Records layered on wooden slats…Baekje reused official documents by shaving surfaces

▲ Wooden tablets unearthed at the Gwanbuk-ri site in Buyeo. Photo courtesy of Buyeo National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Feb. 5 (Yonhap) -- Wooden tablets—narrow, elongated pieces of wood inscribed with text—are regarded as key materials for understanding daily life in ancient times.

Such tablets were also widely produced during the period when Baekje’s center was at Sabi, present-day Buyeo in South Chungcheong Province (538–660).

At Buyeo’s Ssangbuk-ri site, a wooden tablet neatly inscribed with a multiplication table drew attention, while another fragment bearing the well-known Confucian phrase “To learn and practice from time to time” was also unearthed.

Following discoveries at the Sabi capital site (246 tablets) and the Neungsan-ri area (171 tablets), a large number of wooden tablets have now been found at the Gwanbuk-ri site—believed to be the royal palace of Sabi-period Baekje—bringing renewed focus to the era’s written culture.

▲ Wooden products in tablet form and wood shavings unearthed at the Gwanbuk-ri site in Buyeo. Photo courtesy of Buyeo National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

According to the Buyeo National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage on Thursday, a total of 329 wooden tablets were uncovered through excavations conducted in 2024–2025 in the Gwanbuk-ri area.

The finds include personnel records used as state administrative documents, ledgers related to national finances, names of official ranks and posts, and inscriptions such as “Gyeongsin year,” believed to correspond to the year 540.

This is the largest number of wooden tablets ever discovered at a single site in Korea.

About 75 percent of the items consist of wood shavings created by scraping the surface of tablets to erase or revise previously written text.

“The process is similar to how we erase pencil marks with an eraser today, except that a knife was used to shave the surface,” the institute explained. “It means already-written tablets were reused as administrative documents.”

Among the discoveries are large shavings exceeding 35 centimeters in length.

▲ Wooden tablets covering various specialized fields of knowledge. Photo courtesy of Buyeo National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Producing such long, thin shavings from inscribed surfaces would have required considerable skill, and researchers believe such techniques were naturally acquired through repeated reuse of tablets.

Yoon Seon-tae, a professor of history education at Dongguk University and an expert on wooden tablets, noted that while Silla-era tablets were often used as tags, Baekje sites such as the Neungsan-ri temple ruins have previously yielded evidence of shaved tablets.

Scholars also see major significance in the discovery of Korea’s first bound wooden tablets.

These tablets were created by stringing together documents of the same type for management or preservation over a certain period, with holes drilled at the top and bottom of each tablet to thread a cord through them.

“Bound tablets are important materials for understanding Baekje’s document administration,” Yoon said. “They suggest that a sophisticated bureaucratic system existed in early Sabi Baekje, and possibly even earlier during the Hanseong period.”

▲ Wooden tablet bearing inscriptions of military units and fortresses. Photo courtesy of Buyeo National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Analysis showed that the bound tablets were made from cedar wood.

According to the institute, cedar was not native to the ancient Korean Peninsula and is believed to have been imported, largely from Japan.

Shim Sang-yuk, a senior researcher, said, “Just as Japanese cedar was used for the wooden coffin that housed the remains of King Muryeong, it is possible that construction materials were imported,” adding that further research is needed.

The newly discovered tablets are considered administrative records, effectively Baekje’s official documents.

After holding five advisory meetings with tablet specialists, the institute concluded that none of the tablets contained personal sentiments or doodles; instead, they were all related to personnel matters, finance, or administrative systems.

Oh Hyun-deok, a research officer, pointed out that three building sites were found near the drainage channel where most of the tablets were excavated. “It is comparable to producing various official documents at a modern government complex,” he said.

▲ Reconstructed bound wooden tablets. Photo courtesy of Buyeo National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

The tablets also record seasonal and time-related information, including “Ipdong,” which marks the beginning of winter in the traditional calendar, and “sasi,” referring to the hours between 9 and 11 a.m.

The institute noted that this is the first time wooden tablets explicitly indicating time have been found in Korea.

Jeong Jae-yoon, a professor of Korean history at Kongju National University, evaluated the discoveries as “written materials that allow us to observe how Baekje entered a new era and built systems appropriate to it.” He added, “With previously unknown official ranks and post names emerging, there is much to study going forward, and these findings will provide fresh momentum for research into Baekje history.”

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