Cangyuan rock paintings

Rock paintings of ancient Chinese minorities. It is distributed on 10 cliffs above 2000 meters above sea level in Mengsheng, manpa, dinglai and Wuliang of Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. About 3000 years ago. It is painted with fingers or feathers dipped in red paint. The pigment may have been made from animal blood mixed with hematite powder.

Cliff painting is mainly the scene of hunting, gathering and other production activities and religious activities such as entertaining gods. There is also a triumphal picture of the war, on which are the buildings of dry railings and the people holding weapons to drive away the pigs and sheep. The painting is rough and simple, which is an important material for the study of the ancient national history of the south.

Cangyuan rock paintings

Cangyuan cliff painting is one of the oldest cliff paintings discovered so far in China. In 1965, 1978 and 1981, 11 cliff painting sites were found, mainly in Mengsheng and Menglai townships of Cangyuan County, with a length of about 20 km from east to west. According to the measurement, cliff painting was produced in the late Neolithic period more than 3000 years ago. These cliff paintings have been listed as key cultural relics in Yunnan Province.

An overview of cliff paintings

Rock paintings of ancient Chinese minorities. It is distributed on 10 cliffs above 2000 meters above sea level in Mengsheng, manpa, dinglai and Wuliang of Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. About 3000 years ago. It is painted with fingers or feathers dipped in red paint. The pigment may have been made from animal blood mixed with hematite powder. Cliff painting is mainly the scene of hunting, gathering and other production activities and religious activities such as entertaining gods. There is also a triumphal picture of the war, on which are the buildings of dry railings and the people holding weapons to drive away the pigs and sheep. The painting is rough and simple, which is an important material for the study of the ancient national history of the south.

Cangyuan rock paintings

Cangyuan cliff painting is one of the oldest cliff paintings found in China, which was produced in the late Neolithic age more than 3000 years ago. 11 cliff painting sites have been found, which are distributed in Menglai, dinglai, mankan, Heping and mangguang township of Cangyuan County, Yunnan Province. They are generally on the cliffs at an altitude of about 1500 meters. The gray limestone walls are painted with ochre red paintings. The local Wa people call them "rantemu", which means paintings on rocks. The paintings are about 2-10 meters high from the ground and 1-30 meters long. The smaller ones are composed of several scattered figures. The larger ones are composed of hundreds of images, 187 animals, 25 houses, 13 roads and 35 ideographic symbols. There are also images of trees, boats, sun, clouds, mountains and the earth. The depiction of figures follows the rules of integrity. They are drawn by means of monochrome, single line and flat painting, eliminating the details of facial features and so on. They show the various activities of the figures through their varied limbs. Most of these images have certain central contents, including hunting, grazing, dancing, returning home, entertainment and so on, which truly and vividly record various scenes of production and life of the ancestors.

Feature introduction

The color of Cangyuan cliff painting changes constantly with the time of sunshine, sunny weather, dry, wet, cold, warm and other factors. The local Wa and Dai people say that it changes three times a day, red in the morning, light in the afternoon and purple in the evening

The first cliff painting point

Features: the largest scope, the largest number of graphics, "head hunting", "cattle hunting", breathtaking.

The first cliff painting site is located in minliangxia village, Menglai Township, 20 kilometers north of Cangyuan County. The cliff painting has the largest distribution and the most graphics. Mengdong River valley along the north, on both sides of the mountains, covered by secluded forest, a bay of water around the mountains. Along the winding mountain road, you come to the platform along the mountain. You can get rid of the old vines and weeds, and through the traces of rain and moss, you can see the cliff hidden in the green ocean. In the face of the scarlet figures appearing and disappearing on the cliff, a breathtaking force deeply shakes people's hearts.

This cliff, the surface is relatively flat, the upper part of which is a cliff with figures and animals painted on it. On the whole, people and animals are not drawn in detail, only the outline is drawn, and a characteristic organ is emphasized. The ox highlights the horn, the monkey highlights the chin, and the deer has obvious forked horns The facial features of the characters are not drawn, only the head, neck, trunk and limbs. The trunk is an inverted triangle. Some people see it as a male because of the prominent genitalia, while some women have prominent breasts or large bellies.

In the first cliff painting point, the most important content is hunting. Mischievous monkeys jump up and down on a V-shaped cane. Some hold horns, some pull bows and shoot arrows, and some fight with wild animals with sticks. On the rugged curve of the mountain road, there are three long tailed animals walking. Two hunters lie in ambush on both sides, lying on their sides, ready to bow. There are also dances that reflect the nature of primitive self entertainment. On a horizontal line representing the ground, there are six people standing in groups of three. There is a certain distance between the groups. All six people hold their left arms high and their right arms droop. Their bodies tend to the right. Their legs are separated and their movements are very neat. In addition, there are "headhunting dance" and "cattle hunting dance" which reflect the content of primitive religion.

