Stone Guardians and Pillars at the Tomb of King Wonseong, Gyeongju

These stone guardians and pillars are located in front of the tomb of King Wonseong (r. 785-798), the 38th ruler of the Silla kingdom (57 BCE-935 CE).

Five pairs of stone structures face each other from across the pathway to the tomb. They are placed apart at regular intervals. From the front, there are tomb-marker pillars, military officials, civil officials, and lions. The tomb of King Wonseong is the first to have such an arrangement of stone pillars and guardians, and the tombs of later Silla kings followed this style.

The faces of the military officials look more like people from Central Asia or the Middle East, suggesting that Silla had exchange with such distant places at the time. The civil officials wear armor over their ceremonial robes and are holding swords underneath their robes, making them appear like military officers.

Source: Korea Heritage Service signboard ↗ · collected 2026-10-08