The “Frontier Guard”.... Japanese attempts at making a treaty.... agent at the palace.... the Regent’s power on the wane.... a “Combination”.... the Regent retires.... a puppet....“infernal machine”.... reforms.... a dangerous memorial.... fight with the Japanese.... two parties in Japan.... Japanese commission.... negotiations.... treaty signed.... a mysterious conflagration.... Japanese minister.... French priests released.... a curious book.... anti-Christian policy abandoned.... commission to Japan.... conspiracy.... liberal party.... hopeful outlook.... the Min policy.... split between the Min and liberal factions.... Minister to Japan.... military students.... regular troops neglected.... emeute of 1882.... Japanese legation attacked.... the palace entered.... the Queen escapes.... the ex-Regent quiets the soldiers.... a mock funeral.

In order to understand the interesting train of events that transpired in 1873 it will be necessary to go back and review the relations that existed between Korea and Japan.

At the close of the Japanese invasion an arrangement had been arrived at between Japan and Korea by the terms of which the Japanese placed a number of traders at Fusan. The popular belief of the Koreans that the government accepted these as hostages in place of an annual tribute of three hundredhundred Japanese female hides is an amusing fiction which isis intended to offset the ignominy of the ear and nose monument in Kyoto.

This colony was called the Su-ja-ri or “Frontier Guard.” The Korean government appropriated ten million cash a year to its support. The Japanese claim that these people were not hostages but were merchants and were placed there to form a commercial point d’appui between the two countries. That the money paid for their support was of the nature of a tribute is neither claimed by the Japanese nor admitted by the Koreans; in fact the terms always used in describing these payments implies the coÖrdinate degree of the recipient.

This Japanese colony was continued up to the year 1869 without intermission but it was not destined to remain undisturbed. No sooner had the Imperial government become established in Japan than the Emperor appointed a commission to approach the Korean government through the time-honored avenue of approach, namely Fusan and the prefect of Tong-na, with a view to establishing closer commercial and diplomatic relations. This commissioner transacted the business through the Daimyo of Tsushima who sent the Imperial letter to the prefect of Tong-na and asked that it be transmitted to the capital. After reading it the prefect refused to send it, on the plea that whereas Japan had always addressed Korea in terms of respect she now adopted a tone of superiority and called herself an Empire. The envoy urged that Japan had recently undergone a complete change, that she had adopted Western ideas and had centralised her government, and urged that the missive must be sent on to Seoul. The prefect was prevailed upon to copy the letter and send it on to the Regent but the Reply came back forthwith “We will not receive the Japanese letter. Drive the envoy away.” The following year the annual grant of rice was suddenly discontinued without a word of warning and the Japanese in Fusan were greatly exercised thereby. They made a loud outcry and their government made repeated attempts to come to an understanding with the Korean government but without success.

It was in 1870 that the Japanese Hanabusa, called Wha-bang Eui-jil by the Koreans, came with an urgent request that a treaty of commerce be signed, but he was likewise unsuccessful. The King, however, was nearing the age when the Regent must hand over to him the reins of power and the Queen, a woman of natural ability and of imperious will, was gathering about her a faction which was wholly inimical to the plans and the tactics of the Regent. The latter found to his chagrin that the woman whom he had placed on the throne with his son with special reference to the cementing of his own power was likely to become the instrument of his undoing. Sure it is that in spite of the hatred which the Regent evinced against the Japanese this same Hanabusa came to Seoul in 1871 or early in 1872, in a quite unofficial manner, and was given quarters at the palace where he was in constant communication with the Queen and the members of her faction, and where, by exhibiting curious objects of western manufacture, such as a toy telephone and the like, he amused his royal patroness and won his way into the favor of the party that was shortly to step into the place made vacant by the retiring Regent.

