Tomb of King Muryeong

The Tomb of King Muryeong, also known as Songsan-ri Tomb No. 7, is the ancient tumulus of King Muryeong, who ruled the Baekje Kingdom from 501 to 523, and his queen. The rarity of intact Baekje tombs makes this one of the major archaeological discoveries in Korea and a crucial source for the understanding of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms (Kim 1973, 1986; Kim and Pearson 1977).
The tomb is located in present-day Gongju in Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea. It is Korean Historic Site No.13. King Muryeong's Tomb is also registered on the South Korean government's tentative list of World Heritage Sites.

Excavation

 

The tomb was accidentally discovered during water drainage work on the No.5 and 6 tombs in 1971. It had been untouched by grave robbers and thieves for over a millennia, and when it was
excavated it was the first time the tomb had been opened since the bodies of the king and queen were interred there 1,500 years before.
The exterior of the tomb looks like an earthen mound, 20 meters in diameter and 7.7 meters in height. It is believed that the mound was originally larger. Notably, the tomb employed a drainage system.

The tomb is based on the southern Chinese prototypes but also incorporates Baekje elements to create a Korean-style tomb. Solely Korean elements of the tomb include the arched shape of the chamber and the brick colour pattern. The style of King Muryeong's tumulus is found only in the Gongju area. While Chinese custom placed tombs in the north, this tomb was placed in the south. However, the king was placed in the east part of the tomb while the queen was placed in west which follows Chinese practice.

The main chamber is rectangular and made of black brick. It is 4.2 meters north-south, 2.72 meters east-west, and 3.14 meters in height. While the north and south walls stand straight, the east and west walls curve inward, creating an arched roof. The south wall has an arch-shaped door which leads to a passageway and entrance of the tomb. The door is 2.9 meters in length, 1.04 meters in width, and 1.45 meters in height. The east and west walls have two onion-shaped or flame-shaped niches to hold lamps while the north wall has one such niche. The placement of the bricks of the tomb are in alternating rows of lengthwise and widthwise arrangements. The bricks mainly have lotus-motifs but other decorations were incorporated as well.

Artifacts
From the tomb, 2,906 objects were excavated and subsequently classified into 108 categories. The most important objects include two pairs of royal diadems made for the king and queen and two stone epigraphs containing valuable inscriptions and dates. The epigraphs give the name and age of the king and queen and dates of their deaths and burials, a rarity for Korean tombs. These dates are also extremely valuable as they corroborate exactly the Korean history text Samguk Sagi.

Other objects include Chinese celadon jars, a copper bowl, gold and silver bracelets and earrings, footrests, bronze mirrors, a ring-pomelled sword, and gilt-bronze shoes. The bier in the tomb was covered by the remains of the wood coffins. The grave goods were placed below the coffins while some of the most important artifacts were placed on the bodies of the king and queen, such as the sword by the king's waist and the diadem ornaments at the heads of both the king and queen.

Gold Crown Tomb

The Gold Crown Tomb (Geumgwanchong), is a Silla tumulus located in modern-day Gyeongju, South Korea, the former capital of the ancient Silla Kingdom. Believed to date from the fifth or sixth century CE, the tomb was excavated in 1921. The tomb was the first to bear one of the sumptuous gold crowns of the Silla royalty, and is still the largest crown excavated thus far. The tomb gets its name from this famous crown. Over 40,000 artifacts were recovered from the tomb, including "gold, silver, and bronze vessels, gold and silver weapons, gilt-bronze plate armor, stoneware vessels, 20,000 mainly blue Indo-Pacific beads, and horse fittings."
The tumulus was first discovered by school children who had found beads coming out of the hill. A policeman notified the authorities who began an excavation on the site.

A golden girdle found in the tomb is another important symbol of royalty and is only found in royal tombs. The girdle is about two metres in length, is made up of 39 plaques, and has various charms dangling from the main belt. The golden crown found in this tomb is also notable for its intricate open metal-work inner cap which suggests a symbolism with bird wings and shamanistic practices. A bronze tripod pouring vessel is possibly a Chinese import.

