Research On Koguryo Royal Cities And Related Remains

This dissertation is first based on a study of the large geographical and historical framework of three Royal Capitals of the Koguryo Kingdom : Huanren, Ji’an, and Pyongyang. The author establishes a critical studies of the related texts to shed light on the changes of capitals, and explores the significance of the related archaeological remains, in order to understand the evolution of the model of the Koguryo Royal City, of its political state and of the associated material culture. This research is divided into five chapters.The introduction chapter clarifies the choice of this research question, presents its main content, method and goals, and introduces definitions for the chronological and analytical concepts used throughout this study.The first chapter is untitled “research on royal capitals of the early phase and related remains” and is divided into three sections. In the first section, through an analysis of the chronology and nature of the remains related to the inner city and the city wall belonging to the third and fourth phase of the Wunüshan Site, combined with the textual evidence, the author points out that the remains on the top of the mountain of the Wunüshan Site belongs to the first royal city of the initial phase of the construction of the Koguryo Kingdom, during the time when the capital was on the top of the Wunüshan Mountain, no city wall was constructed, and only the topography was used as a natural fortification: the site being located on the summit of the mountain. The construction, use and abandonment of the building n.J1 belonging to the third phase of Wunüshan chronologically corresponds to the continuous use of the site of this early capital even after it was moved away, it is a palatial architecture used by the King of the Koguryo in this early phase capital. Based on the lower chronological limit of the culture of the third phase of Wunüshan, the chronology of the transition between the culture of the third phase and the culture of the fourth phase of Wunüshan, the date of the move of the Koguryo royal capital to Pyongyang and the cultural differences of remains, the Koguryo archaeological culture can be divided into three phases: early, middle and late.The second section first analysis the chronology and sequence of the Koguryo sites in the Huanren region. It shows that the Koguryo sites of the Huanren region can be divided as follow: the Wangjianglou cemetery and the Shihada Site in the southern part of the region are remains which predate the establishment of the Koguryo Kingdom; the culture of the third phase of Wunüshan, the pit n. 1 of the city-site of Xigucheng and the Wangyigou Site are characteristic of the early phase of the Koguryo culture; the culture of the fourth phase of Wunüshan, all the mountain city-sites, the mountain passes and most of the burials belong to the middle and late phases of the Koguryo culture. Then follows a discussion on the distribution pattern of the Koguryo sites in the Huanren region.In the third section,the textual mentions of Cuiben�'本are redefined in their geographical context,thus demonstrating that the Feiliushui沸流水mentionned in the ancient textual records corresponds to the Hun River.Nowadays,it runs from the East to the Fu’er River entering the outlet of the Hun River,to the West it flows up to the western side of the Huanren District,where the Hun River turns South forming a bend,the part in between forms the region of the middle course of the Hun River,which is designated as Cuiben�'本in the ancient texts.According to the capital models,the cultural characteristics and relations,the author synthesizes the archaeological traits of the Koguryo early phase royal city of Huanren region.The second chapter is untitled “research on royal capitals of the middle phase and related remains” and is divided into four sections. The first section discusses the structure of the city wall of the Guonei Site and the chronology of the beginning of its construction, combining with the textual evidence, it proves that the beginning of the construction of the Guonei Site is not prior to the 4th century A.D., and can be placed at the 12 th year of the Guguoyuan King(342 A.D.). Furthermore, through the analysis of the evolution of the city wall of the Guonei Site and of the remains discovered inside this city site, the chronology and sequence of the city wall and of the intra-site remains are clarified. The city wall of the Guonei city site can bee divided into three phases: the outer part of the south section of the wall and the inner side of north-east corner belong to phase I and have been built in the middle of the 4th century; the part of the wall built with wedge-shaped stones is the main part of what remains today of the Guonei Site wall, and was built from the end of the 4th century to the beginning of the 5th century and belong to phase II; the mamian fortification features and the angle towers added on the south wall, as well as the mamian of the northern section of the eastern wall belong to phase III, and have been built after the capital was moved to Pyongyang. The early, middle and late phase of the remains excavated inside the site correspond to the phases of the Koguryo archaeological culture.The second section discusses the date of the Wadu Mountain City-site based on the city wall and the intra-site remains. The elaboration of the city wall can be divided into three phases: the western wall and part of the northwestern angle belong to phase I and may date from the middle of the 4th century; the wall built with wedge-shaped stones belongs to phase II, and dates from the end of the 4th century to the beginning of the 5th century; the n. 1 covered drain from the n. 1 entrance is representative of phase III, built after the move of the Koguryo capital to Pyongyang. The intra-site remains can also be divided into three