Research On The Four Gods Guanzhong In The Tang Dynasty Tomb Murals

Evolution of Tomb Murals in the period of Emperor Xuanzong was always regardedas simplified and declining during the Tang dynasty. However, that conclusion was notexactly reasonable after a comprehensive examination. There were a variety of changeson contents, themes and arrangements, particularly on the four-spirit pattern.During that period, the rosefinch and black were repainted on the wall of tomb, constituted a complete form of four-spirit with Tsing Lung and white tiger. At the sametime, a new arrangement and mode had been made. Notions of four-spirit expressed bymurals also reflected the different ideas of people about funeral and tomb murals from theprevious period. This thesis concerns the trends of social thought, concept of funeral andimages configuration, sets talking about the changes in images, exploring reasons andimpacts of this transformation.The text includes three chapters: the first chapter is focus on the social foundationsof emphasis on four-spirit notions and its development and application during that periodof Emperor Xuanzong: The second chapter discusses the characteristics of the age andregions of four-spirit from the perspective of visual culture, analyses the reasons of itsrecurrence and the functions and meanings of images。On the basis of the studies, the thirdchapter attempts to explore the relationships between the social thought, funeral conceptand images. Meanwhile, discusses the main ideas and core principles of tomb muralsdesign. Further contacts with the changes of themes and layout of murals in that period. All the studies are prepared for making the foundation of comprehensive researches of“the Changes of Kaiyuan and Tianbao”.