Research On The Auspicious Moral Of Song Dynasty’s Coffin Chambers Mural In Henan Province

With the development of field archaeology, the amount of tomb excavating of Songdynasty has gradually increased. Learned from the excavation documents, almost all coffinchambers are painted with mural and most of the tomb owners are landlords, merchantprinces, low level bureaucrat classes and common people. These murals not only decorate thecoffin chambers, also reflect the spiritual pursuit of certain class and express good wishes ofthe tomb owners. It is the significant function of coffin chambers mural of Song dynasty inHenan province to symbolize good fortune.The warrior paintings and guard paintings on the door of the coffin chamber function topacify house and fending off evil. The murals of the under layer of the coffin chambergenerally reflects daily life, which include scene of kitchen, the scene of a couple enjoyingfeast, the scene of a woman opening the door, the scene of a couple preparing for sleep, andthe scene of people dancing and singing. These painting themes reflect tomb owner’s yearningfor good life, and the different ranks and status of the people described in the mural show thatthe master thinks highly of preserving the rank prerogative. The Filial Conduct Painting in themiddle of the burial chamber functions to express filial duty, and also implies the master’spromotion and help tomb owner become immortal. These murals like the Pay Tribute Painting,the Commercial Operation Painting, the Coin Painting, and the Peony Painting symbolizingwealth and rank show tomb owner’s chasing for wealth. The wall paintings related to religionor auspicious culture themes, including the story of being deity, religion faith, and cranes,lotus, cloud pattern, the scene of a cat keep a bird in his mouth, sun and moon, and fourdeities (Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird and Black Tortoise, representing fourazimuths in Chinese traditional culture), on the upper of the coffin chamber show the master’swishes of longevity and being deity. Every wall painting with auspicious implied theme has its fixed location, at the sametime, the special position of each mural reflects the inner link between the various moral. Thatthe murals features pacifying house and fending off evil is the basic requirement of buildingSong dynasty tomb. The yearning for good life and wealth chasing are general desire of thetomb owner as mundane class. Preserving rank privileges and promotions reflect the tombowner’s higher level desire. Longevity and being deity is the master’s highest desire in theirlife and after death. These five auspicious implications coordinate with each other and coexistin the whole tomb, reflecting the auspicious connotation of burial culture.If going deeper to the auspicious connotation of the tomb mural, we can find thatChinese traditional auspicious culture is the source of the auspicious connotation. Chineseancient funeral culture and the view of life and death of Song dynasty require tomb mural tohave function of implying good fortune. The fashion of ceremonious funeral and less costburial in Song dynasty is the time factor of using mural instead of burial accessories implyinggood fortune in the tombs. The traditional Chinese Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoismculture are the ideological source of all sorts of auspicious connotation shown in the mural oftomb.