The Historiographer

Eastern Han (25–220). Mural Painting in tomb No.1 of Han Dynasty, Wangdu, Hebei Province.

The series of independent figures in the murals of Wangdu tombs belongs to a "catalogue-style". Each character is depicted in a separate space. The "main historical record" painted in the burial tunnel connecting the front chamber and the middle chamber is a good example. It shows him sitting on a square couch that extends horizontally along the ground, as if drawn with a ruler. The painting technique is also different from earlier murals, as the artist combines line drawing with bold ink smudging. This is particularly evident in the depiction of the folds of the clothes, creating a strong sense of three-dimensionality. 

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.