The area around Nangsan in Gyeongju is a low ridge that stretches from north to south, shaped like a silkworm cocoon. It has been considered as sacred since the twelfth year of King Silseong of Silla (413 CE), and has been preserved as hallowed ground ever since. The Samguk Sagi (Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms) records that when clouds gathered over Nangsan, and a fragrance drifted through the air without dispersing, the king declared it a place where divine spirits descended from the heavens to play. He ordered not to cut down a single tree. From the seventh century onward, it became a sacred Buddhist mountain, a land that held the hopes and prayers of the royal house.

In Volume 1 of the Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms), the section “Queen Seondeok’s Foreknowledge” preserves three accounts. When the Tang emperor sent a painting of red, purple, and white peonies along with three packs of seeds, the queen declared, “This fl ower will certainly have no fragrance,” and indeed, the fl ower gave off no scent from blossom to fall. In the fi fth year of Queen Seondeok’s reign (636 CE), when countless frogs gathered at Okmunji Pond at Yeongmyosa Temple to the west of the palace and cried out day and night, the queen surmised that enemy troops were lying in ambush at Yeogeuniok Valley and ordered an expedition, resulting in a resounding defeat of the Baekje forces. She also foretold the day of her own death and the place where she would be buried. Queen Seondeok’s gift of prophecy was extraordinary by any measure.

Sacheonwangsa Temple Site, where a bamboo grove catches the eye, is a popular photo spot. Sacheonwangsa is a guardian temple with expansive openness, built by King Munmu in the sacred grove of Sinyurim after Silla drove out the forces of Tang China. It is said that when Sacheonwangsa was completed below the Tomb of Queen Seondeok in the nineteenth year of King Munmu’s reign (679 CE), those present realized the deep meaning behind the queen’s dying wish, that in accordance with Buddhist scripture that says Trayastrimsa lies above the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings, the queen’s tomb was finally placed in Trayastrimsa Heaven.

After walking on the boardwalk trail, you look straight at the gentle summit. An elegant circular earthen burial mound comes into view through the pine trees. Though covered in nothing but earth, without any decoration, it remains composed and makes nearly fourteen centuries feel like no time at all. Unadorned by any trace of grandeur, the Tomb of Queen Seondeok is a place held together by the fervent prayers of the people and the deep hopes of kings. Lean against a tree and look at the tomb at an angle. You find yourself closing your eyes for a moment in the presence of a quiet, peaceful world that seems to welcome you. The sky is simply clear and blue through the pine trees.

As you climb the ridge and turn away from the Tomb of Queen Seondeok, you will move through a pine forest. The path slopes gently down toward the western flank of Nangsan. Sunlight shimmers through the branches of the pines, and the sound of the pine breeze is unceasing. The path that leads back from the queen’s burial mound is profoundly still. Underfoot, the earth, softened by layers of pine needles, gives gently with every step. After walking for about five minutes along the low field path, you will come face to face with Neungjitapji, believed to be the cremation site of King Munmu.

The burial place of Queen Seondeok (reigned 632–647 CE), the first female ruler of Silla and its twenty-seventh sovereign. Queen Seondeok built Cheomseongdae Observatory, Bunhwangsa Temple, and the Nine-Storey Wooden Pagoda of Hwangnyongsa Temple, and laid the foundations for the unification of the Three Kingdoms along with Kim Yusin and Kim Chunchu.