校司農卿並兼御史大夫，判官廣評侍郎康禮試少府少監，錄事廣評員外郎劉隱加檢校尚書、金部郎中，皆厚禮遣之。
In the fifth year of Kaibao (972), Goryeo sent envoys with regional goods. The court increased Zhao's fief income and granted him the title Meritorious Minister of Sincere Submission, Pacification, Integrity, and Righteous Guardianship. Xu Xi, the tribute envoy and Internal Deliberation Vice Commissioner, was promoted to Acting Minister of War; Cui Ye, the vice-envoy and Internal Attendant Director, to Acting Minister of Agriculture with concurrent appointment as Censor-in-Chief; Kang Li, the judge and Broad Evaluation Vice Commissioner, received a probationary post as Vice Director of the Palace Workshops; and Liu Yin, the recorder and Broad Evaluation Outside Gentleman, to Acting Director of the Secretariat and Gentleman of the Gold Bureau. All were dismissed with lavish honors.
4
昭卒，其子伷權領國事。
When Zhao died, his son Chou assumed provisional control of the kingdom.
5
九年，伷遣使趙遵禮奉土貢，以父沒當承襲，來聽朝旨。 授伷檢校太保、玄菟州都督、大義軍使，封高麗國王。
In the ninth year (976), Chou sent Zhao Zunli with local tribute, explaining that with his father's death he was entitled to succeed and had come to seek the Song court's approval. Chou was appointed Acting Grand Guardian, Commander of Xuantu Prefecture, and Commissioner of the Dayi Army, and formally enfeoffed as King of Goryeo.
6
太宗即位，加檢校太傅，改大義軍爲大順軍。 遣左司御副率於延超、司農寺丞徐昭文使其國。 伷遣國人金行成入就學於國子監。
When Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, Chou was promoted to Acting Grand Tutor, and the Dayi Army was renamed the Dashun Army. The court dispatched Yu Yanchao, Vice Commander of the Left Bureau of the Imperial Guard, and Xu Zhaowen, Assistant Director of the Directorate of Agriculture, as envoys to Goryeo. Chou sent a Goryeo subject, Jin Xingcheng, to study at the Imperial University.
7
太平興國二年，遣其子元輔以良馬、方物、兵器來貢。 其年，行成擢進士第。
In the second year of Taiping Xingguo (977), Chou sent his son Yuanfu with fine horses, regional goods, and weapons as tribute. That same year Jin Xingcheng passed the jinshi civil examination.
8
三年，又遣使貢方物、兵器，加伷檢校太師，以太子中允直舍人院張洎、著作郎直史館句中正爲使。
In the third year (978), Goryeo again sent tribute of regional goods and weapons. Chou was promoted to Acting Grand Preceptor, and Zhang Ji, Palace Attendant of the Crown Prince's Household, and Gou Zhongzheng, Gentleman of the Compilation Bureau on duty at the Historiography Institute, were appointed envoys.
9
四年，復遣供奉官、閣門祗候王僎使其國。 五年六月，再遣使貢方物。 六年，又遣使來貢。
In the fourth year (979), Wang Chen, a Tribute Officer and Gate Ushers Attendant, was again sent to Goryeo. In the sixth month of the fifth year (980), Goryeo again sent envoys with regional tribute. In the sixth year (981), envoys came again with tribute.
10
七年，伷卒，其弟治知國事，遣使金全奉金銀線罽錦袍褥、金銀飾刀劍弓矢、名馬、香藥來貢，且求襲位。 授治檢校太保、玄菟州都督，充大順軍使，封高麗國王，以監察御史李巨源、《禮記》博士孔維奉使。
In the seventh year (982), Chou died and his younger brother Zhi took provisional charge of the realm. Zhi sent Jin Quan with gold and silver-thread brocade robes and bedding, ornamented swords, bows, and arrows, fine horses, and aromatics as tribute, and to request formal investiture. Zhi was appointed Acting Grand Guardian, Commander of Xuantu Prefecture, and Commissioner of the Dashun Army, and enfeoffed as King of Goryeo. Li Juyuan, Investigating Censor, and Kong Wei, Erudite of the Book of Rites, were dispatched as envoys.
11
雍熙元年，遣使韓遂齡以方物來貢。 二年，加治檢校太傅，遣翰林侍書王著、侍讀呂文仲充使。
In the first year of Yongxi (984), Goryeo sent Han Suiling with regional goods as tribute. In the second year (985), Zhi was promoted to Acting Grand Tutor, and Wang Zhu, Hanlin Attendant Calligrapher, and Lü Wenzhong, Attendant Reader, were appointed envoys.
12
三年，出師北伐，以其國接契丹境，常爲所侵，遣監察御史韓國華齎詔諭之曰：「朕誕膺丕構，奄宅萬方，華夏蠻貊，罔不率俾。 蠢茲北裔，侵敗王略，幽薊之地，中朝土疆，晉、漢多虞，夤緣盜據。 今國家照臨所及，書軌大同，豈使齊民陷諸獷俗？ 今已董齊師旅，殄滅妖氛。 惟王久慕華風，素懷明略，效忠純之節，撫禮義之邦。 而接彼邊疆，罹於蠆毒，舒泄積憤，其在茲乎！ 可申戒師徒，迭相犄角，協比鄰國，同力蕩平。 奮其一鼓之雄，戡比垂亡之寇，良時不再，王其圖之！ 應俘獲生口、牛羊、財物、器械，並給賜本國將士，用申賞勸。」
In the third year (986), the Song launched a northern campaign. Because Goryeo bordered Khitan territory and was often attacked, Investigating Censor Han Guohua was sent with an edict that read: 'Having received Heaven's great mandate, I rule the myriad realms; from the civilized center to the farthest barbarians, all submit without exception. These foolish northern tribes have violated the imperial domain. You and Ji are lands of the central court; during the disorders of the Later Jin and Later Han they seized the chance to occupy them by force. Now that the empire's light shines everywhere and culture and law are one, how can we leave our people subject to barbarian rule? We have assembled our armies to destroy this evil scourge. You, O King, have long admired Chinese civilization and are known for wise strategy, pure loyalty, and governing a realm of ritual and righteousness. You border their lands and have suffered their poison—surely this is the time to vent the wrath you have long borne! Warn your troops, coordinate pincer attacks, join with neighboring states, and together sweep the enemy away. Strike with one decisive blow, crush a foe already on the verge of collapse—the opportune moment will not return; plan accordingly, O King! All captives, livestock, goods, and weapons taken shall be granted to your officers and soldiers as rewards and encouragement.'
13
先是，契丹伐女真國，路由高麗之界。 女真意高麗誘導構禍，因貢馬來訴於朝，且言高麗與契丹結好，倚爲勢援，剽略其民，不復放還。 洎高麗使韓遂齡入貢，太宗因出女真所上告急木契以示遂齡，仍令歸白本國，還其所俘之民。 治聞之憂懼，及國華至，令人言于國華曰：
Earlier the Khitan had attacked the Jurchen state, marching through Goryeo territory. The Jurchen believed Goryeo had instigated the attack. They sent tribute horses to plead at the Song court, charging that Goryeo had allied with the Khitan, relied on Khitan power, raided Jurchen communities, and refused to return those taken. When Han Suiling came with Goryeo tribute, Taizong showed him the urgent petition the Jurchen had submitted and ordered him to report back to his king to return the captives. Zhi, alarmed at this news, had someone convey the following to Guohua when he arrived:
14
前歲冬末，女真馳木契來告，稱契丹興兵入其封境，恐當道未知，宜豫爲之備。 當道與女真雖爲鄰國，而路途遐遠，彼之情偽，素知之矣，貪而多詐，未之信也。 其後又遣人告曰，契丹兵騎已濟梅河。 當道猶疑不實，未暇營救。 俄而契丹雲集，大擊女真，殺獲甚衆，餘族敗散逃遁，而契丹壓背追捕，及於當道西北德昌、德成、威化、光化之境，俘擒而去。 時有契丹一騎至德米河北，大呼關城戍卒而告曰：「我契丹之騎也，女真寇我邊鄙，率以爲常，今則復仇已畢，整兵回矣。」 當道雖聞師退，猶憂不測，乃以女真避兵來奔二千餘衆，資給而歸之。
Late last winter the Jurchen sent an urgent dispatch reporting that Khitan troops had entered their territory. Fearing we might not know, they urged us to prepare in advance. Though we are neighbors of the Jurchen, the distance is great and we have long known their ways—they are greedy and deceitful—and we did not believe the report. They later sent another message that Khitan cavalry had crossed the Mei River. We still doubted the report and had no time to mount a rescue. Soon Khitan forces gathered in strength and struck the Jurchen hard, killing and capturing many. The survivors fled in defeat while the Khitan pursued them into our northwestern districts of Dechang, Decheng, Weihua, and Guanghua, taking captives away. A lone Khitan rider came to the north bank of the Demi River and shouted to the border garrison: 'We are Khitan horsemen. Jurchen raids on our borders are routine—but our revenge is done and we are withdrawing.' Though we heard the army had withdrawn, we still feared further trouble. More than two thousand Jurchen who had fled the fighting sought refuge with us; we supplied them and sent them home.
15
女真又勸當道控梅河津要，築治城壘，以爲防遏之備，亦以爲然。 方令行視興功，不意女真潛師奄至，殺略吏民，驅掠丁壯，沒爲奴隸，轉徙他方。 以其歲貢中朝，不敢發兵報怨，豈期反相誣構，以惑聖聽。 當道世稟正朔，踐修職貢，敢有二心，交通外國？ 況契丹介居遼海之外，復有大梅、小梅二河之阻，女真、渤海本無定居，從何徑路，以通往復？ 橫罹讒謗，憤氣填膺，日月至明，諒垂昭鑒。
The Jurchen also urged us to hold the strategic Mei River crossing and build fortifications for defense, and we agreed. We had just ordered a survey for construction when Jurchen troops struck by surprise, killing and plundering officials and civilians, seizing able-bodied men as slaves, and carrying them off. Because they send annual tribute to the Song court, we dared not retaliate with troops—yet they have turned around to slander us and mislead Your Majesty. We have for generations acknowledged the imperial calendar and fulfilled tribute duties—would we dare harbor divided loyalty or deal secretly with foreign powers? Moreover the Khitan lie beyond the Liao Sea, blocked further by the Great and Little Mei rivers. The Jurchen and Bohai have no fixed settlements—what path could allow constant traffic between us and the Khitan? We have been slandered without cause and rage fills our hearts—but sun and moon see all, and we trust Your Majesty's clear judgment.
