Swastika in a collection of Chinese folk paper-cut patterns
Swastika - ten thousand words without stopping. The swastika symbol originally did not have the connotation of intersecting yin and yang or fertility worship. It is an ancient charm, talisman or religious symbol. It is called Srivatsa in Sanskrit. It is the symbol of the Buddha Sakyamunis enlightenment and the state of unity between man and nature. At that time, the auspicious appearance of the Milky Way nebula displayed by magnifying the light in the chest is considered to be a symbol of the sun or fire. (Extended reading: Yin and Yang Bagua diagrams in folk paper-cutting in northern Shaanxi)
The second year of longevity of Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty was adopted as the Chinese character (read: ten thousand), which means good luck and blessings. Tang Huiyuans "Huayan Yinyi" records this incident: "The original swastika is not a Chinese character. In the second year of Zhou Changshou, the power of this article was written. The sound is ten thousand, which is called the collection of auspiciousness and ten thousand virtues." (For more information, please refer to: Paper-cutting. Decorative patterns) In Chinese folk culture, the symbolic meaning of the swastika has undergone some transformations, and is often used to express endless life, progeny, happiness, longevity, and health. This is because after the swastika was introduced to the Central Plains, it integrated with the Central Plains culture and became the symbolic symbol of the original Chinese philosophical system.
In the bronze patterns of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of the Zhou Dynasty and later, the swastika pattern rotating in the sky was added with two snake heads (dragon heads), turning it into a pattern of intersecting yin and yang snakes (double dragons) rotating in the sky. This The symbol of sun worship was transformed into the symbol of the combination of yin and yang and endless reproduction in the original Chinese philosophy. Its geometric shape was transformed into the so-called "panchi pattern" and "panchi pattern" symbols, which were widely used in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties. Among the bronze ritual vessels, it also became a characteristic of the philosophical and cultural symbols of this period. This feature affects the expression of Chinese folk culture. Folks believe that having more children means more blessings and wealth. Therefore, in folk paper-cutting, the swastika symbol is also given to the intersection of two snakes or the intersection of two dragons. The sky rotates, life reproduces, and life is endless. The cultural connotation of interest, its two-sided and four-sided continuity is called "ten thousand words never ending" or "wealth never ends".
The paper-cut work "Bowling in a Bowl" gives birth to lotus flowers in this bowl that represents the union of 卺, and also gives birth to a swastika. The bowl, lotus and swastika are also produced.Together, the yin and yang are in harmony, and the meaning of continuous and endless generations of descendants is self-evident.
