Yu Qiju? /Written by Xie Kangping?/Photography
Paper tie-ups originated from ancient folk religious sacrificial activities, and generally refer to funeral supplies that please ghosts. Over thousands of years, from figurines and artifacts to paper figures and horses, the forms have evolved and evolved, and folk art has also continued and developed.
Pingjiang has a deep soil for the survival of folk art, and the paper-making craft has been passed down for thousands of years. Pingjiang paper-making authentically inherits the artistic style of southern paper-making, which is feminine, delicate and has strong Wu-Chu cultural characteristics.
Paper tie maker is a maker of paper tie, and is not ranked among the "nine-rate and ten arts". Traditionally, the craftsmen have been led by bamboo craftsmen, but their skills include bamboo craftsmanship, painting, calligraphy, paper-cutting, and poetry composition. They are both rough and fine, making them a versatile craftsman.
Zhajiang regards Master Heye as his ancestor and is said to be the sister of Immortal Master Luban. Before the Republic of China, craftsmen also worked as incense and lamp makers, but later they separated and each pursued his own business.
Paper making is divided into family workshops and front shops and back workshops. Zhima shops generally belong to the front shop and the back shop, producing and selling incineration products. They also sell paper, incense candles, firecrackers, shrouds and quilts, and gongs. In the past, there was a special color tie shop, specializing in happy paper making such as kites and lanterns. It has now been replaced by a boutique. The paper-making family workshop belongs to a more famous master, with good skills and reputation, and the aroma of wine is not afraid of deep alleys, and it is not worried about sales.
The tools of a barber are nothing more than bamboo knives, drills, saws, scissors, carving knives, plus the Four Treasures of the Study. The drill used to handle the interface used to be a "hand drill", but now it is changed to an "electric drill".
What is intriguing is that the craftsmen do not use a craftsman's ruler. Measuring the size depends entirely on the mentality passed down by word of mouth, eye skills and practical experience accumulated, and the "limit" opened between the middle finger and thumb is used to indicate , at the same time, the size is also determined based on the width of the paper. Its accuracy is almost close to that of a ruler.
The paper binding uses strips as the keel and paper as the mounting material. The main strips of the keel are generally marked with red marks, left, right, top and bottom, and overlapped according to the structure. The joints are wrapped with leather paper strips one centimeter wide and five centimeters long, and then glued with paste. The keel structure is criss-crossed, and the key interfaces are drilled on the main strips, and the auxiliary strips are sharpened. After the opposite holes are connected, they are wrapped with strips of paper to fix them. The structure is very strong.
There are many types of paper tie-ups, all of which are distinguished by happiness, sadness and red and white.
Joyful paper tie-ups
This kind of paper tie-up products are mostly used for celebrations, festivals or for children’s play.
Hexagonal drum-shaped lanterns, octagonal lanterns, and fish lanterns are the most popular types of children's toys. Hexagonal lanterns are the cheapest, while fish lanterns have complex craftsmanship and are more expensive. I remember when I was a child, funeral paper wrapping was regarded as the "four olds" and disappeared under the revolution. During the Chinese New Year, the craftsmen occasionally made some lanterns in exchange for some pocket money.
What I remember most is that during the Chinese New Year, I can always see all kinds of lanterns hanging in the alleys across the street. The shopkeeper's daughter, wearing a blue floral dress, stood guard in front of the lantern, dealing with customers while looking nervously, for fear that Zhang Guaizi from the "Combat Office" would come and destroy the stall. The flowers and plants painted on the lantern are quite vivid and expressive with just a few simple strokes. I just looked at it, not bought it, because my mother was very handy and made a rabbit lantern for me early on. It has wheels at the bottom so I can drag it around, and its ears can still move.
The dragon head, dragon tail, lion head, dragon beads, spring ox, clam shell, as well as a wide variety of horse racing lanterns of the Lion and Dragon Team are all masterpieces of the craftsmen. The lion's head is made with high technical content, or weaving to be precise, and is laminated with tung oil paper. The workmanship is fine and solid, and it can withstand the vigorous dancing of the dancers without falling apart.
Due to his ingenuity, relatives and friends organize happy events, and if the craftsman goes to help, he will always be assigned detailed work. Cut red window grilles, happy characters, string flowers and butterflies, and tie red lanterns. The "Qilin lanterns" are used to celebrate the birth of a child, the "Mandarin duck lanterns" are used to celebrate the wedding, and the "goldfish lanterns" are used to pray for a good harvest... These beautiful colorful lanterns are colorful, simple in shape, and have profound meanings. , which heightens and adds to the festive atmosphere, and the bricklayers also receive many more red envelopes than other festive workers.
