The Study Of The Northern-Wei Dynasty Mural Tombs

This article takes the mural tombs of the Northern-Wei dynasty as the research object. At present, the mural tombs of the Northern-Wei dynasty is found totally in16places, which mainly scatters in the political centers at that time——Yun-Dai prefectures, Luoyang prefectures and those Qing-Qi prefectures with comparatively developed economy. It includes1in Helingeer(Inner-Mongolia province),8in Datong prefectures(Shanxi),1in Huairen(Shanxi province),5in Luoyang prefectures(Henan province) and2in Shandong province.The mural tombs of the Northern-Wei dynasty has two modes, brick tomb and soil cave tomb. Of them arc-shaped brick tomb is the main part. It comes into beings in the early Northern-Wei dynasty and then become popular. This is the main mode in middle and late Northern-Wei dynasty. The coffin chamber commonly consists of slope aisle, corridor and vault. The mural of the tomb is mostly in and around the corridor and walls of vault; only a few are painted at the top part and the entrance of the tomb. The features of the layout are as follows:guards and door keepers painted at the corridor; horoscope and scene of leading to the God at the top of the tomb; A variety of the mural. All these are made up of a picture in which the master lies in the center.The tombs of the Northern-Wei dynasty includes accessories of Xianbei, Han and external styles. Early Northern-Wei dynasty still follows Xianbei traditional style, which is mainly earthenware, combination of the pottery pot and jar. As Han culture deepening and frequent outside communicating, the influence of Xianbei are gradually fading away. The arrival of implements of Central Chinese characteristics has become the mainstream, example an amount of tomb figures and porcelains. Meanwhile, those implements that have alien features begin to emerge in large numbers.The mural tombs of the Northern-Wei dynasty has many topics and varieties, including the scene of real life, where the spirit goes after death, figures or mythical animals that can protect tombs and counteract evil forces. They not only follow the traditional topics but also contain Xianbei national features, and bring in new elements of Buddhism, which shows open social mores of Northern-Wei dynasty and various features of the culture.The mural tombs of the Northern-Wei dynasty can be divided into three periods. In the first period, the tombs mode is arc-shaped brick tombs, and the typical implements are pottery pots and jars. The murals show strongly Xianbei characteristics and Han cultural elements. This period is at the beginning of Hu-Han integration, from the foundation of Northern-Wei dynasty to the unification of the Yellow River basin by Emperor TaiWu (Tuo Batao). In the second period, the tombs mode is still arc-shaped brick tombs, and the typical implements are glazed potteries, pottery figures and epigraphs. They show the reappearance of the master’s life before death, including nomadic features, traditional Han culture and the colors of western Buddhism. In the third period, the mode of the tombs is arc-square or approximate square. The typical implements are pottery figures and porcelains. The content of the murals mainly shows the flying to the God. The Han culture leads the first place in the last period of the mural tombs of Northern-Wei dynasty, which roughly from the act that Emperor Xiaowen (Tuo Bahong) moves the capital to Luoyang to the separation of Northern-Wei dynasty.The production and development of the mural tombs of Northern-Wei dynasty has long history and special social factors. Firstly, Han-Wei murals are its origins and it has absorbed and inherited elements from northeast and Hexi districts, which make the Han-Wei murals emerge. As the centre of politics moving towards the south, the murals begin to learn and absorb the art of decoration, bring in the forms of the Buddhism art continuously. After integration of these elements, the art of tomb decoration of Northern-Wei style is formed. On the whole, it has not only primitively simplicity and ethnic Northern-Wei style but also more traditional Han and Buddhist culture. This kind of organic combination of the multi-element and multi-national makes a completely new face of Northern-Wei culture.