Northern Dynasty tomb murals: the highlight art of the chaotic world, can be called "a feast of lines"!

The Northern Dynasty, which existed in Chinese history for only a short period of more than a hundred years, spanned five dynasties and formed its unique cultural style between Hu and Han, between nomadic and agricultural, between fierceness and restraint, between conflict and integration.

The Murals of the Northern Dynasty, just like the history of the Northern Dynasty, are fierce, agile, energetic, and magnificent.

These seemingly clumsy lines and colors hidden in the tombs have made up for the gaps in the history of Chinese painting, laid the foundation for the modeling of Chinese painting art, and opened the door to the development of Sui and Tang dynasty art.

Chen Danqing praised it as the highest realm of Chinese line aesthetics, the source and context of the development of Chinese line painting, not only unprecedented in the history of Chinese tomb murals, but also very rare in the world.

Such a wonderful artistic feast, it is not an easy task to really understand this Northern Dynasty mural. The first step is to clarify the history of the Northern Dynasty.

01

How much is known about the history of the Northern Dynasty

The Northern Dynasty lasted through the Five Dynasties of Northern Wei (386-534), Eastern Wei (534-550), Western Wei (535-556), Northern Qi (550-577) and Northern Zhou (557-581).

Northern Wei, founded by the Tuoba clan of the Xianbei clan, defeated the later Yan, Xia, Northern Yan, and Northern Liang states, formally unifying the north and setting the capital at Pingcheng (present-day Datong, Shanxi).

During this period, Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang, and hanified the system to honor Confucianism, which caused a large-scale uprising in the six towns of Bianguan (known in history as the "Six Towns Uprising").

Six Towns Uprising Map

In the process of suppressing the uprising, the Qihu chieftain Erzhu Rong launched the Heyin Rebellion, massacred the luoyang magnates, and used Emperor Xiaozhuang as a puppet to gradually control the northern Wei state, and was later assassinated by Emperor Xiaozhuang, who in turn was killed by Erzhu Rong's nephew.

After the massacre of Erzhu Rong in Heyin, his two former subordinates, Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai, established Northern Wei emperors at Yicheng (邺城, in modern Anyang, Henan to Linzhangnan, Hebei) and Chang'an (present-day Xi'an, Shaanxi) as emperors, and Northern Wei split into Eastern Wei and Western Wei.

Not long after the Eastern Wei and Western Wei dynasties lasted, Gao Huan's son Gao Yang deposed Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei, proclaimed himself emperor, and established the Northern Qi regime, and 7 years later, Yuwen Tai's son Yuwen Jue accepted the "Zen concession" of Emperor Gong of Western Wei and established the Northern Zhou regime.

Northern Qi, after Gao Yang, his brothers Gao Yan and Gao Zhan succeeded to the throne in turn, and in the generation of Gao Zhan's son Gao Wei, his absurdity and pleasure were even worse than his father, and even favored the adulterous and cruel Zhongliang, at this time, Northern Qi's regime was already in jeopardy, coupled with the repeated attacks of Northern Zhou, Northern Qi finally perished.

Gao Wei and concubine Feng Xiaopi in the TV series "Lanling King"

In Northern Zhou, after Yuwen Jue ascended the throne, his cousin Yuwen Hu was killed by Emperor Wu Yuwen Yong, after which Yuwen Yong monopolized power and exerted great efforts to rule, launched a war of annihilation against Northern Qi, and after Northern Wei, once again unified the north. However, his son Emperor Xuan, Yuwen Yun, was addicted to fun, and died at the age of 22, after which his son Yuwen Yan succeeded to the throne, but in the second year of succession, he was stripped of the throne and the world by his maternal grandfather Yang Jian, and established the Sui Dynasty. At this point, the Northern Dynasty officially collapsed.

Emperor Yang Jian of Sui

The Northern Dynasty, which was connected to the Wei and Jin Dynasties and the Sui and Tang Dynasties, was in a process of constant confrontation, integration and development, both politically and culturally, providing an opportunity for the full integration of art and culture in the south and the north, the north and the south and the western region.

As the core ruling area of the Northern Wei And Eastern Wei and Northern Qi, Shanxi is bordered by the outer grasslands of the North And the hinterland of the Central Plains in the south, which is not only of great military strategic value, but also the forefront of the intersection of farming society and grassland peoples, and has become a "melting pot" for the integration of various ethnic groups and cultures in China, giving birth to the brilliant and colorful Mural Art of the Northern Dynasty.

