Wei-Jin Mural Brick Tomb

Located about 15 kilometers northeast of Jiayuguan, Wei-Jin Mural Brick Tomb is a big tomb group with over 1,400 tombs built between the 3rd Century and 5th Century during the Wei and Jin dynasties.

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. Most tombs are of families, housing bodies of three or four generations, and now only Grave 6 and Grave 7 are open for tourism.

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. The exquisite murals on the inner chamber walls tell the master and mistress's contemporary carefree life, and servant's hard working. Most reflect the political, cultural, military, and scientific developments of the Wei and Jin Dynasty age, this murals is 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.