16
間者，女真逃難之衆，罔不存恤，亦有授以官秩，尚在當國，其職位高者有勿屈尼於、舟阝元、尹能達、舟阝老正、衛迦耶夫等十數人。 欲望召赴京闕，與當道入貢之使庭辯其事，則丹石之誠，庶幾昭雪。
Of late we have sheltered every Jurchen refugee who fled here; some even hold official rank in our realm. More than ten of high standing remain with us, including Wuju Niyu, Ye Yuan, Yin Nengda, Ye Laozheng, Wei Jiayefu, and others. We ask that they be summoned to the capital to argue the case in open court alongside our tribute envoy, so that our steadfast loyalty may be vindicated.
17
國華諾之，乃命發兵西會。 治遷延未即奉詔，國華屢督之，得報發兵而還，具錄女真之事以奏焉。 十月，遣使朝貢，又遣本國學生崔罕、王彬詣國子監肄業。
Guohua agreed and ordered Goryeo to send troops west to join the campaign. Zhi delayed obeying the edict. Guohua pressed him repeatedly until word came that troops had been dispatched, then returned and memorialized the full account of the Jurchen affair. In the tenth month, Goryeo sent tribute envoys to court and dispatched students Cui Han and Wang Bin to study at the Imperial University.
18
端拱元年，加治檢校太尉，以考功員外郎兼侍御史知雜呂端、起居舍人呂祐之爲使。
In the first year of Duangong (988), Zhi was promoted to Acting Grand Commandant. Lü Duan, Outside Gentleman of the Merit Evaluation Bureau and Concurrent Investigating Censor in Charge of Miscellaneous Affairs, and Lü Youzhi, Attendance Gentleman, were appointed envoys.
19
二年，遣使來貢，詔其使選官侍郎韓藺卿、副使兵官郎中魏德柔並授金紫光祿大夫，判官少府丞李光授檢校水部員外郎。 先是，治遣僧如可齎表來覲，請《大藏經》，至是賜之，仍賜如可紫衣，令同歸本國。
In the second year (989), envoys came with tribute. The court granted Han Linqing, the envoy and Selection Office Vice Commissioner, and Wei Derou, the vice-envoy and Military Affairs Bureau Director, the title Grandee of Splendid Happiness with Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon, and Li Guang, the judge and Palace Workshops Assistant Director, Acting Outside Gentleman of the Water Bureau. Earlier Zhi had sent the monk Ruke with a memorial to court requesting the Buddhist canon. It was now granted, Ruke was given purple robes, and he was sent home with the envoys.
20
淳化元年三月，詔加治食邑千戶，遣戶部郎中柴成務、兵部員外郎直史館趙化成往使。 其國俗信陰陽鬼神之事，頗多拘忌，每朝廷使至，必擇良月吉辰，方具禮受詔。 成務在館逾月，乃遺書於治曰：「王奕葉藩輔，尊獎王室，凡行大慶，首被徽章。 今國家特馳信使，以申殊寵，非止曆川塗之綿邈，亦復蹈溟海之艱危，皇朝眷遇，斯亦隆矣。 而乃牽於禁忌，泥于卜數，眩惑日者之浮說，稽緩天子之命書。 惟典冊之垂文，非卜祝之能曉，是以《書》稱上日，不推六甲之元辰； 《禮》載仲冬，但取一陽之嘉會。 粲然古訓，足以明稽，所宜改圖，速拜君賜。 儻鳳綍無滯，克彰拱極之誠； 則龍節有輝，免貽辱命之責。 謹以誠告，王其聽之。」 治覽書慚懼，遣人致謝焉。 會霖雨不止，仍以俟霽爲請。 成務復遺書以責之，治翌日乃出拜命。
In the third month of the first year of Chunhua (990), the court increased Zhi's fief by one thousand households and dispatched Chai Chengwu, Director of the Revenue Bureau, and Zhao Huacheng, Outside Gentleman of the War Bureau on duty at the Historiography Institute, as envoys. Goryeo custom placed great faith in yin-yang lore and spirits, with many taboos. Whenever a Song envoy arrived, the king would wait for an auspicious day before holding the ceremony to receive the imperial edict. After more than a month in the guesthouse, Chengwu wrote to Zhi: 'Your house has for generations served as a feudal ally, honoring the throne. On every great occasion you are the first to receive imperial honors. The court has now sent envoys expressly to show you special favor—not only crossing vast distances by land, but braving the dangers of the sea. The dynasty's regard for you could hardly be greater. Yet you are held back by taboos, bogged down in divination, misled by astrologers' empty talk, and keep delaying the Son of Heaven's edict. Canonical texts, not diviners, set the standard. The Documents speaks of choosing 'the superior day' without calculating the sexagenary cycle; and the Rites records mid-winter ceremonies, taking only the auspicious moment when yang first returns. These ancient teachings are clear enough. You should change course and promptly receive the Son of Heaven's gift. If you do not delay the imperial edict, you will show your loyalty to the throne; then our mission will shine, and you will spare us the disgrace of failing our charge. I offer this sincere counsel—please heed it, O King.' Zhi, reading the letter, was ashamed and alarmed, and sent someone to apologize. Heavy rains continued, and he again asked to wait for clear skies. Chengwu wrote again to rebuke him, and the next day Zhi came out to receive the edict.
21
二年，遣使韓彥恭來貢。 彥恭表述治意，求印佛經，詔以《藏經》並御制《秘藏詮》、《逍遙詠》、《蓮華心輪》賜之。
In the second year (991), Goryeo sent Han Yangong with tribute. Yangong conveyed Zhi's request for printed Buddhist scriptures. The court granted the canon along with the emperor's own works Secret Canon Exegesis, Roaming Chants, and Lotus Heart Wheel.
22
四年正月，治遣使白思柔貢方物並謝賜經及御制。 二月，遣秘書丞直史館陳靖、秘書丞劉式爲使，加治檢校太師，仍降詔存問軍吏耆老。 靖等自東牟趣八角海口，得思柔所乘海船及高麗水工，即登舟自芝岡島順風泛大海，再宿抵甕津口登陸，行百六十里抵高麗之境曰海州，又百里至閻州，又四十里至白州，又四十里至其國。 治迎使於郊，盡藩臣禮，延留靖等七十餘日而還，遺以襲衣、金帶、金銀器數百兩、布三萬餘端，附表稱謝。
In the first month of the fourth year (993), Zhi sent Bai Sirou with regional goods to thank the court for the canon and imperial writings. In the second month, Chen Jing, Secretariat Assistant Director on duty at the Historiography Institute, and Liu Shi, Secretariat Assistant Director, were dispatched as envoys. Zhi was promoted to Acting Grand Preceptor, and an edict was issued to inquire after his officers and elders. Jing's party left Dongmou for Bajiao Harbor, took Sirou's ship and Goryeo sailors, and from Zhigang Island sailed with a fair wind across the open sea. After two nights they landed at Wengjin Harbor, traveled one hundred sixty li to the Goryeo border district of Haizhou, then a hundred li to Yanzhou, forty li to Baizhou, and forty li more to the capital. Zhi welcomed them in the suburbs with full ceremony befitting a feudatory, kept them more than seventy days, then sent them home with ceremonial robes, gold belts, several hundred taels of gold and silver vessels, and more than thirty thousand bolts of cloth, together with a memorial of thanks.
23
先是，三年，上親試諸道貢舉人，詔賜高麗賓貢進士王彬、崔罕等及第，既授以官，遣還本國。 至是，靖等使回，治上表謝曰：「學生王彬、崔罕等入朝習業，蒙恩並賜及第，授將仕郎、守秘書省校書郎，仍放歸本國。 竊以當道薦修貢奉，多曆歲年，蓋以上國天高，遐荒海隔，不獲躬趨金闕，面叩玉階，唯深拱極之誠，莫展來庭之禮。 彬、罕等幼從匏系，嗟混跡於嵎夷； 不憚蓬飄，早賓王於天邑。 縕袍短褐，玉粒桂薪，堪憂食貧，若爲卒歲。 皇帝陛下天慈照毓，海量優容，豐其館穀之資，勖以藝文之業。 去歲高懸軒鑒，大選魯儒，彬、罕接武澤宮，敢萌心於中鵠； 濫巾英域，空有志於羨魚。 陛下以其萬里辭家，十年觀國，俾登名于桂籍，仍命秩於芸台； 憫其懷土之心，慰以倚門之望，別垂宸旨，令歸故鄉。 玄造曲成，鴻恩莫報，臣不勝感天戴聖之至。」
Earlier, in the third year (992), the emperor personally examined tribute candidates from all circuits and granted the Goryeo students Wang Bin and Cui Han passage in the jinshi examination. After appointing them to office, the court sent them home. When Jing returned, Zhi submitted a memorial of thanks: 'Our students Wang Bin and Cui Han came to court to study. Your Majesty graciously granted them the jinshi degree and appointed them Junior Gentleman and Acting Collator of the Secretariat, then allowed them to return home. Our realm has sent tribute for many years, but the Son of Heaven sits high above and our distant land lies across the sea. We cannot ourselves hurry to the golden palace or kneel before the jade steps—we can only bow toward the throne in spirit, never perform the rite of attending court in person. Bin and Han, bound from youth to our distant realm, had long resigned themselves to life at the edge of the world; yet without fearing the wanderer's hardships they came early as guests to the celestial capital. In worn robes and coarse clothes, with plain grain and firewood for fuel, they lived in poverty and wondered how they would survive the year. Your Majesty's heavenly kindness nourished them, your ocean-like forbearance embraced them, you enriched their lodging and provisions, and encouraged their literary studies. Last year Your Majesty held the great examination. Bin and Han entered the competition alongside the scholars of the capital and dared hope to hit the mark; they took their place among the empire's finest scholars, though they scarcely dared hope for success. Your Majesty, seeing that they had left home ten thousand li and studied in the capital for ten years, placed their names on the jinshi rolls and appointed them to the Secretariat; pitied their longing for home and the parents waiting at their gates, and specially decreed that they return to their homeland. Heaven's design has favored us beyond measure; such grace cannot be repaid. Your servant is overcome with gratitude to Heaven and to Your sacred person.'
