Cheonmachong

We visited Kyoungjoo a second time to see the tombs of various royals. This particular tomb photographed above is called the "Flying Horse Tomb" or Cheonmachong (천마청). The Hanja (한자) or Chinese-based characters above the tomb spell this out from right to left.

The entirety of the area that includes the Cheonmachong is called Hwangnamri Gobun-gun (황남리 고분군). Two of the six gold crowns found in all of Korea are located in this park of tombs. The Cheonmachong tomb includes one of these two crowns. The name "Flying Horse Tomb" is evidence of pre-Buddhist shamanism in the Shilla kingdom. Exhibited in the artifacts excavated from the Cheonmachong are the three imperial symbols of Japan, which are the sword, the mirror and the stone. The sword was buried with the king, the mirrors and stones are used to decorate his gold crown. This gold crown that I speak of is not a very practical accessory. Because of it's fragility and size, it is thought to be a funerary accessory only. The mirrors are in the form of small, flat gold discs hanging off all over; the stones are jade cut and smoothed out to look kind of like cashews. There are many different ways to interpret the meaning behind the shape of the jade: many people believe that they are to symbolize fetuses thus showing the importance of fertility. Others think that the jade looks more like claws - bear/tiger claws fit with the shamanism prevalent in Shilla at the time, as Japanese and Korean shamanism originates from Manchuria/Siberia and includes bear/tiger worship.

On our way into the tomb, we were passed by a HUGE group of obviously American college-aged students. We were all blown away by reverse culture shock but Dr. Peterson was smart enough to chat up some of the students and find out where they're from and what they were doing in Korea. Upon entering the tomb, he began to give a brief but interesting lecture on some of the artifacts on display and the history behind the tomb. At the end, he said "I've sung my song - now it's time for you to sing me a song". Apparently these students were a choir from Concordia, MN performing in Korea. After a little bit of hesitation, the soloist began the choir's a'capella rendition of Arirang (아리랑), a Korean song with a beautiful, haunting melody and filled with Korean patriotism. It was the most amazing performance I've ever witnessed. The acoustics in the tomb were fantastic, and as the choir sang I couldn't help but feel my emotions stirring. All of us were clapping and cheering at the end - I felt blessed to be in the right place, at the right time and with Dr. Peterson who has managed to turn this whole trip into a cultural adventure.