Tomb of King Muyeol, Gyeongju

Gyeongju has dozens of royal mounds attributed to this king or that on the strength of tradition. This one is different. In front of it stands the base of a memorial stele: a great stone turtle, and on its back a fragment of the dragon-carved cap that once topped the inscription, and on the cap the words 'Stele of the Great King Taejong Muyeol'. The body of the stele is lost, but the name is enough. Muyeol — Kim Chun-chu, before he was king — was the man who made the alliance with Tang China that let Silla destroy Baekje in 660, the year before he died. His son Munmu finished the job against Goguryeo and unified the peninsula. This is the beginning of that story. The mound itself is plain, a single grass hill with a low stone kerb, no carved figures. Four smaller mounds rise behind it on the slope, thought to be his ancestors, and the stele turtle — a National Treasure in its own right — is the finest piece of seventh-century carving in the city.

Original Text

Where it is

Region

Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Historic Site · 사적