The day-by-day chronicle of the kings of Joseon, compiled after each reign from the court diaries. It records the choosing of Hanyang by geomancy in 1394, the building of the palace, shrine, altar and city wall, the state market along the main street, and the royal limits on the size of houses by rank.
After each king’s death historians compiled his reign’s record from the diaries kept by court historians, the documents of the offices and private papers; the result was printed in a few copies and sealed in mountain archives, and no king was allowed to read the record of his own reign. The Annals of the first king, Taejo, were completed in 1413; the whole series covers 472 years and is inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World register.
For the history of Seoul the early reigns are essential. They describe how Taejo, having founded the dynasty in 1392, sent officials and geomancers to survey candidate sites; how Hanyang was chosen in 1394 for its enclosing mountains and waters; how the palace of Gyeongbokgung, the royal shrine of Jongmyo and the altar of Sajik were built in 1395, and the city wall along the ridges in 1396; how Taejong had rows of shops built along the main street from 1412; and how Sejong in 1431 limited the number of bays a house might have according to its owner’s rank.
The book, part by part
I Annals of Taejo (1392–1398)
The choice of Hanyang (1394); Gyeongbokgung, Jongmyo and Sajikdan (1395); the city wall and its gates (1396).
Rules: Mountains behind, water before: the geomantic site · The wall on the ridges, the gates in the saddles
II Annals of Taejong (1400–1418)
The state-built rows of shops along the main street (from 1412).
III Annals of Sejong (1418–1450)
The limits on houses by rank (1431).