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Legends tell us that the Creator created all things
on earth from mud. In much the same way, the people of all ethnic
groups in Yunnan have created lively folk art from natural things:
stone, bamboo, paper and mud. The Dongba clay's
cultures of the Naxi ethnic group, and the Dongba paintings and
characters, are some of the superb folk arts of Yunnan. The clay
figures and paintings, created by folk artists and originally used
in sacrificial ceremonies, are actually unique art forms. The clay
sculptures include earthenware cats which are used for driving
away evil spirits, and the five hundred arhats in the Qiongzhu
Temple in Kunming. Popular handicrafts include Jianshui pottery,
the black and white pottery of Xishuangbanna, Lijiang red pottery
and brown clay teapots.
Jianshui pottery includes many unusual tea sets, wine goblets,
dinner plates and bowls, and tourist souvenirs. This stone ware is
extremely strong, yet delicately-made,and makes excellent wind
chimes. It has been praised as having unique properties. The Dai
and Wa ethnic groups in Xishuangbanna still use traditional
pottery - making methods, and their pottery ware is simple and
tough. People in bamboo growing areas favor bamboo
sculptures. The handicrafts of the Dai, Achang, and Naxi minority
people, use bamboo splints as frames and create fascinating
paper-cutting and paper folding products. Widely used in
sacrificial ceremonies and folk festivals are colored lanterns,
sacrificial utensils, funerary objects, colorful props for dancing
during the festivals and decorations for the homes. The most
commonly seen in daily use are bamboo and wooden handicrafts,
including wardrobes, tables and chairs, lunch -boxes, baskets and
bamboo hats. The most popular items are painted woven bamboo
boxes, painted woven bamboo tables and the bamboo hats worn by the
Dai people, the Dulong people' s back baskets, the Yi people's
painted cooking utensils, the Tibetans' wooden bowls, the bamboo
wine goblets of the Lisu people and the Han people's smoking
tubes.
You will be amazed when you see the many wooden sculptures in the
mountain villages and on the plains. The totem poles of the Wa
ethnic group depict man and animal combined as one. The soul
burying poles used by the Jingpo minority for funerals are
extraordinary with their bright colors. They serve both as
decoration and as a signpost to guide the s ouls on their return.
The wooden sculptures in Jianchuan, however, a famous center for
wooden carvings, are the best known. The carvings by the Bai
ethnic minority include images of gods and buddhist shrines, door
and window decorations ,and show the skill of the
craftsmen.Decorations on many famous buildings in Yunnan were
created by the Bai Minority craftsmen. Stone
painting and carving dates back to Yuanmou Man, 1.7 million years
ago. Today, many minority people in Yunnan still value stone very
highly. They paint images on cliffs, fashion stone utensils,
Guozhuang stone, Mani stone and so on. Stone sculptures in Yunnan
include grottoes, inscriptions on cliffs, carvings, stone
sculptures for family house decorations or on tombs. Well-known
grottoes include the Shibao Mountain grottoes in Jianchuan and the
Fahua Temple grottoes in Anning. Cliff sculptures can be seen on
Tianwang cliffs in Jinning's Niulian village, and the Jianhua
Mountain cliffs in Jianchuan. Stone inscriptions vary greatly in
style, some are in temples (such as the Buddhist scriptures carved
on stones in the Dizang Temple in Kunming ), some stand alone
(such as the Nanzhao stone carvings in Weishan County ), and some
are personal and family memorial tablets often demonstrating
typical folk traditions. Traditional painting in
Yunnan originates from the decorations on utensils and cliff and
cave paintings of several thousand years ago. The cliff paintings,
including those at Cangyuan, depict primitive life and beliefs,
and are of high cultural, historical and artistic value. The
ethnic minorities art include folk paintings and religious
paintings. Most are brush paintings, but some are printed. Famous
paintings are the Dongba religious paintings on wooden plates,
card and cloth; the paintings used for funeral ceremonies of the
Naxi ethnic group; the Dai Buddhist paintings on streamers; and
the "Tangka" paintings of the Tibetans. Master-pieces include "The
History of the Zhongxing State" produced during the Nanzhao
Kingdom period (at the same time as the Tang Dynasty 618-907);
"Zhang Shengwen Buddhist Portraits" of the Dali Kingdom period
(Song Dynasty 960-1279); the murals in the Mingqing Temple in
Lijiang, the murals in the Tibetan Buddhist temple in Diqing, and
the Guangyin Temple murals dating back to the Qing Dynasty in
Cangyuan. |