24
又有張仁銓者，進奉使白思柔之孔目吏也，上書獻便宜。 思柔意其持國陰事以告，仁銓懼不敢歸。 上命靖等領以還國，仍詔治釋仁銓罪。 治又上表謝曰：「官告國信使陳靖、劉式至，奉傳聖旨，以當道進奉使從行孔目官張仁銓至闕，輒進便宜，翻懷憂懼，今附使臣帶歸本國者。 仁銓嵎宅細民，海門賤吏，獲趨上國，敢貢愚誠，罔思狂瞽之尤，輒奏權宜之事，妄塵旒冕，上黷朝廷。 今者，仰奉綸言，釋其罪罟。 小人趨利，豈虞僭越之求，聖主寬恩，遠降哀矜之命。 其張仁銓者已依詔旨放罪，令掌事如故。」 又上言願賜板本《九經》書，用敦儒教，許之。
There was also Zhang Renquan, a clerical officer attached to the tribute envoy Bai Sirou, who submitted a memorial with policy recommendations. Sirou suspected he had disclosed state secrets, and Renquan, fearing punishment, dared not return home. The emperor ordered Jing to escort him home and issued an edict to Zhi to pardon Renquan. Zhi submitted another memorial of thanks: 'Imperial envoys Chen Jing and Liu Shi have arrived bearing Your decree regarding Zhang Renquan, the clerk who accompanied our tribute mission. He came to court and submitted recommendations, then feared reprisal. He is now returning with your envoys to our country. Renquan was a commoner of secluded household status and a lowly officer at Haimen. Gaining access to the imperial court, he dared offer his humble counsel without reflecting on the recklessness of his presumption, rashly submitting policy proposals that defiled Your Majesty's presence and offended the court. Now, receiving Your gracious edict from above, his bonds of guilt are loosed. A petty man chases gain—who could have foreseen his overreaching? Yet the sage ruler's mercy reaches from afar, bestowing a command of compassion and pardon. Zhang Renquan has been pardoned according to the edict and restored to his former duties.' He also petitioned for block-printed copies of the Nine Classics to advance Confucian learning; the request was granted.
25
先是，式等復命，治遣使元證衍送之，證衍至安香浦口，值風損船，溺所齎物。 詔登州給證衍文據遣還，仍賜治衣段二百匹、銀器二百兩、羊五十口。
Earlier, when Liu Shi and the others returned to report, Zhi sent the envoy Yuan Zhengyan to escort them home. Zhengyan reached Anxiang Harbor, where a storm damaged the ship and everything he carried was lost at sea. The court ordered Deng Prefecture to issue Zhengyan travel documents for his return and additionally bestowed on Zhi two hundred bolts of silk, two hundred taels of silverware, and fifty sheep.
26
五年六月，遣使元郁來乞師，訴以契丹寇境。 朝廷以北鄙甫寧，不可輕動干戈，爲國生事，但賜詔慰撫，厚禮其使遣還。 自是受制於契丹，朝貢中絕。
In the sixth month of the fifth year, he sent the envoy Yuan Yu to request military aid, reporting that the Khitan were invading his borders. The court judged that the northern frontier had only just settled and that arms must not be lightly moved to stir trouble for the realm. They issued only a consoling edict, treated the envoy with generous gifts, and sent him home. From this point Goryeo fell under Khitan control, and tribute missions to the Song ceased.
27
治卒，弟誦立。 嘗遣兵校徐遠來候朝廷德音，遠久不至。
Zhi died, and his younger brother Song succeeded him. He once dispatched the military officer Xu Yuan to await the court's gracious edict, but Yuan was long delayed and never arrived.
28
咸平三年，其臣吏部侍郎趙之遴命牙將朱仁紹至登州偵之，州將以聞，上特召見仁紹。 因自陳國人思慕皇化，爲契丹羈制之狀，乃賜誦函詔一道，令仁紹齎還。
In the third year of Xianping (1000), his minister Zhao Zhili, Vice Director of the Ministry of Personnel, sent the junior officer Zhu Renshao to Deng Prefecture to reconnoiter. The prefect reported this, and the emperor personally summoned Renshao for an audience. Renshao then described how the people yearned for the Song's civilizing influence and how they were constrained by the Khitan. The emperor bestowed on Song a sealed edict and ordered Renshao to carry it home.
29
六年，誦遣使戶部郎中李宣古來朝謝恩，且言：「晉割燕薊以屬契丹，遂有路趣玄菟，屢來攻伐，求取不已，乞王師屯境上爲之牽制。」 詔書優答之。
In the sixth year, Song sent the envoy Li Xuanggu, Vice Director of the Ministry of Revenue, to court to express gratitude, reporting: 'When the Jin ceded Yan and Ji to the Khitan, a route opened toward Xuantu. They have attacked again and again, demanding more without end. We beg that Your armies camp on the border to hold them in check.' The court issued a gracious written reply.
30
誦卒，弟詢權知國事。 先是，契丹既襲高麗，遂築六城曰興州、曰鐵州、曰通州、曰龍州、曰龜州、曰郭州於境上。 契丹以爲貳己，遣使來求六城，詢不許。 遂舉兵，奄至城下，焚蕩宮室，剽劫居人，詢徙居升羅州以避之。 兵退，乃遣使請和。 契丹堅以六城爲辭，自是調兵守六城。
Song died, and his younger brother Xun assumed provisional control of state affairs. Earlier, after the Khitan had attacked Goryeo, they built six fortified cities on the border: Xing, Tie, Tong, Long, Gui, and Guo. The Khitan regarded this as disloyalty and sent envoys to demand the six cities. Xun refused. The Khitan then raised an army that swept to the walls, burned the palaces, and plundered the populace. Xun relocated to Shengluo Prefecture to escape them. When the army withdrew, he sent envoys to sue for peace. The Khitan insisted on the six cities as the price of peace and thereafter stationed troops to hold them.
31
大中祥符三年，大舉來伐，詢與女真設奇邀擊，殺契丹殆盡。 詢又於鴨綠江東築城，與來遠城相望，跨江爲橋，潛兵以固新城。
In the third year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1010), the Khitan launched a major invasion. Xun allied with the Jurchen to ambush them and killed nearly the entire Khitan force. Xun also built a city east of the Yalu River opposite Laiyuan, spanning the river with a bridge and stationing troops in secret to fortify the new city.
32
七年，方遣告奏使御事工部侍郎尹證古以金線織成龍鳳鞍並繡龍鳳鞍襆各二幅、細馬二匹、散馬二十匹來貢。 證古還，賜詢詔書七通並衣帶、銀彩、鞍勒馬等。
In the seventh year, he was sending the memorial envoy Yin Zhenggu, Vice Director of Works under the Sovereign's Service, bearing two gold-thread-woven dragon-phoenix saddles, two embroidered dragon-phoenix saddle cushions, two fine horses, and twenty ordinary horses as tribute. When Zhenggu returned, Xun received seven imperial edicts along with robes, belts, silver brocade, saddled horses, and other gifts.
33
八年，詔登州置館於海次以待使者。 其年，又遣御事民官侍郎郭元來貢。 元自言：「本國城無垣牆，府曰開城，管六縣，民不下三五千。 有州軍百餘，置十路轉運司統之。 每州管縣五六，小者亦三四，每縣戶三四百。 國境南北千五百里，東西二千里。 軍民雜處，隸軍者不黥面。 方午爲市，不用錢，第以布米貿易。 地宜粳稻，風俗頗類中國。 無羊、兔、橐駝、水牛、驢。 氣候少寒，暑差多。 有僧，無道士。 民家器皿，悉銅爲之。 樂有二品：曰唐樂，曰鄉樂。 三歲一試舉人，有進士、諸科、算學，每試百餘人，登第者不過一二十。 每正月一日、五月五日祭祖禰廟。 又正月七日，家爲王母像戴之。 二月望，僧俗燃燈如中國上元節。 上巳日，以青艾染餅爲盤羞之冠。 端午有秋千之戲。 士女服尚素。 地產龍須席、藤席、白︴紙、鼠狼尾筆。」 元辭貌恭恪，每受宴賜，必自爲謝表，粗有文采，朝廷待之亦厚。 九年，辭還，賜詢詔書七函，襲衣、金帶、器幣、鞍馬及經史、曆日、《聖惠方》等。 元又請錄《國朝登科記》及所賜御詩以歸，從之。
In the eighth year, the court ordered Deng Prefecture to establish a guest lodge on the coast to receive envoys. That same year he again sent Guo Yuan, Vice Director of Civil Affairs under the Sovereign's Service, with tribute. Guo Yuan reported: 'Our capital has no city walls. The seat of government is called Kaesong, administering six counties with no more than three to five thousand inhabitants. The realm has more than a hundred prefectures and military districts, governed by ten circuit transport commissioners. Each prefecture administers five or six counties—smaller ones three or four—with three to four hundred households per county. The realm measures fifteen hundred li north to south and two thousand li east to west. Soldiers and civilians live intermingled. Those enrolled in the army are not tattooed on the face. Markets open at noon. They use no currency, trading only in cloth and grain. The land is suited to japonica rice, and customs closely resemble those of China. There are no sheep, rabbits, camels, water buffalo, or donkeys. The climate is mild, with little cold and rather more heat. There are Buddhist monks but no Daoist priests. Household utensils are all made of copper. Music falls into two categories: Tang music and native music. Every three years the civil examinations are held, with jinshi, specialized categories, and mathematical study. Each session draws more than a hundred candidates, but no more than ten or twenty pass. On the first day of the first month and the fifth day of the fifth month they sacrifice at the ancestral temple to father and grandfather. On the seventh day of the first month, each household fashions an image of the Queen Mother and wears it. On the fifteenth of the second month, monks and laypeople light lamps as in China's Lantern Festival. On the Shangsi festival, they dye cakes with green mugwort to crown the ceremonial food tray. At the Dragon Boat Festival they play on swings. Men and women favor plain, undyed clothing. Local products include dragon-whisker mats, rattan mats, mulberry paper, and sable-tail brushes.' Guo Yuan was respectful and deferential in manner. Whenever he received a banquet gift, he composed his own thank-you memorial, showing modest literary skill. The court treated him generously as well. In the ninth year, on his departure, Xun received seven caskets of edicts, investiture robes, a gold belt, ritual vessels, saddled horses, the Classics and histories, calendars, the Imperial Grace Formulary, and other gifts. Guo Yuan also requested copies of the Records of Jinshi Graduates of Our Dynasty and the imperial poems he had received, to carry home. His request was granted.