The queen’s faction were diametrically opposed to the most cherished prejudices of the Regent. They favored, or at least looked with complacency upon, the growth of Roman Catholicism, they favored the policy of listening to China’s advice in the matter of foreign relations. They were doubtless urged in this direction partly by pure opposition to the Regent and partly by the representations of the Japanese who had gained the ear of royalty. The palace was the scene of frequent and violent altercations between the heads of these two factions, but an open rupture did not occur until the year 1873 when an official named Ch‘oe Ik-hyun memorialised the throne speaking disparagingly of the presence of the Japanese in the palace and, toward the end, charging the Regent with indirection in the use of the public funds. The king had for some time been growing restive under the control of the Regent, being led to some extent by the new party of which the queen was the patroness and at whose head stood her brother, Min Seung-ho. The memorial was received with marks of approval by the king and he immediately cut off a large part of the revenues of the Regent. At the same time Min Seung-ho approached the Regent’s son, Yi Cha-myun, elder brother to the king, and suggested that if the Regent could be removed they two might share the leadership of affairs. The young man accepted the offer and ranged himself in line with the opposition. The Regent was now in great straits. The combination against him had proved too strong, and in the last moon of 1873 he shook off the dust of Seoul from his feet and retired to Ka-p‘yung, thirty-five miles to the east of the capital. After five months of residence there he returned as far as the village of Ko-deung ten miles to the north-east of Seoul.

Among the people there was still a strong element that favored the ex-Regent. They missed a strong personality at the helm of state, for the Koreans have always preferred a strong even if tyrannical leadership. In recognition of this sentiment it was deemed wise to put the ex-Regent’s brother, whom he had always kept severely in the back-ground, in the prominent if not necessarily important position of Prime Minister. He proved as was intended a mere puppet in the hands of the Min party who by this time had absorbed the whole power of the government. He was allowed, in compensation for this, to control the sale of public offices to his own profit, but always under the vigilant eye of the dominant faction.

A new era in the metamorphosis of Korea had now begun. Public affairs in the peninsula took a new direction. Min Seung-ho was court favorite and it looked as if matters would soon settle down to something like their former tranquility. But the latter days of the year were destined to bring a severe shock to the leaders of the new party. One day Min Seung-ho received a letter purporting to be from a certain party with whom he was on intimate terms, and with it came a casket wrapped in silk. He was requested to open it only in the presence of his mother and his son. Late at night in his inner chamber he opened it in the presence of these members of his family, but when he lifted the cover the casket exploded with terrific force killing the three instantly and setting the house on fire. As Min Seung-ho had but one enemy bold enough to perpetrate the deed the popular belief that it was done by his great rival is practically undisputed, though no direct evidence perhaps exists.

Min T‘a-ho immediately stepped into the place made vacant by the terrible death of the favorite. Soon after this the government discontinued the use of the 100 cash pieces with which the Regent had diluted the currency of the country. In the second moon of 1874 the crown prince was born. The year was also signalised by the remittance in perpetuity of the tax on real estate in and about the city of Seoul.

In 1875 three of the ex-Regent’s friends, led by Cho Ch‘ung-sik, memorialised the throne begging that the Prince Tai-wun be again reinstated in power. For this rash act they were all condemned to death, and it was only by the personal intercession of the ex-Regent that the sentence was commuted to banishment for life. Even so, Cho Ch‘ung-sik was killed at his place of exile.

In September the Japanese man-of-war Unyo Kwan, after making a trip to Chefoo, approached the island of Kang-wha to make soundings. Approaching the town of YÖng-jung, they sent a small boat ashore to look for water. As they neared the town they were suddenly fired upon by the Koreans in the little fortress, who evidently took them for Frenchmen or Americans. A moment later the small boat was turned about and was making toward the man-of-war again. The commander gave instant orders for summary punishment to be inflicted for this perfectly unprovokedunprovoked assault. He opened fire on the town and soon silenced the batteries. A strong body of marines was landed which put the garrison to flight, seized all the arms and provisions and fired the town. The man-of-war then steamed away to Nagasaki to report what had occurred.

At this time there were in Japan two parties who took radically different views of the Korean question. One of these parties, led by Saigo of Satsuma, smarting under the insulting way in which Korea had received the Japanese overtures, would listen to nothing but instant war. The other party, which saw more clearly the vital points in the question at issue, urged peaceful measures. The policy of the latter prevailed and it was decided to send an embassy to attempt the ratification of a treaty, and if that failed war was to be the alternative. This peace policy was so distasteful to the war party that Saigo returned to Satsuma and began to set in motion those agencies which resulted in the sanguinary Satsuma Rebellion.

