Gold Waist Belt from the South Mound of Hwangnamdaechong Tomb

Basic information

Designation

Treasure No.629

Category

Craft

Era

신라시대(5∼6세기)

Designated year

1978

Location

용산구, 서울특별시— 서울특별시 용산구 서빙고로 137 (용산동6가, 국립중앙박물관)

Coordinates

37.524041, 126.980350

This waist belt is made of cloth which has metal plates studded on it. In ancient days people used to hang jade ornaments and daily necessities such as little knives, herbal packages, whetstones, flints and nippers on their girdles. In the Chinese Yegi (The Book of Manners), it is written “When one serves his parents he should have on his girdle, a handkerchief, whetstone, small cup and a metal flint to his left, an instrument made of bone to put on the thumb when shooting arrows, an ornament put on the end of the bow to hook on the strings, and a big cup to his right”. Now this instruction seems to have been applied to clothing and later adapted to official uniforms. In Baekje and Silla, the material, color and quantity of the girdle indicated the official status of its wearer. This girdle (99 cm long: the short waist plate 18-22 cm long, the long waist plate 79.5 cm long) is made up of square plates with engravings and 34 leaf-shaped ornaments. Under these ornaments there are seven drooping lines for decoration. One is long and the other six are short. A distinguished characteristic of the girdle is that it has clasps at both ends. Tumulus No. 98 is one of the Silla tumuli located in the Tumuli Park of the Tomb of King Michu in Gyeongju. Its serial number is 98. It is otherwise called Hwangnam Great Tumulus. It has the shape of a small gourd, its two mounds being connected north south. Its diameter is 80m east-west and 120m north-south. The south mound is 23m high, and the north mound is 22m high. It is the largest of the Silla mounds. The inside of the tumulus is made by piling up stones over the wood coffin, which is the traditional style of Silla tumuli.

Location