Chapter 8 Section 2 Magnificent tomb murals

In addition to the Buddhist murals in the Grotto Temple, other relics of paintings during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties have been continuously discovered in archaeological excavations.For example: the "Landlord's Manor Map" unearthed from the Jin tomb in Turpan, Xinjiang, which is regarded as the earliest known paper painting by the historians; hundreds of brick paintings with a strong life atmosphere unearthed from the Wei and Jin tombs in Jiayuguan, Gansu Province; the Goguryeo tomb in Ji'an, Jilin The unearthed exquisite murals of dancing, hunting, and corner arrival; the mural of "Swallows' Dwelling Joy" unearthed from Tomb No. 5 of Dingjiazha, Jiuquan, Gansu; the mural of the gate coupon of the Southern Dynasties unearthed in Xuezhuang, Dengxian County, Henan; the large tomb of the Southern Dynasties unearthed at Xishan Bridge, Nanjing The seven sages in the bamboo forest and Rong Qiqi's die-printed brick paintings; the coffin carvings of dutiful sons unearthed from the Northern Wei Dynasty tomb in Luoyang; the wooden lacquer paintings unearthed from the Northern Wei Sima Jinlong Tomb in Datong, Shanxi, and the murals from the Lou Rui Tomb in Taiyuan, Shanxi.Among them, the murals of the tomb of Lou Rui in Taiyuan, Shanxi are the largest and most mature in technique, and can be regarded as an outstanding representative of the painting art of the Central Plains during the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

This tomb was discovered in Wangguo Village, the southern suburb of Taiyuan, Shanxi in 1979, and was excavated in 1982.The owner of the tomb, Lou Rui (AD?-570), was from Xianbei and a relative of the Northern Qi royal family.The official went to Bingzhou (where the government is located in today's Taiyuan) to be the governor, and he was named the king of Dong'an.All the tomb walls of the tomb, tomb passage, patio, and corridor are covered with pictures, a total of 71 pictures, with a total area of ​​more than 200 square meters.It mainly depicts the illusory fairyland and the life scenes of the tomb owner before his death.Pictured on the middle layer of the two walls on the left and right sides of the tomb passage, is the picture of the trip and return of Yiwei. Those who travel to the south are the scenes of travel, and those who return to the north are the scenes of return.Riders, guards of honor, bodyguards, and entourages are arranged in an orderly and dense manner, forming two mighty and majestic traveling and returning teams.A closer look at the parts shows that the faces of the characters are slightly elongated, but they are full of expressions, either overlooking, or concentrating, or looking back, or calling each other; there are many horses, with different shapes and expressions.

If we compare the murals of Lou Rui's tomb with the existing murals of the tomb chamber of the Han Dynasty, we will find the inheritance relationship and development changes between them. Although the murals of Lou Rui's tomb inherited the painting method of drawing objects with iron lines in the tomb murals of the Han Dynasty, the figures and animals painted are accurate in proportion, lifelike in shape, and pay more attention to the portrayal of expressions and expressions.The lines are combined with hardness and softness, and the color shading method is consciously used to make the image have a sense of space and reality.This is a distance from Han paintings that only pay attention to dynamics and use naive and frank brushwork.Furthermore, the creator of this mural cleverly placed figures, horses, and ceremonial guards in a long scroll composition, interspersed with concealed dew, varied, far and near layers, and complex structure, with both a sense of time sequence and a sense of space for numerous scenes.The grandeur of the tomb murals in the Han Dynasty did not exist.

Judging from the prominent social status of the owner of the tomb and the exquisite craftsmanship of the murals, the murals in this tomb should come from master court painters.Combined with the painting characteristics of the existing Northern Qi Dynasty painter Yang Zihua's "Northern Qi School Book Map (Song Copy)" (now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA), some art historians speculate that the author of the mural is Yang Zihua, the master of court painting at that time. Who is the author?It can be left to further research, but the excavation of the murals in Lou Rui's tomb has indeed enabled us to see the general style of high-level Northern Qi paintings, and provided extremely valuable authentic materials for further research on the social culture of the Northern Qi Dynasty.