anxiety being beyond words. But thanks to the royal ancestors, both King and Queen (the Royal Grandson and his future wife) came through their sickness without much trouble.
That same month they held the Third Selection, and on 25 February 1762 (2d 2m Imo) the State Wedding was held, its
completion being a most happy event for the whole nation. Alas I How can I speak about the Incident of a certain month of a certain year. Confronted by this disaster, it was as
if the heaven and earth touched each other and the sun and moon turned pitch-black, so that I had no desire to remain in the world any longer. I tried to kill myself with a sword, but failed because those around me snatched it away. Then I con sidered that I could scarcely make the Royal Grandson suffer the bitter agony of being deprived of me at this time when he was only eleven years old, for then how could he fulfil his
life? And so I endured and went on enduring, preserving my woeful lot and crying to heaven. At that time my father was
sternly rebuked by the King, and retired outside the East Gate. He came back to the palace when everything was hopeless (after the Crown Prince was locked up in the grain box)^and that infinite agony of his was something beyond comparison. On the day
itself, he fainted, and when he regained consciousness he too did not want to go on living. But like myself, his one sincere wish was to protect the Royal Grandson, so he was unable to
follow the Crown Prince (into the other w o r l d ) . Only the spirits know this arduous loyalty of his. That same night I came back to my own home with the Royal Grandson. Heaven and earth would have changed colour at the sight of our great grief.
1
Then King Yongjo ordered my father to rescue and protect the Royal Grandson. Although I was overwhelmed with sorrow I thanked him and wept profusely for the Royal Grandson when I heard the King's decree. I caressed my son and warned him to express his gratitude for this royal favour, but I myself was very sad. Later on, when we went back to the Court early one morning in accordance with the royal decree, my father held my hand in the courtyard and wept, saying, "May you live long with the Royal Grandson! May the latter years of your life be
immensely happy!"
Since time began there has never been any sorrow like mine. Before they buried him in the tomb mound Lady Sonhui came to see me, sad and resentful. The Crown Prince's aged mother was in
such agony that I suppressed my own sorrow and tried to comfort her, saying, "For the sake of the Royal Grandson, please look after yourself". After the funeral, she went back to her palace and left me alone with hardly anyone to rely on.
In September/October (8m) of this year I had a humble audience with the King. In spite of my inward sadness which I never dared to dispel, I wept and said, "Your Highness conferred a great favour upon myself and my son by sparing our lives!"
v*
King Yongjo held my hand and said weeping, "I hardly imagined you would take it this way. It was very hard for me to make up my mind to see you. But you are very beautiful, and I derive a sense of comfort from you." When I heard these royal words, I felt even more oppressed and it was painful for me to go on living this woeful life. And I also said, "I hope your Highness
ss ^
will take the Royal Grandson to Kyonghui Palace and teach him." 1
75 The King asked, "Do you think he can bear to live apart from you?" I said, weeping, "It is a small matter that he should be distressed by leaving me but it is important that he should learn in the company of Your Highness." I tried to send the boy away but our feelings at leaving each other were indescrib able. The Royal Grandson would not leave me for all the world, but finally he went off weeping, which broke my heart. I endured this misery, and the King's favour for him grew greater every day. He loved the Royal Grandson very much and Lady Sonhui transferred her love from son to grandson and poured all her grief-stricken love towards him. So that she should not be ignorant of his conduct, diet and other problems, she stayed in the same room, waking him up early in the morning to ask him to study from dawn. This 70 year old Lady would wake up when her grandson went out for his study, and see to his breakfast herself. Therefore, although the Royal Grandson did not
usually eat early breakfast, he used to force himself, being unable to decline her devoted care, as it was said. Lady Sonhui's feelings at that time are unimagineable.
Since he loved learning from the time he was only four or five, it did not worry me that he might not study hard, although we lived separately in different palaces; on the other hand he missed me more and more as the time passed. For the Royal
Grandson longed for me so sincerely that, although he used to go to bed late at night, being in company with the King, he would get up early in the morning, write to me and get my answer before he could go to the Institute of the Royal Grandson with his
mind at rest. Of course it is natural that a child should miss its mother, but for the three years we were separated, he was like this all the time, which was strangely precocious. During
to me most of the time. So the Royal Grandson used to consult with the Royal physician over my illness, and send the medicines prescribed for me like an adult. He was born filial and
extremely clever being able to act like this even as a ten years old boyi On his birthday in October/November (9m) of that year, I did not feel like going (to Kyonghui Palace to celebrate his birthday) but I was compelled to do so by a Royal command. My residence at that time was a low-roofed house
situated south of K yongch' un-jon. The King gave the house the name, Kahyodang writing the signboard himself and saying "I wrote this to repay you for your filial heart at this time".
I was hardly able to bring myself to accept it; I wept and felt uncomfortable. But father rejoiced at it and told me to write the title^ of the Hall on all my family correspondence.
77 CHAPTER II
The Imo Incident was an affair the like of which was never seen in ancient times. This is why King Chongjo asked King Yongjo to erase the record from the Diary of the Royal
Secretariat (Sungjongwon Ilgi) at the beginning of 1776 (Pyohgsin)^ and so the original documents concerning it disappeared, because King Chongjo, out of his filial devotion was very anxious that the general public should not look at them without understanding. But the time is now long passed and there are now only a few who know the facts of the matter. In the meantime, a crowd of people, seeking profit and fastening upon the calamities of others, have distorted the facts, and dazzled their listeners alleging that King Yongjo disposed of the Crown Prince not because he was sick but because the King believed an unfounded charge. Or they would
say, "Some subject advised the King to take a course of action which His Highness could not imagine, and so matters turned out for the worst, to our utmost grief".
King Chongjo witnessed the whole thing and although he was only very young at the time he was very perspicacious and should not have been deceived. But as regards the matter of the Crown Prince and the Incident of a certain year, he always used to draw one particular conclusion and was unable to distinguish truth from falsehood, probably out of his filial piety for his father, so he did not give due weight to the facts, or perhaps was afraid of them. And indeed this likewise sprang unavoidably
1 ^
In 23 March 1776 (2d 4m Pyongsin), King Chongjo presented a memorial to King Yongjo asking him to erase the Imo Incident
from the Diary of the Royal Secretariat. This petition was accepted which was done at Soilam. CWS v.44, pp.528-529. Sungjongwon. See GOT.
from his distressed feelings, since he was carried away because of his close relationship to his father. But King Sunjo's situation is quite different and it is contrary to feelings of humanity and the principle of all creatures in the universe that a descendant should be ignorant of such a major event. Even as a young boy Your Highness (King Sunjo) wanted to know about the Incident but for all the world, King Chongjo could not bring himself to tell you the details; and who else dared to tell you, or indeed knew the truth in detail? Other than myself, there is no one in the royal palace who knows the truth and can inform you. So that the royal successor (King Sunjo) will not misunderstand this Incident of great sorrow, I have tried to record all the details, show it to you, and then destroy the record. But I could not set down everything, no matter what the reason,and time has passed away. Now with the experience of one disaster after another, my life is like a cotton thread nearly frayed, and it really goes against human nature not to let the King know the truth before I die. There fore I record this enduring the death (all over again), and shedding tears of blood, but omitting a great number of things which I could not bring myself to relate and which would make the account tedious.
As a daughter-in-law of the King Yongjo, I owed the King affection all the time, and in connection with that Incident his favour gave me renewed life. At the same time my true
devotion to the Crown Prince, as his wife, is beyond all bounds; therefore if I distort a hair's breadth about their relations, father and son, may God punish me with death. For already there are various stories about the Incident, and all are ungrounded and false. Once you read this record, you will
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