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How much do we know about the ancient kingdom Balhae which existed for 200 years from the late 7^th century to the early 10^th century as the state connecting the northern and southern states alongside Silla? Let us begin our historical journey, centered on primary historical sources related to Balhae and newly discovered evidence. This will be a fun opportunity to feel as though you are excavating hidden stories from Balhae history while also coming to understand diverse interpretation of data and the importance of evidence. 

Ancient historical materials are basically bibliographic data and monumental inscriptions are critically important. Fortunately, recent archeological excavations have uncovered Balhae monument inscriptions and shared them with the world. Four inscriptions have been discovered thus far and all of them are epitaphs recording the lives of those laid to rest in the tombs. They are all females, two princesses and one empress, who were the daughters and wife of King Mun (737-793) the third monarch of Balhae.

Information related to Balhae’s princesses and empresses 

Mu, Balhae’s second king, initiated combat with Dengzhou of the Tang Dynasty in 732. The combat escalated into an international war which provoked the participation of Silla.

Epitaph 1

This princess was the second daughter of our “Daeheung Boryeok Hyogam □□□beop Daewang.” Oh-oh, the princess died on April 14 in the summer of the fourth year of Boryeok, eulmi day, in Woeje and she was 40 years old. Her name in posterity will be Princess Jeonghye. She was buried in a hill west of Jinreung on November 24 in the winter of the seventh year of Boryeok, gapsin day, in accordance with the rules of etiquette.

“公主者我大興寶曆孝感□□□法大王之第二女也 (omitted) 粤以寶曆四年夏四月十四日乙未□□外第 春秋四十 諡曰貞惠公主 寶曆七年冬十一月卄四日甲申 陪葬於珍陵之西原 禮也”

<Epitaph of Princess Jeonghye>

Epitaph 2

This princess was the fourth daughter of our “Daeheung Boryeok Hyogam Geumryun Seonggbeop Daewang.” Oh-oh, the princess passed away on June 9 in the summer of the 56^th year of Daeheung, imjin day, in Woeje and she was 36 years old. Her name in posterity will be Princess Jeonghyo. She was buried in a hill west of Yeomgok on November 28 in the winter of that year, gimyo day, in accordance with the rules of etiquette.

公主者我大興寶曆孝感金輪聖法大王之第四女也 (omitted) 粤以大興五十六年夏六月九日壬辰終於外第 春秋三十六 諡曰貞孝公主 其年冬十一月卄八日己卯 陪葬於染谷之西原 禮也

<Epitaph of Princess Jeonghyo>

Epitaph 3

Balhae’s Empress Sunmok and Ms. Tae, queen of King Gan. She was transferred to □reung for burial on July 15 Geonheung 12^th year in accordance with the rules of etiquette.

渤海國順穆皇后 簡王皇后泰氏也 建興十二年七月十五日 遷安□陵 禮也

<｢吉林和龍市龍海渤海王室古墓葬發掘簡報｣, 

Epitaph of Empress Sunmok quoted in ‘Gogo (考古)’ 2009-6>

Mausoleum of Princess Jeonghye discovered in Balhae for the first time 

Epitaph of Princess Jeonghye

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Discovered in 1949 approximately 5 km south of Dunhua, China’s Jilin Province, in seven pieces. 

It would have been 90 cm in height and 49 cm wide. 

21 lines and two thirds of the 725 letters were deciphered

In August 1949, a Balhae mausoleum was discovered in Yukjeongsan Mountain, Dunhua in Jilin Province, China, for the first time. Only two thirds of the 725 letters written on the broken epitaph were identifiable. Given that Daeheung is the era name for when King Mun, Balhae’s third king, ruled one can easily assume that Jeonghyo was one of his daughters. The princess’ husband and son also died young, preceding her in death. The princess died at the age of 40 in the fourth year of Boryeok (777) and was buried in a “hill west of Jinreung.” Dunhua and the nearby area have a robust history as the site of Balhae’s foundation in the wake of the tombs discovery. Jin Yufu, China’s authority on Balhae history, defined Balhae as Tang’s subordinate state. But he was astonished when he discovered that Balhae’s system was similar to China’s emperor system—in the epitaph, the Balhae king used “seong (聖)” and “hwang (皇)” and the tomb was called the royal grave, the king’s daughter the princess, and the king’s first son the crown prince. To stress that Balhae’s history was part of China’s history, he included the ancient mausoleums in Yukjeongsan Mountain in the “National Priority Relics (which are equivalent to the Korean national treasures)” along with the imperial tombs and mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang. 