For many centuries there had been a strip of neutralneutral territory between the Korean border, the Yalu River, and the Chinese border which was marked by a line of stakes. This strip of land naturally became the hiding placeplace of refugees and criminals from both countries, for here they were free from police supervision whether Korean or Chinese. The statesman Li Hung-chang recognized this to be a menace to the wellfarewellfare of both countries and took steps to put an end to it, by sending a strong body of troops who, in conjunction with a gunboat, succeeded in breaking up the nest of desperadoes and rendering the country fit for colonisation. Two years later this strip of land was definitely connected with China and the two countries again faced each other across the waters of the Yalu.Yalu.

The Korean attack upon the Unyo Kwan off Kang-wha proved the lever which finally roused Japan to active steps in regard to the opening of Korea. The war party regarded it as their golden opportunity, while the peace party believed it would pave the way for a peaceful accomplishment of their purpose. An envoy was despatched to Peking to sound the policy of that government. The Chinese, fearing that they would be held responsible for the misdoings of Korea denied, all responsibility and virtually acknowledged the independence of the peninsula. At the same time a military and naval expedition under Kiroda Kiyotaku, seconded by Inouye Bunda, sailed for Kang-wha with a fleet of gunboats, containing in all some 800 men. The Chinese had already advised the Korean government to make terms with the Japanese, and this in fact was the wish of the dominant party; so, when the Japanese demand reached Seoul, that commissioners be sent to Kang-wha to treat with the visitors the government quickly complied. Two high officials. Sin HÖn and Yun Cha-seung, were despatched to Kang-wha and the first definite step was taken toward casting off the old time isolation policy, the fond dream of the ex-Regent.

The Japanese envoy opened the conference by asking why the Koreans had given no answer to the repeated requests of the Japanese for the consummation of a treaty of peace and friendship. The Korean commissioner replied that from the very earliest times Japan had always addressed Korea in respectful language, but that now she had arrogated to herself the title of Great Japan and called her ruler the Great Emperor. This seemed to imply the vassalage of Korea, an entirely new role for her to play. The Japanese replied that the mere assumption of the name of empire on the part of Japan implied nothing as to the status of Korea one way or the other. This seemed to satisfy the Koreans.

The Japanese thenthen asked why they had been fired upon at Yung-jung. The answer was that the Japanese were dressed in European clothes and were therefore mistaken for Europeans. But when the Japanese asked why the Koreans had not recognized the Japanese flag, especially since the Japanese government had been careful to send copies of their flag to Korea and ask that one be sent to each of the prefectures throughout the land, the Korean commissioners could find nothing to say and had to confess that they had been in error.

All these things were duly reported to the authorities in Seoul where daily councils were being held to discuss the important questions. The ex-Regent sent an urgent appeal to the ministers not to make a treaty, but the tide had turned, and after some sharp discussion as to how the two governments should be designated in the treaty it was finally ratified on FebruaryFebruary 27th 1876, and Korea was a hermit no longer. Three months later a semi official envoy was sent to Japan in the person of Kim Keui-su.

Meanwhile the closing days of 1875 had beheld a curious event in Seoul. In the dead of night the house of Yi Ch’oe-eung, the Prime Minister and the brother of the ex-Regent, was set on fire by an unknown hand and burned to the ground. None of the inmates were injured. The culprit was seized and under torture confessed that one Sin Ch’ul-gyun had hired him to do the work. Sin was therefore seized and put to death as a traitor. Whether he was indeed guilty and if so whether he was but an agent in the business are questions that have never been answered.

It was not until the sixth moon of 1879 that, in pursuance of the new treaty, a Japanese Minister, Hanabusa, was sent to represent his government at Seoul. We will remember that he had already served his government most successfully at the Korean capital in a private capacity. The new legation was situated at the Ch’un Yun-jung near the lotus pond outside the West Gate. At almost the very same time two French priests arrived in Seoul and took up their quarters outside this same gate and began to proselyte. They were forthwith seized by the authorities, and were for some time in imminent danger. There was however a strong feeling in the government that this was inconsistent with the new role that it had elected to play and that it was distinctly dangerous. A halt was called and the Japanese Minister took advantage of it to inform the authorities that he had received a message from the French Minister in Tokyo asking him to use his good offices in behalf of these endangered men. The Minister added his own advice that the Korean government should hand over the imprisoned men at once. This was done and the Japanese Minister forwarded them to Japan.

