Zhuang witchcraft paper-cutting and folk paper-cutting patterns
The Zhuang people have not formed a unified and standardized religion in history. Its religious beliefs are mainly developed from primitive religions, and gradually formed a pattern of religious beliefs dominated by shamanism, Buddhism and Taoism, and belief in multiple gods. Witchcraft paper-cutting is a carrier of divine power, which plays the role of "expelling evil spirits and warding off disasters, prolonging life, curing diseases and ensuring peace". The paper-cutting forms popular among the Zhuang people in western Guangxi and made by shamans (po) and used for witchcraft are mostly:
Shishi Talisman: It is composed of humanoid, animal-shaped and geometric patterns and other symbols. The talisman is divided into two levels, the upper level and the lower level. The upper level has three frontal human figures, with hands on hips, legs in a semi-squatting position, and a protrusion similar to a "stool" underneath. On the left side of the lower layer is a human figure, with hands on hips, legs spread apart, and feet turned outwards. The right elbow is connected to a standing sideways horse. The horses head is facing the person. There is a straight channel to the right of the horse. There is a geometric pattern in the lower right corner. It looks like a four-pointed star or a small flower with four opposite sides. According to the wizards explanation, the three figures in the upper part of the talisman are the witch gods, or the ancestors of witches. Together with horses, lower-class people are substitutes and tools for wizards to communicate with gods and ghosts during witchcraft. They are also symbols of the power of wizards and witchcraft. The passage behind the horse is the path to the gods, and the geometric paper-cut pattern in the lower right corner is the "star" or "bridge" of the new wizard. This symbol means that the old wizard has taught the new wizard the witchcraft and tools to communicate with the gods. Under the protection of the ancestor of the wizard god, the new wizard can exercise the power of sending gods and ghosts. This talisman should be affixed to the new wizards own altar, and incense should be offered as a sacrifice on the first and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year and before practicing witchcraft.
Education Talisman: Cut out a long bell-shaped pattern from red paper. Write "Namodu Golden Bridge Bodhisattva" in the upper middle of the paper. On the left, it says "Golden Flower Boy" and paste it on golden paper to cut a human figure. On the right side, it says "Silver Flower Lady" and paste it on silver paper. Cut out a human shape, write the word "pregnancy" in the center, and cut out arrows and prismatic patterns on the diagonal and cross center lines. There are five layers in total, which represent the life bridge and life star of women who want to get pregnant. Apparently, the human form represents the shaman god who sends children to the world. This talisman is stored in the housewifes box after the witchcraft is completed, and the "flower delivery" will be held when the child reaches the age of eight to twelve years old.; This talisman can only be burned in the ceremony of returning to Kao. In some areas, paper is cut into an elliptical pointed leaf shape, with the pointed tail pointing upward, and three tentacles are stuck out. The octagonal star-shaped paper cut is pasted on the tip of the horn, and the word "gold" is pasted on the oval part to pray for a boy. The leaf charm is affixed with a tooth-shaped flower pattern with the same width as the gold characters, implying a girl. This kind of talisman is inserted in the sacrificial incense burner to seek protection from the ancestors and provide children with heirs.
Others include flower prayer talismans, which are composed of geometric patterns with multi-layered and multi-layered blooming flower-like or radiating star-like patterns. The purpose is to connect women seeking fertility with the path to the gods, protect the fetus and relieve misfortune. The talisman is composed of some entangled leaf patterns, tube pole patterns, star patterns and human figures. It means that pregnant women pray for the protection of gods and witches to ensure that the fetus can smoothly pass through the flower bridge and enter the world; the soul-protecting bridge talisman is composed of four The starburst shape pattern is composed of the pattern of branches, tube pole flower shape, Rulang, etc., which is used for pregnant women to perform witchcraft before giving birth; the sacred bird flower protection talisman is composed of four leaves symmetrically wrapped branches protecting the sacred tree as the center, and the sacred tree is The pattern is divided into four pairs of symmetrical divine bird figures, which are used for witchcraft for sick children between 1 and 6 years old to protect their health; talismans for dispelling diseases and disasters; talismans for longevity; talismans for adding grain, picking up stars, and replenishing life bridges to pray for longevity. etc. Most of the above witch symbols use images to express wizards and peoples signs of expressing their wishes to gods and ghosts. These symbols are a combination of various different images. They have certain normative properties in a fairly wide range of areas. and is generally recognized by people.
Commonly used symbols include: human form, representing human soul, ghost or god. Most people are called red, and white people are called ghosts. When some shamans use human-shaped talismans, they use incense sticks to burn three small holes in the shape of an inverted "pin" on the head, or draw eyes on the paper cutouts to indicate that the "Rulang" has obtained the magical power of the witch. , can be driven by wizards at will to eliminate disasters for the people in charge of the family and pray for blessings and longevity; animal sideways shapes, the most commonly used are horses, followed by birds, butterflies (moths) and livestock and poultry shapes. Most of them represent divine power and witchcraft; plant shapes are widely used in paper-cut patterns. They are used in sacrificial ceremonies to reward gods, pray for longevity for the elderly, and also pray for flowers to build bridges for women of childbearing age and to cure diseases for children; geometric symbols represent The sun, a persons life star, a bridge or a road, represent the power of witches, etc. Most of the object-shaped patterns adopt objects that are seen intuitively in daily life, such as people, horses, birds, insects, flowers, wood, grass, fruits and utensils used in peoples daily lives. Some of the patterns are abstract natural objects, such as the sun, moon, and stars in the sky, and mountains, water, and rocks on the ground. In addition, a small part are imaginary objects.
These simple and ordinary symbols have such mysterious and powerful power in the minds of the Zhuang people, especially in the minds of wizards. As substitutes for witchcraft objects, they have a life connection and vitality with the witchcraft objects. of. Primitive religion makes use of the unique image quality of plastic arts and regards plastic arts as the residence and incarnation of various gods in order to achieve good production and a happy life. Worship the family to make it prosperous or to eliminate disasters. Strong witchThe essence of the humanoid image is the embodiment of the Zhuang peoples strong desire to conquer and self-strength in their consciousness of not succumbing to the pressure of nature and daring to challenge nature and human beings themselves. Moreover, it can be clearly seen from the animal patterns in the witchcraft window grilles that people not only hope to tame animals in reality, but even in their interactions with gods, they still never forget that the paper horse is for my use and the god I invite. Used. The symbols of birds, butterflies and plants are the marks of the worship of animals and plants by the ancestors of the Zhuang people, and they are used as carriers of divine power in paper-cutting.
In the development process of Zhuang culture, pictographic symbols serve as the carrier of the witchcraft psychology in the primitive and blind stages, reflecting the strong sense of control over the objective world in the Zhuangs primitive mentality. When there is a huge gap between peoples subjective abilities and the objective world and social abilities, tangible activities of witchcraft can be used to stimulate and induce human beings' understanding and confidence in their own abilities. This belief in witchcraft is the spiritual pillar of mankinds struggle for survival and struggle.
