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The Royal Castle of Buyeo, the Site of Dongtuan Mountain in Jilin

The Dongyi Liezhuan in 『Book of the Later Han(後漢書)』 describes the castle of Buyeo as follows. ‘It made a round fence a castle. And there's a palace, a warehouse and a prison.(以員柵爲城, 有宮室·倉庫·牢獄)' In addition, the Dongyi Liezhuan in 『Three Kingdoms(三國志)』 was described as follows. ’The castle fences were all rounded, it was like a prison(作城柵皆員, 有似牢獄)’.

The rampart that matches this record is the mountain castle and lowland castle of Dongtuan Mountain. The shape in which the mountain castle and lowland castle are composed of one is. The Dongtuan Mountain is only 50 meters high on the ground. However, the mountain rises to the top of the flat zone, so people can see the surrounding area at a glance. It was called '鄂漠城', '伊蘭茂城' or '一拉木城' during the Qing Dynasty. After liberation, it was called '南城子古城'. Recently, it is called the lowland castle of Dongtuan Mountain. Excavations of the Mountain Castle and Lowland Castle in Dongtuan Mountain began in the 2000s, and have been precisely excavated several times so far. All the remains of the Bronze Age, Buyeo, Goguryeo, Balhae, Liao and Jin dynasty are found in the castle.

The mountain castle of Dongtuan Mountain is constructed in three layers, The Mountain Castle of Dongtuan Mountain is constructed in three layers, from the bottom of the ridge of the mountain to the top, outward-middle-inward. The ramparts were cut off the slopes of the mountain, then piled up with a mixture of soil and granite rubble. On the outside, stones were piled up on both edges of the base. The outer side of the lower part of the rampart was built with stone, and the inner side was built with soil. The gates are located to the east and north of the outer castle. Among them, the eastern gate has a double wall installed to protect the gate.

Lowland castle is believed to have been lived by the King of Buyeo. Its plane has an irregular ellipse, with a total length of around 1,300m. The rampart remains relatively well, except for the north, where the current village is located. It has been built with soil, and we can see that it has been repaired and built several times, given the later giwa and pottery pieces excavated. And the gates are in the south and north. The military facilities that grasped the surrounding situation and commanded the military(將臺址) are near the south gate and the north gate. Outside of the rampart, there was a pit filled with water by digging around the castle to prevent enemy access and invasion(垓子).

Recently, a large building site was found in the Youngan around the lowland castle in Dongtuan Mountain. A large amount of construction materials such as giwa and flower designed brick were excavated. Wadang is different from the Goguryeo, Balhae, Liao and Jin eras, so it is likely to be from the Buyeo era. This means that there was a building made of giwa roof even in Buyeo.

The tombs of the kings and nobles of Buyeo, ancient tomb of Mao'er Mountain in Jilin Province

Buyeo people who lived near Dongtuan Mountain were buried in Mao'er Mountain after their death. The ancient tomb of Mao'er Mountain is located on the eastern side of the lowland castle of Dongtuan Mountain. It is divided into four sections: Longtan Mountain, Xishan Mountain, Mao'er Mountain, and Nanshan Mountain. The total area is 15㎢, with about 8,000 tombs remaining.

The funeral customs of Buyeo can be said to be ‘厚葬久喪’(grand funeral, long mourning). Records show that Buyeo was honored to have a long funeral, so in some cases it was carried out over five months. During the mourning period, all were dressed in white, and no rings or accessories were worn. They used Wooden Coffin, buried people or animals together, and used a box made of jade when the king died.

Many wooden coffins were found in the tombs of Buyeo excavated from the ancient tomb of Mao'er Mountain. This is divided into wooden chamber tomb with shallow pit, wooden chamber tomb with deep pit, and wooden chamber tomb with stone-walled deep pit. The 18th wooden chamber tomb is the largest of the ancient tomb of Mao'er Mountain. It is restored, displayed at the Jilin Museum. In this tomb, items that boasted the best glamour at the time were excavated, such as silk, stirrup, lacquer, bowls made of birch shells, and leather products. That is, they have collected luxury goods there. That is, they have collected luxury goods there. The box made of jade used by the king of Buyeo may someday be found to us.

The History of Buyeo that China wants to make

I realize that Buyeo's history is changing or disappearing a little bit every time I visit Jilin City. At the entrance of Longtan Mountain, known as Buyeo's remains, there is a park with various sculptures. And there are Taoist temples and amusement parks inside the mountain castle, so many people visit. However, the sculpture there is not Buyeo or Goguryeo style. China built the entrance and building of the park in the form of the Han Dynasty. Even they set up the sculpture of Dae Jo Yeong, who founded Balhae, receiving documents that wrote the orders of the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. China uses it to distort the facts, claiming that Buyeo, Goguryeo, and Balhae were subjugated to the Zhongyuan dynasties. In the past, there was a sign that had disappeared. The sign said, 'Goguryeo people are never Joseon people'. It eventually caused a stir. This would have been intended to emphasize that Goguryeo is the history of China to the people of their country and to block the perception of ethnic Koreans living in China that they think they inherited the history of Goguryeo.

Currently, China recognizes all ancient countries in the northeast, including Buyeo, as tributaries. And they are working on one step further, linking its origins and identity to the ancient state of Zhongyuan. It is time to think again about what we should do in response to China's distortion of history. It is time to think again about what we should do in response to China's distortion of history. Research to raise the status of Buyeo in ancient Korean history can be an alternative.