Types of batiks of Miao nationality

Miao batik is unique in the design theme, and the content and form are ingeniously integrated. Miao batik patterns can be divided into seven categories.

1. Butterfly pattern

The butterfly pattern comes from the stories of "Sister Bang" and "Twelve Eggs" in Miao myths and ancient songs. The story tells the origin of Miao nationality: the maple tree turns into a butterfly, and the mother butterfly makes love with the bubble, giving birth to 12 eggs, which are hatched by cranes and birds, giving birth to everything-Leigong, Shuilong, snake, tiger, sheep, elephant, wild boar and so on. One of the eggs hatched human beings, that is, Jiang Yang, the ancestor of Miao nationality. This is the story of Jiang Yang, the legendary ancestor of Miao nationality, who gave birth to "Girls on the List and Girls on the Stay". The Miao language "Sister List, Sister Waiting" is translated into Chinese as "Mother Butterfly". In Miao mythology, Mother Butterfly is the ancestor of all things in the world, including gods, ghosts, people, animals and plants, and lightning. Therefore, the butterfly is regarded as the embodiment of reproduction and beauty, the most respected, and has become an important and particularly popular pattern of batik. Batik butterflies are varied, both realistic and freehand; There are both abstract and deformed compounds. You can see a series of ever-changing butterfly patterns, such as flying, crawling, front, side and back, with different postures. The graceful image of butterflies is deeply loved by people of all ethnic groups in China. This legend has far-reaching influence, which not only forms the unique cultural consciousness of Miao nationality, that is, the love and worship of butterflies is the love and worship of ancestors, but also closely combines batik artistic expression with its worship. It can be seen that the butterfly pattern in Miao batik has accumulated the primitive ancestor worship consciousness.

2. Patterns of fish and birds

The fish and bird patterns in Miao batik patterns are similar to butterfly patterns, and they are also beautiful patterns that praise vitality. Miao people think that birds are male and fish are female. Fish and birds with the same picture form a pattern, which symbolizes the love between husband and wife. Fish with this pattern have wings like birds, and birds are mostly "waterfowl" that can swim in the water. Some scholars believe that this is the embodiment of equality between men and women and the mission of carrying on the family line. There is no distinction between male superiority and female inferiority, and it contains reproductive worship, which is a very distinctive pattern in form.

A large number of fish patterns are used in batik, which is more due to psychological expectations and the needs of life reproduction. Because fish has many children, and its belly also has many children, so the original meaning of fish pattern is symbolic reproduction, and the worship of fish is the worship of fish's reproductive ability. Over the years, other auspicious meanings have emerged. The pattern of "Carp yue longmen" of Han nationality symbolizes greatness and promotion, and the pattern of "Fish Lotus" symbolizes "more than one year". However, the understanding of fish patterns by ethnic minorities in Guizhou retains more primitive reproductive worship consciousness. For example, the metaphor of "children and grandchildren are like fish cubs" often appears in Miao folk songs. Fish is an indispensable offering in Miao sacrificial activities, which means to pray for future generations to reproduce. Most of the fish patterns in batik are fat, some have small fish in their bellies, some have dense spots like roe, and some simply paint fish scales as roe, all of which convey the information of primitive reproductive worship.

Many bird patterns in batik are also out of the desire to pursue auspiciousness and beauty. Birds are the happy life partners of ethnic minority girls living in mountainous areas, and their patterns have entrusted them with a beautiful vision of life. Among the Miao people, bird patterns also contain the meaning of ancestor worship. Linked to the legend of butterfly is 12 eggs laid by the butterfly mother in ancient songs, which were hatched by cranes and birds. Among all the things hatched, there is Jiang Yang, the ancestor of Miao nationality. Therefore, birds are kind to Miao people. Knife ring Macheng is the totem of some clans in Miao ancestors. Shan Hai Jing-Shen Yi Jing records: "There are people in the wild named Huantou ... who dares to face birds with their beaks, who dares to eat fish in the sea, and who dares to walk with a stick." There are some similar accounts in ancient books. Huantou and Huandou are said to be the leaders of Miao ancestors. Some of these bird patterns are faithfully imitated, and some are imaginary. Such as golden pheasant, magpie, sparrow, swallow, turtledove, parrot, peacock, crane and so on. , whose name can be confirmed; The others are only in the shape of birds. I can't tell what kind of bird it is. Surrounded by flowers and plants, most of them open their mouths, or cry with their heads held high, or whisper to each other, or fly to each other, or quarrel back to back, which is very vivid, similar to the portrayal of human excrement life.

3. dragon pattern

Dragon has always been a mascot for the benefit of mankind in Miao consciousness. The dragon pattern in Guizhou minority areas is very distinctive, and its shape and connotation are completely different from those in Han areas. Dragon is the primitive circle of China. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Han people have regarded the dragon as the highest symbol of imperial power, and the dragon pattern has gradually evolved into a mighty image with prominent head and sharp claws and sharp teeth. However, the dragon patterns in Guizhou minority areas are quite different from their tastes. Very naive and naive, very close to people and nature. Miao people are not afraid of dragons, and the dragons of Miao people are not as arrogant as those of Han people. Miao batik dragons have no fixed patterns and are ever-changing, such as bird head, snake head, cow head and centipede shape. Therefore, the Miao people include Buffalo Dragon, Ichthyosaur, Silkworm Dragon, Ye Long, Panlong, Yuwei Dragon and Shuilong. The dragon pattern in Rongjiang Miao batik looks like a snake and a silkworm. The shape of a dragon can fly, bend or stretch freely. Some experts believe that in addition to the original consciousness of dragon totem worship, the connotation of dragon pattern also means praying for happiness, welcoming auspicious events and eliminating disasters.

