Cheonmachong Tomb (Heavenly Horse Tomb)
Cheonmachong · Heavenly Horse Tumulus · Tomb of the Flying Horse · Cheonmachong 155
Three Kingdoms Silla 5th–6th c CE·Silla Three Kingdoms (Gyeongju Tumuli)·🇰🇷 Gyeongsangbuk-do, Gyeongju City, Hwangnam-dong, Tumuli Park (adjacent to Hwangnam Daechong) 600 m south Wolseong, South Korea
About
About Cheonmachong Tomb (Heavenly Horse Tomb)
Cheonmachong (Tomb No.155) — Silla royal tomb (c.5th–6th c CE, Silla middle) 100 m west Hwangnam Daechong, Gyeongju Tumuli Park, excavated 1973 CHA (Kim Jeong-hak). Cheonmachong is the Heavenly Horse Tomb: 47 m diameter, 12 m high mound with wooden chamber yielding gold crown (National Treasure 188), gilt bronze shoes, and painted birch-bark saddle flap with flying heavenly horse (cheollima, pegasus-like) giving tomb its name — only Korean painting of heaven horse, Goguryeo style. Also yielded sword and glass. Silla capital tomb easily visible, with reconstructed interior visitable.
Why it mattersOnly Korean tomb with painted heavenly horse (cheollima) — gold crown and Goguryeo painting demonstrating Silla–Goguryeo connection
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Horse painting — Goguryeo artisan or Silla imitation?
Theories
- 01Cheonmachong as Silla shamanic horse-heaven burial
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.450–550 CE Silla middle (Beopheung–Jinheung reigns)
- Period
- Three Kingdoms Silla 5th–6th c CE
- Culture
- Silla Three Kingdoms (Gyeongju Tumuli)
- Builders
- Silla artisans (Hwangnam goldcraft school)
- Purpose
- Silla royal burial with heavenly horse painting — shamanic horse-heaven afterlife belief
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.450–550 CE
Mound built for Silla aristocrat with horse painting
1973
CHA excavation reveals heavenly horse saddle flap
1975
Reconstructed tomb opens; National Treasure 188 crown
On the ground
Structures & features
35.8390° N · 129.2110° E · 44 m · 2 mapped features
Wooden Chamber with Heavenly Horse Saddle Flap
chamber5.5×2.5 m wooden chamber with birch-bark cheollima painting and gold crown
35.8400° N · 129.2102° EMound Exterior with Stone Revetment
mound47-m earth mound with stone revetment and Goguryeo-style pottery scatter exterior
35.8375° N · 129.2121° E