Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 23. (Budapest, 2004)
Mária FERENCZY: Door Gods. Art and Craftsmanship in the various styles of Chinese New Year Pictures
of barbarian origin. 31 In picture No. 2 the man's face is regular, smooth and of light colour, his long, thin moustache, beard and locks of hair come down almost to his belt. His figure is rather that of a (military) mandarin than of a grim-visaged warrior. The co-occurrence of the dark and the light face refers to the principles of darkness and light iyin and yang); it a powerful symbol, standing for wholeness. This duality also shows that these gods guard the house in dark and in light, that is, by day and by night, unceasingly. This association is documented by a peculiar supplementary part of the Weixian figures (pictures No. 9 and 10): above the figures' heads there can be seen the characters of the moon and the sun. - It is no accident that the dark face resembles a mask, as in several pictures the depiction of the faces reminds us theatrical masks (pictures No. 14,16/a, 17 and 18). In pictures No 1 and 2, both generals are wearing decorated commander's helmets. On the tip of the helmet there can be seen feathers, a button indicative of rank, a huge fringe; as for the right-hand side one, there is a small coloured standard and other ornamental elements. Both of them are wearing shoulderlength gorgets; one of the gorgets is fringed with fur, the other is made of thick, quilted fabric. In pictures associated more remotely, the helmet can be substituted with several types of mandarin's headgear. The generals' bodies are covered with decorated armours, which they are wearing above their flowered garments. The armour resembles the formal attire of the high-rank officers in late Imperial China as well as the costume of the stage generals. The épauliére is of the shape of a lion's (or a monster's) head; a colourful, floating fringe of considerable size is attached to it. The lion's or monster's head is a usual motif (in the case of this picture, the one on the armour covering the abdomen is hidden by the figures' hands and sleeves); as a part of the armour it provided its wearer with actual protection, but also enhanced his terrifying appearance and invested the generals with the lion's strength.' 4 Both of them are wearing a round bronze mirror on their chests. The bronze mirror, having magical power assigned to it, was a part of the actual attire of high-rank officers. In the majority of the pictures, we can see the generals' mirrors. 15 Their officer's belt and the other elements of the armour can be seen but partially under the lined brocade robe (in associated pictures there can be found some elements, but nowhere in their entirety). The tails of the robe, the loose sleeves and the long ribbons are floating around their wearer's body, as if he had stopped his intense movement but for a moment. This demonstration of movement stresses the figures' strength. They are wearing cothurnus-like, thicksoled footwear that resembles boots, more specifically, theatrical costumes. The toe-cap and the ornamentation of the boots (delineated with some characteristically stylized lines) form the head of a magic sceptre (ruyi); in some cases, the boot-legs also end in lion's heads. Both generals are thoroughly armoured: they are holding high huge maces, whose divided heads are almost fully covered with ornaments. 16 There are swords hanging on their side (the sword of the right-hand side general, hanging in front of his body, is clearly visible) 37 ; in addition, both of them are wearing two quivers: one for the bow and one for the arrows. The feathers of the seven arrows stick out from behind the right-hand side general's left elbow; he is wearing the decorated quiver for bow in front, at right angles to his sword. The mouth of the quiver for bow is of the shape of a fishdragon's mouth, with fish-scale pattern on the side while its lower end forms a fish-tail. The general on the left is wearing his quiver in front, with eight (or maybe nine?) arrows. This quiver is also heavily decorated; there is a meander pattern running along its brim, in the middle there is a yin-yang symbol surrounded by five stylized bats. That is, even the decoration of the quiver provides an opportunity (via the depiction of auspicious signs) to enrich the content of the picture. The five bats stand for the five types of happiness (that is, full happiness) 38 , while the fish-dragon is an element of effective protection.