Cheonmachong

Cheonmachong, formerly Tomb No.155, is a tumulus located in Gyeongju, South Korea. The tomb was excavated in 1973 and is believed to date probably from the fifth century but perhaps from the sixth century CE. The tomb was for an unknown king of the Silla Kingdom.
The tomb, in typical Silla style, is a wood-lined chamber running east to west and is covered in a mound of boulders and earth.
 This kind of tomb is said to follow the pattern of a tomb in Pazyryk, Russia. The tomb is 47 metres in diameter, 157 metres in circumference, and 12.7 metres in height.

The chamber of the tomb contained a lacquered wooden coffin which had burial goods placed around it. A total of 11,500 artifacts were recovered from the tomb. The name of the tomb derives from a famous painting of a white horse which is depicted on a birch bark saddle flap, also referred to as a mud-guard. The horse, a Cheonma (Korean pegasus), has eight legs and is depicted with wings on its feet. This painting is a rare example of extant Silla painting and indicates a strong influence by the Korean Goguryeo Kingdom. The burial of horse trappings and the sacrifice of a horse with the king shows the importance of horse culture in Silla society and indicates the central role of the king in shamanism practiced by the people.

The other side of the saddle flaps depict horsemen and the phoenix. The tomb also yielded many other treasures including a gold crown and a gold girdle, both replete with jade comma-shaped beads. These trappings of royalty indicate that a king was buried in the tomb. Additionally, the fact that the girdle in the Heavenly Horse Tomb is similar to a girdle found in the Gold Crown Tomb and the use of the dragon motif in gold plates which matches treasures in the Baekje King Muryeong also indicate a royal king was interred in the tomb. Besides the crown and girdle, the chamber also held gold bracelets and gold rings for every finger of the buried king. The tomb also contained a chest full of burial goods which including the aforementioned painted saddle flap, and also iron kettles, pottery, bronze vessels, lacquerware, saddles, and a 98 centimeter long sword.

Gyeongju

Gyeongju  is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang province in South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, covering 1,324 km² (511 sq mi) with a population of 269,343 people according to the 2008 census. Gyeongju is 370 km (230 mi) southeast of Seoul, and 55 km (34 mi) east of the provincial capital, Daegu. The city borders Cheongdo and Yeongcheon to the west, Ulsan to the south and Pohang to the north, while to the east lies the coast of the  East Sea). Numerous low mountains—outliers of the Taebaek range—are scattered around the city.
Gyeongju was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Silla (57 BC – 935 AD) which ruled about two-thirds of the Korean Peninsula between the 7th and 9th centuries. A vast number of archaeological sites and cultural properties from this period remain in the city. Gyeongju is often referred to as "the museum without walls". Among such historical treasures, Seokguram grotto, Bulguksa temple, Gyeongju Historic Areas and Yangdong Folk Village are designated as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. The many major historical sites have helped Gyeongju become one of the most popular tourist destinations in South Korea.

The city of Gyeongju was united with the nearby rural Gyeongju County in 1995 and is now an urban–rural complex.  It is similar to 53 other small- and medium-sized cities with a population under 300,000 people in South Korea. As well as its rich historical heritage, Gyeongju today is affected by the economic, demographic, and social trends that have shaped modern South Korean culture. Tourism remains the major economic driver, but manufacturing activities have developed due to its proximity to major industrial centers such as Ulsan and Pohang. Gyeongju is connected to the nationwide rail and highway networks, which facilitate industrial and tourist traffic.

History

A portrait of the last king of Silla, King Gyeongsun (r. 927–935). After his surrender to King Taejo, Gyeongju lost its status as capital city.

The early history of Gyeongju is closely tied to that of the Silla kingdom, of which it was the capital. Gyeongju first enters non-Korean records as Saro-guk, during the Samhan period in the early Common Era. Korean records, probably based on the dynastic chronicles of Silla, record that Saro-guk was established in 57 BCE, when six small villages in the Gyeongju area united under Bak Hyeokgeose. As the kingdom expanded, it changed its name to Silla. During the Silla period, the city was called "Seorabeol" (lit. Capital), "Gyerim" (lit. Rooster's forest) or "Geumseong" (lit. City of Gold).

