The Envoys Painting

In the exhibition halls of the Shaanxi History Museum, a large mural painted on a tomb passageway wall allows modern viewers to glimpse the international presence of the Great Tang Empire a thousand years ago through its distinctive subject matter and exquisite artistry. This work, titled The Envoys Painting (also known as The Diplomatic Reception Painting), was unearthed in 1971 from the tomb of Prince Zhanghuai, Li Xian, an accompanying burial of the Qianling Mausoleum, and is an outstanding representative of Tang Dynasty mural art. 

The mural measures approximately 185 centimeters in height and 242 centimeters in width and vividly depicts six life-size figures. The three figures in the foreground are officials of the Tang Dynasty’s Court of State Ceremonial (Honglusi), while the three figures in the background are envoys who have traveled from distant lands. Their facial features, hairstyles, and attire form a striking contrast with those of the Tang officials. Through precise depiction of costume details and subtle capture of facial expressions, the painter clearly distinguishes different regional and cultural backgrounds without the aid of text, transforming a static moment of diplomatic waiting into a scene rich in narrative.

From an artistic perspective, The Envoys Painting demonstrates the high level of maturity achieved in Tang Dynasty figure painting. Its lines are open and fluid, its colors restrained and archaic, dominated by red, black, yellow, and ochre, and the figures are accurately proportioned with vivid expressions. For viewers today, the mural serves both as valuable visual material for studying Tang Dynasty attire, ritual practices, and foreign exchanges, and as an enduring window into the open and confident era of the High Tang.