A Study On The Position And Value Of Water-and-Land Murals Of Hebei In Religious Murals

Paintings for Water-and-Land service are portraits of Three Boundary Gods, which are hung at the Water-and-Land rites, and serve the specific purpose of the rites. These paintings can be categorized into figure paintings for Buddhism and Daoism and divided into scroll painting and mural in terms of painting forms. Most of the Water-and-Land murals are based on the thoughts of the combination of three religions which take religion as central theme and concretize and visualize religious beliefs. Trough historical perspectives and artistic imagination, these paintings display to people the beauty of the Buddhism world, the terror of Hell, human relationship and civil life. By forms of painting, they arouse people's understanding of the reality, advocate Buddhism beliefs and make people care about the society and dedicate to Buddhism. This shows the ideas that paintings for Water-and-Land Service are supposed to express as a form of religious art. These paintings therefore naturally find their way into people's life, demonstrate the enduring value and characteristics of traditional art, and leave to the later generation valuable resources about ancient society. They are of great value for study.By introducing the Water-and-Land murals in Hebei, this study analyzes the difference between Water-and-Land murals and religious murals and illustrates the relationship between the phenomenon of the combination of three religions in Water-and-Land murals and people's worship of Gods. Based on the analysis, this study attempts to explain the religious belonging of Water-and-Land murals in specific historical period, analyze their position in religious murals and show the historical value of Water-and-Land murals of Hebei in terms of artistic and social functions.