02

Kita morning mural work

The tomb murals of the Northern Dynasty period were mainly based on the grassland style in the early stage, and later drew on the advantages of the Southern Dynasty, integrated the Western painting style, and formed a characteristic.

These murals, implying the concept of life and death of "death as life", show the life scene of the ancestors 1500 years ago, so that people can still feel the exquisite skills of these nameless craftsmen across the gap of time, and move to the elation and arrogance of the people who belong to the Northern Dynasty.

1. Lou Rui tomb mural

The excavation of the tomb of Lou Rui, the king of Dong'an of Northern Qi, has enabled the Northern Qi paintings that have been relying on their aspirations and imagining the outline for thousands of years to see the sky and the sun, so that the history of Chinese painting has been a long river, and the source streams have converged on tributaries, and the vacancies have been confirmed.

- Wu Zuoren

Lou Rui, nephew of Empress Lou, wife of Gao Huan of Northern Qi, and minister of foreign relations of Northern Qi, served as a taishi and a lieutenant, and was buried in 570, his tomb was excavated in 1980 in Wang Guo Village, a southern suburb of Taiyuan, Shanxi, and was selected as one of the top 100 archaeological discoveries in China in the twentieth century with its immeasurable academic value and cultural relics value.

Lou Rui tomb archaeological excavation site Source: Shanxi Wenbo Volunteer Home

A total of 71 murals have been excavated from Lou Rui's tomb, most of which are well preserved and cover an area of about 200 square meters. The content and layout of its murals can be divided into two parts:

The first part is mainly based on a large and colorful scroll, showing Lou Rui's life as a horseman and the life of a prominent official eunuch, painted in the middle and lower layers of the tomb patio and the lower level of the Yongdao and burial chambers, such as travel maps, return maps, banquets and drinks.

Photo / Part of Lou Rui's tomb "Kurama Ranger Map"

Photo / Part of Lou Rui's tomb "Hujiao Drumming Diagram"

Photo / Lou Rui's tomb "Welcome Map" part

The second part of the main part should reflect the scene of the tomb owner's ascension to heaven after death and return to the paradise world, painted on the upper floors of the tomb door, the Yongdao and the patio, as well as the upper and middle layers at the top of the tomb, such as the Xiangrui Chart, the Twelve Birthday Charts, and the Green Dragon and White Tiger Diagrams.

Photo / Lou Rui's tomb "Twelve Birthdays - Cow"

Photo / Lou Rui Tomb "Lei Gong Tu" Lou Rui tomb mural is the most famous is the "Kurama Riding Map", the ruler of Northern Qi Xianbei, before entering the Central Plains, has been living a nomadic life of living by water and grass, and horses are their closest partners in life, and this love is vividly reflected in their tomb murals.

There are more than 200 images of horses in the murals of Lou Rui's tomb, none of which are repeated, extremely realistic, dense and measured, dynamic and static, smooth use of threads, and the technique has reached an unprecedented height.

A horse that pulls a poop while running, a horse with a fashionable haircut

Some unhappy horses, and the horses that look at you for the author of Lou Rui's tomb murals, the current academic consensus is that the Northern Qi court painter Yang Zihua, Yang Zihua is known for being good at painting Kurama people, and people call it a painting saint.

Since the image of man, the song is as wonderful as possible, simple and beautiful, more undiminished, less insurmountable, its only son Huahu!

- Yan Liben

Dan Qing wants to write the color of the city, and there is no Yang Zihua in the world today.

--Su Shi

Yang Zihua image

The mural paintings of Lou Rui's tomb continue the feudal ideology of wealth in the world and the wealth of the celestial realm depicted in the tomb paintings since the Han and Wei dynasties, so that the reality of the human world and the void of the celestial realm have reached a perfect fusion in the painting.

His painting style of "simple standard beauty" directly affected Zhan Ziqian in the early Sui Dynasty and Yan Liben and Yan Lide in the early Tang Dynasty. It can be said that its excavation can solve the mystery of the artistic origin of the Wei and Jin dynasties to the Sui and Tang dynasties, and fill the gap in the painting of the Northern Dynasty in the history of Chinese art.

2. Mural paintings of Jiuyuangang Tomb

An all-encompassing collection of ancient art treasures

The largest surviving tomb hunting map mural in China

A pattern of ancient buildings with two-column structures first discovered in China

Jiuyuangang Tomb is the second largest tomb in the known Northern Dynasty period tombs (the first is the Wanzhangcun Tomb in Ci County, Hebei), since 2013 began to carry out rescue excavations, because it has been stolen many times, the tombstone and other cultural relics that record the life of the tomb owner have been lost, the identity, gender, age of the tomb owner can not be determined, but from the shape of the tomb, the owner of the Jiuyuangang tomb should be the core figure of the Northern Qi Gao regime.

