Cultural Relics Site of Koguryo Royal City

2019-12-23    JL.gov

 

Located in Ji'an city, and rated as national 4A-class tourist attraction, the Cultural Relics Site of Koguryo is composed of an inner city, a city called Wandushan, 14 emperor tombs and 261 tombs of the noble, featuring remains of the slavery Koguryo Dynasty which held the administration during the period from the 1st to the 7th century A.D. More than 10,000 ancient tombs of Koguryo era are scattered on the plains surrounding Ji'an City, forming the world famous "Donggou ancient tombs group", including Taiwang Tomb, Jiangjun Tomb and Qianqiu Tomb, the three grandest ones. Jiangjun Tomb is the tomb of the 20th King of Koguryo. It was built at the beginning of the 5th century AD when the King succeeded to the throne. Made of elaborately carved giant granite strips, the tomb has a nearly square bottom, each side of which is 31.58 meters long. 12.4 meters high, the tomb has seven steps in total, made up of 22 layers of granite strips. A total of over 1100 pieces of granite strips forged the tomb with a shape of truncated square pyramid, hence the name of Oriental Pyramid.

 

In more than seven centuries, Koguryo created a splendid culture with the characteristics of ethnic minorities, leaving behind the world-renowned historical and cultural heritage and relics, especially its solid mountain city, magnificent mausoleums and splendid ancient tomb murals, which have become an important part of Chinese civilization. On July 1, 2004, approved by the 28th session of the World Heritage Committee, the Cultural Relics Site of Koguryo, which is located in Ji'an City, Jilin Province, was officially listed in the world cultural heritage list.