Analogical understanding in folk paper-cut patterns
Different from the (directed) way of thinking of adult human intelligence, psychoanalysts have proposed another important way of thinking when studying childrens initial language and thinking: undirected thinking. , this way of thinking is subconscious, that is, the purpose it pursues and the questions it tries to answer are not within consciousness; it does not adapt to reality, but creates an imaginary dream world for itself. This kind of undirected thinking mainly relies on images and it expresses itself through indirect methods, with the help of symbols and myths to arouse the emotions that generate it. While the development of directed thinking in adult humans is more and more strictly governed by empirical laws, undirected thinking, on the other hand, is subject to a whole system of special laws (the laws of symbolism and immediate gratification). The imagistic way of thinking in folk art creation reflects the characteristics of undirected thinking in human childhood. Undirected thinking is reflected in folk paper-cutting as a direct analogy between human beings' self-centeredness and nature. Vico, the founder of cultural anthropology, defined the fundamental characteristics of this original state of human thinking as "image" thinking and "taking things by themselves".
The most basic way of image thinking among ordinary people is image thinking in analogy. Since human beings' original thinking uses images as the material and means of thinking and understanding, this kind of thinking is very subjective and subjective, thus forming the characteristic of "valuing things by oneself" of perceptual thinking. In the second volume of "New Science", Vico proposed an "element": "Because of the ambiguity of the human heart, whenever it falls into ignorance, man turns himself into the standard by which the universe is measured." Vico put it It is very insightful to define the fundamental characteristics of primitive thinking as "image" thinking and "using oneself to measure things". "Image" is the essence of this kind of thinking, and "using oneself to measure things" is the way of understanding. According to this, it can be believed that human beings’ original thinking must focus on the analogy of form and image, and use analogy to understand, explain and grasp the essence and characteristics of objects. Therefore, “Metaphor" and "personification" have become the earliest ways for humans to express their own impressions. Through a series of analogical psychological activities, people "transform themselves into things, and they become those things", thereby achieving the goal of "transforming themselves into things", thus achieving the goal of "transforming themselves into things". "Things" are then "from things to me" and the realm of "things and I are forgotten, things and I are the same".
In folk life, the theme of marriage, love and reproduction between the sexes has been expressed through analogies for a long time. For example, using fish to symbolize women seems to be very simple when explained clearly. From the appearance point of view, it is because the outline of the fish symbolizes the female vagina; from the connotation point of view, it is because the fish has a strong reproductive ability. Humans use fish to refer to women, which first expresses their envy and worship of fish. This kind of envy is the envy of the strong reproductive capacity of fish; primitive humans were in the beginning of chaos, and there was no strict distinction between humans and animals. The similar associations between fish and vulva triggered a kind of simulation psychology in them. After comparing with the reproductive capacity of fish, ancient ancestors, especially women, longed for the transfer or enhancement of reproductive function by worshiping fish, that is, they could transfer the strong reproductive capacity of fish to themselves. For this reason, ancient people Humans use fish to symbolize female genitals and pray for a prosperous population. Fish, as a reference to women, frequently appears in primitive art and folk paper-cutting. In addition, lotus and other plant patterns commonly seen in paper-cuts expressing the theme of marriage, love and reproduction are also analogous symbols of the female genitals. From an appearance point of view, the petals, leaves, and certain fruits can be shaped like a female vagina; from a connotation point of view, plants bloom and bear fruit once a year, have countless leaves, and have unlimited reproductive capabilities. Therefore, ancient humans worshiped plants with blooming flowers, lush foliage, and abundant fruits in order to pray for their own fertility and endless reproduction. In his article "Shi Zuhe", Guo Moruo took the example of the first character of "pedi" being "emperor" and "emperor" originally being the full shape of a flower, and believed that worshiping plants was a manifestation of ancient peoples fertility worship. The choice of plants as the object of reproductive worship is fundamentally driven by human analogy psychology.
Furthermore, customs such as using basins and trays to show the mothers body or related to pregnancy existed in the Jin Dynasty. For example, Volume 14 of Jin Qianbaos "Sou Shen Ji" says: "The Gaoxin family has an old woman living in the palace. The ear disease lasted for a long time, and the doctor tried to treat it, but the acercomitan was as big as a cocoon. After the woman left, he put a gourd fence and covered it with a pan. The earworm turned into a dog with five colors on it, so it was named Panhu. "Southern Song Dynasty. ?Volume 20 of Wu Zimus "Mengliang Lu" says: "For example, if a pregnant woman is in her first month and her period is about to expire, her maternal aunt and uncles house will have a silver or colorful basin filled with a bunch of millet stalks, covered with brocade or paper, and covered with clusters of flowers. , Tongcao, Tietao, five men and two women, and a sleeping sheep and a deer. One hundred and twenty painted duck eggs, meals, sheep, raw dates, chestnuts, and childrens embroidered colorful clothes were sent to the son-in-laws house. Name birth ceremony.” It can be seen that the plates, gourds, basins and even ear points here have extraordinary functions, and there is no doubt that they are interchangeable with each other. Based on this, we can clearly explain the marriage and fertility images carried in folk paper-cutting themes such as "Two Cats Lying on Pans", "Fish Lying in Basins", "Butterflies Flapping Lotus Vase", etc. The arrangement of these image symbols They are all very neat and orderly: cats, tigers, fish, birds, chickens, and butterflies are metaphors for men; chrysanthemums, lotus, peonies, frogs, plates, bowls, and bottles are metaphors for women; and pregnant women are all obvious and easy to point to. Here, we can clearly see that the symbols of women or pregnant women chosen by humans, such as fish, basins, flowers and trees, generally follow the evolution of symbolizing the vulva → symbolizing women → symbolizing pregnancy, etc. Among them, there are both outsiders and outsiders.
