Authors: Ren Wanping (Chief Expert of the Major Project of the National Social Science Fund of China "Research on the Collation of Cultural Relics and Historical Materials of the Qing Dynasty Palace-Tibetan Ethnic Exchanges", Vice President and Research Librarian of the Palace Museum) Ma Lin (Deputy Research Librarian of the Palace Museum)
"Splendid text" is said to be a pattern, and "things are made and added to the style" as decoration. Ornamentation generally refers to the textures, patterns or patterns on utensils, fabrics or buildings, which originate from the awakening and development of human aesthetic consciousness, is the product of the externalization of human spiritual activities, and is also the "meaningful form" that accumulates the concepts and aesthetic ideals of the times. Craftsmen of the past dynasties, the fusion of ingenuity and soul in one, to create a variety of postures, clumsy and comfortable ornamentation, its pleasing beauty, moist heart, not only for the fashion of the time, but also for the classics of later generations, become the inexhaustible source of today's arts and crafts creation.
Aesthetic imprints of ancient times
In human childhood, the first occurrence of ornamentation stems from the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that human beings obtain by making tools to change the external world. About 20,000 years ago, with the development of gathering, fishing and hunting economy, the living conditions of the early ancestors were greatly improved, and they gradually began to consciously carve or photograph traces on stone tools, pottery or bone tools, which became an important form for the early ancestors to create themselves in labor practice and express their cognition of nature and life, and it was also the beginning of the later human artifact creation and decoration.
About 9,000 years ago, the site of the middle period of Shangshan culture in Zhejiang Province unearthed the world's earliest painted pottery, the most prominent of which is a bowl like arc sandwich fine sand red pottery shard, on which the solid circle is filled with white color, the surrounding short line is radially evenly around a circle, similar to the sun ornamentation, two triangle patterns with opposite top angles are painted next to it, and the lower ornamentation is incomplete, and only the remaining remnants of the triangle pattern at the right angle can be seen. The appearance of painted pottery in the middle of the Shangshan culture site not only increased the main decorative techniques of ancient Chinese ornamentation in addition to carving and patting, but also added more symbolic symbolic combination ornaments to the ornamental patterns created by it than the previous single geometric ornaments such as rope pattern, line pattern, string pattern and reticulation.
The Yangshao culture, which dates from 7,000 to 5,000 years ago, is the "key stage of the origin and development of the Central Plains civilization", and its early faience patterns are decorated with Banpo type fish patterns and later deformed fish patterns are more common. After the middle period of Yangshao culture, the flower pattern of the temple ditch type (one said to be the deformed bird pattern) was the most characteristic, and gradually influenced the development of painted pottery ornamentation in the entire Neolithic period in China. In ancient China, "Hua" passed "flower", the original meaning is flower, Su Bingqi described this flower pattern at the bottom of the temple ditch as "Huashan Rose", and the people who created this pattern decoration were called the original "Chinese".
The ornaments of ancient China, whether it is fish, frog, turtle, deer, bird, pig and other animal patterns, or plant patterns such as millet, millet, rice, flowers, leaves, etc., or special character patterns or abstract geometric patterns, are all the embodiment of the ancestors' way of thinking of "looking at things and taking images", their cognition and understanding of the external world, and represent the original emotional sustenance and aesthetic pursuit of Chinese.
The fierce and solemn Xia Shang Zhou ornament
With the development of productive forces in the late Neolithic Age, the increase of social complexity, and the establishment of social hierarchy, the Xia Dynasty began to rise in the Central Plains, and then stepped into the Bronze Age from the Neolithic Age, opening the civilization of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties with bronze ritual vessels as the core. Take the three sheep in the late Shang Dynasty as an example, as a sacrificial ritual used in the wine ritual vessel, it is the largest of the same type of vessel, its body shape is heavy, the mouth is wide and the shoulders are wide, the pattern is fierce and solemn, the whole vessel is lined with fine cloud and thunder patterns, the neck is decorated with three convex string patterns, the shoulder is a week of high relief horn sheep head three, the sheep head is three groups of animal face patterns, the old cloud "gluttonous pattern", its eyes are protruding, solemnly staring at the world.
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou people made rituals and music, changed the concept of "ghosts first and then rituals" of the merchants, gradually formed the humanistic tone of Chinese civilization in later generations, and promoted a series of political and economic systems based on patriarchal hierarchy to become more and more perfect, and "hundred workers" were prepared. During this period, the bronze ornamentation evolved on the basis of the Shang Dynasty, from the previous fierce and dense to elegant and comfortable, and the inscriptions gradually increased.
