Evolution
of Koguryo Tomb Murals
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Ⅲ. Evolution of Koguryo Tomb Murals
phase, the Gakjeochong, Tomb of Wrestlers, and the
Muyongchong, Tomb of Dancers, are best known. Both
tombs are situated at the southern foothills of Usan and face
the southwest. Their interiors are divided into two sections,
as the walls and the ceiling inside a wooden frame house.
Large trees divide sections for the depiction of various
themes.
Of the two, the Tomb of Wrestlers is easily recognized
for the painting of two men, an aquiline-nosed man from
West Asia and a Koguryo man, engaged in wrestling, as
well as the portrait of the tomb occupant and his two wives.
All these individuals in the murals, including the master
couple and servants show the characteristic appearance of
Koguryo people, whose faces are narrow and thin. They are
clearly different from the individuals portrayed in the
murals of the Anak Tomb No. 3, who have full and round
faces.
The Tomb of Dancers, meanwhile, portrays scenes of
hunters on horseback, dancing figures, two muscular men
performing a martial art, lotus petals and buds hovering in
the sky, as well as celestial figures such as immortals and
auspicious animals (blue dragons and white tigers). The
dancing scene is part of a larger painting that portrays the
dead master venturing out on horseback followed by his
attendant, while dancers and choir members see him off.
The murals attest to the sophisticated artistic skills of the
Koguryo painters in the Gungnae region during the early
5th century.
2. Second Phase:The Diversified Celestial
World
The second phase in the evolution of Koguryo's mural
art covers a period from the mid-5th to early 6th centuries.
This was when Koguryo dominated Northeast Asia as one
of the region's four major powers, along with the Later Yan
in inner Asia and the Southern and Northern Dynasties in
China. During this period, murals were created for one-
chamber or two-chamber tumuli, featuring a variety of
themes. Some show a mixture of life scenes and the Four
Directional Animals, some life scenes and decorative
patterns, and others have only decorative patterns. When
the Four Directional Animals were painted in the interior of
the burial-chamber, they always appeared in the order of
blue dragon (left/east), white tiger (right/west), red phoenix
(front/south), and black warrior (rear/north). It is assumed
that these auspicious animals were painted in order to
complement the geomantic disadvantages of the tomb, or
when the tombs were built at a location where the animals
could not exercise their strongest power.
A good number of tomb murals depicting life scenes and
decorative patterns were excavated in the region of
Gungnae, the kingdom's former capital and political and
cultural center after the capital was relocated to
Pyeongyang in 427 CE. Some of the popular decorative
motifs were the spiral pattern, 'king' letter pattern, lotus-
petals, clouds, intertwined dragons, and honeysuckle.
Among them, the lotus-petal is important, for it appears in
most of the murals. The popularity of the motif is relevant
to the spread of Buddhism, which was notable during the
5th century. A lotus-flower pattern drawn inside the burial-
chamber reflects the aspirations of the deceased for rebirth
in the Buddhist Paradise.
As for the mural tombs of the second phase in the
Gungnae region, the Jangcheon Tomb No. 1 and the Samsil
Tomb are significant. The Jangcheon Tomb, a typical two-
chamber tomb, has drawn attention for its paintings that
depict the tomb occupant and his guests enjoying games,
and the images of afterlife and Buddhist deities (Buddha
and bodhisattvas), wrestler-like figures from West Asia
who symbolically sustain the world of afterlife with their
raised hands, and the two figures of rebirth from lotus
flowers. As for the Samsil Tomb, it is an unusual structure
in which three chambers are linked in a "U" shape. The
images of the wrestler-like figures occupying the walls of
the second and third chambers appear to be of the same
ethnic background as the West Asian figures in the
Jangcheon Tomb No. 1. These murals are evidence of the
active cultural exchanges between Koguryo, Central Asia
and West Asia.
Also of note is that in some tombs in the
Pyeongyang/Anak region, the life scenes appear with the
images of the Four Directional Animals. Initially, the
animals were depicted with the constellations in the ceiling
of the chamber. They later moved down to the wall areas,
eventually occupying the entire wall, replacing the life
scenes and becoming the main themes of the murals. The
Ssangyongchong, the Tomb of Twin Pillars, the Susanri
Tomb and the Tokhwari Tomb No. 1 are among the best
examples of the second phase tumuli discovered in the
regions of Pyeongyang and Anak.
In the two-chamber Tomb of Twin Pillars, the most
notable is the portrayal of figures, which are rendered in
much more sophisticated and refined lines when compared
with those in the previous paintings. In the paintings, men
are wearing Koguryo hats (“Jeolpung”), jackets with rims
of different colors, and loose-legged pants. Women are
wearing similar kinds of jackets with rims of different
colors and pleated skirts. Persons donning similar outfits
appear on the murals of the Susanri Tomb as well. These
materials enable us to conclude that the tradition of
portraiture in Koguryo was established during the later part
of the 5th century.
3. Third Phase: The Place for Eternal Rest
The third phase of the evolution of Koguryo mural art
covers a period from the mid-6th century to the 7th century.
In this period, the pan-Koguryo culture, which began
flourishing in the later part of the 5th century, was reflected
in the kingdom's mural art, even though the kingdom's
status as a regional power and its role as a cultural hub of
Northeast Asia then were being seriously challenged. The
murals of this period were painted on the smoothened stone
surfaces of the burial chambers. This shows that the
artisans of the kingdom were familiar with manufacturing
and handling of pigments. For the murals of one-chamber
tombs, the Four Directional Animals were still favored.
Procession scene of Samsilchong
Ceiling mural in Muyongchong