The tomb plan is square, the slope of the tomb road brick single-chamber tomb, sitting north and facing south, consists of four parts: sealing soil, burial chamber, Yongdao and tomb passage.

Panorama of the tomb of Jiuyuangang Tomb Source/Pocket Artifact

The existing murals are about 200 square meters, mainly distributed in the east, west and north walls of the tomb passage and the top of the burial chamber. The frescoes of the cemetery can be divided into four layers from top to bottom.

Panorama of the mural painting of the Tomb of Jiuyuangang Tomb Source/Pocket Cultural Relics

The first layer: the strange and hidden world of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", the peak of the painting art of Eastern Wei and Northern Qi - "Ascension Map"

The "Ascension Chart" contains more than 50 images of gods and monsters, of which a batch can be directly determined to belong to the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", so the "Ascension Map" of Jiuyuangang has become the most closely related and systematic archaeological material seen with the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", and it is also the most complete and complete system of The Northern Dynasty Ascension Images found so far.

Its shape is like a horse, its sound is like a drum, its name is called barge, it specializes in eating tigers and leopards, and it can be used as a soldier.

- The Classic of Mountains and Seas

In the midst of the great wilderness of Xinjiang Liang, there is a mountain named Arctic Heavenly Cabinet, and the sea water is injected in the north... There is also a god snake snake, its shape of a tiger head, four hooves and long elbows, known as Jiangliang.

Wind bo, rain master

Xuan You made a soldier to cut down the Yellow Emperor, asked the wind and rain to master, and let the wind and rain prevail.

Lei Gonglong was body and human head, drumming its belly.

Bi Fang

There are birds, whose shape is like a crane, a foot, red and green and white beak, the name is Bi fang, its song is also self-calling, and it is seen that there is a fire in its yi.

Yuren Image Source/Calligraphy Navigation Yu Republic of China is in its southeast, which is a long head and a body feather.

Carrying stones and stones is one of the feared beasts. The so-called fear of beasts, especially refers to a half-human, half-beast monster, whose shoulders are winged or flamed, and have flying feathers on their legs, often doing the shape of galloping and sprinting.

Eighteen known names of fearful beasts are: they are ingestion stones, heaven protection, hair away, stone grabbing, scratching, choking, huan, shoufu, long tongue, yuanyuan, huiguang, grabbing, wu, diandian, grasping the sky, sucking, blazing, tuoyuan, tuoyuan, tuoyuan, tuoyuan, in Jiuyuangang "Ascension Chart" a total of fourteen kinds of fear of the beast image, should exist as a whole.

Immortals riding dragons and fairies riding cranes symbolize that the male and female owners of the tomb fly together with their souls.

The second layer: the largest existing hunting map in China - "Hunting Map"

"Hunting Map" is more than 30 meters long, an area of about 70 square meters, slowly unfolding like a long scroll, the hunting scene depicted vividly, the dynamic expression of animals and characters depicted, for the landscape landscape, it is the use of scattered perspective to show its mountain high clouds, pine and undulating beauty and distance sense.

Layer 3: "General's Chart"

The paintings depict samurai, carrying bows and arrows, and the characters dress differently.

The fourth layer of the Hu figure in the general diagram: "Yi Wei Tu"

The characters are uniformly dressed and responsible for the protection of the honor guard.

On the north wall of the tomb, above the tomb door, there is also a mural of the wooden structure of the roof of the temple, the wooden structure is 5 wide, the roof is painted directly above the waist lotus-shaped fire altar, the left and right sides are painted with the image of a monster with the head of a bird, and there are 6 maids standing on the side under the eaves. This mural is the earliest arch structure ancient building found so far, and it is also the first two-column structure ancient architectural pattern found in China, more than 300 years before the tang Dynasty Foguang Temple East Hall oblique arch structure structure found by Liang Sicheng in Wutai Mountain.

Photo / The immortals flying in the arch of the Fo Guang Temple, the strange divine beasts, the galloping horses, the running beasts, the huge queues, the fierce warriors, the gate tower of Cui Wei, the sacred furnace altar... The murals of Jiuyuangang Tomb are full of weather and all-encompassing, not only art treasures, but also precious materials for studying the social life, history and culture and military system of the Northern Dynasty.