Mausoleum of Princess Jeonghyo, the younger sister of Princess Jeonghye, discovered 

Epitaph of Princess Jeonghyo

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Discovered in 1980 in Helong, Jilin Province, 105 cm in height, 58 cm wide. 

18 lines and only two out of 728 letters are unidentifiable 

In 1980, the mausoleum of Princess Jeonghyo was discovered in Yongdusan Mountain, of Helong, Jilin Province. Most of the 728 letters on the epitaph were identifiable, except for two. Excavators were stunned that they were able to read the epitaph word by word. This is likely because the content of the epitaph was mostly identical to that of Princess Jeonghye’s discovered 30 years prior and Princess Jeonghyo was the younger sister of Princess Jeonghye. This princess, the fourth daughter of “Daeheung Boryeok Hyogam Geumryun Seonggbeop Daewang,” died at 36 in Daeheung 56^th year (792) and was buried in the hill west of Yeomgok. Like Princess Jeonghye, this princess was the sister of the crown prince and her husband and young daughter preceded her in death. The human remains inside the burial chamber are presumed to be those of Princess Jeonghyo and her husband and they suggest that the woman and the man stood 156 cm and 161 cm tall, respectively, and were aged around 25-45. On the walls of the burial chamber, 12 Balhae people, such as attendants and musicians who waited on the princess were painted vividly. That Helong and the nearby area of Yongdusan Mountain was the location of Hyeonju, Balhae’s second capital, has been academically acknowledged.

Empress Sunmok, Queen of Balhae King Gan

Lately, miraculous incidents have been occurring in the field of Balhae studies, which had seemed a quiet field since the stunning discovery of Princesses Jeonghye and Jeonghyo’s tombs. The existence of two Balhae empresses has been previously known and the vicinity of Princess Jeonghyo’s tomb was extensively searched. One of the two empresses is Empress Sunmok, Queen to King Gan, the 9^th King of Balhae (817-818). Most of the 141 letters on her epitaph were legible. To date, only the 29 above-mentioned letters have been disclosed. (Epitaph 3) It was known that the spouse of King Gan was not a “queen” but an “empress”; the surname of Empress Sunmok was Tae and she was buried in the twelfth year of Geonheung (829), 12 years after the death of King Gan.

Mysterious identity of Empress Hyoui

The tomb of Empress Hyoui, Queen to King Mun, was discovered at a site near Empress Sunmok’s tomb. What has been disclosed about Empress Hyoui is her 4-word name. Her epitaph would certainly hold clues to the empress’ birthplace, her children, life, whether she was the same person as the queen of King Mun (Shoku Nihongi, Bogwi 7^th year), the date and time of her death, whether she was buried or not, and things about King Mun. Personally, I am very curious to know what the reason for “research into the epitaph” has for not revealing the content of the epitaph in the report, and when it will be disclosed. I presume that Balhae’s king may have called himself the emperor, but there may have been a closer relationship to Goguryeo. I look forward to seeing academics from Korea and China collaborate in their studies and discussion after the full text has been made public as early as possible. 

Undiscovered tombs of Balhae kings 

The tombs of the first King Go (Dae Jo-young) and second King Mu, which are presumed to be “Jin tombs,” are being search for in the ancient tombs in Yukjeongsan Mountain. The tomb of the third King Mun is expected to be in a location near Empress Hyoui in the ancient tombs of Yongdusan Mountain and that of King Gan is presumed to be located nearby Empress Sunmok. Lately, Chinese scholars seem to think that the illegible character in ‘‘□reung (陵)” inscribed in the epitaph of Empress Sunmok is “Jin (珍).” Balhae was thought to have been founded in the mountain fortress of Mabanchon, 10 km east of Yanji. Therefore, questions arise naturally; assuming that “Jin tombs” refer to the whole royal graveyard in the vicinity of Yongdusan Mountain, not tombs of specific kings, and also considering that Balhae’s state name in its early years was “Jin State (written in 震國 or 振國),” then would “Jin tombs” mean the “royal tombs of the Jin State”? Why are have the tombs of Balhae kings not yet been discovered? Have they already been discovered? Why was there no mention about the husbands lying beside their wives in the tombs of the princesses? Women in Balhae left their tombs behind as their legacy like, in the proverb “a man leaves his name after death”; so why did the men of Balhae, who were apparently so brave they could capture a tiger alive with just three men, have no graves? “Balhae” truly is the “foggy (渤[Pronounced: “bal”]) sea (海[Pronounced: “hae”]).”