Tomb of the General

The Tomb of the General

The Tomb of the General (Traditional Chinese: 將軍冢, Simplified Chinese: 将军冢, Chinese: Jiangjun-zhong, Korean: Janggun-chong, Hangul: 장군총), also known as the Pyramid of the East, is thought to be the burial tomb of King Gwanggaeto or his son King Jangsu, both kings of a kingdom of Goguryeo.[1][2]

The pyramid is located in Ji'an, Jilin province, China, a former capital of Goguryeo. The pyramid was "rediscovered" in 1905.[2]

The base of the pyramid measures approximately 75 meters on each side, about half the size of the Egyptian pyramids and is eleven meters in height.[1][2] The pyramid is composed of 1,100 dressed stone blocks.[2] Large stones, each measure approximately 3 × 5 meters were placed around the base of the pyramid and can still be seen today.[1] The monumental size of the tomb suggests that the Goguryeo elite were very powerful and the kingdom had the ability to mobilize large numbers of people for building projects.[1]

The pyramid-style tomb was typical of Goguryeo culture and was transmitted to the kingdom of Baekje's burial practices.[2] The body of the dead elite was placed on a "stone base, surrounded by stones, and then surmounted by a rectangular platform or pyramid of dressed stones."[2] The design of the tombs incorporated entrances and passageways which facilitated grave robbery so, like most Goguryeo and Baekje tombs, the General's Tomb contains no archaeological artifacts.[1] Four dolmen tombs were also placed on each corner of the pyramid.[1]

Kim Il-sung's reconstruction of the supposed tomb of Dangun is based on the Tomb of the General.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nelson, Sarah Milledge (1993). The Archaeology of Korea. Cambridge University Press. p. 213. ISBN 0521407834. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pratt, Keith; Rutt, Richard (1999). Korea: A Historical and Cultural Dictionary. Routledge. p. 473–74. ISBN 0700704639. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  3. ↑ Portal, Jane (2005). Art Under Control in North Korea. Reaktion Books. p. 106. ISBN 1861892365.

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