Tomb of King Beopheung, Gyeongju

Basic information

Designation

Historic Site No.176

Category

유적지

Era

신라 법흥왕(서기 540년경)

Designated year

1969

Location

경주시, 경상북도— 경북 경주시 효현동 63번지

Coordinates

35.824626, 129.163502

This is the tomb of King Beopheung (514-540), the 23rd king of Silla. He was the king who completed Silla as a centralized ancient nation. He set up Byeongbu (office of military affairs) and Sangdaedeung (top official government rank) to reinforce the power of the king. In 520, he proclaimed the statute of nation. Two years later, in 532, by subjugating Geumgwan Gaya located in the valley of Nakdonggang River, he expanded the territory of Silla. Moreover, he used for the first time the name of the chronicle era Geonwon and entered into diplomatic relations with China’s Liang Dynasty. In 527, he accepted Buddhism as the state religion and as a basic national ideology when Yi Cha-don died for his country. This tomb, with height of 2m and diameter of 14m, is rather small for a royal tomb of the Silla Dynasty. The unpolished stones supporting the earthen mound base still remain around the tomb. Because the royal tombs made before King Beopheung's tomb are located in a group at a certain plain area, it is hard to find out who is buried under them. From the tomb of King Beopheung, however, only 2 or 3 tombs are located on a low hill or the suburbs, and records about them remain. Besides the change in location, we can also see the transition in the shape of the tomb during those times. King Beopheung's tomb is valuable as a starting point of such changes.

Location