No. 1 Ancient Tombstone East of the Sea – King Gwanggaeto’s Tombstone

This tombstone was built for “King Gwanggaeto” – the 19^th  Gaogouli king and it is extolled as “No. 1 ancient tombstone east of the sea”. King Jangsu, the 20^th Gaogouli king, erected the tombstone in 414 AD for his father. It was roughly made of breccia tuff in a shape of square column, with a height of 6.39 meters and width 1.34 – 2 meters. 1775 Chinese characters in ancient official style were curved on the four sides of the column and among them about 1590 are still recognizable. The inscription is about the mythic formation of Gaogouli Kingdom, early royal family trees, the great battle deeds of King Gwanggaeto, the system of tomb guarding, etc. As the earliest and the most detailed archeological material, the inscription confirms the existence of Gaogouli civilization and the locale of its center, which was forgotten ever since the Middle Age, thus the tombstone is of great importance among the historical ruins in Northeast Asia. 360 meters southwest to the tombstone lies the tomb of King Gwanggaeto. The construction of the tomb began in 391 AD. It is finally ascertained as the tomb of King Gwanggaeto according to the inscriptions on the unearthed bricks, which say “Be the tomb of King Gwanggaeto as secure as mountain”, the age of inscribed bronze bells and lotus eaves tiles, and the time when the tomb was built.