Animal-related Folk Arts

Animal-related Folk Arts

In the ancient and splendid Chinese culture, some animals in the reality and imagination have been endowed with magical powers, which transcend the boundary of animals and sublimate into the incarnation of God. For thousands of years, these animals, which have been deeply rooted in culture, play an essential role in Chinese folk culture.

The Chinese Dragon and Phoenix

The dragon and the Phoenix are the principal motifs for decorative designs on the buildings, clothing, and articles of daily use in the imperial palace. The throne hall is supported by columns entwined by gilded dragons, the central ramps on marble steps were paved with huge slabs carved in relief with the dragon and Phoenix, and the screen wails display dragons in brilliant colors. The names in the Chinese language for nearly all the things connected with the emperor or the empress were preceded by the epithet "Dragon" or "Phoenix". 

Thus, "dragon seat" for the throne, "dragon robe" for the emperor's ceremonial dress, "dragon bed" for him to sleep on, and "Phoenix carriage (风辇)", "Phoenix canopies (凤盖)", and so on for the imperial processions. The national flag of China under the Qing Dynasty was emblazoned with a big dragon. The earliest postage stamps put out by China were called "dragon-heads" because they showed a dragon in their designs. Even today the dragon is sometimes adopted as the symbol of Chinese exhibitions held abroad or the cover designs of books on China printed by foreign publishers. "The Giant Dragon of the East" is becoming a sobriquet for the country. 

Belief in the dragon and drawings of the imaginary animal can be traced back to primitive society when certain prehistoric tribes in China adopted the dragon as their symbol and guardian god. Some of the recently unearthed bronze vessels of the Shang Dynasty, which existed more than 3,000 years ago, are decorated with sketches of dragons of a crude form. The earliest legends in China described the dragon as a miraculous animal with fish scales and long beards. As time went on, it became more and more embellished in the minds of people, acquiring the antlers of the deer, the mane of the horse and the claws of the eagle - in short, appropriating the distinctive features of other creatures until it became what we see today everywhere in the palace. 

The Chinese phoenix, likewise, exists only in legends and fairy tales. Sovereign of all birds, it has the head of the golden pheasant, the beak of the parrot, the body of the mandarin duck (鸾鸯), the wings of the roc, the feathers of the peacock and the legs of the crane; gloriously beautiful, it. Reigns over the feathered world. An early design of the Phoenix can be seen on the silk painting discovered in a tomb of the Warring States Period (475 - 221 B.C.) near Changsha in Hunan Province. 

The dragon and the phoenix often served in classical art and literature as metaphors for people of high virtue and rare talent or, in certain combinations, for matrimonial harmony or happy marriage.

The Chinese Stone Lions

The lion is a special animal to Chinese people. A pair of stone lions, a male, and a female can often be seen in front of the gates of traditional buildings. The male lion is on the left with his right paw resting on a ball, and the female on the right with her left paw fondling a cub. 

The lion was regarded as the king of the animal world, so its images represented power and prestige. The ball played by the male lion symbolized the unity of the empire and the cub with the thriving female offspring. 

The stone lions were also used to indicate the ranks of officials by the number of lumps representing the curly hair on the head of the lion. The houses of first grade officials had lions with 13 lumps, and the number of lumps decreased by one as the rank of the official went down each grade. Officials below the seventh grade were not allowed to have stone lions in front of their houses. 

It is interesting to note that China had no lions originally. It is believed that when Emperor Zhang of the Eastern Han (汉章帝) reigned in A.D.87, the King of Parthia presented a lion to him. Another lion was given by a Central Asian country known as Yuezhi in the next year. The earliest stone lions were sculpted at the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty (A.D.25 - 220) with the introduction of Buddhism into ancient China. It is said, Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, was seen after birth "to point to Heaven with one hand and to Earth with another, roaring like a lion." In the Buddhist, faith, the lion is considered a divine animal of nobleness and dignity, which can protect the Truth and keep off evils. 

It was also popular to decorate bridges with sculpted-stone lions for the same reason. The best known of this is the Lugouqiao (also as Marco Polo Bridge), built from 1189 to 1192. The stone lions on the posts of the bridge are most famous. It is said there are 485 lions in all, but there maybe 498 or 501. A famous proverb says "the lions on the Lugouqiao are uncountable."

Tiger in Folk Art

The tiger is a popular theme in Chinese folk art. One may encounter numerous images of tigers in almost all forms of folk art: papercuts, embroidery, sculpture, new year print and so on. 

The earliest image of the tiger was discovered in an ancient tomb unearthed in central China's Henan Province in 1987. A tiger made of shells was found lying on the left side of a body buried there. On the right side was the earliest image of a dragon ever found, also made of shells. These images are believed to be some 6,000 years old. Experts say that both the tiger and dragon were totems in ancient times. 

