What are the characteristics of folk toys?

There are many kinds of ancient cultural products in China. One of the most striking things is a very interesting thing-toys. Ancient toys are dazzling, and Xian Yi in Xian Yi, old and young, is an excellent choice for everyone's entertainment.

So what toys were there in ancient times? What kinds and ways are these toys divided into? We might as well take the Song Dynasty as an example.

Let's take an example to talk about all kinds of toys in the Song Dynasty.

Song Dynasty was a prosperous period of feudal society and economy in China. At that time, it was already a "market economy" in the feudal period of China. The unprecedented prosperity of commodity trading has already broken through the limitation of time and space, and is no longer enclosed within the walls stipulated by the government.

During the Tang Dynasty, the fair trade was limited in time, starting in the morning and ending at night. Finish it on time, and you will be punished if you violate the time. By the Song Dynasty, these complicated rules were gone.

In the Song Dynasty, vendors were scattered in citizens' houses, and some streets were lined with shops, forming a prosperous commercial street.

At that time, the scene of Bianjing was: "Growing up gradually, under the guidance of the younger generation, it was peaceful for a long time, and there were many people. The children were hanging in the bun, but they were encouraged. The class was old and didn't know how to fight. The four seasons were different, and each had its own appreciation."

People's lives are stable and prosperous, and the economy is increasingly prosperous. There are many shops: "Mahang North goes to the old Fengqiumen Oblique Street, and there are households on both sides of Wazi Street in the north of the state, and Huangmen Street is newly paved outside. The rest of the classes are opposite the barracks, about ten miles away from the gate, and the rest of the lanes are numerous, and the truth is unknown.

There are doors everywhere. "The night market is also more bustling:" The night market is more crowded than the state bridge, and it can't stop at all. "The most lively place, the city people stay up all night, and the communication is endless.

Vendors selling food and sundries in the streets "sing hundreds of stories", and large and small shops are in an endless stream. The night market didn't end until midnight, and the morning market opened at 5 o'clock, which can be said to be very lively. Therefore, Kaifeng in the Northern Song Dynasty is also called "the city that never sleeps".

In addition, there are temple fairs that are open regularly: "Suoguo Temple opens five times a month for the trading of ten thousand surnames, with three birds, cats and dogs, rare birds and animals, and everything."

Suoguo Temple will be held five times a month, and merchants will gather here. Grocery shops, various shops and workshops, all kinds of treasures and foreign objects will gather here.

Handicraft and commerce are developed, and citizens' holiday life is rich and colorful. Under this background, the social and cultural activities in Song Dynasty developed unprecedentedly, especially the toy industry.

In Tomb-Sweeping Day, small vendors can be seen everywhere in the countryside around Kaifeng. They sell, for example, sesame cakes, yellow fat, flying knives, famous flowers, exotic fruits, mountain pavilions, toys, duck eggs and chicken feet, which are called "exotic musical instruments". "Local musical instrument outside the door" is a variety of local products other than Kaifeng, which has distinctive local characteristics and is deeply loved by people.

During the Qingming Festival, it was warm in spring in bloom. People went for a spring outing and didn't go home until it was dark, and they carried all kinds of "earthenware utensils outside the door", among which yellow fat, flying knives, mountain pavilions, playthings and duck eggs were all children's favorite toys at that time.

Wu introduced the grand occasion of night toy trading in Lin 'an (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang) Street in the Southern Song Dynasty: toys of the four seasons and sand table play. In spring and winter, we sell Yumen small ball lanterns, Yumen screen windows, stick lamp balls, fast-moving Hu's daughter's sand play, lantern riding, faded fish dragon boats, shuttle balls, incense drums and other things. "It can be seen that there were so many kinds of toys at that time.

The painter Su Hanchen painted a masterpiece "The Salesman's Map". From this painting, we can probably see more than 100 kinds of children's toys: "birds, birdcages, rattles, small bamboo baskets, sachets, wine glasses, clay figurines, small stoves, small pots, small bottles, small bowls, hexagonal windmills, chicken feathers, drums, paper flags and small flowers."

Toys in Song Dynasty have various names and their own systems, and have developed into an independent guild. At that time, there were even a group of professional toy appraisers who specialized in appraising the quality of toys and evaluating toy design, which was very professional.