Dunhuang Murals

Dunhuang murals are one of the central components of Dunhuang cave art. Because the cliffs of the Dunhuang caves are not suitable for carving, the ancient people plastered the ceilings and walls with mud and chalk after excavating the caves, creating a smooth surface for painting. Compared to stone carvings, painting requires less labor, making it easier to depict details. Every little aspect of the figures and scenes can be rendered with precision, allowing for a broader, richer, and more detailed interpretation of Buddhist texts and social customs than stone carvings.

The total area of Dunhuang murals exceeds 50,000 square meters. Based on the themes depicted, they can be categorized into nine major types: portraits, stories of Buddha's life, Jātaka tales, stories of causes and conditions, Han Chinese mythological illustrations, paintings of Buddhist historical sites, sutra transformation paintings, donor portraits (including pilgrimage scenes), and decorative patterns. Among them, Jātaka tales depict the various good deeds of Siddhartha Gautama in his previous lives, while the stories of Buddha's life portray his journey from birth to nirvana. Sutra transformation paintings are the most representative form of Dunhuang art, usually focusing on organizing the main content of Buddhist scriptures into large paintings with a clear beginning, end, and hierarchy. The 33 types of sutra transformation paintings currently within the Mogao Caves are rich in content and diverse in form, representing invaluable cultural heritage.

The themes of Dunhuang murals primarily revolve around Buddhism, but they also include ancient Chinese mythological themes and scenes of social life. They represent a continuous history of art spanning thousands of years and serve as a treasure trove of historical data reflecting ancient Chinese society, politics, economics, military affairs, culture, ethnic relations, and exchanges between Chinese and other cultures.

敦煌壁畫

敦煌壁畫是敦煌石窟藝術的主要組成部分之一。因敦煌石窟崖體不適合雕刻，所以古代先民在開鑿洞窟之后，在窟頂和墻面抹泥涂白粉，令壁面平整再在上面作畫。與石刻相比，繪畫費工少，易于描繪細節，人物場景的一點一滴都可以精細入畫，表現出的佛經內容及社會風情都比石刻更廣泛、豐富和詳盡。

敦煌壁畫總面積5萬多平方米，按繪制的題材，可以歸納為尊像畫、佛傳故事畫、本生故事畫、因緣故事畫、漢族神話題材圖畫、佛教史跡畫、經變畫、供養人像（含出行圖）、裝飾圖案畫共九大類。其中，本生故事畫是描繪釋迦牟尼前生累世的各種善行，佛傳故事畫描繪釋迦牟尼從出生到涅槃的一生事跡；經變畫是敦煌最具代表性的繪畫形式，通常專指將一部佛經的主要內容組織成有始有終、主次分明的大幅畫。莫高窟現存經變畫33種，內容豐富，形式多樣，是珍貴的文化遺產。

敦煌壁畫繪制的內容以佛教題材為主，兼有中國古代的神話題材和社會生活的場景，既是一部延續千年的美術史，同時又是中國古代社會、政治、經濟、軍事、文化、民族關系、中外交流等歷史形象的資料寶庫。