Study On The Plant Images In The Tang Dynasty Mural Tombs In The Guanzhong Region

Mural paintings are an important part of the underground structure of the tombs and their use in the Tang Dynasty is strictly limited by the social status of the occupants.In the Early Tang and the High Tang periods,the funeral systems were executed strictly and the grandiose and elaborate murals could only be used in the tombs of the imperial family members and high-ranked officials.The Guanzhong Region is the political,military and cultural center of the Tang Empire.The number of mural tombs found in the region is the largest,and the chronological and hierarchical sequence is the most complete.In the research and classification of the tomb murals of the Tang Dynasty,the images of plants are often regarded as the auxiliary lining or filling of the motif murals.The study of some specific motif,such as the origin and evolution of the composition pattern of the "character under the tree" motif in the screen paintings,and the floral images in flower-and-bird paintings.Although these studies involved plants,they have not independently and comprehensively examined the plant images and their different roles in the murals.In the case of plant images themselves,they lack specialized and systematic research.This paper is based on the plant images found in the mural tombs of the Tang Dynasty in the Guanzhong Region,focusing on the application and arrangement of the plant images in the murals of each zone of the tomb,sorting and categorizing the forms and functions of the plants in the murals and establishing the preliminary identity of the realistic plant images.The application of plant images in murals,according to their role and the scenes they emerged,can be divided into:1.Maid's hand-held objects2.The builder of the courtyard landscape3.Partition the attendants and describe the natural space where the attendants are located(with their own attributes)4.Motifs of screen paintings5.Nature background of the outgoing scenesThe appearance of various forms of plant images in tomb murals has a time sequence and presents a variety of development paths.Some plant images,when they represent the space environment,are required for the overall composition of the painting,thus they also bear the role of partition.For the Tang Dynasty murals unearthed in the Guanzhong Region,plants were initially used as maid's hand-held objects in the tomb murals,mostly cut flowers,broken branches,and bonsai and other furnishings.The plant images that emerged were:lotus,willow,day lily,fig leaves and so on.The depiction of the courtyard landscape in the murals is gradually enriched,which is reflected in the increase of plant species:from single tree species to the diverse collocation of the high trees,shrubs,herbs,and rocks;the description of the plants also pays more attention to the physical characteristics,based on the sketch observations,rather than in a stylized and homogeneous form.The plant images that emerged were:bamboo,goose palm wood,horse chestnut,red leaves,miscanthus,willow,loquat,plantain,pine and cypress.One mode of composition,which splits the walls into frames with trees,flowers,and grass appears late in the mural system of Tang Dynasty in the Guanzhong Region.It replaced the simulated wooden columns on the walls of corridors and tunnels.This composition is more common in the tombs of Prince Yide,Princess Yongtai and Prince Zhanghuai.The plants interspersed among the attendants also deepened the natural sense of the scene while separating the characters and plots.Screen-style murals in the tombs,as a kind of "picture-in-picture",their different themes have a great connection with the social ethos and aesthetic preferences of the Tang Dynasty.The emergence of animal and plant life drawings and landscape screen paintings shows the flow ofTang people's artistic attitudes.It is also an illustration of the independent establishment of flower-and-bird paintings.The expansion and prosperity of the plant theme in the screen paintings is also reflected in the increase in plant varieties,various gestures and painting skills of the same plant variety.The plant images appearing in the mural paintings were:impatiens,Pistacia chinensis Bunge,Polygonatum cyrtonema,willow,poplar,pine and cypress,peony,laurel,and red leaves.In the grand scene murals,the plants and the rocks together form a landscape background.These natural backgrounds can be divided into high and distant mountains,flat lands,rocks and trees.The trees of the distant view are small in size.Although they are only crown-shaped and trunk-shaped,they cannot be identified,but they are all portrayed in detail and have different postures.Close-range trees and shrubs,in the outline of body shape,stem shape,crown shape,and leaf shape,are mostly based on the structural characteristics of the plant,and they are rigorously drawn to help determine the specific varieties.Through the mural paintings in the funeral system,we can visually understand the objective existence of the Tang Dynasty plants and its relationship with the Tang people.By mutually confirming and complementing the plant images in the written materials,the plant world in the Tang Dynasty could be further fully understood.