Tiger culture and the art of the tiger
——The special value of Huazhou lisheng
Author: Wang Guozheng
(Note: The original text is abridged) The noodle flower is a folk art made of flour kneading and steaming, mainly distributed in the wheat-rich provinces of northern China. Its origin is related to the original sacrifice, which is a derivative of the "sacrifice" used for sacrifice, and belongs to the oldest branch among the women's folk art today. The ceremonial bun in Huaxian County, Shaanxi Province, is a must for Chinese noodles, and it shows people a magical world of Chinese national tiger culture inheritance with its rich style.
Hua County was called Huazhou in ancient times, bordered by the Yellow River in the east, Weishui in the middle, and the majestic Huashan and Shaohua Mountains in Nanping, named after the Erhua Mountains, which are the anointing land of the QinChuan River in Guanzhong. The Yellow River and Weishui River Basin were once one of the main birthplaces of the Chinese nation, and the ancestors of the Han people: Emperor Yan was born in Jiangshui (Fufeng, Qishan County), and the Yellow Emperor was buried in Qiaoshan (Huangling County), all of which were connected to the Huazhou region; the source of "Zhonghua" was the same as the ancient Chinese characters, "The Huaxia people lived according to Huashan" (Zhang Taiyan), and a large number of archaeological excavations confirmed that the western region centered on Huashan was an important birthplace of ancient Chinese civilization, so it was also related to ErhuaShan; in 806 BC, Zheng Huan established the ancient capital of the state of Zheng in Hua County (now the area around Dongzhou Village in Xiamiao Township); the Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties, Huazhou belonged to Gyeonggi.
The ancient Yanhuang culture and brilliant ancient civilization have not only been preserved in large quantities in historical books and Huazhou cultural relics, but also in folk customs and folk art. The local shadow puppetry is well-known at home and abroad; the local peasant calligraphy is deeply rooted and vigorous, and is a famous "peasant calligraphy town" in Shaanxi; and huazhou's ceremonial bun, as a typical carrier of ancient culture, is even more rare in the rural areas of the county.
Li Feng, hua county hometown called "flower steamed bun", the shape is particularly exquisite, the remaining Chinese national art tradition is very pure. There are many kinds of images made of buns, including individual, composite, and combined styles. The images of individual flowers, birds, insects, fishes, zodiac signs and so on are concise and atmospheric, the composite golden rooster fighting snake, wufu (bat) shou shou and other exquisite and exquisite, and the combined large crouching tiger, standing tiger, double-headed tiger and other images are the most representative, especially fully show the superb skills of local artists.
The big tiger bun, called "Big Valley Roll" by the villagers, is the largest kind of flower in it, generally two city feet long, five feet high, and weighs about fifteen to twenty pounds. When people first look at it, it is indeed a tiger full of vitality and splendid embroidery, but when they look closely, they are full of other animal and plant images that come alive. The tiger's eyes are made up of two flowers, the eyeballs are bulbous cores; the tiger's eyebrows are two fish in a horizontal row, the nose is a rooster with its head up, and the two tiger ears are also two symmetrical birds. The body of the tiger is a stout dragon, which is lined with a cloud pattern of coiled noodles embedded with red dates, and the back of the dragon is full of dazzling small faces of animals and plants such as the zodiac, flowers, birds, insects and fish. The tiger's tail is a large fish that is upturned upwards, and in the conspicuous place of the fish's belly, there are smaller plants such as chicken swallow flowers and grasses. The whole tiger is actually composed of dozens of other forms, slightly different colors, divine spirit, taken from the image, intended to convey affection, using the common image decoration techniques of local flowers, showing the vitality of the artist's spiritual creation everywhere.
In terms of color treatment, the big tiger bun also carries forward the excellent style of local noodle flowers, mainly the true color of white noodles, only painted with loud red, magenta, fresh baskets and other colors in key parts, which is refreshing and eye-catching, bright and not greasy, and does not destroy the requirements of food art for people to eat, which can be described as the finishing touch, just right.
