Beijing News (reporter Geng Ziye) The Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger is coming, 67-year-old Jiang Lijuan has not yet had time to prepare New Year goods, these days she has been busy in the mall "Tiger Culture Exhibition" stalls, stalls are full of tiger head shoes, tiger head pillows, tiger head hats, tiger culture atmosphere is quite strong.
Jiang Lijuan, 67, is an old craftsman who makes tiger head shoes. Beijing News reporter Geng Ziye photographed
Jiang Lijuan is an old craftsman who makes tiger head shoes and has insisted on it for more than 20 years. Although she is a "halfway out of the house", she is no stranger to needlework. Jiang Lijuan comes from a small mountain village at the foot of the Great Wall in Funing, Hebei Province, and from her grandmother's mother's generation, she is a famous daughter-in-law in ten miles and eight townships, and the shoes and hats worn by the children are made by hand. Jiang Lijuan has been hearing about it since she was a child, and after she was more than ten years old, she began to learn to make embroidered shoes with her elders. After graduating from school, Jiang Lijuan stayed in Beijing to work, but the embroidery did not fall, at the age of 47, Jiang Lijuan began to devote herself to the production of embroidery, "the craftsmanship passed down from generation to generation cannot be lost here in me." ”
"Making tiger shoes is all said, and the colorful lines symbolize the peace of the five-way god of wealth, and also represent gold, wood, water, fire and earth." Jiang Lijuan took a pair of tiger head shoes to introduce, these two bells are not the same, representing the difference, golden ears are praying for blessings and fortune, the three stitches on the eyes mean three lives and all things, in turn look at the sole, the stitches of the sole are "nine" needles a cluster, because "nine" is the largest yang number in ancient China, "nine" also represents longevity and longevity.
The multicolored threads on the tiger's toe shoes symbolize the safety of the five-way god of wealth. Beijing News reporter Geng Ziye photographed
Speaking of the practice of tiger head shoes, Jiang Lijuan introduced to reporters that the sole practice of traditional tiger head shoes varies from place to place, and the shape system also has its own characteristics, which has the ornamental and aesthetic value of Chinese folk art, and the traditional tiger head shoes style and pattern fully express the expectations and love of the elders for their children, which is the beautiful expectation of the previous generation for the next generation. Jiang Lijuan innovated the design of tiger head shoes in the inheritance, which is more in line with the aesthetic views of modern people in terms of color, and also specially designed shoes without heels, one piece down, easy to wear, beautiful, and not grinding feet.
Speaking of the traditions left by the older generation, Jiang Lijuan introduced that not only do tiger head shoes have to talk about, but also wear tiger head shoes, and wear tiger head shoes to follow the wearing rules of "head double blue, two pairs red, three pairs purple". In Beijing, people pay attention to the first pair of shoes worn by children, have a nose and eyes, go out at night without getting lost, and walk during the day without touching people. In the folk, tiger head shoes are also regarded as children's mascots, borrowing the masculinity and might of the tiger to pray for children to prolong life, tiger head shoes are also considered to be the most grounded children's shoes.
Tiger toe shoes are also seen as children's mascots. Beijing News reporter Geng Ziye photographed
The Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger is coming soon, Jiang Lijuan's business is much better than in previous years, in addition to tiger head shoes, Jiang Lijuan also made tiger head hats, tiger head cloaks, tiger head vests, tiger head belly pockets, tiger head saliva pockets and tiger head multicolored thread bracelets, which are sold at the "Tiger Culture Exhibition".
Beijing News reporter Geng Ziye
Edited by Zhang Shujing Proofreader Zhao Lin