安岳地方의 壁畵古墳

English Summaries The Mural Paintings of Old Tombs in the An-ak(安岳) Area

In 1949, in the An-ak(安岳) area of Hwang-hae Province of North Korea, three sites of old tombs with murals of Kokuryo customs were discovered and studied. In one of the tombs the history of the tomb was recorded on the wall, and, according to this, the person who was buried in the tomb was a Chinese named Tung-su (Tong-su in Korean) who-came from Liao-tung area. Both the dress and the official title as appeared in the mural paintings of the tomb were also Chinese. And the construction and form of the tomb-room are identical with those of the stone-tombs of Liao-tung area. Furthermore, mural paintings of the tomb reflect the tradition of ancient Chinese mural paintings in its format and main subject. In other words, this tomb is based on Chinese style and is an old Chinese tomb with mural paintings. The other two tombs do not differ from Kokuryo’s tombs in the structure of tomb-room, but the dresses shown on the mural paintings are Chinese. Therefore, there is no doubt that these tombs are also Chinese tombs. Originally, this area was the place where the Han Provinces were established from 108 B.C. to 313 A.D., and therefore many relics are found here and tombs with mural paintings here are believed to be those of Chinese residents who remained there.