What do cranes belong to? Crane is the general name of crane birds. It is distributed in all continents except South America, accounting for more than half of the global 15 crane species. In East Asia, China has 9 species belonging to 2 genera, which is the country with the largest number of cranes. What do the following shared cranes belong to?
What do cranes belong to? 1 crane bird. It is white or gray all over. It lives near the water and eats fish, insects or plants. Crane is a symbol of longevity, so it is called crane. Most Taoist ancestors in China traditional culture used cranes or deer as mounts. Crane is elegant in temperament. In addition, cranes are closely related to the spiritual characteristics of immortals, Taoists and people in China traditional culture.
What kind of animal does the white crane belong to?
White crane is a large wading bird of the genus Crane, with a body length of 1.3 ~ 1.4 meters and a weight of about 10 kg. It usually inhabits open plains, swamps, tundra swamps, large lakes and shallow marshes.
However, their ideal and even attached habitat is shallow water wetland, which is dominated by single or paired activities, and only in the migration season and wintering place is it a group activity, and the number of group members is also different, ranging from a dozen to hundreds, especially in the stopover and wintering place during migration, forming a large activity group.
Crane is a large wading bird, slightly smaller than the red-crowned crane, and the adult crane is about 130 to 140 cm long. When standing, the whole body is white, the chest is bright red, and the mouth and feet are dark red; When flying, the wing tip is black and the rest of the feathers are white; Inhabits in open plain swamp grassland, tundra swamp and rock edge of large lakes and shallow swamp areas;
It mainly feeds on the stems and tubers of Sophora alopecuroides, POTAMOGETON POTAMOGETON, Carex, water chestnuts and other plants, and also eats the leaves and buds of aquatic plants and a small amount of animal food, such as mussels, snails, mollusks, insects, crustaceans and so on. White crane is the crane that requires the most specialized habitat, and it has a strong attachment to shallow wetlands.
What do cranes belong to? Crane is the general name of crane, which is some beautiful and elegant large wading birds. Cranes are divided into crane subfamily and crane subfamily, 2 subfamilies, 4 genera, 15 species. Among them, there are 3 genera 13 species of crane subfamily, which are distributed in all continents except South America, but the species are the most in East Asia. There are 9 species belonging to 2 genera in China, accounting for more than half of crane 15 species in the world, and it is the country with the largest number of cranes, all of which are national key protected wild animals in China.
The hind toes of crane subfamily are small and high, so they can't support the first three toes, so they can't live in trees. There are 2 species 1 genus of Coronae, which are endemic to Africa. Unlike cranes, crowned cranes can live in trees. Crane has a lofty position in China culture, especially the red-crowned crane, which is a symbol of longevity, auspiciousness and elegance. Often associated with immortals, it is also called "crane".
Gruidae (scientific name: Gruidae) belongs to Carnivora in bird taxonomy, and its members include many famous cranes, belonging to four genera. Both Crested Crane and Gallus are distributed in sub-Saharan Africa. There are two kinds of demoiselle cranes, among which demoiselle crane is the smallest crane in the world. There are 10 species of cranes, and 8 species in China. There are 15 kinds of cranes in the world, which are distributed in other continents except South America and Antarctica.
Also known as fairy bird, its feathers are yellow, white and black, among which the best is white hair, which is about three feet long, more than three feet high and its beak is about four inches long. The cheeks and eyes on the top of the head are red, the feet are blue, the neck is slender, and the knees are thick and thin. The trunk is white with feathers, the wings and tail are black with feathers, and the reproduction is gray. Its direct call is particularly loud.
There are 15 kinds of cranes in the world, which are distributed in other continents except South America and Antarctica. Cranes originated in the Western Hemisphere and later spread to Asia (9 kinds of cranes), Africa (6 kinds of cranes) and Australia (2 kinds of cranes). There are two kinds of cranes in North America.
Cranes: Red-necked cranes, grey cranes, red-crowned cranes, white-pillowed cranes, white cranes, sandhill cranes, white-headed cranes, American cranes, Australian cranes, black-necked cranes and meat cranes.
Red-necked crane
The crowned crane is the oldest crane. Among cranes, white crane, American crane and red-crowned crane are the three most endangered, while gray crane and sand hill crane are the highest. The few wild crane populations in the world are as follows: about 200 American cranes, 3,000-4,000 white cranes, 900 red-crowned cranes 1.900, 6,000 white-naped cranes, 9,000 white-headed cranes, 8,000 black-necked cranes, 3,000 red-crowned cranes 1 10,000, and 8,000 hanging meat cranes.