In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Zhou Dynasty declined, and in the historical turmoil of "Ritual Collapse and Happiness", the hundreds of schools of thought represented by Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism, Moism, and famous scholars contended in the world, and the unprecedented ideological agitation and system exploration were carried out, and thus laid the foundation of Chinese civilization. At this time, the ornamentation on the bronze ware was obvious, and the temple spirit decreased, and the artistic atmosphere increased.
In 1923, the lotus crane square pot unearthed in the tomb of Zheng Gong in Xinzheng Lijialou, Henan Province can be called one of the representatives, its pot continues the popular square pot shape in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, there is a cover crown, the hollow crown is like a double-petaled lotus flower stretching and closing, a faction of innocence, covering a neutral crane, leading the neck to roar, the green posture forgets the machine, the two sides of the neck are eared by the double dragon, the four corners are each attached to a flying dragon, the pot is full of double beasts as the foot, and the whole body is decorated with cockroach patterns. Its pattern and workmanship are all superior, full of rising power, and very life tension.
Ancient and majestic Qin and Han dynasty ornaments
The Qin Dynasty unified weights and measures, with the same track and the same text, laying the foundation for the Chinese civilization to continue for thousands of years and always have a cultural integration. After that, the Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system and relied on Confucianism to build a national identity under great unification. At the same time, the idea of "measuring the changes of the five elements of yin and yang, and the origin of the Ming system of rituals and music" is also deeply reflected in the decoration of Han Dynasty architecture, bronze, jade and lacquerware, especially the emergence and popularity of the "four gods" ornamentation. The ancient Chinese "observed astronomy to observe the changes of time", and the four spirits of heaven and earth, also known as the "four gods", as the early Chinese gods, were rooted in the beliefs of the ancient ancestors, and were associated and abstracted from the celestial phenomena of the 28 constellations, representing the east, west, south and north respectively.
The "four gods" tile of the Han Dynasty, as the head of the ceramic building component cylinder tile, not only has practical functions such as protecting the eaves and improving the aesthetics of the building, but also shows the romantic astronomical concepts and philosophical concepts of the ancient Chinese in the form of a concrete fantasy animal, becoming the carrier of the materialization of their thoughts and concepts, and has the implication of praying for auspiciousness and the town's house. In addition to the "four gods" ornaments, the Han Dynasty tile also commonly seen "long live the thousand autumns", "prolong life", "long happiness and wealth", "longevity and longevity", "longevity without borders" and other auspicious ornaments. In general, the ornaments of the Qin and Han dynasties present the beauty of ancient and majestic beauty in the romantic yearning for the world of immortals and the admiration for Confucian scriptures.
The vivid charm of the Three Kingdoms, the Two Jin Dynasties, the Northern and Southern Dynasties ornamentation
During the period of the Three Kingdoms and the Two Jin Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, with the rise of the gate lord clan, the further integration of various ethnic groups, the advocating of Lao Zhuang Gao Xuan Xuan, and the gradual rise of Buddhism, new values and artistic concepts continued to enrich the form and connotation of ancient Chinese ornamentation. Lu Xun believes that this period is "the conscious era of literature", and to a certain extent, it can also be regarded as the conscious era of ornamentation. In particular, the expression of human spirit, human thoughts and emotions, and the aria of the needs and concepts of secular real life became the main characteristics of ornamentation in this period.
As a place for grain storage, the barn symbolizes the foundation of people's livelihood, and the barn jar is not only the epitome of the grain storage facilities of the ancient Chinese, but also usually used as a vessel for the burial of the deceased. Compared with the pottery warehouse unearthed from the tomb of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the animal foot pottery of the Qin and Han dynasties, and the simple ornamentation on the Wulian jar of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the ornamentation on the blue-glazed plastic barn jar unearthed from the tomb of the Three Kingdoms (Wu) in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province is obviously more complicated, full of the breath of life in the world. Its ornamentation is mainly piled up, the three-storey pavilion is in the middle, each floor of the door has a good dog guard, the plastic chaffinch is full of eaves, a rat is in the valley, should take the myth of "finch, rat to send grain species". On both sides of the pavilion, there are eight musicians, each holding a musical instrument and performing. In front of the building, there is a statue of a stele, and there are people, turtles, deer, pigs next to the tablet, and there are dogs, fish and other ornaments, all of which are lifelike. Although it is a tomb artifact, it is full of human emotions and the joy of life.
