What kind of culture is Miao batik?

Miao batik is unique in the design theme, and the content and form are skillfully integrated. Miao batik patterns can be divided into seven categories.

1. Butterfly pattern

The butterfly pattern comes from the stories of "Sister Bang" and "Twelve Eggs" in Miao myths and ancient songs. The story tells the origin of the Miao nationality: the maple tree turned into a butterfly, and the mother butterfly made love with Bubble, giving birth to 12 eggs, which were hatched by cranes and birds, and gave birth to everything-Leigong, hoses, snakes, tigers, sheep, elephants, wild boars and so on. One of the eggs hatched human beings, namely Jiangyang, the ancestor of Miao nationality. This is the story of Jiang Yang, the legendary ancestor of Miao nationality, who gave birth to "a girl on the list and a girl staying". The Miao language "Sister List and Sister Stay" is translated into Chinese as "Mother Butterfly". In Miao mythology, mother butterfly is the ancestor of everything in the world, including gods, ghosts, people, animals and plants and lightning. Therefore, the butterfly is regarded as the embodiment of reproduction and beauty, the most respected, and has become an important and particularly popular pattern of batik. There are many kinds of butterflies in batik, both realistic and freehand; There are both abstract compounds and deformed compounds. You can see flying, crawling, front, side, back and a series of ever-changing butterfly patterns with different postures. The beautiful image of butterflies is deeply loved by people of all ethnic groups in China. This legend has far-reaching influence, which not only forms the unique cultural consciousness of Miao nationality, that is, the love and worship of butterflies is the love and worship of ancestors, but also closely combines batik artistic expression with its worship. It can be seen that the butterfly patterns in Miao batik accumulate primitive ancestor worship consciousness.

2. Patterns of fish and birds

The patterns of fish and birds in Miao batik are similar to those of butterflies, and they are also beautiful patterns that praise vitality. Miao people think that birds are male and fish are female. Fish and birds with the same picture form a pattern symbolizing the love between husband and wife. Fish with this pattern have wings like birds, and birds are mostly "waterfowl" who can swim in the water. Some scholars believe that this is the embodiment of equality between men and women and the mission of carrying on the family line. There is no distinction between male superiority and female inferiority, and it contains reproductive worship, which is a very distinct morphological model.

A large number of fish patterns are used in batik, which is more due to psychological expectations and the needs of life reproduction. Because fish has many children, and its belly also has many children, so the original meaning of fish pattern is symbolic reproduction, and the worship of fish is the worship of fish's reproductive ability. Over the years, other auspicious meanings have emerged. The pattern of "Carp yue longmen" of Han nationality symbolizes greatness and promotion, while the pattern of "Fish Lotus" symbolizes "more and more year by year". However, the understanding of fish patterns by ethnic minorities in Guizhou retains a relatively primitive awareness of reproductive worship. For example, the metaphor of "children and grandchildren are like fish cubs" often appears in Miao folk songs. Fish is an essential sacrifice in Miao sacrificial activities, and its moral is to pray for future generations to thrive. Most of the fish patterns in batik are fat, some have small fish in the abdomen, some have dense spots similar to roe, and some simply paint fish scales as roe, all of which convey the information of primitive reproductive worship.

Many bird patterns in batik are also out of the desire to pursue auspiciousness and beauty. Birds are happy life partners of ethnic minority girls living in mountainous areas, and the patterns of birds have entrusted their beautiful hopes for life. Among the Miao people, bird patterns also contain the meaning of ancestor worship. Connected with the legend of butterfly is 12 eggs laid by the butterfly mother in the ancient song, which were hatched by crane birds. Among all the things hatched, there is Jiangyang, the ancestor of Miao nationality. Therefore, birds are very friendly to Miao people. Knife ring Macheng is the totem of some clans in Miao ancestors. Shan Hai Jing-Shen Yi Jing records: "There is someone in the wild named Huantou ... who dares to face the bird with his beak, who dares to eat fish in the sea and who dares to walk with a stick." There are some similar accounts in ancient books. Huantou and Huandou are said to be the leaders of Miao ancestors. Some of the patterns of these birds are faithfully imitated, while others are imaginary. Such as golden pheasant, magpie, sparrow, swallow, turtledove, parrot, peacock, crane, etc. , whose name can be confirmed; The others are only in the shape of birds. You can't tell what kind of bird it is. Surrounded by flowers and plants, most of them open their mouths, or cry with their heads held high, or whisper to each other, or fly together, or quarrel back to back, which is very vivid, similar to the portrayal of human excrement life.

3. Dragon pattern

Dragon has always been a mascot for the benefit of mankind in Miao consciousness. The dragon pattern in Guizhou minority areas is very distinctive, and its shape and connotation are completely different from those in Han areas. Dragon is the primitive circle of China. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the Han people have regarded the dragon as the highest symbol of imperial power, and the dragon pattern has gradually evolved into a mighty image with prominent head and sharp claws. However, the dragon pattern in Guizhou minority areas is quite different from its interest. It is naive and naive, and it is very close to man and nature. Miao people are not afraid of dragons, and Miao dragons are not as arrogant as Han dragons. Miao batik dragons have no fixed patterns, and they are ever-changing, such as the shape of a bird's head, a snake's head, a cow's head and a centipede. Therefore, the Miao people include Buffalo Dragon, Ichthyosaur, Silkworm Dragon, Ye Long, Panlong, Yuwei Dragon and Shuilong. The dragon pattern in Rongjiang Miao batik looks like a snake and a silkworm. The shape of a dragon can fly, bend or stretch freely. Some experts believe that in addition to the original consciousness of dragon totem worship, the connotation of dragon tattoo also means praying for happiness and welcoming auspicious events, as well as eliminating disasters.

