Paper-cut patterns related to the remains of totem worship among folk paper-cuts in Luliang, Zhongyang
In the large family of traditional folk paper-cut patterns, there are many strange images of animals and human-like faces and animal bodies. Some of these animals, such as snakes and frogs, are feared and kept away by people in real life. Even so, the majority of rural women take the trouble to express them, use them to decorate their lives, decorate the newlyweds' bridal chambers, and even decorate their childrens clothes. During several field surveys, the author found that paper-cut works with this kind of patterns account for a large part of the folk paper-cut themes in Zhongyang. The author believes that it is necessary to explore the cultural connotation behind this phenomenon.
According to ancient historical records, the totems of the Huangdi clan during the totem worship period included snakes and frogs. In addition, the totem of the legendary clan Nuwa was also a "frog". In ancient China, "Wa" had synonyms with "wa" and "frog", and all came from "黾". "This naturally organically links the oldest frog totem with the oldest Nuwa clan group. The 'frog' totem is the symbol of the Nuwa clan group." Regarding "Wa", Xu Shen of the Eastern Han Dynasty explained it in "Shuowen Jiezi" as "the ancient sacred goddess who transforms all things". "Shuowen Jiezi" records: "When the world first opened, Nuwa rolled loess to make a human being. She was overwhelmed by the drama, so she lifted up thousands of ropes across the mud and made a human being." In addition, the word "pregnant" in ancient times is "女", which is the image of a toad and a frog plus the word "女", which vividly illustrates that "女" and "frog" combine to form the word "pregnant". This is probably when Nuwa created humans. Show it in words.
It can be seen from this that "Nuwa" is everything in Chinese peoples thinking.The ancestor, the ancestor of mankind, is the god of life and reproduction. "Wa" is the same as "frog", and "frog" has many children. In a primitive matrilineal society that advocates life and reproduction, it seems reasonable to regard "frog" as the object of totem worship. From this point onwards, we can be sure that the appearance of the "frog" image in folk paper-cut patterns is a relic of primitive human totem worship and a schema representation of the consciousness of life reproduction. In the eyes of the Chinese, "snake" and "dragon" are interchangeable. "Dragon" is a virtual animal that does not exist... Its tone is that of a big snake, especially a five-step snake, which is frightening and awe-inspiring for its venom. For God. According to research, "the totem beliefs of the ancestors of the Huangdi clan (Xuanyuan clan), Xia clan (Xiahou clan) and even the Zhou clan, who are related by blood, are all of the same kind as fish, turtle, snake and dragon."
In addition, from the records in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" and the cultural relics unearthed from tombs of the Han and Tang Dynasties, it can be seen that "Nuwa" and another ancestral god "Fuxi" both had the head of a human and the body of a snake. It seems that the legendary ancestor of human beings had a snake very early on. Together they become idols worshiped by humans. In fact, there are many records and examples of snakes being worshiped as gods or sacred objects among the people and protected from harm. For example, "Sou Shen Ji" records, "There was a family in Yang County, surnamed Liao, who had been playing Gu for many lives and got rich. Later, when he married a new woman, he saw a big snake. The woman made soup and poured it down to kill it. When a family member returned, the womans clothes were white. The whole family was shocked by what happened. Not long after, there was an epidemic in the family and almost all of them died." Now in many places in Shanxi, people regard snakes as sacred objects and are taboo to harm them, especially domestic snakes. Therefore, the image of snakes in folk paper-cutting exists as a "god" or "holy object".
Furthermore, "snake", like the "frog" mentioned earlier, are the remains of primitive human nature worship and totem worship. With the advancement of clan society, human beings' affirmation of themselves has led to a shift from totem worship to the worship of themselves, that is, the worship of ancestor gods. We have already discussed that the snake and frog patterns in folk paper-cutting are the remnants of nature worship and totem worship. Then, the human-faced and animal-body patterns are naturally the graphical relics of the transition period from totem worship to ancestor worship. “This is a bun doll and animal The entity that combines totem worship is a half-human, half-animal god of protection and reproduction. It is the transitional form from animal totem worship to ancestor worship. It is an extremely important step for human beings to turn from slaves of nature to directors of nature. cultural relics of the historical era."
