遼墓壁畵所反映的遼代社會生活

Abstract

During the 20th century there were a series of very important discoveries related with exquisite wall-paintings during the Liao Dynasty. These new findings inevitably make us revise our old views on the cultural level and the social development of the states established by northern minority peoples. The contents of the Liao wall-paintings are not only abundant but also realistic in the sense that they depict the social life and ideas at that time very accurately. Therefore, there is no doubt that they are very important historical sources when we study the Liao period. The Liao wall-paintings can be divided into three periods. The first period covers from Taizu to Jingzong (907-983). In this period the paintings in the tombs did not form their own peculiar characteristics and still kept a considerably strong influence of the Tang period. The second period is from Shengzong to Xingzong (983-1055). In this period the wall-paintings began to have their own characteristics, and the subject and the contents showed popular modes. The third period covers from Daozong to Tianzhaodi (1055-1125). The themes and contents became more distinctive and the techniques became more mature. The paintings of Qianqulipuge at Kulun and of Xiabali at Xuanhua show the most distincitve and developed stage of the Liao wall-paintings. The contents of the Liao wall-paintings are very affluent, and their historical and artistic values are extremely high, so there is no doubt that they are among the most precious cultural heritage of mankind. This paper, based on the newly discovered archaeological materials as well as on the written historical sources, attempted to reconstruct various aspects of social life reflected on the wall-paintings during the Liao period.