34
天禧元年，遣御事刑官侍郎徐訥奉表獻方物於崇政殿，又賀封建壽春郡王。
In the first year of Tianxi (1017), he sent Xu Ne, Vice Director of Penal Affairs under the Sovereign's Service, to present a memorial and tribute at Chongzheng Hall and to congratulate the enfeoffment of the Prince of Shouchun.
35
三年九月，登州言高麗進奉使禮賓卿崔元信至秦王水口，遭風覆舟，漂失貢物，詔遣內臣撫之。 十一月，元信等入見，貢罽錦衣褥、烏漆甲、金飾長刀匕首、罽錦鞍馬、紵布藥物等，又進中布二千端，求佛經一藏。 詔賜經還布，以元信覆溺匱乏，別賜衣服、繒彩焉。 明州、登州屢言高麗海船有風漂至境上者，詔令存問，給度海糧遣還，仍爲著例。
In the ninth month of the third year, Deng Prefecture reported that the Goryeo tribute envoy Cui Yuanxin, Director of Ceremonies, had reached Qinwangshui Harbor when a storm capsized his boat and the tribute goods were lost. The court dispatched an inner attendant to console them. In the eleventh month, Yuanxin and his party were received in audience, presenting felt brocade robes and coverlets, black lacquer armor, gold-decorated long knives and daggers, felt brocade saddled horses, ramie cloth, medicines, and other goods. They also offered two thousand bolts of medium-grade cloth and requested a complete Buddhist canon. The court granted the sutras and returned the cloth. Because Yuanxin had been shipwrecked and was destitute, additional robes and silks were bestowed separately. Ming and Deng prefectures repeatedly reported Goryeo ships blown by storms into Song waters. The court ordered officials to inquire after their welfare, provide provisions for the sea crossing, and send them home—establishing this as a standing regulation.
36
五年，詢遣告奏使御事禮部侍郎韓祚等一百七十九人來謝恩，且言與契丹修好，又表乞陰陽地理書、《聖惠方》，並賜之。
In the fifth year, Xun sent the memorial envoy Han Zuo, Vice Director of Rites under the Sovereign's Service, with 179 others to express gratitude and report that peace had been made with the Khitan. They also requested books on yin-yang and geography and the Imperial Grace Formulary—all of which were granted.
37
金行成者，累官至殿中丞，治表乞放還。 行成自以筮仕朝廷，不願歸本國。 又以父母垂老，在海外旦暮思念，恨祿不及，令工圖其像置正寢，與妻史氏居旁室，晨夕定省上食，未嘗少懈。 淳化初，通判安州。 被病，知州李範與僚佐數人省之，行成病已篤，泣且言曰：「行成外國人，爲朝官，佐郡政，病且死，未有以報主恩，雖瞑目固有遺恨。 二子宗敏、宗訥皆幼，家素貧，無他親可依，旦暮委溝壑矣。」 未幾，行成死，其妻養二子，誓不嫁，織履以給。 範表其事，詔以宗敏補太廟齋郎，令安州月給其家錢三緡、米五斛，長吏歲時存問。
Kim Haengseong had risen through many offices to Defender of the Hall. Zhi memorialized requesting permission for him to return home. Haengseong himself, having entered Song service through the tribute-scholar path, did not wish to return to Goryeo. His parents were elderly in Goryeo, and he longed for them morning and night, grieving that his salary could not reach them. He had artisans paint their portraits and placed them in the main chamber. He and his wife Lady Shi lived in a side room, performing obeisance and offering food morning and evening without ever slackening. At the beginning of the Chunhua era, he served as vice administrative commissioner of An Prefecture. He fell ill. Prefect Li Fan and several staff members visited him. Haengseong was gravely ill and wept as he spoke: 'I am a foreigner who became a court official and assisted in governing this prefecture. Sick and dying, I have no way to repay the ruler's grace. Even in death, regret will remain. My two sons Zongmin and Zongne are still young. Our family has always been poor, with no other kin to rely on. Soon they will be cast into ditches and gullies.' Before long Haengseong died. His wife raised the two sons, vowed never to remarry, and wove shoes to support them. Li Fan memorialized the matter. The court appointed Zongmin as Junior Attendant at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, ordered An Prefecture to grant the family three strings of cash and five piculs of grain each month, and directed the prefect to visit them at the seasons.
38
又高麗信州永甯人康戩，字休祐，父允，三世爲兵部侍郎。 戩少好學，時紇升與契丹交兵，戩從允戰木葉山下，連中二矢，神色不變。 後陷契丹，遁居墨斗嶺，又至黃龍府，間道得歸高麗，時允猶在。 開寶中，允遣戩隨賓貢肄業國學。 太平興國五年，登進士第，解褐大理評事，知湘鄉縣，再遷著作佐朗，知江陰軍、江州。 曆官以清白乾力聞，改太常博士。 蘇易簡在翰林，稱其吏才，命爲廣南西路轉運副使，賜緋魚，就遷正使，再轉度支員外郎、戶部判官。 出知峽、越二州，連被詔褒其能政。 又爲京西轉運使，加工部郎中，賜金紫。 戩所至好行事，上章多建白，以竭誠自任。 景德三年，卒，真宗特以其子希齡爲太常寺奉禮郎，給奉終喪。
There was also Kang Jian of Yongning in Sin Prefecture, Goryeo, courtesy name Xiuyou. His father Yun had served as Vice Director of the Ministry of War for three generations. Jian loved learning from youth. When Goryeo and the Khitan were at war, he followed Yun into battle below Muyeok Mountain and was struck twice by arrows without changing expression. Later captured by the Khitan, he escaped to Ink Dipper Ridge, then reached Huanglong Prefecture, and by a secret route made his way back to Goryeo while Yun was still alive. During the Kaibao era, Yun sent Jian to accompany the tribute scholars to study at the National University. In the fifth year of Taiping Xingguo (980) he passed the jinshi examination, was appointed Assistant Making Judgments at the Court of Judicial Review, and governed Xiangxiang County. He was later promoted to Assistant Author at the Palace Library and governed Jiangyin Military Prefecture and Jiangzhou. Through successive offices he was known for integrity and capability and was appointed Erudite at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Su Yijian at the Hanlin Academy praised his administrative talent and had him appointed Vice Transport Commissioner of the Guangnan West Circuit with scarlet fish tokens. He was promoted in place to chief commissioner, then to Vice Director of Revenue in the outer office and Bureau of Revenue Judge. He was sent out to govern Xia and Yue prefectures and repeatedly received imperial edicts praising his capable administration. He was again made Transport Commissioner of the Jingxi Circuit, promoted to Ministry of Works Director, and granted gold and purple insignia. Wherever Jian served he was eager to act. His memorials to the throne were full of constructive proposals, and he took complete dedication as his personal charge. In the third year of Jingde (1006) he died. Emperor Zhenzong specially appointed his son Xiling as Junior Master of Ceremonies at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices with salary granted through the mourning period.
39
乾興元年二月，祚等辭歸國，賜詢如故事。 會真宗晏駕，又齎遺物以賜詢。
In the second month of the first year of Qianxing (1022), Han Zuo and his party took leave to return home. Xun received gifts according to precedent. It happened that Emperor Zhenzong had passed away, and they also carried heirlooms from the late emperor to bestow on Xun.
40
天聖八年，詢復遣御事民官侍郎元穎等二百九十三人奉表入見於長春殿，貢金器、銀罽刀劍、鞍勒馬、香油、人參、細布、銅器、硫黃、青鼠皮等物。 明年二月辭歸，賜予有差，遣使護送至登州。 其後絕不通中國者四十三年。
In the eighth year of Tiansheng (1030), Xun again sent Yuan Ying, Vice Director of Civil Affairs under the Sovereign's Service, with 293 others to present a memorial and enter audience at Changchun Hall, offering gold vessels, silver felt, knives, swords, saddled horses, sesame oil, ginseng, fine cloth, copper vessels, sulfur, sable pelts, and other goods. In the second month of the following year they took leave to return. Gifts were granted according to rank, and envoys were dispatched to escort them to Deng Prefecture. After this, contact with China ceased for forty-three years.
41
詢孫徽嗣立，是爲文王。
Xun's grandson Hui succeeded him and is known as King Mun.
