Auspicious Aesthetic

Wan Zhang Tomb Mural Painting, which has a history of over1400years, is an art form that combines Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. The religious birds and animals on the murals are elegantly shaped, with excellent craftsmanship and harmonius colors. Every one of the figures has a certain movement in them; feathered they would rise up to the heaven, a vivid depiction of the wishes of the dead. This paper studies the aesthetics of the bird and animal figures found on Wan Zhang murals, their main purposes, artistic features and aesthetic values of early mural paintings. To compare with its contemporaries in Wei, Jin, South and North dynasties, the animal and bird figures found in Wan Zhang tomb were second to none in terms of quantity and quality. To examine them historically, due to different cultural and historical backgrounds, social, economic, and political conditions, bird and animal figures of Wan Zhang tomb murals had a very rich history and evolvement. This paper tries to explain the aesthetic values of bird and animal figures of Wan Zhang tomb murals, and their influences to the literature and art of North Qi Dynasty; they were based on the cultural background of North Qi Dynasty and reflects the spirits of the Wei and Jin time.