Local dough figurines in Shanxi folk dough figurines

Huozhou dough figurines are called "mutton buns" by local people, and "sheep" in ancient times is "auspicious", which means "auspicious".

Before the Spring Festival, according to the local custom, the peasant women used the fine powder ground by their families to knead the dough products of "bergamot", "full house" and "skillful husband and clever mother" into kittens, dogs, tigers, yutu chickens, ducks, fish frogs, grapes, pomegranates and eggplants to symbolize all the best, long life, rich financial resources, harmony and friendship, and wish all the best.

During the "Cold Food Festival", the dough sculpture used by Huoxian people to pay homage to their ancestors was a "snake plate". Yes, there are also one-headed snakes and two-headed snakes. In the old folk custom, the younger generation ate "snakehead" when offering sacrifices to their ancestors, which means "killing poison and avoiding disaster".

On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, Huoxian has the largest variety of dough sculptures. There are pig's head, sheep's head, wheat straw collection, needle and thread laundry, thimble, scissors, needle and thread, cake sitting (that is, shaping a woman sitting on a lotus stand), lion, tiger, fox and so on.

The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the "Begging for Cleverness" Festival. It is said that on this day, women are ingenious when eating dough sculptures such as "needle and thread" and "thimble".

When the baby is full moon, grandma's family will usually make a "bangzi" with a diameter of more than one foot, that is, a round dough circle, and put on the fine-faced plastic of the Chinese zodiac. Some will also have smaller dough figurines in the shape of dragons and phoenixes or tiger heads in the middle, which are called "auspicious dragons and phoenixes" or "tigers to ward off evil spirits". Whoever comes to see the children will cut a piece of "Kun Kun" for people to appreciate.

In the first year of the new wife's arrival, the bride's family will send "mutton steamed bread" to her daughter. In the old society, because of poverty, it was very laborious to send a few "mutton" buns to my daughter. Now that I am rich, I give my daughter dozens or even hundreds of "mutton buns" at a time. Steamed bread has various shapes and meanings. For example, "cattle and sheep" symbolizes the prosperity of six livestock, "wheat straw collection" symbolizes the bumper harvest of grains, and pomegranate is a metaphor for many children and many blessings.

Huozhou dough figurines are simple in shape, rarely decorated and colored, and often only supply red dots, and some are decorated with red beans. Xinzhou Dough Statues is a living product of the traditional folk art of the Han nationality circulating in this area. It is deeply hidden among the people and has become one of the local handicrafts.

In Xinzhou area, we should offer sacrifices to the gods for steaming during the New Year. Before the Spring Festival, dough was kneaded into offerings of various shapes, such as bergamot, pomegranate, lotus, peach, chrysanthemum and horseshoe. Commonly known as "Hua Mo".

Xinzhou steamed buns, often with red dates in the middle, are both decorative, nutritious and seasoning, and are very popular. There is also a big local sacrifice called "jujube hill". This kind of jujube mound is made by rolling jujube into an isosceles triangle, and the top of the corner is often molded with a layer of wishful patterns, on which three to five dough sculptures "small ingots" are added, and at the same time, a "dry dragon" biting copper coins is molded. After steaming, "jujube hill" can be dyed and become a beautiful folk art. ..

Tomb-Sweeping Day, kneading a kind of dough called "Cold Food Festival" by local people. This kind of noodle is filled with plain oil, salt, millet and sesame seeds, and kneaded into the heads of boys and girls, with red lotus beans as the mouth and black lotus beans as the eyes, plus a face, nose, ears and eyebrows. After steaming, touch and dye it, which is very innocent and lovely. Some also make a kind of "cold swallow", and pinch the steamed cold swallow and insert it on the branches of Zizyphus jujuba, much like a group of swallows stopping on the branches. According to legend, these folk dough sculptures are related to the "Cold Food Festival". "Cold food forbids fire, and cold food lasts for one day". Swallows symbolize the arrival of spring.

On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, Xinzhou people have the custom of steaming "noodles". According to legend, this custom began at the end of Yuan Dynasty. It is said that people send signals by giving each other "face people". Up to now, there is a saying among the people that "kneading dough on July 15th and killing tartars on August 15th". However, there are many kinds of dough figurines on July 15th, including cows, sheep, pigs, rabbits, cats, chickens, ducks, dolls, flowers, melons and fruits. There are also animal models such as mandarin ducks, peacocks, lions, tigers and deer, which contain happiness, auspiciousness and love. After the Tenth Five-Year Plan, almost every wall was hung with a string of dough figurines.

In Xinzhou area, on the wedding day, both men and women steam many big "happy buns". These big "happy buns" should be placed on the dining table for people to enjoy and taste. At the same time, a big "flower cake" should be steamed. In some places, it is customary to knead ten kilograms of flour into a "flower cake". This kind of flower cake takes flour as the round bottom, and the edge of the rolled strip has patterns. It is covered with a layer of red dates, with a layer of lace face plate slightly smaller than the first layer, and the floating plastic of "fish drilling lotus" is pinched on it. After steaming, it is colored and dotted, which can be enjoyed and eaten by people and can also be used as a gift.