The Han people are a mixture of many ancient tribes from all over China. Tribes from the west, including the tribe of the Yellow Emperor, wor- slipped the tiger, while those along the eastern seashore worshipped the dragon. Of course, there were many other tribes with different totems. After many wars of expansion, these tribes gradually mixed to form the Han Nationality. Because tribes worshipping the tiger and dragon were more powerful, other totems disappeared, while these two continued to exist. 

Worship of the tiger came from the nomadic and hunting lifestyle of our ancestors. On the grassland, a tiger was a powerful animal. People held a contradictory attitude towards it. They both respected and feared it. There used to be a saying that if you are staying with an emperor, it is as if you were staying with a tiger. People took the tiger as a symbol that could protect their descendants. 

With the development of agriculture, people began to rely more on the climate and were concerned with its changes. Since the dragon is said to be in charge of the weather, it replaced the tiger. Gradually, the dragon came to hold the dominant position in the heavens, and the tiger became one of his subordinates, the king of mountains. No wonder there is also a similar saying to that of English in China that "While the cat,s away, the rat will play." The Chinese saying is that "If there is no tiger on the mountain, the monkey is the king." And another saying goes that "there can never be two tigers that are staying on one mountain simultaneously," meaning two capable persons cannot work together since they challenge each other. 

However, the tiger has always belonged to the people. It is loved not merely as a totem but has been secularized through the years. People love its beauty and strength, find spiritual sustenance in it, and use it as a protector and symbol of good luck. For example, in new year prints, we can often see a picture called The Tiger Guards the House”. People will put it on the front door at the beginning of the year so that the tiger will protect the family and let it have a peaceful life during the rest of the year. 

In Chinese legends, there are quite a few tales about how tigers saved human lives. One legend says in the ancient State of Chu, a man had an illegitimate child which he abandoned in a desolate field. A female tiger found the child and fed him with her milk. Later, the child grew up to become a prime minister of the State of Chu. 

Maybe the most famous man supposedly saved by a tiger is the great philosopher Confucius. It is said that Confucius was so ugly when he was born that his parents decided to leave him on a mountain. Again, it was a tiger who saved his life. 

Tigers were worshipped not only by the majority Han people but also by more than a dozen minority ethnic groups. One example is the Yi nationality (鼻族). Yi people have a tiger festival each year. On that day, all people dress up to look like tigers and hold all kinds of celebrations. 

The worship of a tiger can be found in most parts of China. The tiger theme used to be so popular that you could find many kinds of tiger objects in one household. You might see a tiger head made of cloth hanging on the gate, tiger paper-cuts on the window, tiger pillows and quilts on the bed, a tiger cake on the table and tiger caps, shoes and toys for children. 

In the past, folk artworks of tigers were usually made by women in the countryside. They made these for practical as well as aesthetic purposes. The skill was passed down from mother to daughter, and a woman of talent would spread her skill to another village when she married a man from that place. Most of these women were illiterate and spent their entire lives in one small area in the countryside. So it is a wonder how the original patterns could have been passed down for generations and spread from the isolated village to all over China.

Chinese Zodiac 12 Animals

In the Chinese zodiac, twelve animals are used to denote the year of a person's birth: mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. This is called a person's Shengodao (生肖). A popular legend says, long long ago, a certain god ordered all the animals to pay him a visit on New Year's Day, that is, the first day of the first lunar month. He said he would give the first 12 animals to come to the title "King of the Animal World" and let each hold the title for one year. The 12 winners happened to be those mentioned above. 

A more convincing theory maintains that using animals to symbolize years began from totems of minority peoples in ancient times. Different tribes had different animals as their totems. Gradually, these animals were used as a means to remember the years. 

Alongside the increasing exchanges between the hinterland and the border regions, the custom of using animals to designate years made its way to the hinterland and was adopted by the Han people, the largest national group in China. 

At that time, the Hans were using the 10 Heavenly Stems and the 12 Earthly Branches to designate years. They took one from each series to make a pair for one year and developed a system based on a 60-year cycle. 
When the method of using animals to represent years was introduced into the hinterland, the ancient Chinese married them to the 12 Earthly Branches, one to each. So, twelve animals were used. And animals officially began to be used to designate years during the Later Han of the Five Dynasties Period a little more than 1,000 years ago. 

The New Year visit-to-the-god story explains how the unpleasant Mouse managed to become the first of the 12. As the story goes, when the Ox heard of God,s decree, he said to himself, "It,s a long journey to visit that God. I'm not a fast traveler and I'd better start early." So he set out on the eve of the Lunar New Year. The Mouse heard the Ox and jumped onto his back without being noticed. The Ox, sweating all over, was so glad to be the first to arrive at the God ’ s place. But just as he was about to express his New Year greetings to the God, the Mouse jumped down over the Ox,s head and became the first to kowtow to the God, So he was appointed as the first King of the Animals and consequently the first of the 12 animals to designate years. 