phases: the palace and the buildings of the garrison soldiers belong to phase I, and have been built not later than the middle of the 4th century; the watchtower and the reservoir are characteristic from phase II and date from the end of the 4th century to the beginning of the 5th century; finally, the burials discovered inside the city all date from phase III, after the move of the capital to Pyongyang. The date of the 3 phases of the city wall mainly correspond to the one of the intra-site remains.In the third section, through the analysis of the distribution pattern of the 24 stone-mounds tombs of the royal mausoleum and the ones which are supposed to belong to royal family members, and according to the chronology of these burials, the author discusses the evolution and dates of the processing technique of stone basement of the tombs. The evolution of the processing technique of stone basement of the Koguryo tombs of Ji’an region can be divided into 5 phases, thus clarifiyng the characteristics of the evolution process of the processing technique of stone basement of the royal stone-mound tombs. The evolution of the processing technique of stone basement of the royal stone-mound tombs and the chronology of the royal burials provides a chronological scale which can be used to reconstruct the periodization of the processing techniques of the stones used in other architectural remains of the Koguryo culture.The fourth section is divided into 3 parts.The first part is a discussion on the nature of the Guonei city-site and the Wandu mountain site.Archaeological data and textual material show that Guonei city-site was not a Koguryo royal city,and the Wandu mountain site was part of the Koguryo royal cities.In the second part,according to the distribution characteristics of the architectural sites of the Koguryo period,the author deduces that the architectural remains in the plain viewed as the“lower grounds city”and the contemporary Wandu mountain site form together a model of royal city.Thus,it reveals the geographical area named as Guonei国内(“the inner country”)in the transmitted texts was actually composed of a“royal city area”,a“mausoleum area”and a“royal domain area”.The third part synthesizes the data related to the chronology,the distribution in the physical geography,the morphology of the capital cities,the chronology of the city sites,and the characteristics of the techniques of stone architecture,in order to shed light on the overall particularities of the Koguryo royal city of Ji’an region.The third chapter is untitled “research on royal capitals of the late phase and related remains” and is divided into four sections. The first section is a review of the previous research on Dashan mountain city site, the Qingyanli earthen city site, the old city site in Pyongyang city and the Anhak palace site, and on the relations between the Pyongyang region and the royal capitals of the late phase.In the second section, the author discusses the date of each of these four city sites. The construction of the Dacheng mountain city site dates from the end of the 4th century to the beginning of the 5th century, and was continuously used until the end of the Koguryo period. The Qingyanli earthen city site was built slightly later than the Dacheng mountain city site, after the beginning of the 5th century. According to the stone inscription discovered in the old city site in Pyongyang city, it was built around the middle or the end of the 6th century and was continuously used until the destruction of the Koguryo Kingdom. Because the planning of the Anhak palace site is based on the design of the Taiji palace in the Tang dynasty Chang’an city, it was built during the beginning of the Tang dynasty, and was continuously used until the destruction of the Koguryo Kingdom.In the third section, the author discusses the periodization and evolution of the royal cities of the late phase of the Koguryo culture. After clarifying the nature of each of the four city sites, the author studies and interprets the transmitted texts related to the Koguryo royal cities of the Pyongyang region. These cities can be attributed to four phases. During the first phase, roughly corresponding to the middle and late 4th century to the 55 th year of the Changshou King reign(427 A.D.), the capital was moved to Pyongyang. During this phase, the central city of the Pyongyang region was Dacheng mountain city site, which might correspond to the Donghuangcheng city site near Pyongyang. During the second phase, on the 55 th year of the Changshou King reign(427 A.D.), the capital was established in Pyongyang up until the 28 th year of the Pingyuan King reign(586 A.D.), when it was moved to Chang’an city. During this phase, the Koguryo royal capital may have been Qingyanli earthen city site. The third phase begins on the 28 th year of the Pingyuan King reign(586 A.D.), with the installation of the capital at Chang’an city and lasted until the construction of the Anhak palace during the beginning of the Tang dynasty. During this time, the Koguryo royal capital was the old city site in Pyongyang city. The fourth phase begins with the construction of the Anhak palace and lasted until the 27 th year of the reign of the Anzang King(668 A.D.), when the Koguryo Kingdom was destroyed. During this time, the main part of the Koguryo royal capital was still the old city site in Pyongyang city, but the palatial city of the Anhak palace was also still in use, the old city site in Pyongyang city and the Anhak palace both played the roles of royal capitals.The fourth section is a synthesis of the archaeological features of the Koguryo royal cities of the four phases of the Pyongyang region, and of the evolution, relations and cultural components of the royal cities of each phase.The conclusion states the limits of this research, and summarizes the new knowledge and breakthrough revealed by this dissertation.