Art from Shanxi's ancient tombs goes on show

Art buffs can see ancient tomb-wall paintings from the Northern Dynasty (439-581), Song, Jin and Yuan dynasties (960-1368)－most of which have never been displayed outside of Shanxi province－at an ongoing exhibition at the Shanghai Museum.

The exhibition, Ancient Wall Paintings from the Shanxi Museum, which runs through March 4, features 89 tomb-wall paintings divided into 12 groups.

"It is the largest exhibition of ancient wall paintings in China," says Yang Zhigang, director of the Shanghai Museum.

Li Zhongmou, deputy director of the Shanghai Museum, says such paintings dating to the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907) and earlier are hard to find today.

"Hence murals become the only trusted source of such paintings and evidence of the lifestyles of those ancient times," says Li.

"From these murals we can see that Chinese painting had reached a very high artistic level in terms of figure design, coloring and even perspective."

Besides artistic value, the murals also offer a glimpse of life in ancient times, says Li.

"Take the murals from the Jin and Yuan dynasties. Researchers and visitors can learn about hairstyles, clothing and music," says Li.