A Study on the Funeral Rites of Goguryeo

During the early years of Goguryeo, people mourned for the deceased for 100 days. Yet the culture of three-year mourning spread out after the early 3rd century. In case of the three-year mourning, ‘bin’ (殯, preserving the body temporarily in a morgue) lasted for a long time. It was partially because it took a long time to build a royal tomb, but the more important reason was because the new king needed time to cement his power. Most likely, it is assumed that the royal temporary morgues (殯所) were located outside the royal palace. It is also assumed that the coffin with the body in it was moved to the tomb after the ‘bin’ period. Originally, in Goguryeo, grand funeral was enacted. Then, trees were planted around tombs after the early 3rd century. However, because the trend of simple funeral became prevalent from the late 4th century to the 5th century, the deceased’s goods came to be distributed to others. Despite these changes, the tradition that escorting a funeral in a cheerful atmosphere was maintained.