After the unification of the peninsula up to Taedong River in 668 AD, Gyeongju became the center of Korean political and cultural life. The city was home to the Silla court and the great majority of the kingdom's elite. Its prosperity became legendary, and was reported as far away as Persia according to the 9th century book, The Book of Roads and Kingdoms. Records of Samguk Yusa give the city's population in its peak period as 178,936 households, suggesting that the total population was almost one million. Many of Gyeongju's most famous sites date from this Unified Silla period, which ended in the late 9th century by Goryeo (918–1392).

In 940, the founder of Goryeo, King Taejo, changed the city's name to "Gyeongju", which literally means "Congratulatory district".
 In 987, as Goryeo adopted a system of having three additional capitals in politically important provinces outside Gaegyeong (nowadays Kaesong), Gyeongju was designated as "Donggyeong" ("East Capital"). However, that title was removed in 1012, the 3rd year of King Hyeongjong, due to political rivalries at that time, though Gyeongju was later made the seat of Yeongnam Province. It had jurisdiction over a wide area, including much of east-central Yeongnam, although this area was greatly reduced in the 13th century. Under the subsequent Joseon (1392–1910) dynasties, Gyeongju was no longer of national importance, but remained a regional center. In 1601, the city ceased to be the provincial capital.

Chilbulam (rock-engraving of seven Buddhas) on Namsan, Gyoengju.

Over these centuries, the city's relics suffered numerous assaults. In the 13th century, Mongol forces destroyed a nine-story wooden pagoda at Hwangnyongsa. During the Japanese invasions of Korea, the Gyeongju area became a heated battlefield, and Japanese forces burned the wooden structures at Bulguksa. Not all damage was due to invasions, however. In the early Joseon period, a great deal of damage was done to Buddhist sculptures on Namsan by Neo-Confucian radicals, who hacked arms and heads off statuary.

In the 20th century, the city had remained relatively small, no longer ranking among the major cities of Korea. During the early 20th century, many archaeological excavations were conducted, particularly inside the tombs which had remained largely intact over the centuries. A museum, the forerunner of the present-day Gyeongju National Museum, was inaugurated in 1915 to exhibit the excavated artifacts.
Gyeongju emerged as a railroad junction in the later years of the Japanese Occupation, as the Donghae Nambu Line and Jungang Line were established to prepare for Second Sino-Japanese War and to exploit rich resources of the eastern Korean peninsula. Following liberation in 1945, Korea was plunged into turmoil, and Gyeongju was no exception. Returnees from abroad were numerous; a village for them was constructed in present-day Dongcheon-dong. In a period marked by widespread conflict and unrest, the Gyeongju area became particularly notorious for the level of guerrilla activity in the mountains.

Although the Korean War broke out in 1950, most of Gyeongju was spared from the fighting, and remained under South Korean control throughout the conflict. However, for a brief time in late 1950 portions of the city stood on the front lines, as North Korean forces pushed the Pusan Perimeter southward from Pohang.

In the 1970s, Korea saw substantial industrial development, much of it centered in the Yeongnam region of which Gyeongju is a part. The POSCO steel mill in neighboring Pohang commenced operations in 1973, and the chemical manufacturing complex in Ulsan emerged in the same year. These developments helped to support the emergence of Gyeongju's manufacturing sector.
Culture and people

Cultural properties

Gyeongju National Museum.

A Silla gold crown excavated from Geumgwanchong.

Divine Bell of King Seongdeok

Gyeongju is the main destination in South Korea for visitors interested in the cultural heritage of Silla and the architecture of the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910). The city has 31 National Treasures, and Gyeongju National Museum houses 16,333 artifacts. There are four broad categories of relics and historical sites: tumuli and their artifacts; Buddhist sites and objects; fortresses and palace sites; and ancient architecture. Prehistoric remains including Mumun pottery have been excavated in central Gyeongju, in the Moa-ri and Oya-ri villages of the Cheonbuk-myeon district, and in the Jukdong-ri village of the Oedong-eup district. Dolmens are found in several places, especially in Gangdong-myeon and Moa-ri. Bronze Age relics found in Angye-ri village of Gangdong-myeon, Jukdong-ri and Ipsil-ri villages of Oedong-eup and graveyards in the Joyang-dong district represent the Samhan confederacy period of around the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD.

