Chapter 18 Chapter Six Folk Sculpture

In Chinese cultural tradition, there is no real religious worship.The only kind of worship that can become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people is ancestor worship.At the heart of ancestor worship is the desire for a continuation of the blood line and the protection of some supernatural power in the continuation of the blood line. The continuation of blood depends on fertility.However, regarding fertility, ancient China was based on a wrong understanding: it was believed that the best time for women to conceive was the days before and after their menstrual period.The ancients calculated based on this understanding, and they still believed in it even though they did not obtain offspring. However, the phenomenon of obtaining offspring that did not conform to this understanding was attributed to a more erroneous conclusion—the birth of life is controlled by gods.In addition, the traditional concept believes that the inheritance of blood can only be realized by men; having a girl but not a boy is regarded as cutting off offspring.These pursuits and understandings about fertility are mainly reflected in the two series of works of sending children and intercourse in folk sculptures.

Relying on gods or supernatural powers to achieve fertility occurs frequently in ancient records.For example, in "Historical Records of Justice", Emperor Yan Yan was born for his mother, Ren Si, who sensed the dragon; Born from the dream of the stars; another example in "Hanshu" said that Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, was born for his mother's dream of meeting the gods, and the dragon intertwined with him; The most famous and surnamed deity is the Queen Mother of the West."Jiao Shi Yi Lin Qianzhi No. 1" written by Jiao Gan in the Han Dynasty said: "Ji is the envoy of Yao, and the Queen Mother went to the west. Please pray for Baifu and give me a good son." It also said: "West meets the Queen Mother , love my nine sons, relatively happy. Kings and grandchildren, family fortune and well-being." ("Fifty Cuisine of the Tripod") The image of the Queen Mother of the West with reproductive worship significance appears in a large number of bricks and stones in Han Dynasty portraits.However, because most of the bricks and stones of Han Dynasty portraits were made by folk craftsmen, there is reason to regard them as a form of folk sculpture.Songzi works are widely seen in folk sculptures today, mainly Qilin Songzi, Guanyin Songzi, Zhangxian Songzi, Tianxian Songzi, Tianhou (Mazu) Songzi, Tianguan Songzi, etc.These "songzi" styles mostly originated from a certain historical story or a certain allusion, and gradually evolved into folk tales or folklore before appearing in folk art.For example, "Kirin Sending a Child" mainly comes from the mythical story about the appearance of a kylin when Confucius was born in the Han Dynasty; "Zhang Xian Sending a Child" mainly comes from the love story between Meng Chang (Chang Chang), the emperor of Houshu in the Five Dynasties, and his concubine, Mrs. Huarui; "Songzi" mainly comes from the bizarre story that Emperor Wu of the Northern Wei Dynasty met a fairy and became Emperor Yuan, and so on.Of course, when folk artists express these contents, they use the things they are familiar with (such as clothing, characters, geographical environment, etc.) as the basis for their creation.It is precisely because folk artists pursue this creative principle that although the same content is created by different people and places, the works created are quite different.

In addition to supernatural powers, the reproduction of offspring has to go through human beings themselves.As a reflection of this content, as mentioned in the first section, the art of primitive people mainly focuses on two explicit forms of expression: male and female copulation and female bodies loosened by multiple births.Shortly after the collapse of primitive society, intercourse between men and women (coitus) was regarded as the only and main form of expression.With the development of society and the change of human concepts, the direct expression of this content in art has gradually faded.A large number of intercourse themes that appear in folk sculptures are expressed in two ways: symbolic and allegorical.

Among the symbolic representations of mating themes in folk sculptures, the most representative images are phoenix wearing peony, duck playing willow, fish playing lotus and so on.These images are essentially a manifestation of Chinese culture, that is, expressions of philosophy and folk customs.Like a phoenix wearing a peony, it implies various concepts in Chinese culture.The phoenix is ​​a pure yang thing, and the peony, a kind of flower, symbolizes the yin; the phoenix is ​​a benevolent bird, and the peony is a flower of wealth; the bird is a common name for male genitalia in folklore, and the shape of peony is often compared to a woman in folk literature and art. Genitals... The combination of phoenix and peony is the action or behavior of "wearing". Although most of them are expressed in luxurious and rich patterns, the meaning contained in them is extremely primitive and very clear.The same is true for Yu Xilian.In folk art, phoenix, fish, duck, etc. always represent masculine or masculine, while peony, lotus, willow, etc. always represent feminine or feminine.The masculine things are combined with the feminine things through actions such as "wearing" and "playing", that is, in a manner of expression, which symbolizes the goal of human beings to achieve a full house of children and grandchildren through their own strength.

The allegorical expression of intercourse in folk sculpture is mainly reflected in homonyms or conventional schemas.The wonderful use of homophony can be seen everywhere in folk art, and homophony can be both auspicious and unlucky.In folk art, a large number of auspicious and happy homonyms are used as "mouth color" to achieve the purpose of congratulating each other and making everyone happy.A typical homophonic representation of the theme of intercourse is "Liansheng Guizi", in which lotus flowers, osmanthus flowers and a boy blowing sheng are either engraved or sculpted in the work, and the whole work seems to be quite festive.But the real meaning of this kind of work is "Lianshengguizi" expressed according to its homonym.The established schema is not formed in a day or two, just like the formation of all stylizations, it is the result of a series of creative explorations and a series of selection of concepts.For example, works such as "Happy Opening the Lotus Gate" are mostly a boy walking out of the lotus-shaped gate.This pattern, which symbolizes the birth of life, is formed by combining Buddhist allusions and folk customs.According to Buddhism, mortal people are born from the lotus and come to the Dharma Realm to achieve positive results after cultivation; in Chinese folk customs, it is called "youxi" when a woman conceives a child, and the birth of a child is even more congratulatory Great joy; in the tradition of folk art, the lotus is a symbol of vulva.Combining the above-mentioned meanings, the work "Happy Opening the Lotus Gate" is actually a kind of prayer and yearning for reproduction, and it is the best result of intercourse between men and women.A more obvious pattern than "Happy Opening the Lotus Gate" is the "Hundred Sons Picture".The "hundred sons" in this kind of schema do not all have the real number of hundreds of sons, especially in folk sculptures, it is very good to be able to engrave twenty or thirty children in one sculpture.Despite this, the desire to have many children and grandchildren was still strongly expressed.