Stone Monument of Hwarang’s Oath

This stone monument, discovered in Seokjang-dong, Gyeongju, in 1934, is representative of epigraphs from the Silla Period. On a granite rock that is wider at the top than the bottom, an oath on study and virtue training was inscribed by two young men, who seem to have been Hwarang (a male youth group of Silla, which promoted education and loyalty). The beginning of the inscriptions mentions “Imsin” of the sixty-year cycle, while the remainder details a person’s pledge to loyalty, which lies at the heart of the monument’s name. Although there are 74 characters inscribed in five lines, the exact Imsin year cannot be determined. Nevertheless, based on the contents pledging the virtue of loyalty, which was the founding philosophy of Hwarangdo, it is believed that the monument was made in either the 13th year of King Jinheung’s reign (552 CE), the 34th year of King Jinpyeong’s reign (612 CE), or the 31st year of King Seongdeok’s reign, when the Hwarangdo were enjoying their heyday.