How to treat the significance of China's ancient design thought to modern design?

At the end of the Warring States period, Han Feizi, as the representative of legalist thought, wrote Han Feizi, which formed the legalist thought with law, technique and potential as its core, in which "law" refers to laws and provisions. Law is the representative of rules, and society is made up of interests, so he thinks that art is not utilitarian, ignores the value of art, and advocates practicality as beauty. Therefore, Qin Shihuang's "Same Book" and "Same Column" are the embodiment of this political thought, and this normative thought is also the need for the continued development of ancient China culture.

At the same time, this ruling idea is also the embodiment of traditional ideas. The land of heaven and earth is a cognitive concept inferred by the ancients through the observation of objective nature. It is not difficult to find that utensils featuring Fiona Fang are very common, especially coins. Not only that, Fiona Fang represents the combination of Yin and Yang, the square is the earth, the circle is the sky, and Fiona Fang is Gankun, which also represents the two poles of Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang are complete, and the two poles of Yin and Yang are transformed into each other. This is the simplest thought of China in ancient times, and it is also the simplest design thought.

(2) Cultural representation of ceremony

From Xia Dynasty to Zhou Dynasty, bronze ritual vessels reached their peak, and it was also a craft form formed by the integration of the productivity level of slave society and people's worship and awe of heaven. Bronze ware represents the submission and worship of mortals to the gods, a way to communicate with heaven, a symbol of the slave nation of the ruling class, and a representative of a ceremonial cultural form of society at that time. Therefore, we can see the symbol of this culture from the shapes and decorative patterns of bronzes: solemn, cold and even terrible. Rites, which can beautify the appearance, are a form of distinguishing classes in ancient hierarchical society. State-owned and educated people must understand etiquette, so the utensils used are also branded with etiquette, which can be said to be a way to promote etiquette. Of course, the ancients analyzed the difference between culture and quality. Literature is superficial, quality is internal, literature is the chief culprit in serving people's eyes and ears, and quality, that is, its practicality, is the intrinsic value respected by the ancients. This also reflects from the side that the ancient design thought has functional cultural characteristics, emphasizing quality over literature, and the function is supreme in design. This quality is an internal emotional expression, that is, the transmission of ancient ruling class thoughts, while literature is God's imagination and creation, which is the formal need for the ruling class to convey ideas. With the change of dynasties, the ceremony collapsed, and the bronze art gradually turned from heaven to underground, with a secular tendency, and the decorative patterns gradually became kind and soft.

(3) The enlightenment of pre-Qin thoughts to modern design.

Fiona Fang's modeling can be said to run through the design of ancient China utensils. Similarly, this cognitive way of ancient wisdom also reflects its power as a symbol. In the logo of China Industrial and Commercial Bank, Professor Chen's design adopts an invisible round square hole coin with the word "Gong" in the middle, which is a change of the square in ancient coins and is integrated as a whole. So the re-creation of graphics is the most intuitive and direct. In the personal logo of Hong Kong designer Jin Daiqiang, an orchid-shaped hand is used to hold tea. The figure of hand contains the expression style of hand in Zen, which is simple, gentle and powerful. Tea ceremony is also a kind of culture that he likes very much, and it is also a manifestation of personal cultivation, and it is a very successful personal logo design. It is not difficult to see from the simple logo that it conveys China's thought and culture, and the whole graphic gives people a deep feeling and trust. Design is not only the designer's own business, it must meet the design purpose. In the context of the information age, we have to admit that the forms of design are becoming more and more diversified, and the way of information exchange is also earth-shaking. However, the advanced nature of ancient design thought lies in that any design should assess the situation, and if it needs to be created, it needs to absorb new elements. Especially in Chinese character design, Founder Chinese Character Design Competition held in China is a re-creation of traditional Chinese characters.

Third, the inspiration of decorative patterns to modern design

(1) gluttonous grain (animal face grain), Kui Wen.

