The Unique Art of "Traditional Patterns" in Ancient China
1. Yun Leiwen: Yun Leiwen is a vortex type, which usually develops in the form of quadrilateral continuity or bilateral continuity. It appeared in the late Neolithic period and may have developed from the vortex pattern. By the late Shang Dynasty, Yun Leiwen was relatively scarce, but Yun Leiwen was still the main decorative pattern on white pottery, hard pottery printed in Shang and Zhou Dynasties and primitive celadon.
2. Xiangyun pattern: "Xiangyun" pattern first appeared in Chu State in the middle and late Zhou Dynasty. From the middle and late Zhou Dynasty, the decorative style mainly based on moire gradually formed in Chu, especially the variant moire combining animals with moire. It means auspicious clouds, expressing good luck, jubilation and happiness, as well as a beautiful yearning for life.
3. Blue-and-white pattern: Blue-and-white decoration is an important representative of China ceramic decoration because of its attractive blue-and-white pattern and elegant and fresh color. Blue and white patterns are mostly based on animals and plants, people and landscapes, and they are full of charm, sometimes sketched in detail and sometimes presented in a freehand manner. The objects depicted, whether in spirit or form, are incisive, dare to choose boldly and exaggerate, and can also convey their ideas without adding too much color.
4. Tile pattern: commonly known as tile head, tile is the front end of a tile (also called dripping eaves) at the forefront of the eaves or the pattern part of its front end. Ceramic tiles in different historical periods have different characteristics. There are many kinds of ceramic tile patterns in Qin dynasty, including animal patterns, insect patterns, bird patterns and plant patterns. There are four gods, wing tigers, birds and animals, insects, plants, moire patterns, characters and words, clouds and animals in the Han Dynasty. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the tile surface was small and the pattern was mainly cirrus clouds. Lotus tile was the most common in the Tang Dynasty, and the word tile almost disappeared. In the Song Dynasty, animal tiles were used. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, tiles with dragon patterns were used.
5. Jade patterns: Ancient jade patterns are varied, from relatively simple to complex Ji Xiangwen. Understanding the changes of ancient decorative patterns will greatly inspire jade appreciation and modern jade carving technology. The patterns commonly used in jade articles are: valley pattern, chest pattern, Yun Leiwen pattern, Pu pattern, plain pattern, real dragon pattern and so on.
6. Bronze patterns: The strong pride of bronze art mainly comes from the unique decorative patterns in Shang and Zhou Dynasties. From the ornamentation of gluttony, dragon and phoenix birds, we can see that they are related to the ornamentation of pottery and jade in the initial society. The patterns commonly used in bronzes are: greedy pattern, true dragon pattern, dragon pattern (creeping dragon pattern, rolling dragon pattern, double dragon pattern), dragon pattern, snake pattern (winding insect pattern, winding insect pattern), bird pattern, phoenix pattern, ripple and other bronzes.
These "traditional patterns" not only show the unique charm of ancient culture in China, but also provide us with an important way to understand and appreciate ancient art in China.