Across the Sea to Tang
Wind, campfire and river sounds change with every scene, and the music follows the story.
In 642, the Baekje army brought down Daeya Fortress in western Silla, and there Kim Chun-chu’s daughter Gotaso lost her life. Kim Chun-chu went to Goguryeo to ask for troops to avenge her, but he was imprisoned, and only by taking a cue from the tale of the turtle and the rabbit did he barely make it home alive. The road to an alliance with Goguryeo was closed.
Characters
He crosses the sea to Tang
He goes with his father
of Kim Chun-chu
Queen Seondeok’s cousin
Kim Chun-chu’s brother-in-law
In the first month of 647, Queen Seondeok died, and her cousin Seungman took the throne. She was Queen Jindeok.
The Samguk Sagi records that she was full-figured and beautiful, seven ja tall, and that when she let her arms hang down, her hands reached below her knees.
In the third month of 648, the Baekje general Uijik seized more than ten fortresses on Silla’s western frontier.
have fallen!
Kim Yu-sin marched out and drove back the Baekje army. But the fighting came again, year after year.
and ask for troops.
on a long journey once again.
That winter, Queen Jindeok sent Kim Chun-chu and his son Mun-wang to Tang.
so be sure to come back alive this time too.
to see you again.
Kim Chun-chu boarded the ship for Tang with his son Mun-wang. It was a long voyage across the Yellow Sea.
it never ends.
That is why we cross it.
Please wrap this around you.
Day after day across the sea, then a long ride overland—
At last, the capital of Tang:
Chang’an.
Emperor Taizong of Tang sent Liu Heng, his Minister of Imperial Banquets, out beyond the city walls to welcome the guest who had come so far.
our guest from afar.
splendid bearing!
Seeing Kim Chun-chu’s dignified and outstanding bearing, Taizong treated him with great generosity.
Kim Chun-chu asked to go to the National Academy to watch the shidian (the rite offered to Confucius) and the scholars’ lectures. Taizong gave his permission.
a nation’s strength lies.
Taizong presented him with the texts of the “Hot Springs Stele” and the “Jinci Stele,” which he had composed himself, and with the newly compiled history Book of Jin.
One day Taizong summoned Kim Chun-chu for a private audience and gave him generous gifts of gold and silk.
on your mind?
yet for many years it has served the Heavenly Court.
and blocked our road to the Heavenly Court.
our people will all be taken captive,
and we will never come here again.
of your Kim Yu-sin.
What sort of man is he?
Without the might of the Son of Heaven,
we cannot rid ourselves of our neighbors’ threat.
“Truly a land of gentlemen!” said Taizong, and he agreed to send troops.
Years later, Kim Chun-chu’s son King Munmu wrote that at this time Taizong had made this promise concerning Goguryeo and Baekje.
When I have pacified the two kingdoms,
the land south of Pyongyang, Baekje’s land,
shall all be given to you, Silla,
so that you may live in peace forever.
我平定兩國 平壤已南百濟土地 並乞你新羅 永爲安逸 — Samguk Sagi, 11th year of King Munmu, “Reply to Xue Rengui”
Kim Chun-chu made one more request.
to follow the Chinese system.
Taizong gave Kim Chun-chu and those who had come with him precious robes from the palace, and made Kim Chun-chu Tejin (Specially Advanced) and Mun-wang General of the Left Militant Guard.
When it was time for him to go home, Taizong had the officials of the third rank and above hold a banquet to see Kim Chun-chu off.
seven sons.
and stand guard over you.
And so his son Mun-wang stayed behind in Chang’an.
I will guard Silla from here.
of yourself.
I’ll be going now.
Six years after losing his daughter, he now left his son behind in a distant land.
The voyage home to Silla. The ship carried the precious robes and writings Taizong had bestowed.
will pester me for stories of the sea.
all you like.
Just then, Goguryeo ships patrolling the sea appeared.
your hat and robes!
they’re looking for.
can Silla live.
Kim Chun-chu moved into a small boat.
quickly.
On Gun-hae sat on the ship in the tall hat and grand robes.
The Goguryeo patrol took him for Kim Chun-chu, seized him and killed him.
In the small boat, Kim Chun-chu made it back to Silla alive.
When Queen Jindeok heard the news, she was deeply grieved.
and his descendants shall be richly rewarded.
forget such loyalty?
and here I am, alive, seeing you again.
and your daughter home.
That year, in exchange for eight Baekje commanders he had captured at Okmun Valley, Kim Yu-sin got back the bones of the two, which had lain buried in Baekje territory.
In the first month of 649, Silla’s officials put on Chinese-style robes and caps for the first time.
feels so awkward.
In 649, Emperor Taizong of Tang died.
The troops he had promised
had not yet come.
In 650, Queen Jindeok composed the “Ode to Great Peace,” a poem praising Tang, and wove it into silk.
lofty, lofty, the emperor’s rule shines bright…
Twenty lines of five characters each, it was a song in lofty praise of Tang and its emperor.
In the sixth month of that year, Kim Chun-chu’s eldest son Beommin set out for Tang with the “Ode to Great Peace” silk.
Gaozong, who had succeeded Taizong, was delighted and gave Beommin the post of Minister of the Imperial Treasury.
In 650, Silla stopped using its own era name and began to use the Tang era name, “Yonghui.”
On the first day of the first month of 651, for the first time, the queen held a ceremony to receive the officials’ New Year greetings (the hajeongnye).
Silla’s dress, its era name and its rites
came to resemble Tang’s, one by one.
In the third month of 654, Queen Jindeok died.
The Samguk Sagi records that the twenty-eight rulers from the founder Hyeokgeose to Queen Jindeok were called “sacred bone,” and the kings after them “true bone.”
The courtiers asked Alcheon, an Ichan, to take charge of the affairs of state.
and have no virtue worth mentioning.
no one matches Lord Chun-chu.
He is truly a hero who can save the world.
Three times, Kim Chun-chu declined.
But in the end,
he took the throne.
In 654, Kim Chun-chu took the throne. He was King Taejong Muyeol.
By the Samguk Sagi’s classification, he was the first king to come from the true bone.
from here.
can Silla live.
The promise made across the sea had not yet been fulfilled.
A son left behind in Chang’an, a friend left behind at sea.
And beside Kim Chun-chu, now a king, there was always one man.
A general with a sword at his side:
Kim Yu-sin.
