Evening journal., 1904-09-07
THE QUEEN OF SINRA
A PARAGON WHO RULED IN KOREA
IN THE SIXTH CENTURY.

Foes, WOOed China and Saved Her
Country.
Korea in the sixteenth century was
series Of independent and warning
kingdoms. On the earterly side Of the
peninsula lay the monarchy Of Sinra.
which was ruled over by King Chin.
Pyenz. on the western side were the
kingdoms OF Paikchyei and Kokourye.
Near these lay the kingdoms Of Baiji
and GaoI. Each land had an am.
bilious ruler and each was desirious Of
extending its boundaries at the expense
Of It's neighbors Though Sinra was
not as rich as many of its rivals, yet II
preserved its autonomy through the
sleepless energy and wisdom Of King
Chin. To other monarchs he seemed
the embodiment OF craft and power.
but to the great mobiles of his land he
was merely a good natured man. who
was guided by a singular daughter
named TEX Man.
Strange stories were told of the
maiden. A dragon. II was said, had
made his home near the palace about
the time Of her birth and had guarded
her during the first ten years of her
life. Fairy foxes, who were the wolves
Of Korea, but without the cruelty and
bloodthirstiness Of the latter, were her
playmates and taught her the myste-
rious knowledge which they possess.
When she reached the age of twelve
she was so respected by the people of
the palace that she was taken from the
market" daughters and invested with
a rank altogether peculiar to herself.
For in those days prevailed the Gus
tom, which has been the law Of the
| land up to the present time, that the
! king should have as many daughters
as possible by his wives and concu-
bines and should marry or sell them to
the great mobiles Of his realm. In this
way the royal family was connected
with every prominent blood, and incl
dentally a large income was derived
by the royal treasury.
The other daughters Of King Chin
and their names were legion-were edu-
Gated and sold according to the custom
of the country. but TEX Man and her
sister Seung were raised to a rank equal
to that of the lord councillor. There
we're disputes between the father and
TEX Man. but in nearly every instance
subsequent events proved the girl to
have been right.
Thus on one occasion when she urged
the fortifcaton and garrisoning Of a
pass between Sinra and Gaoli her IA
ther refused on the ground that the
latter country would never dream OF
using so dangerous a detlle for mill
tary. purposes. Only six months after
ward the king of Gaoli took possession
Of the pass and fortified it so as to rem
der it impregnable. King Chin in con-
sternation admitted that he was wrong
and appealed TO TEX Man for advice.
Attended by a well armed escort she
Travelled swiftly TO the mouth Of the
pass and. studying the confguration Of
the land. changed the course Of small
stream so as TO block the defile and
then fortified the Sinra side Of the new
water course.
at her instigation her father was in
duced to build walls around many
towns in the neighborhood Of the
/ passes and to furnish these with gran
aries. cattle sheds and barns so that
in case Of invasion the country could
retreat and offer a firm resistance to
the invaders.
She It was who first advocated the
importation OF Japanese swords and
spears to replace those of native work.
!. manship or Of Chinese origin. The
wisdom Of her advice was displayed O
few years afterward. when In an en-
gagement between a company of Sinro
soldiers and one Of the Baiji the for
mer won the day. merely by the supe
riority Of their weapons. When Fl
came to a hand TO hand combat the
Japanese blades cut through the Bali
swords with almost as much ease a;
If they had been Of wood or horn.
1t surprised the outside world when
on the death Of her father. King Chin
the royal council unanimously elected
her queen OF Sinra. She was bu
twenty-elght years old. tall, broa'
shouldered and erect. She could handl
spear, sword or bow as well as an.
soldier; could equal any cavalrymal
in horsemanship and was an exper
swimmer and diver. Several times
when leading her army, she attire'
herself in arnor and went the round
OF the sentries to test the discipline o
her troops. On one of these nocturna
trips it is recorded that she found tv
sentines asleep. One had been drink
ing and was sleeping OF the effect
OF a debauch. Him TEX Man dis
patched with single blow of lie
sword The other had been Wounds
during the day and had fallen aslee
from sheer weakness. Him the quee
raised into her own arms and sent hiI
, back to camp with 4 kindly reproof an
silver coin.
When the neighboring kings recover
ed from their surprise they immediate
ly began preparations to invade an
conquer the land of Sinra. Had the
acted unitedly. there would have bee
no hope for the realm; not even th
strength and valor of TEX Man tn
Intelligent would have been of an
svail against such a coalition. Bu
here her craft came into play an
: proved as efficient as her courage.
She fomented dissensions betvee
Gaoli and Bohai, which resulted in
long and tedious war I'm the far nortl
She applied the same method in IN