Buried Memorial Tablets from the Tomb of King Muryeong

The epitaph stones of King Muryeong, the twenty-fifth king of Baekje, and his queen: two tablets. They are land deeds: at the funerals of the king and queen, a document buying the ground for the tomb from the god of the earth was drawn up and carved in stone. They were excavated when the Tomb of King Muryeong was discovered in 1971. The king's stone is 41.5 cm wide and 35 cm high, ruled with lines 5–6 cm apart, and carved in six lines of text. What it records of the king agrees with the Samguk sagi. On the back a square border is ruled, with the twelve directions marked along it — except, for some unknown reason, the west. The other is the queen's stone, also 41.5 cm by 35 cm, ruled at intervals of 2.5–2.8 cm and carved in four lines. Thirteen lines are ruled, but the rest were left blank. On its back is the land-purchase text. The deed was originally made at King Muryeong's burial; later, when the queen was buried with him, her epitaph was carved on its back. The only land deed found in a royal tomb of the Three Kingdoms period, it identifies who was buried in the tomb and records the burial customs of the Baekje people, which makes it a very precious source. With the other objects from the Tomb of King Muryeong, it also shows the cultural exchange between Baekje and the Southern Dynasties of China in the early sixth century, and is precious for the study of Baekje history.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gongju, Chungnam

Designation

National Treasure · 국보