Imagery symbols in traditional paper-cut patterns
A symbol is another thing that represents something. It is both a physical object and a psychological effect. In the early 20th century, the Swiss linguist Saussure put forward a relatively clear and accurate explanation of "sign" when he was teaching general linguistics at the University of Geneva. In Saussures interpretation, a sign is a unity composed of the signifier and the signified. The so-called signifier refers to the form of the sign, that is, the shape of the sign, which can be simply called the sign; and the signifier refers to the content of the sign, that is, the thought, which is the meaning represented by the sign or the interpretation of the sign user, which may be called Symbol meaning or symbol interpretation (promoted reading: Introduction to Chinese folk paper-cut graphic symbols).
The discussion of symbols in folk art only happened in the late 1980s. Strictly speaking, the imaginative symbols and pure symbol concepts in folk art are two different things. The so-called symbol here is a narrow concept, and neither the pattern units nor their components in all aspects of folk art are treated as symbols. Only selected carriers of concepts that are solid, universal, inheritable, and abstract. These have the characteristics of imagery in thinking and contain symbolic meanings. (More related reading: The conventional symbolic meaning in Chinese folk paper-cutting) The famous modern German philosopher Ernst Cassirer said: "Symbolic thinking and symbolic behavior are the most representative features of human life. "Susan Lange, the founder of literary semiotics, contemporary American philosopher and esthetician, said: "The symbol used in art is a metaphor, an image containing an open or hidden true meaning, and the artistic symbol But it is an ultimate image - an irrational and inexpressible image, an image that appeals to direct perception, an image full of emotion, life and personality, an image that appeals to It is a living thing based on feelings. Therefore, it is also the birthplace of rational knowledge." This passage not only shows the characteristics of artistic symbols, but also shows that artistic symbols have imagery, symbolism, ineffability, etc.
In folk paper-cutting, several common symbols representing reproduction or albizia are allIts functions are shown in the above characteristics, and many of them maintain contact with ancient Chinese culture. This type of symbol representing reproduction is a bright sign in the subsystem of folk paper-cutting. (Extended reading: The influence of fertility worship on Chinese folk paper-cut symbols)
