Painted brick murals in Jiayuguan Wei and Jin tombs

From the geographical layout, Jiayuguan Wei and Jin tombs should be family tombs, which are not only very close, but also surrounded by square "grave circles" made of sand. Some of these tombs are mural tombs, and more than 760 pieces have been unearthed. In terms of mural content, Jiayuguan mural tomb does not inherit the auspicious patterns and myths and legends of the previous generation, but has the characteristics of Wei and Jin Dynasties. Based on life scenes such as feasting, traveling, hunting, farming, mulberry picking, animal husbandry and threshing, the ancient folk paintings are outlined, which truly reproduce the economic production and daily life of local semi-farming and semi-grazing civilians. Most of these murals were painted by highly skilled folk painters. With rich life experiences and profound feelings about social life, they vividly described the real life of the tomb owner with simple painting techniques, created a well-fed living atmosphere for the tomb owner in another world, and became a true portrayal of folk life in Wei and Jin Dynasties. Portraits are all brick by brick, arranged from top to bottom, and rich in content. In order to show a complete story, some of them are shown in the form of comic books, and several bricks are combined together to vividly depict the social production and life scenes. Coloring bricks is also more complicated, and most of them are filled in. Generally, the draft is made of earth red, then the outline is drawn with ink lines, and then the color is filled with ochre and red. The overall performance of artistic style is: lively composition, concise modeling, bright colors, giving life breath and national style.