Seven Tiers, More Than a Thousand Stones: Jiangjun Tomb

Jiangjun Tomb’s outline is often called stepped, but the archaeological dictionary behind its published measurements gives two different kinds of number: seven tiers and 1,177 large blocks. It reports that 1,146 blocks remained in the survey record. The 1,177 figure is a count of stone units, not steps. Keeping shape and material count separate changes the scale of the monument: seven levels define its profile, while more than a thousand individual blocks make that profile.

The dictionary describes a foundation filled with small stream or mountain stones, large base stones above, and a 3–4-meter-wide band of large river stones outside the base to help prevent erosion and collapse. It also describes large protective stones set against the faces. The tomb rises 13.07 meters; its present sides are roughly 30–31 meters, while the reconstructed base is estimated at about 32.3 meters.

The same entry places the burial chamber above the third tier and gives its width as about 5.43–5.50 meters and height as 5.10 meters. It places the entrance at the fifth tier and describes a roof formed by parallel corbelled courses and a large ceiling stone. The chamber is therefore enclosed within the stepped stone structure, with its entrance higher than ground level. Its position, roof, and doorway connect the interior to the rising outer mass without requiring a speculative account of how workers moved the stones.

The tomb’s physical description is more settled than its royal attribution. The archaeological dictionary records several interpretations, including a familiar identification with King Jangsu, but does not treat the question as uncontested. “Jiangjun Tomb” is a stable name for the monument; it should not be turned into a certainty about the person buried inside. Jilin’s protection regulation separately lists the tomb as a protected object.

A 2010 conservation study adds a material dimension to the monument. The researchers used X-ray diffraction on stone samples from Jiangjun Tomb and other Ji’an sites, describing granite as a major material and documenting cracks among Jiangjun’s blocks. They also discuss the different weathering behavior of granite and marble in the wider tomb landscape. The paper cites an earlier identification of Lushui Bridge, about 23 kilometres north of Ji’an, as a Koguryo-era quarry used for city and tomb construction. That makes geology part of the story of the built landscape, without tracing an individual Jiangjun block to that quarry.