The Origin and Folklore of Phoenix Bird Patterns in China

Abstract: The primitive ancestors in China linked the fertility of birds with that of human beings through the concept of spawning. Sunbird modeling originated from the ancient concept of using animals to represent seasons and times, and was painted in tombs to express primitive people's pursuit of life continuation. Among them, the painting styles of birds and snakes reflect the integration of tribal cultures, thus giving birth to an auspicious and peaceful imaginary bird of the Phoenix. Phoenix is known as the "beautiful bird of god", which has shown great artistic vitality in different artistic carriers in different historical periods. Feng Niaowen is widely used in various forms of folk painting because of its good meaning of good luck and longevity, and it is becoming more and more popular with the development of the times.

Keywords: Phoenix bird design auspicious folk custom

First, the origin of bird pattern

The image of a bird first appeared on the pottery patterns of the Neolithic Age, and it was also the embryonic form of the image of a phoenix. Like dragons and snakes, it is the totem of ancient people in China. In China's creation myth, birds occupy a very important position as ancestors. The concept of bird eggs as the origin of life and the origin of the universe has appeared in many tribes of ancestors, such as Yin Shang, Manchu and Pre-Qin. Genesis is closely related to the concept of reproduction, because reproduction is related to human survival, and this worship must be universal. Thinking from this angle, we can easily understand why our ancestors painted so many bird shapes on pottery, jade and other things. The reproductive significance of eggs and its relationship with human beings are widely circulated in folk customs. For example, in many areas, it is popular for son-in-law to visit her parents-in-law's house, and her mother-in-law should make poached eggs for her son-in-law. For another example, it is the legacy of this concept of fertility that women who visit "confinement" take eggs as their main gifts.

Before ancient times and flower-and-bird painting, bird patterns combined the sun and birds to express time and emphasize the eternity of life. According to archaeological findings, the direct cause of Sunbird's painting stems from human's pursuit of life, which is often produced when human faces death. The ancients thought that the dead could not see the sun in the underworld, hoping to enjoy the brightness and warmth of the sun like the living after death, so the myth of sunbird appeared, which appeared in the burial ceremony. Birds and branches can form the meaning of sunbird, indicating a specific time. From the Warring States to the Han Dynasty, different images of this sunbird can be seen everywhere, such as murals, silk paintings and pottery patterns. In addition, there must be birds (Suzaku, Sun and Moon) and toads in the tomb paintings, which express the idea of the deceased's immortality. Feather portraits unearthed on the bricks of Han tombs in Qionglai county, Sichuan province can fully express people's imagination of the dead. The figure in the picture is a bird's head with a crown on its head and a sun on its abdomen, including birds, with the same posture as the figure. The combination of feather man and sunbird expresses the idea that the deceased ascended to heaven and became immortal. Judging from the smiling expression and free posture of the characters, it is completely ideal.

Before flower-and-bird painting appeared, there was a common graphic form of birds, that is, birds and snakes were painted side by side. This schema seems to be a totem symbol of primitive tribal struggle in academic circles. For example, Mr. Rui Chuanming and Mr. Yu Taishan believe in the Comparison of Chinese and Western Decoration that the bird and snake map is the struggle between the workers (water gods) and Gao Xinmin (bird gods) and the motif of the ancient totem bird and snake struggle. Mr. Chen holds a similar view in "Bird Culture in China", and he quotes it more specifically. He believes that Emperor Yan and Chiyou are both members of the Sunbird tribe, and they fought to the death with the Yellow Emperor respectively. This paper quotes the righteous cloud in A Record of the Five Emperors ... The world was disturbed, so the emperor painted the image of Chiyou to dominate the world. The salt in the world means that Chiyou is immortal, and all countries in all directions are clothed. "So this kind of wind became popular in later generations. In fact, the emperor borrowed the image of Chiyou, not to promote Chiyou, but to win over all the people in his original tribal areas, or to threaten everyone with his great achievements in defeating Chiyou, so as to make the world peaceful. As a representative of snake worship, the emperor is also a winner. It is only a temporary means to attract people with the image of Chiyou. In a longer period of time, he must vigorously promote himself. The existing pattern of birds and snakes is characterized by birds as the main body, which seems to be the winner's air, while snakes are weak and seem to be the image of supporting roles or injured people. So why don't winners have an advantage? Careful analysis shows that the bird snake pattern may appear as a symbol of the initial tribal totem opposition struggle, especially in the clan society with frequent wars. However, after the end of the clan society, the war did not call for clan totem to gather people's hearts. Will this model exist for thousands of years? If it exists, there will be changes related to the times during this period. From the Warring States to the Qin and Han Dynasties, the carving of flowers, birds and snakes has become a certain trend. They do not represent a specific tribe, which is the result of the disappearance of tribes and cultural integration. Due to the disappearance of totem and the development of animal husbandry, people entering the civilized era are close to birds and far away from snakes and beasts. Therefore, on the basis of inheriting the bird-snake schema, they often stand on the side of birds and birds, and gradually establish the concept of "birds are good and snakes are evil" During this period, the struggle between birds and snakes is often the sustenance of people's own strength.

