The sweeping meaning of the bun-grabbing doll in traditional folk paper-cutting
In rural areas of northern Shaanxi, if there is a continuous rainy day, women will cut the "sweeping head" to stop the rain. The image of "Sweeping Goddess" is a doll with a bun holding a broom in one hand and a gray bag in the other. Some brooms are directly cut out, while others are made of real broom bristles attached to the parts of the paper-cut hands, and then tied with threads. Put it on the tip of the pole, insert it into your own grinding eye, and recite "The clouds have swept to all sides, and the sun has swept into the sky." People in Xingping, Shaanxi Province, chanted to the doll with a bun that "sweeps the rain": "Big-headed doll, dustpan, you blow away the black clouds." In their opinion, the function of this paper doll is so magical. According to the records quoted by Mr. Jin Zhilin from "Huainanzi Xian Ming Xun", the prototype of the "grabbing doll" who sweeps the sky and stops the rain is Nuwa, who "accumulates reed ashes to stop the rain". In addition, there is also a record in "Lunheng·Shungu Chapter" that "if the rain does not stop for a long time, the community will be attacked and sacrifices will be made to Nuwa". From this point of view, the "Sweeping Goddess" who stops rain and sweeps the sky is a variant of Nuwa in folk beliefs, which also provides the answer to the common peoples belief in the witchcraft ability of "Sweeping Gods".
As Mr. Lu Xun put it in "A Brief History of Chinese Novels": "China originally believed in witchcraft." Witchcraft psychology and witchcraft activities have played an important role in the formation of Chinese history and culture, the formation of religious culture, and Chinese aesthetic culture. The formation has had a great impact. Witch culture has influenced the folk customs of Chinese society for thousands of years and the cultural mentality of the Chinese people. One of the media that best reflects the characteristics of primitive shaman culture is art. Folk art is the main way for folk paper-cutting artists to express various emotions and wishes in life. It is also a way for people to communicate with the natural world, influence and control the external expression of nature. Therefore, the creative purpose of folk paper-cutting originated from witchcraft. It seems natural.
