Modern Social Science Research

Murals in Tang dynasty tombs represent a treasure in the history of Chinese mural art and hold a pivotal position in the development of ancient Chinese painting. Through their distinctive artistic style, the people of the Tang era depicted a fantastical and intricate world of the afterlife as envisioned in their minds. This paper employs aesthetic theory as a research framework to systematically analyze the aesthetic characteristics and philosophical connotations of figure paintings, landscape paintings, and religious paintings in Tang dynasty tomb murals in Shaanxi. Using figure painting as an example, it elucidates the practice of the "theory of form and spirit." Through exploring the construction mechanism of "artistic conception" in landscape painting, it examines how Tang artists elevated natural landscapes to an ideal realm of "harmony between man and nature." Simultaneously, by examining religious paintings such as "Flying Apsaras," "Astronomical Charts," and "Four Divine Creatures," the paper delves into the visual expression of the Tang cosmology, reflecting the integration and transcendence of diverse cultures during the Tang period. The study of mural aesthetics provides a multidimensional perspective for understanding the social systems, belief systems, and aesthetic ideals of the Tang dynasty.

Tomb murals; Early Tang tombs; Aesthetic style; Shaanxi