After fifteen, almost every house has a string of dough sculptures hanging on the wall. In the Xinzhou area, on the day of the wedding, both men and women steamed a lot of big "happy buns". These big "happy buns" should be placed on the table for people to enjoy and taste.

At the same time, it is necessary to steam a large "flower cake", and in some places it is customary to pinch a "flower cake" with ten catties of flour. This kind of flower cake, with the dough as a round chassis, the edge of the roll strip is the pattern, spread a layer of red dates, plus a layer of dough plate with lace that is slightly smaller than the first layer, pinch the relief of "fish drill lotus" on it, add color and dot dyeing after steaming, for people to enjoy and eat, and can also be used as a gift.

During the birthday period in Xinzhou, "happy buns" are often steamed. "Joy bun" is mostly in the shape of a peach as the main body, with a variety of small decorations that imply auspiciousness and longevity, dotted with dyeing colors, as a "longevity bun" to give to relatives and friends.

During the funeral, the locals also make a kind of "small food" dough sculpture that is offered in front of the mourning hall. This kind of dough is kneaded into a variety of flowers, fruits, small animal images, very delicate and chic, some are steamed and dyed, and some are dried and dyed.

In the Fanzhi County area of Xinzhou region, there is a kind of character face sculpture with the theme of fat dolls. At the same time, there is also a kind of delicate and small, no color, white and elegant little noodle people. This kind of small-faced person has various postures of crawling, lying, holding flowers, and gnawing melons.

Sometimes, it is also placed in the "large face flower" dyed in red and green. According to legend, this kind of dough sculpture is a special offering made by the local people for worshipping Buddha and asking for children in the Buddhist monastery of Shangwutai Mountain. In the folk of Xinzhou, there are also character face sculptures that shape drama characters such as Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, and Chou, and even sell them in the market of temple fairs. This kind of dough sculpture is also quite exquisitely made. In short, Xinzhou dough sculpture is varied, varied, colorful, and has become a folk work of art with aesthetic taste.

Jiangzhou, that is, today's Xinjiang County, is a county on the Jinnan Plain. This area has been rich in wheat historically, and has always been a wheat and cotton producing area in Shanxi Province.

Therefore, during the New Year's holidays, every household here has to use the best wheat to grind flour and make a variety of dough sculptures to celebrate the festival. Because the dough sculpture here pays attention to color dot dyeing, the flowers are gorgeous, so the locals call it "flower bun". Jiangzhou flower bun, the shape is more exaggerated, the shape is unique, especially the "beast flower bun" is the most outstanding.

In the urban and rural areas of Jiangzhou, most of the housewives will knead the flower bun, and generally will knead a variety of ordinary shapes, because it is self-use, although the level is different, it does not affect the food, over time, some housewives practice makes perfect, the kneading level of the flower bun can continue to improve.

As a result of this kind of folk activity that every household has to carry out, a large number of skilled craftsmen who make flower buns have been created, and they have been passed down from generation to generation. Whenever there is a wedding or funeral in urban and rural areas, pinching flower buns will become an inevitable activity.

Moreover, these flower buns will be displayed in front of the public, so as to get the evaluation, this kind of spontaneous mass evaluation that does not elect the champion, has undoubtedly become a driving force to promote the kneading of flower buns, and has become a folk evaluation to promote the continuous improvement of the level of dough molding.

Therefore, Jiangzhou has so far pinched the flower bun of famous hands, become a traditional folk handicraft and famous. In short, as a kind of plastic art with strong folk vitality, dough sculpture grows and takes root in people's lives, and has become a way of expression of folk customs, which is everywhere and all the time.

Whether it is an art form or a food culture, it has its own unique system and program. Among them, the modeling consciousness and method, the primitive religious consciousness and evolution, and the humanistic thought and development all have profound connotations that need to be developed urgently.