One year later, in the summer of 1880, Kim Hong-jip, a man of progressive tendencies, went to Japan. Soon after arriving there he met a Chinaman who seems to have made a strong impression on him. This Chinaman had many talks with him and gave him a long manuscript dealing with the subject of Korea’s foreign relations, which he asked should be transmitted to the king of Korea. In it he advised the cementing of friendship with the United States, China and Japan, but he spoke disparagingly of Russia. It mentioned Protestant Christianity as being the basis of Western greatness and advised that its propagation be encouraged. It compared the division of Christianity into Roman Catholic and Protestant to the division of Confucianism into the two sects Chu-ja and Yuk-sang-san. When Kim Hong-jip brought this manuscript and placed it in the hands of the king it created a profound sensation, and awakened the bitterest opposition. Many advised that he be killed as an introducer of Christianity. The most violent of all were Yi Man-son, Hong Cha-hak and Pak Nak-kwan who memorialized the throne urging the execution of Kim and the overthrow of all Christian work in the peninsula. This met with the severest censure from the king, not because it was in itself seditious but because it was an attempt to reinstate the policy of the Regency. Yi Man-son was banished, Hong Cha-hak was executed and Pak Nak-kwan was imprisoned. This put an end to anti-Christian talk for the time being and it was never again seriously raised.

By the fourth moon of 1881 the progressive tendencies of the new regime had made such headway that the king determined to send a commission to Japan to look about and see something of the world, from which Korea had been so carefully secluded. For this purpose His Majesty selected Cho Chun-Yung, Pak ChÖng-yang, Sim Sang hak, Cho Pyung-jik, Min Chong-muk. O Yun jung, Om Se-yung, Kang Mun-hung, Hong Yung-sik, Yi Wun-whe, and Yi Pong-eui. These men immediately took passage for Japan. At the same time a party of young men was sent to Tientsin under the chaperonage of Kim Yun-sik on a similar errand.

Late in this year, 1881, four of the adherents of the ex-Regent conspired to overthrow the government, dethrone the king and put in his place Yi Cha-sun, a son of the ex-Regent by a concubine. The ex-Regent was then to be brought back to power. The last day of the eighth moon was set for the consummation of this plot. But on the day before, Nam-Myung sun and Yi P’ung-na divulged the whole scheme to the favorite Min T’a-ho, and as a result the four arch-conspirators were seized on the morning of the day set for the culmination of the plot and within a few days eleven others were taken. In the eleventh moon they were all beheaded, and at the same time Yi Cha-sun was given poison and expired.

By this time a real liberal party had begun to form. Its leading spirits were Kim Ok-kyun, Pak Yung-hyo, So Kwang-bom, Hong Yung-sik, Yi To-ja, Sin Keui-sun and Pak Yung-kyo. These were all men of very high family and held important positions under the government. They were in favor of the immediate opening of Korea to intercourse with foreign powers and the establishment of reforms such as had been effected in Japan. The king was largely influenced by the progressive policy mapped out by these men and an era of rapid advancement seemed to be dawning. A special department was established called the Ki-mu or Machinery Bureau which was to take charge of the introduction of foreign machinery and implements of all kinds.

It is important to note the position of the Min faction at this point. It was with the downfall of the Regent that, through the queen’s influence, the Min faction sprang to life. With the utmost celerity all government positions were filled with them or their sympathizers and it seemed sure that they would have a long lease of official life. The extreme opposition of the Regent to all reforms and to the opening of the country to foreign intercourse naturally inclined his rivals in that very direction and it was directly through the Min faction that the policy of non-seclusion was inaugurated. The queen likewise was in favor of opening up the country to the civilizing influences of the West. But with the Min faction, as a whole, the question of national policy were entirely secondary to the one main idea of preserving the ascendency which they had gained. Here is the key to all that followed. The Mins were not at that time facing China-ward and they never would have been had it not become necessary in order to preserve the enviable position they occupied. As we have seen, a number of high officials who had imbibed something of the spirit of reform which had permeated Japan were filling the ear of the king and queen with plans for reform. They were meeting with a favorable hearing and in proportion as they succeeded, the power of the Mins must wane; not because the latter disliked the idea of opening up Korea but because it was another faction that had the work in hand, and that faction would naturally attain more and more power at court as success crowned their efforts. It was just here that the difficulty began. If the liberal leaders had been willing to put the working out of the plan into the hands of the Min faction all might have gone along smoothly and Korea might have realized some of the hopes of the would-be reformers. But such self-abnegation could scarcely be expected from men who saw in the carrying out of their brilliant scheme not only rewards for themselves but the advancement of the country. The personal element was present in full force and this was the rock on which the reformation of Korea split. We may believe that it was at this point that the Min faction determined its policy, a policy that led it straight into the arms of China. From this point it became not the progressive party but the conservative party. Its leading members were Min T’a-ho, Min Yung-muk, Min Tu-ho, Han Kyu-jik and Cho Ryung-ha. There was one of the Mins however who held with the liberal party, for a time at least. This was Min Yung-ik, nephew to the queen, adopted son of Min Seung-ho who had been killed by the infernal machine in 1874. That this man took his stand at first with the liberals is shown by the fact that in the spring of 1882 he joined Kim Hong-jip, Kim Ok-kyun, Hong Yung-sik and other liberal leaders in advising the king to select 200 young men and engage a Japanese instructor to drill them in military tactics. The advice was followed, and Lieutenant Isobayachi was employed for that purpose. Without delay he began work at the Ha-do-gam near the East Gate. At the same time a number of young men were sent to Japan to study military matters. Among these the most prominent was Su Cha-p’il who was intimately connected with the liberal movement, though at that time he was too young to take a prominent part.

