Buyeo Royal Tombs
부여 왕릉원
Seven Baekje tombs on the south slope of Neungsan, set in two rows front and back. The ground has long been known as royal tombs, and finds from the temple site west of them reconfirmed it as a royal burial area. UNESCO lists it as the royal tombs in Neungsan-ri; the name the Korea Heritage Service uses today is Buyeo Royal Tombs.
Language
Place information
- Korean name
- 부여 왕릉원
- Address
- San 15-5 Neungsan-ri and others, Buyeo-eup, Buyeo-gun, Chungcheongnam-do
History
late Baekje
Seven tombs in two rows
Baekje tombs on the south-facing slope of Neungsan in Buyeo. Three stand in each of two rows, front and back, with one more at the highest point behind them — seven in all.
the colonial period
Tombs 1 to 6 investigated
The ground had long been known as royal tombs, and tombs 1 to 6 were investigated during the colonial period, establishing their internal structure in detail.
21 January 1963
Designated a Historic Site
Designated as a Historic Site covering 328,793 square metres.
1971
Tomb 7 is found
Tomb 7 was found during repair work in 1971.
structure
Round mounds outside, corridor chambers inside
Every mound is round and earthen on the outside; inside, each is a corridor-entered stone chamber tomb, with everything below the capstones built underground. They divide into three broad types by internal structure and material.
the temple site to the west
The excavation that reconfirmed a royal burial ground
The tombs were robbed early, and only a few objects were recovered — a skull fragment, pieces of a lacquered coffin, gilt-bronze openwork fittings and gilt-bronze flower-shaped seat fittings. A temple site excavated to the west produced the Baekje gilt-bronze incense burner and the inscribed stone reliquary of King Chang, which reconfirmed the Neungsan-ri tombs as a royal burial area.
2015
Inscribed as World Heritage
Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the eight sites making up the Baekje Historic Areas.
What to see
Tomb 1, Donghachong
A single-chamber tomb with a square chamber and an entrance passage that lengthens and widens outward into a trumpet shape. Its four walls and ceiling carry paintings of the Four Guardians, lotus patterns and cloud patterns, read as the influence of Goguryeo tomb murals.
Tomb 2, Junghachong
Its ceiling is a tunnel vault, the same form as the tomb of King Muryeong in the royal tomb park at Gongju, and it is read as the earliest of this group. Tombs 3 and 4 instead have a flat ceiling of slabs laid over slanting courses and short passages — a form common around Buyeo and thought to have stayed in fashion to the end.
Tomb 1, Donghachong selected
Nearby
Naseong City Wall
An 8 km wall raised to protect the Sabi capital. Taking Busosanseong as its centre, it runs east and west along the natural terrain around the outside of the Buyeo townscape. It was built of earth, and only slight traces of it remain today.
Buyeo National Museum
The national museum for the finds of Sabi-period Baekje, which gives the gilt-bronze incense burner a hall of its own.
Jeongnimsa Temple Site
The site of the principal temple of Sabi-period Baekje. The temple is gone; a five-storey stone pagoda from Baekje and a seated stone Buddha from Goryeo remain, and the north-south axis running from the middle gate past the pagoda and hall to the lecture hall is still legible across the open ground.
Busosanseong Fortress
A mountain fortress wrapping Busosan on the south bank of the Baengma River. It guarded the palace after the court moved to Sabi and defended the capital until Baekje fell. Nakhwaam cliff and Goransa temple stand inside it.
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Where these facts come from
- Korea Heritage Portal — Historic Site: Buyeo Royal Tombs (designated 21 January 1963, 328,793 m2, San 15-5 Neungsan-ri, Buyeo-eup; late Baekje; seven tombs) ·
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Baekje Historic Areas (1477), stated as eight archaeological sites dating from 475 to 660 CE, naming the royal tombs in Neungsan-ri among the components related to the Sabi capital, Buyeo ·