1. Intestine pattern

Pangu pattern (Figure 1) is one of the most common patterns in Mongolian areas. According to the local teacher, it means "auspiciousness". In fact, it is also a popular pattern in China, such as the logo of China Unicom. It can be traced back to the origin of the Mongolian nationality. Since Genghis Khan unified the Central Plains in the 13th century and established the Yuan Dynasty, the panchang pattern has been integrated into the culture of the Han nationality. The coiled intestinal pattern symbolizes auspiciousness and good luck. The whole pattern has a three-dimensional effect. If you start from any starting point on the side, it will not go back no matter how you coil it, and the whole pattern is relatively full. In Inner Mongolia, this pattern often appears on furniture, boots and clothes in Mongolian homes. In fact, the coiled intestine pattern is also used a lot in the Han area, and the "Chinese knot" is a typical example, which can be said to be a representative of the Central Plains culture. Since the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols have been closely connected with the Han people. The Damao Banner we investigated is a place where the Mongolian and Han people live together. This place has always been closely related to the Han people. Most of the people who graze are Mongolians. Most of them are Han Chinese. The same is the coiled intestine pattern. In the entire Inner Mongolia region, it expresses the connotation of "auspiciousness", but in terms of form, the width and color of each coiled intestine pattern are different.

2. Bull nose pattern

Ox-nosed pattern (Figure 2), also known as cloud pattern, is also called cloud hook in Han Chinese. There are also many variants of the bull nose pattern. The bull nose pattern in Figure 2 is a bit geometric. Originally, this pattern symbolized "male" and was a symbol of "man". There is also an allusion to this pattern in Inner Mongolia. It is said that one day a shepherd burned firewood and burned cow dung and sheep dung. After the firewood dung was burned, it turned into a pile of ashes. The nose of the cow got stuck in the pile of ashes, and then the cow acted like a baby and was naughty, so he used his nose to arch the white felt bag of the Mongolian people. The ashes on the nose of the cow were printed on the felt bag. The shepherd liked the pattern very much when he saw it. Call it "bull nose lines." It can be seen that the appearance of patterns is closely related to daily life. Cloud pattern is also "auspicious" in the meaning of the Han nationality, and "cloud pattern" is also a wishful head. For example, we see many jade ruyis displayed in the Forbidden City now, and the wishful head is "cloud pattern". Therefore, the cloud pattern can also be said to be a variant of the cow nose pattern, which is a development of this pattern.

3. Swastika pattern

The Wanzi pattern (Figure 3), the first pattern is "" is a pattern of Buddha, representing the meaning of the sun, and then it becomes "" which is found in oracle bone inscriptions, and then it changes into "", "+ ", "", these patterns are the symbols of the sun, expressing the worship of the sun by the northern nomads. In the Yinshan rock paintings, we can see a large number of cross patterns "" and a cross pattern "" inside the circle. What's interesting is that Hitler's Nazis also quoted this sun pattern. According to research, this earliest "" has appeared in Yinshan rock paintings, more than 10,000 years ago. This swastika pattern "" spread from the Eurasian plate of the northern nomads to Siberia, and then spread to West Asia, Africa and Europe. The main route of transmission was from Inner Mongolia to the west and south, to Arabia, and then this pattern began again. Backflow, when India used this pattern, it was already 27 BC. And this pattern "" has a direction difference, the clockwise direction is good, and the counterclockwise direction is bad, so "", that is, Buddha, represents good luck, and "", that is, Nazi, represents bad luck, this is also a coincidence. The swastika pattern later became the "Kang Waihua", that is, a decorative lace on the wall of the big kang where the northerners slept, the cuffs of the clothes worn by the northern nomads, and the carpet. "pattern" and connect the pattern of the 4,000 characters, which adds another meaning, that is, the 4,000 characters are continuous, representing continuous and eternal prosperity. Some people also call the word "longevity" as the word "longevity". In the folks, "shou" and "wan" are mixed. Therefore, many of the characters for "shou" in the pictures we see now are actually "ten thousand". There are also many variations of the swastika pattern. For example, the swastika pattern is also used for decoration in rock paintings, temple murals and bronze wares in Ordos, but the form has changed. The meaning of "ten thousand characters with continuous head" has also been well expressed in the paper-cut of handle dolls. Many people say that handle dolls first appeared on painted pottery and portrait bricks. Thousands of years earlier. There is such a pattern in a petroglyph on the Qinkele Grassland. It depicts a group of people enclosing captives in a large stone circle, and then dancing around the periphery hand in hand. It can be said that this pattern symbolized unity and victory at the earliest. the meaning of.

Four, curly grass pattern


The curly grass pattern (Figure 4) is a decorative pattern. In Inner Mongolia, it is more like the rolling of clouds. Because on the grassland, clouds are ever-changing and the most beautiful. Therefore, the herdsman's cloud patterns are admiration for clouds. The colors of the curly grass patterns are very bright, including white, blue, red, yellow, and green...and the connotations of these colors are integrated with many cultures. Mongolians especially worship white and blue, followed by red, yellow and green, and the last three colors have a lot to do with Tibetan Buddhism. Some people think that the Mongols like blue and white the most because of the blue sky and white clouds. In fact, from the perspective of nationality and region, shepherds think that white is milk. Whoever has more milk will be rich. In the link of spilling milk, spilling milk is a kind of respect for heaven and earth. White is also a symbol of purity, such as the khata offered to you (hata has many colors), among which white is the most noble. The blue is because the shepherds have the characteristics of being blue. For example, the Mongolian people divide five banners. There are Zhenglan flags and Zhengbai flags. , "Changshengtian" is a big god who dominates everything. When shepherds offer sacrifices to Obo, the Obo represents different small gods. For example, the general Obo is the general god, the land Obo is the land god, and the big god "Changshengtian" dominates them.

Speaking of blue and white, I would like to mention the blue and white porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty. Before Genghis Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, the culture of the Han nationality had already penetrated deeply into the grasslands. Although the blue and white flowers of the Yuan Dynasty were blue and white, it was not a specific product of the Mongolian people. The nation on horseback; the second is that Tang blue and white porcelain appeared before the Yuan blue and white porcelain, and most of the blue and white porcelain was fired in the Han Dynasty, not on the grassland. Therefore, it is debatable to say that the blue and white flowers of the Yuan Dynasty are the yearning of the Mongolian people for the blue sky and white clouds.

Five, the combination of various patterns


We can see that this pattern (Figure 5) has a cross in the middle and a circle outside, which is a combination of traditional patterns and represents the sun. Among them, the big circle is divided into four parts, and inside each part is a wishful pattern, representing the four seasons. The thing on the edge is called intersecting pattern. We can decompose it into "T"s that bite each other. This is the relationship between yin and yang, which means that the combination of yin and yang transforms everything into a harmonious pattern. This "T" also developed into a sun pattern in the late Yuan Dynasty. In folk paper-cutting, many tigers are cut. Some tigers have the word "king" on their heads, but in some places in Inner Mongolia, a "ten" is cut. In Shaanxi, we saw some tiger paper-cuts with "T" cut on them. In Christianity, there is such a legend that one day God warned people that one day in the future he would execute the people on the earth, and only his believers could avoid it. How can they explain their identity as believers? It is to draw a "T" on the threshold of one's own house with sheep's blood. When that day comes, all believers who draw a "T" will be saved, while those who did not draw a "T" will die. "T" means the sun in Western culture. In fact, the sheep represents the sun, and the sheep god is the sun god. It can be seen that there is a certain relationship between Western religions and Chinese patterns.