• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.49 no.2
• /
• pp.20-55
• /
• 2016

Koguryo's tomb mural paintings in North Korea are our precious cultural heritage which have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage property receiving high praise in the following criterion, i) exceptional creativeness of human being, ii) representative value showing the stage of development in construction history of East-Asia, iii) aesthetic superiority iv) uniqueness of building construction including tombs' ceiling. Mural paintings have been found from almost 100 tombs of the Koguryo dynasty out of 130 which are scattered across Huanren County, Lianoning Province, Ji'an, Jilin Province in China and Pyongyang in North Korea. Especially, most of them are gathered in Pyongyang from 4th and 5th century. Peculiarly, some of them have been constructed before King Jangsu's transfer of the capital to Pyongyang(AD 427). It can be regarded that Pyongyang territory had been under control of Koguryo and to become a new capital in the near future. And dense emergence of such tombs since the capital transfer from Gungnae City to Pyongyang during the reign of Jangsu is linked closely to the construction of tombs for rulers under strengthen royal authority of Jangsu and centralized system of authoritarian rule. Tomb mural paintings describe the owner's figure pictorially based on the truth just as in his living years. General lifestyles of ruling powers and sovereigns can be seen from the wall paintings portraying several buildings with various styles, figures, manners of living, which are considered that the tomb owner had led politically and sociologically in his life. In spite of not enough proofs to approve figure of architectures or "Gong-Po" in wall paintings on the tombs as those of Koguryo, it is persuasive with consideration for painting and decoration inside the tomb like wooden building in real life for the purpose of reenacting and continuing the tomb owner's luxurious life after death. "Du-Gong-Po-Zak" had appeared in company with Koguryo tomb murals and it can be found in most of the murals. And the emergence of substantial "Gong-Po-Do" can be counted more than a century ahead of the figure in murals. It could be a reasonable assumption as regards Koguryo tomb murals time of appearance match up with production period of Gahyungmyunggi(家形明器) and Hwasangseok(畵像石) Hwasangjeon(畵像塼) Design in the Mural Painting of the East-Han(東漢) Ancient Tombs in China. On this study, architectural "Gong-Po"s described in Koguryo tomb murals are categorized largely in "Bi(non)-Po-Zak-kye", "Jun(semi)-Po-Zak-kye", and "Po-Zak-kye" based on presence of "Ju-Du", "Cheom-Cha", and "Cheom-Cha-Sal-Mi" with developmental aspect, and, "Po-zak" is subdivided as "Bi(non)-Cheul-Mok" and "Cheul-Mok" types.