The Characteristics and Meanings of the Royal Tomb of Queen Seondeok in Silla

Abstract

There exist two ancient tombs at the southeast of the Royal Tomb of Queen Seondeok located in Nangsan of Gyeongju City. Other than these two, no ancient tombs have been found till now in Nangsan. Thinking that the two ancient tombs should be Chinese-style Baejangmyo(陪葬墓), this author started the research assuming that the Royal Tomb of Queen Seondeok should have been influenced by Chinese Neungwonjedo(陵園制度). According to the findings of advanced studies, most of them talk about the Royal Tomb of Queen Seondeok from Buddhistic perspectives in relation to 3-sa(3事) mentioned in ‘Seondeokwangjigisamsa(善德王知幾 三事)’ of 「Samgukyusa」. Some of them discuss the location and Hoseok (護石) archaeologically, but still, they hardly deal with them as a main topic. Deeming that the tales of 3-sa should have been completed or begun as S acheonwangsa T emple was founded in t he r eign o f King Munmu, this researcher assumes that the Royal Tomb of Queen Seondeok built in the beginning of King Jindeok’s reign is hardly associated with 3-sa, and related contents should have been added absurdly by the next generations. Examining the Royal Tomb of Queen Seondeok mainly in association with the location, Hoseok’s structure, and the burial mound, this author has found that the location was influenced by Soreung(昭陵) of Taejong in Tang Dynasty, Hoseok applied piling in and the support stone differently from how it looks now, and Baejangmyo imitates the Chinese style. Concerning the Royal Tomb of Queen Seondeok, it is located differently from the royal tombs of the mid-old or mid-period of Silla and the support stone and Chinese-style Baejangmyo were first adopted, which semes to be associated with Kim Chun-chu's force that led the formation of the royal tomb then. Externally, within the risky situation resulted from Baekje and Goguryeo’s invasion, Kim Chun-chu's force seems to have built the Royal Tomb of Queen Seondeok imitating Soreung as one of the diplomatic strategies to obtain military support from Tang. Internally, the Royal Tomb of Queen Seondeok seems to have been formed as a symbol of rebuilding the order of the country and promoting revision in domestic affairs grounded on the politics and culture of Tang.