Shaling Tombs

Shaling Tombs

The Shaling Tombs are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Shaling Mural Tombs (Fifth Batch of Provincial-Level Protected Sites)

Era: Northern Wei Dynasty

Location: 1 km northeast of Shaling Village, Shuipo Temple Township, Datong City Urban District

The excavated mural tombs in the Shaling Mural Tomb complex face west and are single-chamber brick structures with long sloping passageways. They consist of three parts: the passage, corridor, and burial chamber. The existing tomb measures 8.5 meters in total length and 3.4 meters in width, with the passage being 3 meters long. A total of 27 cultural relics were unearthed. The wooden burial coffins are badly damaged, and no human skeletons were found. By piecing together the remaining lacquer fragments from the tomb, colorful paintings and inscribed text were discovered.

Murals cover the four walls of the burial chamber and the ceiling and sides of the corridor, with a preserved area of 24 square meters. The painting technique involved outlining the composition in red, then refining the overall contours with black lines before finalizing and coloring. The murals primarily feature three colors: red, blue, and black. The content includes scenes of processions with chariots and horses, portraits of the male and female tomb owners seated, banquets, warriors, mythological images of Fuxi and Nüwa, as well as various fantastical beasts. The murals employ both layered and independent compositional methods, featuring simple and smooth lines and a bold, vigorous style.

The findings from the mural tomb excavation have been published in journals such as “Cultural Relics” and “Cultural Relics and Collections,” and the site has now been properly preserved.

Many tombs within this complex remain unexcavated. The mural tombs are among the earliest of their kind, with clear tomb owner identities, rich content, and vibrant colors. The Northern Wei Dynasty established its capital in Pingcheng for nearly a century, making it the political, economic, and cultural center of northern China. However, very few mural works from tombs of this period have been preserved. The discovery of such well-preserved and large-scale murals in Datong is unprecedented. The exquisite murals in the tombs provide valuable visual materials for studying China’s ethnic customs, funeral practices, and attire and equipment, filling a gap in Han-Tang archaeological mural research where no definitive Northern Wei materials existed. The content and painting styles of the tombs clearly reflect how the Tuoba Xianbei, after establishing their capital in Pingcheng, inherited traditions from the Eastern Han, Wei, and Jin periods, blending the old customs of the grassland nomads with those of the Central Plains Han people. A complete set of standardized practices had not yet formed, placing the era in a phase of absorption and transformation. These tombs offer invaluable visual insights for the study of ethnology, funeral customs, and attire in China, marking an important and unprecedented archaeological discovery of the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties period.

In May 2006, the Shaling Mural Tombs were honored as one of the “Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries of 2005.”

In 2016, the Shaling Mural Tombs were included in the Fifth Batch of Provincial-Level Cultural Relics Protection Units in Shanxi Province.

In 2019, the Shaling Tombs were listed in the Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Source: Shanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Shanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units