A Study On The Images Of Auspicious Animals In The Northern Dynasty In Mogao Grottoes

The images of Auspicious animal is one of the important themes in the murals of Mogao Grottoes in the Northern Dynasty.Shenrui animals refer to non-realistic animals,which are mostly regarded as the symbol of auspicious Shenrui,with mythical colors and auspicious meanings.Auspicious animals in Mogao Grottoes include such auspicious animals as Dragon,Winged horse,Deer God,Green dragon,White tiger,Xuanwu,Kaiming beast,Wen Chi,and other auspicious birds as Phoenix,Qianqiu bird,Suzaku,Kalavinka,and Golden winged bird.Auspicious animals,which appeared in caves of the Northern Dynasty in Mogao Grottoes,have their special meanings and functions.The dragons on both sides of the canopy and in the niches and beams also have the function of protecting the law.The dragon images of Che and immortals riding in cars are the products of Chinese traditional immortal thoughts.However,in Buddhist caves,with the help of Taoist context,it is more of a function of guiding them into the Buddhist world.The position and distribution of the phoenix and the dragon in the caves of the Northern Dynasty in Mogao Grottoes are roughly the same,and their functions and meanings are basically the same as those of the dragon.Most of the images of the four gods,such as Green dragon,White Tiger,Suzaku and Xuanwu,appeared in the caves of the Northern Dynasty in Mogao Grottoes,and some of them were painted at the bottom of the central column niche.The images of the four gods at the bottom of the niche in the west of the center are mainly the functions of the four gods guarding the four corners,while the images of the four gods at the top of the cave mainly symbolize the heaven in Buddhism.Other images of Auspicious animals in caves of Northern Dynasty in Mogao Grottoes mostly appear in the four capes on the top of caves 249 and 285.The appearance of Auspicious animals in caves 249 and 285 in Mogao Grottoes is also a borrowing of Auspicious animals on the top of Wei and Jin tombs,which is used to express the heaven in Buddhism.There is a close relationship between the images of Shenrui animals in the caves of Northern Dynasty in Mogao Grottoes and the images of Shenrui animals in the mural tombs of Wei and Jin Dynasties in Hexi area.Through their architectural shapes,mural themes,painting techniques,etc.,we can see that the caves of the Northern Dynasty in Mogao Grottoes were greatly influenced by the mural tombs of Wei and Jin Dynasties.The images,meanings and functions of Shenrui animals in the caves of the Northern Dynasty in Mogao Grottoes are obviously borrowed from Shenrui animals in the mural tombs of Wei and Jin Dynasties in Hexi area,but their contexts are different.Even though the images are similar,the functions and meanings reflected are not the same.Most of the themes in the tombs show the traditional Chinese Confucian thought of filial piety,Taoist thought of promoting immortals,and some animal images play the role of tomb-holding.The meaning and function of its expression in the caves serve Buddhism.