Wei-Jin Art Gallery

Situated in the desert 18 km northeast of Jiayuguan city, Wei-Jin Art Gallery is not really an art gallery, but ancient tombs with wall paintings. There are more than 1400 tombs, which could date back to 220-419 AD during Wei and Jin periods. Most tombs belong to different families, housing bodies of three or four generations, and now only Grave 6 and Grave 7 are open to tourists.

All the murals were painted and well-preserved on the bricks. One single brick may have one painting, or half a brick does, possibly several bricks constitute an interlink painting. Renowned as the largest subterranean art gallery in the world, housing a great deal of colorful murals, the gallery has attracted tourists from both home and abroad since 1972 when it was excavated. The painting contents are from all aspects of actual life. Then visitors can know well about people’s life at that time. These paintings also provide valuable materials to study the society civilization of that period.

Entering the cold stone tomb, you will marvel at the vivid murals and special layout inside. Each Wei-Jin tomb generally has two or three chambers which are connected by corridors paved with tiles in various flower patterns. The gate was decorated with delicate patterns and easy lines symbolizing clouds, water, fire, gods and weird animals. Most reflect the political, cultural, military, and scientific developments of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, giving an insight into this ancient Chinese feudal society. Mainly painted realistically and earlier than Mogao Grottoes, Wei-Jin Art Gallery provides an example of unmixed Chinese realism art - filling in gaps in the fields of painting between the Wei and Jin periods, and so considered highly valuable for historic research.

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