Dunhuang murals are colorful and rich in color, and there are more than a dozen pigments used. Dunhuang produces pigments locally, such as cinnabar ore and chalcopyrite.

Some of them were bought from other places, such as Gaochang (Karakouha, located in the southeast of Turpan, Xinjiang, was the transportation hub of the ancient western regions), which was a big foreign trade market in ancient times, selling all kinds of pigments. Basically, except Garcinia, most of the pigments used in Dunhuang murals are produced in China.

1. Dunhuang murals are the treasures of world art and are admired by the whole world. Dunhuang is in Gansu. In order to inherit and innovate, Gansu is building Dunhuang painting school. We believe that in the near future, Dunhuang painting school will definitely become a wonderful flower in the hundred gardens of painting art. The author tries to summarize and analyze the pigments in traditional Dunhuang murals in order to contribute to the construction of Dunhuang painting school.

2. Dunhuang Grottoes, also known as Dunhuang Grottoes and Thousand Buddha Caves, are known as the most valuable cultural discovery in the 20th century and the "Oriental Louvre". It is located in Dunhuang at the western end of Hexi Corridor. As we all know, it is famous for its exquisite murals and statues, and pigments make the grotto art more colorful.

Dunhuang Grottoes are not only a great art treasure house in the world, but also a rich museum of pigment specimens. The rich and colorful Dunhuang Grottoes art treasure house has preserved a large number of pigment specimens of painting art in more than ten dynasties in ancient times for us, which is an important material for studying the history of ancient pigment development in China.

3. According to the classification of chemical substances, the pigments in Dunhuang murals can be divided into three types: inorganic pigments, organic pigments and non-pigment substances. The red colors in inorganic pigments are cinnabar, lead, realgar and red alum. Yellow is orpiment and Lithuanian. Green is stone green and verdigris. Blue is lapis lazuli, ultramarine and azure.

White includes lead powder, chalk and gypsum, and plaster of Paris is also called hemihydrate gypsum, zinc oxide and mica. Black is mainly ink. In addition, gold foil and gold powder are also used in murals and colored sculptures. Organic pigments are red rouge (safflower extract), yellow gamboge and blue organic blue (indigo).

Non-pigment minerals are mostly white, such as kaolinite, talc, Yingshi and dolomite, as well as calcium magnesium carbonate, hornblende, chlorite and lead sulfate, all of which are pigment substitutes selected by experienced folk painters in ancient times according to local conditions.