4. Vortex line

The vortex patterns in Miao batik are mainly drawn on the back, sleeves and quilt cover, which is a traditional pattern of Miao nationality symbolizing unity and prosperity. Miao people love human beings and nature. When they see the whirlpool in the torrent, they will feel beautiful and have a feeling of prosperity and good luck, so they are recognized as an auspicious and beautiful pattern. Vortex patterns appeared on Neolithic pottery in China, which was the imitation of natural water patterns by ancestors. Later, this pattern rarely appeared in Han handicrafts, but it was more common in folk batiks in Guizhou. In visual form, this is the most striking geometric pattern of batik, and it is also the most diverse pattern in content and meaning. The first is to remember that Miao ancestors migrated long distances, waded through mountains and experienced numerous whirlpool traces left by dangerous beaches and rough waves. The second is to record the vortex marks on the bull's head when it is killed to worship the ancestors, because this is a symbol of the ancestors. The third theory is that in ancient times, a smart and capable girl was ill. Her mother collected some tender moss from the mountain and gave this herb to the girl. Her illness was cured. In order to never forget this life-saving grass, people paint it on clothes for decoration according to its appearance.

5. Flower and plant patterns

There are not only many plant patterns in Miao batik, but also great differences with Han plant patterns. Unlike the Han's plant patterns, which are derived from peony, lotus, peach and pomegranate (which also appear in batik towels from time to time), they are more common in mountainous fields, such as flowers, ferns, plum blossoms, peach blossoms, apricot blossoms and cotton, and some of them have evolved and refined into geometric patterns. These plant themes can be seen everywhere in the works of minority women, from which they can gain aesthetic feeling. Through imagination and processing, they paint a picture full of vitality and Shan Ye people's interest in batik. For example, the pear flower pattern with the most local characteristics is not as colorful as the Danzhai Miao nationality in the world. According to legend, the ancestors of Miao nationality had been to a place where pear blossoms were in full bloom during their migration. During the long-term migration, the ancestors exhausted their blood and were almost dragged down by the uncertain life. Suddenly, they saw the pear blossoms all over the mountain and felt that the world was so beautiful, so they strengthened their confidence in life. Therefore, pear flower deeply puzzles Miao people. Another legend is that in the great circuitous migration from the Central Plains to the Southwest in ancient times, in order to remember the hardships of the long journey, women painted all the flowers and plants they saw along the way on their clothes, which were later preserved as traditional patterns. There is also a legend that children can grow up safely and healthily in batik clothes with pear flower patterns, which are also auspicious patterns for Miao Wa. According to legend, ferns have cured Miao women's diseases, so ferns have also become batik patterns.

6. Bronze drum pattern

The bronze drum is one of the cultural characteristics of the Miao nationality, so the ancient patterns on the bronze drum are often the source of the traditional batik patterns of the Miao nationality, and the bronze drum is also a heavy weapon highly respected by some ethnic minorities. In ancient times, bronze drums were often used for sacrifice, entertainment and battles. Respect for bronze drums and reproduction of bronze drum patterns mean memory and worship of ancestors. In the Song Dynasty, Zhu Fu recorded in Xi Man Cong Xiao: "Dong Xi loves bronze drums more than jade." Therefore, it is an inevitable choice for Miao batik to take the pattern on the bronze drum as the blueprint. This phenomenon is also confirmed by Zhang Shu's records of Chinese ladies in Guizhou in the Qing Dynasty: "In Liao Dynasty, there was silk cloth named Guangwen, with bronze drum pattern and wax plate printed on the cover pattern." Although the patterns of Miao batik bronze drums have changed in the process of inheritance, the central patterns of bronze drums are still very typical and prominent in batik. The central pattern is actually a sun pattern that radiates light.

7. Stars, mountains and rivers

The starry mountain pattern mentioned here is not an objective starry cloud in the sky or mountains and rivers on the ground, but a combination of highly abstract patterns and images. These patterns not only have unique formal beauty, but also embody profound historical connotation. According to historical records, Miao people experienced a great migration in ancient times, which was a tragic experience of a nation. Miao people are not only unforgettable, but also legends record and reflect the migration events in history with patterns. For example, the river pattern of Jiuqu River is composed of diamonds of different sizes, which symbolizes the crisscross and zigzag crossing of rivers. The city boundary pattern takes a square as the frame to represent the city wall, the small squares on the four sides represent the turret, and the cross pattern in the middle represents the street. There is a saying in the Miao area where this model has been passed down for a long time: this model and organization show nine wonders of scenery and ancestors' migration experience. For example, the yellow horizontal line on the pleated skirt represents the Yellow River, the green horizontal line represents the Yangtze River, and the blank in the middle represents the field. They call this kind of skirt "migration skirt" and "mother river skirt".