Directory_and_Chronicle_1850 — Page 243

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Notice of Japan in the Hui-knoh Tú Chi

APRIL,

the island of Tuima which forms part of it is only separated by a single sea from Corea, and is to be reached in one night with a fair breeze.* In the reign of Lísung, king of Corea, many years ago, the kwánpeh of Japan made war upon him for seven years without intermission, and eight circuits were several times nearly lost. Since the annexation of Corea to China, under the present dynasty, the Japanese have been awed into a state of submissive tranquillity.

In the 4th year of the period Tsungteh (1647),† the king of the Ja- panese islands commanded Ping-chí-lien and Tang-chí-shing to write a letter to Corea, worded as follows: "During the past year the great prince has been ill; he has in consequence not attended to the admi- nistration of his government for some time. In the spring of this year he recovered. The productions of your honorable country required as necessaries by the ministers (or vassals) of the great monarch are very many; those of late received from it, but few. The trade with China permitted under the T'áng dynasty having been moreover cut off, the great monarch has no means of meeting the requisitions of his ministers, and he therefore expects your honorable nation to make good every one of the articles which have not been supplied since the the year yih-hái (1624) up to the present date, that there be no misunderstanding between our two nations. The governor of Shamo chau has resolved upon peace with Lewchew, the governor of Fí-tsien chau with the southern barbarians; and the annual receipts from both these people are considerable. The sovereign of Japan has re- solved upon peace with your honorable nation, but what must he think of the trifles he receives from you as compared with what is sent by the other two?" The king of Corea transmitted this letter to the Emperor, observing that the intentions of the Japanese were not to be seen through, and that it would be as well to direct the officers in charge of the coast to cause steps to be taken for its defense; to the

*The above is a very free translation of the passage, which is somewhat perplexing to a foreign geographer, inasmuch as Hwui-kí is in Chehkiáng, and Tan-'rh which is to be approached on the voyage to Miako, in Hái-nán 1. The sense may be assumed to be that of the paraphrase, as in a statistical work upon the chief divisions of Hái-nán, a teacher declares that it is laid down that Tán`rh is only a single sea's distance from Japan; that on a clear day the houses of the latter place are visible from it, and that in a still night the cocks may bo heard to crow and the dogs to bark! The error arises froin a vague conception of the southing to be made from Corea to weather the Japanese group, and is hardly so wonderful in a people who have little inducement to improvement as a maritime power, as some of the mistakes made by Portuguese and Spanish voyagers much about the time the Annals of the Ming were compiled.

This is the period of the father of the first monarch of the present dynasty, which usurped the throne of the Ming in 1614.