뉴스레터

Cover : Mural on the Western Wall of the Side Chamber to the West in Anak Tomb No. 3

 

This is the portrait of a man who appears to be the tomb owner, and it is painted on the wall of the Side Chamber to the West in Anak Tomb No. 3. It is not clear exactly who this man was, although it is speculated that he was either King Gogugwonwang (故國原王), the sixteenth king of Koguryo, or a nobleman named Dongsu (冬壽) who defected from China.

The tomb owner is seated on a low wooden bench under a canopy made of silk with colorful lotus patterns. His face looks like he has a generous heart, and his hand is holding a feather fan, a symbol of the nobility. There is an L-shaped folding screen placed behind the bench. Also a Binggwe (憑机), a kind of a fancy couch, can be seen behind his back.

Each of the vassals painted to the left and right of the tomb owner is wearing a civil servant's ceremonial hat and holding a writing brush or moggan (木簡: a piece of wood to write on that was used before the invention of paper) in his hand. They appear to be in a briefing, taking notes. Their status is indicated by the names of the positions they hold that are written in red characters (e.g. 小史, 記室, 門下拜, 省事) next to them in the picture.

The depiction of the figures in different sizes according to importance, with the tomb owner at the center, creates a triangular composition that gives this painting an overall impression of stability. The details of the patterns of the couch, the mustache of the tomb owner, and the feathers of the fan are carefully portrayed, down to each strand of hair.

Who might be this generous-looking man in the portrait in such a magnificent tomb? One becomes curious about who he was, and even more about what kind of life he lived.