The legend of the door god

 

The legend of the door god

 

During the Chinese Spring Festival, many places have the custom of posting door gods. The predecessor of the door god is Taofu, also known as "Peach Edition". The ancients believed that peach wood is the essence of the five woods and can control hundreds of ghosts. Therefore, since the Han Dynasty, there has been a custom of using peach as a tool to ward off evil spirits.

The original door god was carved into a human form of mahogany wood and hung next to the person. Later, the door god was painted as a portrait and posted on the door. The legendary brothers Shen Tu and Yu Lei specialize in controlling ghosts. With them guarding the door, evil spirits big and small dare not come in to cause harm. After the Tang Dynasty, there were paintings of the fierce generals Qin Qiong and Yuchi Jingde as door gods, and there were also paintings of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei as door gods. There is one door god statue on the left and right doors respectively. Later generations often painted a pair of door gods as civil and military.

The door god is said to be the god Cha and Yulei who can catch ghosts.

Yingxuan's "Customs" of the Eastern Han Dynasty quoted the "Huangdi Shu" as saying: In ancient times, there were two brothers Shen Na and Yu Lei who lived on Dushuo Mountain. The two brothers are friends with the tiger king, and they have been guarding the passage between humans and ghosts.

At that time, there was a peach tree on the mountain, with shade like a canopy. Every morning, the two brothers Shen Na and Yu Lei inspected the ghosts under this tree. If there is an evil spirit causing harm to the world, it is tied up and fed to tigers. Therefore, ghosts are very afraid of tigers.

Later, people used two peach boards to draw portraits of Shencha and Yulei, and hung them on both sides of the door to ward off ghosts and avoid evil. Liang Zongjing of the Southern Dynasties recorded in "The Chronicles of Jingchu Years": On the first day of the first lunar month, "a peach board was built for the door, which is called fairy wood, and two gods were painted on the left and right sides of the door, the god Na on the left and the luxuriant ridge on the right, which are commonly known as the door gods. ." Children always wear tiger hats and tiger shoes.

However, the door gods recorded in history books are not Shen Cha and Yu Lei, but an ancient warrior named Cheng Qing. It is recorded in Ban Gu's "Han Shu·Biography of King Guangchuan": On the door of the palace of King Guangchuan (Quji) there was a portrait of the ancient warrior Cheng Qing, wearing short clothes, large trousers and a long sword.

It is later said that in the Tang Dynasty, the Dragon King of Jinghe broke the law of heaven in order to make a bet with a fortune teller and deserved execution. The Jade Emperor appointed Wei Zheng as the supervisor and beheading official. In order to survive, the Dragon King of Jinghe begged Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty for mercy. Taizong agreed, and when it was time to slay the dragon, he summoned Wei Zheng to confront Yi. Unexpectedly, Wei Zheng took a nap, then his soul ascended to heaven and beheaded the Dragon King.

The Dragon King complained that Taizong did not keep his word and shouted for his life outside the palace day and night. Taizong informed the ministers that General Qin Shubao said: "I would like to stand outside the door with Yuchi Jingde in uniform."

Taizong agreed. That night turned out to be uneventful. Taizong couldn't bear the hard work of the two generals, so he ordered his skillful painter to paint the true faces of the two generals and paste them on the door. Later generations passed down the tradition, so these two generals became the gatekeepers of thousands of households. One of them holds a steel whip in his hand, Yuchi Jingde, and the other holds an iron mace in his hand, Qin Qiong.

From then on, Cheng Qing's position as the goalkeeper was replaced by Qin Shubao and Yuchi Jingde.

Hanging New Year pictures during the Spring Festival is as common as hanging door gods in urban and rural areas. The thick black and colorful New Year pictures add a lot of prosperity and joy to thousands of households. These all have folk custom functions of praying for blessings and decorating residences. New Year pictures are an ancient folk art in China.

New Year pictures, as the name suggests, are pictures posted during the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival). In the old days, whenever the Spring Festival came and the new year was about to come, every household would clean the house and yard, and put affixed stickers on the main hall, bedrooms, windows, doors, in front of the stove, and on the shrines in the yard. The refreshed New Year pictures are not only used to create a joyful New Year atmosphere, but also to pray to God for happiness and to eliminate disasters and misfortunes.

