Mural “Preparing Chariots for an Outing” in XuXianxiu Tomb of Northern Qi Period in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province

The XuXianxiuTomb is a large-sized tomb with magnificent murals. As a high-ranking general, the occupant XuXianxiu was granted the title Prince Wu’an.

The extant mural in the tomb totals an area of 326 square meters. On both sides along the tomb passage a military band is painted, holding the army banner in their hands. The mural in the main chamber has been well-preserved. The sky with constellations is illustrated on the ceiling while the south-facing wall depicts a scene of the occupant couple at a banquet in a camp. On the wall to the west of the occupant, there is a scene of preparing horses, while a scene of preparing chariots is illustrated on the wall to the east of the occupant’s wife. Horses and chariots are vehicles for the occupant and his wife respectively. There are also murals of servants preparing various necessities for an outing. These images, when seen as a whole, tell a story of a noble family preparing necessities for and taking on a trip.

There are almost 200 characters on the murals in the main chamber, with heights from 142 cm to 177 cm. The scenes illustrated on these murals are so lifelike that we could get a picture of what life was back then. For example, we could detect signs of foreign exchanges on the mural of “Preparing Chariots” by the maid holding a food case who dresses in a distinctive Sasanian style, wearing a garment with folded collars and slim sleeves, and a pattern of chained beads embroidered on the forefront of the upper part of the clothes.