The Study Of The Han Myths And Legends: A Brief View On The Han Tomb Murals In Two Capitals Region

Han Tomb murals have abundant themes of myths and legends, such as the QueenMother of the West, Nue Wa, Fu Hsi, the Four Spirits, etc. Some of them derived from tribalcultural heroes in the ancient times, while others derived from the ancients’ simpleunderstanding of nature. Nobles in Han Dynasty asked people to paint these mythical figuresin their tombs, depicting picture scrolls of the soul ascending to heaven, debating demons anddriving out evil spirits. As the treasures of Chinese painting art history, they also reflectancients’ immortal belief and spiritual world, and are the significant historical data for thestudy of ancient history.As a highly developed area during the Han Dynasty, Two Capitals Region representsthe highest cultural level at that time. After a simple analysis on the myth images on themurals of Han Dynasty in the Two Beijing Region, this essay has found that the QueenMother of the West derives from the western Clanlord in the ancient times; the Jade Hare andthe Toad in its fairyland originate from the ancients’ simple understanding to the moon; FuHsi and Nue Wa used to be the heroic figures in the ancient times, while after being mixedwith the yin-yang philosophical thought, they become the gods of the sun and the moon, lifeand death and other dual elements; Four gods stem from the understanding of the ancients onastrology, and with the influence of the auspicious Zaiyi view, they evolve into auspiciousbeasts that can guard the tomb. Those myth images above reflect the Han people’stransformation of the historical figures in the ancient times and their simple understanding ofthe natural phenomenon, including abundant auspicious Zaiyi views as well as yin-yang andfive elements, which have vital significance on the understand of Han people’s philosophicalview and the social living conditions in the Han Dynasty for us.