Research On Music And Dance Murals Of Liao Tombs In Xuanhua, Hebei Province

According to the statistics of the archaeological data,nearly 100 tombs of Liao Dynasty have been excavated in Hebei Province,of which about one-third are painted with murals.These one-third tombs were mainly excavated at Xuanhua District of today's Zhangjiakou City.In 1975,a large "mural tomb complex of Liao Dynasty" was excavated in Xiabali village,about 4 kilometers northwest of ancient Xuanhua city.A total of 29 tombs were discovered,17 of which have been protectively excavated,with several mural tombs scattered around the tomb complex.There are more than 200 tomb murals in these mural tombs of Liao Dynasty,with rich and colorful content involving a variety of themes such as hunting,dance,travel,feasts,characters,pommel horse,and Buddha worshipping.Among them,there are 11 music and dance murals,whose contents involve dance music,drum music,solo instrumental,and other types of performances.These music and dance murals painted in the tombs of Liao Dynasty provide good historical visual materials for the descendants to study the development of music culture and the music cultural exchanges between foreign nations and Han in Liao Dynasty.This paper is divided into four chapters,taking all of the music and dance murals in the tombs of Liao Dynasty unearthed in Xuanhua,Hebei as the research object.Through comprehensive investigation of the musical instruments,the band organization,gender and image,as well as the composition and function of different music and dance murals,the present study contributes to understanding the music deployment situation for local Han officials and businessmen and the Kitan noble,as well as the music cultural exchange between foreign nations and Han in Liao Dynasty.The first chapter introduces the excavation and distribution of the unearthed mural tombs of Liao dynasty,focusing on the content and forms of the music and dance murals in some representative mural tombs excavated near the ancient capital of Liao.Then it introduces in detail the mural tombs unearthed in Xuanhua District of Hebei Province,including the identity of the tomb owner,the structure of the tombs and the music and dance murals.In the end,it summarizes the geographical and cultural situation of this region in Liao dynasty to understand the social environment and historical background at that time.The second chapter focuses on exploring the types and forms of the musical instruments held by the musicians in the music and dance murals,as well as the form and organization of the bands,so as to understand the acoustic aesthetic characteristics of people living in this region during Liao and Song dynasties,as well as the development of the musical instruments and bands at that time.The third chapter mainly explores the gender and image of some musicians in the music and dance murals,differentiating and analyzing the viewpoint of "women dressing as men" proposed in previous studies.Then it proposes the new viewpoint of "women putting on men's clothes",and further analyzes the rationality of this new viewpoint and the reasons for this phenomenon.The fourth chapter,according to the structure characteristics of the Liao mural tombs and the funeral customs during Liao and Song dynasties,investigates the layout arrangement and the manifested cultural function of the music and dance murals,analyzing the etiquette and entertainment features of travel and dance murals and feast and dance murals in specific conditions,and further exploring the music cultural exchange between foreign nations and Han in Liao Dynasty.