Archaeology Magazine - September 1977 - 18

Bronzemirrorfrom the tombof King Munyong.
Diameter, 17.8 centimeters.

Earth Diety, along with a square plan with the
signs of the zodiac, which is thought to be a
possible map of the tomb. On the top of the
plaques are a large number of Wu Shu coins, the
standard currency in China from 118 b.c. to a.d.
580, strung together as payment to the Earth
Diety.
In the main chamber itself, several bronze
wine cups, a lute, and a pottery bottle were
placed at the lowered space as offerings to the
royal couple. On the elevated floor were the
fallen coffins of the king and queen. According
to the inscription on the stone plaques, the
sixty-two-year-old king died in May a.d. 523
and was formally buried in August a.d. 525,
twenty-six months after his death. He had been
kept in a mortuary until then. The queen died
in November a.d. 526, approximately one year
after the funeral of her spouse. She was buried
in February a.d. 529, also twenty-six months
after her death, occupying the west side of the
chamber with her head pointing to the south.
Her age, however, is not given in the epitaph,
and it is not clear if her death was a natural
one. Like the king, her body had completely
deteriorated, but a molar tooth found inside the
coffin identified the remains as those of a woman
who was about thirty years old and who had
experienced* healthy adolescence. The royal
couple had their heads and feet resting on
painted wooden pillows. The pillow for the head
of the king was decorated with hexagons formed
306

by cut gold sheet. Nearby was a large bronze
mirror with a bird-shaped gold hair pin lying
on it, and a pair of gold floral ornaments for
crowns. These are the floral ornaments used by
the aristocrats of Paekche to decorate their black
silk hats, which are referred to in contemporary
Chinese documents. The pillow for the queen
was even more elaborate, with multi-colored
painted decorations of fancy animals and lotus
flowers. A pair of isolated wooden heads of
phoenixes lying nearby must have rested on both
sides of the pillow flanking the U-shaped groove
'
where the head rested. As in the case of the
king, a bronze mirror rested close to the gold
flower ornament beside her. The tomb also
contained a Chinese celadon jar with six handles,
and a celadon ewer.
The royal couple once wore garments which
were studded with numerous tiny beads and
floral ornaments. Both had richly
golc^
ornamented gold earrings. The queen had a pair
of silver bracelets on her left wrist and a pair of
gold bracelets on her right wrist, as well as a
gold necklace. A long silver pendant consisting
of oval links was suspended from the king's
girdle and a pair of tiny glass figurines in the
shape of a small boy with a shaven head were
suspended from the queen's girdle. An ancient
iron made of bronze and additional jewelry were
found near the queen's shoes, which like those
of the king, were fashioned of gilt bronze
openwork. The iron, a round container into
which hot coals could be placed, had a flat
bottom for ironing and a long handle. The
entire object was about fifty centimeters long.
Similar irons were used until the Second World
War. The tomb had apparently been opened
twice for burials. Both coffins were made of
thick black-laquered wooden planks studded with
gilt bronze ornamental rivets. These fell to the
ground due to the decay of the sideboards and
the bottom, but the long narrow planks that had
formed the slightly arched cover of the coffins
were still in good condition.
The tomb of King Munyong is the first
Paekche tomb that carried a self-identification
as well as an absolute date of construction.
Inscribed, dated materials from tombs of
the Three Kingdoms Period are virtually
non-existent and almost all Paekche tombs are
constructed in such a way that they have been
robbed or disturbed long ago. Thus, the
Archaeology Magazine - September 1977

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - September 1977
