The Sacred Theater in Goguryeo Tomb Murals: Myth, Belief, and the Pictorial Performance of Political Authority

Goguryeo tomb murals, particularly those in Tomb No. 4 of the Wukui complex, function as a 'sacred theater' that visually legitimized royal authority through mythological and symbolic reconfigurations. The study reveals how these murals adapted Central Plains sun-deity worship with Goguryeo's ancestral mythology, using imagery like the sun-centered Three-Legged Crow to reinforce sacred lineage. Over time, mural themes evolved from 4th-century scenes of wrestling and banqueting—symbolizing ethnic identity and tribal alliances—to 5th-century depictions of hunting, processions, and Buddhist rituals, reflecting the rise of a centralized bureaucratic system. Through mechanisms like symbolic reconfiguration, spatial narrative, and sensory manipulation, the murals constructed a closed value system linking worldly authority to posthumous order, serving as material testimony to the covenant between humans and deities.

Yang, L. (2025). The Sacred Theater in Goguryeo Tomb Murals: Myth, Belief, and the Pictorial Performance of Political Authority. Religions, 16(10), 1237. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16101237