[Edit this paragraph] Gate Culture
People regard food as their first priority and their home as their first priority. The element of living is indispensable. Confucius' "The Analects of Confucius Yong Ye" says: "Who can leave without leaving a household (house: door)?" Although the truth is very simple, it is rich in implications.
Doors co-exist with humans
The exact time when doors appeared is difficult to verify, and there is no need to study them in detail. However, as early as the time when our ancestors lived in caves, the prototype of the door may have been produced. Probably as soon as human beings developed human consciousness and home consciousness, doors came into being. The caves where cave dwellers live on the top of the mountain are built with stones, tree trunks and the like as barriers at the entrance. Isn’t that the original door to mankind? Isn’t it through this door that many people see human childhood?
Who was the first person to enter the door of Chinese architectural culture? The answer from ancient mythology is: There is the Chao family. "Han Feizi·Five Beetles" describes: "In the ancient world, there were few people and many animals, and the people were invincible to the beasts and snakes. Some saints made it, and built a wooden nest to avoid the harm of the group, and the people were happy with it, so that they ruled the world and were called the Chao clan. "Probably since humans climbed down from the trees and the Chao clan built wooden houses on the ground to live in, there have been doors.
"The Book of Songs·Chen Feng" "Below the Heng Gate, you can live in Chi". This is a very simple gate.
"Book of Changes·Xici" said: "In ancient times, people lived in caves and wild places, and later generations of saints converted them into palaces. The upper buildings and lower buildings were used to wait for wind and rain." It may be said to avoid animals, or it may be said to wait for wind and rain. wind and rain.
"Yupian" calls "the place where people go in and out" a door, while "Boya" says: "The door is to keep." The seemingly contradictory definition actually explains the function of the door at least There are two types: one is for people to "enter and exit", and the other is for "keeping". The defender means defense. Guard against what? I think the original door was to prevent sneak attacks by wild beasts and to keep out the cold; while the modern door has the responsibility of preventing the same kind of door, that is, to prevent thieves.
Therefore, "Shiming" says "the door is the barrier guard", which is a very accurate and precise explanation. "The green-clad eunuch guards the palace gate, and when the sun is closed, the sun will spring." Another meaning of the door is to conceal it and cover up the inside. Ordinary people, even if a couple has a quarrel, will close the door, lest the neighbors hear it and the family scandal will be publicized. Not to mention, those rich and powerful people in Qihu Red Mansion have many dirty and sinful things that are kept secret. As for the enchanting music and green sleeves within the high walls of the palace, and the tragedy of blood and tears groaning in the cold palace, they will always be an eternal mystery to outsiders.
The form of the door carries identity and status
The extensive and profound Chinese culture has inspired many things into colorful patterns, reflecting its own profundity. The same goes for the culture surrounding gates.
With the development of society and the improvement of productivity, the manufacturing level of doors has become higher and higher, and its functions have also transformed and developed from a single "curtain guard" to multiple aspects. There are house gates, town gates, inner gates, Lu gates, alley gates, square gates, market gates, temple gates, school gates, factory gates, village gates, yamen, prison gates, palace gates, mansion gates, city gates, country gates... and many more. name. According to the location of the door, it can be divided into the main door, the second door, the corner door, the ear door, the side door, the front door, the back door, the east door, the west door, the south door, the north door, etc. Depending on the door material, there are bamboo doors, wood doors, wooden doors, stone doors, iron doors, magnet doors, crystal doors, glass doors, aluminum alloy doors, security doors, etc.
Gate is the face of a building, and it is also an independent building, such as rolling ridge gates of residential buildings, Chang gates of lanes, mountain gates of temples, and city gates of cities. The unique Chinese architectural culture becomes even more unique because of the "door". The ancients said that "a house is crowned by the door", which means that the door has the function of displaying the image. In the old society, the door was a symbol of wealth, poverty, prosperity and decline. The poorer the family, the shorter the door. Especially in remote mountain villages where "the village paths go around the mountains and are dark with pine leaves, and the firewood gate faces the fragrance of rice and flowers", the people use firewood as a door, just to show that there is a family here. Only those wealthy families are particular about: tall gate towers, thick door leaves, exquisite carvings, and brilliant colors. In this way, you can be strictly distinguished from ordinary people, and you can also show off on the long street, making you feel three points shorter before you even approach the door, which makes you a little scared.
