Yi lacquer culture

In the history of Liangshan Yi people, there has been a craftsman class called "Rogge" for a long time, among which the most outstanding are painters, silversmiths, lumberjacks, saddle craftsmen, masons, carpenters, clothes hangers and so on. Generations of Liangshan Yi craftsmen have created exquisite and simple articles for daily use, which are an important part of Yi culture, among which black, red and Huang San lacquerware are the most unique. Lacquerware is collectively called "Zugu Jydasu" in Liangshan Yi language. According to legend, the earliest lacquer painting technology was created by the ancestor Di Yigang, about 57 generations ago, about 1600 years ago. The red, yellow and black lacquerware of the Yi nationality is unique in the traditional culture of the Yi nationality, but the relationship between its shape, color and decoration and the cultural origin of Chu lacquerware and Shu lacquerware deserves further study, from which some valuable and important information about the origin of the ancient culture of the Yi nationality can be found. There are many kinds of Yi lacquerware. There are more than 20 kinds of traditional lacquerware, such as wine vessels, tableware, saddles, weapons and instruments. In addition to daily necessities and wooden house decoration, there are armor "weapons" widened by ancient and modern warriors, crossbows, arrows and other weapons and equipment, as well as the god fan "Chek" in the religious instrument "Simuhaga" of the priest Bimo (five tools for spreading knowledge). The raw materials used in lacquerware are made of high-quality "Bauhinia" wood grown in the alpine region above 3500 meters above sea level, and precious natural raw materials such as earth paint, cinnabar and stone yellow, which are refined through dozens of processes, such as paint cutting, paint making, tire bone selection and treatment, cross-rotation of wood tires, coloring and painting. Because only natural materials are selected, it is very elegant, so it is non-toxic and tasteless, and resistant to acid and alkali. The modeling features of Liangshan Yi lacquerware are simple and heavy. There are plates, pots, helmets and bowls in tableware, and "Salbo" and "Mo Ye" with huge solid circles in wine vessels, which are similar to ancient "beans". "Yi Shao" (wooden spoon) looks like an old "Bi". Its modeling is both practical and aesthetic. The decorative features of Liangshan Yi lacquerware are natural realism and the unity of form and spirit. Patterns come from nature and life. The patterns include natural patterns, animal patterns, plant patterns, life patterns, production patterns and humanistic patterns. Its patterns include single patterns, continuous patterns and unit patterns. Its decorative combination is full and ingenious, with both thickness and thickness, appropriate primary and secondary positions, appropriate complexity and simplicity, and rigorous and harmonious composition. The colors of lacquerware are black, red and Huang San, which are used at intervals, bright and simple. The keynote is that the red and yellow colors form a sharp contrast between cold and warm, strong and weak, light and dark on the black paint base, forming a certain sense of space, thus producing a harmonious rhythm. The tricolor worship of Yi people reflected by lacquerware has established the cultural symbolic significance: black represents dignity and solemnity; Red symbolizes courage and enthusiasm; Yellow represents beauty and light.