Immortality,Taoism, and Tombs in the old Silla Kingdom

신선의 왕국, 도교의 사회 신라 -적석목곽분과 그 시대를 중심으로 -

In archeological aspects the 4th-6th centuries of the Silla kingdom has been callded the era of wooden chamber tombs with pebble and earth mounds(jeokseokmokwakbun). Moreover, the era is also regarded the age of the traditional and 'primitive' Korean religion which originated from inside the Korean Peninsula or the kingdom. However, the tombs and their burial accessories reveal that it is Taoism, not shamanism, that prevailed throughout the silla kingdom and its people during the jeokseokmokwakbun period. Above all things, almost all of the tombs excavated up to date yield in great quantities cinnabar and mica, which have been considered the best elixir of life in the Taoist world. Moreover the instruments to make the medicine for the deceased has been founded inside a tomb. The jeokseokmokwakbun tombs are famous for their great amount of buried articles and their grand scale. The tombs also have a large amount of gold, silver and beads, which are all thought to be the other cure-alls in taoism. Then why the silla people made the tombs and buried those elixirs of life for the deceased? The best answer we can imagine is this : for eternal living! In other words, cinnabar and mica are for the everlasting life of the deceased, the tombs were desingned as the 'eternal house' where the dead are living a immortal life. Needless to say, immortal living, even after he or she dies, is the ultimate purpose of taoism.