Pigeons with beautiful images and gentle temperament are the darlings of eastern and western cultures. Western culture regards pigeons as a symbol of peace, friendship and equality, while China culture regards pigeons as a symbol of faith and family harmony. In terms of the artistic image of pigeons, eastern and western works also have their own characteristics.
The myth that Noah stood up to check the water situation spread in the West.
Pigeons symbolize peace, which has become the common sense of the earth. Pigeons are always indispensable in major celebrations. People fly pigeons to express their joy and hope for peace. Pigeons not only symbolize peace, but also are messengers of love. They are called "love birds" by the world. In addition, pigeons are also a symbol of equality, symbolizing the harmony between man and nature and the equality between people. In today's major cities, raising pigeons in the square has become a fashion. Pigeons with beautiful images and gentle temperament are more and more loved and welcomed by people.
The above symbolic meanings all come from western culture. In the west, there has been a myth that Noah stood up to check the water situation. It is said that when the flood flooded, Noah let a pigeon out to see if the water on the ground had receded. Because there was water everywhere, the pigeons couldn't find a foothold and flew back to the ark. Seven days later, Noah released the pigeon again. At dusk, the pigeon flew back with an olive branch in its mouth, apparently pecked off the tree. Noah judged from this that the water on the ground had receded.
This legend has two meanings: first, pigeons are the earliest communication tools for human beings; Second, pigeons hold olive branches, which symbolizes that human beings can survive and reproduce safely. The second meaning later evolved into a symbol of world peace, and its artistic image was created by Picasso. 1950, in order to commemorate the World Peace Conference held in Warsaw, Picasso drew a flying pigeon with an olive branch, which was named "dove of peace" by the famous Chilean poet Nie Luda at that time. Since then, this classic image has been recognized as a symbol of world peace.
People in China started raising pigeons in Shang Dynasty.
Many people are familiar with the pigeon culture in the West, but little is known about the pigeon culture in China. As one of the ancient civilizations in the world, China has a long history of raising pigeons, and the artistic image of pigeons appeared as early as Shang Dynasty. Since the Tang Dynasty, famous painters have painted pigeons. By the Ming Dynasty, not only the artistic image of pigeons was more colorful, but also the earliest pigeon culture monograph "Pigeon Classic" appeared in the world.
This book not only describes the varieties and breeding techniques of domestic pigeons in China in detail, but also collects a wide range of historical allusions and poems about pigeons, and puts forward the suggestion that "anyone who sighs about gaining weight should be a bird", which makes people have a deeper understanding of the auspicious meaning of pigeons. In the Qing Dynasty, there were four kinds of fine-painted pigeon spectrum, which were produced by court painters and had important scientific and artistic value.
When did people in China start raising pigeons? Among the jade unearthed from Fu Hao's tomb in Yinxu, Henan Province, there is a jade pigeon, which is carved from sapphire. Although the color of the feather can't be seen, it can be judged from its image characteristics that it is a breeding pigeon rather than a wild pigeon. This kind of jade pigeon is characterized by short mouth, round head and wide eyelids, and its image is close to that of an ornamental pigeon, which is quite different from that of a wild pigeon. Fu Hao's tomb is a tomb in the middle of Shang Dynasty, which shows that China people began to raise pigeons 3,300 years ago. In addition, in the ancient pottery excavated by archaeology, a courtyard model of domestic pigeons nesting on the wall of residential houses was also found.
China's literature about pigeons first appeared in The Book of Rites. The Book of Li Zhouzhu was published for four years: "Six animals, six beasts and six birds are all in people's hands." * * * Zheng Xuan's note: "Six birds: geese, quails, pheasants, pheasants, doves and pigeons." It shows that during the Western Zhou Dynasty in China, the maharaja family once raised "six birds" including pigeons as delicious food. Yue Jue Shu in the Warring States Period said, "There are flower pigeons in Shu, which look like spring flowers." It is the first time to describe the image of pigeons in image language.
According to legend, the two pigeons gathered in the well to save the life of Emperor Gaozu.
