A study of Koguryo and ancient Japan   Monument to king Kwanggaeto The Great  The Significance of Koguryo History

Koguryo Kingdom(or Goguryeo, 277 B.C.-668 A.D.):

A Glorious Ancient Korean Kingdom in Northeast Asia

First Feudal Kingdoms
The slave-owning society that lasted over a stretch of several hundreds years gave way to the feudal society around the period before and after the Christian era. There appeared many feudal forces in the land of Kojoseon(Gojoseon), Puyo and Chinguk. The biggest ones of all those forces were Koguryo, Paekje and Silla.
They absorbed the neighbouring forces and formed big kingdoms. The three kingdoms existed from the period before and after the Christian era to the 7th century.  In korean history this period is called the period of Three Kingdoms.

Inside of the ANAK TOMB No.3 (about the middle of the 4th C.)

Chongyouong or Blue Dragon		Paekho or White Tiger

Koguryo

Out of three kingdoms, Koguryo was founded first. She was the biggest and strongest. In 277 BC, the Koguryo tribe who had lived in the middle reaches of the Amnok-gang River, the land of Kojoseon(Gojoseon), formed a feudal kingdom consisting of allied feudal forces.
The legend says that Chumong, founder of Koguryo, was born of an egg and that his father was son of the Creator and his mother was daughter of the king of dragon. He grew at the palace of the Kingdom of Puyo. As he was an expert archer and endowed with unusual talents from his very early age, he became the envy of the princes of the Kingdom of Puyo and was eventually reduced to a horse feeder at the king's palace.
Later, informed of their attempt to kill him, he fled southward riding a excellent steed he himself had prepared beforehand, and there he founded a dynasty. Of course, the legend attaching to the founder of the kingdom sounds incredible. But through this fantastic story about the creation of the kingdom we can judge that the process of founding the kingdom of Kogyryo points to close connections with that of Puyo.
The Koguryo tribe was a tribe who had separated from Puyo and lived in the middle reaches of the Amnok-gang River. This tribe who had made rapid progress, inheriting the productive forces and culture of Kojoseon(Gojoseon) and Puyo, entered the road of feudalization and founded Korea's first feudal kingdom. The first capital of Koguryo was Kugnaesong(now Chian in Northeast China). Big feudal forces in five areas such as yonnobu, cholnobu, sunnobu, kwannobu and kyerubu were credited with the feat of the foundation of the kingdom.
The creation of the Kingdom of Koguryo, a new feudal dynasty, markedan important landmark in beating off the Han aggressors and accelerating the collapse of slave-owning society.
The political system was based on the aristocratic democracy. The king could not exercise monopolistic control. Important national affairs and trials were handled only in accordance with the resolutions adopted at the aristocrats' council. With the expansion of the territory and the growth of national power, the ruling system was readjusted and reinforced step by step.

Gorgeous gold phoenix decorations are to be found in the artifacts of the Koguryo

