Murals From Tang Dynasty Tomb in Northern China Revealed

TAIYUAN, CHINA—Live Science reports that a Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618–906) tomb discovered in 2018 in northern China’s Shaanxi Province has been excavated, revealing a series of murals painted on the walls of the tomb’s single brick chamber, a buried corridor, the platform where a coffin rested, and an ornately painted doorway. An epitaph in the tomb states that a 63-year-old man and his wife were buried there in A.D. 736. The murals show men and women performing a variety of daily chores, including threshing grain, grinding flour, fetching water, and making noodles while working under trees—a motif that was popular at the time. Some of the working figures in the illustrations may have been intended to depict the tomb’s occupants, yet one image shows a man with blond hair and a beard leading camels. The style of his clothing suggests that he may represent a Sogdian trader from Central Asia who traveled the Silk Road. Meanwhile, paintings around the platform where the coffin had been placed may have shown the owner of the tomb at different stages of his life. Images thought to represent a dragon and a phoenix adorn the tomb’s domed ceiling, and several figures painted near the door appear to be tomb guardians. To read about murals from a Tang Dynasty tomb that depict men in typical Sogdian clothes, go to “Beast Masters.”