Author(s)

Yong-Lun Li, Wen-Bo Liu

Corresponding Author

Yong-Lun Li

Abstract

The mysterious and frightening animal mask vatan in the Northern Wei Dynasty had the function of keeping away evil spirits and holding the ability of the deterrence, which was the embodiment of the power and status of the ruling class. This paper studies and analyzes the artistic features of the animal mask vatan in the Northern Wei Dynasty from the perspective of the historical origin and modeling grain, so as to reveal the deeper cultural connotations behind.

Keywords

Animal mask vatan; Tuoba xianbei; Buddhism; Cultural connotation