"I think that to-day I will tell you the story of King Taijo."

At this Yung Pak's eyes sparkled, and he was all attention in a moment.
He thought one of Wang Ken's stories was a great deal better than
puzzling over Korean letters or struggling with long strings of figures.
The tutor went on:

"When Taijo was born, many, many years ago, our country was not called
Korea, but had been given the name of Cho-sen."

Yung Pak had been told that Cho-sen meant Morning Calm, so he asked Wang
Ken how it came about that such a peaceful name had been given to his
country.

"Why," said Wang Ken, "the name was given to our land years and years
ago by the leader of some Chinese settlers, whose name was Ki Tsze. In
his native land there had been much violence and war, so with his
friends and followers he moved to the eastward and selected this country
for his home. Here he hoped to be free from the attacks of enemies and
to be able to live a peaceful life. For this reason he chose a name
which well expressed its outward position--toward the rising sun--and
his own inward feelings,--Cho-sen, or Morning Calm. This is still the
official name of our country.

"But to come back to our story of Taijo. At the time of his birth, the
rulers of the country were very unpopular because of their wickedness
and oppression of the people. There was much suffering on account of the
misrule, and the people longed for a deliverer who should restore
prosperity to Cho-sen.