Nowadays, the skilled women who knead dough flowers in Huaxian are all over the county, and everyone in every village, from grandmothers to daughters-in-law to girls, can knead dough flowers. Their exquisite skills have been passed down from generation to generation throughout the ages. The big tiger "grain roll" they made wonderfully combines the tiger dragon fish into the basic type, although the flower arrangement on the back is different under different artists in different villages, but the procedures of the tiger head, dragon body and fish tail are all the same. This kind of "Otani roll" is actually a tiger dragon bun. According to the elderly artists: "Fish and dragons are the same thing, dragons are born of fish, they are all worms in the water, tigers are worms on the mountain, and together they are powerful gods." They also said: "The appearance of the tiger's head and the dragon's body is handed down from the ancestors, and it is exquisite and cannot be changed." ”
In the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, Guhua Prefecture was adjacent to ethnic minorities such as Dali Rong and Li Rong, and there were yin shang tiger head copper car boxes unearthed in the territory, and there were relief clay pots on the top of dragon and tiger pillars in the Western Han Dynasty (Daming Township), etc. Various circumstances show that the integration of ancient dragon and tiger culture has left a deep imprint in the local area. The physical evidence about the integration of ancient dragon and tiger culture in folk events is difficult to find in today's China, and the tiger and dragon ceremony bun in Huazhou is just a typical physical object of the integration of dragon and tiger culture. It is an amazing rare gem that has survived a long history. What exactly made it pass down? This cannot but arouse great concern!
Huazhou lisheng has always been a relic and link between fellow villagers and relatives and friends, "the people take food as the sky", the use of lisheng runs through the whole process of the four hours and eight festivals of the year and the whole process of life etiquette, and is the most widely used folk gift in the local area.
Every year during the Spring Festival, the family steamed with four red dates inlaid with round "big flower stalk steamed buns", semi-circular butterfly-shaped "oil gang buns" and small flower buns with twisted flowers on the top. The three kinds of flower buns are given to each other according to the grandparents of relatives and friends. Fellow villagers also call "wontons" "back and forth buns", which are sent to relatives and friends' homes together with the other two kinds of buns, and the relatives and friends who are sent have different meanings and different retention, implying the depth of what both sides are willing to achieve in the "group relatives" exchange. If you leave all the gifts behind, it means that you are willing to help each other in the "season" and the red and white happy events, etc., and will not be sloppy.
On the second of February, the dragon looks up, the tiger opens its eyes, and each steamed and coils the "Jujube Mountain" and "Erlong Play Pearl" and other flowers and flowers of the red dates. "Jujube Mountain" is a triangle, and the upper spire is commonly known as the "scorpion tail", which is specially used for children to eat, and it is believed that after eating, it can "ambush five poisons" and strengthen the body.
During the Tomb Sweeping Festival to worship the ancestors, the rural households steamed the small tiger buns, the "pillar top stone" flower buns shaped like pillar stones, swallow buns, phoenix buns and so on. After sweeping the tomb, let the boys eat the small tiger bun and the pillar top stone bun, thinking that eating it can grow into a tiger and become a top pillar; let the girls eat swallow buns and phoenix buns, thinking that after eating, they can fly to a high place and marry a good family. Some farmers also bring a circular "running tiger bun" with the same number of men as the men in the family when visiting the grave, so that everyone can throw the "running tiger" from the grave, thinking that the farther they roll, the more they will come out. There are also some farmers, when sweeping the grave, steaming a kind of round flower bun that climbs on the dragon, which is specially allowed for the man to eat, thinking that after eating, "the plough is not cleaned, and the uphill is not afraid of slipping."
Ten days before the Duanyang Festival, the mother of the mother sent all kinds of small flower buns and "doll circles" to the daughter's family who was a bride. The "doll circle" is surrounded by various sachets such as small cloth tigers, and a rag doll is hung in the middle, and the careful mother-in-law always removes the doll and hangs it in the new daughter-in-law's room, which is similar to the "prenatal education" situation of hanging "tiger nose" in the pregnant woman's room in the Western Zhou Dynasty. "Look at the wheat yellow" and "watch the busy" are the unique local customs in The Huaxian area. In March and April, the daughter of the married daughter returned to her mother's house and gave her a small flower bun and a "cloud bun" with dates at both ends and a curved cloud. "Yun Yun" generally brings two, such as bringing three is to imply that you are happy with Takako.
On June 6, "Lu Jie removed his armor, and his mother looked at the wrongdoers." On this day, the mother visited her daughter and grandson, and brought a flower pot helmet steamed bun named "Qu Lianzi". The front of the pot helmet is depicted with patterns such as "Lotus Birth Noble Son" and "Sending Sheep", which are taken in harmony with the sheep and grain, indicating that the mother sends grain to the daughter; there is a round hole in the middle of the pot helmet, which means "encircling the baby" and protecting the grandson's long life.