42
熙寧二年，其國禮賓省移牒福建轉運使羅拯云：「本朝商人黃真、洪萬來稱，運使奉密旨，令招接通好。 奉國王旨意，形於部述。 當國僻居暘谷，邈戀天朝，頃從祖禰以來，素願梯航相繼。 蕞爾平壤，邇於大遼，附之則爲睦鄰，疏之則爲勍敵。 慮邊騷之弗息，蓄陸詟以靡遑。 久困羈縻，難圖攜貳，故違述職，致有積年。 屢卜雲祥，雖美聖辰於中國； 空知日遠，如迷舊路于長安。 運屬垂鴻，禮稽展慶。 大朝化覃無外，度豁包荒，山不謝乎纖埃，海不辭於支派。 謹當遵尋通道，遄赴稿街，但茲千里之傳聞，恐匪重霄之紆眷。 今以公狀附真、萬西遷，俟得報音，即備禮朝貢。」 徽又自言嘗夢至中華，作詩紀其事。 三年，拯以聞，朝廷議者亦謂可結之以謀契丹，神宗許焉，命拯諭以供擬腆厚之意。 徽遂遣民官侍郎金悌等百十人來，詔待之如夏國使。
In the second year of Xining (1069), Goryeo's Directorate of Ceremonies sent a dispatch to Fujian Transport Commissioner Luo Cheng stating: 'Our merchants Huang Zhen and Hong Wan report that the transport commissioner received a secret decree ordering them to restore friendly relations. In accordance with the king's command, this is set forth in our memorial. Our state lies remote in the eastern sunlands, yet yearns for the Celestial Court. Since our forefathers' time we have always wished that embassies by sea might continue in succession. Our small realm of Pyongyang lies close to Great Liao. Draw near and we have a friendly neighbor; keep distant and we face a formidable enemy. Fearing unceasing border troubles, we amassed forces on land until we had no leisure for anything else. Long constrained by tributary obligations to Liao, we could not contemplate divided loyalties. Thus we neglected our reporting duties, and the years have accumulated. Again and again we read auspicious omens in the clouds—omens that blessed the sacred reign in China; yet in vain we knew the sun was far away, as though lost on the old road to Chang'an. Now fortune aligns with the great swan descending; rites must be observed to unfold our celebration. The Great Court's civilizing influence extends without exclusion; its magnanimity embraces the wilds. Mountains do not refuse the finest dust; seas do not reject the smallest stream. We shall strictly follow the established route and hasten to present ourselves—but this report from a thousand li away may not match the multilayered heavens' gracious attention. We now send this official letter with Zhen and Wan traveling westward. Upon receiving your reply, we shall prepare ritual tribute. Hui also reported that he had once dreamed of reaching China and composed a poem to commemorate it. In the third year, Luo Cheng reported the dispatch. Court officials argued that an alliance with Goryeo could be used against the Khitan. Emperor Shenzong agreed and ordered Cheng to convey the court's intent to supply and bestow gifts generously. Hui then sent Kim Ti, Vice Director of Civil Affairs, with more than 110 others. The court ordered they be received with the same honors as envoys from Western Xia.
43
往時高麗人往反皆自登州，七年，遣其臣金良鑒來言，欲遠契丹，乞改塗由明州詣闕，從之。 郡縣供頓無舊准，頗擾民，詔立式頒下，費悉官給。 又以其不邇華言，恐規利者私與交關，令所至禁止。 徽問遺二府甚厚，詔以付市易務售縑帛答之。 又表求醫藥、畫塑之工以教國人，詔羅拯募願行者。
Formerly Goryeo envoys had all traveled through Deng Prefecture. In the seventh year, Hui sent his minister Kim Yangjian to request a route avoiding Khitan territory, asking to travel through Ming Prefecture to reach court. The request was granted. County provisions for hosting envoys had no established standard and greatly burdened the populace. The court established regulations and promulgated them, with all expenses paid from state funds. Because the envoys did not understand Chinese, the court also feared that profiteers might engage in private dealings with them and ordered such contact prohibited wherever they traveled. Hui sent lavish inquiries and gifts to the Two Offices. The court ordered the items consigned to the Market Exchange Office, which sold silk and satin to reciprocate. He also petitioned for physicians, pharmacists, and masters of painting and sculpture to teach his people. The court ordered Luo Zhen to recruit volunteers.
44
九年，復遣崔思訓來，命中貴人仿都亭西驛例治館，待之寢厚，其使來者亦益多。 嘗獻伶官十餘輩，曰：「夷樂無足觀，止欲潤色國史爾。」 帝以其國尚文，每賜書詔，必選詞臣著撰而擇其善者。
In the ninth year, Hui again sent Cui Sihun. The court ordered palace eunuchs to build a guesthouse on the model of the Western Hostel at Duting and treated the mission with increasing generosity. Envoys from Goryeo thereafter came in ever greater numbers. On one occasion he presented more than ten musicians, explaining: 'Barbarian music is hardly worth watching; we only wish to enrich our national chronicles.' Because Goryeo prized literary culture, whenever the Emperor issued written edicts he had literary officials draft several versions and chose the best.
45
二年，遣王舜封挾醫往診治。 徽又使柳洪來謝，海中遇風，失所貢物。 洪上章自劾，敕書安慰。 尋獻日本所造車，曰：「諸侯不貢車服，故不敢與土貢同進。」 前此貢物至。 輒下有司估直，償以萬縑，至是命勿復估，以萬縑爲定數。
In the second year, the court dispatched Wang Shunfeng with physicians to treat the king. Hui also sent Liu Hong to express gratitude, but at sea they met a storm and lost the tribute goods. Hong submitted a memorial accusing himself of failure. The Emperor replied with an edict of reassurance. Soon afterward he presented a carriage made in Japan, explaining: 'Feudal lords do not offer carriages and regalia as tribute, so we did not dare submit this together with our regular local tribute.' Previously, whenever tribute goods arrived, the court had always ordered the relevant offices to appraise them and pay compensation of ten thousand bolts of silk. Now the court ordered that appraisals cease and fixed ten thousand bolts as the standard payment.
46
六年，徽卒，在位三十八年，治尚仁恕，爲東夷良主。 然猶循其俗，王女不下嫁臣庶，必歸之兄弟，宗族貴臣亦然。 次子運諫，以爲既通上國，宜以禮革故習。 徽怒，斥之於外。 訃聞，天子閔焉，詔明州修浮屠供一月，遣楊景略、王舜封祭奠，錢勰、宋球吊慰。 景略辟李之儀書狀，帝以之儀文稱不著，宜得問學博洽、器宇整秀者召赴中書，試以文乃遣。 又以遠服不責其備，諭使者以相見之所殿名、鴟吻，皆聽勿避。
In the sixth year, Hui died. He had ruled thirty-eight years, governing with benevolence and forbearance, and was accounted a worthy sovereign among the eastern peoples. Yet he still followed their custom whereby royal daughters did not marry commoners or officials but were given in marriage to brothers, and the great clans observed the same practice. His second son Yun remonstrated, arguing that since they were now linked to the imperial court they ought to reform this old custom in accordance with proper ritual. Hui was enraged and banished him from the realm. When word of his death arrived, the Emperor mourned him. An edict ordered Ming Prefecture to sponsor Buddhist offerings for a month and dispatched Yang Jinglüe and Wang Shunfeng to offer condolences, with Qian Wei and Song Qiu to convey the court's sympathy. Jinglüe engaged Li Zhiyi as his secretary, but the Emperor judged Zhiyi's literary reputation insufficient and ordered that a scholar of broad learning and dignified bearing be summoned to the Secretariat for a literary examination before the mission could depart. Because Goryeo was a distant tributary, the court also waived strict ceremonial requirements, instructing the envoys that at audience halls they need not avoid tabooed names or architectural ornaments such as owl-tail roof figures.
47
徽子順王勳嗣，百日卒。 弟宣王運嗣。 運仁賢好文，內行飭備，每賈客市書至，則潔服焚香對之。
Hui's son Xun, titled Shun Wang, succeeded him but died within a hundred days. His younger brother Yun, titled Xuan Wang, then took the throne. Yun was benevolent, worthy, and devoted to letters; his private conduct was exacting. Whenever merchants brought books for sale, he would bathe, change his garments, and burn incense before opening them.
48
八年，遣其弟僧統來朝，求問佛法並獻經像。
In the eighth year, he sent his younger brother, the monk Tong, to court to seek instruction in Buddhist doctrine and to present sutras and images.
49
哲宗立，遣使金上琦奉慰，林暨致賀，請市刑法之書、《太平御覽》、《開寶通禮》、《文苑英華》。 詔惟賜《文苑英華》一書，以名馬、錦綺、金帛報其禮。
When Emperor Zhezong took the throne, Goryeo sent Jin Shangqi with condolences and Lin Ji with congratulations, requesting permission to buy works on penal law, the Taiping Imperial Reader, the Kaibao Comprehensive Rites, and the Literary Garden Anthology. The court granted only the Literary Garden Anthology and reciprocated their courtesy with fine horses, brocades, gold, and silks.
50
運立四年卒，子懷王堯嗣。 未閱歲，以病不能爲國，國人請其叔父雞林公熙攝政。 未幾堯卒，熙乃立，凡數歲使不至。
Yun died after four years on the throne. His son Yao, titled Huai Wang, succeeded him. Before a year had passed, Yao fell ill and could not rule. The people asked his uncle Xi, Duke of Cocklin, to govern as regent. Soon Yao died and Xi assumed the throne himself. For several years no envoys came to court.
51
元祐四年，其王子義天使僧壽介至杭州祭亡僧，言國母使持二金塔爲兩宮壽，知州蘇軾奏卻之，語在《軾傳》。 熙後避遼主諱，改名顒。 顒性貪吝，好奪商賈利，富室犯法，輒久縻責贖，雖微罪亦輸銀數斤。
In the fourth year of Yuanyou, Prince Yishi sent the monk Shoujie to Hangzhou to perform rites for a deceased monk, claiming that the queen mother had sent two gold pagodas as longevity offerings for the two palaces. Prefect Su Shi memorialized to refuse them; the full account appears in his biography. Xi later avoided the tabooed name of the Liao ruler and changed his name to Yong. Yong was greedy and grasping, ever seizing profit from merchants. When wealthy families ran afoul of the law he would hold them long to extract ransom, and even petty offenses required payment of several jin of silver.
