Seeing Buddhas in the Afterlife: A Case Study of the Xing Hejiang Tomb

In recent years, archaeologists have discovered and excavated numerous significant tombs in and around Pingcheng (present-day Datong), shedding new light on the material culture, regional beliefs, and the cultural exchanges along the Silk Roads. One particularly notable discovery was made in May 2015, when the Xinghejiang Tomb of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386–535) was unearthed near Datong. The painted stone slabs in the tomb were rescued and pieced together into a painted sarcophagus with unique Buddhist themes covering all the interior walls, which thus far are the first to be found in tombs anywhere in the country. The subjects of the murals share great similarities with those in the Yungang Grottoes. Furthermore, the archaic tomb mural style and techniques are reminiscent of the early Buddhist murals in the Western Regions along the Silk Roads, highlighting the artistic influences that traversed these trade routes.