Dunhuang murals began in the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Northern Wei Dynasty (such as caves 275, 254 and 257), with strong feelings and obviously exaggerated figures, strong lines and smudged expressions, and decorated with ochre red and scattered flowers, all of which obviously have foreign or Xinjiang painting styles.
The painting style of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (Caves 290, 428 and 299) is usually a large comic strip of Bunsen and Buddhist stories, all of which are outlined with smooth lines on the background of white walls. The shape is simple and vivid, and the color is elegant. Although some skin is slightly stained, there is still a legacy of western painting. On the whole, its image and artistic style have become the face of traditional painting of Han nationality.
The theme of painting style in the Tang Dynasty is very rich, which can be roughly summarized as: pure land disguised, changing story painting, Buddha, Bodhisattva and other statues, supporting people. The composition of Pure Land uses the perspective of buildings in disguise to create a deep impression of space. The complex and rich picture is still very compact and complete, which is an important breakthrough in the development of painting art and has been imitated, copied and circulated by future generations for a long time.
In the Song Dynasty, due to historical reasons, Dunhuang art began to decline from the last climax, but the new atmosphere of dense mural painting and Central Plains painting style has still been preserved to this day. Most of the caves in the Northern Song Dynasty were rebuilt from previous caves, and the murals in the Song Dynasty were often covered with murals from the Tang Dynasty or the Northern Wei Dynasty. Diners from the Northern Song Dynasty and the Five Dynasties were often painted on both sides of the entrance to the caves in the past. Diners were often extremely large, such as real people or even bigger than real people.
Modeling characteristics of Dunhuang murals
Dunhuang murals can be divided into images of gods (Buddha, Bodhisattva, etc.). ) and laity (the people who serve and the people in the story painting). Both of these images come from real life, but they are different in nature. In modeling, the image of laity is full of life and the characteristics of the times are more distinct; The image of the gods changes less, and there are more elements of imagination and exaggeration. In terms of clothing, laymen mostly wear Chinese clothes in the Central Plains, while immortals wear them abroad.
Dunhuang murals inherit the deformation techniques of traditional painting and skillfully shape various figures, animals and plants. Different times, different aesthetics, different degrees and ways of deformation. In the early stage, the deformation degree is large, there are many romantic elements, and the image characteristics are distinct and prominent; After Sui and Tang Dynasties, there was less deformation, stronger three-dimensional sense and stronger realism.
The above contents refer to Baidu Encyclopedia-Dunhuang Murals.