3. Mural painting of Shuiquan Liang Tomb

A successful example of the restoration of the overall structure of a larger tomb

A complete, intuitive underground world

In June 2008, archaeologists carried out archaeological excavations and mural relocation protection of Shuiquanliang Tomb in Shuozhou City, Shanxi Province, which consisted of sealing soil, tomb road, Yongdao and burial chamber, of which Yongdao, tomb roof and burial chamber were painted with murals.

Judging from the shape of the tomb, the burial utensils and the murals, the age of the Shuiquan liang tomb should be the late Northern Qi period, and the owner of the tomb may be the military and political governor of Zhenshou Shuo Prefecture.

Exterior of the burial chamber Image source: Gomezq

The vault of the tomb Yongdao is depicted with cloud patterns, and the two walls are painted with literary officials, guards and riding horses; the east wall and the west wall are basically the same, and the form is symmetrical.

Yongdao East Wall Yi Wei Tu, Yong Dao West Wall Yi Wei Tu

Yongdao East Wall Gate Official Diagram, Yongdao West Wall Gate Official Diagram Tomb North Wall Painting Couple Feasting And Drinking Map, East Wall Painting Kurama Honor Guard Diagram, West Wall Painting Oxcart Travel Map, South Wall for The Door Hole, Left and Right Sides Painting Blowing Map.

North Wall: Couples Feasting and Drinking

The tomb owner and his wife sit on the bed in the tent, the hostess combs the bird bun, the man combs his round hair, wears a gauze crown, and in front of the two are placed more than a dozen high-footed beans and flat plates containing gourmet delicacies, and on the sides and outside the drapery are male and female attendants and tricks.

East Wall: Kurama Honor Guard

In the middle of the east wall is a tall horse with a fully saddle, in front of the horse is a six-man honor guard, behind which there are two attendants, and in the distance are two groups of cavalry, all six, six horses, and five three flags.

West Wall: Oxcart Travel Map

In the middle of the west wall is a black bullock cart, each side of the ox cart is a bearded driver, the two are working together to control the cattle, behind the ox cart is five handmaidens with flying buns, and a group of five-person honor guards are painted in the blank space above the bull's head, holding up four three flags.

South Wall: "Blowing Picture"

The left and right sides of the south wall doorway are symmetrically painted with trumpet drawings, and the two musicians turn to each other, both wearing soft scarves on their heads, knots under their jaws, wearing round neck narrow sleeve robes, narrow pants, leather belts around the waist, and low black boots on their feet.

Right side of the south wall, left side of the south wall

The mural on the top of the tomb is divided into three layers from top to bottom, the upper layer depicts the celestial figure, the middle layer paints the four gods, and the lower layer draws the twelve hours map.

Upper Layer: Celestial Chart

The dome of the tomb is painted with dark gray to indicate the firmament, the Milky Way extends from southwest to northeast, the water in the river is sparkling, and the white dots on both sides indicate the stars, the east is the sun, the middle is the golden crow, the west is the sun, and the middle is the image of the moon rabbit and the toad.

Middle Level: "Four Gods"

Xuanwu and Green Dragon in the Four Gods Diagram

Lower: "Twelve Hours"

The murals of the sheep and jishuozhou shuiquanliang murals in the twelve-hour picture involve travel ceremonial guards, tomb owners drinking and feasting, and offerings to officials, etc., all of which are realistic themes, and the social status that the tomb owner once had before his death is vividly reproduced through the picture composed of the above contents.

The southern part of the tomb door is a travel ceremonial guard, the northern part expresses home life, coherent and orderly, and the overall layout of the tomb murals is rigorous and concise, and the center is prominent, revealing a strong realism.

03

What to see in the North Dynasty murals

1. The funerary concept of "death is like life"

Chinese concept of life and death derives primarily from Taoist thought. During the Qin Dynasty, the First Emperor sent Xu Fu and five hundred children to the East China Sea to find Penglai Island in order to live forever.

The Han Dynasty has formed a stable set of funerary cultural symbols and images, and people's views of life and death at that time can be seen in the Han portrait stones.

"The Former Yellow Emperor drove the elephant cart, jiaolong and Bifang were under the jurisdiction of the same body, the clams were in front, the wind swept the ground, the rain master sprinkled the road, the tiger and wolf were in front, and the worms and snakes lay on the ground."