On the eve of the Spring Festival, amid the crackling of firecrackers, jubilant men, women and children, old and young, put up couplets, window grilles and all kinds of New Year pictures together, red and green, beautiful, the spring scenery is joyful, and every household is happy. Newly clean and brand new. Every Spring Festival, people like to buy some bright and pleasing New Year pictures and stick them on their doors or indoors to add to the peaceful atmosphere of the Spring Festival.

Posting New Year pictures during the Spring Festival has a long history in our country. New Year paintings were called "door god paintings" in ancient times, and their earliest name was "door paintings".

Now, the earliest New Year picture we have seen is "The Sui Dynasty's Slim and Slender Face with an Overwhelming Beauty" from the Southern Song Dynasty. It is generally called "Four Beauties", which depicts the four beauties Wang Zhaojun, Ban Ji, Lu Zhu and Zhao Feiyan.

According to records in ancient books, it is said that a long time ago, two brothers named Shen Cha and Yu Lei were responsible for supervising the ghosts. If they found harmful ghosts, they would tie them up and feed them to tigers. So Huangdi painted images of Shen Cha and Yu Lei on the door to ward off ghosts. According to "Customs", religious beliefs had the custom of offering sacrifices to doors during the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, so Shen Tu and Yu Lei became the earliest gods of door in our country. This myth is the reason why the "Door God" painting came into being.

The Jin Dynasty's Records of the Years of Jingchu recorded: "Paintings of cats and chickens on the door, hanging reed ropes on them, placing peach charms next to them, making hundreds of ghosts fear them." Related to this are the legends of Shen Tu and Yu Lei binding ghosts. By the Tang Dynasty, door gods were generally known as Qin Shubao and Yuchi Jingde.

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the development of engraving art, the art of New Year pictures became more and more prosperous.

Cai Lun invented paper in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Before the Tang Dynasty, most of the door gods were hand-painted. The role of the door god is not a legendary image, but a real person. The common saying about the door gods is: the white-faced general among the door gods is Qin Shubao, who was born in Licheng, Qizhou (now Jinan City, Shandong), and the black-faced general is Hu Jingde, who was born in Shanyang, Shuozhou (now Shuo County, Shanxi). "The Biography of Li Shimin" records: During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin fell ill due to nightmares. He heard ghosts screaming every night, which made him feel restless and restless. A minister said: "If you send generals to guard the gate, you will be able to drive away ghosts." Generals Qin Shubao and Yuchi Jingde volunteered to stand on both sides of the palace gate, one holding a sword and the other holding a whip, and guarded him all night long. Taizong's illness was indeed cured. Emperor Taizong was overjoyed, but it was not a long-term solution for the generals to guard the gate, so he ordered the painter to paint the majestic images of the two generals on the palace gate. Later generations imitated the paintings on paper or carved them on wooden boards, which became popular in the world. Since both Qin and Yuchi were generals, door gods in the Tang Dynasty mostly appeared as mighty generals. In addition, folk painters artistically processed their images based on the historical romances of the Tang Dynasty, so they gradually evolved into "door gods" in New Year paintings. .

In the late Sui Dynasty, with the emergence of woodblock books, woodblock New Year pictures also emerged. From a painting perspective, Liu Yan's "Youth Recreation Picture" of the Liang Dynasty can be called the forerunner of New Year paintings. By the Tang and Five Dynasties, there were many paintings, including Han Huang's "Feng Nian Picture", Zhou Fang's "Ladies on Spring Outing", "Flying Butterflies", Li Song's "Viewing Lamps", Yi Qingzhi's "Lantern Festival Picture" ", Xu Xi's "Peony Picture", Su Hanchen's "Baby Bathing Picture", etc. Especially the "Baby Bathing Picture", the painting shows a naked baby wearing a red belly, dancing on the side of flowers, the coloring is bright and lifelike. This proves that the New Year paintings of the Tang Dynasty reached a considerable level in terms of composition and color.

It is said that the emperor of the Tang Dynasty ordered Wu Daozi to draw a portrait of Zhong Kui, and then copied it and gave it to ministers to hang it to ward off ghosts.

