Textual Research On Meishan Paintings

Meishan paintings, found in the family of Zhou'anfu, are a reflection of the historical and cultural heritage of Shuibin Yao Nationality. They offer a new version of the study about Yao. They are rich in content and draw more than 700 gods that include Taoism deity,Yao ancestor spirits and the ancestor of local gods. They also portray ancestors of Shuibin Yao Nationality in Meishan. The research of Meishan paintings will contribute to understand the real content of history,religion and culture of Yao Nationality.The understanding of its traditional meaning is the mainly basic task in Meishan study. The first step of studying Meishan paintings is to analyze the system of supernatural lineage. Meishan paintings constitute the spirit world which have god,ghost and people. The essence of the paintings is concentrated not only in the image itself, but also in rituals. Studying the rituals of"Do Hongmen"and funeral in Meishan paintings can explain the inner meaning and deep-seated content. Hongmen festival is the largest festival before the founding of the New Republic of China. Although other regions have also held"Do Hongmen"ceremony, SuibinYao people mainly worship Nazha. Other gods are invited to share the fruits of the worship. Meishan paintings are used to delight gods and guide souls to return to ten holes of Meishan. Although the two rituals are different, they are both the expression of ancestor worship. Nazha is the core of creamery, Pan King is the main god of Meishan paintings. Pan King is the symbol of self-identification in oral tradition. Meishan paintings are another version of self-identity. It resorts to color,lines,shapes and depends on the feelings and senses .It is different from the oral tradition of Pan King myths. Meishan paintings are the products which were based on the strong emotional experience of the cultural activities from ancestor worship. In addition to ancestor worship, Meishan paintings are demonstrated by the Taoism culture. They strongly show the meaning of Taoism. Meishan paintings were very likely to create by Taoism and imported in Shuibin combining with its ancestor worship. The statues evolve from a single to continuous images. At first, there were only Taoist gods, then, the local gods, Buddhist deities as well ancestors are painted with them. The whole has become a huge god system with more than 700 statues.One third of those gods in the paintings are the ancestors and they form a special genealogy. Worship is to be peace and prosperity. From the other hand, the genealogy connects person and clan and strengthens the sense of social cohesion.