Hubu, Lihou Town, Licheng County, Shanxi Province. (Wang Jianan Photography)
The image of Li Houhu in Licheng County, Shanxi Province is simple, robust and naive. (Wang Jianan Photography)
Licheng county is located in the northeast of Shanxi province, at the junction of Shanxi, Hebei and Henan provinces, and is the old Taihang area. (Wang Jianan Photography)
Nowadays, the "Lihou Lake", which integrates viewing, collection and giving, is loved by more and more people. (Wang Jianan Photography)
The local dialect "Tiger" and "Fu" in Licheng are homophonic, and people give cloth tigers to each other in wedding celebrations and festive activities. (Wang Jianan Photography)
Making cloth tigers is a custom that has been continued for generations in Taihang Mountain area. Before 1980s, many rural women generally made tiger shoes, tiger hats and cloth tiger toys. However, in a county of Shanxi Province, the cloth tiger processed by local rural women is called "one of the Chinese tigers", and everyone will give each other cloth tigers to celebrate the wedding celebration. Where did this tiger come from?
Licheng county is located in the northeast of Shanxi province, at the junction of Shanxi, Hebei and Henan provinces, and is the old Taihang area. Licheng has a long history, with a civilization history of more than 5,000 years. It is the seat of Guli Hou Guo. Idiom stories such as "CoCo Lee" and "I'm all ears", myths such as the goddess mending the sky, fighting for the sky by Chiyou, and historical allusions such as washing my ears, striving for greatness and fighting for Li, all come from here.
The cultural relics unearthed from the Western Zhou Tomb in Xiguan Village, Licheng County show that as early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, Licheng people worshipped tigers, and tiger-shaped objects occupied an important position in their lives at that time. As a symbol of tiger worship, it is a common phenomenon that Licheng uses wood carving, stone carving and toilet paper to cut tiger-shaped objects or patterns. Among them, Lihou Lake, with the richest form and style, the most prominent regional cultural characteristics and folk art value, has been handed down to this day. Lihouhu is a kind of tiger skin fabric popular in Lihou Town and Tinghepu Township, Licheng County, Shanxi Province. Because Li Cheng was called "Li Houzhu" in ancient times, he was named "Li Houhu".
1998, the "Cloth Tiger" sewn by Gao Qiuying, a woman from Licheng County, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, was selected as the stamp pattern of the Year of the Tiger and the Zodiac by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Since then, "Lihou Lake" has entered thousands of households, and "Lihou Lake" is known as one of the tigers in China. Li Houhu sewed the dyed cotton cloth into a tiger shape first, and then decorated it with sticky cloth, painting, hanging ears and so on. Li Houhu, shaped by highly generalized methods, is vivid, tall and majestic, and expresses people's good wishes for healthy development and all the best in an artistic and intuitive way.
Licheng has the custom of "looking at the moon" for the children born. At the full moon, the children take the cloth tiger and put it in the child's arms, indicating that the child is as strong as a tiger. Then the child's mother puts the cloth tiger next to the child and faces the child's body, indicating that this "tiger" can make the child grow up healthily.
Lihou Lake has a strong local flavor and distinctive regional characteristics, which not only has high aesthetic value, but also has rich folk connotation. In Licheng County, the local dialect "Tiger" and "Fu" are homophonic, and there is a custom of giving cloth tigers to each other to celebrate wedding celebrations and major festivals. In addition, Li Houhu pays attention to male and female pairing, and the difference between male and female lies in the ornamentation of tiger ridge. The whole piece of cloth is cut into a wave shape of yin and yang, and pasted on the backs of male and female tigers respectively, so as to distinguish between males and females and express the traditional concept of combination and endless life.
The above is related to what the tiger wears, and it is about the sharing of Licheng. I saw what people who belong to the tiger are wearing. I hope this will help everyone!