Tomb of King Muryeong and Royal Tombs, Gongju

The Tomb of King Muryeong and Royal Tombs lie on the southern slope of Songsan hill in Ungjin-dong, Gongju, South Chungcheong. They are the burial ground of the kings and royal family of Baekje during its Ungjin period, when the capital was at today's Gongju; seven tombs have been identified and restored so far. Among them, the Tomb of King Muryeong is the only Three Kingdoms royal tomb whose occupant is known for certain, which gives it a special place in Korean archaeology.

History: a door opened after 1,400 years

After Goguryeo's attack killed King Gaero and Baekje lost Hanseong, the kingdom moved its capital to Ungjin and buried its kings and royal family here. On 5 July 1971, workers digging a drainage channel for tombs 5 and 6 stumbled upon a brick tomb. Its entrance was sealed tight with bricks and lime, and it had never been looted. When the entrance was opened on 8 July, two epitaph stones lay side by side in the passage, inscribed "Yeongdong General, King Sama of Baekje", confirming that this was the tomb of King Muryeong (r. 501–523) and his queen.

The tomb yielded 2,906 objects of 108 kinds, and 12 of them, including the gold diadem ornaments, gold earrings, the epitaph stones and a stone guardian beast, became National Treasures. According to the epitaphs, the king died in 523 and was buried two years and three months later; the queen died in 526 and was laid beside him in 529. On the back of one stone is a land-purchase contract recording that the site was bought from the earth gods. The tombs became part of the UNESCO World Heritage "Baekje Historic Areas" in 2015 and took their current name, replacing "Songsan-ri Tombs", in 2021.

What to see

• King Muryeong's tomb and tombs 5 and 6: tombs 1–5 are stone-chamber tombs, while tomb 6 and King Muryeong's tomb are brick tombs in the style of China's Liang dynasty. Some bricks bear an inscription saying they were modelled on Liang government tiles, evidence of close ties between Baekje and Liang.
• Tomb 6 murals: tomb 6 has wall paintings of the Four Guardian Deities. It was dug up without permission by a Japanese teacher during the colonial period, and its contents were scattered.
• Replica exhibition hall: King Muryeong's tomb was permanently closed at the end of 1997 after its walls began to tilt and crack. Instead, a hall near the entrance recreates the interiors of King Muryeong's tomb and tombs 5 and 6 at full scale.
• Pine-wood walk: paths between the mounds let you see the whole burial ground.

Inside the tomb

The upper part of the mound over King Muryeong's tomb is about 20 m across, and it stands 7.7 m from the chamber floor to the top. The single chamber is built of lotus-patterned and inscribed bricks, measures about 4.2 m by 2.72 m, and has an arched ceiling 2.93 m high. Lamp niches shaped like lotus windows, one in the north wall and two each in the east and west walls, once held oil lamps. The exhibition hall also shows the structure in a cut-away model.

Investigation of the tombs has a long history. Tombs 1–4 were first examined in 1927, during the colonial period, and tomb 5 was found by chance in 1932; tombs 1–4 had already been looted. Since 2023 the Buyeo National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage has been re-excavating tombs 1–4 in detail for the first time in some 50 years. Some sources suggest more royal-class tombs once stood in the area.

Treasures from the tomb

• Gold diadem ornaments: gold decorations for the king's and queen's headdresses, with openwork plant and flower designs that show a distinctive Baekje crown style.
• Gold earrings and necklaces: fine jewellery including the queen's nine-section gold necklace.
• Silver bracelet: decorated with dragons and carrying an engraved inscription.
• The queen's headrest and footrest: painted with flying celestials, phoenixes and lotuses within honeycomb-shaped gold-leaf lines, with a pair of carved phoenix heads set on top of the headrest.
• Ring-pommel sword with dragon and phoenix: found at the king's waist, a symbol of royal authority.

A string of Chinese wuzhu coins lay on top of the epitaph stones. Placed with the land-purchase contract, they also tell us about the use of money at the time.

Tripto tips

• Opening hours: March–October 09:00–18:00, November–February 09:00–17:00. Last entry 30 minutes before closing. Closed on Seollal and Chuseok days.
• Admission: adults KRW 3,000, teenagers KRW 2,000, children KRW 1,000. Free for preschoolers and visitors aged 65 and over, and for everyone on the last Wednesday of each month. Parking is free.
• Combine with: the real artefacts are in the Gongju National Museum in town. Go there to see the gold ornaments and epitaph stones themselves. Gongsanseong Fortress is close by too.
• Time needed: 1–1.5 hours for the hall and tombs; a full day with the museum and Gongsanseong.