Four kilometers away from the east pat of Ji’an, King Haotai Stone Tablet is built in memory of the 19th King of Koguryo, whose name is Gao’an. He ascended the throne in 391A.D., when he was 18 and died in 412 A.D. He had been on throne for 22 years.
The Stone Tablet describes vividly the origin and development of Koguryo, and is the most valuable material for the study of its history. During the reign of King Haotai, Koguryo was strong and prosperous. His son king Changshou built it in memory of his feats. It is 360 meters to the north from King Tai Tomb, and has a history of over 1,590 years.
The inscription can be divided into three parts. The first part is about the mythology of the origin and state-establishment. It says, “The founder, King Zoumu, was from north Fuyu and his father was Heavenly God and his mother Goddess of river. Born from an egg, he was innate virtue. He led his soldiers southward, when he got to the valley of the Fu River he turned westward and set up a town as his capital.”
The second part records King Haotai’s expansion of his state, fighting east and west. He attacked the Korean and Japanese pirates and his assistance to Shilla. In 396, he defeated Japanese pirates, conquered Paekche, occupying its 64 towns and over 1,400 villages.
The third part is about the tomb-keepers. There are 330 keepers, 30 of them came from towns and 300 of them from villages. The only difference lay in that those from towns served as a leader of 10 villagers.
The Stone Tablet is built with a piece of natural breccias carved a little bit in the shape of a column. This kind of material was produced on the Yalu River close to Ji’an. It maintained natural pattern and was rare. The inscription is written in official script, among which each character is 9 to 10 cm., nearly carved, giving dignity. Its structure is strict. The Stone Tablet has 44 linces, each line of 41 characters, and, 775 characters altogether. However, 1,590 characters are recognizable due to some damages.
In the year of 427 after the construction of the Stone Tablet, Koguryo moved its capital to Pyongyang. After its reign came to an end, it was ruined. In 1877(the 2nd year of Guangxu Reign, the Qing Dynasty), Guan Yeshang from Huairen County discovered it. He rubbed some characters on it and gave them to his friend. From 1878 to 1879, a county official asked Chu Tianfu, a native to remove the moss by means of coating dung on the Stone Tablet and then burning them, so that some characters could be easily recognized. On the other hand, it was damaged a little bit, i.g. clearage appeared on the Stone Tablet.
After the Stone Tablet was discovered, it has been protected and preserved. In 1927, people on industry and business in Ji’an County raised funds to have a pavilion built. In 1961, the State Council proclaimed it an important reserve in the first group. In 1982, the state appropriated to build a new pavilion. Xia Nai, a famous archeologist inscribed for it. In 2002, in order to reinforce it, the local government installed a wall of glass surrounding it.
The Stone Tablet is resources for the study of the origin and evolution of Koguryo, and an art treasure on stone carving. Since its capital towns, king tombs of nobles, and mausoleum of nobles entered the list of World Heritage Sites, King Haotai Stone Tablet, known as the best tablet to the sea in the east, now is ushering in the tourists at home and abroad with the red carpet.