Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom, located in and around Ji'an, Jilin in the People's Republic of China, received UNESCO's World Heritage Site designation.The site includes archaeological remains of three cities and 40 tombs: Wunu Mountain City, Guonei City and Wandu Mountain City, 14 tombs are imperial, 26 of nobles. All belong to the Koguryo culture, named after the dynasty that ruled over parts of northern China and the northern half of the Korean Peninsula from 277 BC to AD 668.
Wunu Mountain City is only partly excavated. Guonei City, within the modern city of Ji’an, played the role of a "supporting capital"after the main Koguryo capital moved to Pyongyang. Wandu Mountain City, one of the capitals of the Koguryo Kingdom, contains many vestiges including a large palace and 37 tombs. Some of the tombs show great ingenuity in their elaborate ceilings, designed to roof wide spaces without columns and carry the heavy load of a stone or earth tumulus (mound), which was placed above them.
There are about seven thousand tombs outside of the mountain city and many of them have exquisite murals, rich in content and color, showing the Koguryo kingdom's culture and daily life. Hunting, wars, religions (Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism), and other aspects of life are depicted.
According to archeological research, the General's Tomb--located northeast of Ji'an City--is said to be the tomb of the twentieth emperor. It looks quite like the tomb of the Pharaoh in ancient Egypt and thus was given the name: the Oriental Pyramid.
So far, only three written relics have been found telling of Koguryo's history. Among them, the Hao Tai Wang monument (or stele) has the longest and richest content. The monument was built to commemorate the nineteenth emperor, and the inscription recorded the emperor's merits and achievements as well as the legend of the beginning and development of the Koguryo. Engraved in Chinese characters, the inscription shows the cultural blend of the Koguryo and the Chinese.
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