Tomb of Eo Suk in Sunheung, Yeongju

This is a Silla-period mural tomb on the southwestern slope of Bibongsan Mountain, excavated by the Ewha Womans University Museum in 1971. It is a circular earthen mound 16 m in diameter; severe damage has made its original height impossible to determine. Around the base of the mound, natural stones were used to form a ring of kerbstones. The interior is a stone chamber tomb with a corridor, comprising a burial chamber and an entrance passage. Lime plaster was applied to the four walls and ceiling of the chamber and murals painted on it, and a broad stone platform for the coffin was set into the floor. Soil from looting had accumulated beneath the upper part of the west wall, and not a single artefact remained. The burial chamber was sealed with a stone door, and the entrance to the passage was blocked with roughly piled stones. Paintings originally covered the tomb throughout, but most were destroyed by damp and other natural causes; murals survive only on the ceiling of the passage and on the stone door, in both cases painted over a base of lime plaster. The ceiling bears a single large lotus design, notable for being rendered entirely in red. The outer face of the stone door carries a painting that appears to show a human figure, though it is now almost entirely illegible, while on the inner face of the door is carved the inscription 'Eulmyo year, Eo Suk-ji, sulgan'. Judging by the lotus design, the Eulmyo year is thought to correspond to the seventeenth year of King Jinpyeong's reign (595), in the late sixth century, after Buddhism had been officially recognised under King Beopheung. Eo Suk is a personal name of Goguryeo origin, while sulgan was a Silla official title, apparently reflecting the distinctive situation of this region as a border zone between Goguryeo and Silla around the sixth century. Along with the Sunheung mural tomb, this is one of the mural tombs found within Silla territory, and it is also the only named tomb known from Silla, making it an important source of information. In particular, the lotus design and the personal name Eo Suk, both suggestive of Goguryeo, indicate that this region may have served as a corridor between Goguryeo and Silla.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Historic Site · 사적