Similarities and differences in aesthetic values between ancient murals and modern murals in China.

From the rock paintings in ancient primitive society in China to the modern murals today, China murals have experienced thousands of years of baptism. As we all know, murals are decorative paintings painted on the walls or ceilings of buildings. China's murals have a unique style and style since ancient times, and are unique in the history of China's fine arts.

China ancient murals are divided into primitive social rock paintings, slave social murals, Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties, Five Dynasties and Song Dynasties, Liao and Jin Dynasties, Yuan Dynasty and Ming and Qing Dynasties. They are divided into eight periods, and each period has its own unique characteristics. Murals have a wide range of themes and rich contents, from Buddhist bodhisattvas, Buddhist rituals and Yijing stories to folk customs and national history. Since the founding of New China, mural workers have actively absorbed the essence of national culture, developed ancient Chinese murals, especially the completion of the mural group of the Capital International Airport, which has created a new chapter in modern Chinese murals. However, in today's diversified world, facing the ancient murals in China, its aesthetic value will inevitably change.

Anyone familiar with China murals will find that there are essential differences in functions between modern murals and ancient murals in China. This also determines their different use values. Ancient murals mainly serve religion, propagate religious teachings with murals as the carrier, and are mostly painted in caves and temples, without the essential concept of environmental art. As an important part of public art, modern murals are a comprehensive art that injects human will, thoughts, emotions and aesthetics into the environment while the material environment meets the basic needs of human survival and behavior. Publicity is the prominent feature of modern murals, which determines the essence of modern murals in public environment art in modern life, and also determines the aesthetic characteristics of modern murals different from ancient murals in life and environment.

From the human point of view, the aesthetic value and function of China ancient murals are inextricably linked, and its beauty lies in the discovery of religious beliefs. For example, the murals in ancient tombs in China were invisible at that time, and they became a celebration for the ancients to believe that the soul could live forever after death. From the late Western Han Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty, some local strongmen and powerful families were buried deep underground. According to the living conditions of the deceased, a luxurious mausoleum was built for him. In addition to burying symbolic figures of guards, servants and maids, as well as various precious items and daily necessities, murals were also drawn in the tomb. Murals have become a unique symbol of the status of "dignitaries". It was not until the progress of modern archaeology that the veil was slowly unveiled and displayed to everyone. The more open scenic spots are Dunhuang murals and China ancient temple murals. Give it religious significance, and then look at its aesthetic value.

It seems a little monotonous. While modern murals serve religion, they are more oriented to the public and more public. In terms of commemorative, decorative and religious murals, the aesthetic value of modern murals is more to meet the needs of the public. This is what China's ancient murals lack.

Since the mid-20th century, some European and American architects and artists put forward the concept of "environmental art", the relationship between man and space has been put in the first place. When dealing with environment-related arts, such as architecture, sculpture, murals, etc. Mural artists no longer aim at mural works in isolation, but pay attention to people's living space from the perspective of culture and aesthetics, and comprehensively design the environment and art as a whole. And this is also the place where ancient murals are insufficient. As a public art, murals have a close relationship with the environment from the beginning of design. Only through architecture can it realize its own value, and only by coordinating with architecture and its environment on the spatial scale can it produce aesthetic feeling. This puts forward the relationship between mural design and architectural space in scale.

The creation of modern mural art forms is different from other forms of expression in painting and can be freely expressed. Murals seek the creation of form in a limited way, and think in harmony with the specific space environment.

The diversification and diversity of materials in today's society is a remarkable feature of modern mural art, which is developing towards the diversification of materials and techniques. This trend is more and more obvious with the development of architecture. The diversity of materials and the expansion of techniques have further enriched the organic combination of architecture and murals, and also continuously strengthened people's understanding of the artistic characteristics and aesthetic methods of modern murals. The combination of the natural charm of materials and the artistic creation of mural artists conveys the artist's will and thoughts, resulting in changes in visual and psychological functions and aesthetic effects. Material is not only the medium of mural art expression, but also the aesthetic feeling of material technology greatly enriches the overall modeling language of architecture. Therefore, the understanding of the natural beauty of materials, the exploration of the aesthetic value of materials and the combination with the architectural space environment have become the material view of modern murals.

Modern architecture is very different from traditional architecture in function and style, which requires that the form of mural should be coordinated with architectural style. The creation of mural form should be considered from three aspects: the functionality of architecture, the characteristics of space environment, the application of technology and materials.

For example, the number of archaeological discoveries of mural tombs in Ming and Qing dynasties is very small. Although the theme content and means of expression of murals have been inherited from the previous generation, social life and fashion of the times have also been reflected in murals, but painters are mainly local folk craftsmen, and the image and means of expression of murals deviate from the mainstream of art of the times, and the trend of folklore of theme content and artistic expression is obvious. It marks the evolution route from ancient mural tombs in China to folk forms, and "art in folk" is the curtain call for tomb murals.

Modern murals, especially foreign modern murals (American modern murals), are unique in today's development. The development of modern murals in China, first of all, is the inheritance and innovation of ancient mural art in China. It is a difficult development process, and it needs to constantly select and improve the development art forms. In terms of artistic expression and production methods, we inherit the tradition and learn from foreign innovation and development experience. Combining tradition with modern science and technology, inheriting and developing China ancient mural art is the characteristic of modern mural art.

Publicity is the prominent feature of modern murals, which determines the essence of modern murals in public environment art in modern life, and also determines the aesthetic characteristics of modern murals different from ancient murals in life and environment.

The poor communication of ancient murals in China determines that people lack a comprehensive understanding of their aesthetic value, while modern murals have a characteristic that ancient murals do not have-publicity. This particularity determines that modern murals should not only meet the aesthetic value needs of a few people, but more importantly, cater to the tastes of the public. After the completion of a good mural, its final effect is often not decided by the mural artist alone, but the environment, space, materials, aesthetics and other factors all restrict its final effect. At the same time, the elements that these ancient murals do not have also provided a broader stage for today's mural creation.