The Song and Liao dynasties covered a period roughly from the tenth century to the 12th. The imperial burial site of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) lies in Gongyi County of Henan Province, Central China, where the superstructures of the imperial tombs are still in good shape. The tomb occupied by Queen Yuan De of Emperor Tai Zong had been robbed before archeologists came to see what was to be done. Ruins of the tomb suggest that wooden parts of the tomb

    Nevertheless, we are able to enjoy the beauty of murals on inner walls of tombs belonging to commoners - in fact rich landlords who had no official positions. Such tombs are invariably built with timber and bricks, and murals on the inner walls enable us to gain a true knowledge of how the tombs" occupiers had lived. Now let's have a look at the tomb of a landlord named Zhao Daweng, whose funeral took place in 1099. The tomb consists of two chambers. Murals on walls of the front chamber show Zhao and his wife, both seated, dining beside a table laden with food. There is a screen behind either of them, and at the side of the screens we find the couple's servants, standing there and ready to serve. On the wall of the rear chamber that faces the couple, eleven female musicians are playing their instruments, and one more woman is trying her hat before a mirror. On walls of the tunnel leading to the front chamber of the tomb there are people with grain bags on their backs or strings of coins across their shoulders ¨C possible the couple's tenants who come to pay the rent. These murals were obviously done by folk artists. Though not perfect in terms of artistic techniques, they present a true picture of life during the dynasty and, therefore, are recognized as representative folk paintings at the time.

    The Liao Dynasty of the Qidan (Khitan) ruled parts of northern China from 916 to 1125. Qidan tomb murals feature a strong ethnic style. The tombs belonging to three Liao emperors at Balin Right Banner, Inner Mongolia, had been robbed before they were opened again for archeological excavation. There should have been murals in all of them, but only those in one of them, the East Mausoleum. remain intact, which depict as many as 70 life-sized human figures clad in either Qitan or Han Chinese costumes. The most remarkable, however, is a large picture depicting scenes of the four seasons- mountains and forests with animals prowling them, which should be scenes of a palace complex where the emperor stayed during his travels.

    Tombs of Qidans commoners also have murals on their inner walls. Those found in tombs at Xuanhua, Hebei Province, present a vivid picture of how people at the time looked like: those with hair buns in Qidan style, those in Qidan costumes, guards and attendants in Han Chinese costumes, as well as outgoing and incoming horses carts. People's daily life is also pictured ¨C making preparations for feasting, serving tea, etc.

    Use of murals to decorate tomb chambers continued into the Yuan Dynasty (127l- 1368). Numerous murals have been found in Yuan Dynasty tombs in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Beijing, with people's daily life as the main theme and human figures, including the tomb occupiers, mostly in Mongolian costumes. Also found are murals depicting natural scenery or based on stories about filial sons.

    A huge ink-and-wash landscape painting, 2.7 meters long, is found in the cave built in 1336 near Datong for a man named Feng Daozhen. Four Chinese characters, meaning "sparse woods in evening glow", are written on the painting which, according to textual research, depicts one of the seven scenic spots at the tomb occupier's hometown. The inner structure of the Yuan Dynasty¡¯s imperial tombs and their decorations remain unknown for short of evidence resulting from archeological excavation in a scientific way.

    Murals ceased to be the main inner decorations for tombs of the Ming and Qing dynasties, replaced by carvings on pure white marble.