The fashion and cultural framework of jewelry

Under the influence of Confucianism, Chinese jewelry decoration style has distinct national characteristics.

It’s common sense to get enough food and clothing. When there is no solution to food and clothing, it seems that clothing is not marginal. However, after all, the clothing has deepened the understanding and experience of life. The famous esthetician Hegel said: "The motivation for all human dressing is that his own natural form (the human body) is unwilling to let it go, but to change it intentionally and to engrave himself in this change. The brand of inner life is the human body. The formation and development of this culture is closely related to the whole society in which it is located. The soil of jewelry culture is based on the temperature (enthusia) and humidity given by the subject (person). (level), nourishment (literacy) and many other conditions. What kind of living environment creates what kind of jewelry culture, what kind of cultural soil will produce what kind of cultural fruit.

A major feature of Chinese culture is the emphasis on "Heaven and Man", which is dominated by God. The Chinese people have traditionally believed that "the meaning of God is difficult to violate." Confucius believes that "the life is dead, the rich is in the sky," and the sage is also "a fear of the fate." Confucius's disciple's disciple thinks more about life. He said in his famous book "The Doctrine of the Mean": "The destiny of destiny" means that the talent "sex" is intrinsic to human beings. According to this idea, Zisi puts forward the "sincereness of the deposit". The person can grasp the inherent "honesty" and fully exert the human nature, and can do everything from "humanity" to "physicality", and finally achieve "sincereity." God, "sincere to heaven", into the mysterious "Heaven and Man" state.

For thousands of years, the Chinese people lived under the influence of this Confucianism. Although they could not say the whole set of theoretical theories, they accepted these theories and doctrines. In the jewellery culture, it is prominently expressed as: "Tian" is blessed, "Tian" is given to life, and "Tian" is given to Lu. Because "God is difficult to violate", people only worship it and beg for its blessing. Especially on the day when the disaster strikes, people will entrust the desire to eliminate disasters to "Destiny." Folklore gold rings can be used to suppress evil, gold ring soup can cure heart disease, is an example. When the harvest is rich, people want to thank the heavens for their gifts. When they wear jewelry, they especially appreciate the decorative features such as "fu", "ruyi" and "good luck" to show their sense of destiny. In order to make achievements in career or career, in addition to its own dedication, it is also expected to have a bright eye and help in the midst of the meditation, so there is a "language" of jewelry such as "smooth sailing" and "Muweiwei".

In daily life, people naturally do not rely solely on this illusory "destiny" to fulfill all their wishes. However, as a kind of sustenance, a belief is still very strong, because for thousands of years our nation has been pursuing "life and death, wealth in the sky." And because people are at the time of success, they often pursue a realm of high and far-reaching, thinking that their own strength has reached a state of ingenuity, and has become a model of "harmony between man and nature." It is in this cultural context that our jewelry decoration style has distinct national characteristics. For example, the civilian population likes to wear heart-shaped ornaments such as “flowers and moons” and “fushuis in the East China Sea”; the official gentlemen appreciate objects such as “Ruyi buckles” and “Tongling Baoyu”; the emperor will enjoy special designs. Graphic decoration such as "Feng Feilong Dance" and "Wan Shou Wujiang". These examples all indicate that people are accustomed to connecting their own tokens and their minds with the "destiny", and strive to "sincerely pass the gods" and "sincerely go to heaven."

Perhaps from a secular point of view, the average consumer does not have such a rational sentiment. The purpose of wearing jewelry is merely embellishment, only the need for visual beauty, or the need to show off identity. For example, wearing jewels and jewels can be pleasing to the eye, tempering temperament, such as hanging ornaments "peony temperament", "sports water" and the like, is nothing more than expressing the feeling of a better life. However, after careful analysis and excavation, we can still see some unusual hearts. For example, if you wear jewelry as well, why do Chinese consumers prefer gold jewelry, but also require pure gold? This is fulfilling the "golden special reflection of the strongest color red" analyzed by Marx, so that "making them a natural material that meets the needs of luxury, decoration, glamour, display, etc., always becomes a positive form of surplus and wealth. "It turns out that people wear jewelry in order to pursue wealth, and "rich in the sky" is still faintly cherished by the "destiny". Those who have accumulated wealth through hard work will, in the end, be willing to pay a large price for a pure gold "God of Wealth" and "Shouxing" to offer their pledges and pin their hopes on "God".

