Location and Tomb Stele of the Tomb of King Muryeong - Focusing on the Wu Yin Mu Fa and the Ming Tang Di Xin Brick

The fact that Baekje was knowledgeable in shushu and fangji is also evident through the funeral rites observed in the construction of King Muryeong’s tomb. It is believed that the construction of King Muryeong’s tomb adhered to the principles of the Wu Yin Mu Fa(五音墓法five-sound tomb law ) and Ming Tang Di Xin (明堂地心the center of Mingtang), which were significant in the royal tombs of the Southern Dynasty. In particular, the round shape carved into the tombstone symbolized the concept of Ming Tang Di Xin (明堂地心).<br/> The five-tone method combines the five sounds (五音) and funeral laws (墓法) and was a principle highly esteemed in Chinese mysticism. Upon interpreting the diagrams provided in 『Di Li Xin Shu』 in relation to King Muryeong’s tomb, the influence of the five-note tomb method becomes evident in the arrangement of King Muryeong’s tomb, Tomb No. 5, and Tomb No. 6.<br/> The role of the round shape positioned at the center of King Muryeong’s tombstone and Land Purchase Record (買地券) likely served as an area marker for the grave site. In this context, the Ming Dang Di Xin (明堂地心) discovered from M5 of the Songjin Tomb in Dongyang, China, garners attention. Comparing the azimuth map of King Muryeong’s tomb with the Ming Dang Di Xin, both exhibit striking similarities, except for the absence of Shen-geng-you-xin-xu (申-庚-酉-辛-戌) in the latter, with only wu-ji (戊己) inscribed in the corner and the Bagua omitted. The center of Myeongdangjisimjeon is situated at the intersection of lines drawn with zi-wu (子-午) and mao-you (卯-酉). However, in the case of the azimuth map of King Muryeong’s tomb, when the vacant side is supplemented, and a line is drawn with zi-wu (子-午) and mao-you (卯-酉), the circle aligns with the intersection point. This suggests that the original designation of King Muryeong’s tomb likely signifies its auspicious location. Furthermore, a recent study on the condition of contamination of King Muryeong and Queen’s epitaph stone and Land Purchase Record revealed that they were initially buried in an overlapping state, mirroring the excavation findings of M5’s Land Purchase Record and Di Xin Zhuan (地心磚).