81_81885The old man's answer made several of us dumbfounded, the true samadhi and the real fire can only be seen in myths and legends, and we never thought that there would really be zài in this real life. Anyway, it doesn't matter whether we believe it is true or not, but the facts are the facts, and the female ghost in front of us has been eradicated and surrendered in this way.

What's even more bizarre is that we just wanted to check on the paper figure that fell to the ground, but it suddenly spontaneously combusted. What was originally a ball of white paper pierced the people, and suddenly a flame with a faint blue light ignited. In an instant, it was reduced to a puddle of ashes.

This qiē happened in the blink of an eye. It was so fast that we couldn't afford to look closely. I suddenly remembered that the strangeness of this paper man was quite strange, and it was very likely that it was the legendary paper man. It's just that this paper bundle has been borrowed from the corpse to return to its soul. Moreover, it will only come back to life if someone breaks in.

There are many different names for paper in the folk, such as "paper man", "paste paper", "paper making", "paper paper", "paper library", "color paste" and so on.

In a broad sense, paper tie includes color doors, mourning sheds, theater stages, shop façade decorations, plaques and tie-made figures, paper horses, operas, dance equipment, kites, lanterns, etc. Paper in the narrow sense refers to funeral paper. It mainly refers to the paper products burned by paper people, paper horses, cash trees, gold and silver mountains, archways, gatehouses, houses, poultry and other burned paper products used in sacrificial and funeral activities.

And in my hometown, there is also this custom. In my memory, the latter is more of a nature. It's usually someone who dies in the family. See you at the funeral. There are sedan chairs, small paper figures (servants), money and so on, but they are all in the style of some ancient courtyards. However, in this day and age. Paper masters have also been updated with the development of society. The variety of paper is also gradually increasing, and there are buildings, villas, cars and so on.

In fact, these paper bundles were used for only one purpose: to burn sacrifices to the dead. In our local parlance, it is to make the dead more comfortable in the underworld. In Chinese folklore, such sacrifices are very common. Because, many ordinary people believe that after death, people will go to another world - the underworld.

There, too, they have to live. And. It is also inseparable from these daily necessities and means of transportation. Even, some think. It's the same as our world, it's just that the space world is different.

I was too young to be afraid. I thought it was interesting for adults to make these colorful paper ties, but later. I don't think so. With the growth of knowledge and knowledge, whenever I saw the family of the deceased burning these paper bundles after the funeral, I felt a little panicked.

Paper refers to the paper vessel. In the old days, it was superstitious that people entered the underworld after death, and the burial utensils were used by the deceased in the room, so there were underworld (bright) vessels.

At first, it was a daily necessities. Since the Song Dynasty. Paper ware is becoming popular. People use bamboo strips, reeds, and sorghum straw to tie into various furniture utensils, paste colored paper, decorate with paper cuts, and burn them for the dead. The colors are monochrome, color-casting, and combined-painted. The "copper lining" and "copper writing material" of Foshan, Guangdong, etc., are quite rich.

It is precisely because of this that the paper has developed and grown.

Paper tie originated from ancient folk religious ritual activities. Later, it gradually became a decorative art for the celebration of festivals.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it spread throughout the city and countryside. On the occasion of a holiday or festivities. Folk artists fully display their skills and make a high-meaning and witty "mouse climbing grape lantern"; the "unicorn lantern" of the happy prince; Wangzi healthy "duck (press) lamp"; congratulate the newlywed "Mandarin Duck Lantern"; A "goldfish lantern" that prays for a good harvest. as well as famous flowers, plants, birds and beasts, etc.

These colorful and simple shapes, all kinds of paper products with bright meaning are made of bamboo, wood, thread and paper as the main materials. Bamboo and wood are used as the skeleton, and the parts are bound with threads, and colored paper is used to decorate. Add a few colors to the festive and cheerful event, which is now known as the "Lantern Festival".

At the same time, the paper tie also casts a veil of mystery over the mourning and sacrifice scenes.

China's paper art originally originated from the funeral customs, which is a folk art that integrates the skills of tie-making, paste, paper-cutting, clay sculpture, and color painting.

Paper is also known as paste paper, paper tie in the folk, it is a special art form to meet the people's sacrificial belief psychology and spiritual needs.

There are no more than the following four types of paper ties: one is the statue of a god, such as a large tie product burned in front of the mausoleum during burial; the second is portraits, including boys and girls, opera characters, waiters, etc.; the third is the building, such as the mourning room, the gatehouse, the archway, the car car, etc.; Fourth, there are bright vessels, including eating and drinking utensils, offerings and auspicious items, as well as Rui beasts. All kinds of paper-tied works are ingenious and exquisitely crafted.

Why do people in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province use to call Yingchun Bridge "Xingchun Bridge"?

