Fujian folk art

Author: Chen Qiuping
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1993-08-01
Features: ★8-inch hardcover binding, Chinese-English bilingual, published by Fujian Education Press★ The artist and photographer Chen Qiuping compiled Fujian is located in the southeastern part of China, facing the sea with mountains in the background. It is known as the "Brahmin Coast" for its lush mountains and clear waters. The ancient city of Fuzhou, a historic and cultural city; Quanzhou, a city with a rich history and culture; Xiamen, a picturesque coastal garden; Zhangzhou, a fragrant city with blooming flowers; and the Wuyi Mountains with emerald waters and red cliffs. It is like a vibrant and colorful scroll, full of diverse and vivid scenes. Fujian, abbreviated as Min, has accumulated the essence of Chinese civilization over its long history, while waves of foreign cultures have continuously impacted it. According to A General Overview of Chinese Dialects, "the migration of Central Plains people to Fujian began around the Qin and Han dynasties, peaked during the Jin and Tang dynasties, and reached its peak in the Song Dynasty." Additionally, A Journey Through Fujian records that after the late Han Dynasty, there were three large-scale migrations of Central Plains Han people to Fujian. The first was during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, known as the "Southward Migration of Scholars," where most migrants settled in the Jianxi, Futingxi river basins, as well as the lower reaches of the Minjiang and the Jinjiang river basins. Legend has it that the name "Jinjiang" originated from this migration. The second large-scale migration to Fujian occurred during the reign of Wuhou of the Tang Dynasty, when Chen Zheng and his son Chen Yuanguang, from Guangzhou in Henan, led troops south to "subdue the barbarians" and entered the Zhangzhou area. The third was in the late Tang Dynasty when Wang Shunzhi, a Henan native, rebelled and established himself as the king of Fujian, becoming the founder of the historical Min Kingdom. During the late Tang Dynasty, the Yellow Turban Rebellion led to the southward migration of the Hakka ancestors to Ninghua, Tingzhou, and Shanghang in western Fujian, where they became the main residents. The Jian'an Gazetteer states: "Since the chaos of the Five Dynasties, many scholars and merchants from the Central Plains fled to this region, bringing with them diverse customs." The migration of Central Plains people and scholars to Fujian introduced the region to the rich and colorful heritage of Chinese local culture. Due to its geographical environment and varied terrain, Fujian has historically faced long-term transportation difficulties, leading to relative isolation from the interior and limited interaction between different regions within the province. As a result, the folk customs and arts of various parts of Fujian have been preserved and passed down, blending with local cultures to form distinct cultural circles. In Fujian, "customs differ every ten miles, and marriage customs differ every five," highlighting the rich and diverse folk customs and arts, which are essential components of Fujian culture. Folk music, such as Nanyin, known as the "living fossil of ancient music," and folk theater, dance, and art forms like Liyuan, Putian, Gaojia Opera, and string puppets, are indispensable parts of folk activities. Folk art not only embodies traditional folk culture but also serves as a visual symbol of national spirit. Since ancient times, Fujian has been closely connected with the world. As early as the 6th century during the Southern Dynasties, the port of Quanzhou had maritime trade with foreign countries. In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, Quanzhou was one of the four major trade ports in southern China. By the Yuan Dynasty, Quanzhou had trade relations with over 100 countries and regions in Asia and Africa. The "Maritime Silk Road" further made Quanzhou famous both at home and abroad, where tens of thousands of foreigners once resided. Their descendants have since become an integral part of the Chinese nation. The traces of foreign cultures can still be seen in the temples and ruins of religions like Manichaeism, Islam, Hinduism, Brahmanism, and early Christianity in Quanzhou. Alongside the inheritance and development of Fujian's folk culture, folk arts have thrived and enriched. Traditional festivals and major life ceremonies serve as grand exhibitions of folk arts. During festivals like the Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival, people in various villages and towns of Fujian actively engage in the creation and appreciation of folk arts with great enthusiasm. During the Spring Festival, households post New Year paintings and door gods. Inside, the image of the Earth God is pasted on an altar. People write couplets, cut window flowers, make sugar figures, and shape dough figures, creating a lively atmosphere. During the Lantern Festival, villages and towns hold lively folk performances, with events in places like Fuzhou and Putian extending from the 11th to the 29th day of the first lunar month. Each village has its own local festival day. Activities include making flower lanterns, guessing lantern riddles, dragon dances, lion dances, high-wire walking, stage, dragon boat racing, dragon mountain displays, and firework displays. In Fuzhou's Nanhou Street, a dazzling array of flower lanterns creates a vibrant lantern market. During the Dragon Boat Festival, Fuzhou also calls it the "Wu Ri Festival." A folk song describes the festival: "On the first day, nail garlic on the door; on the second day, fry fierce fish; on the third day, fry rice cakes; on the fourth day, make festival cakes; on the fifth day, dry at noon; dragon boat races begin." Starting from the first day, people clean their courtyards. Each household rolls two bundles of mugwort and mugwort leaves in red paper and nails them to the door pillars, symbolizing warding off evil spirits with mugwort leaves resembling swords and attracting good fortune with mugwort leaves like flags. People drink realgar wine, eat zongzi, hold dragon boat races, wear fragrant sachets, and grandmothers give their grandsons auspicious "Five Poisons" vests to ward off evil. Children's wrists are tied with colorful silk threads, and they wear silk-threaded fragrant sachets and egg-shaped pouches made with colored threads around their chests. In folk customs, major