After the emergence of engraving technology in the Song Dynasty, it provided technical conditions for the production of woodblock New Year pictures and promoted the continuous development of New Year pictures. As New Year pictures spread widely, their content and functions have also been enriched. By the Song Dynasty, woodcuts had replaced portraits. The earliest woodblock New Year pictures in my country can be seen in the woodblock New Year pictures printed during the Southern Song Dynasty. The pictures include pictures of beauties such as Zhao Feiyan, Wang Zhaojun, Ban Ji, Lvzhu, and pictures of Guan, Zhang, Zhao, Ma, Huang and the Five Tigers.

New Year paintings of the Yuan Dynasty include pictures of longevity stars, pictures of the Eight Immortals, pictures of pines and cranes prolonging life, etc., and there is a market for sale.

In the Ming Dynasty, due to Zhu Yuanzhang's advocacy, this custom developed further.

In the Qing Dynasty, due to the rise of woodcut paintings such as operas and dramas, embroidered novels and illustrations, as well as great development in drawing and carving techniques, woodcut New Year pictures entered their peak period. Especially during the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns of the Qing Dynasty, New Year paintings became more prosperous, with production areas all over the country, and a large number of professional painters and sculptors emerged who specialized in woodcut New Year paintings. By the Qing Dynasty, New Year paintings reached their peak. From the beginning, it was used as a talisman to ward off evil spirits and ghosts. Gradually, themes such as good luck and good luck, many children and longevity, and dolls and ladies were added, thus also having the function of expressing good intentions in the new year and beautifying the environment. At the same time, New Year pictures also appear to express the real life of farmers as well as folklore and stories, making New Year pictures play the role of enriching cultural life and spreading knowledge.

Although there have been works with the theme of New Year pictures in ancient my country, there is no term "New Year pictures". Door God and Kitchen God are the earliest forms of New Year pictures, which originated in ancient times and were finalized in the Han Dynasty. In addition, Gu Jingxiu's "Children Playing with Goose" and Mao Huixiu's "Village Market" in the Southern and Northern Dynasties; Dong Boren's "Hong Farmland Family Picture" in the Sui Dynasty; Fan Changshou's "Customs Picture" and "Drunken Taoist Picture" in the Tang Dynasty, etc. Although the subject matter is similar to New Year paintings, the works are all written by famous artists and are not folk wall paintings during the New Year. "Tokyo Menghua Lu" written by Meng Yuanlao of the Song Dynasty records: "In recent years, the market has printed and sold door gods, Zhong Kui, peach boards, peach charms, and money gates, blunt donkeys, turning deer horses, and Tianxing stickers." Liu Ruoyu's "Zhuizhongzhi" written by Liu Ruoyu in the Ming Dynasty said: "After the winter solstice, many posters of "Sheep Introduction" were hung indoors, and the Director of Ceremonies printed "Nine-Nine Cold-Repelling Pictures". As mentioned above, from the form to the content, they are already New Year pictures, but the term "New Year pictures" has not yet appeared.

In the article "Dog·Cat·Rat" in his collection of essays "Morning Blossoms Picked at Dusk", Mr. Lu Xun recalled the life scenes of his childhood and said: "There are two floral papers pasted in front of my bed. One is "Eight Years of Flowers". "Don't Get Marriage", the whole page is full of long mouths and big ears, which I think is not very elegant. The other picture "Mouse Getting Married" is cute. From the bride and groom to the groomsmen, guests, and deacons, everyone has sharp cheeks and thin legs, like a scholar. Yes, but they are all wearing red shirts and green trousers." The "flower paper" mentioned here refers to New Year pictures. There are many different names for New Year pictures among the people, such as paper paintings in the Northern Song Dynasty, picture stickers in the Ming Dynasty, Wei paintings in Beijing in the early Qing Dynasty (so named because most of the New Year paintings in Beijing came from Yangliuqing of Tianjin Wei), happy pictures in Hangzhou, Sichuan pictures Mianzhu's fighting parties and so on all refer to New Year pictures. In the 30th year of Daoguang reign in the Qing Dynasty, scholar Li Guangting wrote "Xiangyan Jieyi", in which the "Ten Things to Do in the New Year" section mentioned the New Year paintings. He said: "After cleaning the house, I put up New Year pictures, which is a child's play. However, such as "Pictures of Filial Piety" and "Business in the Crops", letting children look at them and explain them is not a sign of uprightness." The meaning of the word "New Year pictures" comes from this. Before and after the Reform Movement of 1898, "reformed New Year pictures" appeared in various places in order to promote the New Deal and expand knowledge. Peng Yizhong, the editor-in-chief of "Beijing Daily" at the time, once wrote an article praising this socially-assisted education method that was full of pictures and texts and was popular. Later, the Education Department of the Zhili Governor's Office published printed materials such as "Breaking Superstition" and "Lies Are Useless", with the words "Improved New Year Pictures" printed on the pictures. From then on, the term "New Year pictures" was passed down.

