Research On Stone Carvings Of Xixia Emperor’s Mausoleum

Xixia Emperors’ Mausoleum,established at the beginning of the 11 th century,is the largest imperial sites of the Xixia in existence.Most base addresses of mausoleums are well preserved with distinct structures.The existing stone carvings in the mausoleum have diversified subjects and distinctive characteristics.They’re distributed in areas of overground stele pavilion,moon city,and burial chamber.Previous researches of stone carving in the Xixia Emperors’ Mausoleum are mostly focused on pedestals of stele pavilions and stone carvings,as well as the discussion on their images and styles.There are few comprehensive researches on other subjects of stone carving.This essay does research on pedestals of stele pavilions,stone animals of moon city and burial objects in underground palace（burial chamber）,excluding stone dragon head,rail post and other stone components attached to the building.The author divides the essay into 3 chapters according to subjects,significances and styles of stone carvings.The first chapter sorts out the construction history and belongings of the Xixia Emperors’ Mausoleum,and outlines the present condition of existing stone carvings in the Mausoleum.The second chapter discusses identities,subjects and meanings of the stone carving in memorial,guard of honor and underground spaces of the Mausoleum.In the third chapter,the author probes the style origin of stone carvings in the Mausoleum from two perspectives of sponsors and craftsmen,and compares and does time division for different styles of stone carvings in the Mausoleum to find out their stylistic changes.This essay aims at overall grasping the artistic features of stone carvings in the Xixia Emperors’ Mausoleum to thoroughly understand the imperial interests of Xixia and explore Weiming（the governor）’s construction and imagination for his home after death.