What do the ancients mean by drawing dogs?

In ancient times, keeping a dog was a very common thing. People keep dogs not only to find "loyal guards", but also because dogs represent the meaning of family reunion and happiness in people's minds. For example, in A Dream of Red Mansions, "Di Yun rode a horse, saw a piece of grassland in the distance, and thought,' Home, home! I don't want home anymore. Then the dog barked "This is home"! "It can be seen that dogs represent families in the eyes of the ancients.

In addition, dogs also play an important role in some festivals, such as the Mid-Autumn Festival, where there is the custom of "watching dogs on the moon". People regard the dog as a symbol of their soul and place their hopes and hopes on it.

2, a symbol of good luck and auspiciousness

Dogs, like other animals, also have the meaning of auspiciousness and blessing in ancient culture. In China folk culture, dogs are regarded as the embodiment of "landlords" and a symbol of good luck. In ancient times, it was one of the so-called "auspicious beasts" and often played the honor of protecting the family. For example, on the second day of the Lunar New Year, people will put a fake dog in front of their house, which not only shows the memory of their deceased family, but also has the symbolic significance of exorcising evil spirits.

3. It implies the loyalty quality in Confucianism.

Loyalty is an important quality of Confucianism. Dogs have this quality, so they are also regarded as a symbol of loyalty in ancient culture. For example, in China's traditional fable "The Poor Scholar and the Immortal Dog", the poor scholar and the Immortal Dog depend on each other, which shows the dog's persistence and loyalty to its owner and deeply inspires people's respect for the dog.

4. Reflect social life and artistic aesthetics.

In ancient art, the creation of dog themes is also quite rich, from very nostalgic traditional manual art sketches to painters' works, almost all of them contain the topic of dogs. For example, the painting "Playing in the Water" by the Ming Dynasty painter Xu Wei is about a dog playing in the water. The main purpose of these dogs is to describe the scene of "sunny, sunny", which also reflects the spirit of "self-control" of the protagonist.

In a word, the ancients painted dogs not only to show the significance of reproduction, living and working in peace and contentment, and family prosperity, but also to show the symbolic significance of loyalty, auspiciousness, happiness and auspiciousness, and artistic aesthetics. These meanings make dogs an indispensable part of ancient culture in China.