Crane is a vertebrate, crane order, crane family, and a large wading bird. There are nine species in China, namely, red-crowned crane, grey crane, demoiselle crane, white crane, white-naped crane, white-headed crane, black-necked crane, red-necked crane and sand hill crane. Among them, the most famous is the red-crowned crane, the most widely distributed is the gray crane, the largest individual is the red-crowned crane, the smallest is the demoiselle crane, and the rarest is the dune crane. The rest are few.
What do cranes belong to? What are the spiritual connotations of the crane culture in China's ancient paintings?
As a country with a civilization history of 5,000 years, in the long-term historical development, China's culture has become quite rich and splendid, leaving people with precious wealth after wealth. In China culture, many things have gone beyond their own meanings, but have been transformed into deeper connotations, becoming unique symbols of China, and cranes are one of them.
As an animal, cranes are no longer just simple animals and birds in China. On the contrary, in different social environments, it has been endowed with different cultural connotations, and it has become richer and richer with the accumulation of time, which has also influenced China people to this day.
The early crane culture has a strong myth color.
1. The popularity of Taoism has raised the social status of cranes.
After the war at the end of the Qin Dynasty and the dispute between Chu and Han, although the Western Han Dynasty was finally established successfully, the whole society was already bleak after years of war, and the economic development was once at a standstill. At this time, under the leadership of modu chanyu, the Xiongnu in the north ushered in their own strong period, gearing up and preparing to invade the Han Dynasty.
Even though Liu Bang felt extremely humiliated and dissatisfied, after the siege of Baden, he had to choose to kiss for a short period of peace. In order to revitalize the society, he adopted the theory of inaction in the study of Huang Lao as the ruling concept of the Western Han Dynasty, that is, not to interfere too much with people's production and life.
After the continuation of Emperor Wenjing's policy, the Western Han Dynasty became prosperous rapidly, and Taoism gained a high social status in the Western Han Dynasty.
Although the status of Taoism declined with the thought and policy of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to oust a hundred schools of thought and to respect Confucianism alone, this does not mean that Taoism has lost its space for survival and development since then. In fact, different from the strict or even rigid ruling style in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Western Han government at that time did not take an extremely repressive attitude towards the development of other ideas, which laid the foundation for the continued development of Taoism.
By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, a more important thing appeared-Taoism with Taoism as the core. As a local religion in China, Taoism has shown amazing adaptability in this land, and has absorbed many believers since its birth. Wudoumi Daoism founded by Zhang Daoling and Taiping Daoism founded by Zhang Jiao are early schools of Taoism. Therefore, Taoism spread very rapidly in China society.
Since then, with the arrival of the troubled times in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, countless literati, out of dissatisfaction with the darkness of the government and helplessness to the real world, chose to paralyze themselves with pleasure, which provided an opportunity to promote the continued development of Qing Daoism metaphysics.
In addition, because China at this time was not a unified political power and there was no strong central government, it naturally had no power to control and suppress the prevalence of metaphysics, so it could only be allowed to develop.
Therefore, from Qin and Han Dynasties to Sui and Tang Dynasties, the development of Taoism was almost always in a stable state. In Taoism, crane is a very important image.
It not only represents the spirit and thought of Taoism alone, but also many Taoist fairy tales are closely related to cranes, giving it a unique connotation. As the saying goes, love me, love my dog, and the social status of cranes has improved a lot.
The early crane culture was always associated with immortals.
In fact, long before the Qin and Han Dynasties, cranes had occupied a special position in the minds of China people. As early as primitive times, some clans and tribes still regarded totem worship as their own totems, offering sacrifices to them and choreographing their movements into dances to express their awe.
In addition, although the ancients could not fly because of the limitation of science and technology, it did not kill their yearning for the sky. Forced by reality, they endowed the winged crane with many illusions and hopes, and mythologized it again. When Taoism prevailed, this myth became more and more intense.
It not only created many legends related to cranes, but also sorted out the existing crane myths and closely linked them with itself.
For example, The Legend of Immortals, the first book in the history of China that systematically describes immortals, tells the story of Wang Qiao, a Taoist immortal, riding a crane on the top of the mountain. Therefore, under the condition of having a concrete image, after the spread and promotion of Taoism, the mythical color of cranes is getting stronger and stronger, and the words such as feathering into immortals are powerful proof. During this period, the painting creation of cranes was mostly related to immortals.
Whether it is the description of fairyland or the mural in the tomb, there are cranes. They are isomorphic with beasts such as immortals, boys and flowers, forming an imaginary fairyland of the ancients, which is displayed as the expression and sustenance of their good wishes. Since then, with the development of time, this connotation has not disappeared, but has been extended, but it is no longer the most important part.