The king, Kochuga royal aristocrats, taega and sanga or aristocrats and homin or upper layer of the common people belonged to the ruling classes. The ruled classes were composed of self-supporting pea-sants, the absolute majority of the population, haho or serfs and hired hands.
The land and people gained in the course of unifying the feudal forces and expending the territory came under the governorship of the state. Part of them was given out to dignitaries as their fiefs. As for the surrendering aristocrats, permission was accorded them to preserver their former authority and autonomous activity. This meat that within the state system there emerged a feudal lord system. But Koguryo was a virtually centralized ieudal kingdom. paekje and silla followed the same pattern in the state system.
After her foundation, Koguryo continued to expand her territory. This was done through the conquest of the neighbouring out han aggressors from the former land Kochoson, in 49A.D. she advance sd far as Taiyuan of north china to dear heav blows to Han. in 55 ten castles were built in the area west of the Liao River early year of the Christi era, an area covering noth and south hamgyong provinces of today came under dominition later the basin her the taedong-gang-River across the River changchon-gang was incorporated in this kingdom. Her territory had a long sretch as far as the taedong-gang River in the in the south and the east Sea in the east.
Even after that , the Koguryo people continued with their struggle as her descendants. in this course, Koguryo sometimes suffered great losses in face of surprise attacks on the part of the aggressors, but the stubborn out of the former land of Kochoson and completely recovering the area east of the liao River in the early 4th century. in the early 5th century, the territory of Koguryo was expanded greatly. in the west she gained control over the later Yen of the Hsienpei tribe and the Laiohsi region and in the south she occupied the broad area north of the han-gang River by attacking paekje. In 410 she attacked puyo and seized 64 castles and more then 1,400 villages, thereby expanding her northeas-thrn territory as far as the basin of the Ussuri River.
As seen above, Koguryo grew into a strong dy-nasty with wide territory and mighty military potential within a few centuries after her founding. the credit for this was due to the martial spirit of her people.
In the course of their arduous struggle to trans-fome nature and oppose the formidable foreign ene-mies, they came to acquire a habit of practicing arche-ry and a firm quality in life.
Military arts were encouraged in every way. in March ever year a national contest of hunting and military arts was organized and those who had dis-played extraordinary proficiency in the contest were officially commended and taken into government posts. For their daily practice in military arts, they could fight bravely in all battles against the aggres-sors. Koguryo became a strong power and demon-strated her invincible might in the East. This owed entirely to her gallant and high-spirited people who were firmly equipped military.
After she realized the recovery of her northwest-ern territory and grew into a mighty feudal dynasty, Koguryo transferred her capital to Pyongyang in 427in order to push forward the work of unifying Paeje and silla. After that she expand her territory south-ward. thus in the late 5th century, her south fron-tier reached the line linkg the Asan Bay on the West Sea and Uljin and Ullung-do island on the east sea.
The wide, fertile land and the peoples creative labour allowed the country to increase agricultural production and develop handicraft manufacturing and trade. The large-scale Anhak Palace and the Changan Castle (Pyongyang) and magnificent tombs whit mu-rals of opulent splendor, built at that time, testify to the fact that Koguryo became highly developed eco-nomically and culturally.
The might of Koguryo could be seen in her close relation with many regions of china and her influence exerted upon japan in the realms of economy and culture. Those Koguryo people who went to japan fromed a big political force there and greatly in-fluenced her in economic and cultural realms. Techni-cians of Koguryo who had visited japan imparted to japanese counterparts how to produce Koguryo silk fabrics(Koma brocabe) and how to tan leather. tam-jing, a Koguryo monk in the 7th century, enabled japanese to be given details about the manufacturing of paper and black writing flui, the construction of water mills and colour scheme.
The murals in the Takamatsuzuka tomb unearthed recently in Nara Prefecture, japen, are a striking testimonial to Koguryos political and cultural impact upon japan.
The concept thrashed out by Koguryo to unify the three Kingdoms before and after the time of the transfer of her capital to Pyongyong was quite within the bounds of possibility. from the sandpoint of his-torical development this task should have been under-taken by Koguryo because she was the strongest of the three kingdoms. This urged the rulers of Koguryo to maintain a strong national power and adopt an adamant attitude. But there occurred some change in the situation from the latter half of the 6th century.
Increasing authority and concentration of wealth in the hands of the feudal lords on the heels of territorial expansion gradually gave rise to laziness and slackness. There was a mad scramble for power. This as attended by intensified repression of the people and this resulted in weakening national power. As a result, Koguryo failed to realize unification of the three kingdoms and the dynasty itself came to an end.
In the period between the late 6th century and the early 7th century, Koguryo was subjected to re-peated large-scale invasion from sui, a feudal by-nasty which unified China, and Tang, a feudal dynasty which succeeded to Sui. At That time the patriotic people of Koguryo fought bravery, giving massive casualties to the invaders and thus defending their country with honour. But due to the losses she had suffered in the war that lasted nearly 70 years and the scramble for power within the ruling circles, Ko-guryo went to ruin in 668 in face of the attack of the allied troops of Silla and Tang.

