Luoyang City is busy building an ancient tomb mural museum, with the main block almost finished. All the wall paintings excavated from ancient tombs in Henan will be displayed once the museum is completed.

This museum will be the first of its kind in Henan and one of only a few in the country. It will not only present ancient tomb murals to the public in its 1,500-sq-m halls, but will also undertake the restoration and protection of these precious cultural relics.

Luoyang is the best choice for the museum, being home to one of the 2 earliest ancient tomb paintings found in the country, dating back to the Warring States Period. Besides that, Luoyang has an abundant collection of these wall paintings as part of a vivid record of this old form of art and its decline, particularly the ancient tomb murals of the Han Dynasty (with 17 tombs containing wall paintings of that time).

The ancient tomb murals here are famous for their delicate artistic style and various source materials. It can be estimated that the museum will play a pivotal role in the lives of both the general public and academics.

(Chinanews.cn November 22, 2006)