them slaves. I pray thee, let me return for a while to my own country and learn whether this be true or false." The Emperor forthwith gave him leave to go, and accordingly sent him away, accompanied by Katsuraki no Sotsuhiko. They (IX. 23.) reached Tsushima together, and stayed for the night at the harbour of Sabi no umi. Then the Silla envoys Mo-ma-ri Cheul-chi and the others secretly provided a separate ship and sailors, on board of which they put Mi-cheul Han-ki and made him escape to Silla. They also made a straw figure which they put in Mi-cheul Hö-chi's berth, and making it appear like a sick man, they informed Sotsuhiko, saying:—"Mi-cheul Hö-chi has taken suddenly ill, and is on the point of death." Sotsuhiko sent men to nurse him, and so discovered the deception. Having seized the three Silla envoys, he placed them in a cage which he burnt with fire and so killed them. Then he proceeded to Silla, where he touched at the harbour of Tatara. He took the Castle of Chhora, and returned. The captives taken on this occasion were the first ancestors of the Han[1] (IX. 24.) people of the four villages of Kuhabara, Sabi, Takamiya, and Oshinomi.[2]
- ↑ The Chinese character is 漢, i.e. the Chinese Han dynasty. The interlinear kana has ayabito, which also means Chinese. Possibly they were descendants of Chinese emigrants to Corea.
- ↑ Under the date A.D. 418, Autumn, the "Tongkam" (Vol. IV. 18) has the following:—
"Pak Ché-syang of Silla went to Wa and died there. The king's younger brother Misăheun came from Wa. Before this Pok-ho (another brother of the King, who had been sent as hostage to Kokuryö) had returned. The King addressed Ché-syang, saying:—'My love for my two younger brothers is like my left and right arms. Now I have got only one arm. What does it avail?' Ché-syang said:—'Though my abilities are those of a broken down horse, I have devoted myself to my country's service. What reason could I have for declining? Kokuryö, however, is a great country, and the king also is wise. Thy servant was able to make him understand with one word. But in dealing with the Was it will be meet to use stratagem to deceive them, and not by mouth and tongue to reason with them. I will pretend that I have committed a crime and absconded. After I have gone I pray thee arrest thy servant's family.' So he swore upon his life not to see again his wife and children, and went to Nyul-pho. The cable was already loosed when his wife came after him, lamenting loudly. Ché-syang said:—'I have already taken my life in my hands, and am leaving for a certain death.'
At length he went to the Wa country, where he gave out that he was a