The first regularly appointed Minister to the Japanese was Pak Yung-hyo the liberal leader. In the early part of 1882 he departed on his mission. It was at Chemulpo on board the little Japanese steamer that the Korean flag was first designed. Pak Yung-hyo, Kim Ok-kyun, Su Kwang-bom and Su Cha-p’il were all present when it was hoisted for the first time in honor of the first Minister to Japan.

While the two hundredhundred men who were being drilled at the Ha-do-gam were being plentifully fed and clothed by the government, the 3,700 troops, called the Hul lyun To-gam, the former Royal Guard, were being badly neglected. Their pay was two or three months in arrears and for a similar period they had not received a grain of rice. They were naturally incensed and there were angry mutterings against the two hundred men who were being treated so much better than they. When the king was made aware of this he ordered that a month’s allowance of rice be given out to these discontented troops. This work was put into the hands of Min Kyum-ho the overseer of the government finances, and he in turn handed the matter over to his major-domo who, it appears, sold the good rice and with the proceeds bought a large quantity of the poorest quality which he mixed with sand and doled out to the hungry troops. The result may be imagined. They congregated in various places and determined that since they must die in any event they would rather die fighting than starving. They strengthened the feeble-hearted among their own number by threats of death in case any proved unfaithful and refused to assist in the work in hand. On the night of the ninth of the sixth moon, in the midst of heavily falling rain, they arose en masse and proceeded to their general’s house, where they announced that they were going to take revenge on those who had wronged them. That they not only did not attack him but that they even had the courtesy to go and tell him what they were about to do shows clearly that he was in no wise to blame for the ill-treatment they had received. They also sent a messenger to the ex-Regent, but the purport of the message is not known. They then hastened to the residence of Min Kyum-ho, but he had heard of the trouble and had fled to the royal presence for protection. The infuriated soldiery vented their rage on the property by tearing down the house and destroying the furniture. They seized the dishonest major-domo and beat him to death upon the spot. The sight of this aroused all their worst instincts and, separating into bands of two or three hundred, they hastened to different parts of the town to complete what had been begun. Some ran to the prisons and liberated the inmates who naturally joined the ranks of the rioters. One of these prisoners was Pak Nak-kwan who had memorialized the throne in favor of the ex-Regent. They took him on their shoulders and rushed through the streets shouting “Pak Chung-sin” or “Pak the patriot.” For this, a few months later he was torn to pieces by bullocks outside the West Gate. Part of the mob went to the Ha-do-gam, but on their approach the Japanese military instructor took to his heels and made for the Japanese Legation. But he was overtaken and cut down in the streets. Another detachment hastened to the Japanese Legation itself, but found the gates shut and barred. Within were nine Japanese. In order to make it light enough to carry on their dastardly work the assaulting mob threw firebrands over the wall and thus illuminated the place, for it was night. The little company of Japanese soon became aware that they could not hope to stand a siege and that their only hope lay in a bold dash. Suddenly the gates flew open and the nine determined men rushed out brandishing their swords and firing their revolvers straight into the crowd. The Koreans were taken wholly by surprise and beat a hasty retreat. In their headlong flight many of them fell into the lotus pond adjoining. As the Japanese hurried along to the governor’s yamen which was not far away, they cut down a few of the mob. They found that the governor had gone to the palace and so they turned their faces toward Chemulpo and hastened away. Another party of the insurgents went outside the city to various monasteries which they burned to the ground. The most important of these was the Sin-heung Monastery outside the Northeast Gate. This move was dictated by hate of the Min faction whose patroness was known to be very well affected toward Buddhism and to have made friends with the monks.

