중국 대문에 등장하는 상징물을 통한 중국인의 문화표상

Abstract

This paper aims to provide analysis of the Chinese cultural representation through symbols appeared in the gates. The types of symbolic icons presented on the gates are classified into animals, plants, objects, paintings, writings and so on. By means of these symbols, Chinese people try to remove misfortune and scare away ghosts, as well as hope for the five blessings(longevity, wealth, health, love of virtue, peaceful death) and keep their authority. In addition, stores display the actual products on the gates as a promotional tool so that customers can notice what they sell. The symbolic icons hung on the gates serve as signs of shops and stand for agreement between merchants and residents. The variety of symbols are presented on the gates because people believe that not only human being, but also the five blessings, bad luck and evil spirits can frequent through the gates. Therefore, the presentation of symbolic icons is the solution to take happiness and prevent bad luck at the same time. Furthermore, a gate is the boundary that protect the family God and exorcise inside of the house. Therefore, Chinese people do a lot of things in front of the gates to keep the boundaries. China is a nation with big territory and comprised of many different ethnics, and cultural representation varies in era, regions, and ethnics. Most of symbols seen on the gates are also recorded in ancient historical material and this means that Chinese cultural representation are has formed over long periods of time and come down to now. Moreover, in the view of the fact that folk has a property that pass on orally, it is hard to say that the symbolic icons that are not found in the ancient materials have formed in modern and contemporary age. With Respect to production, the northern part of China is a wheat farming area, and the southern part is a rice farming area. The north of China has cold and dry climate, while the south has hot and humid weather. These differences between the north and south reflect the variety of Chinese cultural representation according to natural environment and cultural diversity. Although China is a multi-ethnic country, Han ethnics are superior to others related to symbolic icons of the gates. In addition to this, no small part of the symbols that are seen on the gates of the ethnic minorities are influenced by the Han ethnics. However, each ethnic has a uniquely distinctive cultural phenomenon.