If the ornamentation on the barn jar in this period carries the prayer of the ancients for the secular material life, then the blue glazed lotus statue of the Northern Dynasties, which is also a Ming vessel, represents the spiritual sustenance of the people in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Buddhism was introduced to China during the Han Dynasty, and it completed an important process of localization during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and continued to develop and flourish through exchanges. The prevalence of Buddhism profoundly influenced the ornamental art of this period, the most typical of which is the extensive use of lotus ornamentation, which can be seen in ceramics, stone carvings, and bronze ware.
Graceful and broad Tang Dynasty ornaments
The Tang Dynasty was an era of passionate ideals and bones, with unprecedented national strength, unified territory, open and inclusive policies, vigorous spirit, and the mind of all rivers, which achieved a magnificent and profound Tang Dynasty atmosphere, and also created the grace and broadness, harmony and beauty of the ornaments in this period, especially the various flower and bird ornaments gradually became the mainstream. As far as ceramics are concerned, there are lotus leaf patterns, cloud crane patterns, fish patterns, plastic dragon patterns, etc., and Tang Sancai patterns, bird patterns, geometric patterns, etc.
In particular, the maturity of the underglaze painting process of Hunan Changsha kiln and Sichuan Qionglai kiln opened the precursor of underglaze porcelain painting in later generations, and became the mainstream of porcelain decoration technology in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. It paints on the carcass with pigments, and after glazing, it is fired at a high temperature of about 1300 °C, coupled with the high development of the stencilic applique technique, which makes the porcelain decoration of Changsha kiln in the Tang Dynasty particularly rich, in addition to the lotus, chrysanthemum, plum blossom, date, weeping leaves, vines, treasure flowers and other plant ornaments, birds, geese, herons, cranes, deer, lions and other animal ornaments, as well as the seven sages of the bamboo forest, the fisherman fishing, the boy picking lotus, the Hu people music and dance and other character ornaments, the cloud landscape, sailing ships, pavilions and pagodas and other scenery ornaments.
In addition, in this era of poetry, there are also a large number of text ornaments, as well as related ornaments from foreign lands, showing the beauty and beauty between civilizations.
Elegant and elegant Song Dynasty ornamentation
Compared with the graceful and full, complex and gorgeous ornaments of the Tang Dynasty, the ornaments of the Song Dynasty are more elegant, delicate, delicate and subtle. The Song Dynasty's concept of governing the country of "making the world with culture", "promoting culture and education, suppressing military affairs", and "advocating literature and suppressing military affairs" made civil and official politics unprecedentedly developed, and also made the elegant rhyme of scholars and doctors lead the aesthetic taste of the whole society. At the same time, the development of the urban economy in the Song Dynasty, the expansion of the citizen class, and the enrichment of the market culture also promoted the further secularization of ancient Chinese ornaments and more humanistic atmosphere.
Therefore, on the one hand, the Song Dynasty ornaments such as Ru kiln, official kiln, Ge kiln, etc., are only decorated with simple string patterns or glazed opening pieces, but they are complicated and not decorated, which represents the elegance of Shilin; On the other hand, there are also such as Yaozhou kiln, Longquan kiln, Cizhou kiln, Jizhou kiln, Jingdezhen kiln and a large number of fired porcelain mainly for folk daily use, which is carved and scratched, printed, painted, ticked, pasted and other decorative techniques to create ornamentation, the subject matter is more extensive, the content is vivid and lively, especially the large number of flowers and baby play themes appear and popular, such as Yaozhou kiln blue glaze engraved entwined branch lotus pattern amphora spring bottle, Jingdezhen kiln blue and white glaze baby play lotus pattern bowl, etc., embodying the longing and hope of the world, representing the style of the market.
Diversified Yuan Dynasty ornamentation
After the Yuan Dynasty, the ornamental style changed again. With the rise of the Mongolia in Saibei and Dingding Central Plains, politically ended the situation of multiple regimes coexisting since the end of the Tang Dynasty, achieved unprecedented unification, further integrated ethnic groups in the vast territory, and further collided and blended cultures and ideas. Under the influence of the concept of freedom and strength advocated by the grassland peoples, the ornaments of the Yuan Dynasty continued the theme and artistic conception of traditional Chinese ornaments on the one hand, and on the other hand, they changed the characteristics of the Song Dynasty ornaments that were delicate and subtle and attached importance to charm, presenting a sense of beauty that is simple and simple, stresses spirit and is more powerful.