Moreover, Chinese culture is also very decent, saying that it is "perfect" and ultimately "sincere." Therefore, it is often used as much as possible to show off their identity with wealth, and people feel that they have “decoration” and “education” to decorate their faces. As a result, there are consumption phenomena that are more than price, weight, and ratio: some people buy gold when they get rich, and wear jewelry when they succeed, thinking that they have shaped themselves into a successful "angel." Another factor that cannot be ignored is that there are many wars in Chinese history, and the era of arrogance and turmoil has made people undressed, food is not wrapped up, people are living in poverty when they are rich, and gold is the most suitable "storage". . This concept is one and the same, so that Chinese consumers do not buy jewelry.

Based on humanistic thinking, European and American consumers pursue individualized, liberalized and diversified jewelry decorative styles.

In Western countries such as Europe and the United States, jewelry culture is closely related to the characteristics of social development. A large part of European culture has turned into a turning point in the 16th century Renaissance, and its influence has been extended to this day. The center of the Renaissance trend is to oppose the feudal church's shackles. To establish a bourgeois humanistic worldview is to demand human-centeredness rather than theocracy as the center to observe everything, emphasizing the development of individuality and opposition to theocracy. Humanism-based humanism advocates the study of secular culture with people and nature as its object, advocates freedom of thought and individual liberation, and affirms that man is the center of the world. In this cultural context, the western jewellery culture is characterized by the characteristics of being human-centered and human-oriented. During this period, European countries such as Norway, Switzerland, and Denmark all prevailed at the wedding ceremony to give each other a wedding ring. The British 1549 prayer book also clearly stated that the wedding ring should be worn on the ring finger of the left hand and that the finger is a ring finger (Ringfinger). Moreover, the wedding rings are mostly made of pure gold or sterling silver to express the innocence and selflessness of love. These customs fully reflect the value of people and the emotions of people.

In the "language" of jewelry in Europe and America, there are many words such as "love", "love" and "heart" to evoke the affection and love between people. In their view, jewelry is a kind of carrier to express emotions. Lovers and couples give each other gifts to each other. Friends will also present jewelry at a couple's wedding anniversary, congratulations and friendship. Then there are many beautiful story legends, such as diamond symbolizing purity, emerald symbolizing happiness, ruby ​​symbolizing love, marriage 25th anniversary is silver wedding commemoration, wedding 50th anniversary is a golden wedding commemoration... living is a kind of human harmony and harmony painting.

Based on humanistic thinking, so far European and American consumers pursue personalized, liberal and diversified jewelry decoration styles, and everyone chooses the right jewelry according to their own interests. Another factor that cannot be ignored is that social stability and economic prosperity provide people with a good material foundation. With such a level of consumption and quality, people naturally do not focus on comparing the quantity of jewelry or the price of jewelry, but to look at the beauty, taste and taste of jewelry. The old saying of China says: food and drink and then know the honor and disgrace. Who doesn't want to dress up more beautifully? Who doesn't want to improve their value? Isn't it just for wearing jewelry? Consumers in Europe and the United States understand that the first meaning of jewelry is for the decoration of people, leaving the subject of human beings, its meaning is almost equal to zero. It is not difficult to understand that they are willing to wear very gorgeous non-gold and silver jewelry; it is not difficult to understand that they can design such "exaggerated" jewelry.

The west wind is growing eastward, the east wind is westward, and the two are interactive and coexisting.

If the Chinese believe in the sky and the foreigners believe in people, this is the essential difference between Chinese and foreign jewellery culture. Then, when we come to understand the popular fashion from the West and the popular fashion in the East, we can grasp the essentials and take the essence. Popularity is fashion and popular. It is feeling, and fashion is confession. When you judge the fashion, you need to understand people's characteristics of the times and the surrounding environment; when you experience the feelings, you also need to pay attention to people's cultural habits and life experiences; when you pass the confession, you need to observe people's aesthetic tastes and mental models. Don't try to be effective, we don't simply interpret the fashion as a single, unified, or even the only market benchmark. The west wind is growing eastward, the east wind is westward, and they are interactive, coexisting, and even joint. When you can truly, completely and accurately understand the diversity of consumer needs and make a breakthrough response to unmet needs, then you are not far from grasping the true meaning of fashion, from true success. Not far away.