In "A Dream of Red Mansions", when Grandma Liu entered the Rongguo Mansion, she stood beside the stone lion in front of the gate for a long time. She was so frightened that she did not dare to enter. Then she slipped to the corner door and said to the guard. "Thank you for your blessing." There are more royal rules. In the old days, the gate of Tiananmen Gate was only opened when the emperor ascended the throne or got married. The middle gate could only be used by the emperor, and the side gates for civil and military officials could enter and exit. The huge doornails on the palace gate, nine horizontally and nine vertically, and ninety-nine and eighty-one, are like raised characters, condensing a great article of Chinese traditional culture. The majestic door gods at the door of the house hold both doors. After a long period of time and thousands of drawings, the imagination of the ancient ancestors about the mythical world was finalized into the appearance of a man wearing armor and a stomach. There is a long list of door gods, from Shen Tu and Yu Lei, to Qin Qiong and Yu Chigong, as well as Zhong Kui, Wei Zheng, Yao Qi and Ma Wu, as well as Guan Yu and Guan or Zhou Cang, Jiao Zan and Yu Liang... The stone lions in front of the door, what are the "Thirteen Taibao"? Why do the "Taishan Stones" and "Baogu Stones" have the function of "defending civilian residences"? As the saying goes: "A pig's entrance leads to a hundred blessings." During the New Year and festivals, a paper-cut arch of a fat pig carrying a cornucopia is posted on the door. To ward off evil spirits, control the house, pray for blessings, drive away evil spirits, welcome good fortune, and attract wealth, the door has become a showcase of ancient and modern customs.
Folklore about the function of doors
Various colorful folk cultures are also interpreted on doors: Spring couplets and the word "福" are posted on the door on New Year's Eve, and chickens are posted on the door on the first day of the first lunar month. , Po Wu "sends the poor out", puts up lanterns to offer sacrifices to the door during the Lantern Festival, inserts willows at the Qingming Gate, sticks amulets on the Guyu Gate to ban scorpions, closes the door during the day of the Silkworm Moon, marries caterpillars on the eighth day of April, hangs mugwort on the Dragon Boat Festival Gate, and hangs moxa on the Futian City Gate. Dogs, Magu is hung on the door in the middle of July, dogwood wine is sprinkled on the Double Ninth Festival door, glutinous rice balls are placed on the door during the winter solstice...
Looking at the past from today, many things are indeed magical and a bit weird. The various functions of the door created a sense of mystery, coupled with imagination, the result was that "all things have animism", this door and this household were regarded as gods by the ancients and were worshiped. And along with the years, so much cultural information is pinned on the door posts and door leaves, adding one scene after another to the scenery in front of the door, leaving a lasting lasting taste for today's people who are looking for door culture.
According to folklore, the door is a symbol of separation between inside and outside space, and is the first barrier and throat of people indoors. Therefore, each household is also called a "gateway". People have always attached great importance to the treatment of various doors. Someone once said: Chinese classical architecture is the art of door. In fact, ordinary people not only regard art as an art, but also think it is related to the good or bad luck of the family. Therefore, the door is placed first in building a house.
The door has a story
You must go through it when you enter, and you must go through it when you go out. Therefore, the ups and downs of history always bear the brunt.
Didn’t Li Shimin in the early Tang Dynasty direct the bloody "Xuanwu Gate Incident" in which he killed his brother and forced his father to do so?
When his brother Emperor Jingtai was seriously ill, Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty seized the Donghua Gate and entered the palace. He ascended to the Fengtian Hall and became Emperor Tianshun. This is known in history as the "Change of Seizing the Gate".
Can the "golden phoenixes and clouds issuing edicts" at Tiananmen Square show the majesty of the emperor?
The extravagance of the "Five Gates of the Emperor" is by no means the ostentation of an emperor. The common people hope that "the houses will not be closed at night", a peaceful and prosperous era, social stability, no thieves and thieves, and a peaceful world. This is the beautiful ideal of Chinese people from generation to generation. In contrast to this, there is the official seal stamped with a cross on the door leaf. Regardless of the palace or the imperial city, there are front doors and back doors, public doors and private doors. The unity of contradictory opposites constitutes society. Front and back doors, public and private doors, nobility and integrity, lowliness and wretchedness, heaven and hell, poverty and wealth, officials and common people, corruption and incorruptibility, all came to the stage with the help of "doors".
China’s door also gave rise to the story of “Open Sesame”. China's doors have also created myths and legends such as "Yu chiseled the Dragon Gate", "Carp jumped over the Dragon Gate" and "The Heavenly Gate opened on the Chinese Valentine's Day". The former reflects the spiritual needs of the explorer; the latter expresses the desire to transcend oneself and the hope for a better life. China Gate also created the drama "Yuanmen Beheads the Son", which showed the Yang family's loyalty to the imperial court. The most widely circulated saying is "The eight-character yamen opens to the south. Don't come in if you have reason but no money." It is a ruthless exposure of feudal rule. China's gate also made up the superstition of "the gate of hell" to scare ignorant cowards.
Doors always attract attention. The door takes up the "location" advantage of the entrance and exit. Door culture is also an entrance and exit. It is the most colorful chapter in Chinese architectural culture. China's door culture is extensive and profound. From one "door", the whole thing can be seen, and the history of the door becomes the door of history. Through the culture of the door, we can find the door of Chinese culture.