52
五年，復通使，賜銀器五千兩。 七年，遣黃宗愨來獻《黃帝針經》，請市書甚衆。 禮部尚書蘇軾言：「高麗入貢，無絲發利而有五害，今請諸書與收買金箔，皆宜勿許。」 詔許買金箔，然卒市《冊府元龜》以歸。
In the fifth year, diplomatic contact resumed and the court bestowed five thousand liang of silver vessels. In the seventh year, Huang Zongque arrived bearing the Yellow Emperor's Canon of Acupuncture and requested a great many books. Minister of Rites Su Shi argued: 'Goryeo's tribute yields not a thread of profit but five kinds of harm. Their requests for books and for purchasing gold leaf should both be refused.' An edict permitted the purchase of gold leaf, yet the envoys ultimately bought the Prime Tortoise and took it home.
53
元符中，遣士賓貢。
During the Yuanfu era, Goryeo sent scholars as tribute.
54
徽宗立，遣任懿、王嘏來吊賀。
When Emperor Huizong took the throne, Goryeo sent Ren Yi and Wang Jia with condolences and congratulations.
55
崇寧二年，詔戶部侍郎劉逵、給事中吳拭往使。
In the second year of Chongning, the court ordered Vice Minister of Revenue Liu Kui and Vice Director Wu Shi of the Personnel Section to serve as envoys.
56
顒卒，子俁嗣。 貢使接踵，且令士子金瑞等五人入太學，朝廷爲置博士。
Yong died and was succeeded by his son Hou. Tribute missions arrived one after another. Hou also sent five scholars, including Jin Rui, to enroll in the Imperial University, and the court appointed an Erudite to instruct them.
57
政和中，升其使爲國信，禮在夏國上，與遼人皆隸樞密院； 改引伴、押伴官爲接送館伴。 賜以《大晟燕樂》、籩豆、簠簋、尊罍等器，至宴使者于睿謨殿中。
During the Zhenghe period, Goryeo missions were elevated to credentialed state envoys with ceremonial precedence above Western Xia. Together with Liao envoys they were placed under the Bureau of Military Affairs; and the offices of Guide and Escort Commissioner were renamed Reception and Escort Host. The court granted them the Grand Flourishing Banquet Music and ritual vessels—baskets, beans, grain vessels, and wine cups—and entertained envoys in the Hall of Sagacious Design.
58
宣和四年，俁卒。 初，高麗俗兄終弟及，至是諸弟爭立，其相李資深立俁子楷。 來告哀，詔給事中路允迪、中書舍人傅墨卿奠慰。 俁之在位也，求醫於朝，詔使二醫往，留二年而歸，楷語之曰：「聞朝廷將用兵伐遼。 遼兄弟之國，存之足爲邊捍。 女真狼虎耳，不可交也。 業已然，願二醫歸報天子，宜早爲備。」 歸奏其言，已無及矣。
In the fourth year of Xuanhe, Hou died. Goryeo had long followed fraternal succession, but now younger brothers fought over the throne until Minister Li Zishen installed Hou's son Kai. When they came to announce mourning, the court ordered Minister of Verification Lu Yundi and Secretariat Drafter Fu Moqing to convey condolences. During Hou's reign he had requested physicians from the Song court; two were sent and remained two years. On their return Kai told them: 'We hear your court is preparing to march against Liao. Liao is a brother kingdom to yours. Keeping it intact is enough to shield your borders. The Jurchens are wolves and tigers. They are not a power you should court. The matter is already settled. I ask you both to return and tell the Son of Heaven to prepare without delay.' When they returned and reported his warning, it was already too late.
59
欽宗立，賀使至明州，御史胡舜陟言：「高麗靡敝國家五十年，政和以來，人使歲至，淮、浙之間苦之。 彼昔臣事契丹，今必事金國，安知不窺我虛實以報，宜止勿使來。」 乃詔留館於明而納其贄幣。 明年始歸國。
When Emperor Qinzong took the throne, congratulatory envoys reached Ming Prefecture. Censor Hu Shunzhi argued: 'For fifty years Goryeo has drained our resources. Since the Zhenghe era their envoys have come every year, and the Huai and Zhe circuits have borne the burden. They once served the Khitan and will surely serve the Jin now. Who is to say they will not probe our weaknesses and report back? Their missions should be halted.' The court then ordered the envoys detained at Ming Prefecture while accepting their tribute gifts. The following year they were permitted to return home.
60
自王微以降，雖通使不絕，然受契丹封冊，奉其正朔，上朝廷及他文書，蓋有稱甲子者。 歲貢契丹至於六，而誅求不已。 常云：「高麗乃我奴耳，南朝何以厚待之？」 使至其國，尤倨暴，館伴及公卿小失意，輒行ㄏ棰，聞我使至，必假他事來覘，分取賜物。 嘗詰其西向修貢事，高麗表謝，其略曰：「中國，三甲子方得一朝； 大邦，一周天每修六貢。」 契丹悟，乃得免。
From Wang Hui onward, although missions to the Song never ceased, Goryeo accepted Khitan investiture and observed the Liao calendar. In documents to the Song court and elsewhere they sometimes dated entries by the sexagenary cycle alone. They sent as many as six tribute missions a year to the Khitan, yet Liao demands never ceased. Liao envoys would often declare: 'Goryeo is nothing but our slave—why does the Southern Court treat them so lavishly?' When Liao envoys reached Goryeo they were brutally overbearing; hosts and even junior officials who displeased them were beaten with clubs. Learning that Song envoys were coming, they would contrive pretexts to observe them and seize a share of the gifts. Liao once challenged Goryeo for sending tribute westward. Goryeo replied in a memorial whose gist ran: 'The Central Court grants an audience only once in three sexagenary cycles; your great state requires six tributes every full cycle of heaven.' The Khitan understood the point and thereafter eased their demands.
61
高宗即位，慮金人通於高麗，命迪功郎胡蠡假宗正少卿爲高麗國使以間之。 蠡之回，史失書。
When Emperor Gaozong took the throne, fearing Jin contact with Goryeo, he appointed Acting Merit Officer Hu Li, with the nominal title of Vice Director of the Imperial Clan, to go to Goryeo and sound them out. When Hu Li returned, the historians failed to record his mission.
62
二年，浙東路馬步軍都總管楊應誠上言：「由高麗至女真路甚徑，請身使三韓，結雞林以圖迎二聖。」 乃以應誠假刑部尚書充高麗國信使。 浙東帥臣翟汝文奏言：「應誠欺罔，爲身謀耳。 若高麗辭以金人亦請問津以窺吳、越，其將何辭以對？ 萬一辱命，取笑遠夷，願毋遣。」 應誠聞之，遂與副使韓衍、書狀官孟健由杭州浮海以行。 六月，抵高麗，諭其王楷以所欲爲，楷曰：「大朝自有山東路，盍不由登州往？」 應誠曰：「以貴國路徑耳。」 楷有難色，已而命其門下侍郎傳佾至館中，果對如翟汝文言。 應誠曰：「女真不善水戰。」 佾曰：「彼常於海道往來，況女真舊臣本國，今反臣事之，其強弱可見矣。」 居數日，復遣其中書侍郎崔洪宰、知樞密院金富軾持前議不變，謂二聖今在燕雲，大朝雖盡納土，未必可得，何不練兵與戰？ 終不奉詔。 應誠留兩月餘，不得已見楷于壽昌門，受其拜表而還。 十月，至闕，入對言狀，上以楷負國恩，怒甚。 尚書右丞朱勝非曰：「彼鄰金人，與中國隔海，利害甚明。 曩時待之過厚，今安能責其報也。」 右僕射黃潛善曰：「以巨艦載精兵數萬，徑搗其國，彼寧不懼。」 勝非曰：「越海興師，燕山之事可爲近鑒。」 上怒解。 十一月，楷遣其臣尹彥頤奉表謝罪，詔以二聖未歸，燕設不宜用樂，乃設幕殿門外，命客省官吳得興伴賜酒食，命中書舍人張澂押伴，如禮遣還。
In the second year, Yang Yingcheng, Grand Commander of Horse and Foot on the Zhedong Circuit, memorialized: 'The route from Goryeo to the Jurchens is very short. I ask to go myself to the Three Han and ally with Cocklin to plan the recovery of the Two Sages.' He was thereupon appointed Acting Minister of Punishments and Credentialed Envoy to Goryeo. The Zhedong commander Zhai Ruwen countered: 'Yingcheng is deceiving the court—this scheme serves only himself. If Goryeo refuses on the grounds that the Jin also seek passage to spy on Wu and Yue, what answer will he give? If he is disgraced abroad, the court will be mocked by distant peoples. I beg that he not be dispatched.' Yingcheng heard the protest but set out anyway with Vice-envoy Han Yan and secretary Meng Jian, sailing from Hangzhou. In the sixth month they reached Goryeo and pressed King Kai to cooperate. Kai replied: 'The great court has its own Shandong route—why not travel through Dengzhou?' Yingcheng answered: 'Because the route through your country is shorter.' Kai hesitated, then sent his Vice Director of the Secretariat, Fu Yi, to the hostel with the very objections Zhai Ruwen had predicted. Yingcheng insisted: 'The Jurchens are poor fighters at sea.' Fu Yi replied: 'They constantly use the sea routes. Moreover, the Jurchens were once our subjects and now serve the Jin in turn—their strength is plain to see.' Several days later they sent Vice Director Cui Hongzai and Vice Commissioner Jin Fushi with the same refusal, arguing that the Two Sages were now in Yan-Yun and that even if the Song surrendered every inch of territory they might not be recovered—why not train troops and fight instead? They would not obey the edict. Yingcheng lingered more than two months. At last, with no other option, he met Kai at Shouchang Gate, received his memorial of obeisance, and sailed home. In the tenth month he reached court and reported. The Emperor, believing Kai had betrayed imperial favor, was furious. Vice Director Zhu Shengfei said: 'They border the Jin and are separated from us by the sea. The balance of advantage is obvious. We once treated them too generously. How can we now demand loyalty in return?' Right Vice Censor-in-Chief Huang Qianshan urged: 'Send great warships loaded with tens of thousands of elite troops straight against their country—they would surely tremble.' Zhu Shengfei rejoined: 'A war across the sea? The Yanshan campaign is warning enough.' The Emperor's anger eased. In the eleventh month Kai sent his minister Yin Yanzi with a letter of apology. Because the Two Sages had not returned, the court ruled that music was inappropriate at the Yan feast and instead set up a pavilion outside the palace gate. Guest Relations Officer Wu Dexing was ordered to present wine and food, Secretariat Drafter Zhang Cheng was named Escort Host, and the envoys were sent home with full ceremony.
