Neutral symbols and marks in Chinese folk paper-cutting
As mentioned earlier, the Chinese folk paper-cut art form is influenced by the psychology of working women pursuing perfection. The shape pays attention to the integrity of the form, and the outline of one object and another object do not obscure each other. When we appreciate Chinese folk paper-cutting, we find that the actual situation is not entirely like this. Often the image of one thing is obscured by the image of another. For example, a peony growing on the tail of a big-flowered rooster is almost completely covered or completely covered and not expressed. , this is specially arranged by women and is the result of womens unique understanding based on the needs of folk life and their own life experience. Most of these works evolved from the original proposition of reproduction.
We take "Icing on the Golden Chicken" as an example for analysis. When people talk about Chinese folk paper-cutting, they have two understandings of this form of expression: ① It uses homophonic methods to express auspiciousness; ② The long tail of the chicken is "beautiful". In order to make a judgmental conclusion, we first trace the origin of "Icing on the Golden Chicken". According to records, the pattern "Icing on the Golden Rooster" evolved from the "Golden Rooster Exploring the Lotus", which is also composed of chickens and flowers, and the chickens and flowers are connected by the word "tan". The language deployment method of "Golden Rooster Exploring the Lotus" is obviously not a common method used in Chinese today. Check the "Dictionary of Commonly Used Ancient Chinese Words" (Commercial Press), "Exploration" means "to dig out, to put your hand in to pick up something". "Yixi Ci" Tan Yisuoyin means "sparse exploration, peep and seek for acquisition". The above interpretation of "tan" clearly includes the meaning of "stretch". According to the meaning of "exploring" at this level, we can know that the so-called "golden rooster explores the lotus" means that "the golden rooster reaches out to the lotus to seek for it." What do you seek? The lotus will grow lotus pods and give birth to lotus seeds. The lotus seeds are what the golden rooster wants to obtain, showing the theme of reproduction. "Explore" means "reach in"Its a lingo for sexual intercourse. "Lotus Born Takako" evolved from "Fish Playing with Lotus", "play" and "exploration" have the same meaning. Lu Bus play with Diao Shan in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is a popular love story, and the word "play" here is The meaning will be fully understood by anyone who knows the story. The "exploration" of the golden rooster, the "play" of the fish and the "play" of Lu Bu are all behaviors of the same nature. It is also based on this meaning that people call mens unruly intentions towards women "teasing".
The reproductive organs of birds are towards the tail, and the reproductive organs of fish are on the abdomen. Therefore, the "explored" and "played" lotus flowers are placed on the tail of the bird and the belly of the fish respectively to express peace. If lotus and peony flowers are not placed at the tail of the golden rooster, the purpose of "exploration" will not be achieved. With the evolution of current events, "Golden Rooster" evolved into "Cotton", "Lotus" evolved into "Peony", and "Tan" was also replaced by "Tim". The meaning has gone completely opposite. In the formal expression of Chinese folk paper-cut patterns, the "icing on the cake" still retains the original meaning of "golden rooster exploring the lotus". From this, we can know that the position of "flower" has strict folk norms and is not placed in a certain position casually. The "flower" placed on the tail of the chicken is not for decorative purposes.
Rural women have extended this expression technique in the inheritance of folk paper-cut art modeling traditions, and used it in the form of other objects, some for decoration, and some still represent the combination of yin and yang. "Phoenix Playing with Peonies" also follows this formula. The pattern of "Fish Playing with Lotus" is a variant of "Fish Playing with Lotus". The fish bites under the lotus or passes through the lotus stem. The combination of movement and stillness of "fish and lotus" symbolizing yin and yang reflects a unique psychological pursuit of women. , is the release of suppressed sexual desire. When I was collecting stories in the rural areas of Henan, I heard the sayings among women: "Think about riddles carefully and guess broadly." For riddles such as rough riddles and fine guesses, the riddles are ugly and "yellow" in description, but the answers are very clean. "Thin riddles and rough guesses" are exactly the opposite of the former. The riddles are very clean and the answers are absolute."yellow". This is the inner secret of women that is difficult to reveal to the opposite sex. Mr. Jin Zhilin encountered this situation when he was collecting folk songs in Shaanxi:
It turns out that I didn’t know what it meant. Once I went to the countryside in Wuli Town, Yijun, and asked them what the “fish playing lotus” and “fish arousing lotus” they cut meant. The women turned red with embarrassment and exchanged words with each other. Regardless of pushing the building, an aunt finally said: "Its love." "Yu" is male and "Lotus" is female. "The fish instigated the lotus. It was the fish that bit the lotus, and she got married and had a baby." "Yu Xi Lian is a man and woman playing together, before they get married and have a baby." ((Art research, modeling system of Chinese folk art) 1
