The only known Jin Dynasty gold official seal issued to Koguryo Photo: Xinhua

The only known Jin Dynasty (265-420) gold official seal issued to Koguryo discovered in China has officially entered the collection of the Museum of Ji'an City in Northeast China's Jilin Province and has been put on public display. 

This gold seal, weighing about 88 grams and with a face measuring just 2.4 centimeters square, features a horse-shaped knob with its head held high. 

The inscription, composed of seven characters in intaglio seal script, shows it was cast during the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316) over 1,700 years ago. 

This seal was once lost overseas, but at the China Guardian Hong Kong 2025 Spring Auction, it was purchased by a couple for a record-breaking sum, setting a new world auction record for ancient seals. The couple then donated it free of charge to the Museum of Ji'an City, according to information from the local authorities.

The Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom in Jilin was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004, according to the ­Xinhua News Agency.

"This gold seal fills the gap for gold seals related to Koguryo that had not been found previously," Zhu Liye, a researcher at the Jilin Academy of Social Sciences and director of the Koguryo research center of Jilin Province, said in an interview with the Jilin Daily.

Guo Jiangang, director of the Museum of Ji'an City, commented, "We believe the gold seal will become a key local cultural and tourism attraction, drawing more tourists and scholars to visit and study it," according to a report from China National Radio.

Regarding the exhibition and further research of the gold seal, Zhu also offered recommendations. He hopes relevant authorities will take the lead in organizing a themed exhibition on the interactions between the Han and Jin central dynasties and frontier ethnic groups, collecting and displaying similar conferment seals from those periods. This will allow the public to gain a deeper understanding of the formation and development of China's pluralistic and unified national structure, as reported by the Jilin Daily.

In addition to the gold seal now housed by the Museum of Ji'an City, the Jilin Provincial Museum has a special exhibition area for Koguryo culture. 

During the International Museum Day event at the Jilin Provincial Museum on Monday, docent Yang Fengxiao explained that Koguryo murals are rich and varied and can be divided into early, middle, and late periods. The early and middle period murals are realistic and mainly reflect daily life, while the late period murals are focused on religious and mythological themes. The restored mural from the Wukui Tombs at the exhibition is a representative late-period work, showing four divine beasts surrounding the scene and a giant dragon on the ceiling, according to China National Radio.