The changes of painting techniques in the early Tang wall paintings of Dunhuang Mogao grottos : the relationship between "pattern" and pictorial structure

Abstract

In this paper, I would like to focus on large and sophisticated scenes depicting different Paradises of Buddha in the early Tang period (618-781 A.D.), examining to what extent the wall paintings of Dunhuang Mogao grottos were technically drawn and how the changes in artistic techniques affected the pictorial structures. At Mogao grottos of the early Tang period, under-drawings ("patterns"-stencils or other tracing techniques were used) were prepared before the actual painting, and, then, traced onto the walls, so that the motifs of the wall paintings would be the same size and shape as the "patterns". In the first half of the early Tang period (618-712 A.D.), "patterns" were used primarily on faces of minor deities, which were randomly located on the picture plane of the wall paintings. In the latter half of the early Tang period (712-781 A.D.), in addition to the lesser deities, the use of "patterns" also expanded from the face to the whole body of the attendant Boddhisatvas, which always appeared in a certain area on each picture plane. Through this change of artistic technique, the pictorial structure of the wall paintings became fixed, giving the impression of the structure with a more perfect symmetry.