• Koguryo and Balhae
  • Tokhung-ri Tomb
The First Lady’s Ox Carriage
TitleThe First Lady’s Ox Carriage
The First Lady’s ox carriage in the Depiction of the Noble Couple’s Outing on the eastern wall of the middle passage
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This is a detailed view of the First Lady’s ox carriage as seen in the Depiction of the Noble Couple’s Outing on the eastern wall of the middle passage. In ancient times, a carriage was an important form of transportation for the noble class. An ox carriage was generally used by women, and men either rode horse carriages or rode a horse directly. As seen in the image, the First Lady's carriage features veils at the front and back, and the top is covered by an awning-like sunshade (used by nobles in ancient times for sun protection, similar to a modern-day parasol). Remarkably, the black sunshade stretches all the way to the ox, considered to be the modern-day engine of the carriage, to protect it from the heat of the sun. This particular type of sunshade is called an angled sunshade, featuring a slight angle in the middle rather than the usual straight-line configuration.
As no examples of Koguryo era ox carriages exist today, this painting is considered to be a very valuable resource for understanding the carriages of the time.

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