A more authentic explanation says the Earthly Branches are divided into two categories: Yin (阴) and Yang (阳) Each of them is paired with an animal of the same "gender" The gender of the animal is determined by the number of a specific part of its body- Odd numbers are Yang and even- bars are Yin. The tiger, the dragon, the monkey and the dog all have five toes on each foot or paw, and the horse has one hoof. So we know they are Yang animals. The cloven-hoofed species such as the ox, the goat, and the pig fall into the Yin category because their hoofs are divided into two parts. The rooster is also Yin since it has four toes on each foot. The rabbit has two upper lips, and the snake has a two-point forked tongue. So they are Yin, too. The mouse had been a problem. It has four toes on each foreleg and five on each hind leg. It has both Yin and Yang qualities, and there seemed to be no place to put it. Fortunately, the first of the Earthly Branches, Zi (子), can be considered both Yin and Yang. The Branches were also used to designate days and hours, and when symbolizing the hours, the branch Zi covers a period from eleven in the evening to one o'clock in the morning. P. M. is Yin, and A. M. is Yang. So the mouse goes together with this first branch. It is this double-gender feature, a kind of split personality, that makes the little mouse the leader among his colleagues. In the legend, the Cat failed to be chosen because he was a day late getting to God's place. The Mouse had played a trick on him. He lied to the Cat, telling him the wrong date for the competition. The Cat was not pie: used and ever since they have been enemies. The mouse also managed to drive the elephant away by climbing into his trunk. 

Shengociao is held to be of great significance by many Chinese, and people tell numerous stories and follow rich and colorful customs associated with the Earthly Branches.

Cricket Fighting

Cricket Fighting (斗螺摔) The cricket culture in China dates back 2,000 years and encompasses singing insects and fighting crickets. During the Tang Dynasty (500 - 618 B.C.) the crickets were respected for their powerful ability to "sing". It was during this time that they started being captured and kept in cages so their songs could be heard all the time. In the Song Dynasty (960 - 1278 A.D.)，cricket fighting flourished as a popular sport.

In the fighting season of the autumn, the little warrior is the center of attention of thousands of Chinese Talk to a cricket lover and he will launch into an exciting recital of the pleasure his little pets give him. The fans come from all walks of life and are virtually all male. Excited by the prospects of some thrilling fights, they arrive at the arena, carrying their insect proteges in small boxes.

Crickets can be very aggressive. Whenever two of them meet in a confined space, a fight breaks out. The fights take place on a table which is covered by a piece of rough paper and surrounded by glass. The duel is short and fierce.

The contest ends when one cricket is hurt or gives up and backs away. The winner then performs a unique ritual. It chirps loudly, fluttering its beautiful gossamer-like wings. The poor loser, and perhaps its human trainer, hangs its head and limps slowly away. 

Cricket fighting was so popular that China actually produced a Cricket Minister, Jia Shidao who reigned as a prime minister from 1213 to 1275. However, he was accused of not managing his responsibilities because he was obsessed with the cricket-fighting cult. Then from 1427 to 1464，a Cricket Emperor, Ming Xuanzong ruled in favor of cricket fighting, making his palace a major tribute to this insect. Literally, thousands of crickets were sent to the capital every year to discover their financial fate. Amazingly, there are hundreds of documented stories of people committing suicide because of a losing or injured cricket. 

Because people enjoyed the excitement of placing bets on their favorite fighters, the government tried to clamp down on cricket fighting. But traditions die hard and cricket fighting is making a comeback with a chirp of victory. 

Fox spirits

Fox spirits (狐狸精) Fox spirits in Chinese mythology are spirits of a fox type that are akin to European faeries and demons. They can be either good spirits or bad spirits. 

In Chinese mythologies, it is believed that all things are capable of acquiring human forms，magical powers and immortality provided that they received certain energy, such as human breaths or essence from the moon and the sun. 

The fox spirits that people encounter in tales and legends tend to be females and appear as young, beautiful women. One of the most infamous fox spirits in Chinese mythology was Daji (妲己), who is portrayed in the Ming novel Fengshen Yanyi (封神演义) a beautiful daughter of a general; she was married forcibly to the cruel tyrant Zhou Xin (封辛). A nine-tailed fox spirit who served Nvwa (女蜗 whom Zhou Xin had offended) entered into and possessed her body, expelling the "true" DajiJ s soul. "Daji" and her new husband schemed cruelly and invented many devices of torture, such as forcing righteous officials to hug red-hot metal pillars. Due to such cruelties，many people, including Zhou Xin's, own former generals, revolted and fought against Zhou Xin's dynasty, Shang. Finally, King Wu of Zhou, one of the vassals of Shang, founded a new dynasty named after his country. The fox spirit in Daji's body was later driven out by Jiang Ziya (姜子牙), the first Prime Minister of the Zhou Dynasty. 

Typically fox spirits were seen as dangerous，but some of the stories in Pu Songling's Liaozhai Zhiyi (聊斋志异) are love stories between a fox appearing as a beautiful girl and a young human male. 

In modem Mandarin slang and Cantonese slang, the term "fox spirit" (狐狸精) is a derogatory expression describing a woman who seduces a man.