"Happy Chinese New Year!" "Greetings to you!" On the first day of the Chinese New Year, people get up early, put on new clothes, and dress up neatly. The juniors get up early in the morning and first kowtow to the elders in the family, wish the elders health and longevity, and then go to the homes of relatives and friends to pray for the New Year. After the elders are worshipped, they should distribute the money prepared in advance to the younger generations, which represents the good wishes for the children. Relatives and friends of the same generation will also come to each other's doors to pay respects to each other and give gifts and congratulations.
"When a tiger goes up to the wall, the child grows stronger; when the tiger goes to the kang, the child grows stronger." The Year of the Tiger has arrived, making the cloth tiger popular in the market, and many elders who grew up playing with the cloth tiger as children have also passed on this toy that means blessing to their juniors.
In primitive societies, wind, thunder, lightning, beasts of prey, and due to the fragility of human beings themselves, powerful tigers are regarded as the strongest in the world. Tigers are not only brave and invincible, but also specially protect their cubs, and there is a saying that "tiger poison does not eat children". Therefore, people regard the tiger as the god of life protection and the god of reproduction. In Chinese folklore, various plastic arts inspired by tigers are deeply loved by people, among which the cloth tiger, which is known for its strong national characteristics and unique shape, is a widely popular folk fabric and a national intangible cultural heritage.
The color of cloth tigers in Shandong is mainly red and yellow, and red and yellow represent festivities and wealth in the mainland, and are mostly reflected in Weifang cloth tiger works. Yishui cloth tiger also uses black, blue, white, flower, blue soil cloth and blue printed cloth, bright colors, exaggerated shape, the pursuit of god is not limited to the shape, focusing on the meaning of love.
The craft of making cloth tigers also varies. For example, the inside of the tiger's abdomen is filled with sawdust, grain bran, cotton, and some are filled with thorn seeds, chrysanthemums, wormwood, astragalus, cinnabar and other traditional Chinese medicines in the abdomen. In addition to the saying of "town house to ward off evil spirits", there is also the effect of calming the mind and calming the spirit and aromatic insect repellent.
The old people hope that the king of the hundred beasts can protect the children from all poisons, grow up healthily, and have a life of tigers and tigers. These cute cloth tigers have enriched the childhood of generations.
The New Year is here, and the Tiger is coming! Cloth tigers add a new year flavor to the traditional Chinese New Year festival. In the era of electronic toys, it is better to send children a most simple and sincere cloth tiger as a gift, and wish the children a tiger and tiger vitality and everything is as expected!
Produced by Ocean Wave Studios
Design: Chen Yanjiao Editor: Bao Chunling
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