A Study On The Dreadful Beasts In The Northern Dynasties

The Dreadful Beast image of the Northern Dynasty is rich in carrier and widely used.Not only in tombs murals,funerary couches,epitaph ornaments and funerary objects,but also in Buddhist grottoes murals,carvings.In the first chapter,the images of the two kinds of dreadful beast mentioned above are combed and analyzed.It can be seen that the earliest images of the dreadful beast in the Northern dynasties are the tombs of Taiyan period(435)in the Northern Wei Dynasty,the images of which are different from those of the images after the Northern Wei Dynasty moved to the Luoyang.After the Northern Wei Dynasty moved to Luoyang,the image of the dreadful beasts was concentrated in the epitaph and the funerary couches.Most of the unearthed sites are in Luoyang,and ’the rank of the owner of the tomb was high.But to the Eastern Wei Dynasty and the Northern Qi Dynasty.The images of dreadful beast are concentrated in the burial murals,mostly with "square Lu Bu",auspicious images,and the tomb owner identity grade is also high.By the Northern Zhou Dynasty,the images of dreadful beasts appeared again in the funerary couches which belongs to Central Asian who come to China.Most of the position of dreadful beast is the secondary position,which located at the leg of stone couch,the arch of the stone hall,,and the function of bearing weight was seen from its position and shape.The images in Buddhist grottoes,such as the Gongxian Grottoes and the Xiangtang mountain Grottoes,are mostly located at the foot of the wall and at the foot of the pillar,and there is no other collocation;the images of the Mogao Grottoes are painted in same place with the images of Mani jewel,Flying Apsaras and other Buddhist images,with various combinations.The meaning behind it are more complicated.In the second chapter,according to the different action models and props,the images of dreadful beast are divided into ten categories,which are running,subducting,holding,encircling,swallowing and exhaling,holding,crouching,kneeling,spitting long tongue,head attached to the head.Combined with the position of the dreadful beast,the image collocation around it,the analysis was carried out.In this paper,it is found that the images of dreadful beast on the murals of the tomb path are mostly in the form of running,which are painted in the same place as auspicious images,and have the function of guiding the tomb master to rise to the paradise.Among them,in the murals of Princess Ru’s Tomb path,dreadful beasts come up with the phoenix and the "square Lu Bu".According to the relevant literature,the murals may be a replica of the funeral,while the dreadful beast may be the "Fang Xiangshi".The dreadful beasts at the gatepost is squatting or kneeling,which has the function of bearing weight and expresses the image of "Wu Huo".Located in the door wall and tomb images,are combined with four gods,stars and other combination,also has the role of guiding the tomb master to the paradise.The images of dreadful beast in the tombs which belongs to Central Asian who come to China.Most of them are located in the secondary position,such as the couch leg,the arch of stone hall and so on,with the shape of lifting and kneeling,which expresses the image of "Wu Hou".The image of "dreadful beast" in Buddhist grottoes is quite special.It should be that when Buddhism enters the local,it is for the sake of communication and understanding among the local people,"borrowed" and "grafted" by the Buddhist art,which expresses the image are recorded in the Buddhist classics.Such as Mogao Grottoes 249 grotto,Mogao Grottoes 285 grotto,the images of dreadful beast,which may be recorded in Buddhist classics,are represented by the images of "Jin naluo".The dreadful beast holding rectangular pointed objects may be the god of "Jing Gang"in Buddhist classics.And in the west slope of the Mogao Grottoes 249 grotto,the drum of the body and the dreadful beast holding the thunderbolt of dreadful beast,and the dreadful beast with the wind bags and swallowing and puffing the cloud.It is express the thunder god,the wind god.Since the Han and Jin dynasties,the thunder god and the wind god image has solidified,so the use of the local familiar image.The third chapter discusses the origin and the name of the dreadful beasts.Through the analysis of the archaeological materials before the Northern Dynasties,the image of the dreadful beast has a clear development vein.The image of the dreadful beasts in the Northern Dynasties should be derived from the Han Dynasty tradition.Then the image of the monster in the Han Dynasty Tombs in Yinan is analyzed,and the image of the dreadful beasts in the Northern Dynasty can be found to be able to see the image of the dreadful beasts in the Northern Dynasty.It can be Fang Xiang and twelve beasts of the imperial exorcise ceremony in the palace of the Han Dynasty.On this basis,it absorbs the image of the mythical monster in the The Classic of the Great Wilderness,rather than the so-called alien deity.At the same time,on the basis of the modelling of the beast,the specific name of the beast is combined with the list of the Yuanshi epitaph and the related records in the literature.Speculation was made.The images of "Thunder God" are expressed in the drum around the body and in the image of holding thunderbolt,the image of dreadful beasts in the form of swallowing and puffing clouds and the image of holding bags is the image of the wind-master,and the dreadful beast of holding stone can be named as "Xie Zhi".The dreadful beast whose mouth spits long tongue may be named "long tongue".In the position of couch leg,pillar foot and so on,most of the dreadful beasts are lifted or kneeling,and they express the image of "Wu Hu".Finally,the images of the Northern and Southern dynasties are analyzed and compared,and the similarities between the two are found.Combined with the records of Jiang Shaoyou ’s mission to the Southern Dynasty in the literature,it is believed that the style and shape of the image of the dreadful beasts in the Northern Dynasty were probably influenced by the art of the Southern Dynasty.The Northern Dynasty was a key period for the development of multi-culture and multi-ethnic integration.The image of dreadful beasts is not only seen in Buddhist grottoes,but also in the tombs of princesses and princesses of the Eastern Wei Dynasty.There are also signs of dreadful beasts in the tombs of people who believe in Zoroastrianism into China,and the problems involved are extremely complicated.The image of the dreadful beast happens to be at the centre of the whirlpool.Taking this as the object of study,it is helpful to understand the funeral etiquette system and cultural flow of the Northern Dynasty,as well as the interaction between the Southern and Northern dynasties,so as to have a deeper understanding of the formation of the Sui and Tang dynasties culture.