|
|
Ornaments
Door Gods
During the Chinese New Year Door Gods are placed on the external doors of houses. This is an age of tradition dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD). The Emperor Taizong is said to have fallen ill, and had a dream in which ghosts came to the palace in search for him. He recounted this tale to his officials the next day, and the story quickly spread through the Imperial Court - such matters were not taken lightly. The emperor's top two generals, Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong, both of whom had fought to establish the Tang dynasty stood guard outside the emperor's bedroom door.
The emperor slept soundly in the knowledge that he was protected by these two generals, and had no further dreams of the ghosts. However, after a few nights the emperor became concerned for the generals. He ordered that two paintings be made, one of each general. Once completed, the emperor had these hung on the door to his room, and relieved the generals.
This tale soon became widely known, and in their eagerness to share the protection of these "Door Gods" the common people made their own paintings and placed them on their doors. the tradition has continued ever since.
Fu
The Chinese character "fu" is one of the most popular Chinese characters used in Chinese New Year. It is often posted upside down on the front door of a house or an apartment. The upside down "fu" means arrival of good lucks since the character for upside down in Chinese sounds the same as the character for arrival.
The character fu was once regarded as a family's amulet to keep clear of the god of poverty in folklore. It is said Jiang Taigong (Lu Wang) who had the power to apotheosize people had been snubbed and abandoned by his wife for being poor. She then came back to him after Jiang ascended to power not for reunion but for a place among the deities. Jiang made her the god of poverty and forbade her from visiting houses posted with the character fu. Learning this on the eve of New Year people posted fu outside each house to keep her from entering the house.
In more recent times people tried to derive the meaning of affluence from the structure of the character. A breakdown of the character into several parts can mean well clothed, well housed, employed, not worried by clothing and food, which together make for affluence or happiness. In this sense, the standard of fu (happiness) is that those wishing for shelter have the house, those wishing to cultivate have the field; that people have enough clothing and food, living a well-off life. Now that people have basically reached or surpassed the well-off level and can be said to have fu.
Another intention of posting the character fu is to ward off misfortunes. This custom can be traced back to the first emperor of Ming Dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang.
When traveling incognito in plain clothes one day Zhu spotted a crowd surrounding a painting. Looking at the painting closely he saw a bare-feet woman holding a big watermelon. For some reason he suspected people in the town were mocking his empress Ma and ordered a town-wide investigation on returning to his palace.
The painter as well as those watching the painting must be registered and were to be arrested for execution. To distinguish them he ordered "fu" be posted on the houses of those who did not watch and laugh at the painting.
The kind-hearted empress Ma learned of this and let all households in the town post fu on the door. A massacre was thus avoided. From then on people began to post fu when it is the lunar New Year not only on the door but also on the windows, trees and barns for luck.
New Year Couplets
Being a major ornaments for the Spring Festival, the 'Red Couplets' are  Chinese good luck sayings written on red paper, often with gold trimmings and usually made up of four Chinese characters which ask for luck in terms of long life, wealth etc.
Red is not only a lucky color for the Chinese, but also frightens off the monster 'Nian' who arrives at this time of year and destroys crops and homes.
Some New Year couplets are intended to be pasted or pinned in special places such as the kitchen or doors, while some can be placed anywhere. The couplets are usually taken down after the New Year celebrations, though some people keep them up all year long in the hope of keeping good luck.
New Year Pictures
New Year pictures originated from "door gods" which started in the Han dynasty (206BC-25AD) and changed into woodblock pictures during the Song
dynasty. Traditional New Year pictures, usually made by blockprinting, feature simple and clear lines with brilliant colors in scenes of prosperity. The themes embodied in the New Year Pictures cover a wide range of subjects, from plump babies to the Buddha of Longevity, from landscapes to birds and flowers, from the plowing cattle in spring to bumper harvests in autumn. The message in all pictures is always good luck, festivity and other nice things in the wish of the people.
New Year pictures are one of the most influential cultural forms of traditional Chinese folk art.
<<Home
|