Before the Republic of China, the Yamen held spring welcoming and welcoming ceremonies every year. The spring ox, archway, Xingchun Bridge, etc. were all made by craftsmen. After liberation, the stage, facade decoration, dance equipment and other colorful items gradually disappeared into the smoke of history. Cross-street "colorful doors" built by craftsmen are still common in various festival activities. At this stage, inflatable colorful doors have become a new favorite, and craftsmen have withdrawn from this field.
Kite is a romantic work among paper products.
"Paper flowers are flying all over the sky like snow, and beautiful girls are swinging around on swings." In the spring field, the paper kites flying in the sky all carry the romantic feelings of the craftsmen letting their dreams fly.
Various forms of general incineration products
This type of incineration products is also called Ming products, and the popular name is tiehuo.
The varieties include rock mountains, gold and silver mountains, money trees, suitcases, sedan chairs, wreaths, spiritual houses, etc. The work unit sends wreaths, and the person who delivers paper and goods is "Wenke". Relatives usually send gold and silver mountains as gifts. Close relatives give money trees. The person who sent Yanshan as a gift was the natal family of the deceased woman.
Rock mountain, also known as backing mountain or back mountain, means Baoshan fairyland. As a family member, I hope that the deceased's destination will be a paradise world with beautiful mountains and rivers, as well as the prosperity of the earthly world. The base of the rock is the same height as the rock, with red, white and green colors, leaving a blank space for mourners to write their names. The rock is black, one large and two small, scattered in heights and is the main body of the mountain. Coiled dragons are glued on both sides to represent the whole story. The decoration of Yanshan’s front terrace is particularly particular. It is decorated with various bodhisattvas and puppets, regardless of the number, according to the customer’s preference and price. The most common one is Guanyin Rock Mountain. If the customer pays a lot of money, he can designate "plays", such as "Huarong blocking Cao" and "Zhuge mourning" in the "Three Kingdoms". There are also "Fishing, Woodworking, Farming and Reading" and "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea", to name a few. Customers who read a lot will pick out the content, and you have to be able to handle it.
Gold and silver mountains, rock mountains, money trees, gold and silver ingots, cornucopias, etc. must be given in pairs. Before shaking the tree, there must be a boy guarding the tree. In some places, Jinyin Mountain is equipped with mountain warriors. In addition to these, wealthy households also designated lions, horses, deers, elephants, etc., specifically for showing off during funerals, welcoming deaths, sending incense, and asking for water, etc. when traveling to the countryside and crossing the street. As for bathing basins, blood basins, etc., some people also pierced them. They were pierced specifically for ritual content and were not common. Sheng Xuanhuai, the pioneer of China's Westernization Movement, rode a dragon-shaped hearse in a funeral. It was probably the only time after the demise of the imperial system that we will not mention it for now.
The spiritual house is a necessity for a filial family to show their filial piety, and it is the most valuable among the cremated items.
When an old man dies and relatives prepare for funeral arrangements, the top priority is to arrange funeral arrangements and publish obituaries. The craftsman must arrive one day before the monk and work hard to chop, cut, join, cut, paste and paint, so as to catch up with the monk's ritual rhythm.
After the craftsman was invited, he had to prepare more than a hundred bamboo strips, from cutting bamboo to breaking bamboo strips to tying them. Paper needs to be cut into dozens of large and small pieces. The bricks and tiles paper can be printed and brought from home, but the carved windows have to be carved on site. Painting and writing have to be completed on time, and time is quite tight.
According to the jargon, the size of the spirit house is divided into half table, two table, three table, four table, six table, eight table and twelve table. The one as big as half a table is the "dining pavilion". Starting from the three tables, there are front, back and middle buildings, and the Chongting Pavilion is higher than the house. Twelve tables, more than eight tables, include gardens, attached rooms, etc. In the garden, there are many flowers. In the "pond", water can be released to raise fish. The furnishings in the house are all in keeping with the times, including household appliances, cars, and mahjong tables. In the attached room, there is a clipper, a windmill, a mill, farm tools, slaves and long-term workers, and poultry and livestock.
The writings and paintings in the interior of the spiritual house, the time and scene, and the poet's poetic skills can be seen at a glance. It is said among the people that a good barber is half a scholar, which refers to this aspect. On both sides of the foundation of the spirit house, there are two dragons of water and fire and a charioteer. After the sacrificial spirit is smeared with chicken blood, with the help of the "charioteer", it crosses the two boundaries of yin and yang, and is pushed to the other side of the "Naihe Bridge".