Koguryo (高句麗) Heritages registered on the World Heritage List           Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List Cultural Complex of Koguryo Tombs (2004) Activities The Koguryo Dynasty and its heritage (Tombs and mural paintings)   Official Relations (UNESCO/ERC) National Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for UNESCO   Brief Description The property includes several group and individual tombs - totalling about 30 individual tombs - from the later period of the Koguryo Kingdom, one of the strongest kingdoms in nowadays northeast China and half of the Korean peninsula between the 3rd century BC to 7th century AD. The tombs, many with beautiful wall paintings, are almost the only remains of this culture. Only about 90 out of more than 10,000 Koguryo tombs discovered in China and Korea so far, have wall paintings. Almost half of these tombs are located on this site and they are thought to have been made for the burial of kings, members of the royal family and the aristocracy. These paintings offer a unique testimony to daily life of this period.   Other Languages : English French Arabic Chinese Russian Spanish Ensemble des tombes de Koguryo Ce site comprend de nombreuses tombes, en groupes ou isolées (une trentaine), datant de la dernière période du royaume de Koguryo, l’un des royaumes les plus puissants de la Chine du nord-est et de la moitié de la péninsule coréenne entre le IIIe siècle av. J.-C. et le VIIe siècle apr. J.-C. Ces tombes, dont beaucoup sont ornées de splendides peintures murales, constituent presque les seuls vestiges laissés par cette culture. Sur les quelque 10 000 tombes de Koguryo découvertes jusqu’à présent en Chine et en Corée, 90 seulement comportent des peintures murales. Environ la moitié d’entre elles sont situées sur ce site ; on pense qu’elles étaient destinées aux rois ainsi qu’aux membres de la famille royale et de la noblesse. Ces peintures offrent un témoignage unique de la vie quotidienne de l’époque. مجموعة مقابر الكوغوريو يتضمن هذا الموقع عدداً من المقابر المجتمعة أو المنفردة (التي يبلغ عددها الثلاثين) العائدة الى المرحلة الأخيرة من مملكة كوغوريوالتي كانت تعتبر من أقوى ممالك شمال شرق الصين ونصف شبه الجزيرة الكورية بين القرن الثالث قبل الميلاد والسابع ميلادي. وتعدّ هذه المقابر التي تزيّن الكثير منها لوحات جدارية مذهلة الآثار الوحيدة المتبقية من هذه الثقافة. ومن بين 10000 قبر تم اكتشافه حتى اليوم في الصين وكوريا، 90 قبرا فقط تحوي لوحات جدارية يقبع نصفها في هذا الموقع وسط اعتقاد سائد بأنها كانت مخصصة للملوك وأعضاء الأسرة الملكية والنبلاء. وتمثل هذه اللوحات شاهداً فريداً على الحياة اليومية السائدة في تلك الحقبة. Source: UNESCO/BPI 高句丽古墓群 墓群包括几组墓葬和一些独立的墓葬，共计约30座，是公元前3世纪至公元7世纪中国东北部和朝鲜半岛一半地区最强大的帝国之一——高句丽帝国后期的古墓，多以精美的壁画装饰，几乎是高句丽文化唯一的遗迹。迄今为止，在中国和朝鲜发现的10 000多座高句丽古墓中只有90座古墓绘有壁画。其中半数以上就在该遗址，被认为是高句丽帝王、皇室成员或贵族的墓葬。这些壁画以独特的方式反映了当时的日常生活。 Source: UNESCO/BPI Комплекс гробниц Когурё В комплекс входит несколько групп гробниц и отдельные гробницы – всего порядка 30 захоронений, которые относятся к позднему периоду существования государства Когурё, являясь ценнейшими свидетельствами этой культуры. Только около 90 гробниц Когурё из более чем 10 тыс., обнаруженных в целом в Китае и Корее к настоящему времени, имеют настенные росписи. Почти половина таких гробниц находится в пределах данного комплекса. Гробницы, как полагают, были сооружены для захоронения царей, членов царских семей и аристократии. Source: UNESCO/BPI Conjunto de tumbas de Koguryo Este sitio está integrado por un conjunto de 30 tumbas, agrupadas o aisladas, que datan de la época del Reino de Koguryo. El territorio de este reino, que fue uno de los más poderosos de la región entre los siglos III a. C. y VII a.C., se extendió por el nordeste de China y la mitad de la península coreana. Las tumbas son prácticamente los únicos vestigios de esta cultura y algunas de ellas poseen magníficas pinturas murales. De las 10.000 sepulturas del periodo koguryo descubiertas en China y Corea hasta la fecha, solamente 90 poseen pinturas murales. La mitad de las tumbas decoradas se hallan en este sitio y se cree que fueron construidas para albergar los despojos mortales de los soberanos, miembros de la familia real y personajes de la aristocracia koguryo. Las pinturas murales representan un testimonio excepcional de la vida cotidiana de la época. Source: UNESCO/BPI Justification for Inscription Criterion (i): The wall paintings of the Koguryo Tombs are masterpieces of the culture and period of the Koguryo kingdom; the construction of the tombs demonstrates ingenious engineering solutions. Criterion (ii): The special burial customs of the Koguryo culture had an important influence on other cultures in the region, including