Modern historian Qian Mu (1895-1990) once expressed this view in his book "Introduction to Chinese Cultural History" (see the 1994 Commercial Press revised edition): Chinese art, other than calligraphy, Biantui painting - Chinese painting developed very early, but the paintings in the Qin (221 BC - 206 BC) and Han (206 BC - 220 AD) eras were mainly murals and stone carvings, which were used in palaces, temples and mausoleums . During the Wei (220-265) and Jin (265-420) eras, painting flourished, and the style of painting with paper and silk became popular. This conclusion aims to explain that ancient Chinese painting first served aristocrats and religious activities, and gradually became more compatible after the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties (220-589) to the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907). civilian needs.
Most of the paintings on the ground dating from the Qin and Han dynasties or earlier have disappeared with the destruction of the buildings. In contrast, the murals remaining in the tombs are not easily damaged; what brought an even greater surprise to art historians was the discovery of the "silk paintings" buried underground as funerary objects. As a result, the excavation of tomb chambers became the most important source for the rediscovery of early Chinese paintings. "Dragon and Phoenix Figures" was excavated in 1949 in the tomb of the Chen family in Changsha, Hunan. It is one of the earliest extant Chinese paintings. It was unearthed in the center of the Chu State, a culturally developed country during the Warring States Period, and was created around 475 BC - BC 221 years. The carrier of this painting is a kind of fabric called "Silk" in ancient times, so later generations call it "Silk painting".
The "Feiyi" unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha can be seen from the discovery of "Dragon and Phoenix Figures" and the content of its depiction. As a funerary object, it was an important function of painting at that time, and "painting art" had not yet developed. conscious. Silk paintings, like pottery figurines, another common burial object found in tombs, are witchcraft tools. There are two interpretations of the picture of "Dragon and Phoenix Figures": the "character" in it may be a "witch" praying for the deceased; but the woman in the painting may also be the deceased, the tomb owner himself. Above this female figure are dragons and phoenixes. These are animal images imagined by the ancients that symbolize "auspiciousness" and "auspiciousness". Dragons and phoenixes guide "ascension" to heaven, just like the "angels" in Christian paintings lead the souls of the dead to heaven.
Another classic silk painting that is much talked about in the painting world was unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha. It was painted around 165 BC and is in the shape of a "T". Archaeologists call it "feiyi" because it is shaped like a coat but cannot be worn. The painting takes "the soul's ascension to heaven" as its theme. From top to bottom, it depicts the scenes in heaven, earth, and underground, with reality and fantasy intertwined. The middle section of the painting, the so-called human world section, shows a fragment of the life of the tomb owner, who according to research is the wife of a nobleman named "Li Cang". She was dressed in gorgeous brocade clothes, and her figure and the way she was holding a stick showed that she was already old. There were servants kneeling in front of her to greet her, followed by maids, and she was walking slowly in the hall. Below this part is a feast in which the host is absent: there is a brocade-covered dining table, tripods, pots, francium and other tableware that reflect noble status, as well as overlapping ear cups and other drinking utensils. The people present are not eating, but making a gesture of salute. , to enhance the atmosphere of the host's departure, symbolize farewell to the deceased, and wish the soul of the deceased to ascend to heaven as soon as possible. People in the Han Dynasty believed in "feathering into immortality", that is, after death, the soul sublimates and becomes an immortal. The heaven in the painting is represented by the sun, moon, and stars. There is a golden crow in the sun, a toad and a jade rabbit in the moon, as well as a hibiscus tree bathing in the moonlight, and a flying dragon flying through the gaps in the celestial body. A woman under the moon is obviously the tomb owner who has been freed from the mundane life. She has returned to a young and energetic state. She controls a flying dragon with a vigorous posture and soars in the heaven. It can be said to be the most romantic imagination. It can be seen that the people of the Han Dynasty had a strange association between natural celestial bodies and the above-mentioned animals, and thus created symbols. This gorgeous and meticulous silk painting from the Han Dynasty inherits the painting tradition of the Warring States period that we know in "Dragon and Phoenix Figures".
The portrait of the owner of the tomb in the silk painting must be the main content of the "non-clothing" used as burial objects, especially the funeral objects, and all such portraits are in profile.
Perhaps ancient painters believed that a person's characteristics can be better expressed through the side profile, from face to body shape. Han paintings are more complex than Warring States silk paintings. The latter basically pursues pure symbolic patterns. The former, while retaining this symbolic intention, also attempts to specifically present the landscapes of heaven, earth, and hell. Taking advantage of the special form of "feiyi", Han Dynasty painters arranged "heaven", "human world" and "underground" according to the top, middle and bottom layout into vertical compositions. Parts of it, such as the front and back relationship of "human world", A similar composition is also included: the past is at the bottom and the future is at the top, allowing the viewer to read from top to bottom or bottom to top. The technical progress of silk painting in the Han Dynasty was very obvious. The painters used ink lines to outline shapes, and used colors to flatten or render them. Especially in the application of color, they invented mineral pigments such as cinnabar, stone green, azurite, and chalk, which took more than two thousand years. The color is still new despite the age.