After Sui and Tang Dynasties, the crane culture began to take auspiciousness as the main symbol.
1, strong national strength brings spiritual pursuit.
As the saying goes, when people reach a certain level in material life, they will naturally begin to pursue the spiritual world. During the Tang Dynasty, as the Tang Dynasty ushered in the heyday of its own development in military, political, cultural and economic aspects, the cultural connotation of cranes also changed.
On the one hand, this is the result of natural transformation. With the development of time, the crane itself may develop different cultural connotations in different times, and it will not be just a meaning for a long time; On the other hand, this is caused by the national conditions of the Tang Dynasty itself, and the beauty of material life gives them a stronger hope for life. Praying for good luck not only represents nostalgia for the present state, but also represents wishes for the future. In this case, praying for good luck naturally becomes the mainstream meaning of cranes.
In addition, the rise of flower-and-bird painting is another important reason for the transformation of crane culture. As a kind of painting with flowers, birds, insects and fish as the main description object, flower-and-bird painting began to sprout as early as the Warring States and even the primitive period.
Later, with the development of time, flower-and-bird painting developed greatly in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and some painters and different schools began to appear, which expanded and enriched the content of flower-and-bird painting.
In the Tang Dynasty, due to people's pursuit of spiritual life, flowers and birds, a natural thing, became an important emotional support, and flower-and-bird paintings were constantly maturing. With the prosperity of this painting style, cranes began to walk off the altar, no longer just as gods and ghosts, but on this basis put on a layer of auspicious coat, which eventually became the main impression of cranes in Sui and Tang Dynasties.
This painting contains people's good wishes.
During the Tang Dynasty, the frequency of cranes in people's daily life increased greatly, and various poems and paintings related to cranes also appeared one after another. Especially in the court, cranes have become a common animal. Of course, this is also related to the image of the crane itself. Whether it is color, movement or shape, it is more elegant than other animals, and naturally it is easier to be loved by the upper ruling class.
In today's many paintings related to cranes after Sui and Tang Dynasties, auspiciousness is the key connotation. For example, in the picture of six cranes painted by Huang Quan, cranes are used as carriers to express the painter's yearning for a beautiful marriage; In a picture of a crane painted by Zhao, I hoped that the crane would bring good luck to the country, completely unaware that the country was dying in my own hands.
Ming and Qing dynasties gradually turned to longevity.
1, the rise of the civil class is an important driving force.
Although the feudal system in ancient China reached its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the citizen class also rose during this period. With the development of commodity economy, not only the original social order has been greatly impacted, but people's thoughts have also fallen into change. They are no longer satisfied with facing the loess all day, but turn to pursue their own material and spiritual life.
Under such circumstances, the mainstream culture and thoughts of society are no longer controlled by only a few ruling classes, and the preferences of citizens have become the decisive factor. For ordinary people, praying for a long life is one of the most beautiful and simple wishes in their hearts. It is very important to find something as an expression of one's desire for longevity, and the crane has assumed such a role at this time.
2. The longevity of cranes is embodied in many aspects.
In the previous myths and legends, cranes were always associated with immortals, which naturally infected the meaning of longevity.
In China's ancient books, there are also many records about the longevity of cranes. For example, there is a saying in Huainanzi that "cranes live for thousands of years, swim extremely, fly to ephemera and enjoy themselves". In addition, the external characteristics of the red-crowned crane with its head held high are consistent with the huge forehead image of the birthday girl, which once again adds to the longevity connotation of the crane.
So it is not surprising that cranes can become the image expression of longevity under the urgent needs of people. In the Empress Dowager Peach painted by Tang Yin in Ming Dynasty, cranes are regarded as an important embodiment of the theme of praying for longevity in this painting. Another example is Xu Gu's Song Yan He Nian Tu, which juxtaposes cranes with other things that also represent longevity, forming a peaceful scene.
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Generally speaking, the cultural connotation of cranes in the history of China is quite rich, and it has been developing and changing with the passage of time. From deity to auspicious longevity, in the process of this change, the attributes of cranes show a downward trend, that is, people can't easily touch common things in life.
This change not only unveiled the mystery of cranes, but also made cranes popular, and the cultural connotation became richer, which was no longer exclusive to a certain field. Of course, no matter how it changes, its cultural essence is the same strain. It can even be said that auspiciousness and longevity are evolved from the connotation of gods, which is also a point that cannot be ignored in the transformation of crane culture.