Honglujing Stele

Honglujing Stele (traditional Chinese: 鴻臚井, simplified Chinese: 鸿胪井, pinyin: Hónglújǐng) is a tablet 3 meters wide, 1.8 meters tall, & 2 meters thick. It has 29 Chinese characters written on it.

It is the only Tang Dynasty (618-907) stele in Manchuria. It mentions the 1st king of the Balhae (Hangul: 발해, Chinese: 渤海國, pinyin: Bóhǎi Gúo) around 698 - 926 CE. The king listed on the tablet is Go of Balhae (Hangul: 대조영, Dae Joyeong, Chinese: 大祚榮, pinyin: Dà Zuòróng).

This kingdom is considered Chinese, Korean, or independent, depending on the nationality of the researcher. Russian and Japanese scholars classify it as an independent Mohe state (Chinese: 靺鞨, Hangul: 말갈).

It is currently located in the Japanese Imperial Palace. It was taken from Liaoning province, Lushun city (旅順, pinyin: Lu3shun4) in about 1907 after the Russo-Japanese War. Chinese researchers are now studying it for the first time.

External links

* [http://english.people.com.cn/200606/01/eng20060601_270316.html "1,300-year-old stele eyed by Chinese, Japanese archaeologists", article from "The Peoples Daily", 1 June 2006]