Cultural relics connect the ancient and modern, and cultural relics confirm history. The purpose of "Cultural Relics xinjiang" is to dig deep into the historical and cultural information contained in the cultural relics and cultural relics excavated in Xinjiang through the realistic brushwork of experts and scholars, to empirically prove the historical process of the chinese nation's pluralism and integration and Xinjiang is an inseparable part of the motherland, and to fully explain that our vast territory is jointly pioneered by all nationalities, our long history is jointly written by all ethnic groups, our splendid culture is jointly created by all ethnic groups, and our great spirit is jointly cultivated by all ethnic groups.
The most familiar of the monkey image is Sun Wukong. "Journey to the West" tells the story of Sun Wukong, the Eight Precepts of the Pig, and the Sand Monk who protected the Tang monks from traveling west to learn the scriptures, encountered eighty-one difficulties along the way, descended the demon Voldemort all the way, turned the danger into a disaster, and finally reached the Western Heavens and obtained the True Scriptures. Among them, the image of Sun Wukong always wears a golden crown, wears a "battle robe", and holds a golden hoop stick, which is majestic. A pair of fiery eyes with golden eyes shone brightly, revealing their determination to eradicate all demons. Therefore, the monkey image usually represents the spirit of struggle to not fear hardships and conquer evil, and is the heroic nature of hoeing the strong and helping the weak and fighting uneven.
The image of the monkey in the cultural relics, its form and meaning are closely related to Chinese culture.
Whether in the court or in the people, people often pin their expectations on animals, plants or natural phenomena, express them in the form of physical shapes or pictures, and take more of their harmonic sounds, images and other good wishes.
The auspicious motif can be traced back to the Neolithic Age, was further developed in the Tang and Song Dynasties of cultural prosperity, and reached its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, presenting a grand situation in which the picture must be intentional and auspicious. Because "monkey" and "hou" are harmonious, the image of the monkey also means the marquis. For example, the monkey climbs on the maple tree with the official seal to express the meaning of "sealing the marquis and hanging the seal"; riding on the horse' back, taking the meaning of "sealing the marquis immediately"; the big monkey with the back of the small monkey represents the "generations of marquis".
In many cultural relics found in archaeology, the figure of the monkey can be seen, which confirms that the monkey is a special image in the cultural life of the Chinese people, from the zodiac sign and birthday to the transmission of blessings and the expression of wishes, which have their own unique meaning. For example, a considerable number of ceramic animals have been excavated from the Dengjiawan site in Hubei Province, including some monkey-like shapes, the era is Neolithic; bronze swords and buckles excavated from tombs in the Spring and Autumn warring states period at the Shizhaishan site in Yunnan Province also have the image of monkeys; on the bronzes of the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period found in Inner Mongolia, there are decorations for the image of monkeys riding horses. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, monkey images have appeared more on cultural relics of different materials, such as the round carved jade monkey squatting on the back of the Shang Dynasty, the climbing monkey candlestick of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the hook of the Warring States Period, the portrait stone of the Han Dynasty, the pottery figurines of the Tang Dynasty, the porcelain of the Song Dynasty, and the calligraphy and painting jade of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The monkey image cultural relics found in Xinjiang have different forms and textures, not only appearing in three-dimensional shapes, but also depicting pottery and other utensils in a flat form, such as the Song Dynasty monkey bird pattern yellow and yu colored clay pot found in the Hotan area.
Monkey bird pattern yellow grits faience pot
Monkey figures also appear repeatedly in cave murals. In the Guizi Grottoes, there are many murals depicting the buddha's life and the story of the Buddha's karma. In the murals, people use stories between animals and people, animals and animals to talk about karma and meditation, and the Buddhist sutras are displayed in front of people through vivid and lively animal images. Such as the macaque king of cave 38 of Kyzyl sacrificed himself to save the monkey Bunsen and the macaque monkey of cave 46 of Kumu Tula.
