?? ƽ���� ɳ�X????? ?? (A Study of the Shaling Tombs in the Pingcheng Period of the Northern Wei)

?? ƽ����(398-494)? ??? ??????? ??? ????? ??? ????? ??????, ?? ?? ??????? ? ??? ?????. ?? ???? ????? ?? ????? ??? ??? ??, ??? ??? ����??? ????? ???? ?? ??? ??????. ??? ??????? ??? ??? ?? ???? ?? ??? ??????, ?? ??? ????? ??? ??? ??????, ?? ??? ?? ???? ????? ?????? ??? ???. ?? ɽ��ʡ ��ͬ ɳ�X��?? ??? ?? ̫��??(435)? ??????? ??? ?? ???? ???? ??????, ???? ??? ??? ??? ????? ??? ???? ? ???? ??.
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During the Pingcheng Period (398-494), which designates the time period when the capital of the Northern Wei was located in Pingcheng, a unique type of artistic culture was developed thanks to the ethnic blending between northern nomadic peoples and the Han Chinese, which eventually became one of the main currents in the history of Chinese art.
The Northern Wei funerary art in the Pingcheng Period is considered particularly important for understanding the origins of the artistic traditions and styles as well as the ideas and practices regarding funerals and rituals in the Southern and Northern Dynasties Period.
Past scholarship on Northern Wei funerary art has focused mainly on tombs from the post-Pingcheng Period. In recent years, however, a series of new archaeological discoveries were made, casting new light on the tomb art of the Pincheng Period in Northern Wei and calling for its new assessment. The Shaling Mural Tomb in Shaling Village of Datong in Shanxi Province constructed in the 1st year of Taiyan era (435) is one of the most representative examples of this period. Mural paintings on richly-varied themes, found inside this tomb,bear great testimony to the art of Northern Wei during the Pingcheng Period.
This paper examines the development of the art of the Pingcheng Period by comparing the murals of Shaling Tomb with other murals in contemporary tombs. During the earlier part of the Pingcheng Period, the Northern Wei tomb murals followed the tradition of the Han and Jin Dynasties both in terms of subject and composition. The Northern Wei was exposed to the influence of Han and Jin art as part of the process of integrating northeastern painting style during the Wei and Jin Period. The way people are portrayed and details of lifestyle and customs depicted in these murals echo certain aspects of the northern burial culture of the Xianbei. Meanwhile, among new influences, Buddhist themes and iconography were seamlessly blended into the native concept of afterlife and became recreated into something that is distinctively of the Northern Wei. The overall composition of paintings, compared to the Jin and Han Period, became freer and less stilted, and their visual style, bolder, livelier and more spirited. This tendency persisted until the mid-5th century,to become embodied in the art of the Pingcheng Period. Later with the coming of the age of Buddhist culture and an increased exchange with the Central Asian region and beyond,the Northern Wei developed a yet more open and diversified artistic culture. Once into the late Pingcheng Period, legendary or historical events with Confucian subtexts became the dominant subjects in paintings, while stylistically there was a shift toward Southern Dynasties style. The Northern Wei paintings in the late Pingcheng Period show overall a greater degree of maturity and refinement than in the early or mid-Pingcheng Period. These themes and expressive techniques were creatively inherited by the Northern Wei tomb art of the subsequent Luoyang Period, exerting an important influence on the art of the late Southern and Northern Dynasties Period.
While the Northern Wei had its capital in Pingcheng, it gave birth to remarkably diversified and eclectic art forms with a strong northern undertone. This unique cultural vivaciousness of the Northern Wei was no doubt the result of this dynasty��s openness to cultures from the outside. Research on Northern Wei art of the Pingcheng Period could also shed light on the 5th-century tomb art and funeral customs of East Asia as a whole and provide an understanding of the underlying structure of burial-related art forms developed in this region.