West ceiling

Ohoe Tomb #4, 6th - 7th century
Ji'an, China


The stepped ceiling of Ohoe1 Tomb #4 begins with a lower band of sinuously intertwining snake or dragon forms. Above this is a band with deities of the forge (far left), a divine wheelwright (middle left), a dragon (middle), and a god of fire (right). The upper band displays a row of celestials flying or carried on birds. Its west beam (right) depicts the moon, while its south beam (left) includes the constellation sign of the South Dipper (not the Big Dipper, which is a northern constellation in Goguryeo tombs). The top of the ceiling hosts a directional symbol, the Yellow Dragon of the Center (later page). Overall the decoration of this tomb is very similar to Ohoe #5.

1 The Ohoe site is called Wukui in China; its territory originally belonged to Korean Goguryeo but is now part of China.