63
三年八月，上謂輔臣曰：「聞上皇遣內臣、宮女各二人隨高麗貢使來，朕聞之悲喜交集。」 呂頤浩曰：「此必金人之意，不然高麗必不敢，安知非窺我虛實以報。」 於是詔止之，略曰：「王緬守基圖，夙同文軌，乃附乘桴之信，嗣修貢篚之恭。 惟忠順之無他，質神明而靡愧，屬關聞聽，良用歎嘉。 言念晚年，實爲多故，舉中原之生聚，遭強敵之震驚，既涉境以冞深，猶稱兵而未已，茲移仗衛，暫駐江湖。 如行使之果來，恐有司之不戒，俟休邊警，當問聘期。 壞晉館以納車，庶無後悔，閉漢關而謝質，非用前規。 想彼素懷，知吾誠意。」
In the eighth month of the third year the Emperor told his chief ministers: 'I hear that the Retired Emperor has sent two inner eunuchs and two palace women with the Goryeo tribute mission. The news fills me with mingled joy and grief.' Lü Yihao said: 'This must be the Jin people's doing. Otherwise Goryeo would never dare. Who can say they are not probing our condition to report back?' The court then issued an edict halting the mission. Its gist read: 'The king guards his patrimony; from of old our cultures have run together. He again trusts the crossing by raft and renews the tribute-basket's courtesy. His loyalty alone, attested before heaven, moves us without shame. We have heard the report with admiration. We think of his later years in turmoil—the people of the central plains shaken by a fierce enemy, the border crisis deepening day by day, yet war cries unceasing, while the imperial guard has withdrawn for a time to the rivers and lakes. If your embassy should truly arrive, I fear our officials will not be vigilant. Wait until the border alarm subsides, and we shall fix a date for envoys. Tear down the Jin guesthouse rather than receive your carriage, lest we regret it later. Close the Han frontier and refuse your hostage—that is not the old practice, but necessity demands it. We trust that your long-standing goodwill will understand our sincere intent.'
64
紹興元年十月，高麗將入貢，禮部侍郎柳約言：「四明殘破之余，荒蕪單弱，恐起戎心，宜屯重兵以俟其至。」 十一月，詔柳約奉使高麗，不果行。
In the tenth month of the first year of Shaoxing, as Goryeo was preparing to send tribute, Vice Minister of Rites Liu Yue warned: 'Siming lies in ruins, desolate and defenseless. I fear this may invite barbarian ambition. Heavy troops should be stationed to await their arrival.' In the eleventh month an edict appointed Liu Yue envoy to Goryeo, but the mission never sailed.
65
二年閏四月，楷遣其禮部員外郎崔惟清、閣門祗候沈起入貢金百兩、銀千兩、綾羅二百匹、人參五百斤，惟清所獻亦三之一。 上御後殿引見，賜惟清、起金帶二，答以溫詔遣還。 是月，定海縣言，民亡入高麗者約八十人，願奉表還國。 詔候到日，高麗綱首卓榮等量與推恩。 十二月，聞高麗遣知樞密院事洪彝敘等六十五人來貢，議以臨安府學館其使。 言者謂雖在兵間，不可無學，恐爲所窺。 詔以法惠寺爲同文館以待之。 既而卒不至。
In the intercalary fourth month of the second year, Kai sent Vice Director of Rites Cui Weiqing and Gate Attendant Shen Qi with tribute of one hundred liang of gold, one thousand liang of silver, two hundred bolts of silk gauze, and five hundred jin of ginseng. Weiqing's personal gifts amounted to one-third of the same. The Emperor received them in the rear hall, bestowed a gold belt on each, and sent them home with a gracious reply edict. That month Dinghai County reported that some eighty subjects who had fled to Goryeo wished to submit a memorial and return home. An edict ordered that when they arrived, the Goryeo convoy chief Zhuo Rong and others should extend proportional imperial favors. In the twelfth month the court learned that Goryeo had sent Vice Commissioner Hong Yixu with sixty-five others bearing tribute. Officials proposed housing them at the Lin'an Prefecture school. Critics objected that even in wartime the state must not neglect learning, lest the envoys spy out its strengths. The court decreed that Fahui Temple should serve as the Tongwen Lodge to receive the envoys. In the end they never arrived.
66
六年，高麗持牒官金稚圭至明州，賜銀帛遣之，懼其爲金間也。
In the sixth year of Shaoxing, Goryeo's credential officer Jin Zhigui reached Mingzhou. The court gave him silver and silks and sent him home, fearing he was acting as a Jin agent.
67
三十二年三月，高麗綱首徐德榮詣明州言，本國欲遣賀使。 守臣韓仲通以聞，殿中侍御史吳芾奏曰：「高麗與金人接壤，昔稚圭之來，朝廷懼其爲間，亟遣還。 今兩國交兵，德榮之請，得無可疑？ 使其果來，猶恐不測，萬一不至，貽笑遠方。」 詔止之。
In the third month of the thirty-second year of Shaoxing, the Goryeo convoy leader Xu Derong came to Mingzhou and reported that his kingdom intended to dispatch envoys to offer congratulations. The prefectural defender Han Zhongtong reported the matter upward. Palace Attendant Censor Wu Fei submitted a memorial: "Goryeo shares a border with the Jin. When Jin Zhigui came earlier, the court suspected he was a spy and hurried him back at once. Now the two powers are at war. Can Xu Derong's request be anything but suspect? If they do come, we may still face unforeseen trouble; if they fail to come after all, we will be mocked in distant lands." An edict put a stop to the plan.
68
隆興二年四月，明州言高麗入貢。 史不書引見日，恐同彝敘之詐。 其後使命遂絕。
In the fourth month of the second year of Longxing (1164), Mingzhou reported that Goryeo was sending tribute. The annals do not record the day they were received in audience, lest the episode repeat the deception of Hong Yixu's mission. After that, embassies between the two courts ceased entirely.
69
慶元間，詔禁商人持銅錢入高麗，蓋絕之也。
During the Qingyuan era, an edict barred merchants from taking copper coin into Goryeo, a measure meant to sever ties altogether.
70
初，高麗入使，明、越困於供給，朝廷館遇燕齎錫予之費以钜萬計，饋其主者不在焉。 我使之行，每乘二神舟，費亦不貲。 三節官吏縻爵捐廩，皆仰縣官。 昔蘇軾言於先朝，謂高麗入貢有五害，以此也。 惟是國于吳會，事異東都。 昔高麗入使，率由登、萊，山河之限甚遠，今直趨四明，四明距行都限一浙水耳。 由海道奉使高麗，彌漫汪洋，洲嶼險阻，遇黑風，舟觸礁輒敗，出急水門至群山島，始謂平達，非數十日不至也。 舟南北行，遇順風則歷險如夷，至不數日。 其國東西二千里，南北五百里，西北接契丹，恃鴨綠江以爲固，江廣三百步。 其東所臨，海水清澈，下視十丈，東南望明州，水皆碧。
When Goryeo missions first arrived, Mingzhou and Yuezhou were worn down supplying them. Court expenses for lodging, banquets, travel stipends, and gifts ran into the tens of thousands—and that did not include what was sent to the Goryeo king. Song embassies sailed on two state vessels apiece, and their costs were no less ruinous. Officials attached to the Three Festival embassies held titular ranks and drew salaries, all of it charged to local government. Su Shi had once warned the former court that Goryeo tribute carried five great harms; this was exactly what he meant. Yet the dynasty now sat in the Wu-Hui heartland, and the situation differed from the days of the Eastern Capital. In earlier times Goryeo envoys usually entered through Dengzhou and Laizhou, separated from the capital by vast mountains and rivers. Now they sailed straight to Siming, which lay only a single crossing of the Zhe River from the moving court. The sea road to Goryeo crossed a boundless ocean strewn with perilous islets. A black gale could dash a ship on the reefs. Even after passing the Urgent Water Gate and reaching the archipelago of mountain islands, where the route seemed open at last, the voyage still required many tens of days. When the wind favored the course, north or south, the same voyage swept through the hazards as if over flat ground and could be finished in only a few days. The kingdom measured two thousand li from east to west and five hundred from north to south. On the northwest it bordered the Khitan, and its chief defense was the Yalu River, three hundred paces across. Along its eastern coast the sea ran clear enough to see ten zhang below the surface. Toward the southeast, in the direction of Mingzhou, the water shone deep blue-green.
