Here is a rough written layout for a research presentation I did on the Northern Wei dynasty Murals from China.

Northern Wei Chinese Murals

The Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), is most noted for the unification of northern China in 439. It was also involved in funding the arts and in turn antiques and art works from this period have survived. In 494 AD the dynasty started the construction of the artificial Longmen Caves to be used as Buddhist temples.
The early caves were carved out and decorated in the 4th and 5th centuries. More than 30,000 Buddhist images from the time of this dynasty have been found in the caves. The Northern Wei caves tend to be small and supported in the center by a large column. This feature is also present in Indian architecture. There is usually a statue of the Buddha in the center, surrounded on the walls by tiers of many tiny Buddhas painted in black, white, blue, red and green. The statues are made of terracotta because the soft rock was too fragile to properly carve. The murals in the caves show a great deal of foreign influence; faces have long noses and curly hair and women are large-breasted. In one cave Buddha is wearing a toga, while in another he appears as a Christ-like figure like that of the Byzantine frescoes. nnnnThe development of a narrative can be seen in the later caves, with stories depicted in long horizontal planes. The narratives usually read from right to left and are broken up by simple landscapes. Then a more distinctive Chinese style emerged, which shows a series of battle scenes with a lack of perspective. The figures are shown straight on, regardless of their relative positions. This was a built upon in later Chinese paintings and became a staple for style.

Slide 1 Mogao Caves, over 600 used as temples for Buddhists
Slide 2 Buddha statue surrounded by many other Buddhas
Slide 3 Detail of Terracotta Buddhas
Slide 4 Foreign Influence, Buddha wearing toga, preaching
Slide 5 Bhodhisattvas worshiping
Slide 6 Detail of Angels done in Chinese style
Slide 7 Merchants on the Silk Road, read right to left
Slide 8 Sakyamuni Bhudda leaves city on steed
Slide 9 Bhuddist Pilgrims
Slide 10 Shaolin Monastary 495

Materials Used:

Masonite board, 65 4'x8' pieces
Polyurethane (for sealing and waterproofing)
Behr Latex House Paint (Black, Cerulean Blue, Robin's Egg and Midnight Purple)
Spray Paint (Silver, Oregano, Nutmeg, Egyptian Cotton, and Fresh Green)
Various Acrylic Paints and designted brushes
Grommets and Screws (36 of each)

MY MURAL IS COMPLETE!!!!! ahhhh how exciting.

Basically, the concept of my mural is an 8'x24' piece that is divided in half horizontally by two semicircles facing awy from eachother. The lower one is the Earth from the sky's peerspective, while the top is the sky from the Earth's perspective. the middle is everything in between that is unfathomable to the human mind. I represented this by bands of interchanging colour interrupted by swirling vortexes. I combined spray paint, acrylic and latex house paints on top of gessoed and polyurethained masonite panels. I will post a picture as soon as possible.