The raw material of the kneading noodle is steamed Jiangmi noodles, mixed with honey, and then mixed with very bright mineral pigments to make magenta, lake blue, orange, emerald green and other color noodles. When operating, the small bamboo stick is used as a frame, and a horn piece is used as a plastic knife to create a variety of character images, such as the fishing old man, Sun Wukong, Lin Daiyu, etc., which can be bought for children as toys, and can also be placed at home as an ornament, which is a kind of folk art that enjoys an international reputation.

Shanxi noodle sculpture originated from the pre-Qin period and formed in the Han Dynasty Chinese festival customs, is the accumulation of human understanding of nature and conquest of nature. The Spring Festival is a key festival in people's understanding of the phenological calendar, so the sacrificial activities of the Spring Festival are particularly grand, and the exquisite dough sculpture comes into being with people's psychological needs and has become an important form of expression of the festival.

The main function of Shanxi folk dough sculpture during the Spring Festival is to sacrifice and pray to the heavens, earth and gods, and is the embodiment of the ideal of life in pursuit of abundant food and clothing. In terms of modeling consciousness, most of the dough sculptures of the Spring Festival are abstract, believing, and idealistic.

Worship heaven and earth called jujube mountain, sacrifice to the god of the stove called rice mountain, flower cake, the shape is larger, said to be rice noodles into a mountain, the legend of Jinnan is to commemorate the Yu water control and made.

The ancestral spirit in front of a sheep is a custom of animal sacrifice to express piety. The elders send their children and grandchildren to the descendants "Qian Long" with the intention of attracting Qian Long into the house and attracting wealth and treasure,...... There are also a variety of colorful buns with flowers, which are exquisite gifts for entertaining guests visiting relatives and friends. The Zao Mountain used by the people of northern Jin for the gods is quite exquisite.

This is because it appeared as a sacrifice. It is believed to have some mysterious power beyond the self, and it is a bridge between man and God.

When making, roll out the good noodles into a big triangle, spread a layer of red dates on top, and then use the noodles to make Panyun, Panlong, Pantu, Ruyi pattern, occasionally embellished with Lianli, ingots, down the mountain tiger, up the mountain deer, melons and fruits, etc., with the five grains and grains dotted with the nose, steamed out of the pot, Mianying is honest, the white noodles and the crimson dates, colorful grains, beans form the overall contrast effect on the color.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, it is said that rice and noodles are made into mountains, expressing a good wish of abundant food and clothing. In some places, it is necessary to burn some cypress firewood on the fire, roast and eat flower buns, which is called to avoid evil buns, and ensure that there are no disasters and diseases for a year, and that they are safe and auspicious.

There are also "five sons in the south of the flower", "Qiao Gong Qiao Mother", "all the best" and other shapes. Whether it is Zao Mountain, Rice Mountain or Flower Cake, it can be said that in this grand festival, the people in the countryside created a kind of spiritual worship object, a way to place their wishes.

As for the Qian Dragon, it is a three-legged ideal animal similar to a toad, expressing the people's yearning for prosperity. In some places, when the twenty-third day of the lunar month is sacrificed, the horse stove and the chicken are also used as offerings.

These offerings are both offerings and offerings of worship, but they are still essentially food, and they must be eaten separately before they are finished. It is these complex functions that make it one of the most accessible and easy-to-pass art forms.

Shanxi Spring Festival noodles are simple and vigorous, simple and elegant, and are a comprehensive condensation of nature worship, religious thought, psychological consciousness and modeling language. The shape is generally neat and generalized in appearance, full and rich in content, with both geometric straight line forms, suitable patterns full of Qin and Han relics, and more concrete and unique folk modeling style of figures, animals, and plant images.

The integration of various different modeling consciousness constitutes a unique folk festival content and forms a special folk art form.

Although the production method of the noodle figure is relatively simple, it is a highly artistic folk craft.

In the old society, the dough sculpture artists "only to make a living, walking around with tears", carrying a suitcase, going to the countryside and towns, doing it on the street, and becoming it in an instant, are deeply loved by the masses, but their works are regarded as a kind of gadget and cannot be on the elegant hall.