life transitions and celebrations are particularly grand. In places like Zhangpu, Fujian, when a woman gets married, she brings embroidered clothing, pants, shoes, socks, dragon hooks, Bagua patterns, lantern core bags, and hats as part of her dowry to show her intelligence and craftsmanship. The newlyweds' bedroom is decorated with red auspicious flowers and window designs of mandarin ducks playing in water. Gifts from relatives are stamped with pig trotter patterns. For children's "Full Moon," "Fourth Month," and "First Birthday" celebrations in places like Toreng and Fuzhou, there are customs of reporting the good news, sending gifts, holding full moon banquets, giving red eggs, and dressing children in tiger shoes and hats, making them look fierce. In funeral customs, people in Putian, Hui'an, Quanzhou, and Zhangpu prepare various daily necessities to honor the deceased. Among the offerings are folk art items like food-shaped flowers, paper-made golden children and jade girls, sedan bearers, carriages, paper money, and paper ingots. With good intentions, people hope that the deceased can enjoy a prosperous life in the afterlife. Fujian's folk arts are diverse and widely distributed. They are mainly categorized into wood carving, brick carving, stone carving, woodblock New Year prints, paper cutting, embroidery, paper crafting, and puppetry. Representative folk art pieces are found throughout the region, such as wood carvings of sedan chairs in Hu'an and Yongchun; fruit boxes in Putian; wood-carved incense altars, window designs, and cabinet doors in Gutian; beds and window designs in Fuan; brick carvings in Jianning, Tailin, and Pucai; brick carvings in Jinjiang; woodblock New Year prints in Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, and Longyan; paper cutting in Zhangpu, Pucai, and Toreng; paper crafting in Fuzhou, Putian, Hui'an, and Zhangpu; and puppets in Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. Fujian's folk arts have strong regional characteristics, with some types unique to a single county or area, while others are common across the region. Among the common types, differences in local customs, temperament, and talent lead to variations in the style of similar folk arts, ranging from simple and rough to exquisite and delicate, each with its own unique features. Fujian's folk arts are closely tied to people's clothing, food, housing, and transportation, as well as to folk marriage, birth, and funeral customs, and seasonal festivals. They also involve religious beliefs and various folk activities. The creative motivation behind folk arts is not purely aesthetic but practical. The design and decoration of folk architecture, furniture, and utensils first cater to people's living needs, while also incorporating artistic forms and aesthetic value. Clothing is for wearing, toys are for children's enjoyment, and puppets must fit the roles and plots of the plays. Within these practical patterns and motifs, there is a rich spiritual connotation, providing aesthetic enjoyment and a harmonious combination of practical and aesthetic value. Additionally, folk arts serve to wish for good fortune, ward off evil spirits, and beautify homes, carrying a deeper spiritual meaning of promoting goodness and pursuing a better life. "Paper cutting of five-colored figures, reaching the peak of exquisite craftsmanship," as recorded in the local chronicles of Youxi during the Ming Dynasty, describes the paper cutting activities in Zhangpu. The history of Zhangpu's paper cutting can be traced back to the Song Dynasty and flourished during the Ming Dynasty. Even today, this ancient and simple folk art continues to thrive and be passed down. The longevity of Fujian's folk arts lies in both material and spiritual inheritance. Some folk art crafts, such as stone carving, wood carving, brick carving, and paper cutting, are passed down through master-apprentice relationships, with a broad foundation among the people. Most other folk art crafts are transmitted through family bloodlines, from generation to generation. For example, in Putian, the paper crafting artist Lin Wenfu and his brothers all engage in paper crafting, ensuring the continuation of their ancestors' skills. In Zhangzhou, the "Yan Family Bookshop" began producing New Year prints around the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty and has been preserved through the Xianfeng and Tongzhi eras of the Qing Dynasty, with the descendants of the Yan family, Mr. Wenhua, continuing the family business. While the transmission of skills is material, the shapes and patterns in folk arts convey spiritual meanings, emotions, beliefs, and customs. The themes of Fujian's folk arts are broad and profound, categorized into auspicious and festive themes, dramatic stories, myths, folk tales, as well as flowers, birds, fish, insects, and animals. The style of Fujian's folk arts is generally realistic, with a focus on vividly depicting well-known historical figures and stories, as well as decorative, symbolic, and metaphorical patterns. "Carp entering lotus," "magpie landing on plum blossoms," "two fish," and "interlocking dragons" symbolize the union of men and women. Phoenixes, deer, qilins, magpies, and cranes are considered auspicious animals and birds. Pine trees symbolize longevity and enduring vitality, while bamboo represents integrity and resilience. Some folk arts use phonetic or visual metaphors, such as placing peonies in a vase, which is inscribed with the auspicious saying "()" (wealth and peace in the bottle), or carving pine and crane to signify "" (pine and crane longevity). Seasonal flowers placed in broken porcelain vases are inscribed with "()" (peace year after year in broken pieces). More often, patterns are used to convey meanings, such as the eight props of the Eight Immortals symbolizing "" (the hidden Eight Immortals), or children wearing tiger head hats and shoes to ward off evil. Folk arts are creations of laborers in their daily lives and are often used in daily routines. Through generations of creation and inheritance, they carry a strong sense of national and rural identity, embodying the wisdom of the working class. Fujian's folk arts possess the solemn, rustic, and profound characteristics of Central Plains culture, while also showcasing the ethereal, lively, and graceful features of the south. Despite the passage of time, they continue to flourish, with each generation bringing new growth and renewal.