The Macaque King sacrificed himself to save the monkey bunsen
The Kizil 38 Cave Macaque King sacrificed himself to save the monkeys depicts the story of the Buddha Bunsen: the monkeys went to the imperial garden to collect fruits and food and were found, and the king ordered a pursuit. The monkeys fled to the river, no bridge can not cross the river, the macaque king sacrificed himself to hold the tree on the other side, with his body as a bridge, the monkeys stepped on the monkey king to escape, and the monkey king was exhausted and fell into the river to die. The Macaque Monkey Trick Diagram of Cave 46 of Kumu Tula is a part of the mural painting of the Flying Sky Group of Qile, depicting macaques playing the lute of the ququ.
Among the copper ornaments unearthed in Xinjiang, there are also images of monkeys. For example, the bronze ornaments of the southern and northern dynastic monkeys riding horses unearthed in Qitai County are vivid and vivid, and the appearance of horses and monkeys is leisurely and self-reliant, and the meaning of "immediately sealing the marquis" is about to come out.
Monkey riding bronze ornaments
In addition, a number of paper cuts from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty were unearthed in the Astana tomb in Turpan, including a monkey-shaped tuanhua paper cut. This monkey-shaped tuanhua paper-cut is a Sui Dynasty work, although most of it has been damaged, but still clearly visible Tuanhua periphery standing in groups of standing monkeys, there are two groups of four monkeys, two adjacent monkeys stand opposite each other, two tails are connected, both do looking back, their upper limbs are held high to hold branches, one is sagging, the image is realistic and vivid.
Monkey-shaped flower cut paper
The site of Yotegan is located in the Hotan region, where a large number of ceramic sculptures have been excavated, dating from the Han and Tang dynasties. It is mainly decorative patterns and funerary items pasted on pottery. Some of the stickers on the pottery are placed on the handle of the utensils or as a head, and some are attached to the shoulders and abdomen of the utensils. The former is mostly a combination of humans and monkeys, with a strong sense of three-dimensionality, while the latter is mostly flat and interspersed with geometric patterns. Most of them are round sculptures used as burials, of which monkeys are the most numerous. Moreover, the anthropomorphism (personification) of monkeys is very significant, and the most typical is the trick monkey. According to its playing instruments, the monkey can be divided into strings, blowing, percussion and other images. Among them, the two monkeys play the most evocative pottery figurines, two monkeys kneeling on the ground, with a piano on their legs, the left one blowing the flute, and the right hand mouth seems to be whistling. In addition, there are pottery monkeys in the form of drumming, pipa, blowing pipes and so on, which are vivid and interesting and wonderful.
Trick Monkey - Strings
Trick Monkey - Percussion
Two monkeys play pottery figurines
Jade, the beauty of stone. The image of the monkey also appeared in jade, the work of the jade monkey, the earliest seen today is from the Neolithic ruins of the Shangzhai in Pinggu, Beijing. The shape is simple and rugged, and it is a more abstract bionic form. The jade monkeys collected before and after the Song Dynasty in the Hotan area are also typical works, the monkeys are in a squatting posture, holding a small monkey in their left arm and carrying a small monkey on their shoulders, which is very vivid and cute. Generally speaking, the image of a large monkey carrying a small monkey means "generations of marquises", expressing people's good wishes that generations can get high-ranking officials and houlu.
Jade Monkey
The monkeys in ancient Chinese artifacts are diverse and expressed in different ways. People are accustomed to using the nature, cleverness, funny and empathy symbolized by the monkey, and there are also verses such as "people smell crickets in the concentration, cranes hang macaques from their perchs", "offering forest fruits to the dynasty, also want to learn macaques", "only macaques come and go, and make people throw fruits full of books" The verses reflect the aesthetic taste of imagery, express the desire to become auspicious, and spread the virtues of loyalty and filial piety. (Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum Bayinqige)
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