Second, the origin of the phoenix pattern

After the totem era disappeared, people began to transform the traditional totem image, and the bird was transformed into the image of a phoenix. The emergence of the king of birds not only symbolizes the concept of imperial power, but also resolves life and death. Phoenix is a bird of change and rebirth. This is also the way to solve the war. Phoenix is a bird of peace. Since then, China's belief in birds has entered a stable period, and birds in flower-and-bird paintings have emerged as a natural form. Of course, the totem of the snake was transformed into the image of a dragon, which continues side by side with the phoenix to this day.

The original form of phoenix is the image of a divine bird, but the image is not specific and clear, and it is a combination of fire, sun and bird. There are two theories about the origin of the phoenix: one is the totem theory of mysterious birds. The poem says, "A born bird is a mysterious bird, but a born businessman." The so-called mysterious bird is a phoenix bird. That is to say, the phoenix fell from the sky and the Shang Dynasty appeared. Some bird patterns depicted on painted pottery in primitive society in Neolithic age are the embryonic form of phoenix image. The other is said by Xiangrui, a colorful bird. This statement comes from Shan Hai Jing and Nan Ci Shan Jing: "Danxue Mountain, happy ever after, fresh water flows out and flows into Bohai Sea in the south. There is a kind of bird, which is shaped like a chicken, colorful and colorful, and named Phoenix. It is a bird, eating naturally, singing and dancing, and seeing the world at peace. " (2) The Record of Foreign Objects also said: "Its birds are written in five colors, with a red beak and a crown on their heads, which means that the world is peaceful, and you have a way to see it." After the world has always believed that if there are colorful birds, it is a phoenix, symbolizing good luck. Such as History of Han, History of Later Han, History of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Jin, etc. According to ancient records, "Phoenix" and ""let us know that this ideal spirit bird was regarded as a symbol of good luck and happiness and a metaphor of love by the people and aristocratic rulers at that time. It has a long history, as early as 3,000 years ago and at the latest 27,800 years ago. ③

Although Phoenix is a non-existent creature, it has always been the object of worship of ancient ancestors in China. People think it symbolizes light and good luck, and its appearance can herald world peace. It is also the "king of birds" and extremely beautiful. Therefore, for thousands of years, China people have always regarded Phoenix as the embodiment of beauty and happiness. The resulting phoenix pattern is an artificial art, a mythical creature. In fact, the image of Phoenix is the most beautiful and distinctive part of all kinds of birds. It is integrated and unified according to its own aesthetic point of view, which is a typical harmonious beauty, symbolizing peace, tranquility, happiness and auspiciousness. From the color point of view, it is not a single color bird, but colorful, and the secretary of history is a "colorful bird." Physically, it has scales, which is related to the aquarium. Its head and feet are like raptors, and its tail is like a peacock. Its gait is like a chicken, but it is not a chicken among poultry, but a change of golden pheasant and pheasant. The overall image of the Phoenix is an imaginary combination of various birds and snakes.

A group of symmetrical bird patterns are depicted on the ivory butterfly apparatus of Hemudu culture in Neolithic age, which can be considered as a pair of Feng Huangwen. They face an aperture shape, with their heads held high and their tails tilted, and they are radiant. The expression of the vision and pursuit of the twin peaks in the painting can be said to be the expression and portrayal of the beautiful wishes of our primitive ancestors. The Book of Songs says: "Feng Huangming, Yu Gaogang; Wutongsheng, in the morning. " So far, the pattern of "Feng Dan facing the sun" circulating among the people is exactly the same as the meaning of this poem.

There is a strange image engraved on the Shang Dynasty ritual vessel "Xuan Bird Fu Hu", which the researchers initially defined as a combination of three words. It is believed that the holding of bird eggs by the divine bird is related to the fact that Judy, a businesswoman recorded in Yin Benji, swallowed birds and laid eggs. But after careful observation, it can be concluded that the beak is not the shape of an egg, but the shape of a silkworm. Therefore, the decorative pattern of "Phoenix bird facing the sun" can be completely interpreted as the abstract meaning of silkworm transformation and can be regarded as the initial form of phoenix. In the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the phoenix was regarded as a divine bird, so the depiction of phoenix patterns on jade and bronze wares in this period highlighted the ruler's concept of "fate". At this time, almost all the phoenix patterns are crowned with flowers, with full wings, long tail feathers and wide and powerful claws, showing a brave and vigorous modality. At this time, the phoenix pattern is completely mysterious and artistic exaggeration of birds, and the images are mostly side faces, which are symmetrically arranged on bronzes. There are three kinds of crowns: multi-tooth crown, long crown and corolla. Any bird with a hooked beak can be called a phoenix, and most of its beaks are closed and hooked. The eyes on the head are mostly round or oval, and the phoenix is a bird or a chicken. The ratio of length to length often varies with the position of decoration. The biggest change of phoenix pattern is the tail feather, which has long tail, vertical tail, split tail and symmetrical tail. The longest tail of the long tail phoenix pattern can reach three quarters of the bird's body, and the exaggeration is amazing. Phoenix patterns in Shang and Zhou Dynasties were mostly vigorous, solemn and steady, which showed the hierarchical, dignified and conservative atmosphere and aesthetic taste of slave society at that time. During the Warring States period, the economy developed rapidly and a hundred schools of thought contended. Phoenix pattern shows a beautiful, soft and colorful new style.

Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the image of phoenix bird is mostly this kind of deified beautiful giant bird. In the Han Dynasty, there was a phoenix-shaped inscription on the forest monument in Yang Shan. The following note said: "There are birds in the sky, named Phoenix." The "Fengchu" brick unearthed in Sichuan carved a beautiful long-tailed bird on a rectangular brick body. The word "phoenix" is in front of the head and the word "phoenix" is in the lower corner at the back of the tail, which vividly reflects the good wishes of people at that time to see the phoenix appear. During this period, in addition to the description of the image of the phoenix, there were all kinds of divine birds, such as Suzaku, Luan, Yi, Peng and so on. The similarities and differences of image sizes are the variation and alienation of phoenix birds, and they are different manifestations of colorful phoenix patterns. There are two versions of the "Four Spirits" in Han Dynasty: one is Lin, Feng, Gui and Long, and the other is Qinglong, Baihu, Suzaku and Xuanwu. Phoenix or Suzaku is one of the "Four Spirits", representing the south direction. "Spring and Autumn Ritual Map" says: "Phoenix is the essence of fire, and the sky is suzaku." In the Ming Dynasty, Li Shizhen said in Compendium of Materia Medica: "Phoenix is also a southern Zhu bird." It can be seen that Phoenix, Suzaku and Suzaku actually refer to the same kind of god bird.

Because the auspicious bird patterns in myths such as phoenix, phoenix bird, rosefinch and rosefinch can bring people auspicious feelings, these patterns are often used in various handicrafts and decorations in the Han Dynasty. At this time, Feng Niaowen pays attention to dynamics and momentum, showing the overall sense of capacity, linear speed and changing force. The style is dignified but not strong. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, due to the prevalence of Buddhism, the image of phoenix bird had a new spiritual concept. Decorative themes have been expanded, and bouquet patterns have been widely used. Phoenix patterns take the image of spreading wings and flying in fresh flower patterns, which are chic and elegant in style, light and graceful. The decorative pattern of phoenix and bird in Tang Dynasty has a stronger sense of form. The shape is more "bird-shaped", and many phoenix patterns on the bronze mirror are beaming. Couples, with a ribbon tied with a "heart knot" in their mouths, sing greetings, symbolizing happiness. This is naturally closely related to the material and cultural life in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, reflecting the peaceful climate. In addition, we can also see the phenomenon that the phoenix bird pattern in Tang Dynasty is further combined with people's life interest from the headdress in Tang Dynasty and the phoenix bird pattern in Dunhuang Grottoes. For example, on the golden hairpin crown decorated with women's heads, Feng Huangwen has a unique plump appearance, which embodies the tastes and hobbies of the times. With the development of porcelain-making technology in China, the phoenix pattern has a broader development. The decorative patterns of phoenix birds in Song and Yuan Dynasties are mostly displayed on porcelain, with soft lines and elegant style. In terms of ideological form, it emphasizes moral and expresses auspicious and happy folk wishes and breath. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, phoenix decoration has become a specific shape. Whether it is round, square or various decorative forms, the pattern composition has its own internal form, and the * * * form of phoenix pattern is further standardized.

Third, the folk custom of phoenix bird pattern.

The so-called folk custom is actually a kind of folk creation, and it is also a way of thinking and behavior habit that is learned from folk and passed down from generation to generation. In society, it is manifested in various folk customs handed down from generation to generation. "Vulgarity" refers to people's self-education, which is something that "people learn from each other and pass it on from generation to generation". Folk custom is the embodiment of a national cultural spirit. Folk culture that has been passed down for thousands of years, like a continuous spring, is the foundation of our nationalization. Although folk customs seem trivial, superficial and popular, in fact, their cultural significance is very extensive, profound and important. Because life is made up of these so-called superficial things. The true cultural spirit of a nation is dissolved in the most ordinary daily life of most people. The fundamental reason why ancient folk customs have been handed down from generation to generation is that they have adapted to the requirements of people's lives and thoughts in various times and become a spiritual and cultural wealth of a nation.

