Liaoyang Mural Tombs (Chinese Edition)

Yongqian Feng

• Publisher: Royal Collins Publishing Company
• Year: 2026
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9781487813642
• Subtopic: Asian Art
• Index: Social Sciences

This volume is the first comprehensive and authoritative monograph on the mural tombs of Liaoyang. As one of the leading archaeologists in the field of Northeastern Chinese history, and a principal director of the mid- to late-twentieth-century excavations at the Liaoyang mural tombs, the author draws upon decades of fieldwork and theoretical study. Using firsthand excavation records, original photographs, and statistical data collected over more than thirty years, Feng offers an unprecedented reconstruction of the largest group of Han, Wei, and Jin mural tombs in Northeast China and Northeast Asia. The book presents the murals in their entirety, analyzes the unique architectural techniques of the tomb chambers, and resolves longstanding questions in archaeology, art history, and architectural studies concerning the original appearance of the Liaoyang murals. In doing so, it fills a major gap in scholarship on painted mural tombs of the Han and Wei– Jin period in Northeast Asia.
The Liaoyang mural tomb complex is the largest and earliest of its kind in Northeast Asia. Its murals are painted in full color— unlike the monochrome murals of contemporaneous tombs elsewhere in the region and in China— marking them as masterpieces of classical realism. They represent the highest achievement of Chinese mural art during the Han, Wei, and Jin dynasties, predating the Dunhuang murals by more than three centuries and ranking alongside such discoveries as the Dunhuang scrolls, the wooden slips of Lop Nur, the oracle bones of Anyang, and Homo erectus pekinensis. In 1961, the Liaoyang Han and Wei mural tombs were designated among the first group of " Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level," together with the Zhoukoudian site, the Mogao Caves, and the Summer Palace. The Liaoyang complex encompasses nine representative tombs, including Beiyuan Tomb No. 1, Bangtaizi Tomb, Nantaizi Tomb, Dongtaizi Tomb, Sandaohao Tombs Nos. 1 and 2, the Lingzhiling Tomb, the Cheqi Tomb, and the Xiaoqingduizi Tomb.
The book selectively introduces the principal features of these tombs, including their geographical setting, discovery, chamber structure, and unearthed artifacts. It places particular emphasis on the content of the colored murals, their artistic qualities, their reflection of social customs, and their cultural value.
A distinctive contribution of this work is the first-ever publication of more than 300 original color photographs of the murals, presented in full color, at scale, and in enlarged detail. These images, released here for the first time, allow scholars to see the murals of Liaoyang in their original form. Combined with modern survey and mapping technologies— including GIS and architectural simulations— the book reconstructs the form, layout, and structure of the tombs with scientific accuracy. On-site photographs and coordinate mapping of the current state of the tombs further enable readers to understand their present condition.
Two important appendices enrich the volume. The first is an in-depth study by the senior archaeologist Li Wenxin on the Beiyuan Tomb murals, the most complex of the Liaoyang series. The second is a report authored by Feng on the Dongmenli Tomb of Liaoyang' s Old City, a tomb excavated under his direction that had remained undisturbed, yielding the richest finds and dating from an earlier period. These two essays provide essential case studies, offering both detailed analysis and a broader context for understanding the Liaoyang mural tombs as a whole.
By virtue of its originality, exclusivity, and rigorously argued scholarship, this book unlocks the thousand-year mystery of the Liaoyang mural tombs. It provides a thorough interpretation of the cultural, folkloric, and artistic significance of their painted murals, establishing itself as an authoritative and indispensable reference in the field.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• About the Author
• (无标题)
• 第一章：绪论
• 第二章：辽阳附近的自然地理、历史发展概要和壁画墓发现情况
• 第三章：辽阳壁画墓
• 第四章：辽阳壁画墓的特点
• 第五章：辽阳壁画墓彩色照片图版
• 主要参考文献
• 后记