Luoyang Museum of Ancient Tombs is a very unique museum featuring real tombs moved here brick by brick and wall by wall with everything that was excavated intact including the murals on the wall.
Tomb Mural of the Eastern Han Dynasty Depicting a Procession 东汉墓出行图壁画
Mural | Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) | Dimensions – W:60cm, L:12m | Luoyang Museum of Ancient Tombs Collection, Discovered in 1984 in Yanshi City West Xinyuan Village. 壁画｜东汉（公元22-250年）｜宽60厘米，长12米｜洛阳古墓博物馆藏，1984年发现于偃师市城西的杏园村
The practice of mural decoration in the tombs started to gain popularity in the early Western Han Dynasty and became popular in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Most of the tomb owners are high-ranking officials or local nobles. At present, nearly 20 mural tombs have been found in Luoyang. These Han tomb murals are rich in content and skilful in technique, and more importantly, they reflect the ideas and interests of the people in the Han Dynasty.1
In the early days was popular, under the influence of Taoism in the early Han Dynasty, images of deities and immortals are common themes; in the middle period, the historical stories reflecting Confucianism and the consciousness of theological sincerity became more and more prevalent.
By the Eastern Han Dynasty, the images of banquets, singing, dancing, and riding and travelling scenes reflecting the identity of tomb owners and eunuchs were gradually introduced, shifting the emphasis from fantasies and superstition in Western Han to social life and real world scenarios in Eastern Han.2
The mural shows the scene of a grand tour of the tomb owner during his life. The murals are more than 1,800 years old and are still well preserved. The man in the red robe in the picture above is most likely the owner of the tomb, as he is depicted riding the main carriage with a canopy, a symbol of status and wealth.3
The reason it is so well preserved is that it is covered by an external wall that was used to cover up the painting, thus avoiding the direct impregnation of water and soil and the destruction by grave robbers.
Why is this mural built inside the wall? It may be that the identity and status of the tomb owner have changed greatly between the construction of the tomb and the burial. The carriage and procession of the guard of honour painted in the mural may be inconsistent with the official duties of the tomb owner and has a restraint, so the picture has to be covered to avoid prosecution.4
About Chinese National Treasure Series
中華國寶系列 Chinese National Treasure series feature specific artefacts and relics from museums all around the world that are historically significant to be considered a National Treasure. The series covers the 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation from Neolithic periods before the Xia dynasty (c. 2070-1600 BC) to modern day.
Footnotes:
- 东汉墓室壁画洛阳汉代墓室中的壁画装饰，兴起于西汉早期，流行于东汉。墓主多为高官显贵或地方豪绅。目前洛阳已发现壁画墓近20座，这些汉墓壁画内容丰富、手法娴熟，更主要的是深刻地折射出汉代人们的思想观念和情感意趣。
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1703049926795098046&wfr=spider&for=pc ↩︎ - 早期神灵、仙人内容流行，是汉初黄老思想的折射；中期反映儒家思想的历史故事和神学诚纬意识愈见盛行；至东汉时反映墓主身份和仕宦经历的宴饮歌舞、车骑出行场面的图像逐渐丰富，反映了从西汉到东汉人们由幻想迷信的心理转向现实生活的享受、炫耀，完全是现实的人世间墓主生前生活的再现。
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1703049926795098046&wfr=spider&for=pc ↩︎ - 东汉墓出行图壁画：表现了墓主人生前盛大的出行场景。壁画距今1800余年，仍保存很完好。图中红衣为墓主人。
https://www.mafengwo.cn/i/21049165.html ↩︎ - 这幅壁画历经近一千八百年，能如此完好的保存下来，主要得益于被砌在夹壁墙内，避免了水土的直接浸渍和盗墓者的破坏。这幅出行图为什么被砌在墙内呢？可能是墓主在建墓和下葬之间，身份地位发生了较大变化，画中所绘的车骑导从仪仗，与墓主官职不符，有越制之处，故而只好将画面遮住。
https://www.gumumuseum.com/relic/191 ↩︎
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