In addition, in the pre-Qin classics "The Book of Songs" and "The Book of Changes", fish has a metaphorical meaning of "union between men and women". Based on this, this human-faced fish pattern should also have the meaning of praying for reproduction and prosperity of the clan. . But no matter what kind of mystery it contains, as an artistic masterpiece of the ancestors of China's primitive society, it has already radiated dazzling light.
The artistic techniques used in the painted pottery basin with human face and fish patterns and the craftsmanship level of the Banpo site
A set of symmetrical human face patterns and fish patterns are painted in black on the inner wall of the vessel. The composition technique is bold and exaggerated. The human face is round, with a tall triangular bun on the top of the head, the forehead is painted black, and a curved sickle is left on one side. The eyes are narrowed into the character "一", the nose is "┸" shaped, and the mouth holds two fishes. The ears on both sides of the human face are also There are two small fish surrounded by it. Between the human faces, there are two big fish chasing each other in the same direction. The fish body and head are both triangular, the fish eyes are round, and the big fish's body has diagonal grids as scales. The human face showed a leisurely and contented expression among the fish. The fish pattern is very vividly depicted: although the fish head is painted with only a few strokes, the shape and spirit of the fish are detailed and detailed. The fish has no scales and is decorated with symmetrical diamond patterns, full of rhythm and vitality. The overall pattern looks primitive, simple, yet fantasy and weird.
The Yangshao Culture dates back to about 5,000-6,000 years ago. The sites are mainly distributed in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, the Weihe River, and the Fenhe River Basin, including Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi and other regions. It is a typical representative of the Neolithic Age culture in the Central Plains. Types such as Banpo, Miaodigou and Qinwangzhai represent its early, middle and late periods. Among them, Banpo type painted pottery is mostly seen in various basins, bowls, pots, and pointed-bottomed bottles; the painted pottery is basically black, with common animal patterns such as fish, deer, frogs, and sheep, human face patterns, and triangles, broad bands, twists, and nets. Grid and other geometric patterns. Fish patterns are a relatively common theme in Banpo painted pottery.
The development of Yangshao culture’s painted pottery patterns from realism to abstraction is in line with the objective laws of human understanding of the world. In the process of understanding the world, the first thing humans experience is the real world. The birds in the sky, the fish in the water, the trees on the mountains, and the grass on the ground are all lifelike. Furthermore, human beings further realized the different nature and laws of various things, so various abstractions derived from realism appeared, such as from fish patterns to rhombuses, from flowers and plants to different arc changes. Therefore, while appreciating the ancient art reflected in painted pottery, you can also understand the process by which our ancestors understood the world.
The Yangshao Culture is an important Neolithic culture in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. It is named after the first excavation site was at the Yangshao Village site in Mianchi, Sanmenxia City, Henan Province. About 7000-5000 years ago. Thousands of Yangshao Culture sites have been discovered so far, distributed from today's Gansu Province to Henan Province. Shaanxi Province has the largest number of them and is the center of Yangshao culture.