those in Japan. Criterion (iii): The Koguryo Tombs are an exceptional testimony of the Koguryo culture, its burial customs as well as its daily life and beliefs. Criterion (iv): The complex of Koguryo Tombs is an important example of burial typology. Multiple Locations of the Koguryo Tomb Serial ID Number   Name & Location    Coordinates    Area    Date Inscribed     1091-001    Tomb of King Tongmyong and Jinpha-ri group of tombs               Pyongyang,  N38 53 22.0 E125 55 47.0  220 Ha  2003   Lotus   The Sun (Three-legged crow) and The Moon(rabbit), middle of the ceiling, back chamber   1091-002    Homam-ri Sasin (Four Deities) Tomb              Pyongyang, N39 04 51.0 E125 55 19.0  0.8 Ha 2003   Tortoise and Serpent   Red Bird   1091-003   Tokhwa-ri Tombs No. 1,2,3              South Phyongan Province (Taedong area),              N39 09 04.0 E125 31 48.0 0.32 Ha 2003   Ornamental Design   Ornamental Design   1091-004    Kangso Three Tombs              Nampho (Kangso & Ryonggang areas),                N38 57 53.0 E125 25 30.0  1.9 Ha 2003   Painting   Tortoise and Serpent   1091-005    Tokhung-ri Tomb               Nampho,   N38 57 39.0 E125 26 49.0  2.5 Ha  2003       Mounted Attendants, part of a Procession   . Cow driven Carriage-Procession   13 CountyGovernors   1091-006     Yaksu-ri Tomb               Nampho,  N38 55 08 E125 24 48  1.1 Ha   2003   Hunting     Nobleman and his wife, Tortoise and Serpent   1091-007    Susan-ri Tomb               Nampho,  N38 55 14.0 E125 21 41.0  1.2 Ha   2003   Noblewoman       1091-008     Ryonggang Great Tomb              Nampho,  N38 51 47.0 E125 24 54.0*  0.34 Ha   2003      Nobleman and his wife Octagonal twin columns and painting       1091-009    Twin-Column Tomb              Nampho,   N38 51 47.0 E125 24 54.0*  0.29 Ha 2003   Stable   Archery Contest on Horseback     1091-010    Anak Tomb No. 1              South Hwanghae Province (Anak area),               N38 29 02.0 E125 32 35.0*  0.19 Ha 2003 Painting, northern part of the ceiling   1091-011    Anak Tomb No. 2              South Hwanghae Province,               N38 29 02.0 E125 32 35.0*  0.21 Ha  2003 Evil-faces Stone Pillar and Lotus on a Stone Pillar   1091-012    Anak Tomb No. 3              South Hwanghae Province,  N38 26 25.0 E125 30 27.0     Noblewoman and her Maids Structure of the tomb             Kitchen, Meat Storeroom and Carriage Shed   Scene of Unarmed Sparring           Central Section of Grand Procession       This Anak Tomb no.3 has a remarkable diversity of murals. The person depicted on the west wall is the master of the tomb. He was said to be a King who reigned during the mid 4th century. The room is covered in wall paintings. The image behind the red post is of a kitchen. Looking at the mural conveys an idea of how these people lived their lives. The master is heading a large parade; 250 people are following him. Koguryo people believed in the soul’s immortality and wished their same life to continue after death. This is said to explain why so many details of daily life were painted inside their tombs. This is a castle left by the Koguryo. They constantly fought off Chinese attack and reigned over north-east Asia. Tomb murals provide us with important clues about the lives of the mysterious Koguryo people. This grave was made for General Chun, a powerful commander. Here, there is a scene of Cavalry departing to the front. Superior military force expanded their empire. The Koguryo were able to create a unique culture of their own. Here, mounted chargers are firing at targets while galloping on horseback. This could be the origin of the Yabusame, a Japanese traditional ceremonial art.            This woman is wearing a red and blue garment which closely resembles a mural of a garment depicted in Takamatsu tomb in Japan. It reflects a strong tie between Japan and Koguryo in those days.       Koguryo fell after an attack by the allied forces of Tang and Shilla in 7th century. Through these images however we can still learn about the culture and imagine the lives of these people today.            -Other Ruins to be Recommended Properties submitted on the Tentative List Mt. Myohyang and the Relics in and around the Mountain (2000) Historical Relics in Kaesong (2000) Historical Relics in Pyongyang (2000) Mt. Kumgang and the Historical Relics in and around the Mountain (2000) Caves in Kujang Area (2000) Mt. Chilbo (2000)     kitchen   meat storage     topknot hairstyle   lady   Draw well

Hunting       The procession of the deceased   Oxcart driver   Oxcart used by the spouse of deceased TOKHUNG-RI MURAL TOMB (409 A.D.)     Fairies on a dragon and on phoenix   Chujak or Red Phoenix