Northern Dynasties’ Memories

The Jiuyuangang Northern Dynasties painted tomb is located on a hill south of Xinzhou, Shanxi. The tamped-earth grave mound of the south-facing tomb is still visible above ground.
In June 2013, Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, Xinzhou Municipal Institute of Archaeology and the Shanxi Museum jointly embarked upon a rescue excavation of a plundered Northern Dynasties painted tomb in Jiuyuangang, Xinzhou. In July, after a large number of murals were unearthed, the Digitalization Team at the Zhejiang University Cultural Heritage Institute was immediately invited to cooperate on the excavation, using state of art digitalization technologies to create a comprehensive digital scientific recording of the murals. The team has since preserved these murals, painted one thousand years ago, in the digital world for a long time to come. This is the first time that full digital records of Chinese tomb paintings have been made during the excavation process. This is also the first time that the Zhejiang University Artifact Digitalization Team has cooperated with a four-stage dig and collected information on tomb paintings in the field. This information was synthesized in the laboratory to create an accurate digital record.
The burial chamber of the tomb is square with rounded corners, and the incomplete tomb passageway stretches 31 meters in length. The burial chamber and the corridor are covered in murals. To date, this Northern Dynasties painted tomb has the largest and most intact murals, as well as the richest variety of painted subjects. The paintings cover a total area of 250 square meters. On the north end of the passageway above the door, there is a painting of a gate tower and a courtyard; there are four registers of paintings on the east and west sides of the corridor, with symmetrical images of guards, generals, hunting, and flying immortals. Archaeologists have preliminary surmised that this was the tomb of an influential figure in the Gao family’s reign during the Eastern Wei to early Northern Qi periods.
The discovery and digital protection of the Jiuyuangang murals provide rare first-hand materials that furthered our understanding of the culture and art of the late Northern Dynasties. The wall paintings vividly record themingling of Eastern and Western traditions that facilitated the development of naturalistic techniques in Chinese paintings. Furthermore, it stands as a testimony to the impressive explorations that late Northern Dynasties painters made in naturalist representation.
The digital documentation of the Jiuyuangang Tomb murals presents a successful case study of inter-regional collaboration and multi-disciplinary practice.
Every line in the digital record is the outcome of scientific documentation in the field and laboratory post-processing. Each color in the display is an exceptionally faithful reproduction of the original, based on carefully calibrated color management and employing the finest paper for printing: offering 300 DPI and 97% color accuracy. It vividly reveals the precise details and delicacy of the paints.
Through time and space, this digital reproduction of the Jiuyuangang Tomb murals is a contribution of digital technology to archaeological science. It is a revival of Chinese civilization in the digital era, bringing our precious heritage to life again, not only preserved in situ, but also representing a milestone in the aesthetic education afforded to our university’s classrooms.