The art of dough sculpture has been valued as a precious intangible cultural heritage, and gadgets have also entered the palace of art. The noodle artist, according to the needs of the handy materials, in the hands of several pinching, rubbing, kneading, lifting, with a small bamboo knife dexterously pointed, cut, carved, scratched, molded into the body, hands, head, draped hair ornaments and clothes, in an instant, the lifelike artistic image will be taken off.

Graceful and graceful beauties, elegant beauties, innocent children, and various mythological stories, dramas, and historical figures in delicate glass frames have become people's favorite traditional arts and crafts.

The combination of Qingming and cold food was a matter of the Tang Dynasty, when the customs and festivals that were the symbols of ancient times had been added to the composite content of worshiping gods, worshiping ancestors, and revering sages. Grave sweeping is especially popular.

If it is said that worshipping gods is a characteristic of the Spring Festival customs, then Qingming is mainly to worship ancestors and people. Kong Zhi said, "Life, things are courteous; Death, burial with ceremony, sacrifice with ceremony. Therefore, it is very important to pay attention to "death is like life". Jongmyo and ancestral tomb are the soul of the caste and the root of the family.

Shanxi Jinnan Jinbei, sacrifice sweep to make tribute, Jinnan called snake panpan, some are divided into single-headed snake and double-headed snake, worship ancestors around the grave for a week, the younger generation eats the snake head, means to eliminate the poisonous head, avoid disasters.

This kind of snake plate is simple in shape and rarely carved, and it seems to have the legacy of the Han and Tang dynasties. The essence of the Shanxi Cold Food Festival has been transformed and mutated from the ancient primitive fire ban custom to commemorate the Jin Dynasty's virtuous minister Jie Zitui.

The 100 kinds of cold swallow noodles widely made by Chinese folk to indicate the coming of spring have also been renamed "Zitui Yan". In fact, according to the natural geographical location and climatic characteristics of Shanxi, the spring swallow volley is the season of new life, so the rural Qiao woman feels the natural change of it, with soft dough and dexterous hands, to create a fresh and flexible object, full of vitality, showing a wonderful and magical folk art world.

In particular, the Hanyan in the area of Dai County, Shanxi Province is in the sky, and all natural things are shaped by the aquatic soil, what you see in your eyes, and what you think in your heart. These dough molds are delicate and chic, and they are not enough.

The animals sculpted, such as tigers, lions, horses, cows, cats, dragons, monkeys, sheep, etc., focus on exaggerating the proportions of the head, enhancing the movement of the tail, and depicting the flexibility of the limbs, making people feel similar and beautiful.

Birds such as chickens, ducks, peacocks, phoenixes, magpies and other small birds exaggerate the movement of their tail feathers, exaggerate their beaks and eyes, and make them anthropomorphic and emotionally resonate with the viewer.

The shape of the characters is larger than that of animals and plants, there are various drama characters, climbing dolls, holding chicken dolls, lotus dolls, etc., the shape is unique and elegant and vivid. Plants have a variety of fruits, vegetables, flowers and auspicious patterns.

After steaming, the color dots of the products dye the face, and the color is bright and contrasting, which is very reasonable to apply the ratio relationship of contrasting colors, and produce a strong artistic effect. During the Qingming Festival, they gave each other gifts, made into flower stands, and hung on the indoor walls, and suddenly felt the spring breeze blowing on their faces, full of vitality.

In the seasonal customs, the dough sculpture plays a pivotal role, and in the various ceremonies that show the meaning of life, the dough sculpture has its irreplaceable position. The full moon is the first grand ceremony when people come to the world, and the face sculpture is also quite exquisite.

In the area of Huo County, my grandmother wants to make a straight ruler of food called "囫囵", with fine twelve genera modeling, what does the child belong to, just point a red dot on that genus, called "point brain". In the middle of the "囫囵" is placed a delicate dragon, phoenix or tiger head, called the dragon and phoenix Chengxiang or the tiger to drive away evil spirits. Give it to the children and share it with relatives and friends who come to visit and celebrate, so as to avoid disasters.