Before and after the Revolution of 1911, New Year paintings not only did not receive the development they deserved, but instead suffered a cold reception. The reason was mainly due to the impact of the war. During this period, lithographic New Year pictures, represented by Shanghai's old calendar cards, became popular all over the country, forming a unique "old calendar" style. A large number of calendar calendar masters stood out, such as Xie Zhiguang, Zhou Muqiao, Jin Meisheng, Hang Jiying, Hu Boxiang, Xu Yongqing, Zheng Mantuo, Ye Qianyu, etc. .

During the Anti-Japanese War, many excellent paintings were produced, mainly with the theme of the anti-Japanese war and the working people, such as pictures of joining the army, New Year's labor force, brothers and sisters clearing wasteland, etc. The art of New Year pictures has developed rapidly. Whether it is the layout or the emotional meaning, it has both inherited and developed. Many excellent works have been created to promote new morality, new ideas and new life.

Folk New Year pictures are basically farmers' own art. The images in the painting are simple, natural, concise and simple, and express the simple subjective wishes of farmers relatively straightforwardly. Many pictures are plot-driven, decorative, interesting, and colorful. This method of expression is not only suitable for the appreciation habits and aesthetic tastes of farmers and citizens, but also facilitates woodblock printing production. Folk New Year pictures are made by first drawing a rough draft and then printing it on a wooden board, or by printing outlines and then filling in color with a pen. Before the advent of modern printing technology, this was the only way to mass-produce drawings.

There are many styles of folk woodblock New Year pictures, and they are also very particular. The door gods are affixed to the courtyard door. According to the type of door gods, they are subdivided into those affixed to the main door, second door, back door or boudoir door. The statues include the God of the Kitchen God, the God of Heaven and Earth, the God of Wealth in the Barn, and even the God of Carriage and Horses attached to the horse pen in the cowshed. "Zhongtang" is attached to the living room, "Moonlight" is attached to the window, and bucket squares are attached to cabinets or shelves and buckets. They really have their own rules. In short, during the Chinese New Year, every corner of the house, inside and outside the house, inside and outside the courtyard, is decorated with colorful decorations, which not only express the owner's wishes, but also set off the festive atmosphere.

With the passage of time, some superstitious and backward concepts in old New Year paintings have gradually been eliminated. New Year pictures are only preserved as a very popular and popular art form. Since the middle of this century, at different historical stages, New Year picture artists have created new forms of New Year pictures and used them to express real life. Until the 1950s and 1960s, New Year paintings continued to flourish. It had switched to new printing technology and had huge print runs and circulation. It can be said that so far, no painting type has published as many paintings as New Year paintings. New Year pictures are the most widely read type of painting in the world.

For more than a thousand years, folk artists have passed down the generations from father to son. Under extremely simple conditions, they have created batch after batch of woodblock New Year paintings with rich national customs and unique charm, and gradually formed the peach blossom painting in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. Wu, Yangliuqing in Tianjin, Yangjiabu in Huaifang in Shandong, Fengxiang in Shaanxi, Zhuxian Town in Kaifeng in Henan, Tantou in Shaoyang in Hunan, Mianzhu in Sichuan, Foshan in Guangdong, Zhangzhou in Fujian, Linfen in Shanxi, Wuqiang in Hebei, Dali in Yunnan, etc. New Year pictures. New Year paintings in these areas were of considerable scale during the Yongzheng and Qianlong years of the Qing Dynasty. Most of their works used concise lines, bright colors, and incorporated new themes of reform and opening up. They paid attention to the expression of plot, interest and shape. The characters were lively, lovely, and full of vitality, making the works Unique and innovative, it has great ornamental and collection value.