Treatise on Armament Technology, Volume 229

Records of Geographical Survey

Page 420; Sheet: 3

...the official registers followed the request of Yi Bang-won Taejong of Joseon, r. 1400–1418. In the sixth year 1408 CE, the Crown Prince Je Yangnyeong arrived to present tribute. In the eighth year 1410 CE, they offered ten thousand horses to assist in the expedition against the northern nomads referring to the Ming campaigns against the Mongols. In the thirteenth year of the Yongle era, approx. 1415–1418 CE, a memorial was submitted to change the succession and establish his son Do Sejong the Great, r. 1418–1450 as the Crown Prince. In that same year, Bang-won, being elderly, requested that Do be allowed to succeed him.

In the first year of the Xuande era 1426 CE, the Emperor dispatched an envoy to grant Do the Five Classics, the Four Books, as well as the Great Compendium on Nature and Principle, the Outline of the Comprehensive Mirror, and the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance. The Emperor then remarked to the officials of the Ministry of Rites: "These books contain what a state ought to know. I wish to show favor to those in distant lands, and thus I grant them."

In the fourth year 1429 CE, Do presented gyrfalcons Haidongqing: a highly prized hunting falcon native to the Jurchen and Korean regions. An imperial edict was issued stating: "Rare birds and exotic beasts are not what I value; do not present them. Local products are sufficient to demonstrate your sincerity. Do not send vessels made of gold or jade." When Do presented them again, the Emperor repeated his instruction. Later, a request was made to send the sons of the nobility to study at the Imperial Academy the Guozijian in Beijing, but this was not permitted. Instead, the Emperor granted various books so they might study within their own country.

In the fourth year of the Zhentong era 1439 CE, the Jianzhou a region in Manchuria Jurchen chieftains Fancha and Tong Cang moved to reside on the borders of Joseon. Another chieftain, Li Manzhu, reported this to the court. An imperial decree was issued to inquire with Do regarding the matter. Not long after, Fancha returned.