People in the north of Shanxi Province make more flower buns, called "peaches", the shape is like **, ** red, the bun is decorated with various flowers and plants, and the auspicious patterns are decorated. In ancient customs, peach was originally a thing to ward off evil spirits, and the humor is "escape", which means to avoid disasters. It is made into a ** shape, indicating maturity, which is a metaphorical technique for the maternal characteristics of rural folklore.

When the child is one year old, it is also necessary to make similar large flower buns or twelve genera, the shape is clumsy or clever, or elegant or vulgar with the place change. The custom of wedding has always been a very grand life ceremony.

As the saying goes, "marriage is better than a small Dengke", the customs of northern Jin, the bride and groom each eat a pair of "Huanyu Ji Rabbit" on the morning of the day of the gathering, and put a pair of rabbits connected together with red threads on the top of the door of the cave house to symbolize the golden edge of the jade rabbit.

In fact, the original meaning of the rabbit is the tiger, and it is the god of protection of the Chinese folk town house to drive away evil spirits. Wedding face sculpture must mention Xinzhou, Dingxiang, Yuanping, Dai County around the "palace food", generally to three, five catties of white noodles to do a pair, most of the shape is the jade rabbit carrying the peach, goldfish back pomegranate, the above fine plastic zodiac modeling, fine embellishment, vivid modeling, pleasant taste, colorful, bright and bright, line and surface, point and block, plastic and painting, clumsy and clever combination and contrast, forming a strong touching artistic effect, enhance the festive atmosphere, enrich the content of folk wedding customs, but also add a pretty branch of folk art.

The old people are in the sixtieth year, and the younger generations are accustomed to celebrate their birthdays, and the congratulators steam beautiful longevity peaches to wish the elderly health and longevity, and express their filial piety to the elderly. The teachings of religion tell people that when each person has hurried through the path of life that he can perceive, the soul of man will be immortalized and sublimated in another world. Therefore, people arrange the various procedures of the funeral to be extraordinarily grand and complicated.

It is a celebration and affirmation of the meaning of life. The main pasta offering in this activity, depending on the degree of closeness and different forms, there are "big offerings", "small offerings" are divided, the direct children and grandchildren make large offerings also called steamed buns, the round top is decorated with bright and concise petals, inserted with jujube flowers, from the ancient customs of the three animal sacrifices, other relatives and friends worship similar to the snake plate of small offerings.

In the area of Dingxiang Hongdao, it is necessary to create a series of several or even hundreds of face sculpture figures, drama characters, gods, earth officials, etc., and then decorate them with colored paper. The difference is that the color used in the depiction of the facial features is very strange, and the eyes are not eye-catching. In terms of proportion, it is obviously different from the aesthetic structure of the world's enjoyment, which makes people feel a kind of cold sadness in the thick and colorful.

In the ritual of life, the dough sculpture generally appears in the form of food, but it is endowed with a cultural and religious meaning, so that it has a compound value, and thus becomes a non-negligible material for the study of traditional folk culture.

The dough is actually a bun, which is made of glutinous rice flour and flour and then kneaded into various small figures. It mainly appears in wedding gifts and funeral offerings, and is also used for birthdays, gifts to relatives and friends, prayers and sacrifices, etc.

The farmer puts all kinds of steamed dough flowers in front of the gods, among which the pig's head shape dough is commonly known as "big offering", and there are also flower molds, flower and fruit molds, ritual models, bun toys and so on. The tools for making noodles are very simple: white noodles, scissors, kitchen knives, combs, red dates, peppercorns and other things, as long as you master the dough making technique and knead it according to the style, then a vivid face mold image will stand out. ”

China's traditional food culture has a long history, according to the literature and resources, the Han Dynasty has long had a record of dough molding, the Song Dynasty "Menglianglu" has recorded the use of dough sculpture in the Spring Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and wedding celebrations. In Shaanxi and Hebei, there are also dough sculptures called "noodle flowers" and "year molds", and this ancient custom should run through the festival days.

From the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the countryside is full of cheerful scenes of exchanging gift buns. In the eastern part of Guanzhong, Shaanxi, almost all women are masters of making ceremonial models, and their Shen is especially skilled as an older woman.