Northeast Asian History Network

Figure playing the horn flute in the procession on the southern wall of the antechamber.

This mounted musician playing a horn flute can be seen in the procession on the southern wall of the antechamber in Tokhung-ri Tomb. Bands generally appear in depictions of large-scale outings on Koguryo era tomb murals to raise the morale of the procession. Such bands are categorized into marching bands that performed while walking or marching and mounted bands that performed on horseback. Similar to the large-scale depiction of a procession in Anak Tomb No. 3, both types of bands appear in Tokhung-ri Tomb, which is indicative of Youzhou Provincial Governor Jin's extremely high status. The depicted instruments can be divided into string, wind, and percussion instruments. The horn flute is a type of wind instrument.
The mounted horn flutist is wearing a Geon (a type of ancient headwear that wraps around the entire head and tied in the back, similar to a bandanna), an upper garment featuring Seons (accents on garments mimicking the black feathers on a crane’s neck or wingtips, influenced by Siberian shamanism), and form-fitting trousers known as Gung-go.
Upon closer inspection, the mounted flutist and the horse lack detail, and the key features seem to have been hastily completed. The artist most likely focused his attention on more important subject matter to finish the mural in the allotted time. Traces of the red base sketch can be seen beneath the painting.