The use of Huazhou lifu in the four o'clock and eight festivals of the year is colorful and colorful. However, if compared with the use of marriage and funeral in the etiquette of life. That's not just a matter of "Grandma Wang is only a little worse than Grandma Yu". After the birth of local children, the full moon is celebrated, at this time, grandmothers, aunts, aunts and other female elders will send the tiger dragon "Otani roll" for the first time, and at the same time, they will also send 100 flower buns such as tigers. What is more interesting is that the grandmother also hangs a pair of small tiger flower buns on the neck of the child who has just reached the full moon, thinking that after hanging it, it can drive away evil spirits and bless the child to grow up safely.
When the child is one year old, the uncle's family gives lanterns every year during the Lantern Festival, and the lanterns are hung with two chicken and fish buns that have fallen into the lanterns. When the child grows to twelve years old, the elders of each female lineage send the tiger dragon "Otani Roll" for the second time, and the villagers call this time the ceremony is "finish the lamp and unlock", congratulating the child on adulthood, and the degree of grandeur is no less than that of the full moon.
When children get married as adults, the local area is regarded as a gift of life. At the wedding, grandma and grandmother's family sent the tiger dragon "Otani roll" for the third time, while the aunt, aunt, sister and uncle each sent a gift bun known locally as "High Bun Plate". The "High Bun Plate" is a ceremonial bun column erected on both sides of the Hall, which is surrounded by a thick core of a bucket of foil, with red chopsticks inserted as nails, and a variety of flower buns are wrapped in layers from bottom to top with red rope. The general "high bun plate" is taller than one zhang, and the entangled flower bun is seven to nine layers. For the weddings of some people with many relatives, the erection of "high steamed bun plates" is as many as four plates, making the wedding atmosphere very lively.
The way the bride is greeted at a local wedding is also special. Beforehand, it was always necessary to find a woman in the village who was regarded as "Fuquan" to steam two palm-sized tigers, tie them up with red silk thread, and quickly hang them around her neck before the bride entered the door. After entering the cave, the groom and the bride compete to eat this tiger, and it is said that if the bride eats the tail of the tiger, she will become a "tiger's ass that can't be provoked.".
For the elderly to wish for their birthday, the local special steamed "big birthday peach" steamed steamed steamed and the peach, pomegranate, bergamot hand together "one tree bears three fruits" steamed steamed steamed bun. When wishing for the birthday, the younger generations give the old man a bowl of "longevity noodles" and think that the old man can add life after eating.
Locally steamed "Standing Tiger", "Lotus Roll", and "Flower Offering" Round Bun (also called Hun Chao) with flowers arranged on it are used during the funeral of people and the third anniversary. On the third anniversary, the first day is called "weeping mourning", and the "Standing Tiger" and other rituals are used to sacrifice the deceased; the next day is called "Happy Funeral", on this day the family members and children of the deceased take off their filial piety clothes, paste red couplets, and the main family distributes ceremonial steamed buns to thank relatives and friends.
The rich folk life of Huaxian Provided fertile soil for the circulation of the art of ceremonial bread, and the extensive use of the cycle made it flourish. The local art of ceremonial steamed buns embodies the simple will of the working masses, and shows the spiritual mysteries of folk customs, as if the goddess of heaven sprinkles the beautiful mountain flowers on the earth, beautifies the folk life and comforts the hearts of the fellow villagers. The most popular style, quantity and use of steamed buns is the tiger bun, which carries the local tiger folk customs and has been passed down from generation to generation. This pure and generous fashion has also enabled the tiger dragon "Otani Roll", which is the head of the local ceremony, to be passed down according to strict norms and used like holy relics in major life rituals.
The artistic practice of working women in Huaxian County can sing and cry, and in order to inherit and carry forward the excellent culture of our nation, the merits will last forever.
About author:Wang Guozheng, born in August 1944 in Shenmu City, Shaanxi Province, graduated from Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts in 1969, researcher, national first-class artist, postgraduate tutor of fine arts of China Academy of Art, president of Shaanxi American-Chinese Oil Painting and Sculpture Institute. Awarded 9 times by the Ministry of Culture and Shaanxi Province. He has published more than 10 monographs and edited tv specials. Over the years, he has published thousands of art works and published more than 100 art papers in major media such as People's Daily, Guangming Daily, Fine Arts Magazine, China Art Newspaper, Art Newspaper, Collection Heaven and Earth, International Daily (United States), Overseas Chinese Daily (United States), etc. In 2003, he served as the head of the national art research project and the content of the National Exhibition of the Chinese Culture Year in Paris, and was the winner of the Qunxing Award, the highest award of the Chinese government in 1999, and the winner of the Shaanxi Provincial Most Influential Person Award.
Source: 3 netizens · literary and artistic horizon view
Original author: Wang Guozheng
Finishing and editing: Literary and art horizon view, Huazhou literature and history