Mausoleum of Princess Zhenxiao

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Mausoleum of Princess Zhenxiao
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese: 貞孝公主墓
Simplified Chinese: 贞孝公主墓
Korean name
Hangul: 정효공주묘
Hanja: 貞孝公主墓

The Mausoleum of Princess Jeonghyo/Zhenxiao) was made in 793 by the people of early Balhae kingdom (Bohai), and is a part of the Ancient Tombs at Longtou Mountain in Jilin. The Mausoleum contains, among other things, the first complete discovered and detailed murals done by Balhae artists, and hence provides valuable insights to historians.

Contents

[edit] Burial chamber

Excavated in October 1980, the burial chamber is underground. The 10.5-metre-high chamber is rectangular: 5.0 × 2.6-m, and is covered with blue-green bricks. It contains a 1.05-metre tall, 0.58 × 0.26-m mugui-shaped (土圭) granite epitaph, on which 728 Chinese characters, in the Regular Script style, are inscribed in 18 horizontal lines.

[edit] Mural

The chamber is surrounded by four murals on each wall, depicting thirteen person in action, such as warriors (3), chamber attendants, musicians, and maids, wearing red, blue, yellow, purple, and brown robes. The drawing and painting styles are slightly influenced by those of the Tang Dynasty.

[edit] The princess and companions

The epitaph explains that Princess Jeonghyo/Zhenxiao is the fourth daughter of King Mun. Princess Jeonghyo/Zhenxiao was also the younger sister of Princess Jeonghye/Zhenhui (貞惠). The Princess died in 793, and was buried in the winter. She was given the posthumous name Jeonghye/Zhenhui to qualify her as virtuous and filial. She was likely a horse-rider, as a horse remain was in the chamber.

The skeletal remains are scattered all over the chamber when discovered by archaeologists, due to previous lootings. However, the looters missed several golden and copper items, jewelry, pottery, and figurines. Reconstruction showed that the bones belong to a woman, presumably the princess; but there is also a male, possibly an attendant or child. In addition, there is the horse skeleton.

[edit] Other structures

Above the chamber, there is a rectangular pagoda, of which only the base remains.

[edit] External links

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