4. Eddy current line

The vortex pattern in Miao batik is mainly drawn on the back, sleeves and quilt cover, which is a traditional Miao pattern and symbolizes unity and prosperity. Miao people love human beings and nature. When they see the whirlpool in the torrent, they feel beautiful and have a feeling of prosperity and good luck, so they are considered as the beauty of an auspicious pattern. Vortex patterns appeared on Neolithic pottery in China, which was the imitation of natural water patterns by ancestors. Later, this pattern rarely appeared in Han handicrafts, and it was more common in Guizhou folk batik. In visual form, this is the most striking geometric pattern of batik, and it is also the most diverse pattern in content and meaning. The first is to remember that Miao ancestors migrated long distances, waded through mountains and rivers, and experienced the vortex marks left by countless dangerous beaches and stormy waves. The second is to record the vortex marks on the bull's head when it is killed to worship the ancestors, because this is a symbol of the ancestors. The third theory is that in ancient times, a smart and capable girl was ill. Her mother collected some tender moss from the mountain and gave it to the girl, and she recovered. In order to never forget this life-saving grass, it is painted on clothes for decoration according to its appearance.

5. Flower and plant patterns

There are not only many plant patterns in Miao batik, but also great differences with Han plant patterns. Unlike the Han people, the plant patterns come from peony, lotus, peach blossom and pomegranate (which also appear from time to time in batik towels), which are more common in Shan Ye's flowers, ferns, plum blossoms, peach blossoms, apricot blossoms and cotton, and some of them have evolved and refined into geometric patterns. These plant themes can be seen everywhere in the works of minority women, from which they can gain aesthetic feeling. Through imagination and processing, they painted a batik painting full of vitality and Shan Ye interest. For example, the pear pattern with the most local characteristics is not as colorful as the Danzhai Miao nationality in the world. According to legend, Miao ancestors had been to a place where pear blossoms were in full bloom when they migrated. During the long-term migration, the ancestors' blood was exhausted and almost dragged down by the uncertain life. Suddenly, they saw pear blossoms all over the mountain and felt that the world was so beautiful, so they strengthened their confidence in life. Therefore, pear flower is deeply puzzled by Miao people. Another legend is that in the great circuitous migration of the ancient Central Plains to the southwest, in order to remember the hardships of trekking, women painted all the flowers and plants they saw along the way on their dresses, which were later preserved as traditional patterns. There is also a legend that children can grow up safely and healthily wearing batik clothes with pear flower patterns, and pear flower patterns are also auspicious patterns for Miao Wa. According to legend, fern cured Miao women's diseases, so fern also became a batik pattern.

6. Bronze drum pattern

The bronze drum is one of the cultural characteristics of the Miao nationality, so the ancient patterns on the bronze drum are often the source of the traditional batik patterns of the Miao nationality, and the bronze drum is also a heavy weapon respected by some ethnic minorities. In ancient times, bronze drums were often used for sacrifice, entertainment and battles. Respect for bronze drums and reproduction of bronze drum patterns mean memory and worship of ancestors. In the Song Dynasty, Zhu Fu recorded in Xi Man Cong Xiao: "Dong Xi loves bronze drums more than jade." Therefore, it is an inevitable choice for Miao batik to be based on the patterns on bronze drums. This phenomenon is also confirmed in the records of Qian Zhongshu in Qing Dynasty: "There was twill in Liao Dynasty, which was called slip pattern, and the cover pattern was printed with bronze drum pattern and wax plate." Although the patterns of Miao batik bronze drums have changed in the process of inheritance, the central patterns of bronze drums are still very typical and prominent in batik. The central pattern is actually a sun pattern that radiates light.

7. Stars, mountains and rivers

The design of the stars and mountains mentioned here is not the objective stars and clouds in the sky or the mountains and rivers on the ground, but the combination of highly abstract patterns and images. These patterns not only have unique formal beauty, but also reflect profound historical connotation. According to historical records, Miao people experienced a great migration from their hometown in ancient times, which was a tragic experience of a nation. Miao people are not only unforgettable, but also legends record and reflect the migration events in history with patterns. For example, the river pattern of Jiuqu River is composed of diamonds of different sizes, which symbolizes the crisscross and zigzag crossing of rivers. The city boundary pattern takes a square as the frame to represent the city wall, the small squares on the four sides represent the turret, and the cross pattern in the middle represents the street. There is a saying in Miao areas where this pattern has been circulating for a long time: this pattern and organization show the long-standing scenery and the experience of ancestors' migration. For example, the yellow horizontal line on the pleated skirt represents the Yellow River, the green horizontal line represents the Yangtze River, and the blank in the middle represents the field. They call this kind of skirt "migration skirt" and "mother river skirt".