Ah-Rim Park - "Rethinking Koguryŏ Tomb Murals: The Role of the Northern Cultural Zone and Eurasian Culture"

Ah-Rim Park, Professor of Painting and Art History, Sookmyung Women's University

Among different cultural elements which formed and developed Koguryŏ tomb murals, the so called "sŏyŏk 西域"(the western region) culture has not been fully explored yet. As part of the process of expanding the framework for understanding Koguryŏ tomb murals, the paper will define and extend the notion of the term "sŏyŏk , " and reconstruct the "pukbang kiryu "  北方氣流 (northern current) of Koguryŏ murals within Eurasian culture. It will discuss the multi-cultural characteristics of the northern cultural zone in tombs and artifacts built from the 5th century BC to the 7th century AD in China and Central Asia, which can help us understand how Koguryŏ created its unique pictorial programs in tomb paintings. In addition, the Greco-Iranian artistic tradition of the Sogdians as cultural agents in transmitting Central Asian culture in East Asia and the intermediary roles of nomadic peoples including the Scythians, the Xiongnu, the Rouran, the Hephthalites, and the Turks will be considered to define Koguryŏ tomb murals in the context of the Eurasian culture.