Traditional Patterns of Zhongyang Paper-cut

According to ancient records, there were snakes and frogs in the totem of the clan tribe of the Yellow Emperor during the totem worship period. In addition, the totem of the legendary Nuwa is also a "frog". In ancient China, "You" was synonymous with "Frog" and "Frog", both of which came from "Nai". "This naturally links the oldest frog totem with the oldest Nuwa clan group, and the' frog' totem is the symbol of the Nuwa clan tribal group". As for Yi, Xu Shen in the Eastern Han Dynasty interpreted it as "a saint in ancient times, transforming the spirit of all things" in Shuo Wen Jie Zi. "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" contains: "At the beginning of heaven and earth, Nu Wa took loess as a human being, and the audience was at a loss, and ten thousand ropes were thrown into the mud, raising it as a human being." In addition, the word "pregnant" was the word "female" in ancient times, that is, the image of toad and frog was added with a word "female", which vividly showed that the word "pregnant" combined with "frog" was probably the creative face of Nu Wa in words.

"Snake", like the frog mentioned above, is a relic of primitive human nature worship and totem worship. With the progress of clan society, human's self-affirmation has led to the change from totem worship to self-worship, that is, ancestor worship. As discussed earlier, the snake and frog patterns in folk paper-cutting are the remains of nature worship and totem worship. Then, the patterns of human faces and animal bodies are naturally the schematic remains of the transition period from totem worship to ancestor worship. "This is a combination of catching bun dolls and animal totem worship, a protector and reproductive god of half-man, half-beast, a transitional form from animal totem worship to ancestor worship, and a cultural relic of an extremely important historical era when human beings began to turn from slaves of nature to commanders of nature."