Gluttony pattern, also known as animal face pattern, is a legendary beast image, fierce and terrible. The use of gluttonous patterns enhances the mystery and horror of the whole bronze ware, especially some bronze ritual vessels. This decorative pattern can not only shock the slaves, but also safeguard and consolidate the position and interests of the ruling class, and also embodies the merchant's idea of "ghost before ceremony". The shape of the gluttonous pattern is a decorative pattern composed of many back patterns and eyes shaped like beasts. Many straight lines curl back and form hooks when they meet the boundary. The animal face pattern is basically a symmetrical gluttonous pattern. Kuiwen's hook is symmetrical from the center and looks like a lying S, with a sharp knife at the top and bottom. On the whole, the shape is sharp and angular. Judging from the decorative patterns, they all have distinct symbolic significance. It can be said that symbolism is the most distinctive feature of China traditional culture, which contains symbols of different cultures. They all worship the power of the natural god, who is both a symbol of power and a symbol of power. Moreover, decorative patterns are often distributed in the legs of utensils, or covered with such decorative patterns, which are close to each other and have boundaries. According to the characteristics of casting process, bronze decoration forms a combination of bas-relief block and line engraving, and some also adopt multi-level decoration. This multi-level decoration is called "three-layer flower". Moreover, there is a certain proportion balance in the decoration, not a simple arrangement, but a physiological proportion according to the aesthetic feeling of the appearance.

(2) Bird pattern and phoenix pattern

With the passage of time, in addition to animal patterns, bird patterns and phoenix patterns are also one of the decorative patterns of bronzes, which are applied to bronzes more and more frequently. Feng Huangwen was discovered as early as Hongshan Culture's time. It is a snake with elegant mane. Bird pattern is a symbolic generalization of birds. Since the late Spring and Autumn Period, phoenix patterns have repeatedly evolved between concreteness and abstraction, and great changes have taken place, combining natural beauty with abstract beauty and combining reality with romantic classic graphics. After thousands of years of changes, it vividly shows the ability to "recreate imagination", which is a vivid example of the evolution of traditional graphics. Judging from the above-mentioned essay, there is a close relationship between bird patterns and phoenix patterns. The evolution of the lying S-shape is not achieved overnight. From the time point of view, there are various forms of phoenix patterns, some of which are abstracted as curly vortex shapes, and some are more geometric double hooks, which are very similar to Kuiwen's shapes. Therefore, from the evolution of phoenix patterns, we can see that the changing methods of decorative patterns are pictographic, pictographic and highly abstract. (1) Pictographic birds imitate real birds in a more realistic way. According to the characteristics of the phoenix bird in the middle and late Warring States period, it is noble to hold its head high and fly briskly. (2) pictographic changes are further simplified on the basis of figuration, and the crown head is retained, and the tail is gradually simplified into a hook shape; (3) The abstract shape is a more highly generalized figure, even completely geometric, and the change tends to moire. These changing techniques are one of the creative methods of patterns, and also one of the methods that can be used for reference in the current application of traditional pattern design.

(3) The inspiration of decorative patterns to modern design.

These patterns have the characteristics of China, but what new China patterns should modern design create? Traditional patterns are full of the wisdom of ancient working people. The reason why we can expect them to have China characteristics at a glance is a deeper thought, but it also shows that they have the same characteristics. Although the times are different and the nationalities are different, it must have its own uniqueness, which lies in China people's demand for integrity, perfection and balance. Since China's design thought is cognitive and dialectical, it must be restrained and comprehensive. Traditional graphics are just a form of reference, and their brushwork and lines are just a form of expression, but this form should not be limited to the separate application in current design. For the information society, there are complex and disorderly cultural symbols everywhere, and designers are eager to find their own expression symbols in them. Therefore, the spread of national symbols has been ignored and is not rooted in the cultural background of China. Of course, the design circles in China are also aware of this problem, and a group of Hong Kong designers such as Jin Daiqiang and Chen Youjian are trying to explore it. A series of signs and logos of Beijing Olympic Games also convey the understanding and application of traditional culture.

Four. conclusion

The artistic origin of traditional culture is very deep. We should not only look at the evolution process from the decorative patterns, but also realize the ideological roots that gave birth to them, which is what we need to consider and study when dealing with modern design. The origin and differentiation of China's traditional thought has formed a treasure house of the whole traditional art. We should explain it in simple terms, combine the rough with the fine with the characteristics of the times, and strive to create artistic designs belonging to the new era of China.