During the birthday in Xinzhou area, "Happy Steamed Buns" are often steamed. "Happy steamed buns" are mostly peach-shaped, with various small decorations on them, symbolizing good luck and longevity. They are colored as "Longevity steamed buns" and given to relatives and friends.

When the funeral is held, the local people will also pinch a "dim sum" dough sculpture and offer it in front of the mourning hall. This dough sculpture is made into various images of flowers, fruits and small animals, which is very delicate and unique. Some have spots after steaming, and some have spots after drying.

In Fan Shi, Xinzhou, there is a small statue with the theme of fat doll. At the same time, there is a small and delicate, white and fat, elegant little face, without any coloring. This little face man has various postures of crawling, lying down, holding flowers and gnawing melons. Sometimes, it will be placed in "big flowers" dyed red and green. According to legend, this dough sculpture is a special offering made by local people in Wutai Mountain Buddhist Temple to pray for Buddha.

Xinzhou folk also have dough sculptures that portray dramatic figures such as life, Dan, Jing, Wei and Ugliness, and even sell them in the temple fair market. This kind of dough sculpture is also quite exquisite.

In a word, Xinzhou Dough Statues is varied and colorful, and has become a folk art with aesthetic taste. Jiangzhou, today's Xinjiang County, is a county in the southern plain of Shanxi. This area is rich in wheat in history and has always been the producing area of wheat and cotton in Shanxi Province. Therefore, on holidays, every household here should grind the first-class wheat into flour and knead it into various dough sculptures to celebrate the festival. Because the dough sculptures here pay attention to color and bright colors, the locals call them "flower buns".

Jiangzhou flower steamed buns are exaggerated in shape and unique in shape, especially the "animal flower steamed buns".

In Jiangzhou urban and rural areas, most housewives can knead steamed buns, which can generally be made into various ordinary shapes. Because they are all homemade, although the level is different, it does not affect eating. Over time, some housewives practice makes perfect, and the kneading level of steamed buns can also be continuously improved.

Because of this kind of folk activities that every household has to carry out, a large number of skilled craftsmen have made buns and passed them down from generation to generation.

Whenever there is a funeral in urban and rural areas, making buns will become an inevitable activity. Moreover, these steamed buns will be displayed in front of the public and will therefore be evaluated. This kind of spontaneous mass selection, which does not select the champion, has undoubtedly become the driving force to promote the kneading of steamed bread and the folk comment to promote the continuous improvement of dough modeling level.

Therefore, Jiangzhou has always been famous for making steamed buns, which has become a traditional folk handicraft with a good reputation.

In a word, dough sculpture, as a plastic art with strong folk vitality, has been growing and rooted in people's lives and has become a manifestation of folk customs. As an art form or food culture, it has its own unique system. Among them, modeling consciousness and method, primitive religious consciousness and evolution, humanistic thought and development all have profound connotations that need to be developed urgently. Xiangfen has a long history. The origin of mankind, the origin of the country and the origin of the Yellow River culture are all very important here. It is one of the birthplaces of the Chinese nation and the ancestral home of Chinese civilization. /kloc-0.0 million years ago, the famous "Dingcun people" thrived here, and Emperor Yao, who was known as the ancestor of China 5,000 years ago, founded the country and made its capital here, making it prosperous. Speaking of Xiangfen noodles, it is the crystallization of Xiangfen people's wisdom. Among them, the Wang Mianren in Jiagang, south of Fencheng, Xiangfen County, has a history of hundreds of years. A famous saying that has been circulating here for a long time: "Jin Xiangling, Yin Taiping" is because Taiping Town (now Fencheng) is rich in wheat. People in this land use wheat flour to make figures, flowers and birds at grand festivals and weddings. Appears in people's daily life as a plastic arts. In the past, it was only a decorative food, so there is no record of works or treasures handed down from generation to generation in history, which is a great pity. King Taiping's dough figurines are called flour flowers among the people. They are used as symbols or symbols for gifts, sacrifices, celebrations and folk festivals (such as ceremonies and New Year's Eve). They are very representative local cultures accumulated by long-term customs.

Xiangfen Wang Taiping dough sculpture is called art, and it is favored by the world because of its graceful posture. It is precisely because of the accumulation of culture from generation to generation, coupled with the enthusiasm and talent of the creator's unique utilitarian thoughts, that it has become a simple and refined culture. It is also with the help of the rare "attention" from generation to generation and the fact that it belongs to the broad masses of the people that it has the conditions to survive and develop freely according to its own laws. With its rural characteristics of less pollution, it can stand in the forest of folk art with its unique and complete image in today's elegant and popular culture convection.