71
王居開州蜀莫郡，曰開成府。 依大山置宮室，立城壁，名其山曰神嵩。 民居皆茅茨，大止兩椽，覆以瓦者才十二。 以新羅爲東州樂浪府，號東京。 百濟爲金州金馬郡，號南京。 平壤爲鎮州，號西京。 西京最盛。 總之，凡三京、四府、八牧、郡百有十八、縣鎮三百九十、洲島三千七百。 郡邑之小者，或只百家。 男女二百十萬口，兵、民、僧各居其一。 地寒多山，土宜松柏，有粳、黍、麻、麥而無秫，以粳爲酒。 少絲蠶，匹縑直銀十兩，多衣麻紵。 王出，乘車駕牛，曆山險乃騎。 紫衣行前，捧《護國仁王經》以導。 出令曰教，曰宣。 臣民呼之曰聖上，私謂曰嚴公，後妃曰宮主。 百官名稱、階、勳、功臣、檢校，頗與中朝相類。 過御史台則下馬，違者有劾。 士人以族望相高，柳、崔、金、李四姓爲貴種。 無宦者，以世族子爲內侍六衛。 歲十二月朔，王坐紫門小殿注官，外官則付國相。 有國子監、四門學，學者六千人。 貢士三等，王城曰土貢，郡邑曰鄉貢，他國人曰賓貢。 間歲試於所屬，再試於學，所取不過三四十人，然後王親試以詩、賦、論三題，謂之簾前重試。 亦有制科宏詞之目，然特文具而已。 士尚聲律，少通經。
The king resided at Kaesong in Shumo Command, known as Kaesong Prefecture. Palaces and city walls rose against a great mountain the court named Divine Summit. Common houses were thatched huts, rarely more than two bays wide, and scarcely one dwelling in twelve had a tiled roof. The old Silla lands formed East Prefecture and Langye Commandery, styled the Eastern Capital. Former Baekje territory became Jin Prefecture and Jinma Commandery, called the Southern Capital. Pyongyang served as Zhen Prefecture, the Western Capital. Of the three capitals, the Western Capital was the most flourishing. Altogether the realm counted three capitals, four superior prefectures, eight circuits, one hundred eighteen commanderies, three hundred ninety counties and towns, and three thousand seven hundred islands. Some of the smallest districts held no more than a hundred households. The population stood at 2.1 million men and women, divided roughly into equal thirds of soldiers, civilians, and monks. The country was cold and rugged, with soil that favored pine and cypress. Farmers grew glutinous rice, millet, hemp, and wheat but not sorghum, and they brewed their wine from glutinous rice. Sericulture was scarce. A bolt of silk cost ten liang of silver, and most people dressed in hemp and ramie cloth. When the king traveled abroad, he rode in an ox-drawn cart and mounted a horse only where the mountain roads turned treacherous. Purple-robed attendants walked ahead, bearing the Scripture of the Nation-Protecting Benevolent King as a guide. Royal orders went by the names jiao and xuan. Subjects addressed the king as Holy Lord, though in private they called him the Severe Lord. Consorts were styled Palace Ladies. Official titles, ranks, orders of merit, honors for meritorious service, and acting inspector posts all closely resembled those of the Song court. Officials dismounted when passing the Censorate, and anyone who failed to do so faced impeachment. Scholars ranked one another by clan prestige. The surnames Liu, Cui, Jin, and Li were regarded as the noblest bloodlines. The court employed no eunuchs. Sons of great families served instead as inner attendants in the Six Guards. On the first day of the twelfth month the king took his seat in the small hall of the Purple Gate to appoint officials, while outer appointments were left to the state chancellor. The Directorate of Education and the Four Gates Academy enrolled six thousand students. Tribute scholars fell into three classes: capital candidates called earth tribute, provincial candidates called village tribute, and foreigners called guest tribute. Every other year candidates were examined in their home districts and tested again at the schools, of whom no more than thirty or forty were chosen. The king then examined them personally on poetry, fu, and expository essays in what was called the Curtain Re-examination. Special examination tracks and grand-rhetoric categories also existed, but they were little more than paper formalities. Scholars prized regulated verse and tonal craft; few were deeply versed in the classics.
72
王城有華人數百，多閩人因賈舶至者，密試其所能，誘以祿仕，或強留之終身，朝廷使至，有陳牒來訴者，則取以歸。
Several hundred Chinese lived in the capital, most of them Fujianese who had arrived on trading ships. The court quietly tested their talents and tempted them with salaries and posts, sometimes detaining them for life. When a Song embassy came, any who filed petitions to return were reclaimed and sent home.
73
百官以米爲奉，皆給田，納祿半給，死乃拘之。 國無私田，民計口授業。 十六以上則充軍，六軍三衛常留官府，三歲以選戍西北，半歲而更。 有警則執兵，任事則服勞，事已復歸農畝。 王亦有分地以供私用，王母、妃主、世子皆受湯沐田。
Officials received their salaries in rice and were all granted fields. Half the stipend was paid in grain, and the land was reclaimed at death. There was no private land in the kingdom. Fields were allotted to households according to the number of mouths. Men sixteen and older were conscripted. The Six Armies and Three Guards were permanently stationed at government posts, while every three years selected troops rotated to garrison the northwest for half a year at a time. In an emergency they took up arms; when called to duty they performed labor; when the task ended they went back to the fields. The king held allotted lands for his private expenses. The queen mother, consorts, and crown prince each received bath-fief estates for their upkeep.
74
上下以賈販利入爲事。 日中爲虛，用米布貿易。 地產銅，不知鑄錢，中國所予錢，藏之府庫，時出傳玩而已。 崇寧後，始學鼓鑄，有「海東通寶」、「重寶」、「三韓通寶」三種錢，然其俗不便也。 兵器疏簡，無強弩大刀。
From the throne to the common people, profit from trade was the lifeblood of daily affairs. Markets stood empty at midday, and people traded in rice and cloth. The country had copper but did not know how to cast coin. Chinese cash sent as gifts was hoarded in the treasury and brought out only occasionally to be admired and passed around. After the Chongning era they learned to cast coin and issued three types: Haedong Tongbao, Chongbao, and Samhan Tongbao. Even so, the people found coin currency awkward. Their arms were crude and few. They had no powerful crossbows or great swords.
75
崇尚釋教，雖王子弟亦常一人爲僧。 信鬼，拘陰陽，病不相視，斂不撫棺。 貧者死，則露置中野。 歲以建子月祭天。 國東有穴，號礻遂神，常以十月望日迎祭，謂之八關齋，禮儀甚盛，王與妃嬪登樓，大張樂宴飲。 賈人曳羅爲幕，至百匹相聯以示富。 三歲大祭祠，遍其封內，因是斂民財，而王與諸臣分取之。 祖廟在國門之外，大祭則具車服冕圭親祠。 王城有佛寺七十區而無道觀，大觀中，朝廷遣道士往，乃立福源院，置羽流十餘輩。 俗不知醫，自王俁來請醫，後始有通其術者。
Buddhism was held in the highest esteem. Even among royal princes it was common for one son to take monastic vows. They believed in ghosts and were ruled by yin-yang taboos. The sick did not visit one another, and at funerals mourners did not touch the coffin. When the poor died, the corpse was left exposed in the open countryside. Each year they offered sacrifice to Heaven in the first month of the calendar. East of the realm stood a sacred cave dedicated to the Suishén. On the fifteenth day of the tenth month the court welcomed the deity in a grand rite called the Eight Passes Fast. The ceremonies were magnificent: the king and his consorts mounted a tower while music filled the air and feasting ran late into the night. Merchants trailed silk curtains behind them, sometimes linking a hundred bolts together to display their wealth. Every three years a great sacrifice swept the entire kingdom. The occasion became a levy on the people's wealth, which the king and his ministers then divided among themselves. The ancestral temple lay outside the capital gate. For the great sacrifice the king donned full regalia with chariot, robes, crown, and jade tablet and performed the rites in person. The capital held seventy Buddhist monasteries but no Daoist temples. During the Daguan era the Song court sent Daoist priests to Goryeo, and the Fuyuan Cloister was founded with a dozen ordained Daoists in residence. The people knew nothing of medicine. Beginning with King U, physicians were invited from abroad, and only then did some locals learn the art.
76
人首無枕骨，背扁側。 男子巾幘如唐裝，婦人鬢髻垂右肩，餘發被下，約以絳羅，貫之簪。 旋裙重疊，以多爲勝。 男女自爲夫婦者不禁，夏月同川而浴。 婦人、僧、尼皆男子拜。 樂聲甚下，無金石之音。 既賜樂，乃分爲左、右二部：左曰唐樂，中國之音也； 右曰鄉樂，其故習也。 堂上設席，升必脫屨，見尊者則膝行，必跪，應必唯。 其拜無不答，子拜，父猶半答其禮。 性仁柔惡殺，不屠宰，欲食羊豕則包以蒿而燔之。
Their skulls lacked a pronounced occipital bone, and their backs were flat and narrow. Men wore headcloths and kerchiefs in Tang fashion. Women dressed their hair in temple buns draped over the right shoulder, with the rest falling down the back, bound in crimson silk and fastened with pins. Women wore layered spiral skirts, and the more layers one had, the finer the display. Men and women who paired off on their own were not forbidden. In summer they bathed together in the rivers. Men bowed to women, monks, and nuns alike. Their music ran very low in pitch and lacked metal or stone instruments. After the Song court granted musical instruments, the repertoire was divided into left and right sections. The left was called Tang music—the sounds of China; the right was called village music, their native tradition. Mats were laid in the hall. One removed sandals before stepping up. Before a superior one crawled on the knees, always knelt, and answered every call with 'yes, my lord.' No bow went unanswered. When a son bowed, his father still returned half the courtesy. By nature they were gentle and loathed killing. They did not slaughter animals. When they wanted mutton or pork, they wrapped the meat in mugwort and roasted it whole.
77
刑無慘酷之科，唯惡逆及罵父母者斬，餘皆杖肋。 外郡刑殺悉送王城，歲以八月減囚死罪，貸流諸島，累赦，視輕重原之。
The penal code held no cruel torments. Only treason and cursing one's parents carried beheading. All other offenses were punished by flogging the ribs. Executions in outlying districts were all sent to the capital. Each year in the eighth month death sentences were commuted and offenders exiled to the islands. Repeated amnesties pardoned crimes according to their severity.
78
自明州定海遇便風，三日入洋，又五日抵墨山，入其境。 自墨山過島嶼，詰曲礁石間，舟行甚駛，七日至禮成江。 江居兩山間，束以石峽，湍激而下，所謂急水門，最爲險惡。 又三日抵岸，有館曰碧瀾亭，使人由此登陸，崎嶇山谷四十餘里，乃其國都云。
Sailing from Dinghai in Mingzhou with a fair wind, one reached the open sea in three days and Ink Mountain five days later, entering Goryeo territory. From Ink Mountain the route threaded among islands and winding reefs, and the ship ran very fast. In seven days one reached the Rites-Complete River. The river ran between two mountains, narrowed by a stone gorge where the current rushed down—the place called the Urgent Water Gate, the most dangerous stretch of all. Three days later the ship reached shore. There stood the Bilan Pavilion lodge, where envoys went ashore and traveled more than forty li through rugged mountain valleys before reaching the capital—thus ended the sea road to Goryeo.