Travel on Horse and Playing the Hu Instrument

Northern Qi (550-577). Both 160cm*220cm. Mural painting in tomb of Lou Rui, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province.

At the entrance of Lou Rui's tomb, there are three rows of parallel paintings on each wall.The upper two rows depict cavalry and camel caravans, while the lower row portrays soldiers standing beside horses and blowing curved horns. Some of the animals in the mural are depicted with vivid realism, serving as exemplary anatomical drawings. However, the purpose is not solely to achieve a lifelike representation but to merge different painting styles to achieve the optimal visual effect. Certain figures are rendered using chiaroscuro, while adjacent ones are outlined with contrasting lines.

This piece is compiled from the Chinese edition of Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting by Foreign Languages Press and Yale University Press, translated by Chen Ying.