Culture525

Tomb of King Muryeong

King Muryeong, who died in 523, was buried in a brick tomb at Songsan-ri, Gongju, in 525; it was found intact in 1971.

Built in the brick style of Liang China, it held epitaph stones naming its occupants — almost the only Three Kingdoms royal tomb whose owner is certain. The coffins were made of Japanese umbrella pine, found only in Japan.

Some 4,600 objects, including gold crown ornaments and a stone guardian beast, show Baekje’s close ties with southern China and Wa.

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The map in AD 525

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States and rulers at the time: Baekje — King Seong
Places: Tomb of King Muryeong

People

King MuryeongAD 462 – AD 523
related figure · Twenty-fifth king of Baekje, who sent royal kin to the 22 damno districts and revived the kingdom

Before and after

Earlier: AD 520 King Beopheung’s Law Code
Later: AD 527 Ichadon’s Martyrdom and Silla’s Adoption of Buddhism

Themes that include this event

Changes in Tombs2000 BC – 1374
From dolmens to the tomb of King Gongmin — stone-mound, stone-mound wooden-chamber, stone-chamber and brick tombs, and how burial changed by kingdom and age
Crafts and MetalworkAD 346 – 1392
From the Seven-Branched Sword to mother-of-pearl lacquer — Three Kingdoms crowns, censers and daggers, the great bell of Unified Silla, Goryeo silver inlay and najeon
GongjuAD 475 – 1894
From Ungjin, Baekje’s second capital, to Ugeumchi — the town on the Geum River that became the heart of Chungcheong