On the last day of the funeral, the villagers registered all the belongings in a book, stamped them with "fire pass", and prepared them. Helpers, relatives and friends carried or lifted them, led by firecrackers, towards the funeral. The incineration site is selected in advance. Straw is laid out, a bamboo mat is placed on top, and the upper, middle, and lower buildings of the spiritual house are arranged in sequence. Rocks and mountains are placed behind the house. Gold and silver mountains, paper figurines, paper horses and other spiritual objects are clustered around the house. A bald monk or an old Taoist wearing a wide robe and sleeves holds up a spiritual flag, slightly closes his eyes, and performs rituals while chanting words. After a while, fire was ignited from all four corners, and the wealth and silk of the beautiful house were finally burned.
The largest of the spiritual houses is called the "Puwu", which is as large as forty-eight tables. It is rare and can even be said to be a masterpiece.
According to the old man, Pingjiang Dongxiang had only been pierced twice: once at the home of Deng Yuanxin, a wealthy businessman on Changshou Street, and once at the home of Li Nansheng in Jiayi Lianbu. Li Nansheng once served as the commander of the Kuomintang army. He was wealthy and ostentatious. At that time, the two large households hired local craftsmen from all over the country, but only Yu Ganlin, a big craftsman in the local area, dared to take on this "porcelain work".
Building a house is a big project that requires the joint efforts of craftsmen from many disciplines. Master Yu served as the general commander, while the carpenters installed the floor and built the frame, and the bamboo craftsman weaved and folded bamboo to make the walls. Choose a flat site in the wild, build a greenhouse, and complete the entire project in the greenhouse. This kind of "paved house" is designed according to the Yin Zhai courtyard. The interior is very spacious. Monks can enter the house and perform rituals freely. Generally, a six-table spiritual house can be completed in one day and one night by two people. As for the "shop house", several craftsmen worked carefully and worked hard for half a month. At the end of the seventy-seven forty-nine days, the carefully built "shop house" symbolizing power and wealth was burned. The whole production process and the incineration process were filled with people and the scene was spectacular. Because it is rarely made, this skill has been lost.
The customs are different in ten miles, and the pronunciation is different in hundreds of miles. The turning point is Yin wealth, and the dawn is Yang wealth. No matter what time node is chosen, as a mourning family, the funeral is almost coming to an end. The deceased has once again received the prosperity of the mortal world, and will soon be buried in the green mountains, gorgeous houses and autumn ruins. All the glitz will eventually pass away.
Incinerated objects from large-scale rituals
The generous items wrapped in paper are undoubtedly the incinerated objects from large-scale ritual activities. It carries the soul of Huxiang Wu-Chu culture and has been passed down for thousands of years to this day.
Soul summoning began in Qu Yuan. Less than a thousand years ago, in Pingjiang, this Wu-Chu cultural heritage still exists and is extremely popular. To do clean things, save orphans, release river lanterns, and save innocent souls, they are often held among the people and are public welfare sacrifices. In this case, the public participation is high, and the whole process is as lively and colorful as the New Year.
In this activity, the craftsmanship of the craftsman is placed in an important position. Generally speaking, all paper bindings used in ceremonial activities must be made by a craftsman. For example, the "Nine-Star Nianmian God" that wards off evil spirits is said to be the incarnation of Guanyin Bodhisattva. The tall and mighty Guanyin Bodhisattva stands twenty centimeters high on its tongue and specializes in eating evil spirits. Another example is the white crane hanging on the fasting banner, Tang Sanzang’s masters and disciples, and the three animal sacrifices. The most eye-catching ones are the Bodhisattvas of the four realms of heaven, earth, water and Yang, riding on the backs of phoenix, unicorn, coiling dragon and Pegasus respectively. They are dressed as military generals, wearing armor, carrying flags on their backs, wearing turbans and looking majestic. Very realistic. The Bodhisattva of the Yang Realm is a handsome Wu Xiaosheng, handsome and tall, with a tiger-like appearance.
After completing the salvation sacrifice, all the "wind evil" and "ghosts" are in the bag. The next program is "Tao Zuo" (that is, the burning of Zuo's face god). Under the blazing flames, the paper tie is instantly reduced to ashes, and the ritual comes to an end.
The craftsman also needs to make a paper boat with a canopy, a boatman, a boatwoman and twenty-four rowers. The boat was carried by volunteers, led by Taoist priests, and every household swam in the streets and alleys of the community, playing suonas, gongs and drums. Upon entering the hall, Taoist priests performed exorcisms and loaded the captured plague ghosts onto boats and sent them to the Miluo River. Then "send a boat" to send him out of the company's territory. Under the night, shadows of people stood all over the river bank. The paper boat was launched into the water, with bright river lanterns floating on both sides. Along with the gurgling water and the long sound of suona, it gradually drifted away and away...
(The author is from Changshou Town? Person, employee of Pingjiang County Supply and Marketing System)