A History of Korean Science and Technology

Chapter 5

Ancient Science and Technology 341 Chapter  Ancient Science and Technology: Korea and Japan Koguryŏ Tomb Murals T here are many ancient tombs remaining in the vast plain around T’onggu, the old capital of Koguryŏ, and in the vicinity of Pyŏngyang. This is the resting place where the spirit of the Koguryŏ people who roamed the vast northeastern area of China lies buried. In these tombs, the Koguryŏ people left many murals that fully reflect what they observed and drew during their lives. In other words, they created another symbolic world after their deaths. These paintings are vivid and persuasive depictions of what we wish to know about the Koguryŏ people and beyond, such as various scenes of the heavens, their ideas about the future, the symbolic expressions of their imaginations that connected reality with eternity, their science and technology, their worldviews and their cosmological ideas. From the perspective of the history of painting, these tomb murals were heavily influenced by the arts of the northern and southern dynasties (南北朝) of China. Adding to the Chinese architecture and arts, Koguryŏ people reflected in their tombs and murals their own characteristic construction techniques and painting styles. The Koguryŏ tombs, whose technical influence was from Han China, are constructed upon a square base. The lower part is wide and narrows toward the top, with stone blocks stacked layer upon layer, like a pyramid. These so-called “stone tombs” are a very typical Koguryŏ tomb style, of which the “General’s Tomb” is a representative example. In the case of the pit tombs, the particularly conspicuous architectural design of the inner structure is one where each of the points bisecting the four sides of each square are connected to form the square of the next level, thus resulting in a structure that narrows toward the top. This is an architectural technique that is widespread in China, Central Asia and even India. Chap5 (341-383) 341 Chap5 (341-383) 341 9/20/11 11:08:19 AM 9/20/11 11:08:19 AM 342 A History of Korean Science and Technology In this respect, this form of Koguryŏ tombs was influenced by the western regions. Yet the Koguryŏ people piled huge stone blocks to form the wall and the ceiling, in contrast with the Chinese, who built the inside using bricks. Given that such a style of tomb cannot be found today in mainland China but remains in large numbers in the old Koguryŏ territory, it is thought that the style was developed by the Koguryŏ people. In many tombs, the rooms were built to face southward and some of them southwestwards. This reflects the lives of the Koguryŏ people, who settled in sites with plentiful sunshine. The scale of the tomb reflects the social status, position and financial situation of the buried person. A person who had lived in a large, wide house was buried in a large, wide tomb. This reflects their modest belief that one’s life after death is an extension of one’s life before death. As a result, they expressed their lives and decorated their living spaces after death with beautiful colored paintings. Koguryŏ tomb mural (高句麗古墳 壁畵) of the god of the wheel in “Owhibun Number 4” tomb, 7th century. This depiction of a god manufacturing a wheel painted on the support stone of the ceiling is a precious material that symbolically expresses the importance of cartwheel-making technology. Chap5 (341-383) 342 Chap5 (341-383) 342 9/20/11 11:08:22 AM 9/20/11 11:08:22 AM Ancient Science and Technology 343 These remain lively murals. These murals were not drawn loosely as the mind led. The Koguryŏ people drew what was necessary and arranged everything in the paintings in the correct places. The gatekeeper is drawn at the entrance, and heaven is on the ceiling. The sun, moon and stars are all in their proper places, that is, the sun is in the east, the moon is in the west and the Great Bear is in the north. Scenes of hunting are on the west wall, and scenes of alimentary aspects, such as the kitchen, mill houses and butchers, are drawn on the east wall. In addition, the murals reflect their religion and thoughts. The murals also include the four legendary animals — the blue dragon, the white tiger, the Hyŏmmu (玄武) and the Chujak (朱雀). These are positioned accurately according to the...