During this period, the contacts and exchanges on the Eurasian continent were also more frequent, and new aesthetics, new crafts, and new materials also created the beauty of the Yuan Dynasty's ornamentation. For example, the popular gold brocade in the Yuan Dynasty has both the traditional Chinese dragon pattern and the twig lotus pattern, as well as the eagle pattern and the sphinx face of the Western Regions. Another example, the enamel process was introduced into China in the Yuan Dynasty, and this process of fixing the enamel glaze on the surface of gold, silver, copper and other metals through different technologies was quickly combined with traditional Chinese ware types and ornaments once it was introduced.
Integrate the auspicious Ming and Qing Dynasty ornaments
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the social and economic environment was relatively stable, handicrafts and commerce developed, and with the beginning of the Age of Discovery in the 15th century, cultural exchanges and collisions between China and foreign countries became more frequent. This period was the precipitation period for the development of ancient Chinese ornamentation.
Just like the Qing dynasty Jiang Shiquan's poem: "The world loves auspiciousness, and painters pray." Harmonic and metaphorical, hidden words are dramatic. "With the metaphor of the form, the harmony of the sound, the symbolism of the shape and the sound, in the creative associative thinking of people's psychological vision and pursuit of happiness. For example, because of the homonym between bats or Buddha's hands and "Fu", the meaning of "Fu" is implied, so bats and flowing clouds imply "Liuyun Baifu" or "Blessing comes from heaven", and the word "Shou" around the group with five bats means "five blessings and longevity".
Because the deer is homophonic with "Lu", it is often painted behind the character pattern wearing a high crown, which means "high-ranking officials and Houlu", and the combination with the crane means "the crane and the deer are in the same spring". At the same time, because the ribbon is an ornament that marks the official rank, the ribbon bird also means "adding officials to the knight", and "ribbon" is the same as "longevity", so it also contains the meaning of "blessing and longevity".
And "wealth, people's treasure", usually peony symbolizes wealth, Song Dynasty "Xuanhe Painting" in the cloud "flower in peony peony, poultry in Luanfeng Kongcui, will make it rich", so the combination of peony and begonia flower means "full of wealth", and hibiscus combination means "glory and wealth", and magnolia, Yueji, plum blossom combination means "four seasons of wealth", and Ruyi to form "wealth and wealth".
"Joy, joy also", auspicious celebrations are said to be "happy", so there are "unicorn to send children", "Lin Tu jade book", "Liansheng Guizi", "melon Mianmian", "Mantis Yanqing", "Baizi Tu" and other symbols of the joy of the descendants of Changchi; The words "dragon and phoenix are auspicious", "luan phoenix and song", "happy eyebrows", "hundred years of harmony", "mandarin duck playing lotus" and "Xi" or "Xi" symbolize the joy of newlyweds or couples.
In addition to the ornaments that imply happiness, lu, longevity, wealth and happiness, there are also ornaments that symbolize the literati's temperament or elegant taste, such as the "Three Friends of the Year and the Cold" represented by pine, bamboo and plum, the "Four Gentlemen" represented by plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum, the "Four Loves" represented by Wang Xizhi's love for orchid, Tao Yuan's love for chrysanthemum, Lin Hejing for Mei, and Zhou Dunyi's love for Lian, as well as the literati's elegant collection of pictures, etc., all of which are expressed in the form of wonderful gods or carry the Tao.
Ornamentation is the material carrier of human aesthetic concepts, and people create ornaments on the one hand, and are also shaped by ornaments on the other hand. From about 20,000 years ago to the end of the Qing Dynasty, ancient Chinese ornaments have completed the leap from nature to consciousness and then to freedom - from the simple and mysterious of ancient times, the fierce and solemn of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, the ancient clumsy and majestic of the Qin and Han dynasties, to the vivid charm of the Three Kingdoms and the Two Jin Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the grace and broadness of the Tang Dynasty, the elegance and elegance of the Song Dynasty, and then to the diverse interests of the Yuan Dynasty, and the auspiciousness of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
From this point of view, as the collective cultural memory of the Chinese nation, the development of ornamentation is affected by the productive forces, and has always accompanied the historical process of the development of the Chinese nation.
(The full version of this article is included in The Beauty of Chinese Culture, edited by the National Office of Philosophy and Social Sciences, and published by CITIC Publishing Group)
Guangming Daily (2024-07-24 Edition 11)
Source: Guangming Net-Guangming Daily