Legend has it that in ancient times, every Spring Festival, the landlord officials wore a guard of honor in line, carried the sacrifices and used the five-color paper in advance to paste the spring cow (the paper is red, yellow, green, white, black, and the blind will be the colored paper at will, look at the paper color on the cow, and predict the annual harvest of the year. For example, the red multi-main fire, the yellow multi-mega year, the green main wind, the white main water, and the black are the epidemic clouds) and the mangs holding the whip standing next to the paper tie, together in the team, sound the gong to open the way. Pass through this bridge to the Confucian Temple to worship the sky and hold a spring ceremony.

In the Qing Dynasty, when entering the county hall, in the sound of drums, the painting scroll in the pavilion carried by the team was opened, and quickly retracted, symbolizing the meaning that spring has come in ancient times. Because the Spring Festival procession leads to the streets and alleys, and all the people compete for the view, much like the folk Guild to welcome the gods, and must pass through this bridge, so the locals call the Spring Festival Bridge "Xingchun Bridge".

The earliest paper object found so far is a paper coffin excavated in 1973 in the ancient tombs of the Tang Dynasty in Astana, Turpan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The skeleton of the coffin is made of thin wooden poles, from front to back, there are five arc top supports as supports, and then pasted with waste paper, the appearance is dark red.

According to the analysis of archaeological site remains: when burying the deceased, the deceased is first placed on a reed mat pasted with waste paper, and then covered with a paper coffin. According to the record on the land coupon of the tomb owner with the burial goods, the age is the fourth year of the Tang Dynasty (769 AD), and this special paper coffin has a history of more than 1,200 years.

The worship of paper is closely related to the folk sacrificial activities, and its formation is the result of the development and evolution of tomb figurines since the primitive society.

The use of funeral art forms to mourn the deceased can play a role in comforting and regulating sadness for the world. The original funerary offerings may have been made of living people. In a slave society, the burial of living people was prevalent after the death of the aristocracy. By the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, people realized that this behavior was too cruel and was gradually abolished.

Judging from historical records, the earliest figurines may have been straw figures made of thatch, which Confucius called "Shucao in the form of a human being". Later, it developed into a puppet to accompany the burial, which can be seen to be somewhat human-like, and was collectively called "Ming Ware" in ancient times.

After the Qin and Han dynasties, due to the development and popularization of the pottery industry, pottery figurines gradually replaced cattle, sheep burial goods and wooden figurines. From the gradual change process of the funeral figurines, it can be seen that the continuous progress of the handicraft industry has promoted the continuous development of human culture and abolished some bad habits. The art of funeral customs has also been constantly changing with the progress of science and technology, so there has been a spectacular scale of burial like the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shi Huang.

It is undeniable that the terracotta warriors and horses in Shaanxi are just such a form.

During the Tang and Song dynasties, the funeral vessels and figurines still had a certain scale, and the funeral culture was integrated with the factors of foreign culture, coupled with the influence of Chinese Taoist culture and Confucianism, the belief in the "dualism of life" in the ascension of the soul to heaven became more common, and the related funeral and sacrificial articles also appeared in new forms.

After the invention and maturity of papermaking, paper was used in all aspects of people's lives. By the Northern Song Dynasty, paper figurines and paper horses began to prevail, and paper binding became one of the main types of funeral customs and art since the Song Dynasty, covering all ethnic groups in China. The birth and popularization of paper materials is the primary condition for the development of paper art.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, paper became the main item for funerals and Halloween.

It is worth noting that since the Song Dynasty, funerals must be made to the Buddha, or ask monks to pray for blessings for the deceased, and this custom has been continued until the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties until modern times. During the funeral process, paper money, paper people, paper horses, paper houses, and paper offerings should be used.

Archaeological excavations and relevant historical materials show that before the Tang and Song dynasties, most of the figurines and Ming vessels were made of hard materials that are not easy to perish. Such as stoneware, jade, lacquerware, bronze, pottery, porcelain, and so on.

After the Song Dynasty, with the influence of Buddhism and Taoist culture on the people, the consciousness of "dualism of life" gradually arose with the ascension of the soul to heaven by burning incense, burning paper, and burning paper people and paper horses. Whether people express their sorrow for the deceased, or use the form of mourning to alleviate their feelings of avoidance and terror about death, or reincarnate each other out of belief that the soul of the deceased exists, the families of the deceased must fulfill their obligations and carry out various funeral activities in accordance with local customs and customs.

This is also the reason why tomb robbers are more interested in the older the tombs, the tombs of the Ming and Qing dynasties and the Republic of China, in contrast, there are not so many people who care.

The common people have a variety of interpretations of ghosts, sometimes believing that ghosts are dispensable, and sometimes integrating them with real life.

In daily life, strange and incredible things are said to be "ghosts", and certain diseases are said to be haunted by the ghosts of the dead. This superstitious concept is the development and evolution of the original concept of ghosts, and people's ghost consciousness has lost its original meaning.

In the funerary articles, the evolution from figurines and artifacts to paper figures and horses shows the continuation and development of folk art, which is the "living fossil" of the living civil society.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, paper became the main item for funerals and Halloween. (To be continued).