중국의 분묘 벽화에서 가장 핵심적인 장면은 묘주의 초상을 그린 墓主圖이다. 묘주도는 한 대와 육조시대에 널리 그려졌지만, 당대와 오대에는 별로 그려지지 않다가 송대에 다시 성행하였다. 지금까지 묘주도 연구는 한 대와 육조시대 벽화상의 묘주도에 집중되어 왔었다. 본고에서는 그 이후의 묘주도 즉 송대부터 명대까지 조합하여 전체 묘주도가 어떻게 벼모되어 왔고 그 의미의 변천이 어떠하였는지를 살펴보고자 하였다. 한 대의 육조시대의 묘주도는 단독상과 부부상으로 나누어 보고, 부부상은 다시 拜禮像, 對坐像, 그리고 竝坐像 등으로 나누어 보았다. 이 당시에는 묘주도가 서한대의 서왕모를 대시하여 묘의 주요 자리를 차지하였고, 표현에 있어서도 서왕모처럼 신격화되어 다른 사람에 비해 훨씬 크고 위엄있게 묘사되었다. 묘주도이기는 하지만 실제의 인물을 표현하려고 하기보다는 개념화된 존재로 후손에게 복을 나누어주는 신과 같은 존재로서 인식되고 또 표현되었다. 그러나 육조시대에 들어서 위진 16국시대는 아직 한 대의 전통을 계승하고 있어서 대좌와 병좌의 자세를 많이 취하였고, 시종들이 대개 작은 크기로 그려졌다. 그러나 집안에서 손님을 맞이하는 모습이 즐겨 그려지고, 歌舞나 宴樂을 지켜보고 있는 것은 인간적인 측면을 살린 것이다. 후반기인 남북조시대에는 묘주 행렬도가 나타나고, 위엄있게 앉아있으나 시종들과 비슷한 크기로 그려진 것은 묘주를 더 이상 조상신이 아닌 하나의 인간으로서 고려한 것이라고 생각된다. 송대에 오면 묘주도는 다시 부활하여 자주 보이는데 이때는 일상생활 속에서의 묘주의 모습이 즐겨 그려졌다. 宋代부터 묘주도는 開芳宴이라고 하여 연회를 열며 묘주 부부가 앉아 감상하는 장면이 새로운 형태로 등장하는데 보통 의자에 마주보고 앉는 부부 對坐의 형태로 묘사되고 있다. 마치 무덤 안을 거실처럼 꾸며 그곳에 앉아서 생활하는 것처럼 보인다. 요, 금, 원대는 한족을 누리고 이민족인 유목민이 중국을 다스렸던 시기이므로 분묘 벽화에는 이들 고유한 풍속과 중국 문화가 혼재되어 나타나고 있다. 목축과 목양을 하는 화면이 자주 등장하고 말이 묘주의 출행을 대기하고 있는 장면이 즐겨 그려진다. 묘주도의 전반적인 흐름은 관념적인 표현에서 점차 사실성을 더해가는 단계로 표현되었다. 묘주도와 아울러 그 옆에 그려진 벽화들과의 관계 그리고 의미와 해석은 우리가 계속 탐구해야 할 과제이다.
The portrait of the deceased is doubtless the most compelling image to be seen in a tomb mural in China. Portraits of the deceased are widely found inside tombs from the Han and Six Dynasties period. The practice of portraying the tomb owner appears to have largely fallen out of currency once into the Tang and Five Dynasties period, but became popular again in the Song Dynasty. Studies on mural portraits depicting tomb occupants have thus far focused more or less exclusively on examples from the Han and Six Dynasties tombs. This study examines portraits of the deceased over a wide historical span, including subsequent periods of Chinese history such as the Song and Ming Dynasties, to understand how paintings of this type evolved as well as how their significance changed over time. Portraits of the deceased from the Han and Six Dynasties period may be classified into two broad categories : those portraying the deceased alone and those portraying the deceased with his spouse. Portraits of the latter category may be again divided into three sub-categories, depending on the position and posture of their subjects : paintings in which the wife is shown kneeling in front of the deceased husband, in a gesture of adoration and praise, those in which they are represented seated face to face; and finally, those in which they are seated side-by-side. During this period, the portrait of the deceased occupied a prominent place in the burial chamber; this place was claimed previously during the Western Han Dynasty by the portrait of Xi Wang Mu (Queen Mother of the West), the Taoist goddess. Elevated to a deified status similar to that of Xi Wang Mu, the deceased was often represented significantly larger in size, as well as in a more dignified manner, than other human subjects depicted in the surrounding walls. The deceased were however stripped of the individual characteristics one may expect in a painting of a real person, and were mostly abstract embodiments of god-like benevolence their, role being bestowing blessings on posterity. In tomb murals of the Six Dynasties, a period in which the influence from the Han Dynasty was still very palpable, portraits from the Wei, Jin and the Sixteen Kingdoms frequently depicted the deceased seated facing their spouses or next to them, surrounded by servants, often in a smaller size. One noteworthy difference which set these paintings apart from their predecessors was that they were more humanized images. The deceased were popularly depicted in the middle of receiving guests or watching a dance or musical performance. Marking the end of this general period, the subsequent South and North Dynasties saw a new genre emerge in which the deceased were accompanied by a procession. The deceased, although retaining their previous majesty and dignity, were often represented in a size similar to attendants and servants surrounding them; this is an indication of a gradual de-deification of dead ancestors, restoring them to their human status. Portraits of the deceased regained popularly in the Song Dynasty. In Song-dynasty murals, the deceased were most often shown in the middle of an everyday scene. A new genre emerged in the Song Dynasty had the deceased and his wife attending a banquet known as "kaifangyan." The couple is, in this case, seated on a chair generally in a position facing each other. These paintings created the impression of a living room inside the tomb, in which the deceased would go on with his daily activities, just as he did while alive. During the Liao Jin and Yuan periods, when China was ruled by foreign dynasties, elements of their native nomadic cultures entered tomb murals, blending with traditional Chinese elements. Scenes of livestock herding were increasingly depicted, as well as scenes in which horses are shown waiting for the deceased master ahead of an outing. The general trend was toward a greater degree of realism, shedding gradually the rigid and abstract style that had previously prevailed in the portrayal of the tomb owner. Portraits of the deceased, their significance and relationship with other surrounding tomb murals constitute a subject that deserves continued scholarly attention.