In addition, there are classic images such as "Yuren", "Queen Mother of the West", and "Kunlun Mountain". Many documentary records and the carvings of portrait bricks show that the high-ranking officials and nobles of the Qin and Han dynasties regarded "Chengxian" as the supreme pursuit after a hundred years.

Photo / Xuzhou Han portrait ShiBei Dynasty, "seeing death as life" has developed into a common concept of the nobility at that time. On the one hand, the owner of the noble tomb shows his identity and status by drawing the honor chart, the feast map, the kurama riding map, and the hunting map, on the other hand, through various ascension charts, he expects that he can also become an immortal after death and continue his life.

2. Multi-religious collection of burial elements

After the minorities entered the northern region of China and formed a great integration of nationalities, the Hu people's concept of funerals was also gradually conflicting and affecting the entire society's concept of life and death. The Taoist component in the ascension map gradually faded, and the "heaven" in Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, and Jingjiao began to merge with the "fairyland" of the Han people.

The fire altar and symmetrical god bird that appear in the tomb of Jiuyuangang are generally considered to be the iconic images of Zoroastrian worship, mostly found in sogdian tombs, and Zoroastrian symbols are painted in the most conspicuous position in the burial chamber directly above the tomb door, which shows the religious beliefs of the owner of the tomb.

Photo / The flame above the stone door of the Northern Zhou Anjia Tomb is painted on the upper wall of the south outer wall of the Tomb Gate of Lou Rui Tomb, with mani beads, lotus flowers, honeysuckle and other patterns, and the upper part of the animal head on the forehead of the tomb door is also painted with Mani orbs and Lotus Pedestals, and there are five lotus flowers carved on the lintel... These are very obvious Elements of Buddhism.

And according to the literature, the owner of the tomb, Lou Rui, was a very devout Buddhist himself, so it is not surprising that so many Buddhist elements appear in his tomb.

Lou Rui, the king of Qi Andong, paid tribute to the monks, and when he reached Yuqian, he did not feel frightened and sweated, and withdrew to know his degree of difference, that is, he was enshrined as a precept teacher.

- "The Biography of the Continuing High Monk"

3. Astrology and faith

The number of star charts is relatively large, and all eras are involved, which can be said to be a type of mural that often appears in northern dynasty tombs.

Photo/ Guyuan Northern Wei lacquer coffin painting tomb

Photo / Luoyang Northern Wei Yuanqi Mural Tomb Source / The Paper's Northern Dynasty Astrological Chart mainly appears on the dome murals of tombs, generally including the sun and moon, star chart, Milky Way, four elephants, twenty-eight houses, twelve hours six elements.

Among them, the tomb with the most complete elements is the Shuiquan Liang Tomb, which also has the sun and moon, the star map, the Milky Way, the four elephants, and the twelve hours.

Compared with the Han and Jin Dynasties, the Northern Dynasty astrological chart no longer uses pictorial images to represent star officials, but instead appears in the twelve stars of animals, image combinations and elements similar to Buddhist images and grotto roofs, while compared with the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the combination is more complex, with more elements such as four elephants, twenty-eight residences and twelve hours.

Photo / Shaanxi Jingbian Canal Tree Trench Eastern Han Mural Tomb Astrological Chart (Sun Moon, Four Elephants, Twenty-Eight Houses) Source / Western Network

Photo / Sui Dynasty mural tomb astrological chart (Milky Way, Sun Moon, Star Map) Source / Huashang Network has a long tradition of using astrological charts in tombs. The "History of Qin Shi Huang Benji" records that the tomb of Qin Shi Huang is "astronomical on the top and geographical on the bottom". Its original use was supposed to be related to the cult of the Star Dou (especially the Big Dipper) and the Taoist belief.

During the Northern Dynasty, astrological charts were fused into the Buddhist faith, and the purpose of their use began to change from the town tomb to the Pure Land of Heaven.

By the time of the early Tang Dynasty and the Prosperous Tang Dynasty, the celestial chart began to reflect the identity level of the tomb owner, and only the officials of the three pins could draw the astrological chart on the dome of their tombs.

The free and enthusiastic Murals of the Northern Dynasty bring us back to that turbulent and hopeful era, and the entire history of the Northern Dynasty is like a brilliant firework, although short, but full of vitality and vitality.

Every running horse has a pair of attractive eyes, and under every star there is a heart to explore the universe, which is a treasure worth constantly exploring, it is not only the wealth of Chinese history, but also the wealth of world art.

-END-

Editor| Art Tourism Culture 2,000

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