Abstract: As an important part of Chinese traditional culture, traditional Chinese decorative elements have always been favored by the public. This article explores the application of traditional Chinese decorative elements in home fabric products, which not only provides cases for home product design, but also better inherits Chinese culture.
Keywords: traditional elements; fabric products
As an important part of Chinese traditional culture, traditional Chinese decorative elements have always been widely accepted and loved by the public despite the changes of the times. . [1] This article analyzes traditional Chinese decorative elements and explores ways to apply them to home fabric products, so as to not only reflect the cultural characteristics of the country but also meet modern people's needs for simple and green home products, so as to better Inherit and carry forward Chinese traditional culture.
1 Traditional Chinese decorative elements
1.1 Geometric decorative patterns
Traditional Chinese geometric decorative patterns originated in the Neolithic period, mainly simple water patterns. , triangle pattern and swirl pattern. [2] During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, in order to show the strength of the country, simple geometric patterns were gradually replaced by solemn animal face patterns, such as the Taotie pattern. [3] During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the introduction of Buddhism made geometric patterns more refined and richer in meaning, such as back patterns and longevity patterns. With the development of society and the rise of auspicious patterns, geometric decorative patterns gradually retreated from the main position of decoration and appeared in the form of auxiliary patterns.
1.2 Decorative patterns with auspicious meanings
Traditional Chinese auspicious meaning patterns have been accumulated in historical development and carry people’s pursuit and expectation of beautiful things. These patterns are rich in themes and types. According to the content of the decorative patterns, they can be divided into: plants, figures, auspicious birds and animals, and combinations of utensils. [4] Most of them have metaphorical and symbolic meanings, and are widely used in furniture and homes.
1.3 Calligraphy characters
In China, Chinese characters are one of the elements that best highlight traditional culture. The development of Chinese characters has mainly gone through the stages of hieroglyphics, oracle bone inscriptions, bronze inscriptions, small seal script, official script, and regular script. [5] In the evolution of Chinese characters, an art form called "calligraphy" gradually emerged, causing further changes in the configuration of Chinese characters.
1.4 Ink painting
In ancient China, ink painting often had the meaning of reflecting the character and character of the painter. Freehand paintings in ink paintings mostly focus on freehand brushwork rather than realism. Through the combination of different proportions of water and ink and different painting techniques, rich artistic conception can often be displayed with just a few strokes. The gongbi painting in ink painting requires "denseness and fineness", emphasizes realism, and is highly decorative. [6]
2 Characteristics of traditional decorative elements in fabric products
2.1 National characteristics
Incorporating strong cultural characteristics into the design of fabric products Traditional cultural symbols of national colors should not just copy traditional patterns, but should further explore their potential meanings on the basis of inheriting traditional elements,[7] and extract key images or meanings from them, which are constantly intersecting and In the process of integration, new application methods are formed to maximize the national characteristics. [8]
2.2 Diversified forms
In order to attract people's attention more, modern home products often inject a variety of elements into the design. And Chinese cultural elements can just satisfy people's desire for diversified decoration, shapes and colors of home products. [9] When designing fabric products, designers can combine a variety of traditional elements and design based on the symbolic forms of traditional elements, or extract the colors of traditional decorative patterns and apply them to the design of fabric soft furnishing products. . [10]
2.3 Simplicity of style
More complicated auspicious patterns are not suitable for large-scale use on the surface of indoor fabric products. Overly complex lines often give people an exaggerated feeling. , but simply deleting elements makes the fabric products full of deliberately dull flavor.
[11] Designers simplify traditional elements, retain their own meaning, refine and recreate traditional elements, and then integrate them into the design of fabric products. [12] This approach allows the designed products to not only express China’s unique cultural characteristics, but also satisfy people’s pursuit of simple style. [13]
3 Application of traditional elements in fabric products
3.1 Direct selection
There are many kinds of utensils handed down from ancient China, and there are also countless decorative elements. Therefore, traditional patterns can be directly selected from various ancient handicrafts, furniture, clothing and other physical objects, and subjected to subtle changes in shape and color, or directly used in the design and manufacturing of home fabric products. [14] In ancient times, people often gave some things unique character, integrity, and meaning, and then used them to express their own character. Taking pillows as an example, the four images of plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum are known as the "Four Gentlemen" and are mostly loved by literati. They often appear in their paintings and poems. [15] When designing the surface pattern of the pillow, you can look for literati paintings depicting plum blossoms, orchids, bamboos and chrysanthemums, or poems with the image of the "Four Gentlemen", and extract them and apply them directly to the surface of the pillow as decorative patterns. [16]
3.2 Reconstruction and matching
A single element sometimes cannot meet people’s emotional needs, so multiple patterns of the same type are collected and their overall shapes are effectively extracted and Summarizing; and combining with the aesthetic tendencies of modern people, deleting or adding, decomposing or reconstructing the patterns, or highlighting the most distinctive parts of the patterns, this has become an important design method. [17] For example, extract the originally complex peony decorative patterns and simplify them, weaken or delete the surrounding plant patterns, highlight the lines of the peonies, and then select appropriate colors and materials to match them, and use them in fabric art in indoor soft furnishings. The products are also in line with the current fashion trend of new Chinese style.
3.3 Color Extraction
Traditional decorative elements mainly appear on ancient handicrafts, clothing, and furniture. They must match colors during their use. The form, color, pattern of fabric products and the overall tone of the room need to be coordinated and matched with each other to make the overall interior of the room look consistent and comfortable. [18] Therefore, when designing home fabric products, the colors of ancient utensils and clothing can be extracted and matched to achieve overall harmony. For example, when designing wall coverings, we draw inspiration from traditional Chinese ink paintings. Freehand paintings in traditional Chinese ink paintings rely on mixing water and ink in different proportions to achieve different moods. When designing wall coverings, you can simply choose several traditional colors and combine them with different concentrations and shades to meet the needs of the user. indoor artistic conception.
4 Conclusion
Traditional decorative elements rich in Chinese traditional connotations can still occupy a very important position in modern home design after thousands of years of precipitation, not only because of their high artistic Value, rich cultural connotation, and more importantly, it can bring inspiration to designers. If designers want to design modern Chinese fabric products that cater to modern people's aesthetics and have oriental traditional meanings, they cannot just copy and paste traditional decorative elements on the surface, but they should dig deeper and reasonably "sublate" the traditional elements; And the designer's personal understanding of traditional culture is expressed in the form of fabric products, and this is a better way to inherit and protect traditional culture and prevent it from being out of touch with the times.