Pigeons are regarded as auspicious birds, which began with the legend that Liu Bang, the emperor gaozu, took refuge. According to Jifu Tongzhi, "Gejing is twenty miles northwest of Lincheng County (now south of Shijiazhuang) in Calm State. The inscription reads,' Xiang Yu led the troops to chase Emperor Gaozu and avoid wells. There are two pigeons gathering in the well, and there is no doubt that the pursuer is exempted. ""It is not recorded in the history books, and there is no way to verify whether it is true or false, but there is this legend among the people, which shows that China people have long regarded pigeons as auspicious signs. In the jade articles of the Han dynasty, the image of pigeons also appeared. Jade pigeons in Han Dynasty have smooth lines, exquisite craftsmanship and beautiful shapes. At that time, pigeons may be a symbol of faith, saving Liu Bang is "righteousness", and being able to send messages to others is "faith".
Some people question that in the Han Dynasty, there was only the story of Hongyan passing books, but there was no story of flying pigeons passing books. It was after the Tang Dynasty that China took flying pigeons as the symbol of letters. In recent years, many scholars have speculated that Zhang Qian and Ban Chao used flying pigeons to spread books to the western regions. Because the ancients raised pigeons from Shang Dynasty, they knew all about the fixed-point flight function of pigeons, so it is not surprising that they were used for communication. Of course, there is no reliable historical document basis for this point at present, which needs further study.
In Song Dynasty, pigeons were used for military communication.
Since the Tang Dynasty, it has been clearly recorded that the ancients used pigeons as a communication tool. There is an item in Wang Renyu's "Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy" in the Five Dynasties called "Pigeons Pass Books", which records: "When Zhang Jiuling was a teenager, he raised a group of pigeons at home. Every time I communicate with my relatives and friends, I only go to the pigeon's foot book department, follow the instructions and fly to vote. The nine-year-old eye is a' flying slave'. " Zhang Jiuling nicknamed homing pigeons "flying slaves", and from then on, flying pigeons were called "flying slaves delivering books". Some scholars believe that the Tang people used flying pigeons to spread books, or were influenced by Persians. "Pigeons," wrote Shi Cheng in the Tang Dynasty in Youyang Miscellany, "Cheng Dali Zheng Fuli said that there are many pigeons on Persian ships, and pigeons can fly thousands of miles, so it is safe to let one go home." People in the Tang Dynasty not only liked raising pigeons, but also drew them.
According to records, Bian Luan, a flower-and-bird painter in the Tang Dynasty, has handed down works such as Pear Flower Pigeon, Wooden Pen Pigeon, Sketch Pigeon and Flower Seedling Pigeon. By the Five Dynasties, Huang Quan, a famous flower and bird painter, had painted a picture of a begonia pigeon, a peony pigeon, a peony pigeon and so on. His son Huang Jubao and Huang Ju drew a picture of a peach blossom pigeon, a picture of a pigeon playing on a bamboo stone board and a picture of a peony sparrow pigeon.
In the Song Dynasty, pigeons were not only popular, but also used for military exchanges. It is said that Song Gaozong likes raising pigeons and often releases them himself. At that time, Taixue wrote a satirical poem: "Ten thousand pigeons go around the Imperial Capital, and it takes time to put them away at dusk. If geese are raised from the south, two sacred books can be laid in the desert. " "Two Saints" refer to two cases in which Qin Hui was captured by the nomads from the Golden Army. This poem reminds Song Gaozong not to indulge in raising pigeons and releasing them, and forget the shame of Jingkang. It is said that when Song Gaozong heard about it, he ordered the poet to fill the position. The use of homing pigeons for military communication has been recorded in books such as History of Song Dynasty and History of Dong Qiye.
The Story of Pigeons was written by Zhang. Pigeons are divided into three categories: color, flying and jumping. The author thinks that pigeons are "yang birds", that is, birds that benefit people. Regarding the significance of raising pigeons, he said: "Pigeons are inseparable. Flying and singing are interdependent. With singing, people will have the idea of following, and people will be happy to watch." Anyone who laments that his family is not fat should keep Sri Lankan birds. "The so-called' not fat' is disharmony. There is a cloud in the Book of Rites: "Father and son believe that brothers are harmonious, husband and wife are harmonious, and the family is fat. "
Painters in Qing Dynasty used meticulous painting pigeons, represented by Jiang Tingxi. Modern painters paint pigeons with great changes in techniques, represented by Qi Baishi. Qi Baishi painted pigeons with the meaning of "peace" and painted them with freehand brushwork. The image of a pigeon is verve between similarity and dissimilarity, which is similar to Picasso's pigeon.