when he invaded that country. The great services of his father gave him absolute authority in Imna. He came into our country and went back and forward to the honourable country,[1] accepting the control of the Celestial Court. He seized the administration of our country, and his power was supreme in that day. The Emperor, hearing of his violence, recalled him."
A.D. 297. 28th year, Autumn, 9th month. The King of Koryö sent an envoy to the Court with tribute. He presented an address, in which it was said:—"The King of Koryö instructs the Land of (X. 18.) Nippon." Now the Heir Apparent, Uji no Waka-iratsuko, read this address and was enraged. He reproached the Koryö envoy with the rudeness of the address and tore it up."[2]
A.D. 300. 31st year, Autumn, 8th month. The Emperor commanded his ministers,[3] saying:—"The Government ship named Karano was sent as tribute by the Land of Idzu. It is rotten, and unfit for use. It has, however, been in Government use for a long time, and its services should not be forgotten. Shall we not keep the name of that ship from being lost, and hand it down to after ages?" The ministers, on receiving this command, made the functionaries take the timber of that ship and use it as firewood for roasting salt. Herewith they got five hundred baskets of salt, which were freely given away to the various provinces, and the latter were accordingly caused to build ships. Upon this, all the provinces at the same time sent up ships as tribute, to the number of five hundred, which all assembled in the harbour of Muko. At this time the Silla
- ↑ Japan.
- ↑ If this story were true, it would have to be dated 120 years later. But even then Koryö was still Kokuryö. The name Koryö did not come into official use till A.D. 918, though as a literary designation examples of it may be found as early as A.D. 500. Koryö, however, is out of place in an ostensible quotation from a formal official document of this period, and shows that this story is untrue or much garbled.
The term Nippon for Japan is also an anachronism. It was not officially notified to Corea until A.D. 670, though there are examples of its use earlier in the same century.
Waka-iratsuko did not become Heir Apparent until A.D. 309 (of the "Nihongi" chronology), and as he is there alluded to as being of tender years, he must have been at this time a somewhat precocious prince.
- ↑ See above, p. 257.