Other parties scattered over the city carrying the torch to the door of every member of the Min faction. The houses of Min Kyum-ho, Min T’a-ho, Min Yung-ik, Min Yung-so, Min Yung-jun, Min Yung-ju,Min Yung-ju, Min Ch’ang-sik, Prince Heung-in, Kim Po-hyun and Yun Cha-duk were torn down by the use of long ropes. The furniture was piled in a great heap in the street and burned. The only member of the Min clan however that was seized that night was Min Ch’ang-sik who lived at Kon-dang-kol. He had the unenviable reputation of having taken large sums of money from the people by indirection. When he was seized he cried “I am not a Min; my name is Pak.” They bound him and carried him through the streets shouting “Is this a Min or a Pak?” The populace answered fiercely “He is a Min.” So they took him down to the big bell and stabbed him in a hundred places with their swords and cut his mouth from ear to ear.

When the morning of the tenth broke Seoul was in a terrible condition. Bands of frenzied soldiery were ranging through the streets. The people either huddled about their fireplaces with barred doors or else sought safety in flight from the city. At last the mob rendezvoused in front of the palace gate and finding no opposition they boldly entered. Rushing into the inner court of the king’s private apartments they found themselves face to face with His Majesty. About him stood a few of the officials who had not fled the city. There were Min Kyum-ho, Kim Po-hyun, Cho Ryung-ha and Prince Heung-in. Rushing forward the soldiers struck their swords against the floor and the door-posts and demanded that these men be handed over to them. It was quite evident that there was no escape and that by refusal they would only endanger the king’s life. So these men made obeisance to His Majesty and then stepped down into the hands of the soldiers. Min Kyum-ho and Kim Po-hyun were instantly struck down and hacked in pieces before the very eyes of the king. Of Kim nothing remained but the trunk of his body. Cho Ryung-ha was spared but Prince Heung-in died the same day for he was mashed to a jelly by the gun-stocks of the soldiers.

This done, the soldiers demanded the person of the queen. The king sternly demanded how they dared ask of him the person of his Queen. Without answering they rushed away to her private apartments. Seizing palace women by the hair they dragged them about demanding where their mistress was. But while this was going on one of the palace guard named Hong Cha-heui entered the Queen’s presence and said that she was in danger and that her only hope of escape lay in getting on his back and being carried out. This she instantly did. A skirt was hastily thrown over her head and the heroic man took her straight out through the midst of the infuriated soldiery. Some of them seized hold of him and demanded whom he was carrying. He replied that it was one of the palace women, his sister, whom he was conveying to a place of safety. His heroism was rewarded by seeing her safely outside the palace and comfortably housed at the residence of Yun T‘a-jun to the west of the palace. The next day she was taken in a closed chair toward the village of Chang-wun in the district of Ch‘ung-ju in Ch’ung ch‘ung Province, where she arrived several days later. In that place she found refuge in the house of Min Eung-sik. This journey was made not along the main road but along by-paths among the mountains, and it is said that Hong Cha-heui lost several of his toes as a result of this terrible march, for shoes could not be procured.

But we must return to the palace. The ex-Regent appeared on the scene while the solders were still raging through the palace in search of the Queen. He gave the signal to stop, and instantly the soldiers obeyed and quietly left the palace. That these soldiers, worked up as they were to a perfect frenzy, should have obeyed the commands of the Prince Tai-wun so instantly and implicitly would seem to argue a closer connection with this outbreak than any overt act on his part would give us warrant to affirm.

The ex-Regent was now in power again. He supposed that the Queen had been killed, and on the next day he summoned the officials and said that though the Queen was dead yet her body had not been found; they must therefore take some of her clothing and perform the funeral rites with them instead. The proclamation went forth, and from the middle of the sixth moon the people went into mourning for their Queen.