Shoe Culture: Qiang's "Cloud Shoes"

" Cloud shoes It is a kind of homemade cloth shoes worn by the Qiang people during the festive day. The shoes are similar to the small boats, the shoe tips are slightly warped, the sole is thicker, and the upper is embroidered with colorful moire and azalea pattern patterns, so there are "cloud shoes", "flower shoes" or "hook shoes". Cloth shoes "Qiang people like to wear it on happy days." With the dense stitches, the Qiang embroidery "Yun Yun shoes" enhances the wear-resisting properties by weaving and embroidering cotton threads on the parts of the shoes, which makes the shoes not only of practical value, but also has a high artistic appreciation value, which shows the craft skills of Qiang people's cloud shoes, and reflects the artistic characteristics of Qiang's culture as a part of Qiang's culture.

stay Qiang Nationality In folk literature, oral literature occupies a very important part. Literary materials reflect the history and cultural life of the Qiang people from side to side. There are many myths and legends about "Yun Yun shoes", among which the origin of cloud and cloud shoes is vividly depicted. Legend has it that a carp fairy living in a lake embroiders a pair of beautiful cloud shoes with a beautiful barefoot shepherd boy with the clouds in the sky and the azalea flowers on the lake. It also embroidered "love shoes" to young people and embroidered their love on them. They also became a happy couple with a pair of children. Up to now, there is a traditional folk custom in some parts of the Qiang Minority: as long as the boy is in love with the girl, he can not avoid wearing the "cloud and cloud shoes" embroidered by his own hands as a token of mutual affection. The Qiang girls have to sing a series of ancient narrative songs on the day they get married. There is a love song like this: "I heard that love elder brother wants to travel far away." There is also a love song: "I send a pair of cloud shoes, brother wear love do not love? Shoes are sister embroidered personally, not to change money tree; I send a pair of cloud shoes, brother need not hide; if you go along the road, as long as you do not forget the sister." These beautiful and sentimental folk songs show that the Qiang girls give away their own "cloud and cloud shoes" to their love brothers, which is regarded as a very precious gift, so as to entrust their hearts with boundless affection and affection.

The Qiang Folk Literature is a vivid commentary on its ancient history. It sets aside the mysterious cloak in the epic and reveals a true experience in Qiang's history. In the narrative poem "Qiang Ge war", there are also descriptions of "Yun Yun shoes". Qiang people rely on a white haired white bearded old man to defeat the Gorky people with white stone. The Qiang people give Bai Shi a symbol of God in order to thank the old man and commemorate the victory of this war. They also sampled the shape of the white clouds, and poured their rich thoughts and emotions into the interpretation of the cloud pattern, so as to make a beautiful "buckle cloud rental", that is, "cloud and cloud shoes" with cloud patterns. Another said that the Qiang ancestors had been subjected to the oppression of the ruling class in the past and had been driven to the Minjiang River. There was no way to escape from them. There was only a rope that was twisted by bamboo, and many people fell into the river and killed their lives. Therefore, the Qiang ancestors used to embroider needles to embroider a colorful cloud on their upper limbs in their misery, symbolizing the desire to step on the clouds, strike a good fortune, and fly like flies.

In the title of "Xiangyun", "cloud" is a reference to natural meteorology or celestial phenomena. "Xiang" shows a subjective will, such as auspicious, auspicious, auspicious and other concepts. It is auspicious, peaceful, ideal, beautiful and even sacred. Literally, Xiangyun is not an objective portrayal of "the clouds in heaven". It contains the concept and emotional attitude of the theme to natural phenomena. It is the product of "unity of mind and matter" and the expression of the clouds in the heart. The reason for "cloud" lies not in clouds, nor in the shape of clouds, but in the cultural concepts and aesthetic understanding of clouds or clouds. As far as art form is concerned, moire is a traditional decorative pattern or pattern with Chinese cultural characteristics and national style. It usually takes the scroll curve as the basic constituent element, according to a certain structure mode and combination way.

From the perceptual experience of concrete phenomena to the rational view of universal relations, and even further reaching a more conscious and simple aesthetic pursuit, as the development of primitive art, the process is very long. In the stage of keeping the balance between the self and nature, facing the great pressure of nature and the predicament of reality, the primitive ancestors were afraid of the power of gods or endowed all kinds of phenomena with personified interpretation in the stage of the strong pressure and realistic predicament of nature. In terms of the logic of the development of Chinese civilization, these ideas are mainly derived from natural worship resulting from primitive farming methods and survival requirements, which are derived from the original prayers of natural spirits in the primitive collection and farming activities. Therefore, the initial formation and primitive function of Moire may be related to the artistic practice of natural worship.

The Qiang people worship nature and think that everything is powerful. The Qiang people regarded the white clouds floating in the celestial bodies as the objectification of the concept of natural worship and turned them into the colored moire patterns on the "cloud shoes". This colorful cloud pattern is the perfect embodiment of the combination of the natural worship concept and artistic creativity of the Qiang people in the embroidered products of "cloud and cloud shoes". At the same time, it presents the auspicious and beautiful implication, expressing their pursuit of love, the love for nature and the desire for a better life.