In which dynasty did Dunhuang murals appear? Dunhuang murals began in the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Northern Wei Dynasty, with the further development of the Western Wei Dynasty, the maturity of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the peak of the Tang Dynasty. Dunhuang murals are extremely rich in themes and vivid in images, reflecting social reality and folk customs, which declined in the Song Dynasty.
Dunhuang frescoes refer to the paintings on the inner walls of Dunhuang Grottoes in China. Dunhuang murals cover more than 50,000 square meters, with a huge scale, including 522 grottoes such as Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, Xiqian Buddha Cave and Anxi Yulin Grottoes. Most of the murals depict the images and stories of gods, and show people's good wishes for reposing their wishes and calming their hearts.
Characteristics of Dunhuang murals
The feelings of Dunhuang murals are very strong, the task modeling and movements are exaggerated, and the colors and lines have obvious exotic or local flower-wrapping styles in Xinjiang. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, Dunhuang murals mainly absorbed more life plots on the basis of tradition, and the strokes in this period were mostly painted with white powder, with thick lines and bright colors.
By the Tang Dynasty, Dunhuang frescoes had richer themes, diverse contents and real and interesting scenes. The images, movements and expressions of buddhas and bodhisattvas in paintings and sculptures are diverse, and their postures are either sitting or standing, walking or flying, which are imitated by later generations and spread for a long time.