There are 35 royal tombs and 155 tumuli in central Gyeongju, and 421 tumuli in the outskirts of the city. Silla burial mounds built after the period of the Three Kingdoms are found in central Gyeongju, including tumuli in the districts of Noseo-dong, Nodong-dong, Hwangnam-dong, Hwango-dong and Inwang-dong. Western Gyeongju has the tomb of King Muyeol in Seoak-dong, nearby tumuli in Chunghyo-dong and the tomb of Kim Yu-sin. The tombs of Queen Seondeok, King Sinmun, King Hyogong and King Sinmu are at the base of Namsan mountain while the tombs of King Heongang, King Jeonggang, King Gyeongmyeong and King Gyeongae are on the slopes of the mountain. In addition to the tombs, tumuli have been found surrounding Namsan mountain and in the western part of Geumgang mountain. Artifacts excavated from the tombs of Geumgwanchong (gold crown tomb), Seobongchong (western phoenix tomb), Cheonmachong (heavenly horse tomb) and northern and southern parts of Tomb No. 98 are good examples of Silla culture.

Religion
The city remains an important centre of Korean Buddhism. East of the downtown area lies Bulguksa, one of South Korea's largest Buddhist temples; nearby is Seokguram, a famed Buddhist shrine. Traditional prayer locations are found on mountains throughout Gyeongju. Such mountains include Namsan near the city center, Danseok-san and Obong-san in the west, and the low peak of Hyeong-san on the Gyeongju-Pohang border. Namsan in particular is often referred to as "the sacred mountain" due to the Buddhist shrines and statues which cover its slopes. In addition, Gyeongju is the birthplace of Cheondoism, an indigenous religion to Korea based on Korean shamanism, Taoism and Korean Buddhism, with elements drawn from Christianity. The religion has been evolved from Donghak (lit. East learning) disciplines established by Choe Je-u. His birthplace of Yongdamjeong, located in Hyeongok-myeon, is regarded as a sacred place to followers of Cheondogy.

Cuisine

Gyeongju bread, a local speciality.

The cuisine of Gyeongju is generally typical of the cuisine elsewhere in Gyeongsang province: spicy and salty. However, it has distinctive tastes according to region and several local specialties known nationwide. The most famous of these is "Gyeongju bread" or "Hwangnam bread", a red-bean pastry first baked in 1939 and now sold throughout the country. Chalboribbang, made with locally produced glutinous barley, is also a pastry with a filling of red bean paste. Local specialties with a somewhat longer pedigree include beopju, a traditional Korean liquor produced by the Gyeongju Choe in Gyo-dong. The brewing skill and distill master were designated as Important Intangible Cultural Properties by South Korea government.

Other local specialities include ssambap, haejangguk, and muk. Ssambap refers to a rice dish served with vegetable leaves, various banchan (small side dishes) and condiments such as gochujang (chili pepper paste) or ssamjang (a mixture of soybean paste and gochujang) to wrap them together. Most ssambap restaurants in Gyeongju are gathered in the area of Daenuengwon or Grand Tumuli Park. Haejangguk is a kind of soup eaten as a hangover cure, and means "soup to chase a hangover". A street dedicated to haejangguk is located near Gyeongju National Museum, where 20 haejangguk restaurants are gathered to serve the Gyeongju-style haejangguk. The soup is made by boiling soybean sprout, sliced memilmuk (buckwheat starch jelly), sour kimchi (pickled vegetables) and gulfweed in a clear broth of dried anchovy and Alaska pollack.

The east district of Gyeongju, Gampo-eup town, is adjacent to the sea, so fresh seafood and jeotgal (fermented salted seafood) are abundant. There are over 240 seafood restaurants in Gampo Harbor offering various dishes made with seafood caught in the sea, such as hoe (raw fish dishes), jeonboktang (an abalone soup), grilled seafood and others.