The folklore of phoenix bird pattern was the most extensive in Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the long-term practical design, the old artists of Nanjing Brocade summed up a set of formulas for painting phoenix: "Phoenix has three lengths, long eyes, long legs and long tail". And "the head is like a golden pheasant, the crown is like wishful thinking, the head is like a cloud, and the wings are like cranes." This represents the mature decorative features of Feng Huangwen in arts and crafts during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. ⑤ In the decorative arts of this period, the most dynamic works are a large number of folk handicrafts. In folk blue calico, embroidery, flower picking, wood carving, stone carving, brick carving and folk paper-cutting, the sense of form is stronger and the techniques are more diverse. For example, in the folk, Feng Huangwen and Peony, the king of flowers, have a new combination in artistic form. From Yunfeng in the Tang Dynasty to "Phoenix wearing peony" and "Feng Dan rising in the sun", it is reflected in various departments of craft design, so it gradually monopolized the spring breeze, symbolizing brightness, happiness, love and beauty, and so on. The form is becoming more and more exquisite and gorgeous, and it has also become the theme painting period in people's auspicious patterns. ⑥ It was widely used in folk painting in the middle and late 20th century.

The phoenix bird pattern has developed from an ancient mysterious legend to a widely used theme among the people. Naturally, because of its reproductive worship and auspicious and beautiful implication, it conforms to the creative intention of folk painting to seek happiness with simplicity. Therefore, it naturally blends into the people, takes root in people's hearts and becomes an eternal symbol of happiness and beauty. It is widely used in utensils, architecture, clothing and other aspects, and is closely related to people's lives. In the folk, in order to express love and happiness, handkerchiefs and hugs are given to lovers, among which embroidered phoenix and flowers are more common. As for folk songs, it is inseparable from the phoenix. "Harmony between Fish and Water", "Playing a Lotus" and "Cai Feng Qi Fei" are all folk embroidery themes, which are deeply rooted in people's hearts and are beyond words. Phoenix pattern is not unique to feudal owners, but has long been a folk art theme. It is precisely because of Feng's closeness to the people that the people have enriched Feng's image and connotation. Phoenix gives people hope for a happy life. In fact, the phoenix has long been integrated into people's feelings, especially in folk women's embroidery, which has given it infinite artistic life and made it immortal. As the saying goes, the phoenix never dies, but is reborn after death. This legend is extremely interesting. Whatever lives deeply in people's emotions, despite its long history, will always reunite with the artistic creation enthusiasm of the broad masses of the people in the new era and be immortal. ⑦ According to the author's field investigation in February, 2005, Feng Niaowen is widely used in furniture decoration painting in Yulin area of northern Shaanxi. Most of the works are dominated by red or crimson, with full composition, rich colors and exaggerated and vivid shapes. For example, consciously reduce the proportion of hairy, hairy, hairy, hairy, hairy, hairy, hairy, hairy, hairy, hairy, hairy, hairy, hairy, hairy, hairy, hairy. Hairy, hairy, hairy, hairy, hairy, hairy. In addition, the phoenix bird pattern also shows obvious folk style in architectural decorative paintings. In April 2008, when I visited the Zhaoling Museum in Shaanxi Province, I found that the phoenix pattern in the decorative painting at the main entrance was very folk. Composition is divided into two forms: side and front. Show feet and tail feathers in an exaggerated way. The shape is childish and vivid, and the color is soft and elegant. Using the technique of combining flat painting with blooming, the artistic style is beautiful and elegant. This is obviously different from Feng Huangwen and seal painting in traditional ancient architecture painting in artistic style. Break through the old conventions and show more interest in life. The artistic form of this painting is free and unrestrained, which expresses the development of modern people's ideas and aesthetic tastes. People's pursuit of artistic spirit is no longer bound by traditional conventions, but boldly pursues simplicity and true beauty and expresses their simple yearning for a happy life.

With the cultural evolution of different historical times, the phoenix bird pattern has experienced thousands of years of development, constantly creating new forms, and finally becoming a folk symbol widely accepted and recognized by the people. These brand-new phoenix bird patterns not only reflect the distinctive flavor of the times, but also retain the traditional aesthetic taste of the Chinese nation and have strong national vitality.

Precautions:

Chen. Bird culture in China. Lin Xue Publishing House. 1996 page 75.

② Pu Anguo. China traditional art-phoenix decoration. China Light Industry Press, 2000, p. 17.

(3) Shen Congwen. Longfeng Art. Writers Publishing House, 1960, p. 69.

Kuai, Qi Hong. The folk world of China people. Anhui Literature and Art Publishing House, 2006, page 2.

(5) with (2) on page 33.

6. Same as ③ Page 7 1.

All landowners with (3) on page 72.

For reference only, please learn by yourself.

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