The second cliff painting point

Features: interesting content, special graphics, celebration of triumph, special characters

Along the Mengdong River Valley to the north, you can reach dinglai Township, which is the second cliff painting point. One of the village pictures is very interesting. It draws an oblong circle representing the scope of the village. There are 14 dry column houses inside and another outside the village. A few lines have been drawn outside the village, probably indicating the winding road. There are many people on the road, driving away animals such as pigs and sheep, or carrying things on their shoulders, gathering in the village from all directions. There are people pounding rice in the village. There may be a banquet. Outside the village, there is a small house, which lives high in a tree and plays the role of guard and lookout. Some people have analyzed that this may be a victory after a war when people came back with booty. Two of them are particularly eye-catching, one is covered with swirling patterns, not wearing clothes, showing his tattoo; the other has geometric patterns on his chest.

The scenic spot has beautiful natural scenery, verdant forests, dense vegetation, numerous rock walls, gurgling streams and rich folk customs. Heavy historical culture and unique ethnic customs attract many tourists at home and abroad. It is a highly ornamental and entertaining tourist attraction.

The purpose of creation

generalization

The creative motivation of Cangyuan cliff painting is by no means single, and various genres may have different creative purposes. But to sum up, there are only two aspects, one is religious, the other is primitive.

religious belief

1. A product of simulated witchcraft. It is believed that painting the images of the animals that people are hunting on the cliff will make the hunting successful in the future. Painting people falling to the ground on the cliff will make the enemy really die in the future war. 2. A legacy of the ritual of praying for fertility. To draw cattle or people pulling cattle on the cliff is to hope that the natural reproduction of cattle on the mountain is very smooth and that they can be pulled back in groups for sacrifice; to draw wild animal images is to hope for hunting; to draw dancing figures in groups is to hope for a bumper harvest of agriculture and animal husbandry and to hold a grand banquet with guests. Primitive clans prayed for high yield not only for the development of production, but also for their own reproduction. Cangyuan cliff painting highlights the performance of sexual organs of men and women, as well as the dense crowd, or has such a significance. 3. Portraits of gods worshipped. Primitive people believed in many gods, such as natural phenomena (earth, celestial bodies, mountains, fire, water), animals and even some living people and objects with divine power were considered to have gods, which could either bless or harm people. In order to turn calamities into blessings, we must constantly offer sacrifices and worship. In the paintings of Cangyuan cliff, there are trees, plants, caves and some strange human figures As well as the prominent animals, they should have been painted to worship them at that time. 4. The depiction of important ceremonies. After a grand religious ceremony, some ethnic groups have to draw a picture of the process. This is not for people to see, but mainly for the gods. In the paintings of Cangyuan cliff, some disguised dance figures (such as those with feathers on their heads and those with feathers on their bodies) and some pictures of pulling cattle are the actual religious activities at that time.

Nature of record

1. Records of major events. The most obvious one is the picture of the village in the second place, which completely reflects the real life of people, without the mysterious and supernatural religious atmosphere of other pictures. 2. The records of myths and legends. In Cangyuan cliff paintings, there are some human like and non-human images ("Sun man" and "fishtail man"), or descriptions of myths or mythical characters that spread at that time. In a word, the cliff paintings express people's expectation and enthusiasm for life at that time. Today, local people believe that there are immortals living behind the cliff. When the immortal comes out, people can see their image on the cliff; when the immortal goes back to "rest", they can't see on the cliff (the cliff paintings are hidden or present because of the light and dark). Immortals can bless people, so every new year, people in nearby villages have to go to sacrifice; in addition, when they are sick and lost, they also have to ask the immortals for help. During the first investigation, an old woman of Wa nationality lost four yuan RMB. She came here to seek the guidance of immortal to find a way. In addition, in the second place, Ding Lai Wa people said that there were treasures hidden behind the cliff, and the cliff paintings were caused by the manifestation of "treasures". The Wa people in dinglaizhai once excavated in this area, but later stopped because they had nothing to gain. Up to now, there is a hole at the root of the cliff, which is the remains excavated at that time.

Cangyuan cliff painting will change color with sunshine time, sunny weather, dry, wet, cold and warm and other factors

Chinese PinYin : Cang Yuan Ya Hua