Emperor Huizong of Song
The precise date of the instrument's introduction to Korea is unknown. It seems to not have been included in the historically significant gift of instruments given to the Goryeo-era King Yejeong by Emperor Huizong of Song in 1114, although similar instruments are mentioned, including "twenty oboes...with thin wooden tablets bound with gold and silver threads, red silk mattresses, and purple silk hyoppokcha". As indicated, the earliest mention of "taepyeongso" is in the 1493 Akhak gwebeom. The alternative name "hojeok"—referring to the peoples of the Xinjiang region of Northwest China from where the instrument is believed to have been introduced to East Asia during the third to fifth centuries—suggests a possible route for the instrument's introduction to Korea.