China

Koguryo Kingdom

WHS Score 2.91 Votes 18 Average 3.36

The Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom represent an exceptional testimony to the vanished Koguryo civilization.

These archaeological sites comprise their first three capitals and 40 tombs. The imperial tombs have a stepped pyramid form, while the tombs of the nobles are decorated with wall paintings that depict scenes from daily life. Stele and inscriptions at the sites show the impact of Chinese culture on the Koguryo.

Community Perspective: Zoë liked Wandu Mountain City best and has written an overview of what you can see on a 3-hour visit.

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Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom (ID: 1135)
Country
China
Status
Inscribed 2004 Site history
History of Koguryo Kingdom
WHS Type
Cultural
Criteria
  • i
  • ii
  • iii
  • iv
  • v
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Archaeological site: Far Eastern
  • Archaeological site: South (East) Asian
Travel Information
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Recent Connections
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Connections of Koguryo Kingdom
Individual People
  • Homer B. Hulbert
    "Manchuria is full of Korean graves, and for many centuries the power of Chosun was felt in this region." - The Passing of Korea (1905) pg 73
Geography
Trivia
History
Architecture
  • Early Under-floor Heating
    Wunu Mountain City Army Camps "The semi-pit houses are generally 4.5 meters long and 4 meters wide. Inside the rooms are the kang in the shape of folded ruler with one to three rows of smoke channels. At the end of the kang is a kitchen range. At the other end is a chimney." - Nomination File
Damaged
  • Destroyed during invasion
    "Koguryo directly bordered the Kingdom of Wei, with which it often conflicted. General Wu Qi~ujian of Wei attacked Koguryo. The construction of palaces of Wandu Mountain City was damaged. King Dongchuanwang moved the capital to Guonei City (209AD) and started the first round of construction of the city." - Nomination File
World Heritage Process
  • Controversial at inscription
    (1) there were some issues concerning the whitewashing of the facts in relation to chinese and korean histories; (2) the korean press accused the chinese of political maneuvering in order to get the dprk's own koguryo nomination deferred so that its own koguryo site will have a greater chance of getting inscribed. ironically, both were inscribed on the list in 2004, and the committee even recommended that a transfrontier site be formed.
  • WHC locations
    Suzhou (2004)
  • Recommended for combination by AB
    With DPRK Tombs: Both were requested by AB AND WHC to consider combining later - "Encourages the Chinese authorities and the authorities of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to consider the possibility of a future joint, transboundary nomination of the Koguryan culture."
Religion and Belief
  • Taoism
    "Motifs in most Goguryeo tomb murals display influences from the Taoist culture of the Yan Dynasty of China." - Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea (CHA) Korean Heritage Summer Webzine Spring 2009 (Vol.2,No.1)
Human Activity
  • Protective engineering works against flooding
    "In August 1995, heavy rains caused flooding of the Chenjiagou River, Tomb No. 2102 in the Yushan Tomb Area was threatened. When the anti-flooding team arrived at the place, they built a dam to block floodwater from threatening the tomb and cultural relics were therfore effectively protected. Now dams have been built at the prone sections and protective measures have been taken." - Nomination File
Constructions
  • Walled cities
    "Wandu Mountain City was one of the capitals of the Koguryo. It is surrounded by stone walls, following topography lines and has seven gates." - Nomination File
  • Pyramids
    Tomb of the General
  • Stelae
    The stele of King Gwanggaeto of Goguryeo was erected in 414 by King Jangsu as a memorial to his deceased father. It is carved out of a single mass of granite, stands nearly 7 meters tall and has a girth of almost 4 meters. The inscription is written exclusively in Classical Chinese and has 1802 characters.
  • Tumuli
    "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." - Nomination File
  • Mausolea
    Tomb of the General (Ji'an)
  • Cultural sites connected to Cliffs
    "Geographical conditions were best used in the building of city walls, which reflected the architectual characteristics of the Koguryeo mountain city. The precipitous cliffs at the southeastern corner were used as the city walls. The seams were filled by stone tablets. Some of the other parts of the city walls were also built this way." - Nomination File
Timeline
  • Built in the 1st century BC
    "The Koguryo kingdom starts as a regional power in the year 37BC, when its first capital city, Wunu Mountain City was built. 30 years later the capital moved to Guonei city." - AB Evaluation
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Community Reviews

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First published: 23/03/19.

Zoë Sheng

Koguryo Kingdom

Koguryo Kingdom (Inscribed)

Koguryo Kingdom by Zoë Sheng

Koguryo Kingdom covers the sites on the Chinese side of the border. There is a separate, identical inscription for the DPRK which will probably never merge.

I visited this place a couple of years ago in winter. Not the best place to visit in winter but it was a lovely sunny day. My main plan was to continue north to Harbin for the ice festival so it "had" to be winter.

Arriving by train I rented a taxi for the day. The driver knew all locations well. You buy a ticket for 4 attractions although I don't remember getting checked for the tombs and the mountain city, maybe the driver just let someone know I have a ticket while I was away. The first one is the Haotai Stele where a guide was explaining the stele with another group of tourists. It is inside a building with large glass windows. It was built in AD 414 and describes the founding of the Koguryo Kingdom. There is a lot of information about the stele online I don't wish to repeat, but looking into it is certainly an interesting and long (very long) read.

Next stop is the Jiangjunfen Tomb and surrounded by several of the general's subordinates. There is not much to see but walk around the square structure. Impressive tomb nonetheless, sometimes referred to as the Pyramid of the East for good reason. Here I was also stopped by what I'm quite are fake policemen pretending to …

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First published: 02/01/14.

Anonymous

Koguryo Kingdom

Koguryo Kingdom (Inscribed)

Koguryo Kingdom by Boj

I have been to this WHS in 2008. Koguryo kindom was not an empire since its kings were always authorised by Chinese emperors. The most visitable place is Ji'an, Jilin province. Besides of some ancient ruins, you can see a big stele "Haotaiwangbei", which is famous for its Chinese calligraphy. Wukuifen is an ancient tomb with many mural showing how ancient Chinese understand the universe, the Chinese legendary emperor Fuxi and Shennong was pictured on the wall.

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