Located in the Daesung district of Pyongyang, Anhak-palace has drawn attention from various researchers since Japanese colonial era to the issue of whether Goguryeo is flatland fortress is located in the Pyongyang metropolitan area. After a long perio...
Located in the Daesung district of Pyongyang, Anhak-palace has drawn attention from various researchers since Japanese colonial era to the issue of whether Goguryeo is flatland fortress is located in the Pyongyang metropolitan area. After a long period of excavation, the report was officially published in 1973 and details were known. Kim Il-sung University, who conducted the investigation, reported the date of Anhak-palace as 427, when King Jangsu moved it, but the controversy continues. Contrary to the North Korean academic position, the Japanese academic community has consistently announced views of Anhak-palace as a palace during the Goryeo Dynasty, and the domestic academia, where both views coexist, tend to accept the position of the North Korean academic community, who was directly responsible for the excavation.
If the research is conducted on the remains of Goguryeo without a close review of the Anhak-palace, there will be many errors in the study of Goguryeo Pyongyang. In order to recognize this problem and examine the period of Anhak-palace, three stone chambers, excavated artifacts, and roof tiles excavated from Anhak-palace were selected for research among the dozens of stone chambers reported below the Anhak-palace.
As Anhak-palace destroyed and created the upper part of the third stone chamber, the relationship between the two is clear. However, the three stone chamber of the Anhak-palace were supplemented by examining artifacts excavated from stone chamber tombs together as walls and ceiling structures were unknown except for the flat structure of the remains. Anhak-palace stone chamber tomb No. 3 is presumed to be from the early 5th to the early 6th century through jar-shaped earthenware, bottle-shaped earthenware, and lid, and the Anhak-palace, which was destroyed and constructed, is likely to be at least after the 6th century.
In the center of the outer surface of the Anhak-palace roofing tiles, the characteristics of the lateral pattern stand and the clear eogolmun(herringbone pattern) appear, but it is also presumed to be from the early Goryeo Dynasty as it contains the pattern elements that were popular in Unified Silla.
Based on the appearance of arc-shaped eave-end roof tiles during the Unified Silla Period, the eave-end roof tiles of Anhak-palace can also be determined to be later, it is believed to have been influenced by the Unified Silla through the presence of the whirlpool pattern, the degraded mask tile of monster, and the variant eave-end roof tiles in the early Goryeo period. There are many distinctive elements in the case of roof-end tile, which have Goguryeo elements based on the modified compartment line and the massive high-relievo, and the technique of strengthening the joint of roof-end tile. In particular, it is characterized by the drawing marks on the edge of the roofing tiles transcribed on the back of the roof-end tile, and it was confirmed that it was used during the Goryeo Dynasty as a joint reinforcement technique that began in earnest during the Unified Silla Period.
Although it was reported as ‘monster’ in Anhak-palace, it was different from the image of mask tile of monster, which was widely used in Goguryeo. In addition, the cheeks are expressed with the massive high-relievo, which can also be considered as an element of mask tile of monster of Goryeo. Through this, it was judged that this phenomenon occurred when the mask tile of monster, which was popular in Goguryeo and Unified Silla, gradually degenerated, raising the possibility that it was from the early Goryeo Dynasty. In the case of ridge-end roof tiles, the overall shape is similar to that of Balhae, and Jongdae's performance is also characterized by the ridge-end roof tiles of the North-South States Period. The scale patterns seen on the body of a single piece are presumed to appear during the transitional period when ridge-end roof tiles was turning into a chimun, and these scales were found in the piece of ridge-end roof tiles of the Goryeo Period. Therefore, the Anhak-palace ridge-end roof tiles appears to be from the early Goryeo Dynasty, where the characteristics of the North-South States Period remain.
Considering the characteristics of the roof tiles seen in Anhak-palace, it seems most appropriate to view it as a palace built while planning the capital of Seogyeong during the reign of King Jeongjong of Goryeo. This view is supported by the fact that the period of the roof tiles of Anhak-palace shows the early Goryeo pattern, where the influence of the Unified Silla era remains, and the aspect of the Anhak-palace roof-end tile that shows the phenomenon of the Goguryeo restoration.
To summarize, the age of Anhak-palace can be estimated from the early Goryeo period through the three stone chambers and the roof tiles of Anhak-palace, based on various circumstances and analysis of roof tiles, Anhak-palace appears to be a palace built during the reign of King Jeongjong of Goryeo.
However, as some Goguryeo roof tiles, which are not listed in the official report, and whose excavation circumstances are unknown, are introduced as excavated items from Anhak-palace, along with the possibility of inflow from Daeseong mountain fortress, there is a possibility that there is another Goguryeo building site on the lower floor of the Anhak-palace ruins.