Stele for King Muyeol of Silla
Gyeongju, South Korea
The stele for King Taejong Muyeol, Gyeongju (Hanja) was erected in front of the Tomb of King Taejong Muyeol, the 29th ruler of Silla, in 661 (the 1st year of King Munmu’s reign). In 1962, it was designated as the 25th National Treasure of South Korea. King Taejong Muyeol worked to unify the Three Kingdoms of Korea (including Baekje and Goguryeo). Since he had been actively working on diplomacy, he sought to strengthen ties with Tang China by supporting military attacks on Goguryeo before he was crowned. Just before he could successfully achieve the unification, he passed away. Reflecting his achievements, his tomb is relatively large with 8.7m height, 114m circumference. The inscription of the stele was calligraphed by Kim In-mun, the second son of the deceased king and famed calligrapher.
Monument data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).