in the Korean annals, for during all this time Japan was considered, as she doubtless was, a very inferior state; but in the Japanese accounts we find acknowledgment of the help which the Japanese received from this source. The Japanese temples and shrines contain numerous Buddhist relics that were obtained in Korea. It may be that some of these were taken at the time of the great invasion of 1592, but more of them doubtless went to Japan at the earlier date.
There is no evidence at all to show that Korea was subject in any way to Japan, and there is not a shred of proof to uphold the claim that Korea was tributary to that power. In fact, there is very much to prove the contrary. During a large part of most of this dynasty the shores of Korea were devastated by Japanese corsairs, and the government was constantly fighting them. It is impossible that there could have been any sort of rapport between the two countries while these things were going on. An occasional messenger came to ask for Buddhist books or relics, but as for any regular diplomatic communication, it is not at all probable. Nor does Koryu seem to have had much to do with China up to the time of the Mongol invasion, which did not come until near the end of the dynasty. The kings of Koryu doubtless considered themselves vassals of China, and sent occasional envoys to the Chinese court; but the yoke was a very light one, and was never felt. It fact it was, if anything, a benefit, for when Koryu got into difficulties on any side, it was of considerable value to her to be able to refer to China as her patron.
During the first three centuries of Koryu's power there was a gradual evolution of a social system, based mainly upon Chinese ideas, modified by Buddhistic precepts. The national examination became a fixture, though it presented some unimportant contrasts to the Chinese system. It is this institution that must answer for the absence of any such martial spirit as that which Japan displayed. The literary element became the leading element in the government, and scholarship the only
