Page:The history of Korea, v2 (1905).djvu/131

Rh people. The Manchus issued passes to the Koreans in the fortress and no one could go in or out without showing his credentials. All the people living in the vicinity who did not run away were massacred.

Having thoroughly subdued the island, the next move of the victors was to rejoin the main army encamped before Nam-han. As a preparatory measure they burned all the government buildings on the island and put to death all the people they could find, that had not already perished. Then taking the Crown Princess and her retinue, and all the officials, they crossed the ferry and marched toward Nam-han. The Princess was treated with all deference, as befitted her exalted station. As the company was about to leave the fortress of Kang-wha on their way to Nam-han, the aged Minister Kim Sang-yong was so deeply moved that he determined to end his life. He entered the pavilion above the South Gate where he found a box containing powder. Yun Pang also accompanied him, saying that he too was weary of life, but Minister Kim said to him, "You are in charge of the ancestral tablets, you must not prove recreant to that sacred trust." So Yun Pang sadly went about that task. Divesting himself of his outer garments the Minister gave them to an attendant and told him to bury them in place of his body. Then lighting his pipe with flint and steel he thrust it into the box of powder. The explosion which followed blew the whole gate to fragments and Minister Kim Sang-yong and Kim Ik-kyūm and Kwūn Sun-jang and the minister's little grandson, thirteen years old, were blown to atoms. In order to convey the ancestral tablets in safety to Nam-han, Yun Pang put them in a bag, but the Manchus, who did not care to be burdened with such impedimenta, threw the whole thing into a ditch. Yun recovered them and cleaned them off as well as he could, and managed to carry them along. Perhaps it was only because the Manchus wished to show an indignity toward these most sacred of all the royal treasures. The following are the names of the most noted men killed in the taking of Kang-wha. Sim Hyūn, Yi Sang-gil, Yi Si-jik, Song Si-hyūng, Yun Chūn, Chong Pāk-hyūng, Kim Su-nam, Kang Wi-bing, Yi Ton-o, Yi Ka-sang. and the following ladies of rank were killed: The wives of Sim Pyūn, Yun